| |
BHI in the news
|
from NewsLink, Vol. 6, No. 2, Spring 2002
The great Virginian John Randolph of Roanoke once facetiously called spending other people’s money “the most delicious of all privileges.” By now, it is clear that the Massachusetts legislature finds great delectation in raising taxes and spending more money. As the Beacon Hill debate heated up this spring, BHI found delicious opportunities to argue against recently proposed massive tax hikes. And the opportunities to place stubborn facts in the way of a runaway tax-hike train were many.
BHI Executive Director David G. Tuerck hit the radio waves regularly to present the institute’s extensive report, Holding Taxachusetts at Bay, which outlined the job and payroll loses associated with raising taxes. Dr. Tuerck appeared several times on Boston-based WBIX Business 1060 AM. On May 8 Dr. Tuerck appeared on “The Boston Business Journal AM Edition” with Dave Anthony & The Money Couple. On May 3 and April 16 Dr. Tuerck appeared on “The Bulldog Edition” with Ted Bunker to speak extensively about the proposed tax bills.
On May 3 Dr. Tuerck debated Massachusetts House Speaker Thomas Finneran on the “Blute and Ozone” morning radio talk show program on WRKO 680 AM. Dr. Tuerck questioned the House’s approval of $1 billion in new state taxes. He also challenged the House Speaker to provide an economic analysis of the proposed tax increases on job and payroll creation. Finneran defended the economic assumptions upon which the tax package was based. Dr. Tuerck reappeared on the the program on May 15. On April 30, Dr Tuerck was a guest on the David Brudnoy Show on WBZ-1030 AM.
Meanwhile, Dr. Tuerck also appeared on television to present the anti-tax side of the debate. On May 1, Dr. Tuerck appeared on “News Night,” a New England Cable News program to discuss the ongoing tax increases. The Neighborhood Network News interviewed Dr. Tuerck for a news story that also appeared on May 1.
BHI’s tax analysis also appeared in the print media. On May 4 the Boston Globe ran an op-ed column by Dr. Tuerck, “Holes in their story about deficits,” which called into question the state’s fiscal crisis. And more significantly, the Boston Sunday Herald ran a major editorial on April 7 that used BHI’s tax analysis to warn against higher taxes. On the heels of the release of BHI’s report to Governor Jane Swift, The Boston Metro on March 12 also published a story.
Proposals to increase revenue were expanded to include the elimination of the voter-approved charitable tax deduction, another area of BHI expertise. On May 4, 2002 David G. Tuerck was quoted in an article inThe Boston Globe on the proposed eliminated of the deduction.Previous to public discussion about the elimination of the deduction, Boston Globe featured Dr. Tuerck in a explanatory article entitled, “Taxpayers to profit from generosity” on February 24.
On March 28 The Boston Globe also quoted Dr. Tuerck in an article on proposals to raise the cigarette tax in Massachusetts.
Beyond Beacon Hill tax talk
Highlights from other BHI research also made their way into the news. On May 5, the Boston Herald ran a column by Tuerck critical of the state’s Medicaid rebate program for prescription drugs, “FDA’s drug policy bad for our health.”
The Worcester Business Journal interviewed BHI research economist John Barrett on BHI’s study, And Then There Were Nine: The States vs. Microsoft for its May 8 issue. The same interview was also part of the newspaper’s May 10 radio show in Worcester County called “Business Beat” on WICN 90.5 FM. The Boston Sunday Globe ran a column by John Barrett on the Microsoft anti-trust litigation on May 12.
On April 12 the Boston Herald reported on a BHI study concluding that forcing Microsoft to offer a stripped-down version of Windows in an anti-trust lawsuit will cost software developers and consumers millions of dollars. The Boston Metro on April 12 also reported on the study. The Metro also carried a letter on a later day critical of the BHI study.
Pacific Radio International’s Marketplace interviewed John Barrett about “sin taxes” for a story it carried on April 4 that appeared nationally and was cited on American Health Line, a wire service.
Boston Globe columnist Steve Bailey on February 22 cited an update of a BHI study that said the costs of the Massachusetts Turnpike were higher than the New York Thruway, New Jersey Turnpike and Pennsylvania Turnpike.
On February 21 Florida’s St. Petersburg Times, The Orlando Sentinel and South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com mentioned Dr. Tuerck’s role advising the state’s legislature on a proposal to increase taxes. Dr. Tuerck said the tax increase bill would cost Florida 35,000 jobs and $1.3 million in annual payrolls.
Boston Herald columnist Cosmo Macero Jr. quoted Dr. Tuerck in a February 20 column on the tax rollback as saying: “If 59 percent of the voters decide they want a tax cut, then everyone has a responsibility to respect that decision."
In its January issue, Health Care News, the monthly newspaper for health care reform published by the Heartland Institute, covered a report prepared by BHI that said single-payer health care in Maryland would cost the state as many as 17,000 jobs and almost $5 billion in lost payroll tax receipts.
On January 12 Quincy’s Patriot Ledger referred to BHI’s report, entitled Cashing in on Cable: Warning Flags for Local Government in an article on the entrance into the cable TV business by the Town of Braintree.
Continuing Coverage State Competitiveness Report 2001
On April 14 the Star Tribune of Minneapolis, MN carried a story saying that Minnesota ranked ninth. On April 13 Maine’s Bangor Daily News ran an article highlighting that Maine was ranked the 19th overall best state in which to do business in the country. A March 30 Boston Herald editorial cited the report in an editorial saying that per capita income has increased from 1980 to 1999.
NewsLink is the quarterly newsletter of the Beacon Hill Institute for Public Policy Research at Suffolk University. © 1996-2001. All rights reserved.
HTML format revised on 9/9/02 9:06 PM