"Battle lines drawn over alcohol taxes; Package stores predict loss of business to N.H." by Michael Levenson, Globe Staff | January 30, 2009
CHELMSFORD - Customers like Celeste Crowley are worrying package store owners. She is a regular at Harrington's Wine and Liquors, but if Governor Deval Patrick's proposal to help shore up the state's bleeding finances with a 5 percent alcohol tax is approved, she says she will simply drive a few more miles to tax-free New Hampshire.
Yup, it's gonna COST YA to DRINK THOSE TROUBLES AWAY -- unless you want to drive to New Hampshire (I can and will, except I don't drink)!!!
"I already go there for cigarettes," she said. A man browsing the aisles at Harrington's yesterday gave a similar answer. "I like to support my local businesses," said George Laurendeau, a construction contractor who was pushing a cart he had just loaded with beer. "But times are tight, so any time you can save a couple of bucks, you do."
I do it because I want this shit state to PAY for its looting!
Please see: Governor Guts State Services
It's in towns like this where battle cries against the governor's proposal are loudest, for what is shaping up to be an ugly fight on Beacon Hill. Arguments against the tax are being prepared across the state, with package store owners saying they are already pushed to the edge by economic problems and tax increases on tobacco. But in towns within driving distance of the New Hampshire border, the argument is most vehement.
Store owners say the proposed tax, 50 cents on a $10 bottle of wine, will not bring the state the hoped-for $90 million in revenue but simply drive away customers and put stores out of business.
But the Democrats that run this state know NOTHING ELSE HERE!
Lobbyists for the Massachusetts Package Store Association, which represents some 700 package stores statewide, are pointing out that they were originally exempted from the state's 5 percent sales tax so they could compete with stores in New Hampshire, where wholesalers are not charged state excise taxes as they are in Massachusetts.
Not anymore. Can't they get the $$$ from Hollywood or biotech giveaways?
The association is planning to flex its considerable muscle with a letter-writing campaign from small mom-and-pop liquor stores.
Yeah, right! They ain't Jewish are they? Then how much muscle can they have with our under-the-thumb legislators?
"Obviously it's going to have an impact; that has been proven in the past with increased taxes on tobacco," said Frank Anzalotti, executive director of the Package Store Association. "There's only so much a small business person can bear until it gets to the point where it's not worth running a business anymore."
NOT in MASSACHUSETTS it ain't!
The Patrick administration says the alcohol tax, one of a series of fees and taxes being proposed to balance the state's budget, would be used exclusively to fund alcohol treatment and prevention programs. Massachusetts, the administration says, ranks in the top 10 percent of states with the highest rates of underage drinking and adult binge drinking.
Translation: All that GOVERNMENT MONEY MORALIZING at you?
WASTED!!!!
And WTF is WRONG with "LIBERAL" Massachusetts, huh?
"The state's $96 million financial aid budget.... ranks among the country's least generous"
Yeah, well, WE KNOW where it is all going!
Cindy Roy, an administration spokeswoman, called that tax a matter of "prudent fiscal policy" and "prudent public policy."
Why the George H.W. Bush terminology?
Senator Marian Walsh, a West Roxbury Democrat who supports the governor's plan, said 43 other states - including Maine, Rhode Island, Connecticut and New York - tax alcohol sales at package stores. She said many in Massachusetts, accustomed to paying sales tax on alcohol served in restaurants, are not even aware that their purchases at package stores are exempt.
So SLAP a TAX on 'em -- they'll NEVER EVEN KNOW IT!!!
That's how 'TOO-PID the ELITE, SHITSTINK POLITICIAN thinks you are!
We will see if she feels that way after the tar-and-feathering!
"So the way many of us see it, it's really not fair tax policy," she said....
And what is NOT FAIR TAX POLICY is RAISING TAXES while giving BILLIONS to BIOTECHS and MILLIONS to HOLLYWOOD, etc, etc, etc!!!!
**************
Already, about one in 10 customers at New Hampshire state liquor stores are Massachusetts residents, according to the New Hampshire Liquor Commission, and some New Hampshire officials could barely contain their glee at the prospect of capturing more cross-border business.
I DON'T BLAME them a BIT!!!
"Governor Patrick should just go for it," said New Hampshire state Representative Fran Wendelboe, a Republican who sits on the Finance Committee. "The higher he wants to raise them, the better," Wendelboe said. "He could raise the cigarette taxes, too, while he's at it, maybe the gasoline tax, as well, so we'll give your citizens a lot of good reasons to come to our beautiful state to visit."
Maybe I should MOVE THERE!!!!
I guess the STATE isn't worried about CARBON FOOTPRINTS or the ENVIRONMENT, either, huh?
Yeah, ANOTHER FRAUD EXPOSED!!!!
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O.K., you ready for something sweet, readers?
"In sweet shops, a sour response to candy tax" by John C. Drake, Globe Staff | January 30, 2009
Governor Deval Patrick's plan to tax candy and sodas is worrying store operators, who say it will further reduce sales at a time of economic decline, when even children have become price-sensitive and are cutting back.
Should kids be eating candy and drinking sodas?
"Kids are going to stop drinking sodas," said Pinto Patel, a clerk at the Brighton convenience store Palace Spa. "Their parents don't give them a lot of money." Because of a recent increase in candy prices, he said, children are already "looking for the cheap stuff."
They sound like a bunch of winos -- only with a sugar substitute. That's how they have indoctrinated and inculcated your kids, folks.
And its been happening a long time. I'm an old fart and I have a sweet tooth because they spiked my baby food back in the '60s. It was a BIG SCANDAL back in the 1970s.
As part of a package of emergency cuts and tax hikes to shore up the state's ballooning budget deficit, Patrick on Wednesday proposed eliminating the sales tax exemption on candy and sweetened beverages, including sodas. If the Legislature adopts the measure, a 5 percent tax would be added to candy and soda purchases.
Two customers who stopped at a Brighton
His friend 10-year-old Anthony Germano said taxing soda was acceptable, because he doesn't drink it. "But not candy," he said, clutching a package of Sour Patch Kids he had just purchased. He paid $1.78 for two packs, which would have cost $1.87 if subject to the tax.
I feel bad for today's kids. This society they are going to inherit sucks.
Think I could have a Sour Patch Kid, too, kiddo?
Patrick says a portion of the revenue from the increases will go to a new Commonwealth Wellness Fund, which would pay for public health programs intended to cut down on substance abuse and childhood obesity, among other health concerns. The administration pointed to research showing steady increases in the consumption of candy and soda since the mid-1980s.
"Evidence-supported data has shown that each of these products serve more as a detriment than a benefit on the health and well-being of an individual," the Patrick administration wrote in support of the budget proposal. "Removing the tax exemption for the purchase of sweetened soda and candy is a critical first step in discouraging the consumption of these empty calories."
Wait a minute, something is not right here.
They want to TAX the stuff to RAISE REVENUE by DISCOURAGING ITS USE and LIMITING the AMOUNT of REVENUE RAISED?
It's like the GLOBAL WARMING, PUBLIC TRANSIT THING!!
How does it feel to be fucked coming and going, taxpayers?
But in a recession, even minuscule increases in costs to buyers can affect their behavior, a representative of store operators said yesterday.
"This is not the economy to be raising taxes on consumers," said Chris Flynn, president of the Massachusetts Food Association, which represents grocery store operators. "People's budgets are stretched to the maximum right now. They're buying down and only buying strict essentials. The last thing they need is another hit on them."
Here's an insight: THERE ISN'T ONE!
The measure also could complicate business for operators of vending machines, who would have to collect sales taxes. The Vending Machine Association, which represents suppliers, did not respond to requests for comment. The New England Convenience Store Association also did not comment yesterday.
Yeah, I was WONDERING about that! But as with so many things, the STATE AUTHORITIES RARELY THINK THINGS THROUGH!
Judd Braverman, manager of Hidden Sweets in Cambridge's Harvard Square, said his products are just what's needed for getting through a recession. Adding a tax could dampen the joy of biting into that sweet diversion, he contends.
Not me; I'm not going to buy candy anymore -- or if I do, I'll go to New Hampshire.
"Candy is somewhat recession-proof," said Braverman, who estimated that candy sales are down about 15 percent this year.
Apparently not.
"This downturn we're definitely feeling it, but people are still grabbing that candy bar. It almost helps them get through the rough times. I guess this adds insult to injury."
That's what GOVERNMENTS DO!!!!
And even though you are done with the drink, readers, the state ain't done with you!
"Bottle law proposal gets mixed reaction; Patrick sees $58m raised, foes disagree" by David Abel, Globe Staff | January 30, 2009
Every day, Guy Edwards pushes a battered cart through the streets around Northeastern University, collecting hundreds of beer bottles, soda cans, and whatever else he can redeem for a nickel. In a typical day of Dumpster diving, he said, he collects about $40 or $50.
And the Globe seems to have NO PROBLEM with this? All that TAXPAYER MONEY being shoveled out of state to corporations and Israel, and the Globe sounds as if they are CELEBRATING this guy's "job."
They are more disgusting than diving into a dumpster, readers!
Now, after Governor Deval Patrick this week proposed expanding the state's bottle law, Edwards, from Roxbury, hopes to double his daily income.
"This could be huge," said Edwards, 36, who like other collectors has left behind countless discarded bottles of water and other noncarbonated beverages. "It would be great not to have to leave all those other bottles. . . . And it would mean a lot more change for me. It would also keep the streets cleaner."
Oh, he's a "collector," is he? Around here, people are not so nice.
As part of Patrick's effort to raise money for the fiscal 2010 budget, the governor has proposed expanding the state's 28-year-old bottle law - the 5-cent deposit fee for carbonated sodas, beer, and malt beverages - to include bottled water, juices, and sports drinks, which now account for about one-third of beverages sold in Massachusetts.
Translation: It's a TAX HIKE!!!!
Patrick estimates the state would raise about $58 million by allowing the redemption of an additional 1.5 billion containers a year, or about $20 million more than the state earns from the current law. He expects the additional money because only about 65 percent of all bottles sold in the state are redeemed.
Robert Keough, a spokesman for the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, said $10 million of the new revenue would go to reducing Massachusetts Water Resources Authority rates. The rest would be divided between the general fund and grants for municipalities to expand recycling programs.
Yeah, even though they drive that stuff to the landfill and dump it. They still have you seperating glass and cans, papers and cardboard though, stoo-pidos!
"This is nothing but expanding the existing programs that have been successful for years in reducing litter and other waste," Keough said. "It brings the bottle bill up to date."
But efforts on Beacon Hill to expand the state's bottle law are nothing new, and there are powerful interest groups vowing to block the governor's proposal. Similar bills proposed in recent years have not made it beyond the committee level.
Are they as powerful as the Jews?
And I'M FOR THEM no matter WHO THEY ARE!
"We're assembling our opposition," said Chris Flynn, president of the Massachusetts Food association, which represents the state's supermarket industry. Flynn and others who oppose expanding the bottle bill consider it a tax that raises the cost of beverages, promotes fraud by encouraging cross-border sales of bottles, and curbs efforts to expand other recycling programs. They argue the state would be better off encouraging curbside recycling, which now exists in fewer than half of the state's 351 communities.
"For this to be in a budget is disingenuous," Flynn said. "If the law was successful at promoting recycling, there would be no money going back to the unclaimed nickel fund."
But those supporting the governor argue that the existing law has been an unqualified success and that expanding to nearly identical bottles is only logical. They counter that litter has been vastly reduced since the 1980s and call it absurd to suggest that allowing people to redeem deposits on their bottles reduces other recycling efforts.
In theory, I'm for recycling; howeverm, when you take a closer look:
Recycling is Bad for the Environment
Hey, what's ONE MORE BAD DECISION made by STATE AUTHORITIES, huh?
Also see Your Convenient Computer Fart Monitor to see WHO is PUSHING this AGENDA!
"It's not often that one can find a revenue item that is good for the environment, especially in tough economic times," James McCaffrey, director of the Massachusetts Sierra Club, said in a prepared statement. "It is over 10 times more likely that a nondeposit container will end up littering, rather than being recycled."
I just wish it wasn't organized crime running the recycling rings.
If the bill is approved, Massachusetts would join Maine, California, Oregon, and Hawaii in requiring deposits on noncarbonated beverages. As Edwards unloaded more than 100 beer bottles yesterday at Fuentes Market in Roxbury, he looked forward to collecting the trashed Snapple, Gatorade, and Dasani.
"It's a good way to help poor people," he said.HOW?
By charging other people more so this poor soul can scrounge around garbage cans and dumpsters? If it is such a great thing, I expect to see the Globe's editors out there with him! I guess I'll also be seeing them at the shit pit!
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Related: It Truly is Taxachusetts!
