Bill Weld on Tax Reform

	Bill Weld on Tax Reform Former Republican Governor; former Senate candidate (MA)

1990s: Produced nine tax cuts as governor of Tax-achussets

A pre-campaign strategy in 1995 found negatives for Weld in the Republican Party. Weld was pro-choice; pro-gay rights; a creature of the eastern establishment and its core institution, Harvard, where Weld had graduated and received his law degree; he had been born with a silver spoon and had money; and he was from Massachusetts, which most people would assume meant he must be a liberal. All 5 reinforced each other and all came back to Massachusetts. The most effective way to handle the negatives was to meet them head-on and convert them to Weld's advantage. This could be done by building a message around Weld as the leader who changed the political culture of Massachusetts almost single handily in 4 years. In the state known for high taxes (Tax-achusetts, as it was sometimes called) and liberal social engineering, he had produced 9 tax cuts and started sweeping welfare reform. Who better to change the Washington political culture? Source: The Choice, by Bob Woodward, p.115 , Nov 1, 2005

Roll back more than $2 billion in recent tax increases

To emphasize his determination to reduce spending drastically, Weld endorsed Question 3, a ballot initiative (ultimately unsuccessful) to roll back more than $2 billion in recent tax increases. Budgets, he declared in May 1990, ought to start each year "from scratch: You assume no program is necessary; no bureaucrat's job is necessary; no line item in the budget is necessary." He cheerfully told editorial boards he would "blow up" unneeded state agencies and cited robust privatization as the key to shrinking "the beast"--his term for state government. "If the private sector can run something better and cheaper, and it isn't a core function of government, I say: More power to them."

He was scathing in his indictment of the Democrats who ran the State Senate and House of Representatives. "The Legislature," he said, "has proven itself incapable of restructuring state government."

Source: Jeff Jacoby in City Journal , Jan 1, 1996

Click here for definitions & background information on Tax Reform. Click here for a summary of all issue stances of Bill Weld. Click here for a Wikipedia profile of Bill Weld. Click here for a Ballotpedia profile of Bill Weld. Click here for VoteMatch responses by Bill Weld. Click here for AmericansElect quiz answers by Bill Weld. Click here for MyOcracy quiz answers by Bill Weld. Click here for issue positions of other MA politicians.
*Other governors on Tax Reform:*		*Bill Weld on other issues:*
*MA Gubernatorial:* Charlie Baker Dan Wolf Deval Patrick Don Berwick Karyn Polito Martha Coakley Marty Walsh Richard Tisei Steve Grossman Tom Menino Warren Tolman *MA Senatorial:* Brian Herr Bruce Skarin Ed Markey Elizabeth Warren Gabriel Gomez John Kerry Martha Coakley Mo Cowan *Gubernatorial Debates 2014:* AL: Bentley(R) vs.Griffith(D) AR: Ross(D) vs.Hutchinson(R) vs.Griffin(R,Lt.Gov.) AZ: Ducey(R) vs.DuVal(D) vs.Mealer(AE) vs.Gilbert(L) vs.~~Riggs~~(R) CA: Brown(D) vs.Kashkari(R) CO: Hickenlooper(D) vs.Beauprez(R) vs.~~Tancredo~~(R) vs.Hess(L) CT: Malloy(D) vs.Foley(R) vs.Walker(R,Lt.Gov.) FL: Scott(R) vs.Crist(D) vs.Snitker(L,Lt.Gov.) GA: Deal(R) vs.Carter(D) vs.Hunt(L) HI: Ige(D) vs.Aiona(R) vs.~~Abercrombie~~(D) IA: Branstad(R) vs.Hatch(D) vs.~~Hoefling~~(R) MA: Coakley(D) vs.Baker(R) &Polito(R,Lt.Gov.) vs.~~Grossman~~(D) vs.~~Berwick~~(D) ME: LePage(R) vs.Michaud(D) vs.Cutler(I) MI: Snyder(R) vs.Schauer(D) NM: Martinez(R) vs.King(D) NY: Cuomo(D) &Hochul(D,Lt.Gov.) vs.Astorino(R) vs.Hawkins(G) vs.~~Teachout~~(D) OK: Fallin(R) vs.Dorman(D) PA: Corbett(R) vs.Wolf(D) vs.~~Schwartz~~(D,lost primary) vs.~~Critz~~(D,Lt.Gov.,lost primary)	*Newly-elected 2014:* AK-I: Bill Walker AR-R: Asa Hutchinson AZ-R: Doug Ducey IL-R: Bruce Rauner MA-R: Charlie Baker MD-R: Larry Hogan NE-R: Pete Ricketts PA-D: Tom Wolf RI-D: Gina Raimondo TX-R: Greg Abbott *Up for re-election 2014:* AK-R: Sean Parnell AL-R: Robert Bentley CA-D: Jerry Brown CO-D: John Hickenlooper CT-D: Dan Malloy FL-R: Rick Scott GA-R: Nathan Deal HI-D: Neil Abercrombie IA-R: Terry Branstad ID-R: Butch Otter IL-D: Pat Quinn KS-R: Sam Brownback ME-R: Paul LePage MI-R: Rick Snyder MN-D: Mark Dayton NH-D: Maggie Hassan NM-R: Susana Martinez NV-R: Brian Sandoval NY-D: Andrew Cuomo OH-R: John Kasich OK-R: Mary Fallin OR-D: John Kitzhaber PA-R: Tom Corbett SC-R: Nikki Haley SD-R: Dennis Daugaard TN-R: Bill Haslam VT-D: Peter Shumlin WI-R: Scott Walker WY-R: Matt Mead	Abortion Budget/Economy Civil Rights Corporations Crime Drugs Education Energy/Oil Environment Families/Children Foreign Policy Free Trade Govt. Reform Gun Control Health Care Homeland Security Immigration Infrastructure/Technology Jobs Local Issues Principles/Values Social Security Tax Reform War/Iraq/Mideast Welfare/Poverty *Term-Limited or Retiring 2014:* AR-D: Mike Beebe AZ-R: Jan Brewer MA-D: Deval Patrick MD-D: Martin O'Malley RI-I: Linc Chafee TX-R: Rick Perry

Page last updated: Nov 26, 2014

Bill Weld on Tax Reform

Former Republican Governor; former Senate candidate (MA)

1990s: Produced nine tax cuts as governor of Tax-achussets

Roll back more than $2 billion in recent tax increases