Report: PA’s tax burden 11th-highest in nation…
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5 Comments
No real surprises here. Just looking at the data, there is a interesting pattern.
From 1979-1986 our ranking stayed at 16th and scored as high as 13th and as low as 17th.
From 1987-1995 our ranking stayed at 17th and scored as high as 16th and as low as 26th.
From 1996-2003 our ranking went from 18th to 15th and scored as high as 15th and as low as 20th.
From 2004-2008 our ranking has gone from 13th (2004-2006), 12th (2007), and now 11th (2008).
Notice how under both a Republican and Democrat administrations from 1979 to 2003 (Thornburgh, Casey, Ridge/Schweiker) our ranking had a net improvement of one position from 16th to 15th with some flux in between. Contrast that with the current administration where we have fallen back 2 spots to 11th.
Also take into consideration that these rankings do not include any regional sales taxes (1% in Pitt and Phila), local income or local property taxes. If we were to take those into account, then PAs ranking would be much worse.
Now I see why I moved from PA to Nevada! I could afford housing, cars, and basic living cause I didn’t give a lot of my money to the government.
Apparently Harry Reid is too busy destroying the country to affect you guys in his home state too much…
The property taxes would definitely put us over the top.
And what are we getting for our tax dollars? Stadiums for rich sports teams; shipyards for shipping magnates; hotels and convention centers for rich corporate hotels and special interests. See a trend?
We are def not getting the best use out of tax dollars. How stadiums, hotels, covention centers, et al come before ROADS is beyond me. The solution for this is an easy one.
1) Continue phase out of Capital Stock Tax.
2) Reduce CNI to 3% over a 7 year period.
3) Reduce the PIt to 3% soon.
4) Reduce the sales tax to 3% and broaden the base.
5) Reduce many excise taxes (liquor, gas, cigarette)
6) Repeal the gross receipts tax on cell phone usage.
6) PAY OFF ALL STATE DEBT and NEVER BORROW EVER AGAIN.
7) Consolidate state departments, sell off underutalized assets, hire only essential workers to replace those retiring, and combine redundant state programs.
This is so simple I just thought of it in the last 15 minutes. However, enacting any of the above is a political mindfield. Pagging Pat Toomey…