Repeal of food tax for who’s benefit?

The state legislature for Alabama is debating a bill right now that when approved by the people would remove the sales tax on all basic food products at the state level.

This reduces the sales tax on such items by 4%.

The offset is that the highest earning/achievers in the state will be hit with a lower deduction for federal income tax to make up the shortfall.

If you ask those who are backing it then you hear the excuse that it is being done to “help the poor”. There is a flaw in this theory and when confronted with it they ignore it. Somehow they think that if there are no evil words about anything they propose then there will be no evil in what they do.
Yes that sounds odd but think about it for a minute.

The very people that this bill is purported to help do NOT pay sales tax on food as by and large the poor are on food stamps and any purchase made with them is TAX FREE.

The purveyors of the myth of need over rights are again pushing the sanction of the victim as an excuse to take by force money from those who have done will in order to support BY FORCE OF GOVERNMENT those who have not.

This is in no shape, form or substance the purpose of government laid out in the constitution.

Why will the progressives (read welfare statists) not just come out and state what they are going for rather than hide it with altruistic warm & fuzzy beggings. Are they afraid that if they state their real intentions that the general public will refuse them and turn them out of office?

The next stage of the civil discourse in this state & nation will hinge on whether those who are for freedom and rights are wiling to stand up and push back against the mystics of muscle and the altruists in order to save this nation and keep us from becoming an average nation like all of those in Europe.

Below is the direct text of the Bill for those who are interested.

HB1
By Representatives Knight, Salaam, Hammett, Newton (D), Guin, Kennedy, Curtis, Letson, White, Dukes, Robinson (J), Taylor, McLaughlin, Spicer, Millican, Gordon, Black, Vance, Thigpen, Harper, Beasley, Coleman, Hinshaw, Graham, Page, Grantland, Irons, Todd, Hall, Warren, Hurst, McCampbell, Jackson, Buskey, Howard, Thomas (J), Boyd, Mitchell, McClammy, Baker (L), Moore (M), Morrow, Hilliard, England, Fields, Fite, Robinson (O), Lindsey and Sherer
RFD Education Appropriations
Rd 1 12-JAN-10

A BILL
TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT

To propose an amendment to the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, to repeal Amendment 225 of the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, now appearing as Section 211.04 of the Official Recompilation of the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, as amended; to limit the state income tax deduction for federal income taxes for individual taxpayers; and to exempt sales of food from state sales tax.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:

Section 1. The following amendment to the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, as amended, is proposed and shall become valid as a part thereof when approved by a majority of the qualified electors voting thereon and in accordance with Sections 284, 285, and 287 of the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, as amended:

PROPOSED AMENDMENT

(a) Amendment 225 of the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, now appearing as Section 211.04 of the Official Recompilation of the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, as amended, is repealed.

(b) For all tax years beginning after December 31, 2010, federal income taxes paid or accrued shall be allowed as a deduction for individual income taxpayers, subject to the following limitations:

(1) For single, married filing separately, and head of household taxpayers with adjusted gross income of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) or less, and for married taxpayers filing jointly with adjusted gross income of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) or less, all federal income taxes paid or accrued shall be allowed as a deduction.

(2) For single, married filing separately, and head of household taxpayers with adjusted gross income of more than fifty thousand dollars ($50,000), the federal income tax deduction shall be reduced by an amount equal to one percent of federal income taxes paid or accrued for each one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500) of adjusted gross income in excess of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000).

(3) For married taxpayers filing jointly with adjusted gross income of more than one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000), the federal income tax deduction shall be reduced by an amount equal to one percent of federal income taxes paid or accrued for each three thousand dollars ($3,000) of adjusted gross income in excess of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000).

(c) Beginning January 1, 2011, the sale of food shall be exempt from state sales tax. Local governments shall continue to levy sales taxes on food at the same rate collected for the local portion of the retail sales tax. For purposes of this amendment, food means food as defined for food stamp purposes in the Federal Food Stamp Act, 7 U.S.C. §2011, et seq., regardless of where or by what means food is sold. Food does not include candy or soft drinks. Candy means a preparation of sugar, honey, or other natural or artificial sweeteners in combination with chocolate, fruit, nuts, or other ingredients or flavorings in the form of bars, drops, or pieces. Candy shall not include any preparation containing flour and shall require no refrigeration. Soft drinks means non-alcoholic beverages that contain natural or artificial sweeteners. Soft drinks do not include beverages that contain milk or milk products, soy, rice, or similar milk substitutes, or greater than 50 percent of vegetable or fruit juice by volume. In the event that the federal food stamp definition no longer exists, the Legislature shall provide a new definition of food by general law.

Section 2. An election upon the proposed amendment shall be held in accordance with Sections 284 and 285 of the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, as amended, and the election laws of this state.

Section 3. The appropriate election official shall assign a ballot number for the proposed constitutional amendment on the election ballot and shall set forth the following description of the substance or subject matter of the proposed constitutional amendment:

“Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, to repeal Amendment 225 of the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, now appearing as Section 211.04 of the Official Recompilation of the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, as amended; to limit the state income tax deduction for federal income taxes for individual taxpayers; and to exempt sales of food from state sales tax.

“Proposed by Act ________.”

This description shall be followed by the following language:

“Yes ( ) No ( ).”