Lower taxes

Date: 6/16/2010

I support lowering the sales tax to 5 percent because higher sales tax kills jobs and hurts business and working families.

I work for a printing company. If a Massachusetts company wants to buy $15,000 in printing locally. The sales tax rose from $750 to $937, an increase of $187.

The paper supplier, printing and trucking companies are giving the work and products away, just trying to stay in business. The state was the only one making money on the sale. Instead of buying locally, the sale is lost to an out of state company because the taxes are lower.

We lose the sale and the state loses the revenue. Some people say, if you lower the sales tax it will hurt the schools. If we lower the sales tax and people buy in Massachusetts, the state would receive the revenue instead of getting nothing.

Our employees work four days a week and have no discretionary income. Many are laid off, including one man with nine children. I pray for him everyday as I drive into work. The state pays one day of unemployment benefits for some and full benefits for those laid off.

We are losing retail, tobacco and gas sales to neighboring states because we have higher taxes. Economies and real personal income in states with lower income and sales taxes grow faster than states with higher taxes.

Our state government spends money $2,500 a month housing one family in a motel room. Would it not be better to give five working families $500 a month to help them keep the homes they are in danger of losing?

If the government really wanted to help families and taxpayers, it would lower sales and income taxes and stop wasting our money. Lowering taxes is the right thing to do.

Dan Allie

Calvin Coolidge Tea Party