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State government spending in the late-'80s drove
Massachusetts to the brink of bankruptcy. The solution required emergency
borrowing and a taxpayer
bail-out to rescue the state from fiscal crisis. The Legislature and
then-Governor Dukakis imposed what they promised would be a
"temporary" income tax increase.
Though the crisis ended years ago and the bonds were fully repaid, the historic tax rate of 5 percent still has
not been restored. The 11-year old income tax increase has created huge
state surpluses
and almost $2 billion in state "savings accounts." Meanwhile,
annual state
spending has sky-rocketed from $12.3 billion in 1989 to $21.4 billion
this fiscal year; it has almost doubled just since the "temporary" increase was imposed.
(By comparison, it took 207 years of Massachusetts history for the
commonwealth to reach its first $10 billion budget.) State spending on
K-12 education alone has leaped from $1.5 billion in 1992 to $3.7 billion, more than doubling. Now,
most Beacon Hill politicians
and advocates for ever-increasing spending deny the
"temporary" tax increase promise was ever made ... and even if
it was, they claim they can't be held to it ... and even if they could
be, they assert that they can better spend your money than you can. Their
denial is not subject
to debate. Fortunately, overwhelming historical documentation is
available to expose their efforts to deceive, and to prove the promise
is a fact. |
