I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving holiday! I didn't post because I thought everyone was too busy with family, friends, and food!!!!
No matter -- our esteemed Governor, Chris Gregoire, isproposing a "temporary" sales tax hike. This hit the news just before the holidays, which I find to be interesting timing, especially given as how the Obama Administration likes to make all their bad news announcements on a Friday night......
In any case, I suggest that everyone look at this CLOSELY, and contact your state representative.
My first issue is that sales taxes assume a given state of commerce, which in turn assumes that the economy is going in a given direction. If those (among other) assumptions fail to pan out, this particular attempt to close the spending gap fails.
And it’s important to note that very few organizations have called this economy correctly, and most of THEM have offered bleak outlooks.
My second issue is that taxes as counterproductive; taking money away from people means they have less to spend, which means they’ll spend less (if they’re smart, that is). Which, in turn, means the sales tax will have a smaller commerce base to draw on, and the state won’t collect as much as they estimated.
Which makes the idea of a tax increase at this time a bad idea. Mike Hewitt says pretty much the same thing in the linked article.
Finally.....who ever heard of a “TEMPORARY” tax increase? That’s a rare animal indeed.
In any case, read the article, make your choice, and contact your representatives.
