This is now the sales tax in Cook County Illinois, 10 %. The idiot county board president really thinks this will raise revenue. I for one , because I can, will avoid spending a DIME in this county. Only those in the inner city ( Chicago) who can least afford this ridiculous rate will have to pay. One of our towns within the county is considering seceding from the county. This rate is REDICULOUS.
That’s nothing compared to what we’ll pay if certain social programs go through as some people would like to see done. In some countries I’ve traveled to, they have GST and PST in place to support government and social programs. Some Canadian Provinces are paying 13%. The same stupidity prevails in Cleveland, Ohio’s Cuyahoga County. They have succeeded in driving out the revenue to the surrounding counties with rates below their 7.75%. Our once magnificent downtown shopping mall, the Gallaria, is now a shell of its former self, and people come downtown for events AFTER they have eaten in the suburban counties. With fewer dollars being spent in the city, retail businesses cannot survive, so they go under or move to adjoining tax-friendly counties. I live in Lake County right next to Cuyahoga, and our tax rate was actually lowered to 6.25%. Yes, we are thriving and continue to add businesses and residential housing units because of a lower tax rate. Big city politicians don’t seem to understand how this works.
As you said, those who can least afford it are paying the price of government greed for non-food items in the major cities in this country.
So FAR, anyway, there is NO sales tax in the state of Oregon. Of course, they get the working classes money through “State of Oregon Employment Taxes”.
However the “mentally deficient” local government girls and boys of the county I live in, (Clatsop), decided last year, to impose “their own gasoline tax” of .o3 @ gallon on any and all fuels sold within the county.
This was such a “brilliant move” that not ONE gas station, that sat within 10 miles of the county line, (adjoining a county over) is in business today.
Folks, living within 10 miles or so, of an adjoining county, simply drove a little bit further to fill up!
In LESS than one year, 27 Clatsop County service stations went under, due to this brilliant move to “bring more revenue into Clatsop County”.
Pure genius. Did any of your politicians graduate beyond the 8th grade? Why don’t they just setup a police barricade at the county line and have people empty their wallets before entering or leaving the county? Oops! Sorry, I didn’t mean to give them another idea to feather their nests. Just who are the voters who keep these thieves in office? Doesn’t say much for their constituency.
Sales tax is a source on irritation for me. I guess its because its simple enough for me to understand.
As I was walking into my polling place one election a poll worker approached asking me to vote for some sales tax increase. I said “no”. He said “you’ve gotten a raise haven’t you?”. I said “Every time there is a retail price increase sales tax revenue goes up”.
When I went into retail in 1962 the sales tax rate here was 2%. They did everything with that 2% they do with sales tax money. But its not enough, they need more.
The sales tax now is approaching 8%…that is a 400% increase in the rate from 1962 to present, not factoring in inflation. I don’t know what the inflation figure would be in the last 46 years but it has to be an astronomical increase in revenue generated by sales tax.
Federal, state and local governments never do with less as we do in these times of high inflation. Vote every one of them out of office. We should vote people in that are fiscally responsible…but I don’t think thats ever going to happen.
It’s not going to happen, because fiscally responsible people also have common sense, have real jobs, and are smart enough to avoid politics at all costs. I have watched two good friends change dramatically once they got into politics. We don’t speak today (their choice, not mine) because we disagree on too many issues that they support, and which keep them in office.
[QUOTE=Joe Valencic;240439]to support government and social programs.QUOTE]
Just wait to see how much more we will get if Hussein is elected!!
His pal Joe Ford here in Tennessee is doing time now for being “Mr. 15%”…basicall his “fee” for doing business with him for State services. What a crook this guy was…and is. Obama will do the same.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who sees what will happen if he gets in. As someone once said, “if you think a dirty diaper is a mess, just wait until he gets in office.”
I know it’s not politically correct to speak poorly of the nominee, but I have always had a problem with political correctness. I read recently that:
“Political Correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end.”
I think that was right here on FAOL not too long ago, or I received it by e-mail. Whatever, they hit it right on the head.
First let me say it is politically incorrect to be politically correct Period!
If you don’t like the sales tax look at your phone bill next time you get it. You have taxes on there from you city, county, state, federal government, 911, and 17 cousins and their 32 sisters. Here isn Idaho we are at 6% and I deal with it. It doesn’t matter who we elect in office we don’t have the money to have the politicians vote to save us money. Just my 2 cents
idiots.:evil: “hey the economy’s in a decline! what should we do?” “i know! lets raise taxes”.
some people you can’t knock sense into with anything less than baseball bat.
Here in Texas, the state sales tax is 7.75%. Most of the cities add an extra 1% to that. But, we don’t have a state income tax.
I remember going to New Mexico in the 70’s and paying 10%.
I figure it’s just part of the cost of living.
Of course, every August, just before school starts, we endure a “Tax Abatement” weekend, so all of the social security set can get their “Kicks” for less.
Kirk
This is why I buy a lot of my supplies from out-of-state On-Line Retailers.
When we go back to Grove City, Pa to visit the families and friends we see lots of Ohio plates at the Prime Outlets Mall in Pa. In this area we see a lot of Maryland plates. Got to Cabela’s in Hamburg, Pa and you see lots of New York and New Jersey plates. This is because Pennsylvania does not tax Necessity Items and unprepared food. Almost all of your clothes are considered necessity items. Brings a lot of revenue to our state. Our tax rate, when applicable, is 6%.
If “Fast” Eddie Rendell, our tax and spend Governor, and his flunky pals in the General Assembly have their way this too shall end. Mind you, we have a state income tax, property tax, right to live in your borough tax (domicile), occupation tax, state school tax, local school tax and local income tax in addition to the state sales tax and fuel tax. Residents of our big metropolitan areas pay more taxes in addition to all of these. Oh, I forgot the entertainment and hotel tax. Also if you die anything you leave behind gets an inheritance tax too.
I am against all forms of taxation of the commoner without the consent of the commoner. On the Federal level the founding fathers taxed only the wealthy, themselves, and declared it unconstitutional to tax the commoner or common man. How much more will we take before we do the same thing to this Government that we did to King George III?
We Here in BC had to struggle with 14% for a while which wasn’t a lot of fun. You couldn’t run to the next Province for relief in Alberta either. They had no sales tax , but the Government put them way over on the other side of the Rockies.
In the 1970s I lived 48 miles from the USA/BC border. I could drive there and get gas 20% cheaper and groceries at least that much. Some retail goods were almost 1/2 the cost of the same thing in Canada.
With our dollar at 49cents US plus a 14% sales tax you can imagine how much things cost us.
The solution in those days of course was to shop in Washington State with zero sales tax cheap gas and a much wider choice of products.
I could fill my tank in the US drive the round trip once a week or so and actually come out ahead.
Now however with our dollar hovering at par with yours and all North America being Walmartized with Chinese goods. We pay about what you do for things. Plus our PST and GST totalling 13%.
So when I saw your post about a measly 10% I had to smile.
The solution as I see it, is to quit buying 99% of every thing from China, and start making it here in North America again.
In the 70s and 80s Japanese cars began to take over and finally shocked America awake. They tooled up and began to produce better smaller cars in competition which finally turned the economy around. You can’t have a strong economy if you don’t make anything and you buy everything from someone else.
More good news for you folks unfortunate enough to live in the City of Brotherly Love, AKA Murder City, AKA Philadelphia…
Mayor Nutjob, (I think that’s his name ;)) is looking into charging city residents for trash pick up. Yep, you pay one of the highest wage taxes in the country, school tax, real estate tax, sales tax, per-drink tax, hotel tax, rental car tax and it still isn’t enough, they want you to pay EXTRA for your trash pick-up that you USED to get as part of your City Services!
No wonder the city is a bullet ridden rat-hole.
Ben Franklin is movin’ to Delaware!
Jerry,
Thank you. I look forward to seeing you in Lowell!
Z
Z, We’d love to come. $500-600 for fuel may cause me to rethink. We’ll see what happens.
Flybinder the little town I live in here in Oregon put that three cent gas tax on every station in town a year ago. They did it they said to raise money to fix the roads. To date not one road has been repaired with that money. The State says the tax can be put in at three cents a gallon without it going to a vote of the people. They wanted to tax us more here but knew if it went to a vote they wouldn’t get it.
ROCKY
Here in Ak we have no state sales taxes and only a few Borough (county equivalents) sales tax areas. We have no state income tax and actually receive a payment from the state every year from the monies derived from oil from the past 31 years. That payment will probably be in the 1.5k range this year, per person.
Our property taxes have, however gone up significantly… They are over $1,000 per 100k valuation I would say. So we are not complaining about that…
art
Eric -
I’m confused. What should I make of the following from the Constitution of the United States ?? Article One -
“Section 8. The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;…”
John