Mass. Rejects Elimination Of State Income Tax

WBZ-TV ^ | 11/04/08 | Steve Leblanc

[raccoonradio]

BOSTON (AP) ― Massachusetts voters have rejected a call to eliminate the state's income tax.

The measure would have cut the 5.3 percent tax rate in half in January, and then killed it completely in January 2010.

Supporters argued the best way to cut government waste and overspending was to cut tax revenues by 40 percent or about $12.5 billion.

They said it would have saved the average taxpayer about $3,700.

But critics, including virtually every elected officials in the state, said the cuts would cripple state services, drive up property taxes, harm the state's credit rating and scare away business.

Gov. Deval Patrick and Democratic leaders in the House and Senate never said how they would have dealt with the loss of revenue.

Lawmakers would have had the option of repealing or amending the measure.

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[raccoonradio]

The effort to repeal income tax is losing 69-31 per cent. But, this is Massachusetts. We're stupid.

[VanDeKoik]

The UK just called.

They would like repayment for all of that ruined Tea in Boston Harbor.

[ConservativeStatement]

FoxNews Radio on WRKO is in the tank for Obama it seems. I switched to 96.9 but it is tough listening to Michelle McPhee. She sounds like Rosie Perez. /s

Do you believe we are represented by Kennedy, Kerry, Patrick and maybe Obama?

[KansasGirl]

What a bunch of idiots. Wish we could get that on the ballot in KS. Our state income tax is pretty high.

[divine_moment_of_facts]

That’s Insane! Even NJ wouldn’t be that stupid! ;)

[rhombus]

Any report on the other two questions?

[acapesket]

where Are the numbers?

God, I cannot wait to gettouttaheah!

[monkeycard]

Seriously, I thought getting rid of tax was a no brainer, oh well.

[warsaw44]

This state is just stupid. Boneheaded, ignorant stupid.

[raccoonradio]

The numbers. They’re from the Ch 4 site. Go to the
story on the income tax vote and click

Read: Local election results

And you’ll see...

MA Question 1 - Income Tax Ban
419 of 2168 Precincts Reporting
NAME VOTES Pct.
No 375,000 69% (W)
Yes 165,200 31%
MA Question 2 - Decriminalize Marijuana
418 of 2168 Precincts Reporting
NAME VOTES Pct.
Yes 348,488 65%
No 188,207 35%
MA Question 3 - Dog Racing Ban
418 of 2168 Precincts Reporting
NAME VOTES Pct.
Yes 299,257 56%
No 232,038 44%

[wilco200]

WRKO management may be in the tank for Obama but their schedule is Ingrahm,Rush, Howie & savage

[t2buckeye]

I live in NJ..unfortunately, if the same bill was put up to a vote here, the same thing would happen...why??? because there are more people who don’t pay the tax and benefit from it....this is the same reason why Hussein will get in. With Bush’s tax cuts, even more people were dropped from tax rolls, allowing more people to not pay any taxes. Now, they are voting to get even more back...and there are others who are just too stupid to realize that Hussein is going to lead this country into a depression with his tax hikes and anti-small business proposals

[VR-21]

"But, this is Massachusetts. We're stupid."

Perhaps the number of voters who are on the recieving end of the tax equation is a factor. Parasites can be pretty patriotic, in a Joe Biden sort of way.

[RightFighter]

On a positive note, the Marriage amendment is currently winning in Florida.

[Aquinasfan]

I was hoping it would be at least close.

[Rome2000]

Fl somehow manages to survive without an income tax, I feel for you.

I left NYC precisely for that reason.

They have a City income tax too.

[reaganaut1]

I live in MA and voted for Proposition 1, primarily to send a message, but I am not a vehement opponent of the income tax here because it has a SINGLE rate. The progressive income tax with confiscatory rates on the “rich” is what I think is evil and socialistic.

[Maneesh]

69 to 31 is close for MA. I am actually pleasantly surprised that 30% voted to repeal the income tax. This is the state that keeps electing Kennedy and believes that the role of the govt is to provide services for people and solve all their problems. In 2006, the people here did not trust themselves to buy liquor in grocery stores, surely they do not think that they could live without big govt.

Massachusetts is a lost cause for the Republicans forever and if all of America was like MA, the USA would be a weaker version of France. This election has fundamentally changed what people view as the role of govt; we have moved drastically towards a European way of thinking at least in the blue states.

[Rick66]

Just goes to show how many hands are out. It’s just the beginning. Smoke weed and love a dog, fools..

[Gay State Conservative]

I googled the name of that stiff in the hospital scrubs who appeared on the No On 1 ads (”oh goodness,patients will die in the streets”) and found she's a top union hack with the Massachusetts Nurses Association,a Maoist union that masquerades as a “professional organization”.