Submitted by Subject_Ad_2919 t3_ymopwu in RhodeIsland
Subject_Ad_2919 OP t1_iv6nehi wrote
Reply to comment by wasabif in Governor debate… A question by Subject_Ad_2919
Trying to be general to avoid conflict. My views are very unconventional and unachievable to most people.
Personally I don’t want any more red in congress after Roe. I think we should be able to amend the constitution slightly to protect human rights and religious freedom at the same time. BUT I do not agree with democratic economics.
MY MAIN THING IS I do not understand how taxes are spent. I was trying to look it up last night but the charts make no sense (imo) to a normal person without a background in business and I took business in college.
There are way too many business restrictions I do not agree with.
I believe in full prison/court reform. Going through the system is very traumatic even at a low level or family court.
To add (edit): the school systems are awful and we keep pouring money into it for nothing to get better.
wasabif t1_iv6t7h2 wrote
I understand where you’re coming from. I want to again say I think it’s great that you are putting yourself out there to find information in such a chaotic time.
Let’s focus on taxes. I’m going to share how I find information and give you some links. They may not be exactly what you are looking for but hopefully it will be a solid ground for you to start from. Maybe someone on this thread can give a simplistic breakdown of the numbers, that’s just not my strength. Basically what you are looking for is the state’s budget. There’s so much information out there and most people break things down with a bias. It’s not always intentional, it’s a part of human nature. I find the best resource for state information is the official RI website. Here is the link to the Rhode Island office of management and budget. It explains what that part of our government does. Here is the link for this current year’s operating budget. Now there is a lot of information to unpack in these links. And it can be overwhelming. Don’t feel like you need to understand it all now. Everyone learns differently, so maybe just scan through and see what jumps out at you. Take that small bit of information and do some more online exploring about that specific thing.
Remember, our state politicians are paid public servants. The taxpayers of Rhode Island pay their salaries. They are our employees. The only reason their jobs exists is to make our lives COLLECTIVELY better. You have to remember the chances of their being one candidate who you completely agree with is unlikely. There’s about 1.1 million residents of Rhode Island, let’s say 600,000 are tax payers. All those people are not going to prioritize the same things. And yet one person has the job of speaking for the needs of 1.1 million people and answerable to approximately 600,000 bosses. I think, right now, it might help to get clear what YOUR top 3-5 priorities are for a happy life living in this state. You can have more, but prioritize them. The great thing about this is; You alone get to decide these. You are unique and so are your needs for a happy life. Once you are clear on your top priorities, start looking at which candidate meets all (if not most) of these. If there isn’t a candidate that does, this is when you start to affect change. There are many ways to go about this and that is for another time. And I’ve already rambled quite a bit here. Just remember, you are young and this world is for you and your peers to create however you see fit to live in.
*editing to add:
I don’t think you are alone in your frustration with the challenges of easily accessing information from the state. Is that something you’re interested in changing? I’m happy to help you find the current channels to go through to make changes in that area.
Subject_Ad_2919 OP t1_ivbq543 wrote
Super helpful!!!
Subject_Ad_2919 OP t1_iv6o089 wrote
And again- state resources should be made MORE clear to students beginning the careers or in colleges because I had to spend hours looking up all of this info. When we vote we should be able to easily access info and understand what we’re voting for.
_CaesarAugustus_ t1_iva1gq8 wrote
The old joke about politicians being required to wear their special interest group logos as patches like NASCAR drivers comes to mind. Your point here is solid. They’ll never allow it because then the money becomes far too obvious to us the voters.
_CaesarAugustus_ t1_iva1tfl wrote
“School systems” as a broad brush is a good topic to bring up, but to act like every individual school system is terrible, or failing isn’t accurate. Where I attended school they’ve been upper-tier for more than a decade. Same for some of the neighboring towns. I think the ones that are failing their children are doing so rather drastically, but that doesn’t lower the successful systems with them.
Subject_Ad_2919 OP t1_ivbq07h wrote
I didn’t say all. I’m keeping it general. But if you look at the providence school systems for example. I didn’t go to school there but I’ve seen articles. For another* example, where I went to school they vote for an increase in budget every year but it doesn’t seem like much has changed since I went.
Subject_Ad_2919 OP t1_ivbqj87 wrote
Also in the recent debates McKee said himself reading scores I think* went up while math went down. I’ve read we are one of the worst preforming school systems within the states BUT don’t quote me on that. I do agree with you tho not everything is broken. We just need improving.
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