Posted on 06/12/2005 7:05:22 AM PDT by qam1
Congratulations, New Yorkers: You now have the distinction of officially being the highest-taxed group in the nation.
According to an annual publication of The Taxpayers Network, www.taxpayersnetwork.org in Cedarville, Wisc., New York — merely third in 2002 — has ascended to first place in 2004 in the category of state and local tax burden as percent of income.
On the average, New Yorkers pay 12.9 percent of their income to state and local taxes. In 2002, they paid 12.3 percent and were surpassed by Washington, D.C., and Maine.
Both Washington and Maine fell in the rankings, both because their respective percentages fell and because New York’s rose.
Why has New York reached the pinnacle?
Part of it must be the generous benefits New York state accords to Medicaid recipients. This state’s are said to be the most comprehensive of any, meaning that more maladies and conditions are covered than anyplace else.
New York is a great place to live if you need government assistance. If you’re among those helping to pay for it, though, it is the worst, and The Taxpayers Network has documented that it is so.
This hurts in two ways.
First, if you are a resident, you are keeping less of your pay than people in other states. This obviously is not a piece of information destined to promote peace of mind.
And second, if you are counting on business and industry migrating to your state to ease your tax burden, you are probably out of luck, since taxes are one factor such prospective migrants examine in trying to decide where to settle and they aren’t likely to choose a place where the government usurps so much of one’s income.
So economic-development specialists in New York state are swimming upstream. The northeastern corner of the state is particularly up against it, as it is isolated and subject to notorious weather.
The economic developers in this region deserve immense credit for accomplishing what they have. They have parlayed few advantages into impressive gains. Among those advantages are proximity to Canada and breathtaking scenery.
In trying to offset an extremely gloomy tax picture, they may not sound like much, but our advocates are apparently very clever.
We are now learning that, in addition to already high taxes, our property is increasing dramatically in value. While that sounds like a fortunate bit of news, it actually compounds our tax problems, since assessed value is a component of the tax formula.
In trying to find a way out of this paralyzing predicament, our trust must rest with our state representatives. It is up to them to find or invent ways to deliver services less expensively.
Other states are doing it, and they don’t seize 12.9 percent of constituents’ income. That is a dispiriting and indicting statistic.
We are in the middle of a tax revolt here in Erie and Niagara county.
Where is your farm? I live in Erie County and we started a tax revolt in December.
Tuesday they will be voting to raise our taxes again, sales tax up to 9.25.
There will be protesters at county hall.
I am running for Erie County legislature.
Time to take back our government!
Military Road, Herkimer.
NO!!!!! The only New Yorkers that should be allowed to emigrate to other states are republicans, libertarians, and constitutionalists (all eight of them)! If you start getting dems and the other assorted leftists, socialists, and communists, they will spread their love of taxes and welfare throughout the rest of the country. Please, we have to encourage leftists of all stripes to immigrate TO New York, where they can build a socialist utopia for themselves. After all, they're the ones who have elected Schumer and Clinton.
Mark
NO!!!!! The only New Yorkers that should be allowed to emigrate to other states are republicans, libertarians, and constitutionalists (all eight of them)! If you start getting dems and the other assorted leftists, socialists, and communists, they will spread their love of taxes and welfare throughout the rest of the country. Please, we have to encourage leftists of all stripes to immigrate TO New York, where they can build a socialist utopia for themselves. After all, they're the ones who have elected Schumer and Clinton.
Mark
When I lived in NY, it was explained to me that there were 3 types of state pistol permits. Ownership, typically for business or home owners, and this is the easiest (a relative term) to get. However, you are NOT allowed to remove the firearm from the location where it's registered. That includes taking it to the range. I have no idea how you're supposed to legally take it to a repair shop if it breaks. The second is a range permit, where you're allowed to take it to and from a firing range. This is more difficult to get. The hardest to get is a concealed carry permit.
Mark
Oops. Sorry for the double post.
Suffolk county on LI was too close to call in '04
(500,000 votes with an 1,100 vote edge to Kerry). Nassau county was 47.5% for Bush. Without the black cities/areas of Hempstead, Freeport, Westbury/New Cassel and Long Beach, Bush would have carried the county. Of course it would not have out-weighed the NYC & Buffalo votes but it is a clear indication that NY is not NYC....and that maybe all the NY bashers don't have an accurate picture.
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The facts: A carry permit marked "Range" cannot be denied any US citizen who is a resident of NYS outside NYC as long as that individual is not a convicted felon, a mental patient or has an order of protection issued against him. There are 24 hour ranges set up to make this permit a de facto concealed carry...you are always on your way there or home.
Um, no skippy, there's an electoral process remember and the good guys don't always win....recall the Clinton years?
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"there are two sources of pure evil in this country, New York and California. Sorry if you don't like it, but it is so true."
Ok skippy, now you just lost all credibility...but if such nonsense gives you pleasure then knock yourself out...oh, and have a nice life.
Absolutely 100% true. Lived most of my life in Upstate and I can tell you that NY sorely needs an electoral college system of its own.
I live in NY, am I pure evil? Surly you are exaggerating right? You must really hate NY. Have you been here before? I don't mean the city. Eastern LI or Upstate? Even though, I enjoy a visit to the city now and then.
I, along with many are not happy with Schumer and Hillary. Although, I can think of many senators that are beyond awful too and they are not just from NY/CA. It would be easy if it were just CA and NY. You were just being sarcastic, right?
Unfortunately, in NY, the bigger cities do have the majority of the vote. And Yes, Many of us do feel helpless because of it. Many are working on this. I will look for some information backing that up. I've had the pleasure of working with a group designated to fight the property taxes because our public schools on LI are 70% of our Property taxes. It's a serious problem. We do need better candidates to come in and beat the liberals/Rinos.
Unfortunately, there are many places full of Liberals, Maryland, Vermont, Mass. just to name a few. You would love Vermont/sarcasm :) We have to keep up the good fight. America is in trouble because of these liberals. I don't need to tell you that though.
Well, when the population centers are heavily liberal or leftist, then that's the way that the state goes. And it's not just presidential elections. For example, the state of MO (where I live) has been sending relatively conservative senators to Washington, in Ashcroft, Bond, and Talent. However, some of the representatives we've sent to Washington have been major league leftists, like my congressional district, where they've sent Wheat, McCarthy, and now Cleaver. The reason is simple. The way my district is set up, my vote is being over-ridden by those in the Kansas City, MO urban core. And that's where the population center is. If you look at a red/blue map of MO, you'll see that it's primarily red, with the exception of St Louis, Columbia, and KC (and one or two other counties). But most of those other counties are rural, with low populations
And when the population centers have more voters than the rest of the state, well, that's how you wind up with Clinton and Schumer representing NY.
Mark
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