Babies and Bathwater

"I'm against ending the Income Tax. You are throwing the baby out with the bath water." - Massachusetts Public School Teacher

"Ending the state income tax would mean laying off teachers, police and fire-fighters, closing schools and shutting down road projects," claims Senate President Therese Murray.

She cautions,"We mustn't throw out the baby with the bathwater."

The Massachusetts Teachers Union's whisper campaign is littered with fear-inciting language and images against the income tax elimination initiative:

"devastation," "decimation," "gutting of public services," "massive layoffs of teachers, police, and firefighters," "closings of police stations, fire stations, schools, and hospitals."

'Don't You Dare Throw Out the Bathwater - or the Baby's Going to Get Hurt' - opponents warn taxpayers.

For hundreds of years, Western babies have been bathed in buckets, small barrels, or baby baths. This was safer - and it was easier to heat the water.

After the baby was bathed, the mother emptied out the dirty bathwater.

This common experience became an easily grasped figure of speech, a proverb:

Do not throw out the good with the bad, nor the desirable with the undesirable.

Do not throw out the necessary with the unnecessary, nor the essential with the waste.

Don't throw out the baby with the bathwater.

If a person can't tell the difference between a baby and dirty bathwater, he should not be put in charge of either.

If she can't show you which is the baby and which is the bathwater, would you let her bathe or care for your baby?

If he doesn't know the difference, if he can't show you the difference, why would you let him advise you on your baby and your bathwater?

Now let's consider the Massachusetts government budget baby - and the government budget bathwater.

The Massachusetts state government statutory budget is $28 billion (FY 2009). The state government also spends an additional $6 billion to $14 billion OFF-BUDGET each year. (Undisclosed, undocumented, and unreported to YOU: the taxpayer.) Total state government spending for this year? $34 billion to $42 billion.

Massachusetts towns and cities will collect and spend an additional $18 billion to $20 billion this year.

Total Massachusetts’s local and state government taxes and spending for the next year? $52 billion to $62 billion.

Governor Deval Patrick, Massachusetts state legislators, Massachusetts state government officials, as well as local government officials:

Show us the baby - and show us the bathwater.

Show us each government program baby - and each government program bathwater.

Show us each government program or service's cost baby - and each government program or service's cost bathwater.

Show Massachusetts taxpayers the bad, the undesirable, the unnecessary, and the waste in the government programs, services, and spending.

Taxpayers and voters are dead sure you've covering up and protecting massive amount of government bathwater.

"41 cents out of every tax dollar is wasted," said voters in an April 2008 poll. That's a massive amount of bathwater. But you just can't seem to put your finger on budget bathwater.

You hint or suggest or brazenly claim: there isn't any budget bathwater; there never
was any bathwater; there ain't never going to be any budget bathwater. And anyone who disagrees is a baby hater.

I don't believe you. I don't trust you.

Neither do the 3,000,000 Massachusetts workers and taxpayers that earn the money that you take, who pay the bills you make.

'Don't You Dare Throw Out the Bathwater - or the Baby's Going to Get Hurt' -- you and your allies tell taxpayers.

The first time I heard that remark, I gave you the benefit of the doubt. I assumed you were counseling taxpayers to be careful.

But now I'm wondering: Is it a warning - or a threat?

Our State Representatives had their chance to roll back the income tax level, and it was voted down. What do they expect? Massachusetts taxpayers are ready to toss out the bathwater, the baby will be just fine.