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December 26, 2007

'Dumb idea,' governor? We don't think so

The state's income tax to a Massachusetts lawmaker is the same as what a heroin fix is to a drug addict.

They both have insatiable needs.

The former depends on income-tax revenue to fund infinite public programs; the latter needs heroin to power an interminable physical high.

Gov. Deval Patrick called a proposed ballot question that would eliminate the $11 billion annual income tax a "dumb idea." He said it would put the state on a path toward fiscal ruin.

Where's he been? To set the record straight, governor, the state's already on a path to fiscal ruin, so don't blame it on a proposal ending the income tax.

Don't you get it, governor? People are fed up with the Legislature's overzealous spending and inability to contain costs that are making it more difficult for a Massachusetts couple to buy a home and raise a family. Even single people are moving out in droves because they find the Bay State to be a repressive tax-and-fee environment.

Here's a Patrick quote, published in The Boston Globe, on why

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the state needs the 5.3 percent income tax to survive:
"People talk about it being their money. They're right. But it's also their broken bridge and their broken road and their broken neighborhood and broken school."

The governor forgot to mention that it's also their broken government.

People are madder than hell they can't get an honest break for an honest day's work in Massachusetts.

Every time they turn around, the state has a new problem, whether it's $19 billion in overdue bridge and road repairs, Big Dig repairs, increases in public health care and pension costs, local funding shortfalls, etc. They are starting to question what government did with all the money all these years that Massachusetts is in such bad shape. Who made the shortsighted decisions that got us into this mess?

Yes, maybe Patrick is correct, that eliminating the income tax would create more fiscal chaos than it is worth. But it's not a dumb idea, governor. It's a wake-up call from citizens sick and tired of politicians addicted to spending other people's money rather than making courageous votes to institute long-term solutions for our fiscal woes.

Rising public-sector salaries and benefits are outstripping the private sector's ability to keep up with those costs. The Legislature, meanwhile, remains unwilling to tackle the special interest groups -- employee unions -- that are killing the golden goose.

Governor, don't make the mistake of underestimating the underbelly of the Massachusetts population that is growing discontented with public policymakers like yourself.

Since 2002, when this question last went before the citizens on a statewide referendum -- and lost by a 48 percent to 40 percent margin -- a lot has changed. The state has gone from three consecutive surplus -- and record spending -- budgets to a projected $1 billion deficit. How? Why?

If this question were to go on the ballot today, it would likely gain approval from a majority of people disgusted with the state's inability to learn from the last recession.

So, governor, it's not a "dumb idea." It's a good idea if it motivates Beacon Hill to learn how to spend the people's money wisely.

Posted by The Sun Newsroom at December 26, 2007 2:05 PM