OPINION | Barry Richard: No Millionaires Tax Means You May Need to Pony Up

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruling that prevents the so-called "millionaires tax" from appearing on the ballot this fall is a huge blow to the Democrats who run things on Beacon Hill. They were counting on the estimated $2 billion they expected to generate annually from the new tax to feed their spending addiction.

Without the four percent tax on the well-to-do, lawmakers will have to come up with another way to fund their ambitious spending objectives. Any guesses as to what that might be?

Senate President and Democrat Harriette Chandler tells the State House News Service she is "terribly disappointed" by the SJC ruling. I'll bet she is.

Chandler refers to the tax as the "Fair Share Amendment," and says without it, lawmakers will have to "be creative and take a hard look at potential revenues from new sources to address the very real challenges we face as a Commonwealth."

As with other controversial matters to come before them, lawmakers were prepared to allow voters to decide the fate of the millionaires tax. Easy to blame you later if people are upset.

They did go on record twice in favor of the thing as part of the process of getting it to the ballot. That means almost your entire local legislative delegation voted in favor of the tax, even though they were advised that it would not withstand Constitutional muster.

Attorney General and Democrat Maura Healy approved of placing the measure on the ballot, even though she too had been advised of its unconstitutionality. And we pay these people?

My advice to you, in addition to voting out the entire lot of them, is to hide your cash where they cannot find it because they are coming for it. There is nothing more fearsome than a Democrat lawmaker in need of a funding source. Be forewarned.

Barry Richard is the host of The Barry Richard Show on 1420 WBSM New Bedford. He can be heard weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. Contact him at barry@wbsm.com and follow him on Twitter @BarryJRichard58. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.