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| They should have called ahead. |
So here’s what happened in Warwick the other day: a bunch of people marched to City Hall to crash a City Council meeting, where they expected to let the council know how they felt about the recent raise in the town’s car tax rate, which is not good. Not good at all. However, the members of the council were holding their meeting in the basement instead of the council chambers, and it’s not like they were hiding from the protesters or anything – it’s just where they usually meet, apparently. So when the council was informed of the protesters’ existence upstairs, they said that the car tax wasn’t on the agenda, and to go away. Which the protesters did, after apologizing for the mix-up and for wasting valuable council time.
Ha! No no no. That didn’t happen. Instead, the council let some of the protesters fill up the 49 available spectator chairs in the room, while the remaining 100 or so passed the microphone (who brought a microphone?) and yelled to each other how angry they are.
Nothing seems to make people gather into large groups and shout more than raised taxes, I think. And it’s true: raised taxes suck. And Warwickians’ particular problem is that the town is overvaluing vehicles and changed the definition of a or tax-exempt vehicle, or junker, from a car that’s worth $6,000 to one that’s worth five hundred bucks. In other words, if your car is up on blocks and you can’t even sell it for scrap, you don’t have to pay taxes on it, although you’ll probably have to pay some sort of zoning violation fine for having it on blocks in your yard. That is, if I understand the issue correctly, which I may not. Anyway.
Leave it to my friend the Providence Journal to take up the cause of a bunch of protesters by making them look like idiots:
[Some lady] of Warwick, says: "I just traded in my 1999 Rodeo and got $1,000 for it from the dealer — yet the city says it’s worth $4,425: Are they kidding?”
No, they’re not. But they’re probably in possession of a Kelly Blue Book, and they’re optimistically assuming that your car is in pristine condition. And if you’re determining the value of a car based on what a dealer will give you for trading it in, your problems extend well beyond your tax rate.
And then, according to the ProJo, this happened after the angry mob was denied admittance to the room and inclusion on the agenda:
“Boo! Boo!,” [the protesters] shouted. “Ten minutes! Ten minutes is all we ask!”
And then they broke into song! Well, no, they didn't, but wouldn't that have been awesome? A full-length musical about the trials and tribulations about skyrocketing car taxes in Kent County would give Arlene Violet’s mob musical a run for its money, I tell you what.
Tsk, tsk. Won’t someone – anyone – inject some sanity and rational thinking into this mess? Ah, yes. ProJo commenters to the rescue! Oh, ProJo commenters. I want to wrap you around myself like a crazy, cozy blanket, until I realize that the blanket is uncomfortable and giving me a rash, so I take it off. Here are some highlights so you don’t have to say goodbye to part of your soul by reading them all, like I did:
Get ready to pay even more..... the Warwick teachers union is cutting a deal for a new contract behind closed doors. Time to bend over taxpayers.
Okay. You know how some people have called for a moratorium on comparing anyone you don’t happen to like to Hitler? I think we should do the same for comparing actions, especially taxation, to anal rape. I may be going out on a limb here, but I’m pretty sure that anyone who’s lived through both wouldn’t put them in the same category.
I wish the 150-200 collectively stormed that room in the basement and physically dragged the council members to the council chambers to face their constituents. I think it's about time for the voters to really make themselves heard.
Simple assault = success! Come on, mob! Act like a mob if you're gonna.
We need to set up a gullotine in the center of Warwick. If the swine cops from the city have a problem with it we can stick their heads in too.
Oh my goodness.
THE NATURAL ENEMY OF EVERY FREE = MAN/WOMEN =IS HIS /HER OWN GOVERMENT...THE LAND OF THE FREE AND THE HOME OF THE IS NO LONGER A SAFE PLACE FOR US = UNDER OUR CURRENT CROP OF POLITIANS =IN WASHINGTON AND AT HOME
O…kay?
Ejoy life in Warwick. I pay 0 taxes on my 2010 Altama here in Florida. I lived in Warwick and I lived in a few other cities in R. I. I don't miss the pot holes and high taxes. Keep voting for those good for nothings, and you will have to leave the state to live.
And yet… this guy reads – and comments on articles in – the Providence Journal every day. Every. Day. Five of the 114 comments on this particular article were his, and most were about how great it was to live in Florida, a state four out of five hillbillies describe as “too daing crazy what to live in.” In other words, unejoyable.
Bankruptcy is liberty. Bankruptcy is for when self-government has failed, as it has here. Don't pay this oppressive tax. Force a bankruptcy through civil disobedience.
Really? Wow. I guess my concept of bankruptcy was way off. It sounds fantastic.
Being a former Warwick resident I sympathize with the public, but the Open Meetings law restricts what the Council can be discuss at a meeting. It has to be on the agenda, which has to be published at least 48 hours before the meeting. The article says Mr. Cote (odd that his first name isn't mentioned) spent two weeks getting word out about the rally. I wonder why he didn't spend ten minutes to call a council member to get the issue on the agenda?
Hey, that’s… well, that’s a good point, actually. Touche, level-headed ProJo commenter! The day is yours.
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