2008 Primaries, Views on News • September 17th, 2008

The iPod tax is back

by Chris Lato

Uh-oh. New taxes could be coming your way in Wisconsin…including the dreaded iPod tax.

With the election less than two months away, the timing on this proposal is interesting. With the state Senate expected to stay in Democratic hands, and the Assembly believed by some to be up for grabs, the thinking is that a Democrat-controlled Legislature, coupled with a Democrat governor, would embrace this list of proposals from the Department of Revenue.

Could this be a game changer in some legislative races? It certainly should be a hot topic on the campaign trail in these final few weeks. Republicans and fiscally-conservative Democrats would be wise to seize this issue as just one example of how important the upcoming elections are.

Those who support these taxes may be asked why they would seek tax hikes when the Wisconsin economy and families are already struggling to make ends meet.

Now, a lot can happen in the next few months. Let’s say Republicans hold onto the Assembly. Or, Barack Obama becomes our next president, and Gov. Doyle leaves Wisconsin for a job in the Obama administration. Barbara Lawton ascends to the throne, and she is thought to be more liberal on tax-and-spend policy.

Or, Congress refuses to act on these Internet-tax proposals.

Those are a lot of ‘what-if’ scenarios. These tax hikes wouldn’t go into effect tomorrow. But by the same token, these ideas aren’t going away and it’s a worthy issue for voters to consider before November 4.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 17th, 2008 at 8:51 am and is filed under 2008 Primaries, Views on News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.