Massachusetts Taxes
If ever you needed proof that elected officials disdain and ignore their constituents, just move to Massachusetts. Back in 1989, the Michael Dukakis days, when faced with a budget deficit, the government did not what they should (which would be to cut the fat, cut the corruption and better manage spending at a state and city/town level), but what was expected and increased the income tax from 5% to 5.75% (it eventually got up to 5.85% because the state kept bleeding money). The only way they got this to pass (and it never should have) was to promise that it was a temporary increase and that it would be rolled back at 18 months. Well, it’s 2006 and income tax has only been rolled back to 5.3%, when it was frozen by the Democratic house due to continued budget deficits. In 2000, voters approved a measure that demanded a rollback to the promised 5%. Guess what: it’s still 5.3%.
This is an issue that all the candidates for Governor keep talking about. Some, like Republican Kerry Healey, promise immediate rollbacks. Others, like Democrat Deval Patrick, believe that rolling back the income tax would just lead to higher property taxes. One of the reasons I respect Governor Mitt Romney is because he promised to roll back the tax to the 5% the voters approved and he actually fulfilled his promise. The problem is that the Democratic state Senate, currently 87% majority, overruled him and forced the tax to remain at 5.3%. This DESPITE the fact that the voters ORDERED their representatives to roll back the income tax to 5% and the fact that the increase was only supposed to be temporary. So while I believe Kerry Healey will try to rollback the tax, the Democratic Senate will not let it pass. What’s interesting is that both of the other Democrats running for Governor, Tom Reilly and Chris Gabrieli, say that they will roll back the tax as well.
So what’s the big deal here? Why does this piss me off? Sure, it’s not a lot of money per individual (though it adds up to over $200 million in lost “revenue” for the state), but it’s the fact that not only did our government blatantly lie about it being temporary, but they have shown their contempt for voters by ignoring our 2000 vote demanding an immediate rollback to 5% (which just means we had to put a vote on the books demanding that they keep their 1989 promise). Those who have tried to fulfill promises have been steamrolled by the Democratic Senate. It’s disgusting and an example of just how little control we have over those who been elected (since they just blatantly ignore us).
So what should Massachusetts voters do? First off, we have got to stop this bullshit about voting in Republican governors who have no chance of actually keeping their campaign promises if we don’t balance the state Senate. Just as I despise the current Federal setup where the Republicans control everything, I despise the Massachusetts setup where the Democrats control everything. The idea is that we have a balance of viewpoints that can accurately represent the people. I know Massachusetts is a liberal state, which is why there’s more Democrats than Republicans in the Senate, but we need to strive for balance. We need more independent Democrats, more Republicans and more Independents represeting us at the state level. We need to vote out to corrupt assclowns who insist on spending more and more of our money with less and less transparency and representation.
Governor Romney has made some tough decisions and has had to cut a lot of fat in the budget, but we’re finally at a point where the cuts have earned rewards. In 2005 we had a $500 million surplus, which is quite a turnaround considering Romney faced a $3 billion deficit when he took office. Of course, the cuts necessary to make this happen hurt. The Democrats in control certainly didn’t make it any easier as towns and cities chose to layoff police and fire department staff in order to make headlines, as opposed to cutting the fat in their own departments. This is scary, because it shows that our elected officials are willing to sacrifice public safety to make a point, as opposed to actually doing the work they should be doing. In the hands of competent people, that surplus and continued work to keep our economy strong means that we can reintroduce some programs that were cut, but in a responsible fashion. In the hands of our inept state government, they will find ways to blow the money and get us back into a deficit faster than their cousins get jobs at Massport. A perfect example of this: the Democratic house did approve a rollback to the voter-mandated 5% income tax rate, but only if spending on state aid and education is restored to levels last seen before 2002 (back in the middle of our last fiscal crisis). Here’s proof that this group of idiots learned nothing from the mistakes of our past and are willing to immediately blow the hard work of the last 4 years. If this were to happen, you can bet that by the time the rollbacks would start happening, the surplus would be gone and the deficit would be back, and the Democrats would tell us that the state can’t afford to rollback the income tax.
To be clear: I’m neither Republican nor Democrat, but rather an Independent. I respect Romney because he made every effort to live up to his campaign promises and because he has brought state spending under control, despite being stymied by the state Senate at most turns. He has called for the income tax to be reduced to 5% in every budget he presents. I despise the Democrat-controlled Senate because their culture of corruption over the decades has proven to me that they have no respect for the people of our state and are only interested in their own agendas. We need balance and real representation. Remember people, our taxes are our money and we should be always seeking to keep our taxes as low as possible. State government should NOT be flush with cash and keep taxes high - state government should be functioning at the leanest, most effective levels possible. It’s our money - bloat should never be accepted, because that just means they’re blowing our cash.
Finally, government should keep their promises and do what their voters tell them to do. If they can simply ignore our voter-approved mandates at their leisure, than we’re no longer in a representative democracy. WE are the people and THEY serve at our pleasure. Vote them out and lets bring balance to state government.
