Watson: kill the budget and start again
On the eve of a House Finance Committee hearing on Governor Chafee’s $160 million-plus tax plan, House Minority Leader Robert Watson says Chafee should scrap the budget and start all over.
Via news release, Watson says the sentiments from House Republicans were hand-delivered to the governor’s office at 4 this afternoon. An excerpt:
We agree with expert economist Gary Ciminero who writes: ‘Governor Chafee’s budget plan stands nearly alone among states in its almost exclusive reliance on new revenues to cope with a deficit. Most other states are focusing on spending cuts — even including the largest ones, such as New York, where Gov. Andrew Cuomo plans no new tax initiaves to close that state’s mammoth deficit,’ and ‘No economist worth his salt would dismiss the braking effects on the economy of tax increases of such historic proportions, even if the economy were healthy.’ . . . .
We respectfully ask that instead of wasting further time trying to promote this budget, we should immediately get back to work on a new plan that reduces state spending to sustainable levels and provides much more relief to the cities and towns that are facing a similar financial squeeze.
UPDATE: Chafee spokesman Michael Trainor says the governor is willing to listen to what Trainor called credible alternatives, but does not plan to withdraw any portion of his budget.
On Politics 
A mind is a terrible thing to waste, especially one that adheres to a strict ideology of any party. Mr. Watson castigates Gov. Chafee at length for his budget proposal, which at least offers an unpleasant, but concrete way to deal with the budget shortfall. All Watson parrots is right-wing Tea Party ideology about cutting spending without generating new revenues, which are just as critical to getting us out of this hole, and never does the heavy lifting of proposing a sound, reasonable alternative that could become part of a genuine policy debate and problem-solving solution. It’s apparent that Mr. Watson’s already lost to uber-partianship as opposed to genuine leadership and problem solving for the people of this state. Disappointing that a so-called legislative leader can be so brain-washed and lock-step with extreme ideologues who’s only interests are self-promotion and verbally bashing anyone who disagrees with them.