Beer-Loving, Porn-Watching, iPod-Listening Yacht Owners: California Wants to Tax You

Watch out beer-loving, porn-watching, iPod-listenin', yacht owners! The big meanie State of California is out to tax you:

As state leaders hunt for politically palatable solutions to the swelling budget shortfall, some Democrats are proposing unorthodox ways to generate cash.

Strip clubs, six-packs, grocery bags and iTunes downloads are all in their sights as alternatives to broad income or sales tax hikes. So are gas guzzlers and yachts -- and a tax loophole for criminals. [...]

Calderon said he was moved to push for levies on downloads such as iTunes because state sales tax laws do not reflect the high volume of purchasing that Californians do online. Consumers can download music from the Internet through Apple's iTunes and other services tax-free, Calderon noted, while they pay sales tax for buying the same music on a compact disc at a store.

His proposal would empower state authorities to collect sales tax on the downloads, increasing the cost of a typical 99-cent song to roughly $1.07. Calderon projects that the bill (AB 1956), which could also apply to pornography downloads, cellphone ring-tones, online books and feature films distributed on the Internet, would raise about $500 million for the state budget.

The idea stalled in committee this month in the face of fierce industry opposition. But like the other proposals, it could be revived at any time, most likely when legislative leaders hammer out a budget agreement this summer.

Calderon said the resistance to his bill did not surprise him. But he is perplexed that he hasn't been able to get more traction for another proposal: a 25% tax on sex toys, strip shows, pornographic magazines and videos and anything else sold in an "adult entertainment venue."

Assemblyman Charles Calderon's bill, needless to say, are unpopular:

"Some people are e-mailing, threatening to come and slug me," said Assemblyman Jim Beall (D-San Jose), who hopes to see a $1.80 tax added to the price of every six-pack of beer sold in the state. "We're getting some pretty nasty comments."

But at least, it's bringing some people together:

A coalition of porn stars, strippers and others in adult entertainment roamed the halls of the Capitol recently to lobby against the Calderon bill (AB 2914).

Evan Halper of the Los Angeles Times has the story: Link


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Taxing tobacco would infringe on people's choice to kill themselves slowly and make themselves a burden on an already overtaxed health care system in the state of California.

One thing they will never change in California is allowing people to put themselves in a position to be a giant tax burden to those of us that actually work for a living.

And for those about to bitch, I'm a smoker and I work in healthcare. Yes, it's a bit of a paradox, but I choose to kill myself slowly in order to become a burden on taxpayers...

Fuck Schwarzenegger. He fucked us slowly with his steroid shrunken heuvos.
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