Yesterday's
New York Times had
a great column on Lincoln Chafee's Herculean task of taking on the timeless political credo: get elected and stay elected at any cost. The former Republican Rhode Island senator is now running
as an independent for the state's governorship and the other front-runner is current
RI General Treasurer Frank T. Caprio, a Democrat. The main difference between the two is not the stereotypical Republican vs. Democrat tax stance.
Chafee is advocating eliminating a series of exemptions from the state's sales tax which would close around a quarter of the $400 million shortfall in the $7.8 billion budget. He opposes cuts to social services. Caprio, on the other hand, has stated his motto for the upcoming election, should he and Chafee find themselves in the big time: "If you want to pay more taxes, support Senator Chafee. If you don’t want to pay taxes, support me."
