Why Rowland's Lies Aren't New

As someone who lived for awhile in the state where John Rowland is governor (R-Connecticut), I'm sad to see that his actions have left a rising number of people (as many as 88% depending on the polls) wanting him impeached.

Perhaps people have short memories, but Rowland is no newcomer to lies. His initial successful run at becoming governor was predicated strictly on the "absolutely no income tax" platform.

Yet before Mr. Rowland's votes were fully counted - and some say, before the election even happened - Mr. Rowland had a team put together to not only exact an income tax, but a much broader and state-lucrative one than originally envisioned. During his years since, Mr. Rowland has employed a number of additional taxes, mostly aimed more at working class people than the extremely wealthy who line Connecticut's Gold Coast and the Litchfield hills. The latter were the people that this governor always targeted for more largesse; he saw himself as a great mover-and-shaker, so long as the only people shaken up were too poor to be of use to him.

Nor was income tax the only issue he's lied about. He's gotten himself twisted into a number of different things that have come up lightly in the press over the years and smiled away by this governor. His ethics have always been very poor.

I'm sad for the people of Connecticut, especially those lower middle and below income earners who continue to struggle in a state where the governor accepts lovely gifts from wealthy contributors and state contractors. But Rowland's clock has been ticking up a fare of huge corruption for a very long time. It's sad that it took so long for him to be foisted on his own petard (although we're sure Mr. Rowland didn't buy that petard but asked a rich friend to give it to him in exchange for some lucrative state contracts).