This is just awful. Not only are states getting more than ever from Uncle Sam they are still hiking taxes. Arthur Laffer spoke to Neil Cavuto about the situation earlier today. This is unsustainable. What a disgrace.
Laffer (a former advisor to Ronald Reagan) also makes an excellent point about Ronald Reagan: you can’t obsess about Reagan the person, but espousing his policies will always be a good idea. Reaganomics worked, we should never get over that.
Two of the worst offenders, New York and Massachussetts, have governors who are on shaky political ground thanks to big spending and soaring taxes.
Deval Patrick has helped his state live up to its sobriquet Taxachusetts. Its citizens are moving to New Hampshire – a state with no income tax. Those who are not moving there are driving there to buy goods to escape sky-high sales taxes (especially on liquor). Patrick has explored the possibility of random stops of vehicles coming into Massachusetts to discover whether residents are escaping sales and use taxes by buying liquor over the border.
Is it any wonder that Congressman Bill Delahunt of Massachusetts (a Democrat) is leading the effort in Congress to tax internet sales? Amazon has been one of the few retailers to prosper over the last year, due to the fact that purchasers do not pay sales tax on their purchases from out of state vendors though most states do require purchasers to pay these taxes. It must be the most widely flouted law in America).
His popularity is plummeting. President Obama may rescue Patrick from ignominy by putting him on the Supreme Court.
A similar course has been visible in New York. Governor David Paterson came into office as a result of Eliot Spitzer’s resignation, He was popular. The operative word: was. His popularity also has plummeted as he has caved into the demands of unions; refused to cut the budget; imposed a series of anti-business rules that is driving business away from the state; and erected a tax regime that has made living in New York a financial burden as it never has before. Moreover, New York now enjoys the distinction of being the least “free” of our states – a fact that is true in more ways than one.
I live in New York. If not for the high sales tax, gas tax, property taxes, income tax and all the other taxes Albany can think up, it’s a really nice place to live. I only wish my fellow New Yorkers would stop voting for people who are taxing us to death.
I just have to wonder, why does the rest of the nation want to turn into New York when it comes to taxing and spending? For now, at least I have the option of moving to a state with more economic freedom. Soon I may no longer have that option.
Recent Comments