In Maryland The Taxes Just Keep On Coming
Jan 8, 2012 Political
The People’s Republic of Maryland is wealthy. It has counties surrounding DC and many of the wealthy folks who do business in DC live in Maryland. The economic impact of job loss has not hurt Maryland as badly as other states for this very reason; a lot of Marylanders are employed by the federal government.
Maryland is also a bastion of liberal lunacy. The State Legislature has a huge Democrat majority and the Congressional delegation is heavily Democrat. At the state level the Democrats continue to push liberal tax and spend policies that hurt the state which has seen its population of millionaires dwindle as these folks leave for states that are more tax friendly.
When Republican Governor Robert Ehrlich was in office (the first Republican in decades) he proposed slots parlors as a way to make money for the state. This was pooh poohed by Democrats as bad policy and not the way to make money. Current Democrat Governor Martin “The Teflon Leprechaun” O’Malley was singing along with the chorus.
When O’Malley defeated Ehrlich the tune changed and suddenly slots was a great idea. The morons in Annapolis placed the issue on the ballot for referendum which stupidly added it to the State Constitution. They were too cowardly to enact it as legislation because they wanted to be able to claim they did not do it when those opposed to slots complained.
Regardless, the measure passed and nearly eight years after Ehrlich proposed slots, they were in Maryland. The state lost slots revenue all that time because of politics.
Now there are two parlors operating (with more to come) and they are bringing in more than 10 million dollars a month (think about all that lost revenue because of politics).
Event though the parlors bring in this revenue the state has still raised taxes. Two years ago there was a special session where taxes were raised across the board. The sales tax went up 20%, the income tax was raised on higher income workers, all kinds of services were taxed or had tax increases and once again the citizens got screwed. Interestingly, people must have found ways to avoid the taxes because revenue decreased or was not what they expected.
The state has a history of misappropriating funds. The Transportation Fund was raped by legislators in order to pay other bills. Transportation projects still needed to be paid for but the money that was dedicated to them was spent on other things like social welfare programs, many of which go to illegal aliens. The state held public meetings about proposed toll increases along Maryland’s many toll roads. Despite overwhelming opposition from the public, the state increased the tolls.
Now the state wants to raise the tax on gasoline by 15 cents a gallon (a 65% increase). The state is proposing to phase in a tax increase on a commodity that the state already heavily taxes. They claim they need to increase funds for the transportation projects and they promise the funds will not be used for anything else. The reality is that they already had the funds and they spent them on something else. They are effectively trying to make us pay twice for the same thing. We paid in and they had the money, they spent it on something else and now they want us to pay in again. It is certainly easier for these clowns to misappropriate money from a needed fund to pay for things the public might not favor and to force us to pay again into the necessary fund then it is to sell increasing our taxes to cover things like more social welfare and tuition and health care for illegal aliens.
The state is also considering raising the already ridiculously high cost of registering vehicles, the flush tax (money to help the Chesapeake Bay that we all pay as part of our water bill), and increases in bus and rail fees (the state has also raised the tax on alcoholic beverages). The state has misappropriated money and spent unwisely and now is looking to gouge its citizens.
Where is all the slots money going? Why do we have increases in taxes and fees (fees are taxes) and why do we continue to have a bloated budget each and every year? It is because Maryland is fiscally irresponsible and instead of actually cutting things that have no place in government it chooses to view more money coming in as an excuse to spend even more. Rather than balance the budget based on its current revenue and by cutting unneeded services the state would rather dig into the pockets of those who work for a living.
They continue to spend, spend, spend and they are reckless in how they manage money. There are tons of dollars spent that keep people in poverty and force the rest of us to fund their lives. We pay for their medical care, their welfare, their food stamps, their government provided cell phones (a right you know) and their very existence so that Democrats can continue to rely on a particular block of voters.
When you rob Peter to pay Paul you can always count on Paul’s support. That is what Democrats in Maryland (and really across the country) do and this is why Maryland keeps electing corrupt morons to run the state.
People are fed up with tax and spend policies. There are necessary costs associated with government and those expenses should be borne by all people represented by that government. The balance of the things government assumes as a responsibility are not in their lane and should be abolished. Smaller government where everyone has, as Joe Biden called it, skin in the game is the most effective way to run things.
How many people have to shop in tax friendly states or buy their gas across the border before the legislature in Maryland realizes that taxing us to death will not solve the problem of fiscal irresponsibility and misappropriation?
It is time for people to fight back. It is time to let politicians in Annapolis know that they back the proposals of the lame duck Governor at their own peril.
We need fiscal responsibility from people who actually know what they are doing. That would exclude those who have lived their lives off the backs of others, like the very politicians in Annapolis.
We have been Taxed Enough Already and it is time for Marylanders to use every legal method to avoid the taxes imposed by the tyrannical government that is imposing its will on the people. Shop in other states, buy gas in other states, buy alcohol in other states and buy your tobacco in other states (though I don’t condone the use it is a legal product) and look to the Internet to buy things and have them delivered.
There are many legal ways to cut the head off the snake.
Time to get a sharp knife and do just that.
Related:
WJZ (CBS) Baltimore
Maryland Slots Revenue
Cave canem!
Never surrender, never submit.
Tags: annapolis, fiscal irresponsibility, gas tax, legislature, lies, malfeasance, Maryland, misappropriation, O'Malley, slots, transportation fund
Another Tax In New York
Aug 26, 2010 Political
It is not exactly a new tax but it is one that has not been enforced in the past. A New York bagel shop franchise has been told by the politicians that it has not been paying its bagel tax. A tax that has not been enforced requires bagel shops to charge a tax for any bagel that it slices or is consumed on its property.
The state sent a tax bill for what it figured the shop owed and then told it to start charging the tax. This new tax has outraged bagel consumers who thought the shop was squeezing customers. The shop had to post signs to explain the tax and what had happened.
I bet a lot of people will get bagels to go from now on.
I am not sure of the law but if the shop is required to charge if it cuts the bagels maybe it could put one of those safety bagel cutters on a counter an let people cut their own. A lot of risk involved with that since people could get hurt and sue.
I think I would offer little containers of cream cheese and sell the bagels uncut to go. This would allow people to protest the tax and still get their bagels.
This is not about the 8 cents it costs per bagel. This is about the continual tax burden placed on people. New York taxes everything it can so much so that people are leaving for other states. If this state (and indeed all states particularly those run by Democrats) could manage their budgets effectively it would not need to keep adding taxes upon taxes to make ends meet.
It boils down to the fact that states (and the federal government) spend more than they receive and they spend much more than they should. They need to cut spending and eliminate all these nuisance taxes.
It comes down to fiscal responsibility.
No matter how you slice it.
Source:
NBC New York
Cave Canem!
Never surrender, never submit.
[tip]If you enjoy what you read consider signing up to receive email notification of new posts. There are several options in the sidebar and I am sure you can find one that suits you. If you prefer, consider adding this site to your favorite feed reader. If you receive emails and wish to stop them follow the instructions included in the email.[/tip]
Tags: bagels, fiscal irresponsibility, New York, taxes
Senate Fails to Control Spending
May 20, 2008 Political
The Senate has added projects worth millions of dollars to the war funding bill. The items added are not related to the war with the exception of a GI Bill which had earlier been reported to involve a 1% surcharge on people making more than half a million dollars a year. While adding items to bills is a legal procedure doing it in this fashion continues to be unethical and underhanded at best. The Senate has added million of dollars for urban schools (as if education does not waste enough money, millions for immigrants to work in agriculture, millions for levee repair in Louisiana (have we not wasted enough money there yet), millions to track down child predators and millions to fight western wildfires.
None of these items have anything to do with the war and this process is just a way for Senators to get items through without going through the proper process and without legislative oversight. These are all domestic items and they should be introduced separately so that they can be passed or rejected based upon their own merits. Adding this kind of stuff is how we end up buying $600 hammers toilet seats.
The Senators know that these items are not likely to be brought up in this year’s session so they are circumventing the regular process to push them through despite the threat of a veto. In essence, the people we pay about $170,000 a year cannot come up with the time to properly introduce these items involving spending our money so they have taken the quick route and added them to the one bill that is certain to get to the president. If these items are deserving then they are strong enough to be introduced on their own and should not be in the war funding bill.
I wonder why it is that there is not enough time for them to do things the right way? Perhaps it is because, despite promises to the contrary, they still have a three day work week (on a good week). Perhaps it is because they are busy jetting around the country either running for office or helping someone who is. Perhaps it is because they work fewer than 100 days per year and they are woefully inept.
I want a Senator to add term limits to the bill. It should be an add on that states people elected to the Senate may only serve two terms and then are barred from serving in either House of Congress. If anyone knows a Senator who favors term limits leave the name in the comment section and I will contact the office with a request.
Whatever happens, and I suspect it will be vetoed, the add ons are wrong and demonstrate a complete lack of fiscal responsibility and leadership on the part of our elected (so-called) leaders.
Source:
My Way News
Tags: domestic spending, fiscal irresponsibility, Senate, war funding, wasteful spending
Democrats Still Want to Tax the Rich
Dec 14, 2007 Political
The Democrats are looking for ways to raise taxes and their favorite target, as always, is the rich. The Democrats have this misguided idea that the rich should pay more because they make more. This is an idea based in lunacy and cultured in class warfare, something the Democrats are very good at. Assuming that all citizens receive the same benefits from government (which is not the case), why should the rich pay more for the same benefits? Why is it fair to make those who make more pay more?
Vin Suprynowicz wrote an excellent piece where he asks that very question. His piece is designed to disprove teacher’s complaints about his assertion that schools indoctrinate students but the analogies he uses are spot on.
Tell them that to defend our country, the Congress has decided we need a new fleet of aircraft carriers that will cost $500 per American. This is to be funded by an income tax which requires one multi-millionaire like Bill Gates to pay $2,500, five average Joes earning better that the national median paycheck to pay $500 apiece, and thus allows four guys whose incomes are way below average to pay nothing at all. Does this represent “everyone paying his fair share”?
The question posed in this scenario is how Democrats view our country. They believe it is absolutely fair to charge Gates more, five guys above the median the $500 and four guys nothing. This is how the progressive tax system works and it is what Democrats are suggesting each time they say they want to raise taxes on the rich. They want the rich to pay more, the above median folks to pay the actual cost and the poor to pay nothing at all.
The problems is, as pointed out by Suprynowicz, everyone in the country would benefit equally from the fleet of aircraft carriers. The fleet does not offer Bill Gates any more protection than the guy who did not have to pay anything at all because we all receive equal protection. As Suprynowicz also points out, our income tax system is run differently than the way we pay for other things:
We pay for most things this way, after all. If a bridge has a $1 toll, everyone pays a dollar – the toll-takers don’t demand more from the guy in the Mercedes and less from the poor fellow in the rattletrap.
Buying a can of beans at the store? No one contends it would be “fair” to charge the well-dressed lady many times the price marked on the can. We also pay for our highways this way – the excise tax on a gallon of gasoline is the same for Mr. Gates as it is for you or me, on the theory that all our cars wear down the pavement about the same.
My first reaction when I read this was that he has it right and it is so easy that anyone should understand it. My second was complete fear that some idiot in government would read it and figure it would be a good idea to charge for everything based on income. In any event, the fact is we do not have to pay for the goods and services we use based upon income levels so why is it fair to make those in higher income brackets pay more in taxes (as a percent, of course they will always pay more in actual dollars)?
The interesting thing here is that while we all receive the same benefit from the protection afforded by aircraft carriers or roads or food we do not receive the same or equal benefits from government. Remember I said assuming we all received the same benefit from government? Well the fact is those in the lower income brackets use far more in government services than those in the higher income brackets. The lower income folks actually receive more from the government than they pay in while those in the higher end receive less than they pay in. Some people pay nothing and receive a lot from the government. The lower three quintiles consume much more than the upper two even though the upper two pay for nearly all the costs of government.
If we wanted to have a fair tax system, those who make less should pay more because they consume more. No one is suggesting that and it certainly would not be reasonable to do so. What would be fair is for government to charge everyone the same rate on their income. We would all be paying equally for the supposed equal benefits of government.
Congress does not want this because they love to take our money and waste it. I have done better investing my money than they have with the money they take from me for Social Security. I know how to better handle my money than they do. Congress has abused the Alternative Minimum Tax and reaped billions of dollars they were not entitled to because they collected it in violation of the rules governing why the AMT was established. Now they are crying that to fix the AMT they need to raise taxes to offset the revenue loss.
The AMT was designed to make millionaires pay a minimum amount in taxes. For years, people who are by no means millionaires have been paying the AMT which means the government has been taking money that it was not entitled to. They should be refunding money to all the people who were forced to pay taxes as if they were millionaires.
In any event, the fact is Congress is incapable of spending money with any amount of responsibility. They have the IRS mob to enforce their extortion racket and they jail those who do not pay taxes to deter the rest of us from deciding not to pay. We need to get rid of all of them and start fresh.
Congress needs an enema.
Source of Vin Suprynowicz’s article:
Indoctrination? What Indoctrination?
Source of Democrat’s Tax the rich
Tags: Democrats, fiscal irresponsibility, rich people, taxes