Tax-free vs. democracy-free Massachusetts

From the Boston Globe: "Activists push to repeal state income tax"

A group of antitax activists launched a campaign over the weekend to abolish the state income tax, setting the stage for a contentious public battle if the measure is added to the ballot this fall.

This was attempted six years ago and Beacon Hill had a scare when the referendum nearly passed with 45% of the vote. But even if the so-called binding referendum passes, there's no guarantee that the Massachusetts government will listen to the people:

An initiative petition is intended to be binding if it passes, but the Legislature has found ways to buck the will of the people in the past. In 2002, lawmakers halted a gradual income tax rollback approved by voters two years earlier, prompting howls that they were bucking an edict from the populace. And though voters passed a ballot question in 1998 that called for publicly funded campaigns, the Legislature famously refused to pay for them.

It seems the ideals of "democracy" take a back seat on Beacon Hill whenever our state "representatives" decide the people should be ignored.