A sign of trouble ....

Funny story in the Boston Herald this morning about Governor Romney's ban on "monuments to egos" on public signs. Slick apparently doesn't take too kindly to the fact that Turnpike Authority boss Matthew Amorello plasters his mug and name all over rest stops and signage, but never mentions the guv. This is a very visible reminder that Amorello doesn't answer to Romney, and Romney ain't too happy about this, especially after all the bad blood over the Big Dig.

I believe the Rominator is right on this one -- Amorello is a jerk, and there shouldn't be monuments to egos on highway signage, or anything else (including the state website, which Romney didn't build, yet still has his pic!). But Romney seems to forget a primary reason why the Turnpike Authority was set up as an independent authority in the first place -- so pols wouldn't be roasted by voters in commuter suburbs (including Newton) for raising taxes via highway tolls.

Now Romney wants to rein in the Turnpike Authority. But you can bet that he doesn't want to be the person who takes responsibility for tax collection at the tolls, because you can be sure that when he runs for president, a 10 cent increase at the Weston toll plaza will make him a pariah within the GOP -- a Republican governor who raised taxes!

Sorry, Mr. Governor ... you can't have it both ways!