From the category archives:

state & local

Beer Today, Gone Tomorrow

14 July 2011

And dying in your beds, many years from now, would you be willin’ to trade ALL the days, from this day to that, for one chance, just one chance, to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they’ll never take… OUR BEER! Okay, that was really from Braveheart. [...]

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Amazon Fights Back Against Online Sales Tax Law

13 July 2011

Quick, show of hands: who wants to pay more in taxes? That’s what I thought. Clearly, Amazon.com is right. The online retail giant is planning on asking voters to chime in on whether they want to pay more in taxes. Okay, not exactly. They’re really asking voters in California to overturn the controversial new state law requiring [...]

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NJ Budget Battle Heats Up: Senate President Claims He Wants to Punch Governor

5 July 2011

As a mom, I’ve seen it a million times. One kid promises to play nice and doesn’t. So the other kid gets mad and throws a tantrum, calls some names. And the other kid says mean things back. And then it spirals out of control. It’s a tough situation to handle with five year olds. [...]

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Maryland Alcohol Sales Tax Increase Meant to Save the State From Hoodlums (er, not really)

1 July 2011

Last night, I went out to eat with friends and family. We had a mix of drinks, dinners and desserts and split the final bill. I know the final bill total – close to $200 – and I know the tip amount. I did not once look at the tax on the bill. And I’m [...]

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Californians Find Change in Their Legislative Sofas

28 June 2011

There’s temporary and then there’s temporary. Most legislators, it seems, tend to approach temporary tax raises as if slapping the label on it somehow makes it okay… You know, the old “we’re only doing this for a little while, just to tide us over and then we’ll put things back the way that they used [...]

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Fix the Tax Code Friday: Lesser of Tax Evils?

25 June 2011

This month, Philadelphia voted to raise property taxes rather than impose a controversial sales tax on soda and sugary drinks, while New York won another round on its efforts to collect excise taxes from cigarettes sold by Indian nations. Other cities and states have struggled with similar questions when it comes to raising revenue. So today’s [...]

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New York Fight Keeps Court Dockets Smoking

21 June 2011

I’ve often said that I believe that the behaviors associated with sales tax rates are overstated. I actually don’t believe that folks will drive across the border from Pennsylvania to Delaware to avoid sales tax on a roll of paper towels or a magazine. And despite the hue and cry otherwise, I don’t believe that [...]

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Gun Tax Holiday Under Fire

17 June 2011

Every November, after the turkey has been eaten and the cranberry salad has been attacked with vigor, Americans sit back and realize: it’s time to go shopping. Black Friday – the Friday after Thanksgiving – is traditionally the busiest shopping day of the year. The prospect of sales and promotions lure shoppers into stores to [...]

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Cheers for a Soda Tax?

15 June 2011

Americans love their soda. According to the Center for Science in the Public Interest (report downloads as a pdf), in 2004, the average American consumed 37 gallons of carbonated, non-diet soft drinks. That works out 59,000 calories – or roughly the equivalent of 17 pounds in one year. In good news for the soda industry, [...]

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Strip Club Doesn’t Meet “Bare Minimum” in Court

14 June 2011

I’m often asked whether I want my kids to grow up to become lawyers. The assumption most people have, since I’m a lawyer married to a lawyer, is that I do. In fact, my routine response is that we tell the kids that they can be anything that they want to be with the exception [...]

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