I can't help but feel like Obama's not just from Chicago, but the Queen of sorts, and by that, I mean Big Mama -- holding ward over America's nationwide Wall Street debtors prison. You want unemployment benefits in the nation's worst depression since the "Great" one? $700 billion for millionaires and billionaires.
Big Mama is certainly willing to "spice things up" for the people who live in her cell blocks, but at a cost that is so steep as to not be worth it -- at least if you weren't trapped in her ward.A deal that doesn't include any help the '99ers,' states that are in fiscal crisis or one that raises of the nation's debt sealing (so Republicans can't hold America hostage again in another few months, or force us to make grotesque cuts) is no deal at all. That Big Mama territory -- or maybe we should say Big Obama territory.
Showing posts with label taxes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label taxes. Show all posts
Friday, December 10, 2010
Thursday, December 02, 2010
Daily Updates: 12.2.10
The format, size and scope of Facebook updates are appealing to me, so I'm going to try out a new, regular feature on this blog: Daily Updates. They're going to be direct copy and pastes of what I post on Facebook and elsewhere, both on topic and off.
These topics are generally the things which are really on my mind each day, so I hope they'll spark some good conversations. As always, my tweets can be found on the sidebar of this site. Now for today's updates:
- BTW: The Republicans who voted today against the Obama tax cuts in turn voted to raise the income tax by 50% on the lowest tax bracket in America, which officially makes them horrible human beings in my book. The Republicans just said to the working poor, "Screw you!"
- Admiral Mullen's testimony in favor of repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell today was one for the history books. He made it clear: This is all about restoring dignity and improving readiness, and he tore apart the arguments of the few holdouts. Hearing Admiral Mullen's testimony makes me proud of America. Let's make this happen.
- So, one of my favorite YouTube channels is "SupraDarky," someone who is obsessed with video game instrumentals and music. He has a "Best VGM" series in which he collects all his favorites... and his most recent pick is pretty awesome, from the Castlevania franchise.
- Not enough people understand how tax brackets work. If you make $251k, and the tax rates for those who earn above $250k get rolled back to the Clinton-era rates, you're only paying that Clinton-era rate on the $1k you make beyond $250k. So, in essence, everyone still gets a tax cut... this is just slightly more sane than throwing another $700 billion down the toilet that this country can't afford.
- While Scott Brown holds out to push permanent tax cuts for the wealthy totaling $700 billion over the next decade, he's voting to strip our country's meager unemployment benefits right before Christmas.
Friday, December 04, 2009
NECN, Gloucester and Tap Water
- Watching NECN this morning. They discussed the media at 8:20am today in relation to the Tiger Woods story -- showing how one paper reported one thing, another reported a completely contradicting story, and another reported something similar (but slightly different) than the first. Basically, they just pointed out how ridiculous the media can be now. Two thumbs up. Stuff like this makes me respect NECN so much more than any other local tv news (or print news, for that matter).
- Gloucester was slammed with a state order to pay $8 million in sewer upgrades for deficiencies it 'allowed' to happen, with an additional $80,000 in fines, or $15,000 if it makes the repairs quickly enough. Now, this money obviously needs to be spent -- the tap water was literally unsafe to drink for two weeks this summer and had to be boiled before use during that time span.
- The thing that bothered me about this story is the fact that the state seems to think that Gloucester was just being negligent in its repairs. Over the past few years, Gloucester has been in a desperate budget situation, in no small part due to the state. The state not only cut Gloucester's aid by a 1/3, but also has, for years, delayed giving Gloucester it's fair share of Chapter 70 education funding. It's one of several towns, including my own, which gets screwed by the state year in and year out. If the state wants minimum standards kept, it's got to give cities and towns the tools and funding to come up with solutions. The only entity that should be fined for what happened in Gloucester is the state, for forcing the town to be in a situation where it had to be so negligent in its services to begin with.
- All that said, readers of this site know that I'm a big fan of tap water. While the Gloucester tap water hiccup is something no one wants to hear about re: drinking water, especially those who drink bottled water, this is actually an example of the system working. Tap water is strictly regulated, whereas bottled water is not. Not only did the stricter regulations make it more likely that Gloucester's problems would be discovered, but it makes it more likely that those problems get fixed and won't happen again. Who's going to find that problem in your bottled water -- the very bottles that are more likely to allow bacteria to fester? Finally, for the cost of one bottle of tap water at CVS, you can get well more than a year's worth of cleaner, better tap water. Get rid of the Poland Springs and buy your own bottle for your water -- fill it up at the tap and save yourself the money and trouble.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Tax and Spend Liberals
Saw this graph and it was too awesome not to post. Click on the image to see it in full.
Hat tip goes to Math4Barack, over at dkos.
Hat tip goes to Math4Barack, over at dkos.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
The Demise of Citizens for Limited Taxation
I made a comment over at BMG that I'd like to post here. I don't think it's one of my most eloquent comments and there's little wit to be had, but I'm posting it because it's true.
Prop 2 1/2 wasn't about making sure cities and towns couldn't just raise taxes as they felt like it, build whatever building they wanted, and face little electoral pressure for their decisions. Prop 2 1/2 was about killing public education, pure and simple. A few decades later and the girls -- Carla Howell and Barbara Anderson -- can be quite proud of what they've accomplished; their final mission is nearly complete, as cities and towns are falling apart across the Commonwealth.
But, Ryan, what about accountability? What about making sure money was spent wisely? If CLT was about accountability, they'd have followed a different track -- they'd have tried to get towns to vote on tax increases if it were to pay for serves above and beyond level servicing government. It's hard to fathom even then that people wouldn't understand that inflation often rises above the rate of inflation -- and that unforeseen problems arise.
But Howell, Anderson and the CLT bunch never cared about that. All they cared about was government without taxation, even if it killed public education in the long run. They were so effective because they knew they were far more patient than their foes -- they could convince people to vote their way then, because it would take decades for their actions to take full effect. No one would have to feel accountable for their decisions then and few probably understood the full repercussions, but we're feeling them now.
The damage those two have done to this state will be felt for a long time, well past the expiration date of Howell, Anderson and Citizens for Limited Taxation, which is imminent. Their movement holds no sway any longer, as another, far crazier and less dangerous one takes its place -- the tea baggers, who have an absolute aversion to facts and anything that doesn't confirm to their worldview. They will never have the patience and intelligence to act in the way Barbara Anderson and Carla Howell have over the past few decades, but unfortunately the damage is done. It will take real leadership to undo the damage CLT did to this state, while simultaneously instilling real accountability in government, but I'm not sure we're quite there yet.
[CLT] was a great thing... if you consider it an example of irresponsible governing. Don't get me wrong -- I think the idea of a prop 2 1/2 isn't a bad one. I don't think town meeting or the city council should just be able to vote on their own to build a new school (raising the taxes to do it), for example, but to demand towns stay under the rate of inflation when some of their biggest costs are are becoming more expensive at 3-4x the rate of inflation, it is not "a great thing." A bill that would have forced town votes when going above and beyond the status quo, level funding services, would have been both accountable and responsible... but accountability and responsibility has NEVER been Barbara Anderson and Carla Howell's goals.The problem with CLT was never that it claimed to want accountability for taxpayers, the problem with CLT was that accountability was a secondary goal to killing government. It wanted to starve the best, making sure its expenses rose quicker than its ability to pay for those expenses, so one by one the programs would die out and no one would notice the beast was dead until after it drew its last breath.
Prop 2 1/2 wasn't about making sure cities and towns couldn't just raise taxes as they felt like it, build whatever building they wanted, and face little electoral pressure for their decisions. Prop 2 1/2 was about killing public education, pure and simple. A few decades later and the girls -- Carla Howell and Barbara Anderson -- can be quite proud of what they've accomplished; their final mission is nearly complete, as cities and towns are falling apart across the Commonwealth.
But, Ryan, what about accountability? What about making sure money was spent wisely? If CLT was about accountability, they'd have followed a different track -- they'd have tried to get towns to vote on tax increases if it were to pay for serves above and beyond level servicing government. It's hard to fathom even then that people wouldn't understand that inflation often rises above the rate of inflation -- and that unforeseen problems arise.
But Howell, Anderson and the CLT bunch never cared about that. All they cared about was government without taxation, even if it killed public education in the long run. They were so effective because they knew they were far more patient than their foes -- they could convince people to vote their way then, because it would take decades for their actions to take full effect. No one would have to feel accountable for their decisions then and few probably understood the full repercussions, but we're feeling them now.
The damage those two have done to this state will be felt for a long time, well past the expiration date of Howell, Anderson and Citizens for Limited Taxation, which is imminent. Their movement holds no sway any longer, as another, far crazier and less dangerous one takes its place -- the tea baggers, who have an absolute aversion to facts and anything that doesn't confirm to their worldview. They will never have the patience and intelligence to act in the way Barbara Anderson and Carla Howell have over the past few decades, but unfortunately the damage is done. It will take real leadership to undo the damage CLT did to this state, while simultaneously instilling real accountability in government, but I'm not sure we're quite there yet.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Has DeLeo Lost it Already?
From today's Patriot Ledger, the Speaker's plan for saving Massachusetts is gambling and the film tax credit. No, this is not a joke. The two biggest state gimmicks in town are what the Speaker views as the two most important aspects to combating our tough budget picture -- not small businesses, not our research industry and not our struggling cities and towns.
Second, gambling has never, ever solved a state's budget problems. New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and New Jersey all have much more gambling than we do as a state, including slots, and yet all have higher taxes for residents. Slots does not solve budget woes. They in all likelihood cost a state money in the long run, due to lost small business, decreased use of the state lottery system and literally tens of millions more in costs that must be mitigated (but can never be prevented, so long as slots are legalized).
Speaker DeLeo must be honest. He doesn't support slots because of the state's budget situation, he supports them because of the importance of race tracks in his district and the powerful track lobby. Speaker DeLeo does not support the Film Tax Credit because of the budget picture, he supports them for nice headlines and, again, the film lobby. There was a widespread effort to cap the film tax credit on celebrity stars so that the state only paid its 25% on the first $2.5 million of an actor or director's salary -- and one Tom Cruise movie threatening to leave the state later, the effort at even that little bit of sanity was tossed aside. Can Speaker DeLeo at least be intellectually honest?
Update: in the article, it's made clear that the state's going to have to make about $600 million in cuts. The Film Tax Credit costs this state upwards of a 100 million a year. Cutting it would get us roughly 10% of the way there. And this is what Speaker DeLeo considers one of the two most important programs in the state right now in restoring our budget!
First, there isn't a single, solitary "tax incentive" on the books that's more useless or wasteful of our tax dollars than the film tax credit, especially if it's meant to be an "answer to the state's budget woes." For every three dollars we invest in the industry, we get a dollar back. We pay off 25% of a production's entire costs, including Tom Cruise's $20+ million paycheck, even if the movie company doesn't employ a single, solitary Massachusetts-based employee, paying Massachusetts income taxes. Not only that, but the film industry is excused from paying the same sales taxes that we all pay. The Film Tax Credit, if it's meant to help the state's budget, is literally as helpful as flushing tens of millions of dollars every year down the toilet.QUINCY —The answer to the state’s budget woes is job creation through expanding the gambling and film production industries, House Speaker Robert DeLeo said Tuesday.
Defending the state’s push for gambling and its controversial film tax credit program, DeLeo told The Patriot Ledger editorial board that one of his priorities is job creation.
Second, gambling has never, ever solved a state's budget problems. New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and New Jersey all have much more gambling than we do as a state, including slots, and yet all have higher taxes for residents. Slots does not solve budget woes. They in all likelihood cost a state money in the long run, due to lost small business, decreased use of the state lottery system and literally tens of millions more in costs that must be mitigated (but can never be prevented, so long as slots are legalized).
Speaker DeLeo must be honest. He doesn't support slots because of the state's budget situation, he supports them because of the importance of race tracks in his district and the powerful track lobby. Speaker DeLeo does not support the Film Tax Credit because of the budget picture, he supports them for nice headlines and, again, the film lobby. There was a widespread effort to cap the film tax credit on celebrity stars so that the state only paid its 25% on the first $2.5 million of an actor or director's salary -- and one Tom Cruise movie threatening to leave the state later, the effort at even that little bit of sanity was tossed aside. Can Speaker DeLeo at least be intellectually honest?
Update: in the article, it's made clear that the state's going to have to make about $600 million in cuts. The Film Tax Credit costs this state upwards of a 100 million a year. Cutting it would get us roughly 10% of the way there. And this is what Speaker DeLeo considers one of the two most important programs in the state right now in restoring our budget!
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Mohegan Not Paying Its Taxes in Palmer
They bought property trying to force a casino down Massachusetts's throat, but didn't bother to pay their taxes to the town of Palmer for an entire month -- stripping the town of $16,000 in these bleak budget days. Sound familiar?
Monday, July 13, 2009
Toll Fraud
[Note: Please read the important update below. The Pike's still in the wrong, but for a slightly different - and not quite as bad - reason. The Herald article was a little bit confusing, so I apologize for getting some of this wrong originally. Went offline today to learn more so I could correct it.]
Why do we allow this authority to exist anymore?
Let us not forget: The MBTA did the same exact thing. What is it with these Massachusetts Authorities thinking they can have their cake and eat it too? The Pike told the State House it needed $100 million or it would have to basically double all tolls. The MBTA said it needed $160 million, or it'd have to make extreme cuts to services and hikes to fees. The State House actually raised taxes and provided the necessary funds. Both Authorities raised the fees anyway. Who do these people think they are? In what world do they live in -- because it's clearly not the one the rest of us draw breath from.
The brashness of these assholes is, at this point, legendary. Their lack of honor, dignity or compassion makes them downright alien. Both of these authorities are declaring open warfare on Massachusetts taxpayers. People should park their cars in the Ted Williams tunnel. They should stand in the doorways of the Green Line. It is time to shut down the Pike and MBTA. It is time to say no more. They don't give a shit about you or me. They don't give a shit about the people who use their services. They don't give a shit about the fact that we're all losing jobs, taking paycuts or doubling payments on our healthcare just to get by. They care about protecting their rackets. They care about maintaining the status quo. They need to be fired. The tolls need to be taken down. And we need real, live, fucking accountability in our "authorities" for once.
Important Update: Okay, I'm calming down a little bit, because I went offline to talk with some people today to get the real scoop. The Pike is honoring the existing rate after the state dug up the $100 million for them, but it's not honoring the clause in the bill that said the Pike can no longer use toll money to pay off their Big Dig debt.
On the one hand, that latter clause was a hard-fought addition to the law. On the other hand, 58 cents of every dollar paid at Pike tolls goes to pay off the Big Dig. So, the state's going to have to cough up more money if it's going to get the Pike to actually honor the law. It's still an unaccountable organization -- they could have done something to at least show that they wanted to honor the new law. And nothing's changed about the fact that the MBTA completely lied and showed an utter disregard for its passengers when it claimed the need for $160 million or else, got it and raised prices anyway. That utter disregard shows a need for the public to become much more active in getting these authorities to be accountable -- one way or the other, legislatively or through civil disobedience. These people need to learn that they serve at our pleasure, not the other way around.
Why do we allow this authority to exist anymore?
A $100 million state legislative bailout of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority was supposed to make possible a reduction in tolls - but there’s been no talk of fulfilling that promise since the cash was approved weeks ago.And what do we get?
“Since then the Authority has experienced additional fiscal strains,” said Executive Office of Transportation spokesman Colin Durrant. “The costs of the system simply do not permit toll reduction to be a viable option.”Should anyone be surprised? A great deal of people were sounding the warning bell months ago, declaring this would happen. They knew, even after we raised taxes to give all the requested money to the Pike, the Pike would raise the tolls anyway. These people were calling for the state legislature to enforce the Pike's promise to lower or keep the same toll rate. Sadly, the State did not listen.
Let us not forget: The MBTA did the same exact thing. What is it with these Massachusetts Authorities thinking they can have their cake and eat it too? The Pike told the State House it needed $100 million or it would have to basically double all tolls. The MBTA said it needed $160 million, or it'd have to make extreme cuts to services and hikes to fees. The State House actually raised taxes and provided the necessary funds. Both Authorities raised the fees anyway. Who do these people think they are? In what world do they live in -- because it's clearly not the one the rest of us draw breath from.
The brashness of these assholes is, at this point, legendary. Their lack of honor, dignity or compassion makes them downright alien. Both of these authorities are declaring open warfare on Massachusetts taxpayers. People should park their cars in the Ted Williams tunnel. They should stand in the doorways of the Green Line. It is time to shut down the Pike and MBTA. It is time to say no more. They don't give a shit about you or me. They don't give a shit about the people who use their services. They don't give a shit about the fact that we're all losing jobs, taking paycuts or doubling payments on our healthcare just to get by. They care about protecting their rackets. They care about maintaining the status quo. They need to be fired. The tolls need to be taken down. And we need real, live, fucking accountability in our "authorities" for once.
Important Update: Okay, I'm calming down a little bit, because I went offline to talk with some people today to get the real scoop. The Pike is honoring the existing rate after the state dug up the $100 million for them, but it's not honoring the clause in the bill that said the Pike can no longer use toll money to pay off their Big Dig debt.
On the one hand, that latter clause was a hard-fought addition to the law. On the other hand, 58 cents of every dollar paid at Pike tolls goes to pay off the Big Dig. So, the state's going to have to cough up more money if it's going to get the Pike to actually honor the law. It's still an unaccountable organization -- they could have done something to at least show that they wanted to honor the new law. And nothing's changed about the fact that the MBTA completely lied and showed an utter disregard for its passengers when it claimed the need for $160 million or else, got it and raised prices anyway. That utter disregard shows a need for the public to become much more active in getting these authorities to be accountable -- one way or the other, legislatively or through civil disobedience. These people need to learn that they serve at our pleasure, not the other way around.
Monday, May 25, 2009
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Awesome Show with Representative Benson
We had Jen Benson on LeftAhead yesterday -- and it was a great show. She was exceptionally open, honest, detailed and willing to discuss the most pressing issues of the day. Don't miss it.
Remember, anyone can become a subscriber and download LeftAhead on Itunes, so they can listen to it on their commutes and not have to be affixed to the computer.
Remember, anyone can become a subscriber and download LeftAhead on Itunes, so they can listen to it on their commutes and not have to be affixed to the computer.
Interesting Theory I Heard on Sales Tax
From someone in the State House:
There's a reason why the proposed sales tax hike didn't and doesn't even bridge the gap in what we pretended to think we had several months ago in coming revenue to what we know we don't have anymore. Now that there's still a big hole, guess what some leaders will try to sell as a means to close the gap? A hint: it's a tag on this post.
There's a reason why the proposed sales tax hike didn't and doesn't even bridge the gap in what we pretended to think we had several months ago in coming revenue to what we know we don't have anymore. Now that there's still a big hole, guess what some leaders will try to sell as a means to close the gap? A hint: it's a tag on this post.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
House Progressives & the Sales Tax
House progressives have been largely flogged across the Mass blogosphere lately, complete with jokes about DeLeo-sponsored water boarding. Whatever happened behind the scenes, it's far more likely that progressives made a gut call on this, at least as the main reason behind their votes. I don't blame House progressives for voting for the sales tax - even if it's one I'm clearly not cheering for. A few points have been lost in the conversation:
1) This was the only tax on the table in the House so far - and it wasn't for lack of effort. The progressives didn't want the sales tax in particular, but the votes just weren't there for a gas tax -- never mind an income tax. Unfortunately, too many people view the gas tax as a Boston vs. the rest of state thing, even if a big chunk of that money would have gone to the other regions. A lot of others were just adverse to raising the gas tax, as if it were somehow more taxier than other taxes. So, progressives were left with the sales tax or $3 billion in cuts.
2) They have constituents to report back to, towns to fund. Many constituents will be angry about the tax, but that's a short term problem forgotten in a few months when it's not an election year. Cuts to town budgets is a recurring problem far more likely to spawn anger when it matters. Moreover, if it wasn't the sales tax, it would have meant additional cuts to state aid. Contrary to popular opinion, your state legislator probably cares a great deal about your town's finances, even if their strings are usually tied. It's hypocritical to rail against them on things like Chapter 70 and then criticize them when they actually try to do something about it.
3) This is partly my fault, but in the blogosphere's collective anger about the sales tax, we've often forgotten that there is no sales tax on food or clothes. That makes this sales tax option far less regressive than in other states. Would progressives have voted for this bill otherwise? Probably not.
What's clear is that movement progressives have our work cut out for us if we want real revenue reform. We need to expand these issues beyond reactionary news items and rallies - and really start to educate the public. We need to elect more progressives, so next time they have the votes on something like the gas tax. We need to get more involved, earlier (like now), in the battle for the next House Speakah.
Yet, all of that's in the future. The bottom line is that while this sales tax proposal passed by the House today does punt on transportation and lacks vision, it's still the best option House progressives had - so they voted for it. The Governor's still right on a lot of things -- I'm not trying to take away from my arguments yesterday - but we shouldn't be railing against elected progressives for this vote. Looking at it from their perspective, this was not a betrayal. If our state couldn't even pass a 10 cent gas tax, we shouldn't be so driven by ideological purity to castigate them for this vote when so much was at stake. I include myself in this critique -- and hope something better comes out of the Senate.
1) This was the only tax on the table in the House so far - and it wasn't for lack of effort. The progressives didn't want the sales tax in particular, but the votes just weren't there for a gas tax -- never mind an income tax. Unfortunately, too many people view the gas tax as a Boston vs. the rest of state thing, even if a big chunk of that money would have gone to the other regions. A lot of others were just adverse to raising the gas tax, as if it were somehow more taxier than other taxes. So, progressives were left with the sales tax or $3 billion in cuts.
2) They have constituents to report back to, towns to fund. Many constituents will be angry about the tax, but that's a short term problem forgotten in a few months when it's not an election year. Cuts to town budgets is a recurring problem far more likely to spawn anger when it matters. Moreover, if it wasn't the sales tax, it would have meant additional cuts to state aid. Contrary to popular opinion, your state legislator probably cares a great deal about your town's finances, even if their strings are usually tied. It's hypocritical to rail against them on things like Chapter 70 and then criticize them when they actually try to do something about it.
3) This is partly my fault, but in the blogosphere's collective anger about the sales tax, we've often forgotten that there is no sales tax on food or clothes. That makes this sales tax option far less regressive than in other states. Would progressives have voted for this bill otherwise? Probably not.
What's clear is that movement progressives have our work cut out for us if we want real revenue reform. We need to expand these issues beyond reactionary news items and rallies - and really start to educate the public. We need to elect more progressives, so next time they have the votes on something like the gas tax. We need to get more involved, earlier (like now), in the battle for the next House Speakah.
Yet, all of that's in the future. The bottom line is that while this sales tax proposal passed by the House today does punt on transportation and lacks vision, it's still the best option House progressives had - so they voted for it. The Governor's still right on a lot of things -- I'm not trying to take away from my arguments yesterday - but we shouldn't be railing against elected progressives for this vote. Looking at it from their perspective, this was not a betrayal. If our state couldn't even pass a 10 cent gas tax, we shouldn't be so driven by ideological purity to castigate them for this vote when so much was at stake. I include myself in this critique -- and hope something better comes out of the Senate.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Punting Transportation
I'm not the only one who's realized this sales tax (should it get through the Senate veto-proof) fixes nothing in terms of our transportation woes, be it the MBTA, Pike or the actual infrastructure crisis.
acts like an adult crafts policy that actually seeks to fix our fundamental problems is now up to the State Senate - the very same chamber that screamed "reform before revenue" when this state was contemplating revenues that would actually fix our problems. Now that it's revenues that won't, we'll see if their actions match their rhetoric.
Call your legislators, especially your Senator. Demand that whatever passes includes the necessary reforms and funding to solve the MBTA's debt, prevent future toll hikes (if not get rid of tolls altogether) and begins to address our aging infrastructure, which will only become more costly and inconvenient to fix the longer we delay. Your calls will make a difference.
The House plan to raise the state sales tax could create some short-term relief for commuters anxious about toll hikes and MBTA fare increases in the coming year, but it would do little to halt the larger crisis that has made transportation a top issue on Beacon Hill, advocates and observers say.Emphasis mine. We need a little less special teams work on Beacon Hill and a little more addressing of our fundamental problems. As I said yesterday,
"If the public thinks that, 'Oh, this sales tax is going to solve all the problems,' it won't," said Eric Bourassa, a public transit advocate for the Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group. "It might improve the short-term problems, but it might just push them off into the future."
DeLeo may claim to be trying to fix [our state's problems] through this sales tax hike, but what does it actually accomplish? Does it fix our transportation system? No. Does it pay to pave the roads and fix the bridges we need? No. Does it give cities and towns the tools they need to solve their own problems? No. This sales tax is a policy without a goal, never mind a vision. It doesn't seek to fix anything. It's just raising taxes for the sake of raising taxes -- throwing some money at our problems, without rolling up our sleeves and trying to fix them, then absolving ourselves from any of the responsibilities.I guess whether or not state government
Call your legislators, especially your Senator. Demand that whatever passes includes the necessary reforms and funding to solve the MBTA's debt, prevent future toll hikes (if not get rid of tolls altogether) and begins to address our aging infrastructure, which will only become more costly and inconvenient to fix the longer we delay. Your calls will make a difference.
Veto it Anyway
DeLeo may be able to push through most of whatever he wants wielding the power of the gavel, but there's a battle for the heart and soul of Massachusetts right now -- and the Speaker's on the wrong side of it. No, it's not just the sales tax -- it's the notion that we can continue to pretend that we don't have problems. The problems are hitting us on the side of our heads and still we're ignoring them.
DeLeo may claim to be trying to fix them through this sales tax hike, but what does it actually accomplish? Does it fix our transportation system? No. Does it pay to pave the roads and fix the bridges we need? No. Does it give cities and towns the tools they need to solve their own problems? No. This sales tax is a policy without a goal, never mind a vision. It doesn't seek to fix anything. It's just raising taxes for the sake of raising taxes -- throwing some money at our problems, without rolling up our sleeves and trying to fix them, then absolving ourselves from any of the responsibilities. It's not responsible, adult behavior.
That's why Governor Patrick needs to veto this bill. It may be overridden, but it sends a clear message. It's a message that voters will hear -- and they're going to ask why their elected leaders failed to do right by the state today. Deval won't make many friends on Beacon Hill renewing his campaign against the Big Dig culture, but it's long since past worrying about such things now. The battle for the Commonwealth's soul is not lost yet, but it's going to take a vintage Deval Patrick to win it.
DeLeo may claim to be trying to fix them through this sales tax hike, but what does it actually accomplish? Does it fix our transportation system? No. Does it pay to pave the roads and fix the bridges we need? No. Does it give cities and towns the tools they need to solve their own problems? No. This sales tax is a policy without a goal, never mind a vision. It doesn't seek to fix anything. It's just raising taxes for the sake of raising taxes -- throwing some money at our problems, without rolling up our sleeves and trying to fix them, then absolving ourselves from any of the responsibilities. It's not responsible, adult behavior.
That's why Governor Patrick needs to veto this bill. It may be overridden, but it sends a clear message. It's a message that voters will hear -- and they're going to ask why their elected leaders failed to do right by the state today. Deval won't make many friends on Beacon Hill renewing his campaign against the Big Dig culture, but it's long since past worrying about such things now. The battle for the Commonwealth's soul is not lost yet, but it's going to take a vintage Deval Patrick to win it.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Your Legislators Need to Side with Deval
David's absolutely right, please call your legislators and ask them to stand with Deval Patrick on taxes. I've gone at length as to why the sales tax is a bad idea, but it's an even worse idea if all the reforms and other revenue options we need to fix our infrastructure and fund our towns don't come with it. Otherwise, it's a tax with no purpose other than to raise our taxes -- it doesn't accomplish a single, solitary policy goal alone. And to do that, it would be off the backs and the working (and not working) poor, in the midst of our economy's greatest fiscal crisis since the Great Depression.
EaBoIII, for whatever it's worth, says DeLeo doesn't have the votes. Good!
But it's close. Please call.
EaBoIII, for whatever it's worth, says DeLeo doesn't have the votes. Good!
But it's close. Please call.
DeLeo's Bad Idea
DeLeo's sharpening his sales-tax plan, but that doesn't make it a good one. Let's look at this from several different angles.
Needed revenue.
The MBTA alone has an over-$200 million dollar hole to climb out of. It can't cut its way out of that, or force it on T users. It can't be blamed for that debt, either: the very-large bulk of it occurred because the state forced the T to pay for aspects surrounding the Big Dig, instead of paying up using the general fund or an increase to the gas tax. Governor Patrick's gas tax plan solved this problem & added money desperately needed for our transportation system, one of the oldest and most worn out in the entire country. DeLeo's plan doesn't even seek to solve the problems, it only seeks to throw just enough money at the problems so DeLeo can throw the towel in and wash his hands of it. It's neither honest nor good policy.
Not a good tax.
Simply put, the sales tax is one of the least progressive taxes out there. It is far more painful to the middle and working classes than the wealthy. Why? Middle and working class people still need to buy many of the same sort of things. This means they're paying the same taxes for those things as anyone else, even those who make magnitudes more.
On top of that, in this poor economy why add a tax that hits those who are unemployed just as heavily as it does the employed? If you're unemployed, at least you're not getting hit off the head with income taxes. Why force the unemployed to pay more? And how does this help people want to go out and buy things -- ultimately necessary to end the recession?
Other, better options.
For starters, this doesn't generate the revenue we need as a state. We need more funds for public transportation and infrastructure. If DeLeo wants to go beyond increasing the gas tax and try to raise revenue to help offset the general fund's deficit, then maybe this is a good way to do it. But this shouldn't be seen as a be-all fix for our state. Moreover, why not just increase income taxes by about .1% - which would generate about the same level of funds? At least that way, it's not quite such a regressive tax. It's not going to hit those who are un or underemployed the hardest. And it allows those who earn more to pay more, as is customary throughout the developed world.
Some sales taxes can make decent policy -- roads are costly and there's few better ways to fund it than through the gas tax, which is a type of sales tax. Gas taxes also help people use public transit and nudge people to drive less, both things needed to help reduce Global Warming emissions. Furthermore, discretionary spending, at a modest rate, should be fair game for tax policy, as people don't need to spend their money on those things.
But these aren't things DeLeo's trying to do. There are better options for the state to take than DeLeo's plan -- both in terms of increasing revenue and lessening the impact on this state's most vulnerable. If DeLeo's going to be a Speaker for the people of this state who need it the most, he needs to get off his aversion to the gas and income tax and start acting like an adult. We need real solutions, not lame-o conservative tax policy.
Needed revenue.
The MBTA alone has an over-$200 million dollar hole to climb out of. It can't cut its way out of that, or force it on T users. It can't be blamed for that debt, either: the very-large bulk of it occurred because the state forced the T to pay for aspects surrounding the Big Dig, instead of paying up using the general fund or an increase to the gas tax. Governor Patrick's gas tax plan solved this problem & added money desperately needed for our transportation system, one of the oldest and most worn out in the entire country. DeLeo's plan doesn't even seek to solve the problems, it only seeks to throw just enough money at the problems so DeLeo can throw the towel in and wash his hands of it. It's neither honest nor good policy.
Not a good tax.
Simply put, the sales tax is one of the least progressive taxes out there. It is far more painful to the middle and working classes than the wealthy. Why? Middle and working class people still need to buy many of the same sort of things. This means they're paying the same taxes for those things as anyone else, even those who make magnitudes more.
On top of that, in this poor economy why add a tax that hits those who are unemployed just as heavily as it does the employed? If you're unemployed, at least you're not getting hit off the head with income taxes. Why force the unemployed to pay more? And how does this help people want to go out and buy things -- ultimately necessary to end the recession?
Other, better options.
For starters, this doesn't generate the revenue we need as a state. We need more funds for public transportation and infrastructure. If DeLeo wants to go beyond increasing the gas tax and try to raise revenue to help offset the general fund's deficit, then maybe this is a good way to do it. But this shouldn't be seen as a be-all fix for our state. Moreover, why not just increase income taxes by about .1% - which would generate about the same level of funds? At least that way, it's not quite such a regressive tax. It's not going to hit those who are un or underemployed the hardest. And it allows those who earn more to pay more, as is customary throughout the developed world.
Some sales taxes can make decent policy -- roads are costly and there's few better ways to fund it than through the gas tax, which is a type of sales tax. Gas taxes also help people use public transit and nudge people to drive less, both things needed to help reduce Global Warming emissions. Furthermore, discretionary spending, at a modest rate, should be fair game for tax policy, as people don't need to spend their money on those things.
But these aren't things DeLeo's trying to do. There are better options for the state to take than DeLeo's plan -- both in terms of increasing revenue and lessening the impact on this state's most vulnerable. If DeLeo's going to be a Speaker for the people of this state who need it the most, he needs to get off his aversion to the gas and income tax and start acting like an adult. We need real solutions, not lame-o conservative tax policy.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Revenue Week Working?
It's Virtual Rally Week for those sane enough to realize Massachusetts has to do something about the revenue situation -- well, the distinct lack of it. It looks like DeLeo got the message. Unfortunately, the income tax is off the table. It's the tax that's the fairest and probably most efficient in terms of raising revenue, but what can you do? If everything else is at least open for discussion, that's not so bad.
Would the Speaker like Ryan's Risk-Adverse Advice for Raising Good Revenue Streams? People are demanding answers to municipal budget collapses and the transportation system, so here goes.
Even the gas tax, combined with pension reform at our state's transportation authorities, would be tolerated by the general public with even the smallest of public awareness campaigns. Plus, even a 20 or 25 cent gas tax won't be noticed or thought of at length after a few months. Phase it in over a year or two and maybe no one notices at all?
Would the Speaker like Ryan's Risk-Adverse Advice for Raising Good Revenue Streams? People are demanding answers to municipal budget collapses and the transportation system, so here goes.
- Solving the multi-faceted transportation mess: Pass a 20-25 cent gas tax, which would do enormous good and only cost the average car-driving taxpayer about $100 a year. Include money in that to get rid of most tolls (8-11 cents, with 10 or 11 cents getting rid of *all* of them) as well as public transportation (8 cents = $200 million). Make sure revenue from the gas tax is spread fairly throughout the state, whether it's closing tolls, paving roads or keeping the buses going.
- Helping cities and towns: 1. Close telecom corporate tax loopholes by allowing towns to tax Verizon for all its telephone polls, as they already do cable companies. 2. Get rid of most of the home-rule stuff, so towns aren't handcuffed. 3. Give munis the option to pass modest local sales taxes on hotels and restaurants (and maybe even more) at no more than 2%.
- Helping the State Budget: We can't just cut ourselves out of this current hole. We've made too many cuts already. At the very least, pass Patrick's candy and liquor tax proposals. Those seem like no brainers. They're also completely discretionary spending and thus a much fairer tax than a general sales tax. This is real low-hanging fruit stuff, but it would raise real revenue. Plus, why should cigarettes have a huge tax rate while alcohol isn't even hit with the state sales tax? Seems bizarre.
- Reasonable efficiencies to state government: Pass the Governor's harder-hitting pension reform proposals. Moreover, get major public-employee unions to the table with the Gov, Senate President and Speaker to talk fair ways to save money and jobs by switching to GIC or other regional plans in every single city and town where that makes sense. There's hundreds of millions to be saved there - and plenty of common ground to be had. Do it. It's the duty of our elected leaders to act like adults and get these unions to the table, so we can access these savings throughout the state.
Even the gas tax, combined with pension reform at our state's transportation authorities, would be tolerated by the general public with even the smallest of public awareness campaigns. Plus, even a 20 or 25 cent gas tax won't be noticed or thought of at length after a few months. Phase it in over a year or two and maybe no one notices at all?
Monday, April 20, 2009
Time to Talk Revenue
One Massachusetts is trying to push the issue of revenue the best way possible -- through the grassroots. Deval Patrick and the state legislature have cut the budget this year, through midyear cuts, by over 3 billion dollars. This is on top of cuts that have taken place year after year after year. The result?
Don't you all see it? This state is facing crumbling roads and we can't manage to run a functioning subway system. Teachers are being laid off in every community. In fact, schools often can't even fund substitutes anymore -- forcing students of all classes into study halls when their teachers are absent. Health clinics are being cut. Parents are being forced to pay hundreds of dollars a season so their students can play sport or participate in extracurricular activities -- both things that are proven to help student performance.
Paul Levy made the interesting comment at BMG that we pay anyway. No matter what, we're going to pay. If we don't adequately fund our roads, we run over bad potholes that do hundreds of dollars of damage to our cars. My car, just last winter, ran over a bad pothole, which threw my car out of alignment. If we adequately funded our roads, maybe that wouldn't have happened? Studies have been done that have shown the average person pays hundreds a year to fix their vehicles because of our bad roads. A somewhat modest increase to the gas tax of 15-20 cents could actually save people hundreds a year. The state isn't providing enough funds for schools? We pay anyway -- in cuts to quality, added fees and interest payments on debt schools take on to fund new textbooks. Why pay for something once over when you can pay twice as much?
Some in the State Senate have clung to the utterly meaningless and distracting slogan, "reform before revenue." In reality, it's a do-nothing slogan, because the legislature -- unless we poke and prod them -- doesn't even have the appetite to reform. While it's true that we can't completely tax our way out of problems, we can't "reform" our way out of them, either. We don't need reform before revenue, we need reform and revenue. So, for sure, let's save money where we can, improve services through reform where we can -- but we also need to make sure that our system is adequately funded. If it's not, we'll pay anyway -- and it will probably be by magnitudes more.
Don't you all see it? This state is facing crumbling roads and we can't manage to run a functioning subway system. Teachers are being laid off in every community. In fact, schools often can't even fund substitutes anymore -- forcing students of all classes into study halls when their teachers are absent. Health clinics are being cut. Parents are being forced to pay hundreds of dollars a season so their students can play sport or participate in extracurricular activities -- both things that are proven to help student performance.
Paul Levy made the interesting comment at BMG that we pay anyway. No matter what, we're going to pay. If we don't adequately fund our roads, we run over bad potholes that do hundreds of dollars of damage to our cars. My car, just last winter, ran over a bad pothole, which threw my car out of alignment. If we adequately funded our roads, maybe that wouldn't have happened? Studies have been done that have shown the average person pays hundreds a year to fix their vehicles because of our bad roads. A somewhat modest increase to the gas tax of 15-20 cents could actually save people hundreds a year. The state isn't providing enough funds for schools? We pay anyway -- in cuts to quality, added fees and interest payments on debt schools take on to fund new textbooks. Why pay for something once over when you can pay twice as much?
Some in the State Senate have clung to the utterly meaningless and distracting slogan, "reform before revenue." In reality, it's a do-nothing slogan, because the legislature -- unless we poke and prod them -- doesn't even have the appetite to reform. While it's true that we can't completely tax our way out of problems, we can't "reform" our way out of them, either. We don't need reform before revenue, we need reform and revenue. So, for sure, let's save money where we can, improve services through reform where we can -- but we also need to make sure that our system is adequately funded. If it's not, we'll pay anyway -- and it will probably be by magnitudes more.
Friday, April 10, 2009
The MBTA's Problem is State-Forced Debt
Stomv kicks ass, as usual.
$150-200 million is a lot of money, but perhaps only .1-2% of all of our state's income taxes. If the state legislature had the courage to raise that amount to be applied directly to the MBTA's debt service, I think the people of this state would be more than willing to pay it to protect the T. We could make sure that some of that money goes toward solving some debt issues with other public transportation systems in other parts of the state, too, just to be fair. This seems like a no brainer.
The question is: how do we get the MBTA's expenses under control? Answer:So, if we paid down half the debt that we forced on the T because of the Big Dig, the MBTA would suddenly not only not be in trouble, but could even expand service. Imagine a subway that didn't shut down at midnight on a Saturday! Well, citizens of Massachusetts, that's how to do it.Pay down the debt. The T is carrying huge debt loads, and it's not really because of MBTA managers mismanaging. The switch to forward funding meant that the lege made capital decisions for the T and then left them holding the bag. The Big Dig made commitments for the T in order to get better infrastructure for autos, and then left the T holding the bag. MBTA FY 2009 debt services total $368 million, $246 of which is interest payments.
That's right, the total deficit is about $100 million less than the T's interest payments, much of which is paid on loans that MBTA management didn't want to take on, but the legislature forced on them.
$150-200 million is a lot of money, but perhaps only .1-2% of all of our state's income taxes. If the state legislature had the courage to raise that amount to be applied directly to the MBTA's debt service, I think the people of this state would be more than willing to pay it to protect the T. We could make sure that some of that money goes toward solving some debt issues with other public transportation systems in other parts of the state, too, just to be fair. This seems like a no brainer.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
The Pike and Swaptions
This is some seriously good stuff.
If people want to understand what's behind the Pike's apparent collapse and what the state should do and can do from here, that's the link to click and read.
If people want to understand what's behind the Pike's apparent collapse and what the state should do and can do from here, that's the link to click and read.
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