re: New state law requires all ticketed events to be taxed- including athletics

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First, sales taxes affect the poor more significantly than the rich.

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I would say this is debatable, but not as it pertains to this discussion.

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So, your "redistribution of wealth" theory doesn't make sense.

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This is pretty much accurate though. Anything that is a straight increase in rate across the board is just an increase to COL. Sure, some groups will be affected more than others, but the goal here is revenue generation. This is a change, but let's not compare it to the Federal Tax system, which has many hidden rules beyond tax rates that favor certain individuals.

People need to pick their battles. Any tax increase cannot blindly be deemed "wealth redistribution". In fact, I would argue that the elimination of tax exemptions, by any level of taxing authority, typically puts citizens on a more level playing field.

I say this all of the time; taxes are all about how you spend, not how much you make. Tax rates are simply the tip of the iceberg.

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Second, the state is in pretty dire financial straits. Either they could cut tax breaks to businesses, or they could raise taxes.

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And this is an ugly truth. Sometimes you are put in a situation that you have to forget about how you got there, but when you are in a bad situation, take unpopular steps to get out.

This addition to the tax code is a mess; I think that it was rushed and administration does not seem to have been considered. For something to be implemented and phased out on the state level within 2 years, just doesn't make sense to me. However, the state needs money, and this seems like a logical whole to increase the tax base.

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I don't think taxing the crap out of your citizens is the answer. Most of whom are also in a financial crisis.

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Cool, but that really doesn't have to do with what you originally responded with. It was just another childish statement that we consistently see these days.

What would you do to meet the immediate shortage that Louisiana is facing right now? It is easy to say something isn't the answer without proposing an alternative and viable solution

Also, what qualifies as "taxing the crap out of your citizens"?

Rabble rabble rabble. That's what keeps coming up. I've yet to hear this board propose alternatives that the governor can reasonably do to fix the immediate deficit the state is facing.

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Our state is so far behind over states in terms of overall tax policy

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Which states specifically would you point to? I'm assuming maybe FL and TX but who else?

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We desperately need to broaden the base and lower the rate across the board...sales, income, property etc.

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I'm seriously not trying to argue, I'm genuinely curious; I always considered LA to have a somewhat simple state tax policy, but I suppose that is when I compare them to more extreme states. How do you increase the base other than eliminating exemptions, specifically with income taxes. Are you referring to Corp tax primarily?

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Reduce entitlements programs maybe state could find money for road maintenance.

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OR

put those people's asses to work who just sit around collecting a check performing the road maintenance. Get some shite done.

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It's hard to follow an ideal that encourages people to not work and takes money from hard working Americans to enable them to do so.

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I think that this is a temporary financial issue, and should be looked at as such. I just don't see how this specific example justifies broadening the scope of the conversation as to what tax rev is actually spent on in the Long-Term. It is way more complicated than many of you are making it out to be, most of our "entitlements" come from Federal Revenue allocated specifically for those programs. In other words, a lot of those costs are already funded, it is the more local costs that we need to come up with.

If we stop calling eachother liberals/dems/commies because "higher taxes" come out of our mouth, or conservatives/right-wingers/fascists because we say "cut entitlements", maybe we wouldn't all feel so defensive and divided and could potentially even solve problems, rather than just forcing compromises for every single issue we face. In other words, either bother to educate yourself on the issue, or stay out of the conversation altogether.

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I wouldn't have thought that football programs that encourage young people that working hard pays dividends would have this many fans that support just the opposite.

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No doubt. College athletes make bank for working their asses off......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

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It's debatable, but one side of that debate is absolutely wrong. Sales tax is the most regressive tax there is. Rich people spend a much lower percentage of their money on goods and services than poor people who spend nearly every dollar they earn. Thus the poor pay 10% of every penny they earn while the rich pay 10% on a fraction of their pennies.

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Ok, let's keep this simple. You are a business owner, offering low cost food options, inclusive of tax; let's say your whole menu is under $1. The state raises sales tax by 2%. You know that your customers are your customers because of the low prices, and will notice the difference if your price reaches beyond $1. You decide to impute the added tax, which cuts directly into your bottom line.

Or, for this particular situation, lets say we have a wealthy person, who now devotes all of his time/energy and income into a non-profit benefiting local starving children. He hosts a fundraiser, offering $500 per head entrance fee, without knowledge of the tax, and sells out the tickets. After the event, he learns of the tax. He now can either ask for the taxes he should have earned from the donors, or impute the tax from the actual donations, and inform the donors that this amount is sales tax, and may not be deductible from taxes depending on if they deduct property taxes/itemize at all (deduct contribution via business). That added taxes may be imputed, and in this case, not going into the mouths of those starving children.

So you can see that, as it pertains to this discussion, it isn't beneficial to debate. But, to say sales tax affects one class far more than another, simply by pointing to end-user transactions is a bit foolish. I mean, those goods had to be purchased before they were purchased by the end-user, right?

ETA: I don't really see the point in comparing the richest people to the poorest people either. Most of the people in this country fall in the middle, and those are the ones that need to be focused on when discussing "absolutes".

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Citizens can never give enough money to the government. Zero budgeting would help but only when politicians want to control spending.
Reduce entitlements programs maybe state could find money for road maintenance.

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This was a tax exemption that is now temporarily being removed. That could be viewed as a handout/entitlement in itself.

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Looks like it may include concessions as well

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May have been mentioned but how in the hell are the kids that work in the concession stands going to do this math in their head? Twenty-five cent intervals are hard enough on them, just wait until they have to add 10%.