Louisiana Will Tax Its Poor To Fill Budget Hole Caused By Tax Cuts For The Rich

[KamaAina]

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2016/03/10/3758792/louisiana-budget-crisis-compromise/

Louisianans will pay more and get back less under a compromise struck Wednesday over the state’s enormous budget gap.

The deal raises sales taxes by 25 percent — from four cents on the dollar to five — and applies the higher rate to a number of transactions that had previously been exempt from sales taxes.

It also falls $830 million short of fixing the state’s problems, making further cuts likely to services that have already been gutted.

Because the sales tax applies to consumption rather than income, the hike Louisiana lawmakers agreed to will be regressive: While people in the top 20 percent of the income distribution will pay 41 percent of the total cost of the tax hike according to the Louisiana Budget Project, the sales tax mechanism takes a bigger bite out of a poor family’s income than a rich one’s. Politicians are making poor people shoulder a load caused primarily by ex-Gov. Bobby Jindal’s (R) tax breaks for the rich.

[ghostsinthemachine]

1. Over and over again, we see the same shit.

Yet people still keep voting for these idiots.

Look at the latest. Lousiana, Kansas, Flint, CA under Ahhnold....

[former9thward]

3. Louisiana has a Democratic governor.

[ghostsinthemachine]

4. Finally, after they let Jindal ruin their state....

with his policies.

[former9thward]

6. What they are doing NOW is on his plate, not Jindal's.

The OP is talking about what the state is doing NOW.

[KelleyKramer]

8. Jindal created the mess and

And the Republicans control both houses of the legislature, giving the current governor very limited options

But you knew that

[former9thward]

10. Excuses.

Always there.

[KelleyKramer]

12. Blame shifting

Always there

[Democat]

13. Do you also blame Obama for the Republican Senate?

When there are multiple branches of government, there are limits on what a single Democrat can do.

[LanternWaste]

15. Yes. Yes you are...

Yes. Yes you are...

[Triana]

2. North Carolina did the EXACT same thing...cut taxes for corps & wealthy

then RAISED or created sales taxes - on car repairs, appliance installation, entertainment, and increased DMV feels - ALL of which hurts the middle class and poor the worst and ALL of which are regressive as hell because as the article states - it taxes consumption rather than income.

[saturnsring]

5. keep voting for the gopiggie

[Dont call me Shirley]

7. New Mexico R governor Martinez raised gas tax 10 cents a gallon. Same shit, punish the least

among us.

People stop voting for this crap!

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

9. Hey, still a little lower than Maine sales tax.

5.5% sales tax in Maine. The rate for prepared food, lodging and liquor is 8%. There's no tax on food you have to prepare, like fresh veggies, and no tax on prescriptions. Our income tax is probably higher too.

[KamaAina]

14. Not necessarily. New Orleans adds, I believe, an additional 4 percent.

That adds up to a whopping 9 percent -- including groceries now!

[gratuitous]

11. Well, duh

How are you going to cut taxes for the wealthy and then tax them to fill the hole you blew in the state budget? You gotta make that up somewhere else! Otherwise the wealthy can't enjoy their tax cuts. Golly, you libruls just don't get Republicans' economic policies.

[Katashi_itto]

16. It's just being reported now that our Noble Govenor is now worth over 15 million. Amazing that he

was able to save so well that amount of money on a civil servant's salary.

[KamaAina]

17. Your ignoble ex-Governor, that is.

I would hate to be in Gov. Bel Edwards' shoes, trying to dig out of the pile of crap Booby left him with.

[Katashi_itto]

18. True. You should see the side stepping the Republicans are doing here. It's incredible.

You would think they had no idea this was all happening over the past eight years.

The only thing that has them actually upset is the LSU may lose it's football team.

Nothing about disabled services, food insecurity medical services, none of that matters to them. They are all trying to blame Edwards for it and still fighting taxing the rich.

[KamaAina]

19. I'm surprised the tax credits that created a film industry there aren't on the chopping block.

Or are they?

[StevieM]

21. It is amazing that they would try to place the blame on Edwards, who just got there.

I think that is too much of a stretch, even for voters who instinctively blame the Democrat or whoever is in office when the problems are being dealt with.

I think even the most gullible of voters has to understand that Bobby Jindal is the one who created this disaster.

[Eleanors38]

20. He had his problems, but Huey Long won for a reason.