Governor Pathetic

According to Public Policy Polling, our governor is the least popular in the nation.

The five least popular Governors we’ve tested are Bill Richardson, Deval Patrick, Jim Doyle, John Baldacci, and Jon Corzine while he was still in office. The only one of those folks running this year is Patrick and I have a really hard time seeing him getting reelected even with three serious candidates in the race.

Here are the bottom five:

Bill Richardson (D-New Mexico) 28/63

Jan Brewer (R-Arizona) 26/43

Pat Quinn (D-Illinois) 25/55

John Baldacci (D-Maine) 25/57

Deval Patrick (D-Massachusetts) 22/59

I guess the back door RMV tax debacle didn’t help the fledgling governor of the Commonwealth.

Scott Brown’s Tax Cut

A tax cut… proposed by Senator Scott Brown (R-MA).

Almost one month to the day of entering the U.S. Senate after a race that rocked the political world, Sen. Scott Brown, R-MA, has come out with his first piece of legislation — a tax cut.

It targets mostly working class Americans, those employees making up to about $200,000, with a temporary tax cut that would, according to data released from Brown’s office, save the average worker “about $100 a month for a total of at least $500 for individuals and $1,000 for working couples.”

Brown will win few, if any, Democratic supporters, however, as he seeks to pay for the entire amendment with “all unallocated stimulus funds,” of which Brown estimates there is “over $80 billion.”

There has not yet been a full analysis of the bill, which offers the tax cut for a six month period, which determines its price tag, by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

Brown’s office, in a statement, said, “Families could immediately use their returned tax dollars to provide for their families and put back into the struggling economy to spur job creation.”

Let’s hope the new senator offers this provision real soon; and let’s also hope that Democrats were inspired by Brown’s non-partisanship and really consider this.

The Short Lived RMV Tax

That didnt’ last long at all.

Gov. Deval Patrick today announced he’s not only rescinding a controversial new $5 fee levied by the state Registry of Motor Vehicles he will even refund those who already paid it.

The move comes a day after the Herald reported the Patrick administration had quietly slipped in the new fee, surprising even members of the Legislature. Critics branded it a “back door” tax on the poor and the elderly.

Patrick said today the negative response was heard loud and clear.

“I appreciate what the registrar and secretary are trying to do, but we’re going to have to look for another way to do this because the push back has been actually quite understandable,” Patrick said.

“We want to make the government as responsive as possible but I think this is one we need to think about in a different way,” the governor added.

Patrick said earlier today the idea was to move more RMV transactions online, but he didn’t want to burden taxpayers during hard economic times. The fee will be rescinded as soon as possible.

RMV began charging the fee yesterday, for anyone who walked into a branch office to renew a license, a registration or request a duplicate license. Anyone who called and talked to an RMV employee to conduct those transactions was charged the fee, as well.

Motorists who used the RMV’s website to conduct business or their automated telephone system were not charged.

State lawmakers who were stunned by the new fee applauded the decision to rescind it.

I’ve believed for a long time that Deval Patrick is trying to tank his reelection “campaign” in order to keep his promise that he will, in fact, run for reelection–but lose. This sets him up for a cushy job in the ill-fated Obama Administration without being called a liar… he’ll be called a moron, but not a liar when it comes his promise to seek reelection. I think this back-door RMV tax that failed faster than he put new drapes on the windows is as close to proof as we’ve seen this year.

RMV Tax?

If someone can explain the sense in this, I’m all ears:

Gov. Deval Patrick is quietly whacking beleaguered Bay State motorists with a $5 fee to use Registry of Motor Vehicle branches to renew their licenses and registrations, outraging critics who say the “back-door tax” hits poor and elderly drivers the hardest.

The fee, which goes into effect today, comes on the heels of a $10 license renewal increase last year.

“In this economic climate we shouldn’t be nickel-and-diming people for mandated services,” said state Sen. Steve Baddour (D-Methuen), who co-chairs the Legislative Transportation Committee, and is planning to look into repealing the fee.

Republicans said residents ought to be able to walk in and use their RMV branches without penalty.

“This is a back-door tax that hits the poor and elderly the hardest,” said Tarah Donoghue, spokeswoman for the Massachusetts Republican Party. “They can’t afford or don’t have Internet access and computers. The Patrick-Murray administration is burdening those people who can afford it the least.”

Customers will incur the new $5 fee if they speak with an RMV representative on the phone or go in to one of the 30 branches for the following services:

• Renewing your driver’s license (except for the 10-year renewal required in person);
• Getting a duplicate license or Massachusetts ID;
• Renewing your registration; or
• Requesting an attested driving record.

The fee won’t be charged for transactions completed online, by mail, or over the RMV’s automated phone system.

I just don’t get this. This is essentially a tax for interacting with state employees in lieu of utilizing automated or online services. I find this particularly odd because it’s usually the other way around, and dubbed a “convenience fee.” I’ve gotten my fair share of parking tickets around the Boston area, and wouldn’t you know it, if I wanted to pay my fine online, I was charged a fee; if I paid in person or by mail, no fee.

So which is it? Are we to be levied with fees for utilizing online services, or in-person services? Either way, it’s absurd. More transactions online mean less people to pay at the RMV, so it ends up in a cost savings and it saves people time. It’s a win-win. But charging people to waste their time in line, dealing with people who really couldn’t care less about helping you, for that you are charging a fee?

Screw that. My license expires next year, and since I renewed online 5 years ago, I have no choice but to go stand in line at the RMV, and I’ll be damned if you try to charge me an extra fee to do that.

Scott Brown: The Independent Voice

To the surprise–and dismay–of many Republicans, Scott Brown cast a vote in support of a job creation bill.

A modest job-creation bill advanced in the U.S. Senate on Monday as the chamber’s newest Republican bucked his party and sided with Democrats on a $15 billion package of tax cuts and highway spending.

Republican Scott Brown joined four other Republicans, 55 Democrats and two independents to overcome a procedural hurdle that sets up a final vote later this week.

Brown was widely hailed as a conservative hero after his surprise victory in Massachusetts last month gave Republicans enough seats to block most Democratic legislation.

His election prompted President Barack Obama and his fellow Democrats to call for increased bipartisanship, and an earlier version of the bill was written with Republican input.

But key Republicans withdrew their support after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid scaled it back.

Brown said the bill was not perfect but would help put people back to work.

“I hope my vote today is a strong step toward restoring bipartisanship in Washington,” he said in a statement.

Scott Brown said the following about his vote for the bill:

I came to Washington to be an independent voice, to put politics aside, and to do everything in my power to help create jobs for Massachusetts families. This Senate jobs bill is not perfect. I wish the tax cuts were deeper and broader, but I am voting for it because it contains measures that will help put people back …to work. … I hope for improvements in that process going forward.

Based on the criteria that Scott Brown campaigned on, no one should be surprised by our new Senator’s vote. He said he was an independent thinker, and if he saw a bill he liked, it wouldn’t matter whose bill it was–if it’s good for Massachusetts, he’ll vote for it.

Now, you may disagree with whether or not this bill is “good for Massachusetts,” but for crying out loud, Scott Brown has not done anything that should be a surprise. In fact, if he specifically voted against this bill because of strict party line, I would be disappointed–and I’m equally disappointed in the people who call themselves Republicans who hoped that Brown would be just a rank-and-file Republican who would only vote for a bill if the Republican Party supported it. It wasn’t that long ago that Brown was campaigning, clearly there are more than a few people with short memories.

The problem with politics as usual is that there aren’t enough people willingly to cross party lines and vote for what they believe is a good bill. If you disagree with their judgment, fine, but when you vote for someone who spends millions of dollars telling you he’s going to be an independent voice, don’t be surprised if he “disappoints” you on occasion. Did you think that Scott Brown was an über-conservative? Sorry, if you didn’t know that before you voted for him, than you are the foolish one. If he was a hard-core conservative, he may not be in Washington right now. Think about that.

For the record, I have not read the bill in question; I know nothing about it in detail. I voted for Scott Brown because between him and Martha Coakley, I trust Scott Brown to represent my interests more than Coakley. I can guarantee that over the remainder of the term he is serving, my interests will have been served better by Scott Brown than they would have by Martha Coakley. If your support is going to waver based on singular votes, you’re gonna be in for a bumpy ride.

Do you want to jump ship? Jump ship. You won’t be missed. There may be room on the bandwagon when you change your mind, but don’t expect a warm welcome from me.

Get over it. There will be bigger battles down the road.