Starve The Beast, Part 1

Politicians have a moral, ethical, and legal obligation to spend our money wisely.  They fail – consistently – on all three counts.  But they also have a moral, ethical, and legal obligation to also raise money wisely, as well.  By “wisely”, I mean building a revenue structure that raises the minimal amount of money needed at the minimal cost and intrusion into our lives.  They fail even worse in this regard.

Politicians only know three things:  how to raise money (taxes), how to spend money (poorly), and how to ask for money (political fundraising).  So we need to speak to them in a language they understand by taking back OUR money and removing it from their grubby little fingers.

Recommendation #1:  January 1, 2008 --  Reduce Your Spending in Maryland

The Maryland State Sales Tax went up to 6% today.  It is one of the major revenue producers for the state, and one of the favorite ones as well, because the cost of collection and compliance is borne (almost) entirely by business.  Which is to say, by citizens, since those costs are always passed on to the consumer.

The best way you can inflict pain on the State of Maryland is to reduce your spending in Maryland.  I did not say eliminate—that is nearly impossible for the average Marylander.  But you can reduce your spending:

Make purchases online through Amazon.com, ebay, and other online retailers.  If they don’t have a physical presence in the state – generally a store or distribution center or office – they don’t have to charge you sales tax.

Don’t buy alcohol with meals.  This is a double-whammy.  The state collects neither the excise tax OR the sales tax.  Yes, it is a bummer, but it will be effective.

If you can’t buy through online retailers, take a page from some of the fundraisers run by local organizations, and organize your friends in to a shopping extravaganza trip to a neighboring state like Delaware, Pennsylvania, or Virginia.  All three states host outlets.  Pennsylvania doesn’t even charge sales tax on clothing.  Pennsylvania has outlets in Gettysburg, York, and Lancaster—all within an hour of Baltimore.  Delaware doesn’t have sales tax.  Virginia is generally cheaper than Maryland anyway (although having to use I-95 is the tradeoff there).  The message:  we’ll vote with our feet.

If you must shop in Maryland, don’t do business at retailers that support the O’Guvnah in his fundraising (or, for that matter, state legislators).  I’ll put up a list with this information soon, but you can start by asking what bank you use… if “this bank was built for you”, consider going elsewhere.  And make sure those retailers know why you don’t shop there anymore…

If you need computer services performed—don’t use a business based in Maryland.  Better yet, find a good friend to do it for you for free (note:  I can be bough with bottles of WildTurkey, Macallan, Tullamore Dew, or A’bunadh).  If you are a business looking for a new website, and you put out an RFQ, make sure you stipulate that you will not do business with organizations that must charge Maryland Sales Tax.

Like I said, the goal is to reduce your spending in Maryland subject to the sales tax, not eliminate it.  This isn’t a case of ideological purity.  It’s a simple case of using our economic power – OUR spending of OUR money – to send a message to the Soddomites on the Severn.