Taxachusetts?
Bush in his stump speeches frequently claims that Kerry will surely raise everyone's taxes, because he's from Massachusetts. In giving this line, he even prefers to refer to Kerry as "the senator from Massachusetts."
However, it turns out that Massachusetts ranks #44 in the nation in total tax burden, only two spots above Texas.
Massachusetts ranks #8 in total income taxes but #45 in sales and excise taxes, whereas Texas ranks at the bottom in income tax (none) but #14 in sales and excise taxes. It's worth noting that income taxes, unlike sales and excise taxes, are more progressive and egalitarian.
The difference between Massachusetts and Texas, then, isn't so much between who taxes more, but between how people are taxed. In Texas, they tax high income and low income people equally, whereas in Massachusetts they tax high income people more and low income people less.
9:22:40 AM 
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