Words Mean Everything: FEES vs. TAXES

The Demorats in Fornicalia are making, this week, what is termed an "end run" around everyone in the state, regarding taxation. It is no secret that Fornicalia is literally billions and billions of dollars in debt:

Treasurer Bill Lockyer, the board chairman, had warned the Legislature last week that the unprecedented halt in funding would be necessary if lawmakers did not immediately address a $14 billion deficit in the fiscal year that ends in June. The hole is forecast to grow to $42 billion over the next 18 months.

I'll make it brief and simple: what the Republicans forecasted in 2007 has now become reality in Fornicalia. From last year's Republican Caucus Briefing Report:

No taxation without representation has been a firm principle in our nation’s history since its inception. This principle prohibits government officials from adopting taxes without the approval of those who will be taxed. Furthering this policy, the California State Constitution requires state taxes to be approved by two-thirds of the elected members of the Legislature, and local taxes be approved by a direct vote of the people. However, because these vote counts are often difficult to meet, many newly adopted assessments have been passed off as “fees” rather than taxes to avoid the two-thirds approval requirements.

A package of bills passed both Fornicalia houses this week with no Republican support at all. If it can happen here, it can happen in your state. And, as Hugh Hewitt says, it is nothing but lawlessness.

Dec. 11 (Bloomberg) -- California’s budget deficit will reach $41.8 billion over the next 19 months, a record shortfall forcing officials to look for ways to pay bills as they brace for the state to run out of cash.

When in doubt, improvise with bullshit, smoke, mirrors, lies, half-truths and outright manipulation. With this in mind Fornicalia Demorats passed a package of bills which removed the horrendous word TAX and instead substituted the word FEE.

According to them, it made all the difference in the world, allowing them to circumvent the Fornicalia Constitutionally-required 2/3rds vote to pass a TAX.

Read the difference:

Taxes Versus Fees
In general, a tax is a mandatory financial charge or other levy imposed on an individual or a legal entity by a government agency. In other words, a tax is not a voluntary payment or donation, but an enforced assessment. In contrast, a fee is a charge paid in remuneration for services directly received by the fee payor.

Based on these definitions, the distinction between the two should not be as complicated as some would make it. Essentially, if a government assessment is compulsory and the payer does not derive a direct benefit or service from that assessment, it is a tax. However, some tax-and-spend lawmakers have attempted to blur the lines. Why? To make it easier for politicians to fund programs that, if presented to the people as a tax, would not pass muster.

You want taxes? How about this (California Dems Push Billions in Higher 'Fees' to Skirt Law):

The proposal they made Wednesday would eliminate an 18-cent-a-gallon excise tax on gas and a fluctuating sales tax on gas, replacing them with a 39-cent-per-gallon fee. Democrats also were seeking to raise the state sales tax by 3/4 of a cent, tax oil produced in California, add a 2.5 percent surcharge on state income taxes and force independent contractors to pay taxes up front.

Our only hope at this point: Governor Schwarzenegger refused to sign this series of bills.

Today.

And tomorrow?

Words mean everything. Why have Conservatives refused to grant "marriages," for example (despite that, in Fornicalia, gays can already have Civil Unions which grant every right to their signators as those affixed to marriages -- such as benefits, hospital visits, etc.), to gays? Because words mean everything. A "marriage" denotes a union between one man and one woman. Plain and simple. A tax is a tax -- and in Fornicalia requires 2/3rds passage.

Unless you call it something else.

This is a perfect example. Words mean everything.

"Tax."

"Fee."

These are TAXES.

BZ