Here is the latest update on how many Massachusetts liberals are taking the option of paying higher state income taxes at the old rate of 5.85 percent, rather than the new 5.3 percent rate imposed by the mean-spirited taxpayers.
According to the Department of Revenue, so far 504 of 1,139,777 state filers have opted to pay the higher rate, for a total of an additional $55,636, which means most of them pay very little income tax to begin with.
For those of you keeping score at home, that 504 number translates into .004 of 1 percent of filers - odd, considering that 41 percent of the voters claimed in the referendum that they were against cutting the rate to 5.3 percent.
The Boston Herald
Sunday, March 30, 2003
The Buzz [Excerpt]
Voting with wallets
"We believe there are better ways to do it, without massive cuts," [Jill Stein] said. "I know a lot of rich people who say they aren't paying their fair share of taxes and they are behind this."
The MetroWest Daily News
Sunday, March 30, 2003
Stein takes on Romney budget
In the oh-so-prosperous '90s, cities and towns across Massachusetts built new schools as though there were no tomorrow....
But the exceedingly generous 60 percent to 90 percent subsidies offered by the state during the boom times helped drive up the expenditure sheet that now hangs like an albatross around our collective necks. The state borrowed money to underwrite local school building programs, in the amount of $11 billion in outstanding commitments....
On reflection, it's not surprising towns didn't bother to stint on the size and quality of the schools they were building. When the other guy is picking up 90 percent of the check, filet mignon looks awfully good.
A Patriot Ledger editorial
Saturday, March 29, 2003
School building aid coming to an end
Chip Ford's CLT
Commentary
Jill Stein, former gubernatorial candidate representing the
socialist Green Party and now leading the charge for her new organization, Massachusetts Coalition for Healthy
Communities, has declared she knows "a lot of rich people who say they aren't paying their fair share of taxes"
and are behind her push for higher taxes.
I certainly hope that "lot of rich people" doesn't
exceed the 504 who so far have chosen CLT's voluntary tax check-off, which
appears on this year's income tax return, or they'd be shameless hypocrites.
But those 504 who chose paying the higher rate, according to
today's Boston Herald, only provided "an additional $55,636, which means most of them pay very little income tax to begin
with." That doesn't sound very much like that "lot of rich
people" to which Ms. Stein referred.
So what's going on here?
Ms. Stein is standing on pretty shaky legs -- unless she gets
that "lot of rich people" she knows who "aren't paying their fair
share" to put their money where their socialist politics are. Every one of
them could easily, voluntarily, pay more of their "fair share" this
year, if they were honest. Somebody is lying here: either Ms. Stein or the
"rich people" she knows.
I just don't believe her, and thanks to the CLT voluntary tax
check-off, two weeks from Wednesday we won't have to accept her deceptions. Any
pretension of support for a tax hike will be lost to her and to the rest of the
Gimme Lobby.
Never mind polls and surveys and rhetoric; hard factual
evidence is pouring in.
Actions speak louder than words. The tax-me-more crowd -- all
1,055,181 of them who voted against our tax rollback, the 41 percent who insisted
that they "didn't need or want a tax cut" -- still has its chance to
prove a commitment to higher taxes.
So far, only 504 have demonstrated it when it counts.
What a collection of hypocritical phonies the remainder are.
It's either that ... or more than a million voters came to
recognize their mistake, now admit it and belatedly support our tax rollback.
Either way, we know that so far all but 504 of them did
in fact "need and want a tax cut."
Even when they no longer have to take it, they've freely
chosen not to give it up.
This is demonstrably overwhelming evidence of almost-unanimous
public opposition to any tax increase whatsoever.
Even our erstwhile tax rollback opponents have now asserted,
"enough is enough!"
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Chip
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The MetroWest Daily News
Sunday, March 30, 2003
Stein takes on Romney budget
By Shannon Haley Daggett
Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate in last year's race for governor,
will talk about Gov. Mitt Romney's budget proposals Tuesday at the VFW
Hall.
Stein will be one of four political activists slated to discuss what
critical services are endangered, and where they see room to make cuts.
The public forum starts at 7 p.m. at 113 West Central St.
Stein is representing the nonprofit, nonpartisan Massachusetts Coalition
for Healthy Communities.
The other speakers are Phil Mamber, president of Massachusetts Senior
Action; Iris Vicencio-Garaygay, environmental director of MassPirg; and
David Schildmeier from the Massachusetts Nurses Association.
The group putting together Tuesday's forum includes Green Party members,
Democrats and Independents "who are alarmed about fiscal
irresponsibility at the state level and fear that nothing will change
unless we mount a strong grass-roots organization," said Lesley
Stillwell, a Natick resident whose been planning the forum.
"We believe there are better ways to do it, without massive
cuts," she said. "I know a lot of rich people who say they
aren't paying their fair share of taxes and they are behind this."
Stillwell said the budget reductions need to be made, but without
cutting critical services.
"There is a lot of spending that is truly not necessary. A lot of
bureaucratic waste," she said.
Stillwell defined "healthier communities" as an outlook that
protects vital services, including services for the homeless and those
with health problems.
"I hope that most of the towns in Massachusetts will continue this
and educate people how it can be done without going through their
pocketbooks, standing together and being a force for change."
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The Patriot Ledger
Saturday, March 29, 2003
Editorial
School building aid coming to an end
In the oh-so-prosperous '90s, cities and towns across Massachusetts
built new schools as though there were no tomorrow.
That turned out to be great planning, because a tomorrow in which great
gobs of education aid from the state is available is disappearing fast.
Schools are considered a vital community resource. So when Massachusetts
taxpayers read about the sorry condition of the state's finances and
wonder where the money went, it's a safe bet they don't think about
school buildings. But the exceedingly generous 60 percent to 90 percent
subsidies offered by the state during the boom times helped drive up the
expenditure sheet that now hangs like an albatross around our collective
necks. The state borrowed money to underwrite local school building
programs, in the amount of $11 billion in outstanding commitments.
That's a lot of money. It's perhaps the best example of how easily money
is spent when it's flowing in. Every community has an old school or two;
some have several. And legislators were more than happy to deliver that
kind of gravy to their constituents. As a result, building programs
escalated. An edifice complex took over.
In Scituate, the new Jenkins School is built but not yet open because
voters have refused to pass an override to pay to operate the school. On
Saturday the town will vote on another override attempt.
On reflection, it's not surprising towns didn't bother to stint on the
size and quality of the schools they were building. When the other guy
is picking up 90 percent of the check, filet mignon looks awfully good.
Early this year the state Education Department slapped a moratorium on
new requests for school building projects. The state would concentrate
on projects already listed. Legislators rushed to postpone the
moratorium until June 30, which is a critical date for Quincy and other
communities.
The extension will be a one-time event. It may seem unfair that some
communities built several new schools in recent years while others were
late to the table. But fairness is not the issue. The state is broke.
This week House Speaker Tom Finneran said the school building debt -
which stretches out decades - is potentially another Big Dig for the
commonwealth. "That's not a good thing," said Finneran. No,
it's not. It's disastrous.
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