"Jeff" wrote in message ...
Charles Momsen wrote:
The poor are overtaxed. Look at the taxes on gasoline, liquor,
cigarettes, ammunition, food, even ice cream - children's ice cream
Mandrake and one can plainly see the poor are bearing an unjust burden.

A two pack a day smoker works 3 hours at minimum wage just to pay for
cigarettes and the privilege of earning minimum wage. Figure 2 gallons of
gas a day for his old car, a pint of Wild Turkey for his problems and
there is nothing left over. What's the poor guy to do? Go out and steal
so his poor family can eat?

If sales taxes and sin taxes were eliminated the poor would be better off
and crime would be reduced. The jails would be less crowded and
Inspector Javert could attend to more important business.
Here in Massachusetts we had a referendum on eliminating the State Income
Tax. The proponents argued at great length about how the state
legislature would be forced to eliminate waste if half the revenue was
gone. What they never mentioned is that out income tax is a flat rate - a
burden carried equally be rich and poor with very few exceptions. The
other primary sources of revenue, sales and property taxes,
disproportionately affect the poor. Eliminating income tax would mean
that the rich would get a free ride, while the poor and middle class
carried the entire load of financing the Commonwealth.

Fortunately, the voters saw through the sham and voted it down, 3 to 1.


What's even better is that people who don't want to pay large amounts of
income tax are free to move to another state that would tax them less and
people who want to pay more can move in.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massachusetts

Emigration and Immigration
The latest (2007) estimated Census population figures show that
Massachusetts has grown by slightly over 1 percent, to 6,449,755, since
2000.[21] This slow growth is likely attributable to the fact that
Massachusetts continues to attract top scholars and researchers from across
the United States as well as large numbers of immigrants, combined with
steady emigration away from the state towards New Hampshire and southern and
western regions of the U.S. because of high housing costs, taxes, weather,
and traffic.

Recent census data shows that the number of immigrants living in
Massachusetts has increased over 15% from 2000-2005. The biggest influxes
are Latin Americans. According to the census, the population of Central
Americans rose by 67.7 percent between 2000 and 2005, and the number of
South Americans rose by 107.5 percent. And among South Americans, the
largest group to increase appeared to be Brazilians, whose numbers rose by
131.4 percent, to 84,836. This surge of immigrants tends to offset
emigration, and, of course, given the 350,000 increase in population in the
Commonwealth between 1990 and 2000, many immigrants to Massachusetts come
from elsewhere in the USA.

Following the shift to a high-tech economy and the numerous factory
closures, few jobs remain for low skilled male workers, who are dropping out
of the workforce in large numbers. The percentage of men in the labor force
fell from 77.7% in 1989 to 72.8% in 2005. This national trend is most
pronounced in Massachusetts. In the case of men without high school
diplomas, 10% have left the labor force between 1990 and 2000.[22]

It seems Mass. is becoming a state of the very priveleged with a low income
underclass to serve them.