There should be a tax exemption for food

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Another state board gets together.

Amazes me that all of these poor fools line up to cry about keeping their tax exemptions, yet the voice of the poor are ignored;

On Tuesday, about 50 people attended a meeting of the state Legislature’s Sales Tax Review Committee, which has been directed to come up with exemptions to lift this coming session.

Here’s the deal, manage to lift the tax on unprepared food, and I will support your cause. Otherwise, not only do I think they should tax you, but they should tax you double.

Food tax to rise again? (Guest Post)

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This is a guest post by Cathy Brechtelsbauer from the local chapter of Bread for the World

July 30, 2011. There’s another article in the Argus today on a proposed ballot initiative to raise the sales tax and we still can’t tell if it includes the sales tax on food. The initiative’s wording is not yet announced, but it is a cause for worry that two or three articles on the topic have not mentioned exempting food from the increase.

Planners of the initiative represent education and healthcare organizations. They hope to raise $175 million for education and Medicaid. Funds are needed because of cuts from the last legislative session and governor.

A 1% sales tax increase may seem like simplest idea for an initiative, but South Dakota’s sales tax applies to food! In 2010 each per cent on food (home food, not prepared food) raised an estimated $14 million.

Background info: The “streamlining” sales tax rules allow for tax rates on food and utilities to be different from the general sales tax rate, even zero percent. Lately some states have taken advantage of this and have been stepping down their food tax, like Arkansas. None of our neighbor states tax food. North Dakota has been phasing out the tax on home heating bills.

At least food be exempted in this initiative. By exempting food the tax increase would inflict somewhat less hurt on those the initiative is trying to help. There’s something strange about raising sales tax to help nursing homes: South Dakota nursing homes (unlike hospitals) pay sales tax on all of their food and supplies. A sales tax increase would cost them dearly and also unduly hit their workers, who are not exactly rolling in dough. An exemption for food would reduce the initiative’s negative impact. Similarly for the South Dakota teachers with incomes low enough that they too struggle to cover the basics for their families.

The biggest concern might be the impact on nutrition: child nutrition, senior nutrition, diet-related diseases. The food tax in South Dakota is already equivalent to three weeks worth of food in a year. Teachers too often see the effects of child hunger on learning. Child hunger is probably worse in summers without school meals. Relatively few kids make it to the summer lunch sites. Healthcare workers see how hard it is for people to eat healthy.

Healthy food is not necessarily the cheapest. (The states with the highest obesity rates are among the nation’s few food taxing states.)

You can add to those issues the impact of the food tax on already strained local food charities; regressive taxation; wealth disparity; potential shrinking of the safety net looming from federal budget cutters and cappers. And with an almost useless state food tax refund program, you can see why some of us will be unwilling to support a ballot initiative that raises the food tax, even though we care deeply about education and healthcare.

Better ideas for a sales tax initiative: Even if the initiative would forego the food’s portion of the tax ($14 million in 2010), it could still raise a big sum. Better yet would be a reduction in the food tax, however slight. Either of these approaches would signal a recognition of the struggles of nursing homes and ordinary families trying to put food on the table so their kids’ tummies aren’t growling when the teacher is trying to teach.

Cathy Brechtelsbauer, Bread for the World, Sioux Falls

The most important office of government is citizen. -Justice Louis Brandeis

 

Do NOT SIGN THIS PETITION!

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Here we go again, the bleeding heart liberals want education funding while the Repugs don’t want to pay for it. Their compromise? A sales tax increase;

A group of advocates for health care providers and public schools is moving forward with plans to initiate a ballot measure that would permanently raise the state sales tax by 1 cent.

Motivated by deep cuts in state spending during the past legislative session, the coalition polled likely voters on their appetite for a sales tax increase to pay for state services.

This is misguided for a number of reasons, and I will give you the basics;

• The money exists to fund education already. Over $800 million sits in an investment fund specifically for rainy day situations, but the Repugs in the state would rather give massive tax cuts to corporations instead of spending that money on education. It is idiotic to raise taxes when we simply just need the legislature to authorize spending these funds.

• Sales taxes are regressive, they affect the working class and poor more then the rich. It is NEVER a good idea to raise sales taxes, especially to fund education (which is traditionally funded by property taxes).

• Let’s say the investment fund did not exist. Fine. Why not start a petition drive to have a state income tax on households making over $100,000 a year? Or taxing advertising, or even better yet, a corporate income tax? People say any of these things are job killers. Bullshit. Corporations set up shop in SD because they can get away with paying shit wages. It has nothing to do with taxes.

• Healthcare costs are over the top. There needs to be healthcare reform instead of continuing to feed this monster with more tax increases.

Instead of tax increases, a more prudent thing to do is to encourage legislators and the governor to tap into the investment fund. I would also suggest we do some house cleaning in Pierre.

DO NOT SIGN THIS PETITION!

 

“What do I want to see a century from now? No dams on the Missouri River. None.” Stephen Ambrose – Author of Undaunted Courage

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I was going to write a satirical piece about all the taxpayer dough that is spilling into Ft. Pierre and Dakota Dunes to save the McMansions, but I wish no ill-harm on anyone, even the arrogant and the rich, so I will take more of a serious approach to the irony.

First let’s look at the projected flood maps of Sioux City.

Most areas are in the 4 foot range. A map south of Jefferson SD down before you get to Dakota Dunes shows 2′ over I-29.  More as you approach the Big Sioux delta (see all the maps here).

Now let’s talk about the rich benefitting from democratic socialism (from a South DaCola foot soldier);

The GOvernor’s press conference yesterday mentioned that the 2 blackhawk helicopters bagging at Dakota Dunes were borrowed from Nebraska. All 6 of South Dakota’s were federalized and overseas. For the war(s). Daugaard was trying to borrow another one to have 3 flying.  He said the streets in Dakota Dunes were designed to slow traffic and stuff (gated?) so the sand trucks could not get in there and turn around to dump a sand berm.  Plus the storm sewers empty into the river so it will come up those first into the development if they are not plugged.

Those conferences are a CYA with some tea-party words to live by about taking care of your own property.

One of the state engineers said that the spillway at Pierre would not be opened for this event unless it was a catastrophic shit storm.  So I think some of the old infrastructure is not all that trustworthy.

This may also be part of the problem (SNARK)

But governor DooGard only thinks we need to use all of our FIBERS;

“We’re strong, self reliant and we’re going to fight this flood with every fiber of our being and were going to do everything we can to minimize it’s effects,” said Daugaard.

Isn’t it ironic that Doogard talks about ‘self reliance’ while the rich Republicans that piss and moan about taxes are benefitting from the social benefits of those taxes, such as the National Guard coming in to protect their homes from flooding? How does socialism feel now? According to Dakota Dunes website, shouldn’t they be exempt from receiving these benefits? Sounds like they pride themselves on self-reliance and not contributing to that icky socialism;

KEY ECONOMIC ADVANTAGES

· No personal state income tax
· No corporate state income tax
· No personal property tax
· No business inventory tax
· No inheritance tax
· No local sales tax

So who is getting stuck with the bill? We will. But as the above foot soldier points out;

If a state gave companies incentives to relocate to a corporate “city” with private security and no local government, who should get sued when the residents lose all the shit they own?

How can they sue the Feds when they don’t believe in what the Feds are doing? I mean, if you are anti-socialism, you can’t complain when a socialist entity like the National Guard fails to protect your homes. Right? Read more about Dakota Dunes and their backdoor buddy.

I merely posted this piece for discussion. Like I said above, I wish no harm on ANYONE, no matter who you are, rich or poor. I would love to put out a gigantic H/T to the foot soldier who provided me all of this info thru several emails. They will remain Anon. I would also like to say good luck to a National Guardsman I know who got called up to help with the efforts. They couldn’t have a finer person on the team.

Madison, SD’s government giving taxpayer dollars to private business (H/T – Madville)

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There is other ways to give incentive to a business to create jobs, but apparently in Madison, the only incentive is your tax dollars. This kind of shit goes on in Sioux Falls to;

I knew it! The dog ordinances on Monday’s Madison City Commission agenda are a ruse to distract us from the corporate welfare our commissioners plan to hand out. Madison is taking sales tax dollars away from homebuyers and other towns to subsidize one local business,Custom Touch Homes.

It’s quite the scam to;

Follow the money here, people: right now, if Custom Touch sells a $100,000 house to someone in Sioux Falls, Sioux Falls gets $2,000 and Custom Touch gets $100,000. If Madison’s city commissioners o.k. this sales tax rebate, then Sioux Falls gets bupkis. Madison gets $1,000. Custom Touch gets $101,000. Taxpayers outside of Madison subsidize a boost in pure profit for a Madison business. Clever!

I get so tired of these handouts in the name of creating jobs. But are they good jobs? They should be living wage, dependable jobs, but that is not always the case.