Massachusetts has a new governor and he’s vowed massive cuts in government spending. For months we’ve heard about the dire problem of state government. Despite massive taxes, the state budget is facing a shortfall of $1 billion or more. The irony is that little more than a decade ago our entire state budget was $1 billion, but since then it has been larded with patronage, ridiculous projects, and massive waste.
Of course, all you read about in the newspapers is how the big cuts in government are going to drive poor people into the streets, deprive old people of health care, and more horror stories designed to scare people. But what they’re really scared of is that a bunch of family-connected political hacks with do-nothing jobs are going to get the ax. For example, I’m all for education, but I’ve noticed that almost every town seems to be building new schools. And not just one per town. Salem has something like three under construction or just built. Many of the current schools are perfectly suitable with some renovations, but politicians want to curry favor with pork barrel spending.
So I’m looking forward to Mitt Romney’s red-pen slashing of the budget. I just hope that the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate can be made to agree. Grrr, Massachusetts politics.
