Carcieri's bumbling balancing act
Those of us chowdaheads living in Rhode Island should be interested in the article on the fronpage of today's Providence Journal: "Carcieri gives unions choice of cuts in pay or benefits". Our governor still persists in trying to balance the state budget on the backs of state workers who have done nothing wrong. He is suggesting either a 5% pay cut or the workers chip in more money for health benefits and have their copays increased.

Some of these workers pull in only $30,000, so they risk taking a $1500 pay cut just because they are state workers. That's the monthly rent for some apartments on Providence's East Side. All of this coming from the Ocean State which doesn't charge a sales or use tax on boats built or bought in our state (click here if you don't believe me). How many state workers bringing home $30,000 a year do you think own boats?

Meanwhile, on page A9 is a very interesting story from the AP wires: "Mass. city buying its medicines in Canada". (I've linked the story from a different source; same story, no subscription links to go through.) This story discusses how Springfield, MA, is providing a program for city workers to provide them with prescription drugs, same ones you can get here in the US, from Canada, purchased at rock bottom prices. They city, providing this program to its 9000 workers, could save $4 million.

Anybody see where I'm going with this? Our state employs more than 9000 workers. While $4 million isn't our par with the $42.5 million that governor Carcieri seeks to save by bilking state employees, he can save some money, save some benefits, and go after taxes which deserve to be paid, like the boat tax. Or if he still fels like picking on state workers, he could offer this program in return for a 2.5% pay cut, which would save the state a bundle of money and state workers would be keepingmore money in their wallets.

Carcieri is a man who came into office saying that he would administrate the state budget like he would the budget from the multi-billion corporation he used to be a CEO of: look at the budget line by line and cut expenses (read: state spending). He talked about getting rid of state cell phones and credit cards given to state employees, and go after small things like that. Decrease state spending by weeding out frivolous expenses. That's a platform that anybody can reasonably support, but it does not look like Carcieri is adhering to it. If he keeps trying to balance the state budget on the backs unionized state workers, this heavily Democratic state will finally elect a Democrat governor in 2006.