There is very little being done by our pols to bring in new business. It is extremely difficult to begin a business here. There are copious rules and regulations that have put impediments in front of potential entrepreneurs to start a business. Rules and regulations have a place in preventing employer abuse and safety workplace concerns, but they should be tempered with common sense and with an eye toward encouragement to the business owner who is going to risk his capital and resources. These people should not be discouraged. Most business owners will throw up their hands and move elsewhere when confronted with the regulatory nightmare that Rhode Island presents. For example, this state has mandatory workmen compensation rules, this state is highly unionized, with an almost 100% employee enrollment in public sector unions including teachers, firemen, police, and municipal workers. These people have demanded and have received unsustainable wage and benefit packages from the city and towns where they are employed. This means higher taxes for business and homeowners. What responsible businessman would want to start up in that type of business environment. Home ownership is subsequently discouraged because of the dependence on property taxes to fund the public sector.

The answer for Rhode Island is to change its political leadership. Let’s get a republican administration in this state. Let’s reign in the union strangle hold on our communities. Let’s break this cycle of business unfriendliness, and have Rhode Island realize take its rightful place as a state that encourages the entrepreneur and businessmen to make that investment

Sin taxes are typically added to liquor, cigarettes and other non-luxury items. State governments favor sin taxes because they generate an enormous amount of revenue and are usually easily accepted by the general public because they are indirect taxes that only affect those who use the products. When individual states run deficits, the sin tax is typically one of the first taxes recommended by lawmakers to help fill the budget gap.

(This is according to Investopedia).

Is drinking soda, flavored water, or iced tea a sin? Apparently, if Governor Chaffee of Rhode Island has his way, it certainly is. What may, on the surface, seem like a great way to raise state revenue to help make up for shortfalls in taxes, can actually lead to collection of less taxes. People generally cut back on items they have to pay more for. If you have been to a supermarket lately, you already know that your food costs have risen dramatically since Obama’s administration, and Governor Chaffee’s folly will only add dollars to a family’s food bill. Arguments against establishing this tax are many. An obvious one is the reduction of sales of these products and, therefore, negating any tax advantage at all. Soft drink distributors will deliver less of these products to their in-state stores. This will, in turn, put truck drivers, shelf stockers, loading dock workers, cashiers, out of work. The ripple effect of this proposed legislation will actually lead to unemployment, and, therefore, payroll taxes will decrease and state revenue will get even lower. So, this proposal will have the direct opposite intended.

A perfect example of how a higher tax rate can actually lower revenue for a state can be illustrated by various state’s attempts at raising taxes on the millionaires living there, When these taxes were implemented targeting these millionaires, they reacted by moving out of the state. These people didn’t become millionaires because they are stupid. These people are rich enough to be mobile and they can move their homes and businesses to more tax friendly states. This left the states that instituted this misguided policy even poorer. Now they aren’t collecting any taxes from these individuals. The burden, necessarily reverts to the middle class.

Another valid argument is, that this is just another example government’s attempt to intrude on an individual’s right to choose how to live one’s life. Many people believe that is a line that should not be crossed. This is nanny-state micro-management at its worse. The government has a say in mostly everything that we do, but what a person chooses to buy as a beverage should be immune from government scrutiny. What’s next! Will the government try to tell us what color socks to wear! This is simply social engineering via the tax code. That is UN-American, but it appears, especially in a democratic administration, that social engineering is what they do best.

The bottom line here readers, is to contact your state representative and complain. Enough is enough! At some point, common sense has to prevail; even in Rhode Island!

Nothing new in terms of features. Dan is still working on a technical
revamp of the whole site. It’s slow going because he, like me, has a
full-time job and other interests, and rebuilding the site from scratch
using a new data handling system is an immense task.

Do you plan on doing anything new with Quahog.org? Any new features coming on line ….

Number one on my list is to have an interactive form so people can
upload their own event information to our calendar. Keeping the calendar
up-to-date is a huge time-suck for me, and it prevents me from working
on other, more interesting aspects of the site. We’d also like to make
other parts of the site more interactive. Right now readers can submit
their own notes and reviews on the entries in the Cuisine section, but
we’d like to expand that capability to the Attractions and Facts and
Folklore sections.

What’s your favorite restaurant in RI ….

Right now it’s probably El Rancho Grande on Plainfield Street in Olneyville.

Who would you rather dine with …. Harry Anderson or Joseph Banigan?

I think Harry Anderson would be more fun. And I’m not that interested in
rubber manufacturing.

What’s your favorite part of Quahog.org and why?

I’d probably have to say the Film and Television pages. I enjoy trying
to figure out where in Rhode Island various scenes were filmed. Some are
obvious, but others require some detective work.

Who’s your favorite RI personality? past or present or perhaps even future …….

Whenever I think about who it would be neat to meet, I almost always
come back to Roger Williams. I fear, though, that his level of
conversational dexterity would be so far above my own that I would
embarrass myself.

Who do you think would make a better Governor of RI. Jay Gatsby or Alan G.Hassenfeld? (Hasbro Inc. director)

Hard to say. One is the head of a successful international corporation.
The other is a charismatic fictional character with a shady criminal
past, attempting to leverage an ill-gotten fortune to gain
respectability. We’ve elected both kinds of men in the past. Well,
although I don’t know much about Hassenfeld’s character, I’d have to go
with him. The state needs a competent manager more than it needs an
unscrupulous Robert Redford. And I don’t think Gatsby would survive the
media scrutiny in the run-up to election.

Christopher Martin
Curator, Quahog.org