Massachusetts activists repropose vote to end state income tax
Posted on August 3rd, 2007 by bile Categories and Tags: Uncategorized, business-backed budget watchdog group, Carla Howell, freedom, healthcare, liberty, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, Michael Widmer, New Hampshire, politics, property, schooling, state healthcare, taxes, United States Senate, your money 2 Comments »A proposal to abolish the state income tax received a surprising amount of support in the 2002 elections. Now, activists are reviving it, hoping to place it on next year’s ballot.
“I think our surprising and extraordinary vote in 2002 demonstrated that anything is possible, and people are going to take this much more seriously this time around,” said Carla Howell, who is leading the campaign to abolish the tax.
The proposal received 45 percent of the vote in 2002, despite critics’ warnings that it would plunge state government into chaos.
Michael Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, a business-backed budget watchdog group, said the proposal is “absolutely unreasonable” and would dry up state funding for education and healthcare. “The voters would rue the day. . . . Essentially, she’s trying to repeal the 20th century,” Widmer said. Income taxes account for $10 or $11 billion of the state’s budget of about $27 billion, he said.
Howell — a former Libertarian candidate for US Senate, governor, and state auditor — said the cut would be a “huge benefit” for average people.
Hmmm education and healthcare… two things I definitely don’t want government involved in. ‘[R]epeal the 20th century’? New Hampshire seems to be doing fine without income taxes and state healthcare.
