National Government: Are Taxes Getting Out of Hand?

Are states desperate for money or so strongly opposed to a type of business they start to tax it? Should the national government take a step in to moderate some of these state taxes? They are obviously getting a bit out of hand.

For example, most people who go to strip clubs probably do not want to publicize their being there. Fox appropriately called it a “slip in and slip out” ordeal. Interestingly enough, Pennsylvania lawmaker is proposing a “poll” tax on lap dances, officially called Sexually Oriented Business Act. Where patrons of gentleman's club would have to pay an extra $5.00 that go towards Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape.

This is an intriguing tax. Seriously, I wonder how many more unorthodox taxes the state governments will concoct before they start charging for the air or light we use? Therefore, (probably to the state's legislator's opinion) this tax could help reduce the amount of attendees to these clubs and make the strippers, exotic dancer, or whatever you want to call it... consider alternative occupations.

To be honest, I am not a huge fan of this tax. Not because I visit these type of places but instead I cannot believe that the government would be doing this for our own benefit. Sure, I think there should be more funding for rape victims across the nation but I doubt that this will be a suitable solution. I am also, not a supporter of this “entertainment”, but making these types of laws or taxes upon these types of institutions may not be the route to take towards disliked industries within America.

So far, we have many different taxes: state tax, sin taxes, income taxes, sales tax and so forth. I can see other states leaning towards this type of tax. I doubt there will be much opposition towards this tax due to the type of customers it likes to attract, people who just want to “slip in and slip out”. One reason, in my own opinion, that the national government has not made a stand on either side of this because they understand that either way public opinion on the matter is diverse and they are not willing to deal with the criticism from both sides. That is why, I see it as a state issue rather than a national issue, simply because of the extreme viewpoints.

Although, concerning the tax issue, I think that the national government should help regulate the different types of taxes among states because they very so much. I think that some state legislatures go a little overboard on the taxes they install within their state. This is a great example of an issue that congress should help moderate/regulate or at least overlook and/or oversee some state legislation concerning these types of taxes.

**Interesting note: Texas had this tax according to news sources, but has since been shut down and deemed "unconstitutional".

Gas price average: Arm-and-leg US $/Gallon

America, land of the free and home of the soaring gas prices? Yes, it seems that there is a large portion of commuters having to travel for work, school, food, and kids... name the reason and we’ve got it. Is the oil industry taking advantage of our need for this product? I would say yes. I question what is causing this? As a solution, I will list some options on how our national government can help correct it or at least, ease our nation's pocket books.

Within a span of five years, according to gasbuddy.com, our lowest gas price average was 1.43 US $/Gallon. Today, our highest USA average is 4.08 $/Gallon. Anyone can look at these charts and see that overall there is a linear trend (dare I say almost exponential) among the US average gasoline price. Why is the government is not taking a stand to aid lowering these outrageous gas prices? Or at least, begin a government funded research program that will give Americans alternate solutions to this transportation problem.


Furthermore, my personal favorite, is the idea of funding for research within top university’s to work towards producing other fuel dependent sources of transportation. But we all know that the government is stingy with their money and would rather allocate it towards social security, Medicare, and defense. This would be a huge problem among oil industries because of the loss of business. I do not understand to much complex economics, but I do understand supply and demand. The oil industries are using our demand to their benefit, and there should be no doubt about it.

Especially, in Austin, Texas, not every community has access to buses and most definitely subways. Another solution that comes to mind, is congress could pass legislation for national or state funding bus and subway systems. This would ease pollution and help save American’s money.

Another, proposal commented on by CBS would be a four day work week. This would be great for all of the 9-5 jobs held by the majority of the US. But what about the retail, factory, or other various jobs requiring time consuming business restraints (most of these held by the lower classes)? Overall this would be impractical, and would only be beneficial to the majority of the middle and higher paid citizens of the US. They are the ones that can actually afford owning a car and paying its gas prices.

How is it, that gas prices have surged tremendously over the past 6 to 10 years, whereas other commodities, like food, have not? This is not a problem that the people of the United States can deal with, therefore the government should step in. The American public needs solutions and we need them fast. When will the national government start addressing and correcting this issue?