State tax collections on capital gains are even lower than the most pessimistic expectations of the Patrick administration, reflecting ever-mounting losses from investments in real estate and the stock market....
House and Senate lawmakers appear to be softening their opposition to giving cities and towns the ability to levy new taxes for meals, hotels, and telephone poles, plans that could give municipal officials long-coveted powers to raise new revenue.
As Governor Deval Patrick prepares to plug a $1.1 billion gap in the current year's budget by making drastic cuts to local aid, there is a growing sentiment among legislative leaders that municipalities will need alternative sources of money....
"We're very close," said Senator Stanley C. Rosenberg, a Northampton Democrat and cochairman of the commission. "Everybody understands that we have to be very open-minded and do something significant, or the communities are going to be in very, very serious trouble."
That is my piece-of-puke state Senator (whom I voted against this last time out).
"Everything must be on the table, given the depth and breadth of this fiscal crisis," said DiMasi's spokesman, David Guarino.
Yeah, EXCEPT GIVEAWAYS to HOLLYWOOD, CORPORATIONS and TAXPAYERS!!!!
**********************
The state could face a $3.1 billion budget gap in next year's budget, according to a report that will be released today by the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center. Part of the shortfall is because for years the state has budgeted costs that it cannot pay with ongoing revenues. In normal years, the state can use reserves to make up the difference, but with declining revenues the state's reserves are needed to avoid deeper cuts.
There are also a number of increases that are almost unavoidable, such as Medicaid costs, pension payments, and debt service payments....
Yup, more important to PAY OFF BANKS for BAD DEALS!!!!
--more--"
"Governor won't cut state aid for schools; Local meals tax debate heats up" by Matt Viser, Globe Staff | January 23, 2009
Governor Deval Patrick is planning to tell a large gathering of municipal officials this morning that he will not cut local school aid to cities and towns this year, but will be targeting other forms of local aid....
Eliminating school funding from the cuts preserves one of the governor's top priorities, but it does not mean all public education spending by the state will be spared, because communities use other sources of funding for local education. The commitment the governor will make is only for midyear budget cuts and does not include next year's budget, which Patrick plans to unveil next week.
I just love the DECEPTION, don't you?
In 2003, during the last round of midyear budget cuts to local aid, Governor Mitt Romney also avoided cutting Chapter 70 education funds. But Romney was roundly criticized for the $114 million he sliced in other state aid. With cuts on the table, local and state officials are watching progress on a federal stimulus package that would include relief to state governments....
Yeah, right, the bankrupt feds are going to save us.
But IF THEY DON'T!
*********************
Restaurants across Massachusetts are preparing a major lobbying effort to stave off another bid on Beacon Hill to let cities and towns levy local meals taxes, saying they are worried lawmakers will hurt their businesses in their rush to find more money....
Think the state gives a shit? They obviously ain't working for you, restauranteurs!
Inevitably, the tough times are pitting major constituencies against one another.
And CUI BONO, 'eh?
While we fight over scarce resources, WHERE is all the $$$ going?
Local cities and towns, led by Mayor Thomas M. Menino of Boston, want to be able to impose local meals taxes to ease the burden on property taxes. The state currently assesses a 5 percent charge on meals, which is the same percentage as the statewide sales tax.
The proposal that lawmakers are looking at would give local communities the option of adding a surcharge of up to 3 percent on meals sold in that community. But restaurants say that they are getting crushed by the recession and that this would be the worst possible time to let cities impose a new tax on the bills that diners pay.
It is NEVER a GOOD TIME for MORE TAXES for TYRANNY!!!!!
"Why single us out?" said Peter G. Christie, president of the Massachusetts Restaurant Association. "Don't single out one industry, particularly an industry that is really reeling right now. I don't think many people in the Patrick administration realize that."
Because you don't have Zionist power behind you, sir!!!!
"They can tell you a lot about biotech, why it's important, and why we need to give them $1 billion," he added. "But they want to tax your hamburger."
Yup, I AM NOT ALONE in noticing the TAXPAYER LOOTING by the BIOTECHS!!!
The restaurant association is planning to launch a campaign next week against the meals tax increase, sending letters and asking its network of restaurateurs to make phone calls to their local legislators. Lawmakers are continuing to examine the issue and have not decided how to disburse the money so that all communities benefit....
Good idea, but I doubt the fuckers will listen. I'll still call.
Joseph Pignato, owner of Joseph's Winter Street Cafe in Newburyport, which has 58 employees:
"We'll fight it. It's selective taxation, total selective taxation. It falls on the back of the most needy people, the single mom who works four nights for me. Her 18 percent gratuity is going to become a 15 percent gratuity."
If that!
And EVERYWHERE you look, her's a tax, ther's a tax, everywhere a tax, tax.
"Varying toll plans share a similarity: You still pay more" by Noah Bierman, Globe Staff | January 23, 2009
.... But no matter what happens with the toll increase, most commuters who use the turnpike will soon be paying more. The authority passed a measure yesterday that some members called a backdoor toll hike: a 50 cent monthly fee beginning June 1 for drivers who use a Fast Lane pass....
Then STAY OFF the PIKE!
All motorists who own a transponder, even those who bought them before the giveaway, will have to pay the monthly fee, which is expected to generate $4 million to $5 million a year for the authority....
That's funny; that's the same amount the state gave IBM when they didn't even want the money.
Turnpike Executive Director Alan LeBovidge has not endorsed a toll plan, but says he needs $100 million a year to meet the debts and keep the roads, bridges, and tunnels operating....
And their "solution?"
The authority should take advantage of the political mood in the Legislature... in favor of a higher gas tax....
(Blog author just shaking his head)
--more--"
Btw, just who in the hell do they think is going to pay those taxes, hmmmm?
Yup, the BILLION DOLLAR GIVEAWAY to the pharmaceutical corporations was a GOOD THING, even though "it's never been easy to turn a profit in biotech?" Flush that money away, too, taxpayer.
And look whose backs they are balancing the budget with: the blind, mentally ill, kids, and cripples!!
Of course, "one of the governor's pet projects, the $3 million Commonwealth Corporation, is only taking a 5 percent trim."
And that is not counting the troubles at the Turnpike!
"The authority was attempting to renegotiate terms of a complex financial deal with the banking giant UBS. Known as a swaption, the arrangement could force the authority to pay out a $450 million lump sum"
Of course, the war looters were next in line for a handout. And should the state be appropriating money for a "multimillion-dollar reconstruction" of golf courses?
Nor is it RECKLESS to BORROW the STATE INTO OBLIVION so they can PAY INTEREST to BANKS while SITTING ON $2 BILLION DOLLARS!
Need one final insult, Mass. taxpayers?
"Town officials... are trying to decide how much of a property tax break to offer and how they can secure state funding for infrastructure improvements.... although it could take several years for the studio to realize its potential"
Also see: Hollywood, Massachusetts
Hollywood (East) Disses Veterans
More Mass. $$$ to Movie Makers
The Money Pipeline From Massachusetts to Israel
Sorry, that wasn't it:
"$5m in tax breaks going to IBM for Littleton project
The Massachusetts Economic Assistance Coordinating Council approved $5 million in state and local tax breaks for IBM Corp., which recently began a $63 million expansion in Littleton. IBM vice president Bob McDonald said the company plans to create 42 jobs at the site over the next decade. McDonald said the computer giant, based in Armonk, N.Y., has already begun renovating a building and hopes to move into it next month. McDonald said the tax incentives were important, but the company would have gone forward with the expansion without them. IBM has 4,000 employees in Massachusetts, including about 2,000 in Littleton (Boston Globe October 30 2008)."
Yup, but the PUT-UPON, AGONIZING GOVERNOR is going to decide how to fuck you next!
"Patrick to cut local aid by $128m; Will be state's biggest midyear reduction ever" by Matt Viser, Globe Staff | January 24, 2009
Governor Deval Patrick said yesterday that he will slice local aid by $128 million, and will propose expanding the total cut to $375 million in the next fiscal year, reductions that local officials said will force them to close public schools, curtail library hours, and lay off teachers, police, and firefighters.
But the $$$ will STILL FLOW to CORPORATIONS and to ISRAEL!!!!!
The $128 million cut - from an overall local aid budget of $5.3 billion - is the largest single mid-year cut on record, surpassing a $114 million reduction made by Governor Mitt Romney six years ago, officials said.
Keep that in mind for later, 'kay?
To help ease the financial burden on communities, the governor wants to increase restaurant and hotel taxes and give the new money to cities and towns. He also wants to push local officials to cut healthcare costs for unionized workers. But those are controversial plans that are already generating heavy opposition among powerful lobbies on Beacon Hill.
Oh, he wants to take on unions now, huh? Liberals and Democrats must love eating shit.
"We have tough choices among miserable options," Patrick said in a 12-minute speech before hundreds of city and town officials gathered in Boston for a convention of the Massachusetts Municipal Association. "My job is to make those choices, and I have."
Well, I KNOW WHERE you can find some TAXPAYER DOLLARS, asshole!!!!!!!!!
Local aid is the lifeblood for cities and towns, and is used to fund everything from snowplowing and trash collection to teacher salaries and police positions. The cuts are doubly difficult midway through the year - once budgets have been set - and is expected to force local officials to slash city services.
Maybe we have become TOO DEPENDENT on the "state," no? Personally, I'd rather secede and declare independence!
In another sign that Patrick is seeking other sources of revenue, he said in a radio interview on WBUR-FM yesterday that he has asked the federal government to examine whether Massachusetts could erect toll booths on all major highways at the borders with New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. It could affect Interstates 95, 93, 84, 395, and 91 and perhaps even Route 3. Patrick said it could allow Massachusetts to remove its existing tolls, shifting more of the burden to residents from border states....
Translation: DO NOT COME to Massachusetts, America -- EVER!!!!!!
And if you leave, NEVER COME BACK!!!!
Still, there was palpable tension in the Hynes Convention Center as Patrick announced his budget-cutting moves. At one point, the governor had a frosty exchange with Worcester Mayor Konstantina B. Lukes, after she appeared to smirk while the governor answered her question.
"Before you make a face, mayor, let me finish my answer, all right?" Patrick snapped. Once he finished his response, he glanced over at her again and said, "Is that clear? OK. Now you can make your face."
This LITTLE DICKSHIT PRICK!!! What an ARROGANT ASSHOLE this little globalist servant has turned out to be!!!!!!
Declining state revenues have ripped holes in the state budget this year, as capital gains, sales, and income taxes have plummeted, forcing Patrick to address a $1.4 billion budget gap last fall. Now he's facing another $1.1 billion shortfall, which has caused the midyear cuts to local aid. The $128 million will fix only a fraction of the problem, and to close the remaining gap, Patrick will have to make cuts in other state departments or find other ways to raise revenue....
Yeah, TOSSING AWAY TAXPAYERS DOLLARS is in no way HIS FAULT, is it, Globe?
To make the local aid cuts more palatable, the governor is proposing a package of ideas he says would help officials balance their budgets next year. He is proposing a 1 percentage point increase in statewide taxes on meals and hotels - boosting the meals tax to 6 percent and the hotel tax to 6.75 percent - which he said would generate $150 million annually that would be redistributed to cities and towns.
Unless it KILLS the TOURISM INDUSTRY!!!
If the Legislature adopts that plan, Patrick said, next year's total local aid cut would be $225 million instead of $375 million. He also will file legislation to give local communities additional authority to raise meals and hotel taxes by an additional percentage point. He would also eliminate a tax exemption for telecommunications companies. Combined, those additional tools could generate up to $200 million statewide, according to administration estimates.
Why are they getting one to begin with?
Many of Patrick's proposals for helping cities and towns weather the effects of local aid cuts met resistance from the Legislature two years ago. During his address yesterday, Patrick raised his voice as he implored local officials to lobby their legislators this time around.
"Don't sit around and wait to see what happens - get on the phone yourselves," he said. "Call for immediate action. You can't afford to sit by and hope someone else puts out this fire. Each and every one of you must grab a hose and help."
Pffft! What a disgusting piece of puke this guy is!!!
That mean HOLLYWOOD and BIOTECH gonna give back the dough?
Patrick also said yesterday that he would penalize local communities by reducing their local aid distribution unless they either put their employees into the state's Group Insurance Commission health plan, which covers state employees, or develop their own plans that would be at least as cheap as the state's plan.
Now THAT SURE sounds like a DICTATOR!!!
Related: Patrick Given Budget Cleaver
To encourage more communities to enter the state's GIC plan, the governor's proposal would reduce the amount of local union support communities need to make the change from 70 percent to 50 percent. House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi has gone even further, proposing to eliminate the requirement for union approval altogether.
Oh, THAT'S WHAT IT IS: "encouragemnet!" Back where I come from, it is known as EXTORTION!!!!!
That aspect of the plan was beginning to generate opposition yesterday by officials who said it would make it difficult to manage their local finances. "It seems to put municipalities at a disadvantage," said Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone of Somerville, which will lose about $3 million through the governor's midyear budget cuts.
Hey, what does the great guv care!!! He ain't working for them!!!!
As expected, Patrick said yesterday that his midyear budget cuts won't touch the nearly $4 billion that goes to communities for public schools. The last time the state endured local aid cuts in the middle of a fiscal year was in 2003, when Romney cut $114 million. He followed that up with more cuts in the next budget. Together, the reductions in local aid resulted in about 14,500 teachers, police officers, librarians, and others losing their jobs.
But while Romney was lambasted by local officials, Patrick so far has generally avoided major political fallout.
That's because HE is a LIBERAL DEMOCRAT, not a REPUBLICAN -- and he has the slavish MSM on his side!
"He's making the same cuts Romney did, but it's how he's done it," said Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria, who said this year's local aid cuts will total $860,000 for his city. "He's much more sympathetic about the decisions. Romney came in like it was a business decision."
Translation: Patrick whispers sweet-nothings in your ears as he is pumping you, taxpayers!! And YOU FELL FOR IT!!!!
--more--"
Oh, and about that INTERSTATE TOLL idea:
"Patrick queries US on Mass. border toll idea" by Martin Finucane, Globe Staff | January 24, 2009
Governor Deval Patrick said yesterday that he was interested in implementing tolls on interstate highways at the state's borders and that his administration had contacted the federal government about the idea.
"What I would love to see is . . . border tolls at all of the interstate entrances, maybe Route 3 as well. In other words, Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York. If we did that right, it would be possible to remove all of the tolls inside of the Commonwealth. Maybe you'd keep something at the tunnel," he said in an interview on WBUR-FM's "Radio Boston" show hosted by Jane Clayson. It wasn't clear which tunnel he was referring to, but tolls are currently being charged at the Ted Williams and Sumner tunnels.
"We have made those overtures to the federal authorities to see whether they would work with us, and they're open to it," Patrick said. The federal government would have to approve any such proposal.
Klark Jessen, a spokesman for the state Executive Office of Transportation, issued a statement late yesterday afternoon saying that although Patrick hadn't endorsed any border toll plans, "the governor has said repeatedly that we need to have a full and open debate on transportation reform, and all options should be on the table." Jessen said administration officials would have no further comment on Patrick's remarks.
Nancy Singer, a spokeswoman for the Federal Highway Administration in Washington, said the federal government would evaluate any proposal to impose tolls, weighing the specifics of the application and various regulations. She said no official request had been received from Massachusetts for tolling the roads. But she noted that the agency has a division office in Massachusetts and "obviously, they have ongoing communications with the state."
Tolls are already charged at the entrance to the Massachusetts Turnpike in New York. In October, Patrick said on a WRKO-AM radio show that "there's some interest in looking at border tolls coming in from New Hampshire and from Rhode Island."
But his communications director insisted after that interview that Patrick was referring to suggestions made by others. Last week, Jessen said again that Patrick was not considering new border tolls.
I, for one, am tired of POLITICIANS LYING ABOUT WHAT they have ALREADY DECIDED to do!!!!! This fucking pipsqueak liar and his equivocating bullshit!! He sounds like Bush saying he hadn't decided to invade Iraq.
Patrick's remarks on border tolls raised the prospect of a tolls race between Massachusetts and New Hampshire. New Hampshire's transportation commissioner, George Campbell, recently sent the Federal Highway Administration a letter expressing interest in imposing a $2 exit fee on traffic heading south on Interstate 93 at the Massachusetts border.
What? So the STATES will have you COMING and GOING, huh? What a FUCK JOB!!!!
Bill Boynton, a spokesman for Campbell, said he wasn't surprised by Patrick's remarks. New Hampshire put out its feelers to the US highway agency he said, because officials there believed that Massachusetts was moving toward instituting border tolls.
"My commissioner was onto it, and that's why he proceeded" to contact the Federal Highway Administration, he said, noting that New Hampshire, like Massachusetts, is facing transportation financing challenges. "If there's going to be revenue available in the I-93 corridor, he would like to see it on our side of the state line."
Oh, so ONLY ONE STATE is going to be allowed to charge for exits?!! Oh, this should be good!!!!
"I think they've been interested in this longer than they would like to let on," Boynton said of Massachusetts officials.
Yeah, that's the way they do things here!
Patrick said in yesterday's radio interview that he had looked at "dozens" of scenarios that could raise more money for Massachusetts' fiscally strapped transportation agencies. He noted that the border tolls would not completely address the need for additional revenue.
He also said in the interview that he was "not hostile" to the idea of raising the state's gas tax, but if it is raised it should be a large enough hike to fund the transportation network on "a sustained basis," with revenue dedicated to transportation. It should be accompanied by reform of the system, he added.
I'm sorry, guv, but I have no ass left.
The Massachusetts Turnpike Authority is facing financial problems because of the costs of the Big Dig and high operating expenses. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority also is having difficulty paying off a multibillion-dollar debt.
Yeah, and because of THEIR BAD DECISION the TAXPAYERS' MUST PAY!
Recent Turnpike proposals to raise existing tolls have created a furor, and Patrick and the Legislature are scrambling to come up with a solution for the financial problems. Several lawmakers have suggested raising the state's gas tax as a way to spread the burden of paying for transportation to drivers statewide.
Why should WE HAVE TO PAY for some shit project that we NEVER USE?
Michael Kelleher of stopthepikehike.org said yesterday he has become so frustrated by discussions over the proposed Turnpike hikes - and now, the possibility of added tolls at the border - that his group will renew plans for a Turnpike boycott, possibly sometime next week. The group called off a previous boycott after local officials raised traffic and safety concerns.
Well, fuck the tone-deaf state officials this time!!
FUCK THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
--more--"
Update: Same old, same old....
Brace yourself: Cities and towns across the state expect to lay off thousands of employees. The impact will be widespread and highly visible - shorter hours and longer waits at town halls, larger class sizes, more potholes....
As they SHIP TAXPAYER MONEY OUT of state to pay banks, Jewwood, and Iz-ray-HELL (among other things).
We KEPT the INCOME TAX for THIS? They said we needed it to save our services, and now it turns out THAT WAS ANOTHER LIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The massive cutbacks come as state and local governments respond to the rapidly worsening economy.... Local spending will still take a beating. With construction and renovation projects grinding to a halt, auto sales tanking, and tourism and business travel in a slump, the money communities generate on their own - from excise and hotel taxes, building permits, and tax on new property - is being hit hard....
Yeah, so RAISE THOSE TAXES, too, you lying, looting, shit-scums!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Still, local officials said they consider Patrick an ally. They overwhelmingly favor the governor's new proposals to allow them to raise money through means other than the property tax, and to rein in fast-growing fixed costs....
That's because there is a D next to his name, not an R! That's the PIN-HEADED PREJUDICE I HAVE to live with in Taxachusetts!!!!!!!!!
--more--"
Were you one of the people who dropped $600 on an iPhone, and then felt like a chump when they lowered the price for everyone else?
More than 700,000 Massachusetts Turnpike commuters now share your agita. Only worse. Early adopters who bought a Fast Lane transponder over the past decade are getting squeezed on both ends. They had to pay full price when they bought one, and soon, they'll have a new monthly fee.
I don't care; I never take the Pike. Besides, Mass. voters deserve it.
The Turnpike Authority announced last week that the new 50-cents-a-month charge will go into effect June 1 for everyone with a Fast Lane account. The principle, beyond the amount, is what's galling to many commuters.
The authority's news release emphasized a new "reform," handing out transponders for free beginning Feb. 15 and crediting the former $25.95 cost of those transponders to anyone who bought them 30 days before that. The new fee was mentioned toward the bottom of the news release.
But what if you already paid the money for a transponder before that 30-day window? No luck. You can get a free replacement transponder when your battery runs out after eight or 10 years, or if it breaks. But no refund or credit on the money you already spent, even though you have to pay a new monthly service fee.
Commuters are angry. "If you're going to change the rules in the middle of the game, you should let people either have a credit or be exempt from" the monthly fee, said Rob Mastria, 25, of Bridgewater, who bought a transponder six or seven years ago.
Alan LeBovidge, the Pike's executive director, said at a meeting last week that the policy change was designed to encourage more people to use Fast Lane, not to make more money. "We're not looking to make money on it, but we want to make sure we're not increasing the deficit," he said.
Al, it doesn't help when you FLAT OUT LIE!!! And if you wanted to save money, you can take back the RAISES, right?
But it looks like the agency will in fact make money. The Pike will take in $4 million to $5 million a year from the fees, and should be able to reduce its workforce of toll takers as it persuades more drivers to paying electronically. Officials did not say how much money they would lose by giving away the transponders.
Yup, they gonna MAKE MONEY which was the PLAN ALL ALONG!!
Then they are going to CUT SERVICES, too!
Who says liberals can't loot and lie with the best of them?
James A. Aloisi Jr., board chairman and Governor Deval Patrick's new transportation secretary, said that over the course of a year, the fee will cost a commuter no more than the turkey sandwich he just had for lunch....
Then YOU can PICK UP the TAB, Joe!!!!
And you can PAY the PARKING TICKETS, too!!!!
I would suggest AVOIDING Bah-stahn at ALL COSTS!!!!
Parking is big business in Boston. The city makes more than $10 million a year from its on-street parking meters, and a total of more than $70 million when you include all those tickets they hand out.
Boston's CASH COW, 'eh?
The old meters, in service for about 14 years, have been a problem for years because they were so easy to break, by sticking paper into the slot. Broken meters mean less cash for a city that's struggling financially....
Hey, WE GOTTA TIGHTEN OUR BELTS!!!
--more--"
