Special
interest groups and their supporters have once again started the drumbeat for
higher taxes. This time they are trying to rally people to their cause with
some good old-fashioned class warfare as they are proposing to get rid of
Massachusetts’ current tax system, replacing it with a progressive tax
structure. Voters soundly rejected this idea by a 2-1 margin the last time it
was proposed, and I hope that they will see through the propaganda and vote it
down again.
Of course, the
people who support a progressive income tax say that this tax will only affect
the rich. However, these same special interest groups have already supported
increases to the current income tax on every taxpayer, the gas tax, and the
sales tax, which disproportionally targets low-income taxpayers. Their goal
isn’t tax fairness or to close the wealth gap. Their real goal is the same as
it’s always been: to increase taxes on all taxpayers and to fund more and more
government spending. If we amend the Massachusetts Constitution to allow for a
progressive income tax, we will be making it easy to increase the taxes on
everyone, one tax bracket at a time.
Here in
Massachusetts, we are leaders in science and technology, with a highly educated
workforce. However, if this tax increase is passed, there will be a significant
drag on our economy, which will have an impact on ALL citizens. In our
increasingly global economy, the high-paying jobs that still exist in
Massachusetts can easily be relocated to other states or countries. All one has
to do is look at our neighbor, Rhode Island. It has a progressive income tax
that at one time topped out at 9.9 percent. But the state in 2011 lowered its
marginal tax rate to 5.99 percent, which makes it more attractive to businesses
with high-earning employees..
I agree with
Governor Baker when he stated that we have a spending problem, not a revenue
problem. According to the Tax Foundation, the average taxpayer in Massachusetts
works until April 29 just to pay their taxes, later than in all but four other
states. At the same time, we had the highest per capita state debt burden in
the country as of fiscal 2012. We need to control spending and reform
government in Massachusetts. We do not need to raise taxes and continue to
saddle our future generations with debt.
