"In Marshfield, stalled hopes; Enterprise Park was supposed to be the answer, bringing in jobs, money, people; instead, it is the question" by David Filipov, Globe Staff | June 20, 2010
MARSHFIELD — The lots are largely empty in Enterprise Park. Barren plots of crab grass and pine are dotted with “Land for Sale’’ signs. Even at rush hour, the road that circles the sprawling commercial zone is as quiet as a desert highway.
The park is the centerpiece of Marshfield’s plans to turn a 300-acre tract into a thriving center of commerce, residences, and public space. Leaders of this South Shore community believe it would attract business, bring in hundreds of jobs, and speed up an as-yet sputtering economic recovery....
Instead, for the last two years of recession and retrenchment, the momentum has gone backward. Companies have not been moving into the park. Housing sales have been sluggish. Financing has dried up for the developers, and contractors have had trouble getting work.
The chain reaction that has paralyzed Enterprise Park is not exclusive to Marshfield. Cities and towns across Massachusetts are struggling to figure out how to reverse the downward spiral, and climb back onto a path of economic growth.
Massachusetts' Corporate Cookie Jar
Massachusetts Lootislators Are Insane
Massachusetts' Lost Decade of Jobs
Those Are the (Tax) Breaks in Massachusetts
And you have been told you never had it so good.As the gubernatorial race heats up this summer and fall, voters will be weighing how the candidates for the corner office intend to help communities like Marshfield unclog such bottlenecks and unleash development that will create jobs....
Marshfield would not seem to be a candidate for a recession wreck. It has a diverse economy and a median family income of about $104,000, well over the state average of about $81,000, according to a survey by the US Census Bureau....
That's way above my poor piss-ant county.
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And everyone knows how too get an economy moving: LOWER TAXES!
"Baker vows to cut business taxes; Aims for $175m and tighter rules for jobless benefits" by Jack Nicas, Globe Correspondent | June 11, 2010
Republican candidate Charles D. Baker promised yesterday to cut business taxes by $175 million per year and tighten rules for unemployment benefits if he is elected governor in November.
His plan would reduce corporate taxes to 5 percent by his fourth year in office. Some companies now pay an 8.75 percent tax, while others pay the state income tax of 5.3 percent and a related tax, which Baker said he would eliminate. Baker has previously vowed to reduce both state income and sales taxes to 5 percent.
We have TOO MANY TAXES, Massachusetts.
That approach “will create a level, predictable, and competitive playing field for all business here in Massachusetts and give our businesses the predictability they need to hire people here and expand here,’’ he told members of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce in a ballroom of the Westin Copley Place hotel.
He did not offer specifics of how he would offset the $175 million loss in revenue, but said it would be covered by a roughly $1 billion package of proposals he laid out two months ago, including streamlining state government and charging inmates room and board....
Sorry, Chuck, but that is unconstitutional.
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But he's on the right track -- unlike the rest of his competitors:
"Backers say sales tax cut to be on ballot" by David Abel, Globe Staff | June 24, 2010
Voters in November will get the chance to slash the state sales tax from 6.25 percent to 3 percent, according to advocates who say they submitted more than enough petition signatures yesterday to force the item onto the ballot.
Oh, we will vote for it -- and then the Legislooture will block it like they have so many times before.
Carla Howell — chairwoman of the Alliance to Roll Back Taxes, based in Wayland — said her group submitted about 19,000 signatures to town and city clerks by yesterday’s deadline, a comfortable margin over the required 11,099 signatures.
Her group put similar measures on the ballot in 2002 and 2008, but neither passed.
Because we were lied to with scare tactics by the agenda-pushing MSM.
She called the latest campaign a “modest start to bringing the state government in line with the level of spending that’s appropriate.’’ The proposal, Howell said, would force state officials to cut spending by more than $2 billion.
“There’s only one way to create jobs, and that’s to cut government spending and cut taxes substantially,’’ she said. “And that’s what we’re doing.’’
Here is why:
Memory Hole: Massachusetts' State Budget
Mass. State Budget: Screwing Cities and Towns
But critics said passage of the proposed tax cuts would mean a financial crisis, as the state struggles to recover from the recession and overcome a $2.5 billion budget shortfall.
We were TOLD THAT LAST TIME and are STILL SEEING CUTS so F*** OFF!!
Our TAX MONEY should not be going to banks, Hollywood, and well-connected, agenda-pushing corporations that never make money.
“It would mean drastic cuts in aid to cities and towns, public higher education, health care, human services, and public safety,’’ said Michael Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation. “It would come after several rounds of cuts and would have a dramatic impact on state and local programs that the public has rightly come to expect.’’
We are GETTING THOSE ANYWAY!
When is ENOUGH ENOUGH, Americans?!
Last year, lawmakers increased the sales tax from 5 percent to 6.25 percent, which they said generated more than $600 million as the state sought to balance its budget while cutting a raft of programs and benefits. The additional taxes cost residents an estimated $140 per person or $370 per household, according to Widmer’s group.
And STILL in the HOLE and STILL MAKING CUTS!!!
But Widmer pointed out that the state continues to collect less in sales tax than do most of the 45 states that have a sales tax. Only three other states that collect sales taxes have lower tax burdens, because Massachusetts has a narrow sales tax base that excludes groceries, services, and clothing up to $175, he said....
Yeah, and THEY do NOT HAVE INCOME TAXES!!
He doesn't tell you that, does he? Yeah, you got it so good, Massachusetts!
And what narrow base is he talking about?
Quit lying hey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Howell nearly succeeded in repealing the state income tax in 2002, receiving 45 percent of the vote. In 2008, when opponents outspent her more than 10 to 1, she lost by a much wider margin, 70 percent to 30 percent.
Yup, you SEE WHERE YOUR TAX MONEY is GOING, folks!
Howell said she hopes this year’s effort to cut the sales tax pressures state officials to reduce pensions and benefits of state workers and cut subsidies to private businesses.
YUP!! That's why you are broke and bankrupt, taxpayers!
“There’s a lot of waste,’’ she said. “If I could, I would say to each department that they should disclose all their spending. If they didn’t, their budgets wouldn’t be funded. It would expose billions and billions of dollars of waste.’’
But Barry Bluestone, an economist who serves as dean of the School of Public Policy at Northeastern University, said there is little left to cut in the state budget.
Related:
The Massachusetts Model: Municipal Health Mess
Towns to Pay Health Tax For Public Servants
Yup, nothing left to cut. You see who gets taken care of fist, right?
“The rollback to 3 percent would be disastrous,’’ he said. “If the rollback succeeds, you would have large layoffs, lots of unmet needs, and it would create a serious fiscal crisis just as the state is recovering from the recession.’’
Geoffrey Beckwith, executive director of the Massachusetts Municipal Association, said the state’s towns and cities would suffer, too.
“This would be devastating to the economy and threaten basic services,’’ he said.
I'm sick of one-sided a**holes posing as a newspaper.
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"Sales tax foes upbeat on prospects" by Noah Bierman, Globe Staff | July 8, 2010
Antitax crusaders yesterday triumphantly turned in what they called a “challenge proof’’ number of voter signatures in their attempt to put on the November ballot a measure halving the state’s 6.25 percent sales tax.
The push to lower the tax to 3 percent has been tried before, but supporters say the recession has created a newly favorable climate for passage.
Oh, you bet!
Americans have had it, and I stoke my friends at every opportunity. Some do go vote for governor, and I'll be sure to tell them about this Question.
Opponents warn the measure would cut state income by $2 billion or more, gutting budgets for police, teachers, and programs protecting the poor.
ALREADY ARE!
And WE WERE TOLD if we agreed to the sales tax increase none of this would be needed!!
The sales tax question is one of three binding issues likely to make the November ballot. Measures repealing the sales tax on alcohol and eliminating an affordable housing law also have the required petition signatures, advocates say....
The sales tax question has already reverberated in the governor’s race, and an energetic turnout on the issue could help Republican Charles D. Baker or independent Timothy P. Cahill.
Not Cahill.
INCUMBENTS OUT!
Also see: The Perils of One-Party Politics: The Problem
THAT is why we NEED a REPUBLICAN in the corner office!
Governor Deval Patrick, a Democrat who signed an increase in the sales tax from 5 percent to 6.25 percent last year, has said he favors reducing taxes when the economy improves, but not immediately.
Pfft!
With that stroke of a pen he sealed his loss.
Both Baker and Cahill favor cutting the sales tax to 5 percent, although Baker has said he may not be able to do so early in his term.
He doesn't know what he is going to be looking at yet. The books have been fried by the Democrats up there.
Neither candidate supports a 3 percent rate, but both said they would implement it if voters give the go-ahead....
That's what I want: the WILL of the VOTERS to be HEEDED!!!
But the election is months away, and opponents are certain to press the case that cuts in spending would devastate local and state governments’ ability to provide services and damage the larger economy....
We have HEARD THAT ALL BEFORE!!
And how does TAKING YOUR DOLLAR, keeping half of it for themselves, and then giving you back 50 cents help?
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Related:
"August tax collections below estimates
Massachusetts has collected $89 million more in taxes during August compared with the same month last year, but that still fell $70 million below the target for the month. Revenue Commissioner Navjeet Bal said preliminary collections totaled about $1.38 billion, up about 6.9 percent from last August. But that wasn’t enough to match the monthly estimate the state needs for its budget. Because the state beat its July estimate by about $78 million, it is still about $8 million ahead of its target for the year. Bal said sales tax collections for August don’t reflect the tax holiday on Aug. 14 and 15, which will be seen in the September numbers (AP)."
What tax holiday? It was still slapped on my coffee.
Related: State Wears Rose-Colored Glasses When Looking at Revenue
Can you believe anything they say ever again?
"Rivals battle over taxes, health; Patrick, Cahill, and Baker trade accusations in feisty appearances on State House steps" by Michael Levenson, Globe Staff | August 12, 2010
Three candidates, three different messages, one spot: the sun-baked State House steps.
Trying to spark voter interest in their campaigns in the midst of the summer doldrums, Governor Deval Patrick, state Treasurer Timothy P. Cahill, and Charles D. Baker held consecutive, combative press conferences within four hours of each other yesterday, right outside the seat of power.
The three traded charges over taxes, health care, and who deserves blame for the state’s debt, in what felt like a warm-up for the two-month sprint to the election that begins after Labor Day....
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