In November, Massachusetts voters will have the option of voting to eliminate their state’s income tax. As a Washingtonian, I send this cross-country plea: Don’t do it! Your wallets may be thin these days, and projects like the Big Dig may not inspire the greatest confidence in your government’s use of your tax dollars, but creating a regressive tax policy and a budget deficit that can’t be resolved by eliminating every single state employee and pension is not the way to go.Remember, the Laffer Curve came about when Dick Cheney, Arthur Laffer, and a Wall Street Journal editor huddled around a cocktail napkin. (Donald Rumsfeld was supposed to be there but canceled at the last minute.) I’ve seen your election returns, Massachusetts: you don’t think these people have your best interests in mind. Vote for a temporary abatement, an income-neutral shift of the burden up the bracket…anything but a system that inevitably leads to consistent budget shortfalls (ours is projecting at about $2.5 billion) that are reconciled by nickel-and-diming the middle class and poor. We shouldn’t need a 10% sales tax to run a few buses, trains, and health clinics, and you shouldn’t get rid of a system that taxes the people who can afford it. However, if you are really determined to go down that road, we’d be glad to offer you this guy. He comes with a strict no-return policy.
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