http://www.smallgovernmentact.org/ Seeing as we are four days away from April 15 I think this is a highly appropriate time to start this thread.
I know Massachussets has a reputation for being a high-tax state, but according to the Tax Foundation rankings you're not even in the top half of the country in terms of average state & local tax burden: http://www.taxfoundation.org/taxdata/show/335.html Minnesota is ranked 11th, yet our state legislature recently decided to override Governor Pawlenty's veto and increase the gas tax. Super. Maybe that will push us into the top 10. I don't really care at this point though, since I'm getting out of this state pretty soon anyway.
You have a better chance of getting the Red Sox banned from Massachusetts then getting this idea passed
It garnered 45% of the vote last time and our budget was $89,000. Plus they just raised taxes on businesses and smokes.
See, you failed because you had no money. Maybe you should make some kind of system where people give you money according to how much they make.
I just finished reading The Brothers Bulger. It's sickening how corrupt this state has been over the years. And they wonder why Massachusetts is losing population. I've been researching my own options to bail out.
Those taxes (and sales taxes, property taxes, etc. etc.) are going to go higher if you don't have an income tax. The money's going to come from somewhere.
The idea is that if the government takes in less money they'll spend less money. Thank God in Mass we have a balanced budget amendment. We'd be ********ed otherwise. This state is overrun by Democrats who have never seen a government program they don't like. The idea is to reduce the role of government in Massachusetts. I should mention rebelling against taxes is in our blood.
The sales tax would not reduce government in the same way income taxes do. The sales tax is next, don't you worry. The state legislature just raised the taxes on Tobacco. Last time I checked the Mass. Government is overrun by Democrats and they're supposedly for the "working class" and if you're in the "working class" you're more likely to smoke. So by raising taxes on tobacco isn't that hurting the "working class"?
LOL You should see what I was paying in my property taxes in my no-state-income-tax former residence.
This is a perfect libertarian measure. It's immature, ill-informed, thoughtless, and it benefits the rich and screws everyone else.
Its great and its in the spirit of America. This country was built on rebelling against taxes and oppressive government. In Massachusetts they passed a law for guilty liberals like yourself that enjoy paying taxes and giving their money to the government for the "greater good." The law stipulated that after the income tax "rollback" from 5.85% to 5.3% you could still pay at the higher rate if you wanted to. You just had to fill out the paper work and do the math. I think only a few hundred do it. I think they're all insane and have an extreme guilt complex. I guess by wanting to keep my money then I must hate the poor.
Let's see: MA falls in the lower half of states when it comes to local/state tax burden. MA has one of the highest income averages and standard of living in the nation. MA has a nice little progressive tax tax structure in which the well-off pay a little bit more to enjoy that standard of living. And MA chicken little Liberatarians think the sky is falling. Be assured, we're all laughing WITH you, not AT you.
I'm looking at what you're paying in property taxes in Massachusetts and you can bet your ass that I'd rather pay that and a state income tax than what I was paying in property taxes in Texas.
Progressive taxation is taxation without representation...or at least extremely skewed representation. The only perfectly representative form of income tax would be a flat rate. Not that I think progressive taxation is bad. The rich benefit from the government much more than the poor and I think taxation should represent that. It is just that I think because excessively progressive taxation is just a populist maneuver that is hardly politically risky, it can easily lead into oppressive and non-representative forms of taxation where 90% of tax revenues can come from 5% of the vote.
I still want to move to San Diego though. Although I had no idea how much higher housing prices were in Austin, its probably because they don't have to 'compete', for lack of a better term, with so many suburbs for cheaper housing.
Property taxes in Florida (no state income tax) are such that if you don't already own a home, they are a serious impediment to joining the ranks of home owners. Add homeowners insurance (a different discussion) and it can a huge chunk to a mortgage payment.