Wednesday, November 4, 2009

California Stealin': Are You Ready To March On Taxramento With Me Yet?

Did you know that starting on November 1st, you began loaning even more money to the crooked politicians in Taxramento?

It is bad enough that they force withholding rates on us that result in an average refund of $900 per year for each Taxifornian, but now, they are taking 10% more on top of that from each and every one of us. Yes, taking. Do you recall being asked? I sure as hell don't.

While this should be the lead story every night on your local news, it seems that the Taxifornia media doesn't think this is a big deal. I think these crooks in Taxramento are hoping that the next time we get paid, we just don't notice the decrease in our take-home pay.

This is a classic example of why, we the people, need to rise up against the spendo-crats in our local communities, in our states, and in Taxington, D.C., and get them to stop spending our hard-earned money.

We are all being forced to live within our means, yet each and everyday, Taxramento and Taxington waste millions of our dollars, literally stealing our money, yet we do not hold these politicians accountable. Take a read of this Wall Street Journal article called "California Stealin'" and get ready for your blood to boil even further:

Desperation grabs for revenue are nothing new in politics, but California is once again leading the way in creative financing.

To help close yet another gaping budget deficit, now estimated to be $7 billion this year and reach as high as $20 billion next, Sacramento lawmakers have authorized a 10% increase in the amount of taxes withheld from worker paychecks starting November 1 and through 2010. The extra withholding tax will reduce Californians' take-home pay by about $1.7 billion for the year. But the lawmakers say this isn't a tax increase. OK, how about calling it a compulsory interest-free loan from taxpayers to the state?

According to the Franchise Tax Board, 10,004,000 Californians overpaid their state taxes last year and received an average refund of $903. The withholding penalty is expected to snatch between $20 and $90 a month from middle-class families. For those feeling the pinch of recession and living paycheck to paycheck, that penalty will hurt.

Of course, the government is obliged to return this money next spring when workers get their tax refunds, so this is the ultimate budget gimmick. It borrows from taxpayers now and deepens the budget hole next year. And we almost hate to ask: What happens come April if the state doesn't have enough money to pay the tax refunds it owes its citizens? Will taxpayers get IOUs the way state contractors did last year when Sacramento ran out of money?

Meanwhile, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and the legislature now face their sixth "extraordinary session" to balance the budget. Income tax rates went up last year by 0.25%, bringing the top rate to 10.55%, but receipts are already coming in $1 billion below projections, according to the state controller.

The politicians could use this continuing crisis as an opportunity to reform the state's tax code with lower rates and fewer deductions and loopholes, as recently proposed by the governor's tax reform commission. But that plan has been panned by the ruling classes in Sacramento. They claim to want to steal only from the rich, but their latest withholding ruse is showing that they'll steal from anyone with a paycheck.


So, through this recession, you have been working hard, keeping your head down, and getting results, doing everything that you can to keep the economy going while saving every penny possible, yet Taxramento waves their wand and now you are going to be bringing home somewhere between $20 - $90 less per month for the next 14 months.


As the article points out, do you all remember what happened last time the state owed you a refund? We almost didn't get it. So, while these taxititians in Taxramento say they are not actually stealing this money from us, they will not actually know if they are or not until we file our tax returns.

I'll be filing mine the day I get my W-2's so I can at least be at the top of the list of people that Taxramento owes money to. Oh, wait, I'm already on that list. We all have been...since the day we got our first job. We work and they get the money. On what planet is that fair? Apparently, ours.

That all being said, can you all please stop voting for this politicians who think they can spend their way out of a budget crisis?

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