Why End The Income Tax in Massachusetts?

Libertarian Party personalities Michael Cloud and Carla Howell are once again pushing for a state referendum in Massachusetts that would, if passed by the electorate, repeal the the regressive state income tax. The pair successfully managed to push for a similar petition to be placed on the ballot back in 2002, but the initiative only secured 45.3 percent of the electorate's vote.

Although the votes were not enough for the referendum to win by a whopping majority, it was still an impressive campaign, considering that 45.3 percent of the voters at the time sent a message to the state, saying that the tax burden in Taxachusetts was too high and needed to be repealed.

SouthCoastToday.com reported on the campaign with the following:

The income-tax abolitionists have already gone before the voters once before (2004) and nearly won. They garnered an astounding 45.3 percent of the vote with little publicity that year.

And with a Web site that informs you that the state budget has doubled between 1990 and 2007, and that eliminating the income tax could reduce state government spending by 39 percent, this group is no joke.

Its moving force is Carla Howell, a Libertarian type who once ran for governor.

As Third Party Watch recently pointed out in its blog:

'I’m told they have 98,000 raw signatures in hand with a requirement of 66,000 valid signatures,' reported one person close to the campaign. 'They are making a push in the final week for more of a buffer because they are certain they will be challenged by public employees. When this was on the ballot six years ago it came pretty close with 45 percent of the vote. All the newspapers beforehand said it would be lucky to get 25 to 30 percent. It’s likely the referendum will be covered much more seriously this go around which will further boast its chance of success.'

(Hat tip to TPW for its coverage on the anti-tax campaign.)