Government has stayed away from the "big" taxes for a while now. Instead, it's the ever-popular "sin" taxes (alcohol, tobacco, gambling.....of course, the latter is downplayed now that government is a major player with all the lotteries), and the less obvious one that creeps in from every direction.
I call it "being nibbled to death by ducks." Examine your phone bill, power bill, the breakdown of your property taxes. A lot of things called "fees" are really taxes. More and more things have a built-in "creep," as localities that refuse to vote to raise their taxes are now subject to "indexes" and "multipliers" or some mumbo-jumbo that the state uses to disguise the fact that they have removed local choice.
"Taxation without representation," upon which this country was founded, is now becoming more and more routine. In our area, the disease begun Iowa is now spreading, as sales taxes are being increased in cities with large retail centers to raise money for the schools, thus imposing double taxes on anyone who shops there but lives outside the county where the taxes are imposed, thus paying taxes in two school districts for the privilege of shopping, dining, etc. in such a municipality.
The entitlements mentioned in an earlier post are a monster that is usually portrayed only in terms of Social Security or Medicare, but it is also devouring many public and private retirement systems built on unsound actuarial assumptions fifty or more years ago.
And to top it all off, we have a political class, whether they be called Republicrats or Democritans, who -no matter what they say- are committed only to the continuation of their own careers, and not at all to the "change" on which the current occupant of the White House built his campaign.
My advice? Sit back, have a beer, and fasten your seat belt. It's going to be a fun ride.
A bit off topic but I am surprised we haven't yet had a "Trash Tax" yet. You know, the more trash you put out the more you pay. My guess is they have yet to figure out a way to do it yet. It would encourage people to recycle or try to make better use of it. I of course am against it but it just seems like a prime target for them.
