Part Time Help Wanted

I know you can’t always believe what you read and there are good and hard working legislators in Massachusetts, but some the stuff that takes place on Beacon Hill is an absolute slap in the face. Day after day we’re bombarded with how terrible things are in the state and that we are going to have to either choose between paying higher taxes and fees and or living with less services (some more essential than others). It would be nice to know this fiscal crisis has consumed more than 32 hours of our state legislatures attention over the last 4 ½ months. I don’t know about you, but I think I’ve spent more time than that balancing the checkbook. For arguments sake, let’s give them the benefit of the doubt and say the balance of their time was spent in their districts talking with their constituents (still waiting for my call). Wouldn’t they then clearly understand that most of us don’t buy the premise of choosing between more taxes and/or less services, that in fact we want to see real changes like pension reform, transportation reform, and elimination of the 2000+ new positions the Patrick administration has created since it came into office to name a few. Complicated issues for certain that need to be addressed and most certainly will require more than 32 hours of deliberation over a 4 ½ month period. But we’re not hearing about any of that. What we are hearing is that we can’t expect to continue to receive what we have been without paying more for it. So what are we to take from all this? They aren’t listening, they aren’t serious about real reform, and tax and spend is alive and well. Then again, Election Day is only 172 days away.