Democrats Target New Taxes, Republicans Target New Jobs

It seems Democrats in our state legislature just can't seem to think outside the box on the budget crisis they’ve made - at least outside the TAX box.

They do, however, hesitate to use the word "raise" next to the word "tax", instead choosing to cloak their ploy in kinder gentler terms like "tax changes" or “revenue enhancements”. Well, that will fool us!

Yesterday in his first meeting with the Capitol press this session House Speaker Frank Chopp had an opportunity to converse a bit about some of the Democrat tax targets.

First, taxing airplanes. They do admit there really aren't many to tax. Chopp thinks this is part of the tax fairness agenda the voters want.

Another option would be to rewriting a previous law (struck down last year by our state Supreme Court) regarding the state’s ability to tax companies that are based in other states with have distribution centers in our state. This is considered a loophole and likely tax target.

The other idea on the table is the frequently regurgitated idea of extending sales tax to bottled water, soda and candy. Chopp quipped that "most people don’t realize they don’t pay sales tax on bottled water". In other words, we can sneak this one in.

The one thing each of these taxes have in common is that they will be passed on, and we will pay.

Focused like a laser on jobs and not your paycheck Republicans put a bold proposal on the table calling for an exemption from the state Business and Occupation tax for all new businesses, and a three-year phase in after that for small businesses..

Now whose agenda is what the voters and taxpayers of Washington State want?