High on Taxes in Colorado – if you can smoke it – Colorado can Tax it! – Marijuana Tax Passes Legislature

The State of Colorado has passed a sales and excise tax on recreational marijuana. (NPR) According to NPR, the excise tax will be set at 15% and the sales tax at 10%. The laws regarding taxes will go to the ballot for the voters to decide as it is Colorado State law (NPR).

Compared to Beer, the Mile High State ranks 46th overall in beer taxes at .08 on the dollar, or 2 cents under the proposed weed tax(Tax Foundation).

On the other hand, once can see marijuana heading in the direction of tobacco – with Colorado setting a tax on tobacco products of 4.2 cents per cigarette and an additional 40% of the manufactures list price. (Colorado Department of Revenue.)

One can see a “cash crop” for states that are legalizing the use of marijuana and taxes on recreational or medical marijuana are sure to become part and parcel of those users’ costs. Colorado set the bar, so to speak, with marijuana sales now in the Massachusetts Legislature (having passed a ballot measure); one can see those users who were previously celebrating, now looking at the Massachusetts version of taxing anything that moves. Compared to Colorado, Massachusetts in kind to the beer drinker with a tax rate of 11 cents on the dollar (Tax Foundation) ranking 44th, however, on cigarettes, Massachustts grabs $3.01 per pack, that’s not in addition to Federal Taxes. (WWLP)

Those who fought to see marijuana legalized may be paying more in the end than they bargained for,

Massachusetts ranks 47th for Business – Texas #1 - Will Massachsuetts Lose Yet another Congressional Seat in 10 years?

The rankings for the best states to do business in have placed Massachusetts in the bottom ten, according to Chief Executive Magazine, while Texas remains at number one. Massachusetts ranks with New York, Illinois, California, New Jersey, Connecticut, Michigan, Hawaii and Maryland – states with the highest corporate tax rates and business regulations. Texas continues to maintain its first place ranking, with Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee, Indiana, Arizona, Virginia, South Carolina, Nevada and Georgia rounding out the top ten.

From Mass Live The Springfield Republican website, one could detect a bit of concern. Apparently,

The key metric listed in the ranking showed that gross state product in Massachusetts from fiscal 2010 to 2011 had grown at 2.2 percent, a faster clip than the national average of 0.7 percent. Based on Bureau of Labor Statistics data, Massachusetts also had a lower unemployment rate than the national average and a state-local tax burden of 9.3 percent, more than half a percentage point lower than the national average.

The publication suggested that the Magazine “catered” to CEO’s and that it was fodder for political points: The Republican’s seized” on the news. (Masslive). See Comments by readers for entertainment value

It is probably no wonder that an exodus which cost the state a Congressional Seat in the last census finds many of its former residents moving to the Lone Star State, over the border to New Hampshire or where business friendly environments, with low tax rates, offers individuals a bit more economic freedom. One may find the Democrat Congressional Caucus down by one more after the next census, unless of course, the trend to tax anything that moves in Massachusetts is reversed.

Rick Perry – You can always Count on Him to Shoot from the Hip – Obama to Texas to Talk Job Creation - ROFLO

Texas Governor, Rick Perry, prepares to welcome President Obama - image ksdk

Dallas Morning News: Governor Rick Perry has welcomed President Obama to the State of Texas, and hoped that he would take something from what Texas is doing, and share it with the rest of the country. (Dallas News)

Perry, ever gracious, suggested this in light of the fact that the President was there to talk about creating jobs. Apparently, there is a difference of opinion on how to get that accomplished. On the one hand, you have Perry’s Texas – where the unemployment is low, taxes are low, business is booming, housing is affordable, and everyday there are refugees from California, Massachusetts, Illinois, and similar stats, moving in.

From those that had moved years ago from a state such as Massachusetts, they insist on two things: one, Rick Perry can be Govenor for Life (and they are former Democrats) and two, no way would they return to the northeast or Chicago. The driving force behind this transformation has been the ability to find a job, and the ability to have a home, without breaking the bank. There’s more about Texas that’s attractive, but suffice it to say, those that move there, stay there.

The President has a different philosophy on how to create jobs, and as the slow monthly jobs reports file in, one gets the feeling that 100,000 jobs per month re just not enough to put the twelve million individuals out of a job, back to work – those jobs, are based on “stimulus” and “green Industry” and whatever forward thinking project the President thinks up next. Unfortunately, it’s a slow process, and by the time the unemployment rate is under what it was when Bush left office, Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, or who knows who else will be the next president. (The similar unemployment rate was the reason Bush was summarily shown the door with declining favorability ratings – of course that has changed a bit since Obama took office, it has helped Gorge W. immensely.)

Therefore it is extremely ironic that the President would go to Texas and taught his job plan, unless of course, those Democrats think that they stand a chance in taking the state of Texas from those gun toting, bible loving, and free spirited Texans. One might suggest hell will freeze over, but the good news for the rest of the country – the more time they spend in trying to overturn Texas in some sort of Progressive Coup, the less time they will have to spend annoying the rest of the country. Thanks in advance to Govenor Rick Perry for keeping them busy!