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Small Government News Selected back issues and articles Small Government News* The official newsletter of the Committee for Small
Government, Publisher: Carla
Howell SUBJECT: Small Government News* Is Back! "Society in every state is a blessing, but
government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its
worst state an intolerable one." "The art of government consists in taking
as much money as possible from one class of citizens and giving
it to the others." "From a certain point onward, there is no
longer any turning back. That is the point that must be reached." +++ IN THIS ISSUE +++
++ A MESSAGE FROM CARLA HOWELL AND MICHAEL CLOUD +++ Dear Friends, We will continue to issue Small Government News* regularly, although much less frequently than before the election. May the New Year bring happiness and prosperity to you -- and new possibilities for small government. small government is possible*, Carla Howell
+++ A MASSACHUSETTS STATE LEGISLATOR'S FLEETING INSIGHT +++ Massachusetts state legislators have Constitutionally-guaranteed pay increases. Some of them try to score points with the voters by oh-so-graciously offering to pass up their pay hikes - and leave the money in the state treasury. This year, Representative Carol A. Donovan (D-Woburn) was stricken with a stunning insight. "I don't trust the Governor or the Speaker or the Senate President to put the money where I think it will do the most good," she said, opting instead to take her $3,258 raise and donate it to charities. For a fleeting moment, Rep. Donovan saw the same wisdom that 885,683 Massachusetts voters saw last November 5th when they cast their "Yes" vote on Question 1 to End the Income Tax. Bob French, one of our campaign team members notes, "When a legislator's pay is on the line, they start talking like a libertarian. Yet they claim that the billions of dollars they steal from the taxpayers are being put to good use." Attorney Peter Kuntz, another of our team members adds, "She should realize the larger, more important, truth: If you can't trust government with $3,258, you can't trust it with 3,000,000 times that." [That's about how much we would have saved by ending the income tax]. We have dim hopes that Rep. Donovan will own up to her hypocrisy. She and the rest of the entire state legislature opposed Question 1.
+++ BEWARE THE RED HERRING +++ There's an even more important lesson for us - the taxpayers - to remember every time we see another news story on issues like legislative pay hikes. Legislative pay increases account for a whopping .0023% of the Massachusetts $23,000,000,000 statutory budget. Are Massachusetts legislators overpaid? Of course. But the sad truth is that we'd be far better off doubling the pay of every legislator - if they'd quit overpaying for everything else they buy with our money. Thousands of workers on the government payroll get compensated far more than their market value -- if not in wages, in benefits and job security. Unlike you and me, government workers don't have to pay Social Security tax. Instead they get a special pension just for government employees - that's actually funded (unlike Social Security which is broke). Government worker pensions are treated like a real contract. They MUST be paid. In contrast, Congress has no obligation whatsoever to pay you a dime of Social Security - whether or not they call it a "lock box". If ordinary taxpayers can be bilked for 15% of their wages over a lifetime and get stiffed for every dime, government workers deserve every bit as much "tough love". Then there's Bechtel Corporation and a few thousand other Big Dig contractors who racked up a taxpayer bill of almost $15 billion (so far) for a project that was originally sold to us for $2.3 billion. A tad overpaid? The media occasionally floats stories of outrageous six-figure taxpayer-funded salaries. Rule of thumb: for every grossly overpaid government worker you hear about, there are 100 more who manage to avoid the spotlight. And what of the many Big Government programs that, regardless of the wages we pay, are a complete and utter waste of money because they dismally fail to solve human problems - or make them worse? One example: Ed "Reform". Dwelling on a line item that's .0023% of the budget is a red herring. The longer Big Government politicians and the Big Government media keep our focus on .0023% of the budget, the easier it is to cover-up, ignore, and renew funding for the remaining 99.9977%.
+++ WHAT THEY'RE STILL SAYING ABOUT BALLOT QUESTION 1 +++ News Services, Newspapers, Magazines, and Political Pundits keep writing about and commenting on Carla Howell's Libertarian Ballot Initiative to End the Income Tax in Massachusetts. Here are a few choice samples. CATO's Founder and President wrote this about Carla Howell & Michael Cloud's Libertarian Ballot Initiative to End the Income Tax in Massachusetts: "The other very interesting development out of the recent elections was an initiative in Massachusetts that would abolish the personal income tax. It won 45.4 percent of the vote - a remarkable achievement for an initiative that had almost no funding and a daily drumbeat of invective spewing forth from the Boston Globe and all the usual suspects. Even the conservative Boston Herald editorialized against it. I would hope that such a good showing would prompt individuals with the resources to make it happen to get involved the next time. In uncertain times like these, it's encouraging to see Americans thinking in terms of reducing their tax burden." Statehouse News Service wrote: "Carla Howell's 'repeal the income tax' question did shockingly well, leading to a new unwillingness to mess with tax rates in the coming fiscal year." Tom Birmingham, retiring Massachusetts Senate President, said this about our 45.4% vote for Ballot Question 1: "I was surprised and frightened by the vote. I think the voters were giving Beacon Hill the referendum equivalent of the middle-finger salute."
+++ "MUNI SAVYON: THANK YOU AND GOOD LUCK!"+++ Since we launched "Small Government News*" in 1999, our friend Muni Savyon has handled the "behind the scenes" work. Subscribe, unsubscribe, layout, "rush" issues, server maintenance, glitches - you name it, he built it or fixed it. Muni Savyon has been a trusted advisor, confidante, pal, and fellow Libertarian activist since the mid-1990's. He's been an indispensable part of our progress. Now Muni has duties that require much time away from Massachusetts. He regretfully turned over his responsibilities to us. "Muni Savyon: Thank You and Good Luck! We love you." -Carla Howell and Michael Cloud
+++ UPCOMING IN SMALL GOVERNMENT NEWS* IN 2003 +++ *Short, upbeat, FUN columns and articles. *Ideas and insights on small government, individual liberty, and personal responsibility. *Filling in the blanks and spotlighting the facts unreported by the Boston Globe and Big Boston Media Establishment. *Bringing light, liberty, and laughter to Massachusetts government and politics. *Announcements for activities and events. Small Government News* 2003 will be electrifying. Sizzling. Powerfully positive. You're going to love it! +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ |
