By Bob Parks ——Bio and Archives--December 17, 2008
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Gov. Paterson's proposed $121 billion budget hits New Yorkers in their iPods - and nickels-and-dimes them in lots of other places, too. Trying to close a $15.4 billion budget gap, Paterson called for 88 new fees and a host of other taxes, including an "iPod tax" that taxes the sale of downloaded music and other "digitally delivered entertainment services." "We're going to have to take some extreme measures," Paterson said Tuesday after unveiling the slash-and-burn budget.How about some cuts in wasteful or redundant programs, Governor? Paterson had to have seen this coming…?
The proposal, which needs legislative approval, did not include broad-based income tax increases, but relied on smaller ones to raise $4.1 billion from cash-strapped New Yorkers. Movie tickets, taxi rides, soda, beer, wine, cigars and massages would be taxed under Paterson's proposal. It also extends sales taxes to cable and satellite TV services and removes the tax exemption for clothes costing less than $110. "The governor is nickel-and-diming working class families," said Ron Deutsch, executive director of New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness, an advocacy group.It's unfortunate that 521 state workers will be losing their jobs, but when you consider that's out of a workforce of 263,000, we're talking a drop in the bucket, and you can't tell me that cutting the size and scope of government couldn't offset the "revenue" knee jerk nickel-and-diming would suck out of the taxpayers. Then again, you get the government you vote for so let the New Yorkers soak in the dumpster water they created. Maybe one day, they'll learn.
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Bob Parks is a is a member/writer of the National Advisory Council of Project 21. Bob’s websites are Black & Right and youtube.com/BlackAndRight