CLT
UPDATE
Thursday, September 7, 2006
All Three Blind Mice see the light!
Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey signed a pledge Monday
promising not to increase taxes, becoming the latest gubernatorial
candidate to weigh in on the contentious topic.
Taxes have touched off a recent firestorm between candidates in the race
for governor, who have used the issue to begin taking aim at each other
as the groggy, post-Labor Day race awakens.
Healey, a Republican, is the only candidate to sign the pledge, which
was crafted by the Citizens for Limited Taxation, an antitax
group based in Massachusetts and headed by Barbara Anderson, a
Healey supporter.
Democratic candidates Deval Patrick, Christopher Gabrieli and Attorney
General Thomas Reilly have said they are against additional income
taxes, though none had signed the pledge as of yesterday.
Patrick has specifically said he would not support an income-tax
rollback.
The Lowell Sun
Wednesday, September 6, 2006
Income-tax rollback a hot issue in race for governor
Democrat Deval L. Patrick, who has come under attack from his
rivals in the primary campaign for his resistance to lowering the state income
tax rate, said last night that he might support a rollback to 5 percent if the
Massachusetts economy strengthens.
Patrick, joined by four other gubernatorial candidates at a forum at Roxbury
Community College, said that although he opposes a rollback from 5.3 percent to
5 percent now, the state might be able to afford the lower rate in the future if
the economy sees a significant expansion.
"I do think that we can get to a point one day when we can sustain a 5 percent
rate," Patrick said. "The only way to get there is by growing the economy."
The Boston Globe
Thursday, September 7, 2006
Patrick says he may back tax rollback
Taxes in the house. Reilly is going populist, as
Democrats in trouble often do. Says he's only one favoring immediate
rollback of state income tax because millionaire opponents don't care
about $4-per-week savings. Patrick will say Reilly's flip-flopped, that
Reilly opposed it last year. Gabrieli will say roll it back in stages;
Reilly will say voters didn't ask for money back on installment plan.
Rollback will be hottest issue, with Reilly and Gabby playing tag team
on Patrick while trying to smack down each other....
Blowback. If Reilly pushes too hard, his opponents will give him facial
on lax oversight of Big Dig, cutting saccharine deal with Bechtel, and
accepting campaign money from Big Dig contractors. Reilly can't try to
embrace Barbara Anderson without being shoved into arms of Bechtel.
Respect the voters. Indifference to voter concern on taxes could prevent
Patrick from moving beyond liberal base. To get moderates, he has to
respect voter discontent with Beacon Hill. After all, 45 percent of
state voted to abolish state income tax in 2002. Recent Globe poll found
57 percent of current primary voters want income tax cut.
Gabrilocks. Gabrieli's new TV spot says Reilly and Kerry Healey want to
roll back state income tax immediately. (Too hard.) Patrick doesn't want
to change it at all. (Too soft.) But Chris Gabrilocks wants to roll it
back in stages. (Just right.)
The Boston Globe
Thursday, September 7, 2006
Candidates prep for show time
By Dan Payne
Lately, Reilly and Patrick have been mildly sniping at each
other. Gabrieli’s "comparative" ads (opponents would call them "negative") tout
his gradual lowering of the income tax back to 5 percent as better than either
Reilly’s "Immediately" (the title of the AG’s new tax ad) or Patrick’s "not just
yet." How nice if they’d fire back before their biggest audience yet, tonight’s
viewers....
On taxes, I’d like more detail from Patrick - who spurns an income tax cut in
favor of lowering property taxes (with beefed-up local aid) - on exactly how
he’d persuade mayors and selectmen to cut the property tax instead of just
spending the new money from the state. And how will Patrick and Gabrieli answer
Reilly’s ad on the tax rollback? The spot says it would save the average family
$200 a year and adds - in classic class warfare style - "As millionaires, 200
bucks is nothing to them, but that’s real money to us."
The Boston Herald
Thursday, September 7, 2006
No more Mr. Nice Guy:
Gubernatorial Democrats, it’s time to play for keeps
By Wayne Woodlief
Chip Ford's CLT Commentary
It wasn't too long ago, during the spring legislative
budget debates, when Barbara asked a reporter who'd called on another
matter why the media wasn't covering the tax rollback debates in the
House and Senate. He replied something to the effect that the tax
rollback is old news which interests nobody any more.
I wonder what he's thinking today?
Today, the tax rollback is THE big issue in
the gubernatorial contest.
According to the
recent Boston Globe poll, it still matters to 57 percent of those
surveyed, and now it certainly matters to the Democrats running for
governor, tripping all over themselves to win over that voting majority
who consider the 17-year old temporary income tax rollback a "key
issue."
Why even ultra-liberal Deval Patrick last night had
second thoughts about his "Never!" position and now is trying to soften
his extremism to woo those voters over or at least soothe them.
CLT has never given up on our -- on the voters'
-- tax rollback, despite the backhand the Democrats in the Legislature
keep giving us and the voting majority, their constituents. As
Dave Denison noted in his excellent article in Commonwealth Magazine's
summer edition, "Taxes
decide gubernatorial elections":
In fact, on the 2000 income tax rate rollback, 322
cities and towns voted yes and only 29 voted no. The combined vote of
the state’s 10 largest cities was negative, with 241,444 against and
226,569 in favor (a 51.6 percent to 48.4 percent margin). But towns
and suburbs voted heavily to cut the income tax rate.
He further observed:
The governor’s race in Massachusetts, in these
times, is decided by single-issue voters. Not the ones who vote on
abortion, the death penalty, or same-sex marriage. I’m talking about
those who tune in to the governor’s race in the fall with one question
in mind: Who will hold the line against higher taxes? They don’t look
to the governor to improve schools, to “create jobs,” to settle moral
disputes, or to end traffic jams. They’re not looking for a visionary
leader; visions can be costly. They want a governor who envisions
lower taxes....
Apparently the Three Blind Mice --
Reilly, Gabrieli, and Patrick -- have
seen the light, have caught on and are
racing to get ahead of the curve. As the old saying
goes, "When you're being run out of town, get to the head of the mob and
make it look like a parade." When Patrick scurried to the head of
the mob last night, he surrendered his one asset in my estimation:
his apparent honesty and credibility as an extreme liberal. Now
he's become just one more Democrat who'll say and do anything to get
elected.
The 17-year old income tax hike, promised in 1989 to
be only "temporary," remains a hot issue. The 60-40 percent ballot
question vote to roll it back to 5 percent hasn't been forgotten, is
still alive, well, and on voters' minds.
The Democrat wannabe leaders are on notice -- and
they now know it. All three of them.
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Chip Ford |
The Lowell Sun
Wednesday, September 6, 2006
Income-tax rollback a hot issue in race for governor
By Hillary Chabot, Sun Statehouse Bureau
Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey signed a pledge Monday promising not to increase
taxes, becoming the latest gubernatorial candidate to weigh in on the
contentious topic.
Taxes have touched off a recent firestorm between candidates in the race
for governor, who have used the issue to begin taking aim at each other
as the groggy, post-Labor Day race awakens.
Healey, a Republican, is the only candidate to sign the pledge, which
was crafted by the Citizens for Limited Taxation, an antitax group based
in Massachusetts and headed by Barbara Anderson, a Healey supporter.
Democratic candidates Deval Patrick, Christopher Gabrieli and Attorney
General Thomas Reilly have said they are against additional income
taxes, though none had signed the pledge as of yesterday.
Patrick has specifically said he would not support an income-tax
rollback.
Candidates who sign the pledge promise to oppose and veto any and all
efforts to increase taxes. Anderson said the pledge is a signal to the
Legislature indicating that the candidate won't stand for additional
taxes.
"We're going to make sure voters know that (Healey's) the only candidate
to be trusted to not raise taxes," said Healey spokeswoman Amy Lambiaso.
"Reilly has clearly had an election-year conversion on rolling back
taxes, Patrick has made it no secret that he would raise taxes, and
Gabrieli hasn't been honest with taxpayers."
Gabrieli spokesman Dan Cence declined to comment on whether Gabrieli
would sign the contract, but said Gabrieli has been open about his
gradual tax-rollback plan. The plan would tie the income-tax rollback to
state revenue, reducing the income tax over three years to 5.2 percent
in 2008, 5.1 percent in 2009, and 5 percent in 2010, Cence said. But the
cuts won't happen if the state doesn't take in enough revenue.
Cence said Healey's plan is ineffective because it offers no proof that
the Legislature would vote for it.
"(Her plan offers) no change. It's just a lot of rhetoric," Cence said.
Current Gov. Mitt Romney advocated a tax rollback in the past year and
included it in his 2006 budget, but it never passed. He never signed the
CLT pledge, however.
Former Republican Govs. Paul Cellucci and William Weld signed the pledge
during their terms in office.
Taxes have proved an important issue to voters, according to a recent
poll by The Boston Globe that shows that 57 percent of likely Democratic
voters support a rollback of the state income tax. Michael Widmer, of
the Massachusetts Taxpayers Association, said taxes are clearly on
voters' minds as democratic candidates wrestle over a voter-mandated
proposal to rollback state income taxes from 5.3 percent to 5 percent.
Voters approved a gradual lowering of the income-tax rate from 5.85
percent to 5 percent in 2000, but the Legislature froze the rate at 5.3
percent in 2002.
The issue is more of voter trust in the government than actually getting
a break on income taxes when it comes to the rollback, said Widmer.
Reilly supports an immediate income-tax rollback, but has been
criticized because he didn't support the rollback until last year.
"Tom has always said the state should roll back the income-tax rate when
we can afford it, and it's clear we can afford it," said Corey Welford,
Reilly's spokesman.
Welford would not say if Reilly will sign the no-new-taxes pledge, but
added Reilly believes taxes are too high.
Although three of the four candidates have pledged to roll back taxes,
Widmer cautioned that the promise might be difficult to fulfill because
the Legislature opposes it.
Widmer also said the state might not be able to handle the $675 million
loss in revenue from cutting the tax.
Supporters of the tax rollback argue that the state had a $1 billion
surplus this year.
The loss of revenue could directly affect property taxes, which is also
a large concern to taxpayers, Widmer said.
Patrick opposes new taxes, said spokesman Libby DeVecchi, but said he
doesn't support cutting the income tax because he believes it will put
the burden on property owners and local cities and towns.
"(Patrick) thinks the tax to cut is the property tax," DeVecchi said.
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The Boston Globe
Thursday, September 7, 2006
Patrick says he may back tax rollback
Cut would depend on state economy
By Scott Helman and Matt Viser, Globe Staff
Democrat Deval L. Patrick, who has come under attack from his rivals in
the primary campaign for his resistance to lowering the state income tax
rate, said last night that he might support a rollback to 5 percent if
the Massachusetts economy strengthens.
Patrick, joined by four other gubernatorial candidates at a forum at
Roxbury Community College, said that although he opposes a rollback from
5.3 percent to 5 percent now, the state might be able to afford the
lower rate in the future if the economy sees a significant expansion.
"I do think that we can get to a point one day when we can sustain a 5
percent rate," Patrick said. "The only way to get there is by growing
the economy."
Patrick argues that cutting the income tax rate would starve cities and
towns of state local aid revenue, leading the municipalities to raise
property taxes. But his remarks indicating an openness to consider a
lower rate down the road are a response to the criticism he has endured
on the issue from Democratic rivals Thomas F. Reilly and Christopher F.
Gabrieli. Reilly has called for an immediate rollback, a change from his
position last year. Gabrieli has called for a phased rollback.
Patrick's remarks on taxes came as the three Democrats, independent
Christy Mihos, and Green-Rainbow Party candidate Grace Ross traded
opinions at the forum on housing, immigration, and other issues
important to urban neighborhoods.
The forum, which was sponsored by the Boston Association of Black
Journalists, the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts, and several
other organizations, featured mostly tame answers on policy matters, but
the candidates did spar on a few issues, most notably the Big Dig.
Reilly came under attack for the failures of the $14.6 billion project,
fending off criticism that he was an ineffective watchdog as costs
spiraled and problems mounted. He was put on the defensive by a question
about how the state could restore faith in the project after the July 10
death of a motorist in an Interstate 90 tunnel.
Patrick, who was sitting next to Reilly, accused him of lax oversight:
"The compounded tragedy really is that it took a tragedy before our
governor, our lieutenant governor, and -- Tom, I'm sorry to say it's my
view -- our attorney general to show interest" in what happened on the
project.
"That is why I think so many people in Massachusetts say: 'I'm done with
government. Give me my money back,'" Patrick said.
Reilly responded by placing much of the blame on Republican
administrations over the past 16 years, saying their cozy relationship
with project manager Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff and other contractors
had made it "very difficult" to go after the companies.
"I'm as outraged and upset and angry at what has happened with the Big
Dig as any one of you or anyone in this state," Reilly said, vowing to
"pierce the barriers" that have protected the companies.
Reilly then hit back at Patrick by saying, "It's the difference between
doing something about it, and sitting on the sidelines critiquing
someone else doing their job."
Gabrieli and Mihos also criticized the state's role in the Big Dig, with
Mihos, a former Turnpike Authority board member, saying, "Any elected
politician who acts with silence has betrayed the public trust."
About 700 people crowded into an auditorium at Roxbury Community College
for the event, which lasted about two hours.
Another debate, featuring the three Democrats and cosponsored by the
Globe and several other media organizations, is set for 7 tonight. NECN,
WCVB-TV, WGBH-TV, WHDH-TV, and WBUR radio will air that debate live.
The Republican candidate, Kerry Healey, declined an invitation to
participate in last night's forum, as she has with several similar
candidate events.
Healey's strategy is to wait and engage the victor of the Democrats'
Sept. 19 primary.
The audience was, for the most part, polite to each candidate, but its
members didn't hesitate to show their displeasure.
When Gabrieli explained his opposition to providing in-state tuition
rates to children of illegal immigrants, his words were barely audible
over the boos and hisses.
"I know it's controversial," he said.
Mihos, as he often does, supplied the night's levity. At one point, he
said, "I'd like to ditto that" to an answer Gabrieli gave about same-day
voter registration. The quip drew big laughs from the crowd.
Later, when a forum moderator poked fun at him for it, Mihos said, "I'm
in the convenience store business. I'm trying to give you back your
time, all right?"
Patrick was interrupted several times during the event with cheers of
"Amen" and "absolutely."
"It sounded like it was a Patrick crowd," said Beverly Williams, 55, a
Boston teacher from Dorchester. "He's very charismatic and that's
carrying him a long way."
Other audience members said they liked Ross, a community organizer,
despite her long odds of victory.
"The odd thing is that Grace Ross made the best impression, even though
she is the least likely to win," said Eric Esteves, a 27-year-old from
Roxbury.
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The Boston Globe
Thursday, September 7, 2006
Candidates prep for show time
By Dan Payne
Debate tonight, 7 p.m. on Channels 2, 5, 7, NECN, and WBUR, is biggest
event of campaign. With candidates bunched tighter than Katie Couric's
nerves, winner of debate could be decisive.
Show time. Deval Patrick has to show he has something to offer
tax-sensitive moderates. Chris Gabrieli has to show there's more to him
than TV spots. Tom Reilly has to show he's not dead.
Taxes in the house. Reilly is going populist, as Democrats in trouble
often do. Says he's only one favoring immediate rollback of state income
tax because millionaire opponents don't care about $4-per-week savings.
Patrick will say Reilly's flip-flopped, that Reilly opposed it last
year. Gabrieli will say roll it back in stages; Reilly will say voters
didn't ask for money back on installment plan. Rollback will be hottest
issue, with Reilly and Gabby playing tag team on Patrick while trying to
smack down each other.
Bad company. Regular guy Reilly will likely blast both opponents for
corporate work, especially Patrick's for predatory lender Ameriquest.
Over 15 years, Gabrieli's venture capital firm probably made some
politically incorrect investments. Reilly will point them out. He'll
also point out he's only candidate to make his tax returns public. Has
claimed, dubiously, that he dropped Gabrieli as running mate because he
wouldn't release tax returns. If Reilly was so worried about Gabrieli's
taxes, how come he didn't ask Marie St. Fleur about hers?
Blowback. If Reilly pushes too hard, his opponents will give him facial
on lax oversight of Big Dig, cutting saccharine deal with Bechtel, and
accepting campaign money from Big Dig contractors. Reilly can't try to
embrace Barbara Anderson without being shoved into arms of Bechtel.
Respect the voters. Indifference to voter concern on taxes could prevent
Patrick from moving beyond liberal base. To get moderates, he has to
respect voter discontent with Beacon Hill. After all, 45 percent of
state voted to abolish state income tax in 2002. Recent Globe poll found
57 percent of current primary voters want income tax cut.
Gabrilocks. Gabrieli's new TV spot says Reilly and Kerry Healey want to
roll back state income tax immediately. (Too hard.) Patrick doesn't want
to change it at all. (Too soft.) But Chris Gabrilocks wants to roll it
back in stages. (Just right.)
Throwing it down softly. At Labor Day breakfast, usually polite Patrick
called Reilly "bureaucrat" and Gabrieli "technocrat." In he-started-it
creed of campaigns, abused parties now feel right and obligation to
escalate insults. Actually, insults are tip-off to where Patrick may be
headed tonight.
Soft support. Rumblings are that Patrick support is stagnant because
he's campaigning on who he is rather than what he'll do. Gabrieli could
make play for soft Patrick voters by becoming Deval Light. "All of the
policies with none of the taxes." Similarly, Reilly will be trying to
scrape antitax support off Gabrieli, arguing that Gabby publicly opposed
rollback in 2000 and 2002.
How to win. Winning is being in lead paragraph in morning papers and
having best sound bites on TV and radio. This means being, as political
guru once said, "appropriately aggressive." No points for being above it
all -- unless other two are murdering each other.
Debates are often won by juiciest rejoinder. Every debate prep team can
anticipate nearly all questions. No excuse for not having precisely
timed, well-honed answers and comebacks. Remember Lloyd Bentsen's wicked
reply to Dan Quayle posing as John Kennedy in 1988 vice presidential
debate? It was scripted.
Scoring. Gabrieli has to reveal that he bleeds. Example: left medical
school to rescue his father's failing software business. Needs to
inspire, not come across as smartest kid in class.
Patrick doesn't need to replay his personal story; his TV spot does
that. He's got to offer concrete benefits to those not in his cult. And
when asked about wind farm or Big Dig, he shouldn't drift into sermon on
hope.
Reilly's got to be like he is in new TV spot -- regular guy. No ahs and
ums. And no brass knuckles. If debate and news coverage are mostly about
taxes, score it for Reilly (or Gabrieli). If Patrick gets out of tax
straitjacket, he wins.
Advice. Candidates, forget advice to do this, don't do that. Be a
leader.
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The Boston Herald
Thursday, September 7, 2006
No more Mr. Nice Guy:
Gubernatorial Democrats, it’s time to play for keeps
By Wayne Woodlief
So what if tonight’s televised Democratic debate for governor, 12 days
before the Sept. 19 primary, gets nasty. Or at least tart. Unless they
truly want the low turnout some pundits predict, the candidates need to
juice up this race.
Drop the Mr. Nice Guy charade. Let ’er rip, just as Attorney General Tom
Reilly says he’s going to "rip through" his war chest in these waning
days, with all-out barrages on rivals Deval Patrick and Chris Gabrieli.
Reilly counts on faith, hope and the usual Democratic donors to refill
his coffers if he’s the nominee against rich Republican Kerry Healey.
Viewers and readers can learn a lot about candidates from how they
respond to attacks. Will it be with facts and fury? Or just fury? Turn
the other cheek? Or turn on the heat?
Lately, Reilly and Patrick have been mildly sniping at each other.
Gabrieli’s "comparative" ads (opponents would call them "negative") tout
his gradual lowering of the income tax back to 5 percent as better than
either Reilly’s "Immediately" (the title of the AG’s new tax ad) or
Patrick’s "not just yet." How nice if they’d fire back before their
biggest audience yet, tonight’s viewers. Here are some things I want to
know:
How will Reilly - who wasted some of his precious TV dollars by rebuking
millionaires Patrick and Gabrieli for not releasing their tax returns (a
non-issue that usually makes most voters yawn) - deal with Patrick’s
rebuttal in a session with Herald editors and writers Tuesday?
Patrick said Reilly’s raising a red herring and snapped, "If he’d shown
that much curiosity about the Big Dig, we’d all be better off." Patrick
was asked if he includes the AG among public officials whom he said
showed "a breathtaking lack of curiosity" about cost overruns and safety
warnings on the $14 billion project. "In my view, yes," he answered,
magnanimously adding, "I don’t mean to just pick on Tom. This is bigger
than him. But it preceded his term as AG (since 1999) and it continues."
Unless that answer just thrills Reilly, he needs to rebut it.
Will Gabrieli pull back the curtains on those backroom negotiations he
had with Reilly on forming a team last spring, before Reilly jilted
Gabrieli for lieutenant governor and turned (for a one-day campaign) to
the tax-challenged Rep. Marie St. Fleur? When I asked Reilly if he had
any regrets over rejecting Gabrieli (and thus creating a formidable foe
for himself), he replied: "I made the right decision. You can only have
one governor at a time."
Whoa. Does that mean Gabrieli sought a virtual co-governorship? Reilly
answered only indirectly, concluding, "I sized that one up right." But
if he did, how come Reilly aides already had press releases and draft
letters from Gabrieli announcing that the team was ready to go? A
Gabrieli aide said Reilly "is just flailing." But we need to hear more
from the horse’s mouth. Speak up, Chris.
On taxes, I’d like more detail from Patrick - who spurns an income tax
cut in favor of lowering property taxes (with beefed-up local aid) - on
exactly how he’d persuade mayors and selectmen to cut the property tax
instead of just spending the new money from the state. And how will
Patrick and Gabrieli answer Reilly’s ad on the tax rollback? The spot
says it would save the average family $200 a year and adds - in classic
class warfare style - "As millionaires, 200 bucks is nothing to them,
but that’s real money to us." Cute. Reilly (who still lives in a rented
walkup in Watertown) paints himself as one of the plain folks and stings
his opponents in the same sentence.
Reilly should be pressed on just how he plans to finance a fall run
against Healey. Megamillionaire Gabrieli can match her from his own
pockets. Patrick plans to tap his broad grassroots support that brought
in a record $700,000 for August and on "making this a national race,"
with the likes of U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and former President
Bill Clinton coming in to raise big bucks.
But Reilly - not even mentioning the $2 million the state Democratic
Party seeks to raise for the nominee - simply told the Herald, "You can
always find a way. We’ll have enough to compete."
Corner Office-starved Democrats may demand a stronger answer than that.
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