CLT UPDATE
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Question 1:
"It certainly is a David-versus-Goliath contest"
"Yes" side's $160,178 vs.
$1,503,705 raised by "No"
Activists seeking to repeal the Massachusetts
state income tax are running low on money and face a lopsided battle
with a coalition of well-financed unions that will sponsor TV and
radio ads in a bid to defeat the November ballot initiative,
according to newly filed disclosure reports.
The Committee for Small Government, led by libertarian Carla Howell,
had less than $25,000 left in its account to try and persuade voters
to repeal the income tax, according to the group's reports filed
yesterday, four days after a disclosure deadline.
The Coalition for Our Communities, formed to convince voters to keep
the 5.3-percent income tax intact, still had a war chest of $1.3
million in contributions from a group of teacher and labor unions,
according to its filings submitted on the Friday deadline.
"It certainly is a David-versus-Goliath contest," said Howell . . .
"It's a battle for both sides. The polls show us in a dead heat. We
certainly have a shot at winning in spite of the money and power of
our opponents." ...
The Coalition for Our Communities has hired two powerful firms as
consultants, paying $18,000 to Carpman Communications and $19,500 to
the Dewey Square Group. But the group has also raised $1.5 million,
with two-thirds coming from national teacher unions. The Boston
Teachers Union donated $150,000 and the national Service Employees
International Union gave $60,000. Unions would probably have the
most to lose if the income tax was repealed, since it would trigger
layoffs across state government.
The Coalition for Our Communities is planning to officially launch a
campaign in the next week or two, and plans to run television and
radio ads, according to Stephen Crawford, a spokesman for the
group....
Between January and August, [the Committee for Small Government]
spent $139,466 and raised $160,180, in donations from individuals
ranging in size from $10 to $10,000.
Howell said the fund-raising will continue, and the group hopes to
have "advertising across all mediums." Howell and others in the
Committee for Small Government also plan to travel around the state
and speak with local groups about the ballot question. They also
plan to start distributing 5,000 yard signs and 5,000 bumper
stickers.
Citizens for Limited Taxation, another nonprofit advocacy
group, also plans to get involved, and will distribute red and white
bumper stickers that read, "Hell Yes! Question 1."
The Boston Globe
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Anti-income tax group lags in funds
Foes plan ad blitz before Nov. election
Chip Ford's CLT
Commentary
The
Committee
for Small Government -- the YES on QUESTION 1 ballot committee -- is
already behind by almost ten-to-one (10:1) in fundraising against the
Coalition
for Our Communities -- the NO side
-- in the first reporting period of this year's ballot campaign.
Of course, according to the
YES committee's
campaign finance report, all its contributions are from a myriad of
relatively small contributors. By contrast,
according to its finance report, all the contributions going
to the NO committee were massive amounts, each in the tens if not
hundreds of thousands of dollars but for one for $100 from a
"homemaker" in Wayland; the only individual citizen's contribution
against repeal of the income tax listed.
There will be nothing even
close to financial competition against the massive war machine of
special interests now assembled, prepared to march across the state.
The union juggernaut just fills out blank checks for any amount
necessary to crush taxpayers, once considered their employers. All
we Davids can do in this historic battle is stand up and fight against
the unions' Goliath with our slingshots -- as usual -- and count on the
voters to stand with us -- once again.
At least, unlike the Boston
Herald so far, today's Boston Globe provided a fair and balanced report.
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Chip Ford |
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The Boston Globe
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Anti-income tax group lags in funds
Foes plan ad blitz before Nov. election
By Matt Viser
Activists seeking to repeal
the Massachusetts state income tax are running low on money and face a
lopsided battle with a coalition of well-financed unions that will
sponsor TV and radio ads in a bid to defeat the November ballot
initiative, according to newly filed disclosure reports.
The Committee for Small Government, led by libertarian Carla Howell, had
less than $25,000 left in its account to try and persuade voters to
repeal the income tax, according to the group's reports filed yesterday,
four days after a disclosure deadline.
The Coalition for Our Communities, formed to convince voters to keep the
5.3-percent income tax intact, still had a war chest of $1.3 million in
contributions from a group of teacher and labor unions, according to its
filings submitted on the Friday deadline.
"It certainly is a David-versus-Goliath contest," said Howell, who ran
for governor in 2002. "It's a battle for both sides. The polls show us
in a dead heat. We certainly have a shot at winning in spite of the
money and power of our opponents."
The largest expenditure from the antitax group was to gather 11,000
signatures needed to get onto the ballot. Another major expenditure was
consulting fees paid to Howell and her political ally Michael Cloud. The
records show that Howell and Cloud received nearly $25,000 in consulting
fees this year between them, representing almost a fifth of what the
committee spent from January to August.
Since 2002, when their committee was formed around a similar ballot
initiative, Howell has received nearly $70,855 in consulting fees from
the committee, while Cloud has made $55,600, according to campaign
finance reports.
Howell said it is appropriate for her to receive payments from an
initiative committee that she controls.
"I don't have time for much of anything else," she said, calling any
criticism of the arrangement "just plain silly."
The Coalition for Our Communities has hired two powerful firms as
consultants, paying $18,000 to Carpman Communications and $19,500 to the
Dewey Square Group. But the group has also raised $1.5 million, with
two-thirds coming from national teacher unions. The Boston Teachers
Union donated $150,000 and the national Service Employees International
Union gave $60,000. Unions would probably have the most to lose if the
income tax was repealed, since it would trigger layoffs across state
government.
The Coalition for Our Communities is planning to officially launch a
campaign in the next week or two, and plans to run television and radio
ads, according to Stephen Crawford, a spokesman for the group.
"There is a great deal of enthusiasm for the campaign," Crawford said.
Eliminating the income tax would save the average taxpayer $3,600 a
year, but would also cost the state roughly $12.7 billion - about 40
percent of the budget. Governor Deval Patrick, as well as the Senate
president and House speaker, have spoken out against the measure, saying
it would cause dramatic cuts and force layoffs throughout state and
local government.
Howell's group, the Committee for Small Government, pushed a similar
initiative that almost passed six years ago. At the time, Beacon Hill
leaders paid little heed to the effort, and no one organized a campaign
to fight it. But it got a surprisingly strong 45 percent of the vote,
and the economic conditions this year seem even riper for supporters to
capitalize on a sour economy, rising gas and grocery prices, and
distrust in government spending.
Between January and August, the group spent $139,466 and raised
$160,180, in donations from individuals ranging in size from $10 to
$10,000.
Howell said the fund-raising will continue, and the group hopes to have
"advertising across all mediums." Howell and others in the Committee for
Small Government also plan to travel around the state and speak with
local groups about the ballot question. They also plan to start
distributing 5,000 yard signs and 5,000 bumper stickers.
Citizens for Limited Taxation, another nonprofit advocacy group,
also plans to get involved, and will distribute red and white bumper
stickers that read, "Hell Yes! Question 1."
An initiative petition is intended to be binding if it passes, although
the Legislature has found ways to buck the will of voters in the past.
In 2002, for example, lawmakers halted a gradual income tax rollback
approved by voters two years earlier. The same occurred with a ballot
question in 1998 that called for publicly funded campaigns, the
Legislature famously refusing to pay for them.
The income tax repeal is one of three ballot questions that voters will
weigh in November. Another will determine whether to ease criminal
penalties on marijuana possession, and a third will decide whether dog
racing should be banned in Massachusetts.
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