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 Taxes – Here is the truth about taxes Do you like GREEN as in money? Do you want to keep more of it in your pocket and bank?
Did you know that some in the legislature and congress want to charge you more to live here in this country? That is called taxation. We are being taxed to death and every time we turn around – there is a reason stated why the taxes should go up again.
Here is the truth – my kids want more. My foster kids want more. Heck – when I was a kid – I wanted more – but you know what I was told? Be more responsible with what you have.
I tell my kids, “Hey – you got your allowance yesterday – why did you blow it all in one day?” This is what any good parent says to their kids. And I know you say this – most of us are good and balanced parents.
What do you tell your spouse when they need to buy the kids new back-to-school notebooks and supplies and shoes? “Ok – here is the budget – we can spend $XX on this category.” OK – so if the mate goes out and spends $XX just on shoes and says, “We found cool shoes and now have no money for school supplies! Ooops!”
What do you say? Do you say, “Hey wait, I will run to the garage and print more money?” or “No problem, I was joking – blow all you want!” or “Well, let’s charge it – who cares, it is just debt!” or, my favorite, “We still have checks left, there must be money!”
 No – I do not think you say any of those things – I think you are wise. I believe that most of us are smart and we know what it means to budget. We know how to tighten our belt. At one time or another – each of us have had to be careful.
Hubby and I have a date night every Friday night. Every week – no matter how many foster kids live in our home – we go out on Friday night. True, sometimes we haul some teen boys around with us – but we go out no matter what. (The boys really grumble!)
There are lean times – and when times are lean – the date might be McDonald’s and a few rented movies. Or it might be the walk-in movie and popcorn. We know how to budget just like the rest of you.
What I am talking about in all this – is not a spending issue. It is a thinking issue.
When we think that America has an unlimited purse – we spend, spend, spend. If we think America has exhausted its spending power, then we tighten the belt and become more resourceful.
Years ago – I worked for a 4 county Regional Planning District. We as an agency wrote Block Grant Applications to HUD for money for cities. Mostly the grants were for crumbling infrastructures like sewer and water delivery systems. Here is the thing – the Mayor’s all wanted the Block Grants – but often did not want to put up matching funds to get the grant. We covered 4 counties and maybe 30 cities – so 30 mayor’s wanted grants – but maybe 4 or 5 of them could figure out a way to leverage – to say – well – we can put a million into the sewer project from here and then we will do this and do that – and then farmer John will donate some land that can be annexed into this project that we will trade here and swap services there amounting to another million – and so forth – in the end – the only cities we could push to DC for Block Grants were the ones that co-invested in the project.
 What does this mean? Sounds like I am rambling here – and yes – I do that a lot – but the bottom line – we all have to be responsible citizens. We all have to watch out for the pockets of each of us – we cannot keep taxing and taxing.
We have to think of collaborative ways of coming up with much needed funds to fix the problems we face – crumbling roads, declining school quality – you name it – we need help.
Taxing citizens over and over is not a solution. We need to change our thinking.
Just like our teens and their allowance – we should not give them more money on Sunday after they blew their whole week allowance on Saturday. That is not a solution and you know it – I am preaching to the choir here.
Let’s work together – just like I did with those mayor’s and block grants – I want on your team – and I want to work with you to get it all – we have to be clever and collaborative and we have to have a team approach.
Solutions exist and together we can and will find them – I am all for bringing home the bacon – but I hope when I get back with the bacon – you already have eggs and toast. See – we can and must work together – I do not want to bring home the bacon and the eggs and the toast and the skillet and the soap to wash it all up!
You get my drift.
Now for some scarry facts- did you know??? Be sure to read the #1 entry – it is really BAD!
Here are the “Top 10” tax increases proposed in 2008:
10. The iTunes Tax
Assembly Bill 1956 (Calderon) would require state tax officials to begin imposing sales taxes on music, movies and software purchases made online, such as on iTunes. Democrats have also talked about taxing all items purchased on the Internet ($500 million tax increase).
9. The Plastic Bag Tax
Assembly Bill 2829 (Davis) would impose a new plastic bag tax, at a still-unspecified level, on the plastic bags used by grocery stores and other retailers to package purchases.
8. Making It Easier for Politicians to Raise Taxes
Senate Constitutional Amendment 18 (Torlakson) would make it easier for local politicians to raise taxes, by allowing educational finance districts to impose special taxes by a majority vote.
7. Increasing the Car Tax
Assembly Bill 2388 (Feuer) would raise the car tax based on the weight of the vehicle and the amount of carbon dioxide emissions it emits, to a still-unspecified level.
Assembly Bill 2522 (Arambula) would authorize San Joaquin Valley air quality officials to impose a new $30 car tax on local drivers, without a vote of the people.
Assembly Bill 2638 (Coto) would impose a new sales tax on the sale of cars in California that get less than 15 miles per gallon.
Senate Bill 1731 (Yee) would authorize San Francisco Bay Area transportation officials to impose a higher car tax on local drivers, without a vote of the people.
Democrats have also proposed restoring the higher car tax imposed by former Governor Gray Davis and repealed by Governor Schwarzenegger upon taking office, a $6 billion tax increase.
6. Increasing the Gas Tax
Assembly Bill 9xxx (Núñez) would impose a costly new “oil severance” tax on the cost of oil production in California. This will cause gas prices to soar to new heights in California as this new tax will be passed along to consumers in the form of higher prices at the pump.
Assembly Bill 2744 (Huffman) would authorize San Francisco Bay Area transportation officials to impose a new gas tax, of as much as 10 cents per gallon, to pay for new government spending.
Assembly Bill 2558 (Feuer) would authorize Los Angeles transportation officials to impose one of two different taxes, subject to a majority vote, to address climate change – an increased gas tax as high as 3 percent, or an increased car tax as high as $80.
5. Raising Income Taxes
Assembly Bill 2372 (Coto) would impose a new 1 percent tax on Californians earning more than $1 million per year, raising the state’s highest income tax rate to 11.3 percent.
Assembly Bill 2897 (Hancock) would impose a new 10 percent tax rate for individuals earning more than $136,115 every year ($272,230 for joint filers) and a new 11 percent tax rate for individuals earning more than $272,230 per year ($544,460 for joint filers).
4. Closing So-Called “Tax Loopholes”
Democrats and others have pushed closing “tax loopholes,” which is an effort to raise taxes on working Californians. These so-called loopholes include taking away the senior citizen tax credit (a $255 million tax increase) and reducing the child dependent tax credit ($2.4 billion) – which will hurt middle-class families.
3. New Health Taxes
Democrats have proposed the largest tax increase on businesses in state history, an $8 billion jobs tax, to pay for government-run health care. In addition, Assembly Bill 2967 (Fuentes) would impose a new .06 percent tax on the gross operating costs of every California hospital, to pay for new government health care programs.
2. Creating a New Tax on California Businesses
Speaker Núñez has talked about creating a new split-roll property tax on California businesses, which would be a $3 to $7 billion tax increase on businesses. This would lead to higher prices for consumers and the threat of job losses.
1. Taking Away the Home Mortgage Interest Deduction
Democrats have proposed eliminating the state home mortgage interest deduction, also known as the homeowner’s tax, which provides significant tax savings for working families and helps many Californians afford the expensive costs of home ownership. This would be a $5.3 billion tax hike. |
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