Fat Tax, Mileage Tax, What Next?
Dec 30, 2008 Political
The state of Oregon is looking at using GPS systems to track the number of miles people drive and then tax them accordingly. Those who are taxed by the mile will have their gasoline taxes rebated at the pump, or so says the Governor of the state.
Privacy advocates worry that the system will be used to track people though the government says it cannot and will not do that. However, if it involves a GPS then they can track people so the capability is there. Will they? One can most assuredly believe they will the first time a child is abducted or some other emergency exists. They will justify their acts based on public safety or “its for the children.”
The move is designed to improve revenue for the roads (though they never use the taxes for that exclusively). Revenue is down since people are driving fewer miles and using fuel efficient vehicles, what they wanted us to do in the first place. Now they want to tax per mile which means it will be easier for them to generate revenue by simply increasing the amount per mile drivers are taxed. There is no word on how the state will handle vehicles that drive primarily on roads that are not maintained by the state such as roads on private property.
I think this is a bad idea and it will lead to invasion of privacy. It will also lead to people paying more in taxes. I would not be surprised if people who are mobile move out of the state to avoid it.
Put Down That Sugary Drink
In New York, Governor Paterson has proposed 88 new taxes in an effort to shrink the state’s growing deficit. Seems to me that cutting waste would be the first step but Paterson is a Democrat and they never met a tax they didn’t hike.
One of the most controversial taxes is the tax that will be levied on sugary drinks like non diet colas. The state is using its power to levy taxes in order to force behavior on people. This will only lead to people going to other states to buy sugary drinks. Look at how they already avoid paying taxes on tobacco. Pretty soon, the Indian reservations will be selling mail order cola.
The interesting thing is that they want to curb obesity by taxing sugary drinks when artificial sweeteners have been linked to obesity. The artificial sweeteners might actually cause the body to crave more sugar leading to people eating more.
Regardless, this is a bad idea. First of all it is not the state’s job to decide what people should or should not drink or eat. This is an individual choice and if people become obese then that is their concern. The fact of the matter is everyone is going to die and depriving people of what they enjoy (or taxing it so they cannot afford it) only delays the inevitable. Life is a sexually transmitted terminal condition.
The state claims that people’s health is its only concern but the fact is the state wants to make money and taxing sugary drinks is how they are going about it. I can guarantee that if everyone decided to stop drinking sugary beverages and stuck to diet drinks, water or milk then the state would either tax them or find something else to tax. The state will find a way to increase revenue when the flow of money slows or stops because of behavior they wanted. See above about Oregon.
When will this insanity end? What next? Will they tax red meat or fatty foods because they increase the risk for high blood pressure and heart disease? Will they tax people with emphysema (or other COPDs) more because they use oxygen less efficiently?
This is a slippery slope because once this camel gets its nose under the tent there will be no stopping it. Government can decide what it thinks is healthy and what it thinks is not and increase taxes according to its own arbitrary standards all in the name of looking out for the people and their health.
It is not government’s job to decide for us how we manage our health. This is a matter of personal responsibility (something government knows nothing about) and it is up to each person to decide what is best.
Taxes are nothing more than a form of involuntary servitude where the fruits of our labor are confiscated. We work and our money is taken but we have little say in how it is spent, spending that usually involves a huge amount of waste.
I propose a fathead tax. Then people like Paterson would be required to pay more in taxes.
Come to think of it, so would all politicians.
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Tags: behavior, big brother, New York, oregon, paterson, taxes
Democratic Mayors Want Your Money
Nov 15, 2008 Political
…Or What’s In Your Wallet?
Democratic Mayors of three American Cities want part of the 700 billion dollar bailout money. Michael Nutter of Philadelphia, Shirley Franklin of Atlanta and Phil Gordon of Phoenix, ALL DEMOCRATS (a fact not reported in the story) have requested a portion of the taxpayer provided bailout money in order to help their failing cities. These Democrats have run their cities into the ground and now they want people from all over the country to save them. They have raised taxes to no avail (how many times have they been warned about raising taxes in a tough economy) and they have declared they will cut services. I don’t care what they do, they should NOT get one cent of federal taxpayer money.
These Mayors are leaders of cities that rely on their own tax structures and those of the state in which they reside. It is not the duty of taxpayers from all over this country to bailout cities that are not being run properly or efficiently. These cities are responsible for their own budgets and if they are unable to make ends meet then they need to cut their vast social programs and overinflated payrolls.
Perhaps places like Philadelphia can put their welfare recipients and others getting public assistance on alert. Let them know that they will be responsible for doing some of the work in the community in exchange for the benefits they receive. Make them shovel snow at schools and public buildings. Make them cut grass and pick up trash. Make them do the things that others are paid to do and get rid of that part of the payroll. How about we make people get jobs and get them off welfare so they won’t be standing in front of polling places with night sticks?
Maybe these Mayors can round up all the illegals and put them to work on chain gangs cleaning roads and painting buildings. The trash needs to be collected and the city has services that can be provided by those who “just want to work.” Once they have paid their debt for being here illegally we can ship them home and reduce the burden that ALL illegals cause on our economy.
Yes, illegals cost us billions of dollars and cities with Democrats generally allow illegals to live there and receive taxpayer money (though in fairness, Phoenix probably does better at control than others). Illegals suck the life out of our economy but these Democratic leaders continue to allow that problem to exist and they even make it easier for illegals to show up with their hands out.
The cities asking for help are run by Democrats. Tax and spend Democrats who have taxed people to death, spent all the money, and then decided that since they have tapped out the productive people in their cities it is time to go after the fruits of the labor of people from across the nation.
There is no way that American taxpayers should have bailed out Wall Street and there is no way that American taxpayers should baliout cities in other states. Let Pennsylvania bailout Philly, Georgia bailout Atlanta and Arizona can take care of Phoenix. The cities belong to them so let them deal with it.
I am tired of people walking around with their hands out expecting the American taxpayer, by way of government, to hand over money to cure their economic woes. These problems were created by their inability to manage money and finances and their fiscal irresponsibility. These problems are a result of Socialism where those making money are taxed to pay for those who are not. These are the kinds of things that happen when people (and cities) are not held accountable for their failures.
The answer to these cities is NO. You can’t have any money so go figure out how to cut expenses and live within a budget just like the rest of us are supposed to do.
To the people of those cities, elect some true conservatives and let them get your city back on track. Liberals will promise you the world and that they will tax some rich bogey man to get the money. In the end, you end up without while the politicians live high on the hog.
If the people you elected are panhandling from the federal government (and by extension your fellow citizens in other states) then you have the wrong people leading you.
Article:
Breitbart
Tags: atlanta, begging, deficit, philadelphia, phoenix, tax and spend, taxes
What’s In Store For Your 401(k)?
Nov 6, 2008 Political
…Or as Congress would ask; What’s in your wallet?
Socials Security has been a disaster. The money that people put into it is pooled together and then redistributed. Regardless of how much one makes, there is a cap as to how much one can receive. One of the problems is, the money is not put into an account in your name. It is put in the general fund and Congress spends it. Then, every four years Congress cries about Socials Security going bankrupt. If a person dies then the money is not passed on to heirs. There are some benefits but basically the money goes to others who did not die. If a single person works for 40 years and dies before reaching retirement age then all his hard work pays for someone who outlived him.
The 401(k) retirement was set up so that people could save money for retirement. The money is theirs and they would be able to use it for retirement. Those who saved more would be able to retire a bit better off than those who did not save or saved very little. There is a tax benefit to contributing as the money is tax deferred and reduces taxable income.
This is not good for the Democrats because they are losing 80 billion dollars a year because of the tax break. There is now a plan to forcibly take your 401(k) money and put it in your Social Security “account” and then pay that out to you when you retire. This will allow the government to pool your money and redistribute it as it sees fit. If you were fortunate to put away a great deal of money you will retire with the same amount as someone who paid much less. The government will decide how you get to live your retirement years. Rush Limbaugh explained the plan, as it is right now. I heard the audio of the person he discusses and she said exactly what he reports.
She wants to basically eliminate the 401(k), and the way she wants to do it is she wants to go to people who have a 401(k), who have seen its asset value plummet because of the market plunge. So she wants to go back to August levels. Everybody that has a 401(k), we’ll take you back and we’ll give you money. We’ll restore the value. The government will. We’re just going to print some money here, and we’re going to restore your 401(k) to its August amount. Then we’re going to take it. We’re going to take your 401(k), and we will put it in your Social Security account that the government is monitoring for you, and we will invest every year 3% in government bonds. We’ll buy government bonds so that your 401(k) will grow at 3% every year adjusted for inflation. The most that you will be able to contribute to your 401(k) every year is 5% of what you earn.
Read the rest of the article and see how things will work. This is highly irregular and amounts to nothing more than theft. It is a socialistic policy designed to redistribute wealth and it should cause alarm for anyone who is saving for his future. The moochers out there probably can’t wait to get another piece of your earnings so they will like it but this is pure evil.
Keep a close eye on this. If they pass legislation to confiscate your money then I recommend you see a broker before they implement it so that you can close your account and put it somewhere where it will be protected from the thieves in DC. There is probably a penalty associated with early withdraw but I am willing to pay it to move my money to other investment vehicles so that I will have what I earned when I retire.
People should decide on their own investments and they should not have to worry about their government confiscating their money. This is what they do in Socialist countries and it keeps the masses in poverty while government elitists live like kings. Social Security should be abolished and people allowed to decide where their money is invested.
We get to decide how to save and how we want to retire. It is up to us to provide for ourselves and our families. It is our decision as to how much we want to have when we retire and our future should not depend on a government bean counter deciding how much we need to live.
I don’t know if Obama will buy off on this but given he is a Socialist and wants to spread the wealth, I have no doubt he will be more than happy to take your money and spread it around.
Our future should be based on our own sound decisions and not those of people who do not know what fiscal responsibility is. You know better what to do with your money than they do.
You can’t rob a bank to get money so why should they be allowed to rob you to improve their flow of cash?
Tags: 401k, confiscation, Congress, robbery, social security, taxes
The Rich Will Avoid Taxes
Nov 5, 2008 Political
It has already started. People know that taxes will go up under Obama and those who are very wealthy will figure out how to avoid them. Agents for sports figures are already working on a way to avoid the increase on upper wage earners by trying to get their clients’ bonuses before the end of the year.
The mega rich will always figure out how to avoid taxes. They are wealthy enough to do that. People who are well off but not wealthy will get screwed as will ALL taxpayers when Dear Leader allows the Bush tax cuts to expire. When they do, the people in the middle class are going to find out very quickly that the idea that Bush cut taxes for the rich is a LIE that Democrats, along with “we had a balanced budget and a surplus”, keep telling in order to appear blameless for the problems facing this country.
We will see how Obama and his Congress handles things but I have already decided how I will deal with some of them. I will no longer help those who need it. No contributions, no donations, no nothing. Let Obama help them. I have no empathy for anyone who gets screwed under an Obama administration. I don’t care if they become homeless, lose their jobs or pensions or can’t afford their bills. The only donations I plan on are the ones from my ads on this page. They go to the military and that will continue.
Speaking of the military, I predict that many people will now decide not to join the service and many more will leave it. Obama will not have the size military he needs to protect this country because most members of the military are conservative and they know he will not support them. I wonder how many of the liberals with their hands out will join the service to help out Barry O?
It will be a long 4 years for people not wealthy enough to figure out how to avoid taxes. I kind of hope that Obama and his Congress close the loopholes the rich use so that ALL the libs in Hollywood who supported him will pay much more in taxes. These sports players, many of whom are black and openly supported Obama, should have to pony up a lot of their income in the Obama tax plan.
As for me, I will continue to work because not everyone can be on welfare and guns and ammo are not cheap.
Who Will Pay Taxes Under Obama’s Plan?
Nov 3, 2008 Political
Who Knows?
Barack Obama’s definition of rich is a moving target. He started at $250k moved to $200k, and then Joe Biden lowered that to $150k and Bill Richardson adjusted downward to $120k. The idea of who is middle class and who is rich keeps moving in a downward spiral and when all is said and done everyone will be saddled with higher taxes.
Notice at the end he is discussing the middle class in an interview from a few years ago. He says those making 40 or 50 thousand should get a tax break.
Once again, Obama’s numbers are moving targets and if he gets into office he will have a majority in Congress to decide upon any number he wants and there will be nothing short of a revolution that can be done about it.
Bill Clinton made the same promises and when he got in office he RAISED taxes on everyone.
Don’t say you were not warned.
I am the Big Dog and I approve this blog post.
Tags: changing positions, middle class, moving target, Obama, taxes