Enough with the fees already!

Good God, Governor Patrick, it's time for some real taxes. What problem does a fee hike at Logan solve? Whether or not this idea is a good one (a personal meh for me), this trend is a killer. Government by fees isn't honest, whether it's the $2-3k tuition at UMASS (15k in fees) or the RMV fees as opposed to covering those expenses with the gas tax. Didn't we elect Governor Patrick to get away from the policies of Mitt Romney (including the lame sloganeering - ie "carbon fee").

Moreover, by relying on fees, important things inevitably get cut, which end up costing more. Those fees can't cover the services, pure and simple, because the right amount of additional tax dollars never end up going to the agencies. Hence no one gets RMV reminders in the mail - which could end up costing some people hundreds (and/or worse) should they be pulled over days or weeks after their license expired. This is not good government.

Oh, and this is laughable:

[Aloisi] wants the parking fee - which requires approval from the Legislature - to be used for improvements to airport-related transit projects, including a proposal to build a new tunnel under South Boston to speed up the Logan-bound Silver Line bus service.... Based on Logan's most recent parking figures, the new fee would probably raise about $5.4 million per year.

So, this new $2 "carbon fee" is going to pay for a Silver Line bus tunnel to Logan? I'd be shocked if it would pay for a tunnel through snow for kids to play in when school's off.