Massachusetts Governor Duval Patrick recently signed a budget bill that contains a 25% increase in the sales tax (from 5% to 6.25%) and another $860 million in NEW taxes. The budget will also let cities and towns raise money from local taxes on meals and hotels. But all of the new revenue — maybe $1 billion or more — will not offset the billions of dollars in cuts residents will see in virtually every program that receives state funding. What does it take for liberals to understand that you can’t tax your way to prosperity. There is a point of diminishing returns. In this case, excessive sales taxes will drive most MA residents to shop in neighboring NH where there is no sales tax.
Patrick also signed into law a multi-million dollar tax credit to draw filmmakers to Massachusetts. Very important for that long-awaited sequel to The Perfect Storm.
Who can forget Welfare Cars,including payment of excise taxes, title, registration, inspection, and approved repairs. The absolute frosting on the cake is a free AAA membership.
Electoral problems for Patrick? (h/t Red State)
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July 1, 2009 at 1:55 pm
[...] MA Gov. Patrick trails potential GOP nominee in gubernatorial race. More on his budget/tax battle from an earlier post. [...]