 | |  It was approved by the moron voters
With all precincts reporting this morning, 66 percent of voters supported the measure. It needed a simple majority to pass. I'll bet these same morons will be complaining about paying taxes on their internet connections and blaming the telcos and cable companies for adding a new FEE to their bills.
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Internet News
My BLOG
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 | | | Re: It was approved by the moron voters wow. If that is the case, do people even bother to check what they are voting for these days?
Hope these people don't bitch and moan about it.
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anidb.net - Anime Collection | |
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| | | | Re: It was approved by the moron voters said by Vathral:wow. If that is the case, do people even bother to check what they are voting for these days? I doubt it. I vote against bond issues year after year. These same bond issues are usually passed by 80% approval percentages. But year after year, Jersey voters keep complaining that their taxes are way too high. Somehow, they never seem able to put 2 and 2 together and figure out that their taxes are being used to pay off these bond issues they keep approving.
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Internet News
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| | |  pnh102Reptiles Are Cuddly And PrettyPremium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD | Re: It was approved by the moron voters said by fAcEtIOUs:But year after year, Jersey voters keep complaining that their taxes are way too high. Somehow, they never seem able to put 2 and 2 together and figure out that their taxes are being used to pay off these bond issues they keep approving. If only such problems could be contained to states which have a majority of idiots who vote for tax hikes. Many of these people in New York, New Jersey and California (and this is certainly not an exhaustive list) eventually get tired of the tax hikes and move out.
Of course, they move to states with lower taxes. Then they continue to vote for the same boneheadedness that caused their taxes to shoot through the roof where they used to live. The end result of course is they ruin the new place for everyone else.
In other words, they pee in the new pool that they moved into.
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This isn't fair! I was only supposed to hate just ONE presidential candidate! | |
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| | | | | | Re: It was approved by the moron voters Sometimes the legislatures take matters into their own hands and ignore the voters. Take a look at Annapolis.  | |
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| | | |  rit56
join:2000-12-01
New York, NY
 ·RoadRunner Cable
| oh pnh... always love a good opportunity to slam the north east citizens of the USA.. well if tons of people are moving into other areas well that means the infrastructure needs to increase to serve those people. new water, sewer, electric, roads... how does the community all these people move to pay for that increase I wonder? I guess you're thinking God will provide the money or they don't need water, sewer, roads,police, fire fighters etc. etc. | |
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| | | | | | | Re: It was approved by the moron voters Actually, they lower taxes, give money back to the rich and the services just trickle down. | |
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| | | | | pnh102Reptiles Are Cuddly And PrettyPremium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD | said by rit56:oh pnh... always love a good opportunity to slam the north east citizens of the USA.. Anyone who willingly votes themselves a tax hike is a complete and total moron, regardless of where they live.
You happy now?
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This isn't fair! I was only supposed to hate just ONE presidential candidate! | |
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| | | | | patcat88
join:2002-04-05
Jamaica, NY
kudos:1 | said by rit56: I guess you're thinking God will provide the money or they don't need water, sewer, roads,police, fire fighters etc. etc. JESUS!!!! JESUS will bring water. JESUS will open the sky when there is a fire. JESUS will protect us!!!! JESUS!!!!!! | |
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| | | | | | pnh102Reptiles Are Cuddly And PrettyPremium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD | Re: It was approved by the moron voters Jesus also called out a certain tax collector for being a pompous, corrupt, jerk. 
By name no less.
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This isn't fair! I was only supposed to hate just ONE presidential candidate! | |
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| | | | | | |  ReformCRTCSupport Your Independent ISP
join:2004-03-07
Canada | Re: It was approved by the moron voters Jesus said also pay Ceasar's things back to Caesar (i.e. pay the tribute *tax*), but what the hey, anybody can twist and thump the Bible to say things they want to hear. | |
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| | | | | | well the i guess maryland is included! LOL! | |
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| | | | said by Vathral:wow. If that is the case, do people even bother to check what they are voting for these days? Hope these people don't bitch and moan about it. Whatever 30 second TV spot is the most convincing, the people vote for. In this case the ads duped the people into thinking they were getting a real tax decrease. You should have seen the conflicting Indian gaming ads.
But, have you ever read the full text of these measures/etc? They full of language that you can't even interpret, so you don't really know what you are fully voting for in many of cases, or what the full impact really is.
Now the bonds, people should know better. You can't spend money you don't have. | |
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| | | patcat88
join:2002-04-05
Jamaica, NY
kudos:1 | Re: It was approved by the moron voters A good mis-information campaign always solves everything. | |
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| | | | said by Vathral:do people even bother to check what they are voting for these days? Jay Leno did a jaywalking segment earlier this week where he showed pictures of the presidential candidates to people on the street. There were a large number of people who didn't have a clue who any of them were. One woman who couldn't identify John Edwards was asked who she voted for in the last presidential election. She said she voted for the Democrat but couldn't remember who it was. When told she had voted for Edwards for vice president she was stunned. This is why we have the government we have.
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What's certain about Darwinism is that it would take less time for (1) a single-celled organism to evolve into a human being through mutation and natural selection than for (2) Darwinists to admit they have no proof of (1) - Ann Coulter | |
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| | | pnh102Reptiles Are Cuddly And PrettyPremium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD | Re: It was approved by the moron voters said by footballdude:This is why we have the government we have. »www.dontvote.org
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This isn't fair! I was only supposed to hate just ONE presidential candidate! | |
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| | | | | | Re: It was approved by the moron voters Man,
That's a messed up test. Guess I better not vote according to that site. Only got a D!!
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| | | | |  MrMoodyFree range slavePremium
join:2002-09-03
Smithfield, NC | Re: It was approved by the moron voters I fail to see what face recognition has to do with knowledge of the people you are voting for. Ballots don't have faces on them, at least not here.
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The public is a poor business manager. | |
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| | | | | | pnh102Reptiles Are Cuddly And PrettyPremium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD | Re: It was approved by the moron voters said by MrMoody:I fail to see what face recognition has to do with knowledge of the people you are voting for. Ballots don't have faces on them, at least not here. The original poster mentioned that Jay Leno was showing pictures of prominent politicians to people on the street and they could not recognize them.
I like the idea of testing voters on the basics (maybe not a picture test per se) before they can vote. Too bad it is not mandatory.
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This isn't fair! I was only supposed to hate just ONE presidential candidate! | |
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| | | |  ThalerPremium
join:2004-02-02
Los Angeles, CA
kudos:3
 ·DSL EXTREME
1 edit | Er...don't the interests of a representative government kinda clash with "advice" telling people not to vote?
...and how exactly does knowing the entertainment bimbo elite have any correlation to voting well? Guh, if anything, I wish I could un-learn those morons - maybe they'd be less irritating that way.
said by pnh102:I like the idea of testing voters on the basics (maybe not a picture test per se) before they can vote. Too bad it is not mandatory. Ditto. However, then we'd have to constantly fund courses in Politics 101 for everyone using public funds...and getting anyone to agree for percieved political "bloat" is pretty well doomed. | |
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| | | | | pnh102Reptiles Are Cuddly And PrettyPremium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD
1 edit | Re: It was approved by the moron voters said by Thaler:Er...don't the interests of a representative government kinda clash with "advice" telling people not to vote? Voting is a responsibility as well as a right. Someone who votes without knowing who or what they are voting for cancels out the vote of someone else who bothered to make an informed decision before he/she cast a ballot. It is not terribly hard to become informed in this day and age either, so that makes it even more justifiable to believe that the ignorant have no business voting at all.
Someone who has no idea who the president is has no business being within 1 mile of a polling place.
said by Thaler:However, then we'd have to constantly fund courses in Politics 101 for everyone using public funds That's another thing... why is it always the government's responsibility to teach people these things? We make the effort to become informed voters on our own. I don't think it is unreasonable to expect the same of others. Just walk into a public library and google the elections and the candidates. It is no big deal at all.
People should not have to be hand-holded to do the correct thing.
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This isn't fair! I was only supposed to hate just ONE presidential candidate! | |
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| | | | | | ThalerPremium
join:2004-02-02
Los Angeles, CA
kudos:3 Reviews:
·DSL EXTREME
| Re: It was approved by the moron voters said by pnh102:That's another thing... why is it always the government's responsibility to teach people these things? Because if there's a limiting/deciding factor to vote (a right of every citizen), then its up to the government to also provide the means to meet said requirements. Otherwise, you'll have quite the lot of voters being disenfranchised (for one reason or another), and said measures would be tossed right out. | |
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| | | | | | | pnh102Reptiles Are Cuddly And PrettyPremium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD | Re: It was approved by the moron voters said by Thaler:Because if there's a limiting/deciding factor to vote (a right of every citizen), then its up to the government to also provide the means to meet said requirements. Not at all. The 2nd Amendment guarantees the right of firearms ownership but that in no way burdens the government to teach people how to use firearms safely.
Besides, I mentioned in my original post that the government does make available the means by which someone could go learn about the candidates if they so chose. So the ability is there... but if someone chooses not to exercise the responsibility, then that person has no business exercising the right.
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This isn't fair! I was only supposed to hate just ONE presidential candidate! | |
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| | | | | | | | ThalerPremium
join:2004-02-02
Los Angeles, CA
kudos:3 Reviews:
·DSL EXTREME
| Re: It was approved by the moron voters said by pnh102:said by Thaler:Because if there's a limiting/deciding factor to vote (a right of every citizen), then its up to the government to also provide the means to meet said requirements. Not at all. The 2nd Amendment guarantees the right of firearms ownership but that in no way burdens the government to teach people how to use firearms safely. Voting is managed in a similar fashion to that as well. I can't see us limiting voting, when another equally dangerous "ignorant user" right still goes unimpeded.
said by pnh102:Besides, I mentioned in my original post that the government does make available the means by which someone could go learn about the candidates if they so chose. So the ability is there... but if someone chooses not to exercise the responsibility, then that person has no business exercising the right. However, those means are hardly practical. Not every local presinct also offers a local library (Encino's closest library is located in Tarzana!), so to expect a bare-minimum voter to hit up Google & return just isn't practical. Hell, I have a car, and I know I certainly couldn't drive to both library, research, and drive to the polling center within our required 1 hour of voting time.
Voting is a right, so anyone can vote any damn silly way they please. Even if it cancels out a "good vote", there's no way to say that one man's vote is more worthy than another's. To change such would usurp most of what the voting system stands for today. | |
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| | | | Los Angeles needs cops on the street. | |
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|  cfm117
join:2004-02-13
Woodland Hills, CA
1 edit | This tax hike was not sold as a tax hike but a tax cut by the Mayor, police chief and all the politians. There was not one lousy ad against this prop saying what it really is about. Every media outlet and newspaper in town got on board for this one. Its the city's way to get back its $270 million a year in revenue after a federal court threw out the citys 10% telephone tax as illegal. The city has been charging that since 1967. Now they say we will drop tax rat from 10% to 9%, and thats all people need to hear. They mark yes on ballot and they just screwed ourselves. The language in the prop allows for taxes on IM,texting,email, and anything used to communicate within the city limits. Sorry for grammar, im at work and in a hurry. | |
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| KearnstdElf WizardPremium
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ | i think the harder thing will be collection, per state taxes are easy. only 50 of them. but if this opens up to per city taxing everywhere the VOIP providers(short of cable cos) might not be able to keep track of all the tax rules.
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| | | | Re: It was approved by the moron voters said by Kearnstd:i think the harder thing will be collection, per state taxes are easy. only 50 of them. but if this opens up to per city taxing everywhere the VOIP providers(short of cable cos) might not be able to keep track of all the tax rules. Not in the city of LA. They have an entire office devoted to tracking down folks and squeezing them for every last dime. Worse than the IRS. | |
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| mglunt
join:2001-09-10
Fredericksburg, VA |
I see no problem here and wonder why all the complaints? BBR members overwhelmingly want Broadband pipes sent out all over the place and want the Gov't to subsidize this like crazy so billy bob out in the country can hook his trailer up to High Speed Internet. You got to have taxes to do that. I would think everyone here would be for it. | |
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| | pnh102Reptiles Are Cuddly And PrettyPremium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD | Re: It was approved by the moron voters said by mglunt:BBR members overwhelmingly want Broadband pipes sent out all over the place and want the Gov't to subsidize this like crazy so billy bob out in the country can hook his trailer up to High Speed Internet. You got to have taxes to do that. I would think everyone here would be for it. Most liberals on BBR are "fair weather" in my opinion. Yes, they want taxpayer-funded Internet for the masses... provided they are not the ones paying the taxes.
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This isn't fair! I was only supposed to hate just ONE presidential candidate! | |
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rradina
join:2000-08-08
Chesterfield, MO | How was it worded on the ballet? Did they use deceiving language? Did they mention the word's "fair" in reference to "alternative" telephone services "shall pay their fair share of taxes"? If they worded it straight up, I question whether or not the general public would understand what they were "approving". | |
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See 9 replies to this post |
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 morboComplete Your Transaction
join:2002-01-22
00000 |  boo!
horrible idea. | |
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Reviews:
 ·AT&T U-Verse
| Tax and bleed us Dry Glad to see that the vampires in LA have found yet another way to feed their habit. Now they will have to enlist the aid of your ISP to collect their extortion money.
Typical of tax and spend liberal social engineers and politicians.
The consumer is forced to continually pay and pay and pay. This ongoing TAX hikes scenarios is illegal and the lawyers know it. They use false information to hide the fact that they foisted a tax hike on the public NOT a tax cut. Look at the math: I'd much rather take 9% of a 100.00 base than 10% of 50.00 base. The increased base is due to them grouping any form of communication as taxable. Wonder when they are going to tax free speech-tax the contributors to newspapers. The public could raise a lot of money by taxing the politicians lies and broken promises and recovering the wasted money from kickbacks pay-offs and bribes as well as all the lobby money and the trips to foreign "sister cities". No wonder LA is beginning to smell more and more like a cesspool- a lot more crap is floating than ever before. | |
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 woody7Premium
join:2000-10-13
Torrance, CA
2 edits | hhmm.... "It was approved by the moron voters"
The politicians that want to be all things to all people can't make the hard decisions that they were elected for,like cut spending. The "fud" was all over the tv about what would happen if it doesn't pass. Teary eyed cops and firemen,supporting (most don't live in Los Angeles) so it won't affect them anyway, then they blame Prop 13 cause they can't raise taxes. what choice do the voters have? Peace
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BlooMe
Edit to add : Shouldn't your high "property" tax be paying for these services? | |
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| pnh102Reptiles Are Cuddly And PrettyPremium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD | Re: hhmm.... said by woody7:what choice do the voters have? Peace To not vote for stupid tax hikes.
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This isn't fair! I was only supposed to hate just ONE presidential candidate! | |
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|  CurtesyFlushBababooey, fafafooey, tatatoothy.Premium
join:2002-08-23
Fontana, CA
kudos:2 | said by woody7:"It was approved by the moron voters" The politicians that want to be all things to all people can't make the hard decisions that they were elected for,like cut spending. The "fud" was all over the tv about what would happen if it doesn't pass. Teary eyed cops and firemen,supporting (most don't live in Los Angeles) so it won't affect them anyway, then they blame Prop 13 cause they can't raise taxes. what choice do the voters have? Peace That FUD didn't work back when we passed Prop 13. They laid it on thick with the firemen, cops, firehouses closing, even going so far as to ensure that the proposition had an "unlucky" number. Didn't work.
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| | woody7Premium
join:2000-10-13
Torrance, CA | Re: hhmm.... This is the other one that they keep pounding on....On some people/areas, "FUD" seems to work better. Prop 13 was a state wide prop, so the whole state got to vote. Maybe the voters in LA are less sophisticated? I agree, most people don't read what they are voting for and just follow what they hear/see on the ads,tv,and friends. I wouldn't call them morons, but ill informed, or maybe they just felt this is something they can live with.Peace
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BlooMe | |
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 DataDocMy avatar looks like me, if I was 2D.Premium
join:2000-05-14
Greenville, NC
·Suddenlink
| How far do you think the voters read? I say this far:
"REDUCTION OF TAX RATE AND MODERNIZATION OF COMMUNICATIONS USERS TAX. Shall an ordinance be adopted to reduce the City’s tax on communications users from 10% to 9%; modernize the ordinance to treat taxpayers equally regardless of technology used; exempt low-income senior-citizen and disabled households; to fund general municipal services, such as 911, police, fire protection, street maintenance, parks and libraries; subject to an annual independent audit?"
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See 8 replies to this post |
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Reviews:
·Comcast
1 edit | All Communications It would appear that they way the law is worded that all forms of communication will be treated equally regardless of the technology used.
So a couple of kids make a tin can and string communications system. They are reported using such a system in the park while playing and don't have a proper tax stamp. Law enforcement is called and SWAT shows up. The two offending children are arrested on tax fraud charges and are now placed in a foster home for the criminally inclined. The pleas of the parents are ignored. The judge in the case uses the precident setting example of the lemonade stand that was not collecting the proper sales tax. Such tax evasion cannot be allowed to continue unabated the judge remarked. A valuable lesson has been taught to this children.
Don't even think about sending an SOS with a flashlight as that communications must also be taxed according to the law. | |
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| | La phone tax The real killer is this was an illegal tax that should have been taken off the books many years ago. So the left wingers that run LA decided to sell it as a tax decrease even though without the vote the entire 10% tax was going to be repealed.
Now as far as I know this applies to the city of LA only and not the state of Ca.. | |
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|  bigunkGort, Klattu Birada Nikto
join:2001-02-10
USA | Re: La phone tax Right you are. Think about this folks...There will never Ever EVER be a tax reduction on any ballot, only tax increases. Period. | |
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 DogfatherPremium
join:2007-12-26
Laguna Hills, CA
1 edit | Thanks to the Unions They ran commercials 24/7 acting like the city will burn to the ground and all the police officers would have to be fired if they didn't get this money.
The city is always 1 tax away from being saved from total destruction. | |
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 jjoshuaPremium
join:2001-06-01
Scotch Plains, NJ
kudos:1 | Who is going to collect the tax? Is the VOIP company that doesn't have an office in CA expected to collect this tax and forward it to L.A.? | |
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|  pokesphIt Is Almost FastPremium
join:2001-06-25
Sacramento, CA
kudos:1 | Re: Who is going to collect the tax? said by jjoshua:Is the VOIP company that doesn't have an office in CA expected to collect this tax and forward it to L.A.? you know.. I was thinking the same thing.. I sure as hell wouldn't pay any extra taxes to company that has no presence in LA or Cali at all.
How would a out of city /state / country company even know LA passed this tax? | |
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|  La LunaSurvived AshrafulPremium
join:2001-07-12
Warwick, NY
kudos:3
 ·Vonage
·Optimum Online
| said by jjoshua:Is the VOIP company that doesn't have an office in CA expected to collect this tax and forward it to L.A.? Most likely. That's why the bills of people who use the same VoIP service vary somewhat....different taxes based on the state they live in.
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| | Good idea Sounds like a good idea to me. They've always taxed voice lines, and its a good source of income. As long as our government is as bloated as it is they're going to continue to need a lot of funding. Might as well put taxes on services such as broadband, VoIP, and the like if the need arises and they can't manage to make budget cuts to cover their need for money.
They're going to get the money somehow. Better that they tax goods/services than just take it straight out of your paycheck in the form of state/local taxes. The government will always find a way to get the money it needs even if they have to pry it from your cold, dead, hands... estate tax FTL.
I see nothing evil about taxing all voice service users equally.
Personally, I'd rather see the majority of taxes and government itself go away. Its too bloated in its current form, and they take too much money and spend it or give it away without any care or thought. | |
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| pokesphIt Is Almost FastPremium
join:2001-06-25
Sacramento, CA
kudos:1 | Re: Good idea said by RainWind7:Sounds like a good idea to me. They've always taxed voice lines, and its a good source of income. As long as our government is as bloated as it is they're going to continue to need a lot of funding. Might as well put taxes on services such as broadband, VoIP, and the like if the need arises and they can't manage to make budget cuts to cover their need for money. They're going to get the money somehow. Better that they tax goods/services than just take it straight out of your paycheck in the form of state/local taxes. The government will always find a way to get the money it needs even if they have to pry it from your cold, dead, hands... estate tax FTL. I see nothing evil about taxing all voice service users equally. Personally, I'd rather see the majority of taxes and government itself go away. Its too bloated in its current form, and they take too much money and spend it or give it away without any care or thought. see they do tax you to death (and beyond) and then turn right around and charge you for it. Why should we have to pay twice for Gov services? I mean that service being provided IS THE POINT OF THESE TAXES! | |
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| Reviews:
·AT&T U-Verse
| They're not taxing equally, in fact "low income senior citizens" and disabled households are exempt. How do you think it got passed if everybody were taxed equally? The AARP lobby would have squashed this one dead in its tracks if ALL senior citizens were taxed.Low-income Senior Citizens can't afford VOIP or the Internet for that matter if they are truly low income and the disabled are exempted as well-What constitutes disabled in L.A. ?-probably being an english speaking American citizen that owns a home and can read at a high scholl level.
How many times are you willing to be taxed for the same service? We are taxed at the federal state and local level for telephone plus we have all the Gore-taxes that are not really taxes (just ask a politician). California taxes, L.A. taxes will continue to be pissed away on things like trips to "sister cities" conventions in faraway state and country, lavish offices etc while South Central L.A. continues to deteriorate. I say cut out the excess spending on needless social engineering and perks, undeserved rewards and THEN maybe we can talk additional taxes. | |
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| | RadioDoc58ef2c0Premium,ExMod 2000-03
join:2000-05-11 | Re: Good idea "can read at a high scholl level."
The irony here is precious.
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Toolmaster of La Grange. | |
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| | | | | Re: Good idea Yeah operator error-my bad! Excuse me for not being perfect. | |
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 TransmasterDon't Blame Me I Voted For Bill and Opus
join:2001-06-20
Cheyenne, WY | You would love...... Wyoming, we had a State Senator who, in a speech on the Senate floor, mentioned that to be fair we might have to put in a state income tax. This Turkey, and all of the others that voiced support for this idea where voted out of office on the next election.  Thus ended all talk of a state income tax.
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Send a prayer to Allah, eat Beans. | |
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 digiblurGot Sipura?Premium
join:2002-06-03
Louisiana | "Move" Do like the satellite folks do to get different HD locals or to get away from satellite taxes in some states. Give a different address than the box is at. Done deal.
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| | All this wailing and gnashing of teeth This whole anti-tax thing is getting old. Most people (in this case, 66%) realize that government services cost money, and that these are services that the people want, and it takes taxes to provide them. Everyone here so far has questioned (or derided, or chastised, or just tried to sound smarter than) what would be considered a supermajority of voters. This is so typical of the anti-tax crowd, while roads and bridges fall down around their ears, and police can't respond because there aren't enough of them, etc. I guess 'We the People' aren't smart enough. And don't get me started on where a huge chunk of our federal tax money is really going (cough cough IRAQ cough).
FLAME ON! | |
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| morboComplete Your Transaction
join:2002-01-22
00000 | Re: All this wailing and gnashing of teeth said by viperlmw:This is so typical of the anti-tax crowd, while roads and bridges fall down around their ears, and police can't respond because there aren't enough of them, etc. Iraq will go down in history as Bush's $2 trillion fiasco. Moving on...
I disagree with your comment about "our roads and bridges fall down" and there aren't enough police. Yes, we need some taxes for some things. HOWEVER, why aren't our elected leaders planning for these expenses?? infrastructure improvements should be a priority, not something we have to wait for the federal government to bail us out of. at times, that means more taxes till the problem is fixed, then a much smaller tax for maintaining that improvement over the next x years. | |
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| | | | Re: All this wailing and gnashing of teeth said by morbo:~snip~ why aren't our elected leaders planning for these expenses?? infrastructure improvements should be a priority, not something we have to wait for the federal government to bail us out of. at times, that means more taxes till the problem is fixed, then a much smaller tax for maintaining that improvement over the next x years. Your point here is, imho, valid. The problem is that anti-tax crowd again, insisting that these thing will somehow fund themselves, or yelling because their priorities are higher than yours, and that's where they want their money to go, not to your priorities, or insisting that deficit spending is good for you. And heaven forbid a governmental entity save money in a fund to pay for these infrastructure upgrades. NOOOOOO, they insist on issuing bonds, along with corresponding interest payments, so their bond fund buddies get more business, which increases the total cost of the project, and they start yelling again. If government spends money, they get yelled at by the anti-tax folks. If government doesn't spend money, they are 'do-nothings', and get yelled at by others about gridlock. Government at any level is unable to please everyone all the time, but they do ok by most people most of the time. And most of the people voted for this tax (which, I'll bet, has the effect of decreasing more peoples tax than it increases, maybe even more than 66%). ~rant~ IMHO, we as a nation need to stop thinking of government as the enemy, and think of it as a partner, as it is the glue that holds our civilization together, and never forget that it is "We the People" that runs it. And remember, I am not a customer, I am a Citizen! ~rant off~ | |
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| | | morboComplete Your Transaction
join:2002-01-22
00000 | Re: All this wailing and gnashing of teeth i think we are on the same page.
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2 edits | Once again, LA LIES to its citizens.... This whole thing was a planned effort to LIE to the voters of Los Angeles. They DELIBERATELY mislabelled this as a tax CUT when in reality it was a TAX HIKE!
How does it feel to be SCAMMED by your elected leaders? | |
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| ThalerPremium
join:2004-02-02
Los Angeles, CA
kudos:3 Reviews:
·DSL EXTREME
| Re: Once again, LA LIES to its citizens.... said by qworster:This whole thing was a planned effort to LIE to the voters of Los Angeles. They DELIBERATELY mislabelled this as a tax CUT when in reality it was a TAX HIKE! If it makes you feel any better, I do believe every other state is in similar conditions with "colorfully worded" ballots. | |
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| | Constitutionality ? Enforcement ? The question that has not popped up yet, and I'm surprised it has not, is the Constitutionality of this tax...
Of course, Constitutional issues aside, the big question is how the city is going to enforce this... Good luck getting all of the VoIP providers to levy the taxes. It isn't like they can prevent a VoIP provider from offering services to their citizens if they don't play along. | |
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| patcat88
join:2002-04-05
Jamaica, NY
kudos:1 | Re: Constitutionality ? Enforcement ? Block the IPs for any internet service in California. End of story. | |
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| | | | Re: Constitutionality ? Enforcement ? The VoIP can block Cali. IPs, obviously, but that is NOT what I was talking about...
I'm talking about the city of LA blocking VoIP providers that don't pony up their tax... City of LA doesn't have the ability to do that. | |
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public
join:2002-01-19
Santa Clara, CA | Los Angeles Taxes VoIP
REDUCTION OF TAX RATE AND MODERNIZATION OF COMMUNICATIONS USERS TAX. Shall an ordinance be adopted to reduce the City’s tax on communications users from 10% to 9%; modernize the ordinance to treat taxpayers equally regardless of technology used; exempt low-income senior-citizen and disabled households; to fund general municipal services, such as 911, police, fire protection, street maintenance, parks and libraries; subject to an annual independent audit?
Appears to violate California Civil Code Section 17500
False Advertising
Moreover it includes communications over the air using acoustical modulation. | |
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| Samwoo
join:2002-02-15
Rancho Palos Verdes, CA | Re: Los Angeles Taxes VoIP actually it does lower the RATE, but it also broadens the application. | |
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 EPS
@verizon.net | Why not? It is a tax reduction for the majority of people who use landline telephone- and why shouldn't VoIP providers pay their fair share if the telcos have to? | |
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| jjoshuaPremium
join:2001-06-01
Scotch Plains, NJ
kudos:1 | Re: Why not? Because VOIP is not Telephone. | |
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| | Reviews:
·AT&T U-Verse
| Re: Why not? Not in the eyes of the politicians who got this passed.ALL communications users are subject to this tax. This law covers walkie-talkies as well because they transmit voice(communicate )over the air. It covers all forms of "communications" regardless of the technology. your handheld PDA will be subject to a tax when you use it to send a memo to yourself at the office. We'll be seeing a "per bit transmitted or received" charge sooner than later.
They won't be happy till the late great U S of A becomes just another 3rd world country with the power elite living fat and happy off of the masses. As I've said before fair taxes are a requirement to maintain and sustain a society and ensure that adequate and essential goods and services are provided for the needs of the public but taxes are paid by the people for the people and the people should not be lied to in order to approve a tax. They cite that the 10% tax will be reduced to 9% but they also said that they are ADDING a 9% TAX on various other communication forms. Just glad I don't live in L.A.
Its probably too late and L.A. will become another example of a failed society that allows the few to exploit the many. | |
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| | Not a tax cut at all for anybody. The entire 10% tax had been declared unconstitutional and was due to be removed. This is a brand new 9% tax. Not a 1% cut.
As to the sad fact that the government needs money to operate, they already get about half of our income in various taxes at various levels of government, local, regional, state and fed. If half my money isn't enough for them, too bad for me, 'cause I'm a tax slave.
Tax revenues have never been higher than they are now, and that's always been true. | |
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| |  taxes and more taxes
is it fair or legal ? Its just another way the municipality is messing with the economy affecting the little guys creating more tax base for themselves, point blank.
We are seeing legal groups and incubators investigating networks for fruad within and things like license issues, taxaction and economic impact.
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VOIP, IPTV, MobileMesh (tm) and now G3/G4 Technology! | |
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