Is Anyone Listening?

A hat tip to Mass Roots for re-printing Matt Kinnaman's article from the North Adams transcript regarding the Imperial Attitude of the Massachusetts Legislature. Specifically:

"Consider this: In its July 15 decision to repeal the "1913 Law," a Massachusetts marriage statute prohibiting out-of-state persons from marriages in the commonwealth which would be illegal in their home states, the Senate took a voice vote, allowing its members to avoid individually recorded votes on a question at the very center of our most momentous human understandings."

Apparently feeling the need for additional justification, the Senators cited the law's alleged racist roots in spite of the fact that the Mass. Supreme Court, finders of the "Right" to gay marriage, had upheld the law in 2006 on Constitutional grounds. Not much of a fig leaf.

Given the strength of opinions on both sides of the gay marriage issue, it was difficult to get voters to focus on the underlying procedural issues. A petition signed by 170,000 Massachusetts voters was ignored by the Solons as they refused to allow the question to be put on the state-wide ballot. While supporters of gay marriage were happy to "win the day", they might have been a little more concerned about the process.

So let's shift gears and look at an issue on which most can agree: taxes. Question 1 on the November ballot calls for the repeal of the Massachusetts Income Tax. Some will recall a similar question on the 2002 ballot that garnered 45% of the vote. You may also have noticed the arrogance with which this vote was ignored by the state government.

Is Question 1 a bit of overkill? You bet. It would delete $12 billion from a total state budget of $28 billion. Lawmakers and special interest groups (you may want to click HERE to see just who is mobilizing against this Question)are quick to cite a litany of vital services that might go unfunded, and, of course, the threat that property taxes will go up! Which brings up the effect of Prop 2 1/2. As a matter of fact, property taxes can't go up, at least by more than 2 1/2% without approval of the municipal voters. Was Prop 2 1/2 a radical measure? You bet. But it seems like hard and fast, broad-based mandates are the only thing that has a chance of reigning in governmental spending.

Speaker Sal has already signaled his intention to ignore the results of the vote on question 1. Arrogant? you bet. But hey, how do we expect the government to continue its largess like the Big Dig, Universal Health Care, and most sacred of all, fat pensions?