Are we really supposed to believe that Governor Maura Healey is rescuing us from new tolls?
If you are falling for this latest Beacon Hill melodrama, you aren’t paying enough attention.
Healey is a Democrat, so of course she wants more of our money!
This past winter Healey created the Transportation Funding Task Force, key word “funding.” The so-called millionaires’ tax has not generated enough revenue (they never do, because “millionaires” flee). So her task force is looking for new ways to raid our wallets.
It just happens that her Transportation Secretary Monica Tibbits-Nutt suggested that the state might put tolls on the Massachusetts border. Tibbits-Nutt said it was one of the ideas being considered by the Transportation Funding Task Force.
So was this a complete surprise to Healey, who appointed the members of the raid-your-wallet task force?
Of course not. She knew. Maura was just hoping people would go along with this latest money-grabbing scheme.
They floated a trial balloon to gauge the opposition. It’s what greedy politicians always do. If it goes over badly, the elected official steps out and says, “I don’t know where this crazy idea came from…”
From Kevin White in the 1970’s to Maura Healey a half-century later, the playbook doesn’t change. That’s why after the so-called embarrassing dust up, Healey has not fired the Transportation Secretary. Tibbits-Nutt was just doing the dirty work for Healey, whose polling numbers are lagging, as well they should be, given her abysmal performance.
Now you should brace yourself, because there are going to be more of these trial balloons being floated. They are not going to suggest cutting the billions in endless handouts to the illegals to pay for transportation.
I predict that open-road tolling, gas tax increases, and registry fee hikes are next. The backlash on the border tolls is not going to deter Healey and her greed-crazed task force.
We can expect to see the next series of ideas to be discussed during the dog days of summer when no one is paying attention, or so they think.
