Massachusetts House Speaker, Robert DeLeo, would give <strong>strong consideration</strong> to implementing the will of the people should they vote for deep tax cuts by passing Question 3. Passing Question 3 is estimated to cut 2 ½ billion dollars from the sales tax revenue now available to state coffers. His comment was:
The House is the key to implementation. In the past, they have been a recalcitrant group that often defies the will of the voters. However, it seems they do so with the voters blessing because the majority of incumbents are re-elected no matter how defiant or inattentive they act toward issues such as this one. They are re-elected no matter how many times they spit into the eye of the voter and the voters seem to enjoy being degraded.
Perhaps, we the voters of Massachusetts are suffering from some version of “Stockholm Syndrome” in that having been held captive by an elite minority for so long, we’ve come to identify with them so much that we welcome abuse and being placed in positions that require self-loathing in order to feel welcome in our own homes.
Can you trust DeLeo and his friends to do the right thing and respond to the will of the people should they vote yes on Question 3? Putting aside the fact that his top deputy is under subpoena to testify about his hiring over 90 friends and family members to probation department political hack jobs, he was the driving force behind the 25% sales tax hike last year along with hikes in alcohol, meal and hotel taxes. Can you imagine a man with such a penchant for hiking taxes actually supporting their reduction just one year later?
With gubernatorial candidates, Baker and Cahill favoring a reduction to 5% and Karyn Polito, the strong candidate for Treasurer stating that she’s against dropping the rate to 3%, it is unlikely that the voters will get what they demand this time around. Polito recommends that voters support Question 3 anyway to “send a message” to Beacon Hill. What message would that be, if Beacon Hill has the option to either ignore or compromise the will of the voters?
If you want to send a message to Beacon Hill, follow the lead of the TEA Party voters and remove incumbents wherever they are challenged and let your representative in the House and Senate know that you will do the same every election until the voice of the voter is finally taken seriously and acted upon.
I have no problem with politicians working to dissuade voters from adopting particular views that they see as harmful. However, their job is not to ignore the voter, but to persuade them and to lead them to understand the harm they may cause and the rightness of a particular law or tax. We need less thugs on Beacon Hill and more statesmen and leaders. Let’s try to obtain some of the latter when we go to the polls to vote. There was a time when statesman and politician were synonymous terms, but we all know that is no longer the case, and, hopefully, we are still able to tell the difference.
Here’s a hint:
Representative Candidate Kevin Conway:
“[Vote for me] if you want the interest of Billerica to come to the forefront at the state house, and not be buried because the Democratic party is going to still be a supper majority in the House of Representatives.”
By his own admission, he would side with the status quo and vote with them if he could get something out of that vote for Billerica. The question is will Billerica benefit by getting more than they give, or will be continue to slide downward accepting mandates from Beacon Hill in exchange for morsels of pie crust left over by House caterers?
Representative Candidate Marc Lombardo has consistently worked to keep taxes low, almost to a fault, but always considering the interests of the least among us. He states he is for a 5% sales tax; not quite the 3% sought by petitioners, but a familiar number, and he’s given indications that he would be willing to go lower over time as conditions warrant.
Mike Baronas said:
I am a resident of Billerica, and looking at my past 5 tax bills for the years Mr. Lombardo has been a Selectman, I have not seen any decrease in taxes.
He has another Republican ally on the Board of Selectman and another member who sides with him on votes. So if Mr. Lombardo can’t even convince a small majority out of 5 Board of Selectmen to vote for lower taxes, how is he going to do that in a much larger body like the State Legislature.
We’d love to see tangible proof, or votes that he cast to lower taxes other than just saying “he’s against taxes. Ask him to show us proof in a tangible way.
Everybody is against taxes. What has he DONE to lower them other than rhetoric?
--Rick MacDonald said:
I’m certain that you are quite capable of asking Mr. Lombardo that question face to face. The fact that you are here is indicative of another motive. However, if you’ve been paying attention, you will notice that Mr. Lombardo and Mr. Rosa (whom I suppose you mean when you refer to an ally) disagree almost as often as they agree. Mr. Lombardo, in my view, is generally more thoughtful and diligent in his approach to problem solving. On the other hand, Mr. Rosa is rash, impudent, disrespectful and otherwise self-indulgent in his approach.
Then again, there is Mr. Deslaurier, a Democrat who comes across as a fiscal conservative to some extent. In my view, he is more closely aligned to Mr. Lombardo than is Republican Rosa. Andrew sometimes seems to be struggling to get the words out that he wishes to express, but that is a sign of careful, thoughtful and meaningful consideration and a desire to do justice to that end.
Mr. Accomando and Mr. Correnti have not met a taxpayer’s buck they wouldn’t redistribute from those who earned it to those who prefer to sleep in late; so, trying to get a consensus out of this group is much more problematic than you try to make it appear. This difficulty, in getting a consensus, is precisely why I advocated for Paul Marasco to replace either Rosa or Correnti.
However, the people of the town chose otherwise and I’m content to live with that choice until Mr. Accomando comes up for reelection and Mr. Marasco, hopefully, runs again; but this 2nd time around, with a purpose and issue driven campaign that is well articulated and wide spread. Paul Marasco has the ability, but he must either improve his charisma or become an expert in describing and proposing solutions to key problematic issues effecting the town.
You would do Mr. Conway a greater service by writing an article about his strengths and virtues and submitting those for publication to a broader audience than you will get here in the comments section of my blog. If you think placing a comment in support of your candidate is important to weaken points in one of my blog articles, you should consider making declarative statements over antagonizing or open ended questions that leave your comments vulnerable to be weakened by drawing answers that you, perhaps, did not expect.
I do not generally respond to opinions unles they are put to me as questions or as a method of attack. Think about it and perhaps you will find a way to make your points and get them published here without having to duck a counter-attack.
I’m certain you’ve seen how effective Mr. Cangiamila was in his decision to comment here, but if you’ve forgotten, he got killed in a landslide. Speaking of Mr. Conway, what has he done beside carry a name that is familiar to the town? Are we to elect members of particular families to office based solely on their name as we did with the Kennedys? Look where that got us.