Tank the Automatic Gas Tax increases.

To the editor,

This past Monday as thousands ran the Boston Marathon, Massachusetts celebrated a holiday unique to the Commonwealth. That holiday is Patriot's Day.   And on this day we celebrate the first battle in the American Revolutionary war.

In great part the American Revolution was fought because a tyrannical Monarch and Parliament decide to tax us -- while granting us no representation.

And so we fought a war to win our independence, to secure representative government and to insure that those we elect to public office do indeed vote on the record for matters such as tax increases, so that we may hold them accountable at the ballot box.

Yet, last year, the majority of our Massachusetts Legislators proved just how how spineless they actually are, by voting for gas tax measure that ensures they won't ever have to vote for it again. That's right -- they set the gas tax on automatic pilot, linking it to inflation.... However, should we enter a recession and a deflationary period, this same gas tax, will not fall below the floor they've set.  So not only do these gutless wonders lack the courage to vote for an increase annually, they've set it up to go up, but no come down.

This is just another form of Taxation Without Representation. And it must be repealed.  In that regard concerned citizens collected over 120,000 certified signatures-- nearly twice the number required to put the measure on the ballot.  And even so.... the legislature plays games... they've yet to vote on whether to put the measure on the ballot, or require taxpayers to gather another 11,000 signatures.  This is not sound governance. Folks this is tyranny and nothing short of it.

Again the issue here isn't whether or not the gasoline tax should be raised. The issue is whether the people we elect and pay to vote on these matters have backbone to vote on and debate the merits of a tax increase when they believe it is necessary.