Another Ignored Referendum
           Today is the filing deadline for income taxes for the citizens of Massachusetts. The Internal Revenue Service and Mass. Dept. of Revenue graciously grant us an extra day to file, because yesterday was Patriot’s Day, when we commemorate when citizens of the state armed themselves and engaged in armed conflict against a tyrannical government that mercilessly taxed its citizens, and didn’t listen to their pleas to rescind those taxes.
           Perhaps it is with that image in mind that Attorney General Tom Reilly and Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey have picked today to pontificate on why we must roll the income tax back to 5 percent. Reilly will be meeting with filers at South Station Post Office at 8:00 a.m., and Healey with Barbara Anderson of Citizens for Limited Taxation and Government at her campaign headquarters at 1:00 p.m.
           What should puzzle many is why this ought to be a campaign issue at all, and why there needs to be any debate. On a statewide ballot back in 2000, voters in Massachusetts approved a tax roll back to 5%. However, the complete rollback was halted in 2002 in the face of looming budget deficits. The legislature simply said “No” to their own constituents, rather than grant them what they voted for.
           In the last two years however, the Mass. Dept. of Revenue has seen its largest months of tax receipts ever. In a state with a declining population, which presumably would mean less need for services, we are posting record receipts. So when does the tax rollback “restart”? Don’t hold your breath. Because in the mind of our government, more revenue means simply “more to spend”.
           One does not have to be a genius to figure out the official reason why the citizens of the state are not going to get their income tax roll-back this year, or ever. If it ever actually comes up for debate, our elected officials will be pointing at the wildly-popular “universal” healthcare proposal, and claim that we can’t afford to let citizens have more of their money back because it is already part of the necessary revenue to make the healthcare scheme work. Even then, the healthcare proposal is projected to have a billion dollar deficit by 2009, so expect more new taxes to help offset that. Ideas are already being floated for a new cigarette tax, a new “fat” tax, and other targeted taxes that are health-related.