Contact: Barbara Anderson (508) 384-0100
Chip Ford (781) 631-6842
To celebrate Bunker Hill Day, we point out that Massachusetts taxpayers are in worse shape
today than we were when the Redcoats were marching up Breeds Hill in 1775.
We have the 5th highest per capita tax burden in the country. Both the House and Senate
just passed the biggest tax increase in our history, with few headlines from most state
media outlets, who also have not focused on the fact that, in the process of hiking the income tax
rate and killing the charitable deduction, the Legislature has essentially destroyed
the initiative petition process. So the taxpayers have been disarmed, and the Redcoats are still coming up
that hill.
We appreciate the editorials and columns from those in the
media who have been around awhile and see the big picture: the era of the initiative petition, which gave reporters huge and
important stories to follow for the past 25 years, is over if the governor's vetoes of the
income tax rollback and charitable deduction are not sustained.
Though Republicans did a good job of arguing against some
tax hikes, the fact that there was no rollcall on a major income tax rate increase in the Senate can only mean one thing:
some Senate Republicans were planning to vote for it and didn't want to be on the record. This
indicates a further, and perhaps permanent, decline in the two-party system here.
Things not being on record will also become a problem for
the media. It will eventually run out of pedophile priests and be reduced to endlessly quoting the business-backed Mass.
Taxpayers Foundation's endless warnings of overspending followed by recommendations for
tax hikes on working people, followed by suggestions for budget savings that will of course
be ignored because the tax hikes gave the state enough money to overspend.
As taxes reach unsustainable heights, the permanent decline
of the Massachusetts economy will be a good story, though eventually problematic for you in the media as well. When that
time comes, and reporters call us to see what we can do about it, the answer will be:
"Without the initiative petition process, nothing." This also applies to environmental, good
government, and a wide range of issues that are addressed on Beacon Hill only because of
the existence of the initiative, sometimes only as a threat.
But if it becomes clear later this summer that the Legislature can snuff any initiative passed by
the voters - the great populist weapon held by ordinary citizens - that ultimate
balance of power will be gone.
Just thought those of you who haven't noticed would like to
know.