Friday, October 1, 2010
Massachusetts Sales Tax Swindle
Determined not to be caught off-guard in a volatile election year, labor unions are pouring money into an effort to fight a deep cut in the state sales tax, campaign finance reports show.
A group of unions — fearing mass layoffs of teachers, firefighters, and other state and municipal workers — has raised $1.3 million so far this year to defeat Question 3, one of two antitax measures on the November ballot. Supporters have raised $76,000.
And yet we have STILL HAD SERVICES SLASHED after we were TOLD that WOULD NOT HAPPEN if we ACCEPTED a SALES TAX HIKE! You SEE WHAT it WENT FOR above!!!
And here is a TRUISM of AmeriKan politics: ALWAYS GO with the LESSER MONEY!
The reason SUPPORTERS have NO MONEY is because it was PAID as TAXES!
Similar ballot measures failed in 2002 and 2008, but the money flowing into the campaign to defeat the measure shows that opponents of the ballot question are taking nothing for granted in a year that has already produced political surprises across the country.
Are you REALLY GOING TO ALLOW yourselves to be LIED TO AGAIN, Massachusetts?
Also see: I Made Forbes Magazine
It's time. If not now, when?
Opponents say passage of the question, which would cut the sales tax rate from 6.25 percent to 3 percent, would open up a hole in the fragile state budget of more than $2 billion and lead to Draconian cuts at the state and local levels.
That is WHAT THEY SAID the LAST TIME when they UPPED IT and we STILL GOT CUTS!
Draconian enough that all three major gubernatorial candidates — Governor Deval Patrick, a Democrat; Charles D. Baker, a Republican; and independent Timothy P. Cahill — oppose Question 3.
Then ISN'T THERE ANYONE ELSE to VOTE FOR?
“If this referendum passes, there is no doubt it will have a devastating impact on local services that have already been cut to the bone,’’ said Stephen G. Crawford, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Coalition for Our Communities, which includes the Massachusetts Teachers Association, the Massachusetts Nurses Association, and the Service Employees International Union. “Teachers, firefighters, local health care service, police officers — those services will bear the brunt of this referendum question.’’
But BANKS, loser biotech and green-tech, Hollywood, and political pensions and perks will not.
Supporters of the tax rollback, led by longtime libertarian activist Carla Howell, gathered about 19,000 signatures this year to put the question on the ballot and are hoping to capitalize on the restive mood of the electorate.
“They will have big money; we have a grass-roots campaign,’’ Howell said....
YUP!
Opponents of the ballot measure have spent money on public relations and polling firms....
Oh, THAT is NOT GOING TO WORK this year!!
Another tax question on the ballot, Question 1, would restore a sales tax exemption for alcoholic beverages....
I'm for prohibition, so.....
Hey, if it is good enough for the devil's weed it should be good enough for the devil's brew.
Think of the children.
You don't hate children.... do you?
Restoring the exemption, which Baker and Cahill support but Patrick opposes, would cost the state about $100 million in annual revenue, which now goes to support addiction treatment programs.
Gee, I KNOW WHERE you could get $100 million if some BILLIONS-in-PROFITS BANKS would HELP OUT!
Package stores say they are losing business to New Hampshire retailers because of the tax, though state reports say the impact has been minimal....
Of course, the money-grubbing state has no self-serving interest there.
Related: Mass. Lawmaker Boozes Up On Bathroom Break in New Hampshire
Oh, drunken hypocrisy to boot. Gotta love it. Only in Massachushitts!!!
State officials say the Commonwealth is taking in more from the tax than expected, a sign that sales of alcohol in Massachusetts remain robust....
That explains a lot of what I see in the area.
I will say one thing for AmeriKa: we sure have plenty of liquor stores.
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"In poll, edge goes to sales tax cut; Voters sharply divided amid intense effort to defeat state measure" by Alan Wirzbicki, Globe Staff | September 27, 2010
Massachusetts voters are deeply split over a November ballot question that would slash the state sales tax, a new Globe poll indicates, with a narrow plurality of those surveyed saying they favor the proposal.
Which likely means it should pass easily.
Remember, this is the SAME PAPER that predicted a DOUBLE-DIGIT WIN for Coakley over Brown based on their polls.
Forty-six percent of likely voters said they support Question 3, to cut the sales tax from 6.25 percent to 3 percent, while 43 percent said they were opposed and the rest undecided. The difference is within the poll’s margin of error.
The tax cut proposal, which would slice $2.5 billion from the state budget, has alarmed Beacon Hill and is opposed by all three major gubernatorial candidates, although all three say they would honor the tax cut if it is backed by a majority of voters.
Critics say it would have a devastating impact on the state by leading to massive layoffs and deep cuts to education, local aid, and law enforcement.
I thought you ACCEPTED the INCREASE to PRESERVE THOSE, Bay-Staters -- and yet you STILL GOT CUTS!!
Sorry, but we KNOW WHERE the TAX LOOT is GOING and the GAME is UP, Globe!
Also on the ballot this fall is a measure that would exempt alcohol from the sales tax. It is opposed by half of likely voters, the Globe poll found. Fifty percent said they were against it, and 36 percent said they were in favor.
So the rigged voting machines will give us a break on the booze so we can drink up and forget about the sales tax staying the same, huh?
Both issues will be on the Nov. 2 ballot, with a “no’’ vote preserving the tax rates at their current levels and a “yes’’ vote cutting them.
A broad coalition of opponents, including unions, business groups, and most of the state’s political leadership, has mobilized in favor of a “no’’ vote against the tax cuts in Question 3, amassing a $1.3 million war chest to defeat the measure.
If for no other reason THAT is why you should VOTE YES!! HOW MANY TIMES are you going to BELIEVE the LIES of your LEADERS, Massachusetts?
The “yes’’ campaign is led by Carla Howell, a libertarian activist who organized the signature drive to place the question on the ballot.
God Bless her!
Other tax-cut measures have failed in the past; proposals to eliminate the state income tax were defeated in 2002 and 2008.
Because people here bought the BS!
But the new poll suggests many voters are receptive to the antitax campaign this year. Supporters of the sales tax rollback have far less organized backing than opponents, but have vowed a grass-roots campaign....
I'm surprised the Globe hasn't used the word "insurgent" yet.
Maybe that is too blatant an insult for the hometown constituency, huh?
Though the poll shows significant support for Question 3, Andrew E. Smith, director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center, which conducted the Globe survey, cautioned that undecided voters on ballot issues often gravitate to the “no’’ side.
“Voters tend to be more supportive of the devil they know than the devil they don’t know,’’ he said....
Not this year!!
Devil is on the ballot and not an incumbent?
Got my vote!
In the Globe poll, a large percentage of respondents on both sides said they felt strongly about the issue, suggesting a polarized atmosphere that was reflected in follow-up interviews with respondents....
Media manipulation so you won't notice the looting.
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And where are the gubernatorial candidates coming down?
"Taxes dominate debates; Patrick slams Baker, Cahill cut proposals" by Michael Levenson, Globe Staff | September 29, 2010
For weeks, Republican gubernatorial candidate Charles D. Baker has been attacking both independent rival Timothy P. Cahill and Governor Deval Patrick, a Democrat, over taxes and spending, trying to persuade voters that the “Patrick-Cahill’’ administration has been bad for taxpayers.
No doubt about that.
Yesterday, Patrick turned the tables, painting Baker and Cahill as a fiscally reckless duo whose plans to cut the corporate, income, and sales tax rates to 5 percent would do as much damage to the state budget as a ballot question to roll back the sales tax, which all four gubernatorial candidates oppose.
I'm sorry; however, I AM NO LONGER IN FAVOR of taxes, etc, like the good lefty I was all those years. Not after I have seen WHERE THE MONEY is REALLY GOING!!
Americans need LESS TAXES and LESS GOVERNMENT right now, not more tolls for tyranny!!!
“Their budget proposals would have exactly the same impact, exactly the same impact, $2.5 billion,’’ the governor said at a candidates’ forum at Faneuil Hall, which focused on the challenges facing social service providers. “The time will come to talk about rolling back the tax rate, and we should. But the time is not right now.’’
WHY NOT? We have ALLEGEDLY been in RECOVERY for a YEAR and survived the recession better than other states?
Besides DUMP the TAXES and watch the ECONOMY TAKE OFF!!
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Jill Stein, the Green-Rainbow candidate, highlighted her plans to eradicate millions of dollars in state tax incentives for large corporations and direct the money to human services workers.
Excuse me?
She also proposed moving toward a single-payer health care system, which she likened to a “Medicare-for-all system.’’
Tell you what: I will raise a BEER STEIN to THAT!!!
“When you’re told there’s not enough money, you’re really being told there’s not enough money for you,’’ Stein told the audience....
Yeah, that's right!!
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Stein, criticizing Patrick for cutting human services during the economic downturn, said it was not enough for the governor to talk about supporting those who care for the neediest residents in the state. She said voters must decide “whether we want oratory and beautiful sentiments from our leaders, or we want results.’’
Oh, SHE SEES HIM for WHAT HE IS!!
Meanwhile, Baker’s campaign slammed a new advertisement that Bay State Future, a group affiliated with the Democratic Governors Association, is running on Patrick’s behalf. The ad accuses Baker, by signing a no-new-taxes pledge, of supporting tax breaks for companies that export jobs overseas.
Factcheck.org, a nonpartisan fact-checking organization, has labeled such ads false....
Yeah, I notice there is NEVER AS BIG a FUSS over DEMOCRAT DIRTY TRICKS!!
Related: Globe's Governor's Race: Democrats Cook Up Dirty Tricks on Baker
Looks like they have more in store.
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Related: Connaughton backs off opposition to ballot question
I think she is sensing the mood, folks.
And look who else didn't get enough money:
"Jill Stein narrowly misses requirement for public funding; Campaign of rival Cahill to benefit" by Frank Phillips, Globe Staff | September 30, 2010
Green-Rainbow Party gubernatorial candidate Jill Stein has failed to qualify for up to $519,000 in public funding, a setback for her struggling candidacy but one that gives Governor Deval Patrick a boost....
That is potentially good for Patrick, because it lowers the profile of Stein’s challenge from the left, and potentially bad for Republican Charles D. Baker, some of whose supporters believe the better Cahill does, the more it takes votes away from the GOP ticket. (A Globe poll released this week, however, suggested that Cahill voters, if they abandon the state treasurer, would fall equally to Patrick and Baker.)
See: Globe's Governor's Race: Baker Rising as Patrick Falls
And what challenge from the "left" are they talking about?
The news is a blow to Stein’s hopes of mounting a serious third-party bid....
That Stein fell short of qualifying this year will also add to the public funding for Attorney General Martha Coakley and state auditor candidates Suzanne Bump, the Democrat, and Mary Connaughton, the Republican, all of whom have submitted enough qualifying donations.
They will divide the remaining $288,000 of the total $1.03 million that was appropriated this year to provide public funding....
Don't you think that TAX LOOT could be BETTER SPENT, dear fellow citizen?
Or at least BETTER OFF in YOUR POCKET!?
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