Worcester County Freedom Trail

Out of control taxes are a touchy issue for pretty much anyone reading this blog. But many aren’t aware of this outrageous Massachusetts state tax that needs to be dragged behind the barn and shot forthwith.

My 15 minutes of fame came today in the form of a rant about this tax on the cover of the Boston Globe. See “Phone Tax Surprises Many at the Register.”

The story is, I bought an iPhone at a Verizon store in Shrewsbury earlier this month. It was a $199 iPhone 4s and I applied my $50 new-every-2-years credit for a total price of $149. For that, I paid a whopping $40.62 cents in state sales tax. That’s almost 30%! I asked them what was going on and they said it’s because of a Mass regulation.

Turns out, Beacon Hill decided back in the 1990s that cell companies providing “bundled” services should pay taxes on the full list price of the phone being purchased. Thus I paid 6.25% (sigh, I miss 5.25%) on the iPhone 4s list price of $650…not on the sale price of $149.

How unfair is that? If you buy a washing machine on sale, you pay tax on the sale price not the list price.

Beacon Hill claims this is a way to level the playing field for cell providers. What?!? Government intervention is the last place to look for intelligent insight into free markets.

And, as a friend in Cambridge rightly points out, everyone is acting like the cell companies (small and large) don’t tax you on the phone service each month at around 14%! Turns out, they tax you even more if you have a low price plan. How regressive can you get?

Which leads me to a sidebar: I think we need to gather together 100 cell phone bills and analyze the taxes that we are all paying. I have quick access to 5 or 10 bills. We need to gather more and have someone create a quick spreadsheet of the results.

This is government entitlement at its worst. And you know they are going to buck at dropping this tax now that smartphones cost an arm and a leg.

Proposed action plan:

1. Contact Rep. Dan Webster to support his proposal to do away with this tax provision

2. Analyze the taxes we pay on the service and get that info into the hands of all legislators

This year’s election is going to be all about free markets. I haven’t chosen sides yet, but I want to see all the R candidates getting their act together on a less government – lower taxes platform.

From the Worcester Tea Party folks…

The Worcester Tea Party will be presenting a free screening of the documentary movie Not Evil Just Wrong on March 16, 2010, 7 p.m., at the Seelos Theater, Holy Cross College, 1 College St. Worcester.  Global warming alarmists want Americans to believe that humans are killing the planet, but Not Evil Just Wrong,  a new documentary by Phelim McAleer and Ann McElhinney, proves that the real threat to America and the rest of the world are the flawed science  “sky-is falling” rhetoric of Al Gore and his allies in environmental extremism.
 
The film warns American that their jobs, middle-class lifestyles, and dreams for their children will be destroyed if their government rushes to judgment and imposes job-killing regulations on an economy already mired in recession.
 
Not Evil Just Wrong exposes the global warming deceptions that scientist, politicians, educators, and the media have been force feeding the public, including fear-mongering about floods and dying polar bears.  The documentary shows how environmentalists are pushing the same kind of anti-human propaganda that triggered a ban on DDT and condemned millions of children to death by malaria.  NotEvil Just Wrong asks:  “Is carbon dioxide the new DDT and are we taking the same risks with our future?”
 
After the movie there will be a discussion about cap and trade legislation.

Dr. Wayne T. Brough will be joining the program. He will give a brief talk about cap & trade legislation prior to the screening. After the movie there will be an opportunity to ask questions.
 
Dr. Brough is  currently the Vice President for Research and Chief Economist at FreedomWorks. He received a Ph.D. in economics from George Mason University, with fields in industrial organization and public choice. Dr. Brough previously worked at the Office of Management and Budget, focusing on transportation regulations; the United States Agency for International Development, focusing on market reforms in Africa; and in the research branch of an investment bank, where he covered U.S. domestic policies. He has testified before Congress and regulatory agencies on a number of issues. Dr. Brough has published in books, academic journals, and newspapers on a wide variety of economic and regulatory issues.
           
Here is a map of Holy Cross to help you find your way to the Seelos Theater: http://www.holycross.edu/directions/Holy_Cross_Campus_Map.pdf. The theater is in the building labeled #37 on the map (Kimball Hall).  Enter through the left side of the building as shown on the map.
 

Thousands of people attended the Scott Brown People’s Rally in Worcester at Mechanics Hall yesterday. It was a powerful experience. The momentum of this campaign is amazing. If you haven’t seen it yet, watch this clip from the event.

THEN GET OUT AND VOTE TOMORROW! Tuesday, January 19, 2010. Polls are open from 7am til 8pm.

And this from the Scott Brown campaign:

Great column from Jonah Goldberg on the opportunity the Republican Party has to fix its recent mistakes. From the Houston Chronicle:

This is one of those rare moments when the conventional wisdom in Washington is right. The Democrats are poised to have a bad year; the only argument is over how bad it will be. And that question rests on whether or not the Republican Party crafts an agenda voters will support.

Now comes the hard part: seizing the opportunity. The GOP’s troubles over the last decade have a lot to do with the fact that Americans didn’t stop liking what the Republican Party is supposed to deliver. They stopped liking what the GOP actually delivered.

As a conservative who cares more about policies than partisan success, I would hate to see the GOP abandon conservative policies in order to be more popular. That would be like Domino’s listening to critics and then deciding to get into the Chinese food business. Indeed, by my lights, that’s what George W. Bush tried to do with his “compassionate conservatism.” He surrendered to liberal arguments about the role, size and scope of government on too many fronts.

Moreover, abandoning conservatism would be silly. According to Gallup, Americans identify themselves as conservative over liberal by a margin of 2-1, the same proportion as just after 9/11.

So what would a GOP-turnaround recipe look like? For starters, I’d look to young political chefs like Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis. He’s been the leader in attacking “crony capitalism” — the corrupt merger of big business and big government, a hallmark of the Obama administration. For too long Republicans confused supporting big business with supporting free markets, when big business is often the biggest impediment to fair competition. Other fresh new ingredients would almost surely include pro-family tax policies and the de-linking of legal and illegal immigration as interchangeable terms.

Ted Kennedy’s senate seat is no longer assumed to go to whatever Democrat is running. Among the most motivated voters, who are usually the only ones to show up during a winter election, Scott Brown is now polling tied or slightly ahead of Martha Coakley. From Public Policy Polling:

Buoyed by a huge advantage with independents and relative disinterest from Democratic voters in the state, Republican Scott Brown leads Martha Coakley 48-47.

And here’s an insider view of the Brown operation from blogger, Legal Insurrection. This blogger came from Ithaca NY to be part of this race.

From the moment I arrived until I left about 5 hours later, the atmosphere was electric. I had not expected the frenzy of phones ringing, people walking in the door to write checks, dozens of people making calls to voters, and generally ebullient mood.

Those of you who follow this blog know that I am a big supporter of Scott Brown. So I claim no neutrality. And you can believe me or not when I tell you that there is an air of excitement and movement which is beyond belief.

They are out of lawn signs and bumper stickers. Completely. Nothing left, but people kept calling all day wanting to find out where they could get them. I was told it has been this way for days.

I made calls. I won’t get into the details of their phone operation, but let me say I was impressed with the computerized sophistication. I can say that the number one concern expressed by voters I spoke with and from what I heard from other callers, was jobs and the economy. The small sample I saw bears striking resemblance to what happened in Virginia and New Jersey; it’s still the economy, stupid.

There also was a lot of animosity surrounding the announcement that the Democrats would delay Brown’s certification if he won. People were calling in about that issue, and it was brought up on phone calls by the voters (the issue was not on the call script).

The attempt to delay certification has the potential to be a defining issue in the campaign because it crystallizes in voters’ minds everything that is wrong with politics.

For those of you who haven’t followed the news, the Dems are threatening to delay Brown’s certification in the Senate so he won’t be able to be the 41st vote that will stop universal health care dead in its tracks.

Ah the games our politicians play. Sad, really. And the voters, even in the people’s republic of Massachusetts, have had enough of that.

Interesting development. Apparently some lawyers think there are good grounds for stopping Gov Patrick’s use of his “emergency” powers.

From the MassGOP:

Suffolk County Superior Court Judge Thomas Connolly has scheduled an 8 a.m. hearing tomorrow to consider the request for injunction filed today by the Massachusetts Republican Party. In its request, the MassGOP states it believes Governor Patrick has overstepped his authority by attaching an emergency preamble to the Senate vacancy law signed today and appointing Paul G. Kirk Jr. as Interim U.S. Senator.

Massachusetts Republican Party Chairman Jennifer Nassour said: “I thank the court for taking the time tomorrow for what we consider to be an important legal question. From the beginning, the Republican Party of Massachusetts has been focused on ensuring the laws of our Commonwealth are properly followed. While we opposed the change in the election law, once changed, we believe Governor Patrick has an obligation to follow the law as written. By immediately making an appointment, we believe the governor has overstepped his authority.”

Hearing Information:

Friday, September 25, 2009 at 8:00 a.m.

Superior Court, Suffolk County Courthouse
Courtroom 1006, F session
3 Pemberton Square
Boston, MA 02108

I’ve lived in this stage nearly 30 years and I still can’t believe how many of the Democrats on Beacon Hill are prepared to publicly lie and scam the system just to keep their stranglehold on politics in the People’s Republic of Massachusetts. Not only did the Dem’s show their hypocrisy in rewriting the rules for appointing a Senator, they then took advantage of an “emergency” loophole to put the measure into effect immediately because they didn’t have the 2/3 majority they needed to pass it.

Is anyone surprised that the Tea Party movement has so many followers? We’re sick of the deceit and political power plays.

I can’t say it better than it was said in this piece in Las Vegas Review Journal piece:

If Democrats remain mystified by “tea parties” and other recent expressions of outrage against Washington, they ought to look no further than what their own are trying to pull in Massachusetts as a perfect example of why many Americans are fed up with politicians and politics.

The shenanigans involve the U.S. Senate seat held by the late Ted Kennedy.

Until 2004, Massachusetts law empowered the state’s governor to fill an unexpected Senate vacancy. But the state had a Republican governor that year, and Sen. John Kerry won the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination.

Worried that a Republican might be appointed to replace Sen. Kerry if he were elevated to the White House, Bay State Democrats, enjoying large legislative majorities, changed the rules to mandate that any vacancies be filled via special elections.

Fast forward five years. A Democrat now sits in the governor’s office. Sen. Kennedy loses his life fighting brain cancer. It will be at least four months before Massachusetts can hold a special election, and Democrats are one vote short of a filibuster-proof 60 in the U.S. Senate as they race to pass a radical agenda.

Solution? Massachusetts Democrats rewrite the rules again.

On Tuesday, the state Senate voted 24-16 to allow Gov. Deval Patrick to select Mr. Kennedy’s successor. The House passed the bill last week.

End of story? Nope.

Turns out that under the state constitution, laws passed by the legislature take effect 90 days after they’re signed by the governor — unless lawmakers attach a so-called “emergency pre-amble.”

Such emergency measures must be approved by a two-thirds majority — a benchmark lawmakers failed to achieve in ramming through changes in the succession process.

Not to worry.

The president of the Massachusetts Senate argues that the governor can get around the two-thirds problem by writing a letter to the secretary of state declaring his own “emergency.” Presto! He can then appoint a favored Democrat immediately to save the day for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

The lesson all this nonsense sends to schoolchildren is clear. Maintaining power is the primary purpose of political life. And if politicians don’t like the rules or constitutional restrictions that stand in their way, they simply change them — and if they can’t change them, they ignore them.

It’s the attitude that has given us a government that has grown far beyond the boundaries imposed by the nation’s founding document, a government that meddles in even the most minute aspects of daily life, a government fast heading off a financial cliff thanks to big spenders and redistributionists who view the productive classes as their own giant Treasury.

It’s the attitude that has a great many Americans up in arms. And they may have finally gotten sick enough to do something about it.

Excellent pictures of the 912 Tea Party march in DC from Massachusetts’ own Bob Parks.

http://www.black-and-right.com/2009/09/12/can-you-hear-us-now/

Here’s a great video from the thick of the march.

I received a call from the Worcester Tea Party’s Ken Mandile at the end of the rally. He said the crowd was so large that you couldn’t see the end of it. Michelle Malkin is saying the numbers were running toward 2 million! That’s a lot of friendly but angry conservatives. Will the government listen now?!?!?

UPDATE: Superb time lapse view of the crowds at the march. Thanks for the heads up, Michael.

UPDATE2: We had about 100 people show up in the pouring rain here in Worcester to rally with the 912 marchers in DC.

http://read-write-blue.blogspot.com/2009/09/saturday-912-worc_13.html

State Senator Richard T. Moore sponsored the nasty pandemic legislation, S.2028, that goes way too far in giving the state rights they don’t deserve on the pretense of a possible pandemic.

When asked by concerned citizens about why he would sponsor legislation that undermines our rights so severely, he asked, “What, are you an attorney?”

And when he was asked — Weren’t you elected to uphold the Constitution? — his reply was, “Oh that old thing. When was it written again? 18…?”

Senator Moore’s impeachment rally will be held on September 12, 2009, 123 Main St., Uxbridge, 12-5pm.

For more information, visit the MassLPA site.

Apparently Van Jones, the White House’s Green Czar, underestimated the resilience and support that Glenn Beck gets from supporters. Today we learned that Jones has resigned amid an uproar. As we discussed back in August, Jones is the founder of ColorofChange.org, an activist group that recently decided to attack Glenn Beck for his comments about Jones.

How pitifully low when one has a position of influence but decides to use it for personal wars.

From the Washington Post:

Jones, a towering figure in the environmental movement, had worked for the White House Council on Environmental Quality since March. He was a civil-rights activist in California before turning his focus to environmental and energy issues.

Jones issued two public apologies in recent days, one for signing a petition that questioned whether Bush administration officials “may indeed have deliberately allowed 9/11 to happen, perhaps as a pretext for war” and the other for using a crude term to describe Republicans in a speech he gave before joining the administration.

His one-time involvement with the Bay Area radical group Standing Together to Organize a Revolutionary Movement (STORM), which had Marxist members and leanings, had also become an issue. And on Saturday his advocacy on behalf of death-row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal, who was convicted of shooting a Philadelphia police officer in 1981, threatened to grow as a fresh point of controversy.

Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) called on Jones to resign Friday, saying in a statement, “His extremist views and coarse rhetoric have no place in this administration or the public debate.”

Senator Christopher S. Bond (R-Mo.) urged Congress to investigate Jones’s “fitness” for the position, writing in an open letter, “Can the American people trust a senior White House official that is so cavalier in his association with such radical and repugnant sentiments?” On Saturday, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, wrote on his Twitter account, “Van Jones has to go.”

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Friday that Jones “continues to work for the administration” — but he did not state that the adviser enjoys the full support of President Obama, instead referring questions to the environmental council where he worked.