CGU's Ira Jackson in Los Angeles Times: Debunking the Massachusetts Miracle

Not So Miraculous After All

"I just want, in some small way, to leave the world better than I found it."

-- Ira Jackson, April 6, "For Drucker School dean, small is beautiful," Los Angeles Times

Today's Sunday Los Angeles Times profile reveals a lot about the state of journalism and objectivity. Here are my least favorite paragraphs.

During five years at the head of Massachusetts' Department of Revenue beginning in 1982, Jackson helped engineer a period of economic growth that was later touted as the "Massachusetts Miracle."

The state was facing a $300-million deficit when Jackson and his team sped up refund-check mailings, publicized raids on tax delinquents and introduced simplified tax forms in several languages. A tax amnesty program drew in $86 million from 60,000 tax evaders. To celebrate, Jackson served his staff a 600-pound cake decorated like a refund check.

I hail from the less than great Commonwealth of Massachusetts. This is my hometown, Milton, and this is where I lived until I was six and where my grandparents still live. I can tell you with no reservation whatsoever that the so-called "Massachusetts Miracle" was a Massachusetts nightmare the likes of which we are currently reliving with Barack Obama's buddy, Governor Deval Patrick.

Let's tear into that statement. The so-called Massachusetts miracle raised taxes on the people of Massachusetts to pay for Dukakis's ineffective and downright destructive social engineering schemes. Here's just a small list of the taxes that were raised.



Ed Rubenstein of National Review went into all the numbers in this article debunking the Massachusetts miracle.

In effect, all Jackson did was collect the money that the Dukakis government stole from the Massachusetts people. Jackson didn't leave the commonwealth better than he found it. He made it far worse. Nor was his tenure at the Massachusetts IRS "small."

The article never mentions the reason for the $300 million dollar shortfall: Dukakis's ridiculous state spending.

As a side question: Is hiring Deans or VPs that enable irresponsible spending becoming a trend at CGU and Pomona College?

Maybe I'll have a chance to ask him or the other spendthrift, Jeffrey Sachs, about how raising taxes can somehow spur economic growth.

If everything goes according to plan, tomorrow I will be listening to CGU President Ira Jackson and Jeffrey Sachs talk about the world's problems in the Los Angeles Central Library. (No, I haven't joined the dark side. I just enjoy a little torture every now and again.)

(I'll report back to you on that tomorrow, provided I can scrounge up a ride.)