Senator Brian A. Joyce
38 Ridge Road
Milton, MA 02186
Senator Joyce:
Please be informed that because of your May 19 vote against the rollback of the 5.95
percent income tax rate to 5 percent, CLT&G's 2½ Political Action Committee is
withdrawing the endorsement it gave you during your special election battle late last
year.
When you faced a tough race, you asked for our support. Because you had been the
only Democrat to sign on to our "A Promise to Keep: 5%" bill, and had been so
vocal in your support for rolling back the rate to the promised 5 percent, we were happy
to endorse you. Your sponsorship of our bill was carried prominently in your
campaign ads (see your tax "dragon-fighter" campaign ad, reverse), and I'm sure
helped you win your present seat.
Now that you feel secure in the power of the incumbency, you feel free to break both your
commitment to us and the promise made to your constituents by the Legislature in 1989 that
the income tax rate increase would be "temporary." I know you were assured by
the Senate leadership that the promise didn't count because "one legislature cannot
bind the next," but we provided you with substantial data proving that the public was
clearly told that the tax increase would be temporary, despite the certainty of new
legislators being elected before the 5 percent rate was restored.
We are embarrassed by our support of
you, and sincerely regret the false impression we unwittingly gave Suffolk & Norfolk
voters about your commitment to the taxpayers.
We don't ask perfection of the
politicians we endorse, and have often overlooked a legislator's occasional vote against
the taxpayers when his or her overall rating was high. However, you are apparently
following the pattern of other Democrats we endorsed as they moved from the House to the
Senate, who rarely if ever voted pro-taxpayer again.
Regardless, we do not wish to be associated with politicians who break promises.
Please refrain from using our 1996 or 1997 endorsements in your fall campaign. If
we see our name used to again deceive voters, we will create an ad showing a dragon
labeled Joyce devouring a taxpayer.
Sincerely,
/s/ Francis J. "Chip" Faulkner
Executive Director,
CLT&G's 2½ PAC