Governor Patrick: Against the Sales Tax, Before He Was For It

Well, the Legislature has passed what have been dubbed as three sweeping reform bills. Therefore, apparently Governor Patrick, who was against a sales tax hike, is now not only for it, but will sign the FY10 budget containing it and several other tax increases very soon.

Governor Patrick appeared on Fox 25 this morning, saying the Legislature had held up its end of the bargain, passing the various reform bills, and now it was his turn to return the favor. Well, we say shame on you Governor. In April, Patrick said he was against a broad based tax increase, especially the sales tax, because of how regressive it is and because it will have the most negative impact on the most vulnerable. Well, either the sales tax became a genius idea overnight, or the Governor simply does not have the courage to veto the sales tax and send the budget back to the Legislature.

For a moment, lets talk taxes. The FY10 budget contains a dramatic 25% increase to the sales tax, a satellite tax, a lift on the exemption of the sales tax on alcohol, a local meals and lodging tax option among others. Our economy is the worst it has been since the Great Depression and if the tax happy Democrats think the solution to our financial problems is reaching into the taxpayers pockets and take what little change they have left, they are sadly mistaken. Innovation and technology got our country out of the Great Depression, not regressive taxation on our citizens.

Governor Patrick, in an effort to make one final plea, veto the sales tax and send it back to the Legislature. The Republican Caucus has already offered hundreds of millions of dollars in savings, lets start there instead of raising the sales tax to 6.25%. The people of the Commonwealth deserve leadership and while you may not want to show any, we certainly do!