LETTERS

Time to head to Florida?

Posted 11/18/14

To the Editor:

In the election year 2012, Rhode Island had seven ballot issues, of which five were bond issues, all approved, amounting to $201 million. Florida had 12 ballot issues in 2012, none …

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LETTERS

Time to head to Florida?

Posted

To the Editor:

In the election year 2012, Rhode Island had seven ballot issues, of which five were bond issues, all approved, amounting to $201 million. Florida had 12 ballot issues in 2012, none of which were bonds, and that state is 67 times larger than Rhode Island.

This past week, Rhode Island voters were asked about seven ballot questions, four of which were bonds that were approved and which amounted to $248 million. Similarly, in Florida, voters were asked about three ballot issues, none of which were bond issues. That’s right, not one bond issue in Florida where the population is 18 times greater than Rhode Island’s!

Is it just coincidence that in Rhode Island the winning politicians were all Democrats – governor and General Assembly – while in Florida just the opposite occurred? All are Republicans – governor and legislature – and that Rhode Island had all these bond issues and Florida had none? In this tiny state, the total debt per citizen is $11,000 while in huge Florida, the debt per citizen is $8,000. The Democrats in this state pride themselves on being “progressive (hard core leftist, liberal), caring, concerned and compassionate” while continually sticking their constituents with these bond issues, and as they label members of the other parties (Republican & Tea Party) as “extreme right wingers, deniers, bigoted, mean-spirited, greedy, etc.” The numbers don’t lie, but the Democrat politicians are systemic liars because they make and love the lie as they pass on this immoral debt burden to the next generation rather than make the moral choice of paying and praying as you go.

But they don’t believe their own lie; they head for Florida to retire with their millions.

Erik Thorp

Warwick

Comments

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  • JohnStark

    Mr. Thorp only tells part of the story. The key driver for much of the economic data is Business Climate, a parameter in which RI ranks 45th in the country while Florida ranks 5th. Translation: Florida is receptive to business while RI is hostile to business. In RI, government exists for the purpose of expanding itself, and this costs money. Florida has a lower sales tax than RI. Florida has NO state income tax. RI ranks 8th highest in the US in total tax burden while FLA is 31st. And what does RI state government do with all this money? They employ a) hacks who see to it that insane regulations are enacted and followed, and b) brothers-in-law to lifetime, do-nothing state jobs. Florida has 10 adults per 10,000 in the population working for the state highway dept. RI? 15 per 10,000. That's a 50% difference in exchange for deplorable state highways. All these burdensome regulations and confiscatory taxes have effectively kept businesses out of RI, while driving the unemployment rate to 27% higher than Florida. Then again, if the purpose of RI's state government is to make as many people as possible dependent upon the State, RI has succeeded brilliantly. And voters have asked for more of the same.

    Wednesday, November 19, 2014 Report this

  • Straightnnarrow

    All this comparative information should be the lead story every day in all of the state newspapers; instead none of this was disclosed or discussed in the papers nor by the politicians during the election cycle. We only heard about JOBS, JOBS, JOBS til it was coming out our ears and there won't be any jobs except those sponsored by the State. So why should anyone think this deplorable condition is reversible?

    Wednesday, November 19, 2014 Report this