In November, your choice for your government

by Chip Ford, September 2nd, 2008 at 10:45am

It’s now post-Labor Day, and as November approaches so too does the election – and our choices for what government will look like in the future, both across the fruited plain and within the confines of Massachusetts.  Campaign Season ‘08 is off and running.

Here in the Bay State – “The State of Permanent ‘Fiscal Crisis’” – we know one thing for sure:  Come November 5th the voters will have decided whether we have a state income tax to be raided by every special interest from Pittsfield to Provincetown, or will have abolished it and taken back never-ending political spending on never-ending “unmet needs.”

Will taxes go down – or will taxes go up?

That’s what Question 1 on the November ballot will decide.

On the ballot in 2000 was our question to roll back the state income tax to 5 percent, its historic and traditional rate until 1989 when the Dukakis administration and the Democrat Legislature hiked it “temporarily” until it reached 6.25 percent a year later.  With their overwhelming vote, the voters dropped it from 5.85 to 5 percent incrementally by 2003.  The Legislature, giving voters the now-familiar Beacon Hill Middle-Finger Salute, “froze” it “temporarily” at 5.3 percent in 2002 – where it has remained ever since.

As a sop tossed to taxpayers and voters, they established a set of arcane rules by which the “frozen” 5.3 percent rate would gradually diminish until reaching the voters’ mandated 5 percent rate.  We taxpayer activists shook our heads and cynically laughed at the prospect of that ever occurring, even when and if all the Legislature’s criteria ever happened to be met – like all the stars and planets coming together in unique alignment.

See:  http://cltg.org/cltg/cltg2002/

That was over six years ago.  We were asked why we were so “cynical,” if you can believe it.  Six years later our cynicism has proven itself to be the proper response, the ONLY response, once again.

Nelson Benton, editor of the Salem News, in his weekly opinion column of Aug. 29 reported:  “State revenue figures had reached the point where the income-tax rate might have been adjusted downward from the current 5.3 percent to 5.25 percent, according to a formula put into effect in 2002.  But that was before adjusting for inflation.  So, no surprise — it’s not going to happen.”

No surprise at this address.  We “cynics” told you it’d never happen back in 2002.

Six years later and the state’s in yet another “fiscal crisis.”  This state is ALWAYS in a “fiscal crisis” – the “crises” grow bigger every year, after the Legislature spends the annual revenue surpluses of some additional billion dollars, then borrows more on top of that to spend on yet more programs to address insatiable “unmet needs.”

In 2002, during that “fiscal crisis,” the Legislature increased the state budget to over $23 billion – with “The Largest Tax Increase In State History,” according to the Boston Globe no less.  http://cltg.org/cltg/cltg2002/02-07-23.htm#Globe

By comparison, the budget just passed in July increased state spending to $28 billion, an increase of $5 billion (FIVE BILLION DOLLARS) over the six years during which the last step of the voters’ tax rollback mandate has gone ignored – we’re STILL paying the 5.3 percent income tax rate.

How did we ever get “so cynical”?

Our same critics now are arrayed to oppose Question 1 and will pour millions into their campaign striving for its defeat.  They warn of doom and gloom, their only and predictable strategy, and wonder how voters ever got so cynical about government.

If you aren’t asking for more of the same, the only thing you CAN do is vote for Question 1 – because already the tax-borrow-and-spend crowd is looking at the NEXT tax hike if voters are so foolish as to squander this opportunity.

The State House News Service reported on Aug. 28 (”New state budget $1 Billion out of balance, leader says fall session possible”):

“The news makes for a fiscal quagmire for Patrick and Democratic legislative leaders as they look ahead to fall elections. And it likely means continued focus on budget balancing, including potential spending cuts and additional new taxes, and difficulty during the 2009-2010 legislative session paying for investment-based priorities like education, transportation and the 2006 law expanding access to health insurance.”

On November 4 at your polling place, you’ll get to make your decision:  Lower or higher taxes – black and white.  “YES” on Question 1 will provide for lower taxes.  “NO” on Question 1 will provide the green light for more and more taxes, more of the same governing.  Make sure you cast your vote, for it will pave the way for the future – the state’s, the special interests’, and your own.

Tags: broken promises, income tax, Question One Question 1, repeal

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