Transforming Washington's Budget

Browse Ideas with tag 'taxes':

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  Economic Development »

  End special tax breaks; fund education, transportation, health care; cut sales/business tax!

  Repeal all of the tax breaks that cost taxpayers money. The WA Dept. of Revenue says 302 tax breaks collectively cost the state $15 billion dollars in 2007-2009! Put half of that money into education, transportation and health care -- and use the other half to lower sales tax and business taxes for everyone. Then make sure any new tax break has a 5-year sunset clause with strict performance requirements: no new jobs ...more »

  Repeal all of the tax breaks that cost taxpayers money. The WA Dept. of Revenue says 302 tax breaks collectively cost the state $15 billion dollars in 2007-2009!

  Put half of that money into education, transportation and health care -- and use the other half to lower sales tax and business taxes for everyone.

  Then make sure any new tax break has a 5-year sunset clause with strict performance requirements: no new jobs means no tax break.

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  1 comment for Idea: End special tax breaks; fund education, transportation, health care; cut sales/business tax!

  Submitted by Bill Alexander 2 years ago

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  Protect Health and Vulnerable People »

  Canadian Prescriptions available to all

  Prescriptions drugs are more expensive here than in Canada. Why is this? We are bordering Canada after all. I believe the state should allow shipments of Canadian prescription drugs to be shipped to Washingtonians. To help the state budget shortfall we could put an extra tax on Canadian drugs so that they are more in line with U.S. prices (but please, not as high as that would defeat the purpose). You would be helping ...more »

  Prescriptions drugs are more expensive here than in Canada. Why is this? We are bordering Canada after all.

  I believe the state should allow shipments of Canadian prescription drugs to be shipped to Washingtonians. To help the state budget shortfall we could put an extra tax on Canadian drugs so that they are more in line with U.S. prices (but please, not as high as that would defeat the purpose).

  You would be helping the state and it's citizens in this case. An alternative to this is perhaps allowing stores in Washington to carry those Canadian prescriptions with said tax.

  It's an idea. I'm not sure how crazy I would be about it as I'm not confident the state would pull it off without jacking up prices too much.

  ---edit---

  The FDA regulates prescription drugs made in the U.S. Under federal law so it is illegal for anyone except the drug manufacturer to import prescription drugs into the U.S.

  So I would propose that Washington state inquire about changing federal law before proceeding with this idea. Draft up a bill to send to the senate/house

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  4 comments for Idea: Canadian Prescriptions available to all

  Submitted by Guy B. Anonymous 2 years ago

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  Economic Development »

  Eliminate the Boeing Tax Cut

  The state passed a MASSIVE tax cut for Boeing in 2004 amounting to $2.3 BILLION dollars. That tax cut was in exchange for Boeing building the 787 (then called the 7E7) here in Washington. The expectation was that building the 787 here would mean an INCREASE in Boeing jobs for Washingtonians. But in reality Boeing ultimately decided to build the 787 in South Carolina instead! They are doing some bare-minimum work here ...more »

  The state passed a MASSIVE tax cut for Boeing in 2004 amounting to $2.3 BILLION dollars. That tax cut was in exchange for Boeing building the 787 (then called the 7E7) here in Washington. The expectation was that building the 787 here would mean an INCREASE in Boeing jobs for Washingtonians.

  But in reality Boeing ultimately decided to build the 787 in South Carolina instead! They are doing some bare-minimum work here so that they can say they are "building" the 787 here when it's a tiny fraction of the total work. And with negligible net job increase! (Incumbent state politicians who supported this tax are now rewriting history, calling it "saving jobs", instead of "creating jobs" as it was supposed to, because that failed miserably!)

  Boeing did not keep their end of the bargain, so they don't deserve to reap the benefit we laid out for them. Repeal 2003 HB 2294.

  http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/boeingaerospace/2004077616_787jobs17.html

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  8 comments for Idea: Eliminate the Boeing Tax Cut

  Submitted by Keith Tyler 2 years ago

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  51 votes

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  Effective Government »

  Don't tax small business to death!!!

  Get state government off the backs off small business. Various taxes have gone up between 30% and 200%. Enough already!!!

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  Submitted by Bob King 2 years ago

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  48 votes

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  Economic Development »

  Encourage more businesses to relocate to Washington

  Encourage more businesses to relocate to Washington by reduce state taxes and encouraging counties to reduce their taxes.

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  Submitted by John Turner 2 years ago

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  47 votes

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  Economic Development »

  Improve and Cost Reduce all Public Lighting Practices

  Use low wattage street light bulbs. Check out what they did with the Don Valley Parkway in Toronto. They used a different kind of light bulb that produced better light at a fraction of the cost. All public lighting should be reviewed. Every second or third lamp should be unscrewed until the deficit is brought under control. There are many many places where lights are on all night for no reason. At a minimum adjust the ...more »

  Use low wattage street light bulbs. Check out what they did with the Don Valley Parkway in Toronto. They used a different kind of light bulb that produced better light at a fraction of the cost. All public lighting should be reviewed. Every second or third lamp should be unscrewed until the deficit is brought under control. There are many many places where lights are on all night for no reason. At a minimum adjust the auto-turn off of lights a half hour early and turn them on a half hour later. How many millions would that save?

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  7 comments for Idea: Improve and Cost Reduce all Public Lighting Practices

  Submitted by ap1234 2 years ago

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  44 votes

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  Effective Government »

  Eliminate special hand-out deduction to banks

  Eliminate the so-called first mortgage B&O deduction for banks under RCW 82.04.4292 unless they can prove that they are passing the savings on to consumers and that mortgages are cheaper from the consumer's standpoint in WA as a result of the deduction. If no savings are realized by the consumer, then banks ought to pay tax on their revenue in this state like most other businesses.

  2 comments for Idea: Eliminate special hand-out deduction to banks

  Submitted by Matthew Bryan 2 years ago

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  Economic Development »

  State government should use in-state contractors

  Give preference to in-state providers when the state government is making purchases or contracting for services. This will keep more of our hard-earned tax dollars in our state to help our economy and generate more local tax revenues.

  4 comments for Idea: State government should use in-state contractors

  Submitted by Ray Ellis 2 years ago

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  Economic Development »

  Allow Low Income to Work Part Time Without Losing Status

  Allow people to work part-time without having any negative effect on their health care coverage status or living arrangements (for those not working who are in subsidized or tax credit living arrangements). For the ill, if they cannot handle part time work, then they can quit and not have their status jeopardized. For many people, if they work and make just a little more money (not much maybe) they lose far more than ...more »

  Allow people to work part-time without having any negative effect on their health care coverage status or living arrangements (for those not working who are in subsidized or tax credit living arrangements). For the ill, if they cannot handle part time work, then they can quit and not have their status jeopardized. For many people, if they work and make just a little more money (not much maybe) they lose far more than the lttle they can increase thyeir income by. This is a senseless poverty trapp and forces taxpayers to support a basically very stupid system

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  Submitted by ap1234 2 years ago

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  34 votes

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  Effective Government »

  Tax Vouchers/Charter Scools

  Put Competition in School System. Parents should have the Right to say which Schools get to have their Kids Tax Funding. Result would be Better Schools and Less Unions holding the States Education Hostage with Strikes. Current Attitude of Schools is "Yeah well, what are ya gonna do about it? Nothin cuz you have no choice".

  3 comments for Idea: Tax Vouchers/Charter Scools

  Submitted by Mike X 2 years ago

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  Economic Development »

  Illegal vehicle registration

  I live in Vancouver. I have noticed an increasing number of Vancouver, WA residents (& surrounding area) sporting Oregon license plates. Some of these individuals live in my apartment complex. One person that lived here actually had an Oregon drivers license with her WA address. Oregon says they do not issue licenses to WA residents but that is not true. There is not adequate policing of these processes in Oregon. ...more »

  I live in Vancouver. I have noticed an increasing number of Vancouver, WA residents (& surrounding area) sporting Oregon license plates. Some of these individuals live in my apartment complex. One person that lived here actually had an Oregon drivers license with her WA address. Oregon says they do not issue licenses to WA residents but that is not true. There is not adequate policing of these processes in Oregon. They should be stricter when issuing licenses. I suggest that the State of WA require managers at mortgage companies/banks and apartment complexes collect license plate numbers from residents and submit them to local authorities so they can notify these people to update their plates. There is thousands of dollars in lost revenue from unpaid sales tax for the purchase of these vehicles not to mention sales tax for every day purchases since all they have to do is show their Oregon Driver's License to be exempt from sales tax. A general notice can go out giving them a 45-day amnesty to get legal or pay taxes and penalties if they do not comply. Our license fees are low enough that there is no excuse for not complying.

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  1 comment for Idea: Illegal vehicle registration

  Submitted by Linda Bowman 2 years ago

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  31 votes

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  Public Safety »

  Uncalled for small boat safety inspections

  Boaters are being stopped for safety inspections on Port Gardner bay by up to four different agencies. Even after the inspectors acknowledge a current sticker is correctly displayed we hear comments that we need to inspect again anyway. We are paying for these inspectors to run around the bay stopping boaters when the rules state that just an annual inspection is required. Boaters have been stopped multiple times per ...more »

  Boaters are being stopped for safety inspections on Port Gardner bay by up to four different agencies. Even after the inspectors acknowledge a current sticker is correctly displayed we hear comments that we need to inspect again anyway. We are paying for these inspectors to run around the bay stopping boaters when the rules state that just an annual inspection is required. Boaters have been stopped multiple times per day, without consideration of previous inspections.

  A border crossing from Canada doesn't take as long as these safe boating inpections do!

  Tax money being wasted!

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  2 comments for Idea: Uncalled for small boat safety inspections

  Submitted by Rockne Johnson 2 years ago

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  30 votes

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  Economic Development »

  Create a budget

  Create a budget using the amount of money that the state received in the previous year. This way the state knows exactly how much funds it has and it bases the budget on this. If the state recieved less money than what it expected then the state should cut progams. All programs would get the same cut across the board.

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  Submitted by D H 2 years ago

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  25 votes

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  Economic Development »

  Revoke Native American Tax Free NonSense.

  Revoke the Native American Tax Exempt non-sense. the Natives have plenty of Money to Balance the Budget. and they Burn up our roads & resources just as bad as any other white folk.

  3 comments for Idea: Revoke Native American Tax Free NonSense.

  Submitted by Mike X 2 years ago

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  16 votes

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  Effective Government »

  Raise Taxes For the Wealthy!

  Raise Taxes For the Wealthy! The reason All the States and Governments are Broke is because The Stinky Rich have fought and bought there way to lower taxes and now their greed has left us with unpaved roads and a shamefull public school and healthcare system. Wake up working class. It's not welfare or the wages of union workers. This Class battle has been going Since the beginning of America. And the wealthiest are ...more »

  Raise Taxes For the Wealthy!

  The reason All the States and Governments are Broke is because The Stinky Rich have fought and bought there way to lower taxes and now their greed has left us with unpaved roads and a shamefull public school and healthcare system. Wake up working class. It's not welfare or the wages of union workers. This Class battle has been going Since the beginning of America. And the wealthiest are winning!

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  29 comments for Idea: Raise Taxes For the Wealthy!

  Submitted by Chris H 2 years ago

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  Effective Government »

  State Budget Waist

  You can stop state agencies from buying furniture, such as chairs. These state agencies spend millions on the products through Correctional Industries. They make many of these purchases to eliminate any left over budgeted money at the end of the budget cycle. This leaves them the same dollars on the next cycle. They also purchase throughout the year. The chairs they purchase can cost $700 or more. I can understand a ...more »

  You can stop state agencies from buying furniture, such as chairs. These state agencies spend millions on the products through Correctional Industries. They make many of these purchases to eliminate any left over budgeted money at the end of the budget cycle. This leaves them the same dollars on the next cycle. They also purchase throughout the year. The chairs they purchase can cost $700 or more. I can understand a orthopedic chair purchase if the doctor recommends it as a special purchase. 90% of Correctional Industries $20,000,000.00 annual revenue comes from state agencies. These state agencies are also taxed why? They are supported by the tax payer, Is this a way of moving state tax payer money around? These agencies are budgeted only so much money, they should use it, not spend on taxes.

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  1 comment for Idea: State Budget Waist

  Submitted by David Krewson 2 years ago

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  Effective Government »

  Reduce the size of the State Government

  Yes, cut the state of Washington Government by 50% removing unnecessary programs, useless bicycle paths. Remove taxes on candies, latest new fees and costs for business to collect taxes for different areas of the state.

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  Submitted by Allan Emigh 2 years ago

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  Economic Development »

  Implement a Tax Neutral Carbon Tax Shift – Replace Business, Sales and Property Taxes with a Carbon Tax

  This proposal would: -repealing the state portion of the property tax (about 1/4 of the total property tax) -replacing the lost revenue with a carbon tax starting at $30-$50 per ton of CO2 (equivalent to $0.30-$0.50 per gallon of gasoline) -dedicating leftover revenue to offsetting impacts on low-income households; reducing the B&O (business) tax; increasing funding for K-12 math/science education; and/or funding ...more »

  This proposal would:

  -repealing the state portion of the property tax (about 1/4 of the total property tax)

  -replacing the lost revenue with a carbon tax starting at $30-$50 per ton of CO2 (equivalent to $0.30-$0.50 per gallon of gasoline)

  -dedicating leftover revenue to offsetting impacts on low-income households; reducing the B&O (business) tax; increasing funding for K-12 math/science education; and/or funding clean energy research at state colleges and universities

  The state should tax things that we want less of, not more of. Also, the purpose of the tax shift would be to simply change the things that are being taxed, so that our tax system is more efficient. It would by no means increase total tax levels or increase the size of government as the taxes would dollar for dollar replace other taxes.

  For more information about the proposal go here: http://www.carbonwa.org/

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  3 comments for Idea: Implement a Tax Neutral Carbon Tax Shift – Replace Business, Sales and Property Taxes with a Carbon Tax

  Submitted by Bryan W 2 years ago

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  Effective Government »

  Get Rid of Expensive Senior Center Employees

  Get rid of expensive directors and employees of the many senior centers in Washington state. Senior Centers can largely run themselves. All of these senior centers can be run entirely by volunteers with perhaps a single supporting office with a skeleton staff to field complex issues.

  2 comments for Idea: Get Rid of Expensive Senior Center Employees

  Submitted by ap1234 2 years ago

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  Economic Development »

  Raise taxes on wealthy corporations

  It seems logical that if we are in a financial crisis we should raise taxes somewhere. What are the richest entities in the state? Who does all of this infrastructure built at taxpayer expense benefit? The answer is corporations. When they make huge profits, it rarely goes to the benefit of the majority of employees. The executives have the choice on what to do with the profits and they choose to reward themselves. ...more »

  It seems logical that if we are in a financial crisis we should raise taxes somewhere. What are the richest entities in the state? Who does all of this infrastructure built at taxpayer expense benefit?

  The answer is corporations.

  When they make huge profits, it rarely goes to the benefit of the majority of employees. The executives have the choice on what to do with the profits and they choose to reward themselves. I have seen that they use "the economy" as a scapegoat for freezing wages, then proceed to give themselves bonuses and stipends as they company has increased financial gains.

  It is incomprehensible that a state which contains large corporations--such as Boeing, Epoch Pharmaceuticals, Starbucks, Nordstrom, Alaska Air, Weyerhaeuser, Microsoft, Fluke, Interwest Bancorp, Puget Sound Energy, Sterling Financial, Cascade Financial, Columbia Banking System, Washington Federal, ProCyte, Mosaix, Cypress Bioscience, Pegasus Gold, Price/Costco, Safeco, and Visio to name a few--can be in a financial crisis.

  It is incomprehensible that a State which counts the second wealthiest person on the face of the Earth among it's citizens can be in a financial crisis.

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  3 comments for Idea: Raise taxes on wealthy corporations

  Submitted by Ron Covert 2 years ago

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  Protect Health and Vulnerable People »

  Make the sales tax more fair and stop punishing working families

  Begin an income tax on high wage earners, and refund sales taxes paid by the working poor or exempt low wage earners from sales taxes. Exempt the first $15,000 of income from any taxes if your total income for the year is less than $30,000. This would mean you would only pay taxes on upto half your earnings, to help low wage earners survive. Or, make sales taxes progressive. The higher the price, the higher the tax. ...more »

  Begin an income tax on high wage earners, and refund sales taxes paid by the working poor or exempt low wage earners from sales taxes. Exempt the first $15,000 of income from any taxes if your total income for the year is less than $30,000. This would mean you would only pay taxes on upto half your earnings, to help low wage earners survive.

  Or, make sales taxes progressive. The higher the price, the higher the tax.

  Washington has the most regressive tax structure in America, where low wage earners pay nearly 20% or more of their income on taxes and fees, whereas the wealthy pay as little as 3%.

  http://www.seattlepi.com/local/103213_taxstudy08.shtml

  The sales tax has a crippling effect on the working poor, and its time we addressed this basic issue of fairness. We must stop relying on sales taxes that hurt low and middle income families when they are raised. The state is already losing millions from people avoiding the sales taxes by making online purchases, its time to let it go.

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  3 comments for Idea: Make the sales tax more fair and stop punishing working families

  Submitted by Evan B 2 years ago

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  Economic Development »

  Create Second Tier Less Expensive Occupations

  Explore "second tier" concepts as a much lower cost alternative to extremely costly services and professions. Just as a security guard fulfills a valid function at 20% of the cost of a police officer, so can many functions be fulfilled similarly. Pharmacists can fill out Rx's under some circumstances, bookeepers often due a better job than CPA's, lower priced peace officers can handle noise complaints instead of sending ...more »

  Explore "second tier" concepts as a much lower cost alternative to extremely costly services and professions. Just as a security guard fulfills a valid function at 20% of the cost of a police officer, so can many functions be fulfilled similarly. Pharmacists can fill out Rx's under some circumstances, bookeepers often due a better job than CPA's, lower priced peace officers can handle noise complaints instead of sending the swat team; traffic specialists can direct traffic instead of highly paid police officers. I am sure there are many other very pricey functions that could be just as effectively fulfilled at a lower cost and be a jobs creator as well. Another example is the Physician Assistant. There can be MANY ASSISTANT type occupations a a second tier lower cost and sensible alternative to many activities.

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  1 comment for Idea: Create Second Tier Less Expensive Occupations

  Submitted by ap1234 2 years ago

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  Economic Development »

  Time off for good behavior

  The state I was born and raised in offered good time to prisoners on a day to day basis. They would knock 1 day off of a sentence for each day you stayed out of trouble. The time knocked off is still similar to a probationary period, however not only are inmates on good behavior, but that will help taxpayers by not having to house them as long. The "time off for good behavior" is also taken away if the inmate gets ...more »

  The state I was born and raised in offered good time to prisoners on a day to day basis. They would knock 1 day off of a sentence for each day you stayed out of trouble. The time knocked off is still similar to a probationary period, however not only are inmates on good behavior, but that will help taxpayers by not having to house them as long. The "time off for good behavior" is also taken away if the inmate gets out of line and if they violate the terms of thier release they do serve the rest of the sentence.

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  7 comments for Idea: Time off for good behavior

  Submitted by Hayley 2 years ago

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  Economic Development »

  Raise Taxes

  Raise Taxes. Especially on the rich. They've benefited the most from our society, they should pay the most. We're at historic lows for taxes in this country, so it's no wonder the country is falling apart - bridges, roads, buildings, schools, safety-nets. Raise the gas tax 5 cents a year over the next 5 years. Lower the sales tax 3% while enacting Initiative 1077 (though in my opinion, the rich aren't taxed enough ...more »

  Raise Taxes. Especially on the rich. They've benefited the most from our society, they should pay the most.

  We're at historic lows for taxes in this country, so it's no wonder the country is falling apart - bridges, roads, buildings, schools, safety-nets.

  Raise the gas tax 5 cents a year over the next 5 years. Lower the sales tax 3% while enacting Initiative 1077 (though in my opinion, the rich aren't taxed enough by even that proposal). Properties worth more than a million dollars should have an immediate 10% tax increase.

  And while were at it, the state should sue Goldman Sachs and the other firms that caused this mess in the first place.

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  Add your comment for Idea: Raise Taxes

  Submitted by Sean Osborn 2 years ago

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  Effective Government »

  Nobody's gonna like this

  Raise taxes. All you people complain too much about how little you pay in taxes. Buck up, its for the greater good. Remember, you are the government, if you dont like where its going, THEN VOTE! Start an organization! Do something other than ignorantly whine about how the government is poorly managing our tax dollars.

  4 comments for Idea: Nobody's gonna like this

  Submitted by Caleb Ruzicka 2 years ago

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