Today is Tax Freedom Day, the day
the Washington-based
Tax Foundation has determined that the taxpayers of
Massachusetts have finished working for the government and can now
work for themselves and their families for the rest of the year.
Among the 50 states, Massachusetts
has the 6th latest date on which its taxpayers stop paying federal,
state and local taxes.
Also according to the Tax
Foundation, Massachusetts per capita tax burden is 5th highest in
the nation, behind only Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, and
Maryland.
Coincidentally, today is also the
day the Tea Party Express comes to town. CLT members have been
tea-partiers since CLT was founded in 1974. At the federal tax
level, we especially share the Tea Party concern about the national
debt, which is simply higher taxes (or bankruptcy) that are being
passed on to our children and grandchildren.
The power to tax (and run up
extraordinary debt) is the power to destroy. This, even more than
wanting to keep more of our own money, is why CLT members and many
other tea-partiers support tax limitation.
