The Globe Campaigns for Higher Taxes
Conspires with the “Tax and Spend” Democrats to Make Tax Increases Inevitable

By Lou Langone May 6, 2003 In a front page story yesterday that amounted to little more than a press release for the "tax and spend" politicians on Beacon Hill, the Boston Globe appears to be working with the Democrat leadership to orchestrate a scenario for higher taxes. The piece authored by Rick Klein tells how the legislators failed to increase taxes or borrow money to cover their spending needs. It says that "interviews with a range of House and Senate members reveal a growing sense among Democratic legislative leaders that tax hikes and deficit borrowing will be considered before the year is out ."

Klein quotes House Ways and Mean Chairman, Rep. John Rogers (Norwood), "The cuts are real, the cuts are coming, and they'll sink in sometime in the fall." Rogers added, "We're rolling out reality with this budget and the people will inform us whether they can live with this or not."

Rep. Rogers' reality is that the bureaucracy at the state level won't absorb any cuts and the leadership won't undertake any reforms. If the people don't want new taxes then the powers- that-be seem determined to punish the cities and towns - claiming that they have no choice.

There was no attempt in the article to question Rogers about why there have been no serious attempts to cut the size of the bureaucracy at the state level before pushing the pain down to the cities and towns. There was no comparison to last year when the House did the same thing - threatened local aid and health services - and then came back with a massive tax increase when the cities and towns complained.

Although it did mention that the Legislature has virtually ignored the reform proposals submitted by Governor Mitt Romney, none of the politicians quoted in the story were asked why. None were asked to justify the tactic of targeting local aid and prescription drug benefits for seniors as a means to their preferred end: raising taxes.

Is it any wonder that the voters last year nearly approved a repeal of the income tax? The "man on the street" knows that the Legislature has a spending problem, that the courts are loaded with hacks, that the education system is awash in inefficiency and bureaucracy and that the state infrastructure for delivery of health services is a mess. If these problems aren't addressed we won't be able to reverse the tax and spend "pox" that has infected the Commonwealth. At least the Governor has attempted to present proposals that seek to address these problems.

They may be ignorant or they may be deceiving us. But it is clear that the aristocrats on Beacon Hill still don't get it. They may believe that the people are stupid. But most of the people know: It's the spending, stupid!