Would like to kick my local politicians in the butt

[ksech]

We recently had a tragedy in the area in which I live. Our local politicians have used this as a photo op. Our lame excuse for a newspaper has placed the person responsible for this tragic event on the front page for the last 4 days. Instead of focusing on the people and lives which were shattered by this event (they are lucky, they get media attention on pages 3 thru 5 "insert sarcasm"), the media has decided that it needs to reiterate over and over again the events of that day. 13 people died, 14 if you count the gunman. Why focus so much on him, and not the innocent lives of people who were trying to help others make a better life for themselves. It makes me sick. This state and it's politicians need a reality check. Our wonderful governor has put a near bankrupt state into bankrupcy. The politicians keep making up taxes to help pay for their pay increases and benefits. We have the sin tax, the entertainment tax, thank goodness they removed the obesity tax. We now have a tax on bottled water and our cigarettes have climbed to a whopping $6- $11 a pack, depending on which brand you smoke. The area in which I live, our gasoline runs .10 to .15 cents a gallon more than the national average.The next tax will be on the air we breath, when they can figure out how to do this.

Okay, done venting for now...

[vinylweatherman]

We recently had a tragedy in the area in which I live. Our local politicians have used this as a photo op. Our lame excuse for a newspaper has placed the person responsible for this tragic event on the front page for the last 4 days. Instead of focusing on the people and lives which were shattered by this event (they are lucky, they get media attention on pages 3 thru 5 "insert sarcasm"), the media has decided that it needs to reiterate over and over again the events of that day. 13 people died, 14 if you count the gunman. Why focus so much on him, and not the innocent lives of people who were trying to help others make a better life for themselves. It makes me sick. This state and it's politicians need a reality check. Our wonderful governor has put a near bankrupt state into bankrupcy. The politicians keep making up taxes to help pay for their pay increases and benefits. We have the sin tax, the entertainment tax, thank goodness they removed the obesity tax. We now have a tax on bottled water and our cigarettes have climbed to a whopping $6- $11 a pack, depending on which brand you smoke. The area in which I live, our gasoline runs .10 to .15 cents a gallon more than the national average.The next tax will be on the air we breath, when they can figure out how to do this.

Okay, done venting for now...

I would guess.....

California

Been on the telly here, not for tragedy, but for passing a law that allows the state to seize any assets that are thought to be "abandoned". The program reveals that far from being abandoned, these assets have owners who have the relevant documentation, such as certificates, but are not in regular communication, perhaps because there is no need.

Some examples are striking, they have claimed to be unable to trace or contact, for example, the likes of Britney Spears - showing they have made no real effort to do so, lest they be unable to seize the assets because someone inconveniently claimed them.

Those taxes look pretty creative. How do they assess and collect revenue on such things as Sin or entertainment, or even obesity for that matter.

They could borrow our Gordon, who as chancellor invented north of SIXTY brand new "stealth taxes", and at the same time told us we were paying LESS tax than before. Well, now we are REALLY paying less tax, but this is because of the global crisis. There are some commentators that say Britain could become bankrupt because of this crisis, mainly because the government squandered the revenue from the boom years, and has nothing to fall back on in hard times. There was also a devious trick to place much public spending "off the balance sheet", which has been outlawed now by international accounting rules for governments. When the UK releases the state of public finances in a year or two, these hidden liabilities will have to appear "on the books".

Back to your media, well, the moral here is MONEY. They print what SELLS, which is the gory detail, and the analysis of why it happened. The victims are just a number of dead people, whose lives are not deemed anything like as newsworthy as the one life that was pushed over the edge.
Such things have happened here in the UK, and again the focus has often been on the lone gunman and the gory detail, suitably sanitised for the early evening news, and only a brief outline of the victims' stories. At least with our stricter gun laws, these events are fewer than in the states, and seem to have been comitted by those who have had an unusually free access to guns.

[ksech]

The sad part is, any life lost to acts of violence is upsetting. All life is important in someway. It may be miniscule in size, but a life lost affects a brother, a sister, a mother, a father,a son/daughter, a friend, a spouse, a community.... the list goes on. BUT, the community as a whole has been brought together once again to offer support and to help pay funeral expenses to the families who lost a loved one, despite the media dredging this up day after day.

I realize there is no "utopia" out there, every place has its problems. BUT wouldn't it be nice, it works in theory, if those in positions of power actually stepped back and looked to see what they have accomplished for the whole. Asking themselves if what they have done was necessary, if it helped those who elected them, or if they are egotisical, power-hungry, money grubbing tyrrants who crave more and more forgetting about the little people who put them there. They can keep coming up with new taxes, but when the state becomes a ghosttown, who is going to be left to support these people? The politicians wonder why our college graduates leave the state...hmmm...could it be because they have imposed such heavy taxes that businesses are making a mass exodus from the state? Higher taxes will mean more home foreclosures and more unemployed. We are a welfare state, and welfare recipients are the only ones who are gaining here.

The Sin tax revolves around alcohol and tobacco products. The entertainment tax...you are taxed to park for the event and you're taxed on each ticket purchased. The obesity tax (which was not passed) was a tax on carbonated beverages which weren't considered diet and on juices with under 10% real fruit juice. The healthcare tax is a tax on those individuals who carry health insurance which is not a state provided insurance, i.e. mediaid, child health plus. The energy tax revolves around taxing how much electricity you use. A percentage will be added to your monthly bill depending on how much a household uses.

The person who committed this heineous act sprayed 98 rounds from 2 handguns in under a minute. None of those people stood a chance. I am not against people owning guns, I have a few myself,BUT I think stricter policies should be made when people buy them.

~~~stepping down from the soap box now~~~~

[vinylweatherman]

The sad part is, any life lost to acts of violence is upsetting. All life is important in someway. It may be miniscule in size, but a life lost affects a brother, a sister, a mother, a father,a son/daughter, a friend, a spouse, a community.... the list goes on. BUT, the community as a whole has been brought together once again to offer support and to help pay funeral expenses to the families who lost a loved one, despite the media dredging this up day after day.

I realize there is no "utopia" out there, every place has its problems. BUT wouldn't it be nice, it works in theory, if those in positions of power actually stepped back and looked to see what they have accomplished for the whole. Asking themselves if what they have done was necessary, if it helped those who elected them, or if they are egotisical, power-hungry, money grubbing tyrrants who crave more and more forgetting about the little people who put them there. They can keep coming up with new taxes, but when the state becomes a ghosttown, who is going to be left to support these people? The politicians wonder why our college graduates leave the state...hmmm...could it be because they have imposed such heavy taxes that businesses are making a mass exodus from the state? Higher taxes will mean more home foreclosures and more unemployed. We are a welfare state, and welfare recipients are the only ones who are gaining here.

The Sin tax revolves around alcohol and tobacco products. The entertainment tax...you are taxed to park for the event and you're taxed on each ticket purchased. The obesity tax (which was not passed) was a tax on carbonated beverages which weren't considered diet and on juices with under 10% real fruit juice. The healthcare tax is a tax on those individuals who carry health insurance which is not a state provided insurance, i.e. mediaid, child health plus. The energy tax revolves around taxing how much electricity you use. A percentage will be added to your monthly bill depending on how much a household uses.

The person who committed this heineous act sprayed 98 rounds from 2 handguns in under a minute. None of those people stood a chance. I am not against people owning guns, I have a few myself,BUT I think stricter policies should be made when people buy them.

~~~stepping down from the soap box now~~~~

Our Gordon passed ALL those taxes, and more, just gave them different names. Our laws PROHIBIT the private citizen from owning many types of gun other than those types that have a use in, say, farming, such as for pest control. This was first sparked by a similar event in Hungerford, known as the "Hungerford massacre", where someone took their guns out and marched up the main road shooting at random people. This prompted tight restrictions on handguns, and they were later banned altogether after another similar incident. Sadly, these restrictions do NOT restrict the flow of handguns into the hands of the criminal gangs, and gun crime in general seems to be rising, with more criminals prepared to use them than before. In this sense, simply banning guns does not work UNLESS the ban can be policed effectively.
The problem with these types of event seems to be where a person who has access to handguns suffers a temporary loss of sanity, perhaps due to some life pressure or mental instability, and can easily access their guns whilst in such a disturbed state. Usually, these people shoot themselves at the end, perhaps an indication that they realise what they have done, and cannot live with it.

Whenever there is such a tragedy, you will get politicians getting on their soapboxes, trying to boost their own popularity with "I would have......" or "If I am elected...." speeches. This happened here, with ill thought through knee-jerk responses to these events, which later had to be amended because they were either unenforceable, or stopped legitimate events, such as it turned out they had inadvertently banned our olympic shooting squad from ever practicing again because the discipline included pistols, which had been blanket banned even from ranges and shooting clubs in "knee jerk reaction" style.

[Marcie Mac]

I never made a big fuss on paying taxes but here in LaLa land where we are on the verge of bankruptcy, they have put up the following as a way to make money:

Having a 20% Veteranian Tax
Having a 10% Golf Tax
Legalizing Prostitution
Legalizing Pot

Our previous govenor trippled the car registrations, but the current gov, one of the reasons he got elected was the dang registrations - He immediately reversed what the previous gov did, and is now deciding its ok to double them

Sales Tax has been increased to almost 10%, Cigarettes have been sorely taxed, gas as well, they want to tax the SUV and Van group (am assuming this would mean the gov's Hummer as well) Just go right ahead and piss the Soccer Moms off, along with those of use who would love to have a small compact non gas guzzling vehicle, but due to having disabled family member in the house, wheelchairs and various and assundry equipment I gotta lug about with me, its just not possible. 5,000 teachers will be gone in a week or so, the school year has been shortened, mental health services have been hacked away with a machete. I wasn't even sure if I would ever see my State Income Tax return - for a while they were giving out IOU's.

There is a special election comming up shortly where they have to ask the votors for approval to raise money/taxes. The only one that looks like it will pass overwhelmingly is that government officials DO NOT get a pay raise if the state is running in a deficit.

My take is that when you start cutting government employees (including Senators and Reps) pay (including your own) and tell the union's to go get bent, and STOP with supporting illegial aliens via welfare, medi-cal, school programs, then come and talk to me about paying more taxes

I loved to read newspapers, listen to the news - I don't do that anymore - too much bad stuff - I can't deal with it all

Marcie

[vinylweatherman]

I never made a big fuss on paying taxes but here in LaLa land where we are on the verge of bankruptcy, they have put up the following as a way to make money:

Having a 20% Veteranian Tax
Having a 10% Golf Tax
Legalizing Prostitution
Legalizing Pot

Our previous govenor trippled the car registrations, but the current gov, one of the reasons he got elected was the dang registrations - He immediately reversed what the previous gov did, and is now deciding its ok to double them

Sales Tax has been increased to almost 10%, Cigarettes have been sorely taxed, gas as well, they want to tax the SUV and Van group (am assuming this would mean the gov's Hummer as well) Just go right ahead and piss the Soccer Moms off, along with those of use who would love to have a small compact non gas guzzling vehicle, but due to having disabled family member in the house, wheelchairs and various and assundry equipment I gotta lug about with me, its just not possible. 5,000 teachers will be gone in a week or so, the school year has been shortened, mental health services have been hacked away with a machete. I wasn't even sure if I would ever see my State Income Tax return - for a while they were giving out IOU's.

There is a special election comming up shortly where they have to ask the votors for approval to raise money/taxes. The only one that looks like it will pass overwhelmingly is that government officials DO NOT get a pay raise if the state is running in a deficit.

My take is that when you start cutting government employees (including Senators and Reps) pay (including your own) and tell the union's to go get bent, and STOP with supporting illegial aliens via welfare, medi-cal, school programs, then come and talk to me about paying more taxes

I loved to read newspapers, listen to the news - I don't do that anymore - too much bad stuff - I can't deal with it all

Marcie

A sudden 20% Vetenarian tax would surely mean an increase in animal cruelty where animals do not get treated and have to suffer.

Golf is a luxury, but one of THEIRS, so can't see that getting far

Legalising Pot will lead to a sharp INCREASE in population surely, but at least they would rake it in. This could complicate matters, with your polititians being arrested for "supply" under federal laws, as well as receiving the wrath of neighbouring states by making Pot easily available over the border.

Legalising prostitution will only work if they tax it, but it might drive down prices with more women working. Legalised, the women will also have full access to whatever healthcare is available, and can be back in the regulated economy. Organised crime will be pretty pissed off though, with the loss of TWO of their most profitable operations, so polititians had better start wearing body armour.

When we get rid of Gordon, how about YOU have him. He will invent a HUNDRED new state taxes, and you won't even notice. Many will even think taxes are LOWER through reading the reports.

Our local authorities have less scope for raising taxes than your states, but they often seem to resort to over zealous enforcement of petty regulations that are usually punished by fines. These are almost exclusively motoring offences, but also some "public order" offences.

A sneakier approach would be to tax MANY things, but not at 20%, or even 10%, but 1% or less, so that the increase in price is not noticed, or even passed on in some cases.

[RobWin]

A sudden 20% Vetenarian tax would surely mean an increase in animal cruelty where animals do not get treated and have to suffer.

Golf is a luxury, but one of THEIRS, so can't see that getting far

Legalising Pot will lead to a sharp INCREASE in population surely, but at least they would rake it in. This could complicate matters, with your polititians being arrested for "supply" under federal laws, as well as receiving the wrath of neighbouring states by making Pot easily available over the border.

Legalising prostitution will only work if they tax it, but it might drive down prices with more women working. Legalised, the women will also have full access to whatever healthcare is available, and can be back in the regulated economy. Organised crime will be pretty pissed off though, with the loss of TWO of their most profitable operations, so polititians had better start wearing body armour.

When we get rid of Gordon, how about YOU have him. He will invent a HUNDRED new state taxes, and you won't even notice. Many will even think taxes are LOWER through reading the reports.

Our local authorities have less scope for raising taxes than your states, but they often seem to resort to over zealous enforcement of petty regulations that are usually punished by fines. These are almost exclusively motoring offences, but also some "public order" offences.

A sneakier approach would be to tax MANY things, but not at 20%, or even 10%, but 1% or less, so that the increase in price is not noticed, or even passed on in some cases.

LOL, what in the world gives you that idea Vinyl...

[Marcie Mac]

Vinyl, here in LA LA land, we passed the law a while ago for Medical Marijuana - really, all you need is a bad hangnail and you can get a Certificate which allows you to smoke it.

I was curious and had to go ask one of my boys if he pays taxes when he goes to the smoke shop LOL - and he just said no, it wasn't taxed that he knew of, but they may do since it is about 2.00 more in the shop than it is on the street. I really don't see how you can tax pot - as long as you have the Certificate, its legal to grow your own. In the 60's, there was a lot of discussion about the government owning acres and acres of farm land, just waiting for someone to come up with the idea of a way to tax it. But then it may have been just a lot of stoned people discussing this because here it is, almost 40 years later

The whole thing with the taxes is so absurd - I just want to scream "Here's a novel idea - stop spending the money on stupid stuff..."

Marcie

[vinylweatherman]

LOL, what in the world gives you that idea Vinyl...

Well, assuming it remains illegal everywhere else

Dealers from other states would probably register as living there so as to give the appearance of buying Pot for personal use, but would buy lots of it, in small amounts from many different vendors, and take it over to another state, and make a profit selling it on at "illegal" street prices.

Pot enters the UK from Amsterdam pretty easily, since even though it is SUPPOSED to be consumed on the premises where it is bought, it is easy to take it out, and bring it over on the ferry. Customs KNOW this, but simply cannot search EVERYONE!!!!!