Mark Fisher for Governor: An Open Letter to the People of Massachusetts

Political outsider laments the status quo, tax-and-spend policies of Democratic majority

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Jan 03, 2014, 08:40 ET

AUBURN, Mass., Jan. 3, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Mark Fisher, a candidate for the gubernatorial office of Massachusetts, shares his views on the current state of affairs of Massachusetts government:

Since 1960 Democrats have held the majority in both the Massachusetts State House and Senate. Democrats own this state; they own all the problems, but they won't own up to them!

If Democrat ideas were so good, people and businesses would be flocking to Massachusetts, but they're not; they're being driven out. As a Political outsider having never run for office or worked in Government, I've seen this first-hand when four of my previous employers moved out of state and one closed permanently. Now, as an employer, I've seen the loss of one customer, which moved out of State.

These failures have also caused our dwindling representation in Washington, having dropped from 12 Congressional seats to 9 after the last census.

Rep. Ruth Balser, a Newton Democrat, recently said welfare's problem stems from "horrendous poverty" in the Commonwealth, but no one asks, "Who created this horrendous poverty?" Those in charge for so long, our liberal friends, say they can solve the problems but won't admit to having created them.

Democrats make welfare so enticing that they have discouraged many from seeking work. In Massachusetts, welfare can total upwards of $42,515 tax-free, equivalent to $50,540 in wages - just over $24 an hour (Cato Institute, 2013).

Liberals believe the status quo in Food Stamps is just fine as well. The USDA reported fewer than 450,000 recipients of the SNAP (Food Stamp) program in Massachusetts in 2006, and now 7 years under Governor Patrick recipients have increased by 100% and doubled to over 900,000! Costs have nearly tripled during this time ($485 million to $1.29 billion).

I understand the need for transitional assistance. I've been unemployed 5 times. However, transitional assistance should mean helping people from unemployment to work. It shouldn't mean handing welfare on from generation to generation.

We need to ask ourselves, what are we doing to those we seek to help?

A conservative Democrat told us, "Ask not what your country can do for you!" Yet, the new liberal Democrats have perverted this into, "What can't your country do for you?"

Under more than five decades of Democrat rule the needs grow greater and greater, and the legislature wants more money as the costs of programs go up.

The only way Democrats can sustain their perpetual poverty programs is to increase taxes forever. For example, the current "gas tax" is tied to inflation guaranteeing its increase "forever." I joined hundreds of others collecting signatures to stop this automatic gas tax. It creates economic uncertainty, negatively impacting job creation and business expansion. In fact, on the 240^th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party I signed the Americans for Tax Reform "no tax" pledge. Increasing taxes hurt those with jobs as well as the unemployed.

Having children in the public schools and as a homeowner, I've seen how the current administration's policy on Illegal Immigration has drained resources away from our communities. An audit in 2010 found 190,000 illegals living in the Sanctuary State of Massachusetts costing taxpayers over $1.8 billion annually and taking jobs away from Massachusetts' workers (FAIR.org). More money is taken from us, the taxpayers, and given to illegal immigrants in Massachusetts than in all the other New England states combined!

It is time to make "illegal immigration" illegal. Enforcing immigration laws and ending entitlements to illegals will turn off the magnet that attracts them and save over $1 billion annually to be used for police, firefighters and teachers.

As Governor, I will restore integrity in our Government by keeping promises that have been broken again and again: