Schwarzenegger wants to tax golf, auto repairs

[XemaSab]

Golf course owners and some of their customers are teeing off on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. So are veterinarians, auto mechanics and amusement park operators.

The Republican governor is proposing to extend California sales taxes to cover some services - rounds of golf, auto repairs, veterinary care, amusement park and sporting event admissions, as well as appliance and furniture repairs. The moves are part of his strategy to erase a nearly $42 billion budget deficit over the next year-and-a-half.

The plan to extend the state sales tax is among several proposals under consideration by Schwarzenegger and lawmakers as they try to reach a midyear budget fix. But it already has generated furious opposition from businesses that would be affected and some of their customers.

"We're old and retired. We don't need any more taxes," said Fred Mayers, of Sacramento, as he played a round of golf recently at a public course in the state capital. "The only luxury we have is playing golf. They can't charge us any more."

http://www.sacbee.com/state_wire/story/1574505.html

[Lasher]

1. What else do you expect from a tax-and-spend liberal?

Hey, wait a minute...:silly:

[cherokeeprogressive]

2. Arnie is going with the flow. The trend is "tax ANYONE who has x amount of dollars".

Hmmm. Let me see... Golf? Rich fucking white guys! Hello?

Auto repairs? I could go either way on this one. Honestly. I was taught to fix things. From the time I was a kid with my first car. When something broke, I'd get a few bucks from my Dad on Friday, with the caveat that if the part was less than what he gave me, I'd give back the balance. Between his toolbox and my Grandfather's, there was every tool I needed to fix a 67 Mustang. After that I fixed airplanes in the Navy. I'm in the fix it yourself crowd. So, long story short, if you must have someone fix it for you, there should be a tax. A tax that somehow shields the mechanic from your affluence, or reluctance to fix it yourself.

Veterinary care is an easy tax because a large number of folks think that humans shouldn't keep animals as pets in the first place so your pet should be taxed as would any other luxury not available to the workaday masses. Lots of people couldn't afford pets even if they wanted them. And some, if they could afford pets, couldn't afford the space needed for an animal to exist comfortably. Tax 'em.

Amusement parks? Rich people on vacation! Hello?

Sporting events? Wellllll there are lots of reasons to tax sporting events. Take NASCAR for instance! Hello?

Furniture repairs SHOULD DEFINITELY NOT BE TAXED. Every night, I put stuff, whether it be a cocktail, newspaper, beer, meal or even a novel on a coffee table that comes from my Grandparent's house. It's the last piece of furniture that exists from those heady days when a child thinks life is wonderful, and that child was me. Bitchin' furniture it was, too, believe that.

Appliances should definitely be taxed. How many people here remember the pre-microwave oven days? Our first GE microwave boiled water, baked potatoes, and cooked bacon in a special holder. Other than that? Yeah... uh... um... okay. I coulda bought a cool home audio system for what my parents paid for it. Add to that a pair of Levi's for what they paid for an electric can opener, PLUS a pair of Van's tennis shoes. That last part can only be understood by people who grew up in So. Cal.

"American Consumerism" is the bane of the planet. I've read that a hundred, nay, a thousand times. So now we're faced with if not the end, then a decades long pause in "American Consumerism". And guess what? People are shitting their pants over it, all over the fucking world. What intelligence is there to be gained from that? "American Consumerism" drives the price of every commodity in our solar system. Think about it. Argue that I'm mistaken on that point.

What comes next? Believe it or not, the thing that will be the saving grace for the United States of America will be the sheer width and breadth of it's territory. I have the COOLEST picture of me standing next to a sign that says "Next Gas 100 Miles", taken 12/27. Our abundance of land is going to be what brings this country out of its doldrums.

I propose that every native born American citizen as of today's date be given a certain amount of land to be determined by the amount of land to be found within the contiguous states and Alaska that belongs to the government, minus game preserves, as well as national and state parks divided by the number of persons eligible.

Give this land to the people who live on it. THEN we can start working toward a socialistic way of living. EVERY person has to have the same stake in what can be considered the sum total of U.S. land. Give every person who stands on this soil a piece of it, and let him/her do what they want with it past that moment.

Whoa. Did I wander from the point of the OP or what?

[XemaSab]

3. I don't agree with your take on taxing veterinary services

We have three dogs. Usually the vet is about $600 a year for all three dogs.

But last week one of the dogs got seriously injured and had to have a $500 surgery.

Dogs are not expensive until they are VERY expensive, but I don't think pet ownership should be restricted to the upper class.

[cherokeeprogressive]

4. Oh no that wasn't my point. We have a four month old Golden Retriever

who sleeps at the foot of our bed every night. I got her from a friend who thought his family was ready for a dog. He lost his job as a cement truck driver three weeks ago. Bella is now the child Sandi and I, one in our late forties and one in our mid fifties, never got to have our own kids because we only met a few years ago. Bella's sixteen weeks old.

We are by no means upper class, and I, after having her in the house for three weeks can guarantee that we'd eat beans, rice, and potatoes to satisfy her needs.

I'd willingly pay a tax for her vet services, but only if the law taxing her days in my house included the caveat that those taxes would be spent on animals.

[cynatnite]

5. Give my asshole neighbor the land with the cactus...

where the temp is on average 100 degrees or higher and there is only about six inches of rain every year. In fact, give all the republicans the worst land that can't sustain plants for food or has no water. Make sure it's out in the middle of nowhere. We've got lots of land that has zero use for these reasons.

The last time I was at an amusement park...rich people were NOT the primary visitors. If you want to continue to depress the economy, drive manufacturing jobs further into the ground...then yes, taxing appliances is the way to do it. People won't buy them with all the extra tax.

Oh, and please...not auto repair. I know next to nothing about cars and I have a trusted mechanic. While he is a little expensive, his service is second to none. Since I go to school, have a son to take care of, an ill grandmother and all that...I just can't afford more taxes on having my car repaired. It's an older car that wouldn't be running were it not for the mechanic...especially since I can't afford a new one or even something newer than what I have.

What's wrong with taxing luxury items like fur coats, expensive jewelry, yachts, million dollar mansions and all that?

What about legalizing marijuana so that it can be regulated and taxed?

[PVnRT]

8. So, basically, the things YOU don't make use of should be taxed?

Lovely. You were trained to fix things? So was I. Good luck applying the knowledge you learned fixing your old '87 S-10 towards fixing your 2008 Civic. Hybrids? Even more complex. There's a reason there are schools now to train auto repair technicians.

Golf and amusement parks are the provinces of the rich? Have you been to an amusement park? The rich don't go to them; middle- and working-class families do. As for golf, I doubt the wealthy citizens are the ones out on the public city courses that cost $10 a round.

Why do single out NASCAR for sporting events? Do I even need to ask? I've been to one. The wealthy sit in the air-conditioned luxury boxes. Everyone else is out in the 100 degree heat in the stands. Taxing those luxury boxes is fine. Punishing people for getting entertainment after they've said up for a few months to afford the ticket in the first place is not.

As for vet services, would it be better to let those pets die?

Your argument, despite trying to throw some bones about "socialism," is nothing more than elitist, regressive-taxation garbage.

And, by the way, care to explain how giving away public property to private citizens is somehow "socialist"? How many people would be living in the middle of the Nevada desert? Or ANWR? Would it be OK if people assigned land in Montana started clear-cutting? Or drilling for oil?

[Kalyke]

10. Uh - the rest of the country had Vans - even here in the South.

Carry on... :)

[NeedleCast]

19. More Regressive Taxation Suggestions from "progressives"

eyeroll

[Joe the Liberal]

6. Wait I thought Republicans hated taxes.........

Hypocrisy Much?

[blindpig]

7. If golf courses were taxed to the amount it would take...

to mitigate their environmental destructiveness they might all go out of business.

The fertilizer, herbicide and pesticide load it takes to keep those things green and pretty, the tremendous amount water involved and the land taken from agriculture and natural habitat all conspire to make golf(or 'goof', if you will) a bad deal for society.


Besides, it's an bourgeoisie affectation.

[ProfessorGAC]

21. Yawn!

OK, Karl.
GAC

[Romulox]

9. Californians have a RIGHT to spend more than they take in. "They can't charge us any more". nt

[varelse]

11. Auto repairs? BAD

That's not a luxury - people can't afford to pay to repair their cars as it is. And who can afford to buy a new car or major appliance right now?

[Johonny]

12. more horrible tax ideas from a terrible governor

Why not just raise income tax, particularly on the wealthy? Nope instead a lot of sin tax and sales tax that hurt the middle class more than the wealthy.

[tabbycat31]

13. that's not the Republican way

taxing the rich is the cardinal sin of the GOP.

[Belial]

14. That and you won't get any money out of them..

Did you ever notice that the really rich that live in CA, have multiple homes in multiple states and have their primary address for tax purposes in another state?

I am sure this is true in other states as well..

[Still Sensible]

15. I know most people here don't think much of Arnold

but that California governor's job is nearly impossible. Between the anti-any-tax folks that rammed through unworkable models to the government-by-referendum that has crippled real progress, he's up against it.

Yes, he absolutely screwed up when he tried to cram those referenda down voters' throats--the position against the nursing profession among others. But, as an outsider looking in, it appears he has governed more like a moderate democrat than a real republican, much to the chagrin of the Orange county type thinkers.

[Squatch]

16. The government can't meet its fiscal obligations?

Tax the shit out of the people!

ugh.


How about this: make government CHEAPER.

[Blue Dog Dominion]

17. Add a personal property tax for works of Art

Hit those assholes who own a Picaso or 3 where it hurts.

[NeedleCast]

20. Yes! More taxes against art and education

Certainly a progressive idea!

[hunter]

18. How 'bout he support Federally funded high speed rail?

From San Diego to Vancouver, Los Angeles to Los Vegas, etc., etc...

How 'bout he support high speed internet for everyone, with free wireless in urban areas, including micro-cellular phone service?

The past is weighing us down. We owe too much debt on infrastructure that won't be viable in the 21st century as oil extraction rates decline, the oceans rise, and the climate becomes unstable.

It seems unfair to tax the services on Arnold's list because people who are not wealthy occasionally spend money on those services too. Why not simply raise income and property taxes on the wealthiest 10% of our population?

[Kajsa]

22. I can't reiterate this enough,

Get rid of the 2/3 majority requirement in our CA State Senate
and we will have a balanced budget ON TIME, every year!

The friggin, death-before-taxes- Repubs have us in
a stranglehold every year.
When was the last time we had a state budget agreement
in July?

I believe we had ONE a few years back, but that was one time
in how many years?