Leave ‘Taxachusetts’ dead and buried

Will "Taxachusetts" soon join the undead? On Wednesday, lawmakers on Beacon Hill have an opportunity to drive a stake through the heart of that long-derided state nickname, by refusing to vote for a new 4 percent surcharge on million-dollar incomes.

If legislators give the proposed constitutional amendment the 50 votes needed to advance the measure, it will still take years to determine whether it becomes law. The soonest it could take effect would be 2018, but that presumes a second favorable vote by 50 legislators and then by voters, who have rejected earlier tax-increase proposals five times at the ballot box. That's not to suggest it faces long odds in a state dominated by Democrats and liberals banging the drum over "income inequality" and "tax fairness."