Kiddie Tax Revolt Crushed

Reprinted from The Baystate Objectivist June 3, 2000:

The students in Springfield teacher Catherine Crowley's fifth grade class at Mary Walsh Elementary School in 16 Acres learned a hard lesson in politics last week as their efforts to eliminate the sales tax on children's books went down to defeat.

The children became angry over the sales tax after being unable to purchase books at the school book fair because they neglected to bring enough money to cover the tax. As a class project, the young tax resisters have been fighting to convince the state legislature to let kids purchase books tax-free.

Sadly, despite a valiant effort to promote the kid's legislation on the Senate floor by Republican Senator Brian Lees, legislators were spooked as usual by very sound of a tax cut and the proposal was shouted down by a voice vote.

At least the students learned a lot about how their state government works which they would have been unlikely to learn otherwise. Indeed, just as they learned about the evils of taxation, they also learned about the evils of having a legislature dominated by liberal Democrats.

 

Local Visions

Greg Saulmon has this pic of a man in red displayed in a photography show about Holyoke. I sometimes see this same guy in Northampton dressed all in purple. 

Here's where to see more of Saulmon's work as well as pics of Holyoke by other Valley photographers:

Date: Thursday, December 3, 2009
Time: 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Location: Wistariahurst Museum
Street: 238 Cabot Street
City/Town: Holyoke, MA

 

Mark Alamad captured this stunner yesterday in North Adams. 

 Could this be where the wee people dwell in Amherst?

 



I wonder what inspired someone to go to the trouble of taping up this message in Northampton?