Fellow Mainers: Do You Feel That Maine Is Becoming A "Nanny State?" (Bangor: lawyers, buy)

[Cornerguy1]

Can anyone else come up with some good old fashioned "common sense" legislation that's been passed? Don't get me wrong, I do see the value in many laws - I guess I just question the amount of effort that goes into saving me from myself.

Perhaps you can take some solace in the fact that Maine is certainly not the only jurisdiction where "common sense" legislation of various types has been passed. It's also not the only jurisdiction where folks get upset about being nannied.

On the flip side of that is the fact that, unfortunately, "common sense" isn't all that common.

While a responsible parent wouldn't smoke in a vehicle with kids present, there are those who will light up simply through lack of thought.

Will a law banning smoking in vehicles stop the practice? Certainly not in all circumstances, but it hopefully it convinces some parents of the irresponsability of the practice.

As a smoker, I can tell you that having your cigarette go out unexpectedly when you neglect it can be a bit of a pain, but if thicker cigarette papers help reduce the number of house fires and deaths caused by careless smoking, then I can live with having to relight occasionally.

[Mark S.]

Originally Posted by Cornerguy1

As a smoker, I can tell you that having your cigarette go out unexpectedly when you neglect it can be a bit of a pain.

Best grafitti I ever saw (above a urinal in the Roswell, NM bus station):

PLEASE DO NOT THROW CIGARETTE BUTTS INTO THE URINAL
AS THEY BECOME SOGGY AND DIFFICULT TO LIGHT

[RANGER.101ST]

those are just common sence rules but im talking about stupid laws that make no sence.why is it i have to pay tax on something i have allready paid tax on when i bought it. i miss caratunk.

[Cornerguy1]

Originally Posted by RANGER.101ST

those are just common sence rules but im talking about stupid laws that make no sence.why is it i have to pay tax on something i have allready paid tax on when i bought it. i miss caratunk.

The short answer is that politicians everywhere have a seemingly insatiable appetite for spending money.

You elected them to office; they choose you to pay for their pet projects.

Sad to say, Ranger, but it ain't just in Maine.

[RANGER.101ST]

Originally Posted by Cornerguy1

The short answer is that politicians everywhere have a seemingly insatiable appetite for spending money.

You elected them to office; they choose you to pay for their pet projects.

Sad to say, Ranger, but it ain't just in Maine.

ya it could be worse.my cousin lives in ottawa.he says he would trade his tax for my tax any day.

[dmyankee]

Don't forget the ban on the sale of novelty lighters, hard snuff (now rescinded,) and flavored cigarettes. State taxes and floor taxes on similar products are always sold under the guise of "for the children."

A fee is a tax by any other name. One of my retail licenses cost just $25, for the life of the business a few years ago. It is now $150/year. This state sucks far more out of the taxpaying citizen than they should.

[retiredtinbender]

Originally Posted by RANGER.101ST

ya it could be worse.my cousin lives in ottawa.he says he would trade his tax for my tax any day.

Since we took this out of country, how about England. Over there you pay a TV tax each year. It pays for the BBC. And it pays for the little vans that drive around neighborhoods looking for signals in houses they know didn't pay. Then there's a value added tax, Ministry of Trans. tax (an expensive state inspection tax) and we were told that spiggots on the outside of the house were taxed. I can't remember them all. Too early on the morning and 25 years since I moved back.

But why are they taxing you for the equipment again? Is it personal property taxes?

[reloop]

Originally Posted by dmyankee

Don't forget the ban on the sale of novelty lighters, hard snuff (now rescinded,) and flavored cigarettes. State taxes and floor taxes on similar products are always sold under the guise of "for the children."

A fee is a tax by any other name. One of my retail licenses cost just $25, for the life of the business a few years ago. It is now $150/year. This state sucks far more out of the taxpaying citizen than they should.

Thanks - I had forgotten those ones. One of my husband's Christmas presents is his combination hunting/fishing license. Should it not be tucked neatly in his stocking on Christmas morn, I may as well pack my bags. I've watched it go from (I believe, don't quote me verbatim) a little over $20 to almost $80. Sad, really. I think that fees on top of land loss will eventually (albeit slowly) put the kibosh to that Maine "tradition" just as "going green" to almost exclusion will put the final bullet in the papermaking industry.

I just wonder when "they" will come up with a Blackberry that wipes your rear.

[reloop]

Originally Posted by retiredtinbender

But why are they taxing you for the equipment again? Is it personal property taxes?

Yes it's personal property tax. I believe (could be wrong - wouldn't be the first time) that it's a law that towns have had on the books for a long time - it just wasn't "enforced" (which makes me wonder what other laws are on the books that aren't enforced - yet). With the mess that the state is in now, the towns are looking for ways to cover the loss of their allocations, and see that as a way to do so legally. I can understand that - they've got to cover expenses somehow. Our town did a great job of making significant cuts in the school budget and what they could of the town's.

My father spent 30 years building a steel houseboat. My mother once had to argue with the state about the taxing of it because nearly everything he built it out of was considered "salvage." She made the argument that anything they purchased for it, they already paid state tax on, and they weren't going to pay them a penny more. She had to do some fancy digging in dry laws and statute books, but low and behold they were right, and didn't pay anything other than the documentation fee (it was a 65 ton boat and with it's size it had to be federally documented as a ship). I suppose the town we lived in could have tried to tax it, but at that point they weren't "enforcing" that law.

[reloop]

Originally Posted by Cornerguy1

The short answer is that politicians everywhere have a seemingly insatiable appetite for spending money.

You elected them to office; they choose you to pay for their pet projects.

Sad to say, Ranger, but it ain't just in Maine.

Agreed. It's everywhere.