I watched a good portion of last nights debate between the candidates for MA Governor. It was a real eye opening experience because it is astounding how the candidates twisted and warped facts for their own purposes. I will be voting for Deval Patrick. I might have flip-flopped on that before today, but after watching this last night, I'm convinced this will be the best choice. Follow me!
For a minute, I want to talk about some of the "tax increases" that Charlie Baker has been touting on the campaign trail. This man would like to have it both ways!
He wants to cut taxes but at the same time wants to increase funding for law enforcement.
He wants to cut taxes but he wants to increase funding for immigration crack-downs.
He wants to cut taxes but he wants to increase funding for education.
I ask you - if not paid for by taxes, where does the funding come from?
Charlie Baker will lead you to believe that cutting taxes will spur job creation - but this simply is only part of the story. Sure, lower business taxes may result in more jobs; the lower business taxes will also decrease revenue. There cannot be jobs where there is no work to be done.
If we cut taxes how do we keep teachers, police officers, fire-fighters, paramedics and hundreds of town clerks, county boards and other CRITICAL staff members paid? Where does the money come from?
Call me stupid but if you cut the state taxes that means less money to be distributed to towns and communities. That means that those towns and communities will be increasing taxes.
If the cities and towns increase taxes they have only one option - property taxes. This means that more people may lose their homes due to affordability, rents will increase making it harder to find a home in many cities and towns and it means that commuting to work may become more expensive because people have to move out of the area.
Then we have the delightful Green Party candidate who is Jill Stein. A nice enough lady. I almost screamed out loud when she talked about taking 200 million dollars from the rainy day fund and spending it on "shopping malls" -- hey wake up -- we are NOT shopping, we cannot afford to!
Anyway, that is really all I have to say about this. The long and short of it is that Tim Cahill is siphoning votes from somewhere (and I suspect it's from Patrick); even though he never really had a chance. And Charlie Baker is JUST WRONG for Massachusetts.