Nickel and Dime Time
I recently asked a friend’s father if he’d ever seen anything like our current economic crisis in his life, to which he replied, “Nothing that’s affected everyone across the board like this.”
So we’re all getting hammered now. The price of everything (except gas) is rising, jobs are drying up - it’s a real nightmare. But at least we’re all in the same boat, right?
Not exactly.
Did you happen to see Gov. David Paterson’s budget proposal for New York State? Yowza. In an apparent bid to close a $15.4 billion budget gap - and suddenly devoid of the ridiculous tax payments of Wall Street - Paterson has proposed dozens of new fees and taxes on everything from cab rides to movie admissions to iPod downloads. Ostensibly, the goal here was to avoid larger income-based tax hikes by taxing a bunch of smaller items and services, but was any consideration given to the psychological fallout of taxing what seems to be everything from soft drinks to cable TV to massages? Scarier still, what if Paterson and his people simply had no other choice than to tax everything?
As much as I’d like to say I’m glad I’m not a New York resident, I have a feeling that Gov. Paterson’s tax hikes are a sign of the times and could inspire similar hikes in other states in due time. Then, I suppose, we’ll all be in the same boat, bailing water.
New York State residents: We want to hear from you. Be sure to put your thoughts about Gov. David Paterson’s recent budget proposal in a comment form below.
So we’re all getting hammered now. The price of everything (except gas) is rising, jobs are drying up - it’s a real nightmare. But at least we’re all in the same boat, right?
Not exactly.
Did you happen to see Gov. David Paterson’s budget proposal for New York State? Yowza. In an apparent bid to close a $15.4 billion budget gap - and suddenly devoid of the ridiculous tax payments of Wall Street - Paterson has proposed dozens of new fees and taxes on everything from cab rides to movie admissions to iPod downloads. Ostensibly, the goal here was to avoid larger income-based tax hikes by taxing a bunch of smaller items and services, but was any consideration given to the psychological fallout of taxing what seems to be everything from soft drinks to cable TV to massages? Scarier still, what if Paterson and his people simply had no other choice than to tax everything?
As much as I’d like to say I’m glad I’m not a New York resident, I have a feeling that Gov. Paterson’s tax hikes are a sign of the times and could inspire similar hikes in other states in due time. Then, I suppose, we’ll all be in the same boat, bailing water.
New York State residents: We want to hear from you. Be sure to put your thoughts about Gov. David Paterson’s recent budget proposal in a comment form below.
