Hip to the Hop

What's coming around.

Little snowman by the old courthouse.

Just as expected after all the buildup of the past few weeks, Governor Patrick has proposed a major tax hike in Massachusetts. It isn't getting good reviews. However sainted activist Barbara Anderson of Citizens for Limited Taxation is of the opinion that the whole ripoff is doomed from the start anyway. Let's hope she's right:

State Supreme Judicial Court Alert: Deval Patrick is trying to create a graduated income tax for Massachusetts!

“…my budget will propose that we increase the income tax by 1 percentage point - to 6.25 percent. To make that increase fair to all according to their ability to pay, I will propose that we double the personal exemptions for every taxpayer and eliminate a number of itemized deductions. Making those changes gives us a tax code that is simpler and fairer”. - Deval Patrick, state of the state address, Jan. 16, 2013

With this statement, Gov. Patrick made it clear that his intention is to join President Obama in his ongoing campaign to “tax the rich”. The difference is that that federal government has a graduated income tax and can raise the rates on the rich without raising them on everyone else. Massachusetts’ constitution does not allow a graduated income tax and can be changed only with a ballot question. CLT was created to fight the grad tax and has defeated it in 1972, 1976, and 1994.

Liberal politicians have tried to get around the state constitution by increasing the personal exemption thereby effectively graduating the rates. We are allowed “reasonable” personal exemptions but if the motivation is to create a graduated income tax, the SJC has ruled against the effort (See Mass. Taxpayers vs. Sec. of Admin. 398 Mass 40 July 1986).

Clearly, from his language (above), Governor Patrick wants to make everyone pay according to his ability (so he can give out EBT cards according to need). If “the rich” choose to challenge his new tax plan in court, we predict they will win and he will lose.

So, the Legislature should think twice about taking that risky tax hike vote, just to lose the revenues in court.

You can contact Barbara Anderson at 781-639-0096.

It's always intrigued me the extent to which the sensibilities of hip-hop culture are a rejection of the lefty mindset the kids get drilled into them in the public schools. The lyrics are often racist, homophobic, violent, extremely sexist and materialistic. In other words, everything the Democrat party members and government union activists employed as public school teachers always taught them to despise. Not only do they fail to teach the kids to read, but they can't even train them to be good leftists.

Of course one can over analyze these things. Sometimes its just about trying to be sexy and funny to a good beat, and if it causes all the good liberals to go cross-eyed and pull their hair out as well, then all the better. Anyway, despite the hyper-masculine gay-bashing lyrics there's often a weird undercurrent of homoeroticism beneath it all, and this guy's always been hot.