States look to booze for shots to economy

States look to booze for shots to economy

www.wric.com

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Utah is the only state that requires people to fill out an application and pay a fee before entering a bar.

But the shelf life of this law appears to be dwindling.

In Utah, and across the country, lawmakers faced with budget deficits are advocating loosening laws that restrict alcohol consumption in the hopes of boosting tax revenues.

In Georgia, Connecticut, Indiana, Texas, Alabama and Minnesota, lawmakers are considering legislation that would end the ban on Sunday liquor sales. All but 15 states sell booze on Sundays.

In Nebraska, a state lawmaker has proposed allowing beer to be consumed in state parks as a way to boost tourism.

But drinkers shouldn't break out the bubbly just yet: Two dozen states, including Virginia, are looking to help their budgets by raising alcohol taxes.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Interesting, loosening laws to get people to drink more so they can raise more revenue.

Another sign of the times??

States need everyone to drink more!

Be a true patriot, get drunk and save your state from a budget shortfall today!

Whats next, lowering the legal drinking age? Legalizing illicit drugs so they can tax them as well?

You never know what lengths the states may go to if this economy continues to worsen, though it shall be interesting to watch.

www.wric.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

[edit on 15-2-2009 by Walkswithfish]

It's crappy times, and if you look over the course of human history, people like to drown their sorrows. I know Nevada has thought about lowering their drinking age to 19 for some time, I think now would be a great time to do so. Hopefully this leads to a liqour store on my side of town staying open past 10pm on a Friday or Saturday.

Apart from the blatant picking on yet another "sin" group for taxes (with the smokers being the other group), Utah is ridiculous when it comes to drinking. I have to go out there for work a lot, and if you want to go out, you basically have to pay a fee and fill out an application with your family and medical history to get a beer.

As for Georgia (where I live), we've been trying to over-turn the no-Sunday sales law for years.

Could it be a coincidence that they are seeking more revenue from the taxes on alcohol sales during an economic crisis?

People will drink more when depressed, so maybe they are banking on a great depression.

I think they should also consider a $1 tax per roll on toilet-paper, man just think of the money they could raise from that!

reply to post by Walkswithfish


It is sin tax. They know that cigarettes and alcohol are the only things that can be taxed to the hilt and beyond without the majority of people getting up in arms about it.

reply to post by Walkswithfish


There are vary good arguments for lowering the age of drinking and legalizing a few illegal drugs. The arguments are even better if you have knowledge on the benefits of some of these drugs and how they became illegal in the first place. You can paint an ugly picture but those for or against have pretty much picked their sides.

Proven fact: You cannot keep alcohol or drugs from getting to people. I would even be willing to argue that the longer certain drugs are illegal the more likely they are to get to those that you love.

This is so typical ...... come here, no go away, no come here ....... damn make up your mind already. they are just TAX AND SPEND, everyone wants the government involved in stuff so they tell us no drinking on Sunday (some states) until they need the money then its come on in! we may even lower the drinking age or hell you can drink and drive again we don't care we will tax you and its going to be OK.

All fun in Love and Taxes till someone needs more money!!!! just think of something else to tax them on.

MAKES ME SICK!

If they want to make money off booze they should raise fines for drunk driving. Make the criminals pay not the law-abiding drinker.

Lots of DUIs are rich white people. Hit them with a fine equaling 1/10 of last years taxable income. Make mel gibson pay like $2 million.

The government is raping us! So what harbor should be filled with beer and tea bags? They won't stop people, they will just tax and tax till we die. The goverment has no right to tax you out of basic life needs, yet they tax your land. You cant live without a job, yet our countrymen did so pre 1900. want booze make it, need food grow it. They are not afforded that level of control. Its alcohol now, whats next eh?

The state of Washington is discussing an 18% sin tax on pornography and adult novelties/marital aids. All the while I find the governments' credibillity spiraling downward as they continue to stubbornly refuse to legalize (and obviously tax) weed. Further proof our "leaders" don't know the difference between their butts and a post hole.

Check this out, this state is seeking to raise the beer tax as much as 1,900% ... which according to the report would mean an additional cost of $2 to $4 per six-pack.

CNN Video

[edit on 16-2-2009 by Walkswithfish]

Originally posted by Walkswithfish
Check this out, this state is seeking to raise the beer tax as much as 1,900% ... which according to the report would mean an additional cost of $2 to $4 per six-pack.

Sounds cool. Boozers are a plague and i'd love to see them pay more. All boozers are wife beaters and deadly drunk drivers.

Simple answer. Legalize marijuana, then regulate, tax and export it. Our economy will come booming back.

And no need to fear the drunk drivers.

Let the sinners pay our way out of the budget crisis!

There have always been sin taxes... and likely there will be more. The ultimate question is; Are these high sin taxes fair?

Why not raise taxes on super expensive luxury purchases?

Aren't we taxed enough in this country?

Federal taxes, state taxes etc.

You should know that as more and more people lose jobs and the economy worsens states will be seeking more and more ways to get money from those of us who are fortunate enough to still be working and earning an income.

This is just the beginning.

[edit on 16-2-2009 by Walkswithfish]

WHAT!? Come on people, they can't tax ANY of this stuff. Number one reason to form a new country...Being taxed to death, and told what to do. Oh yeah, they did that to create this country(the USA). Where is everybodys backbone? Legalize Pot and tax it!? What!? The goverment has no right to tax it, beer, porn(what the heck!?),ect. Our goverment is blowing through TRILLIONS! Hasn't the last 60 years of throwing money at problems through taxation taught us something? It doesn't work. We keep giving them money it gets skimmed off the top by what appears to be lots of people, and in the end we get crap results. Someone needs to drive the red coats out.

Is it a sin to be single in the USA as well?

I just got my taxes done, I am single (divorced) and I travel a lot in my line of work... Because of that I had to itemize per diems/expenses.

I paid in over $6,000 in federal taxes and after giving up on doing the taxes myself and paying someone $150 to do it I will be getting back just over $1,500... I would have likely broke even or had to pay in more if I hadn't had a pro do this.

State taxes were over 1,000 of which I will get back less than $50... and get this, because I itemized and most of my business travel time was spent in California last year ... California will be getting $500 of my state taxes even though I don't live there.

I feel as if it is not only a sin to be single in the USA it is a crime that requires a single person to pay penalties and fines.



I need to go have a beer... nevermind... I'll figure out how to make my own so they don't get more of my hard earned money.

Originally posted by LordBaskettIV
WHAT!? Come on people, they can't tax ANY of this stuff. Number one reason to form a new country...Being taxed to death, and told what to do. Oh yeah, they did that to create this country(the USA). Where is everybodys backbone? Legalize Pot and tax it!? What!? The goverment has no right to tax it, beer, porn(what the heck!?),ect. Our goverment is blowing through TRILLIONS! Hasn't the last 60 years of throwing money at problems through taxation taught us something? It doesn't work. We keep giving them money it gets skimmed off the top by what appears to be lots of people, and in the end we get crap results. Someone needs to drive the red coats out.

Funniest part of all of this is that people are asking the government to legalize more "sin" items, so they then can be taxed, thus making the government larger. Legal sin, gotta find the irony in that.

Whats next after the booze tax gets upped? The the tobacco tax? Then we legalize pot and tax it, porn next, hell why not heroine?

Why do you allow the government to keep control over what you can and cannot do, then when they say you can do something gladly pay them for your right to do it? What the hell sense does that make?

Honestly, the government can tax beer and tobacco all they want. I brew my own and grow my own tobacco, so this doesnt hit my pocket. For the rest, before you start looking at new things to legalize so it can be taxed to "fix" our economy, why not start looking at the insane size and power our federal government has, start the chopping there.

Don't kid yourselves that this is about revenue. Booze helps the working class people who have little to look forward to but toiling for long hours and low pay and then waking up to do it all again the next day forget about their dreary, hopeless lives for a second. Look at what happened in the USSR...cheap booze was readily available to numb the pain. By design. And so it goes.

How bad is it getting for the states?

www.cbpp.org...

States are facing a great fiscal crisis. At least 46 states faced or are facing shortfalls in their budgets for this and/or next year, and severe fiscal problems are highly likely to continue into the following year as well. Combined budget gaps for the remainder of this fiscal year and state fiscal years 2010 and 2011 are estimated to total more than $350 billion.

States are currently at the mid-point of fiscal year 2009 — which started July 1 in most states — and are in the process of preparing their budgets for the next year. Over half the states had already cut spending, used reserves, or raised revenues in order to adopt a balanced budget for the current fiscal year — which started July 1 in most states. Now, their budgets have fallen out of balance again. New gaps of $51 billion (over 10% of state budgets) have opened up in the budgets of at least 42 states plus the District of Columbia. These budget gaps are in addition to the $48 billion shortfalls that these and other states faced as they adopted their budgets for the current fiscal year, bringing total gaps for the year to 15 percent of budgets.

The states fiscal problems are continuing into the next two years. At least 45 states have looked ahead and anticipate deficits for fiscal year 2010 and beyond. These gaps total almost $94 billion — 16 percent of budgets — for the 36 states that have estimated the size of these gaps and are likely to grow as gaps are re-estimated in the next few months.

Read the full article. look at the numbers and think about it.

They couldn't possibly raise enough revenue from sin taxes to avoid total collapse at the rate they are losing revenues.

A pure act of desperation on the part of states is what this is.

These are the early signs of state governments collapsing... Eventually unable to provide state services, dependent on the federal government along with the people who are losing jobs and going out of business.

Drinks anyone?