Sharp as a Marble - The 7% off sale

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The 7% off sale

Politics

Would you go hog wild if you were only saving 7% on specific items? Because that's exactly what's happening here where I live. This weekend is a 'tax free' weekend on clothing, shoes, and school supplies and the mall was jam packed.

Imagine how much of a boost to the economy you could do if you started cutting taxes nation wide. Being that government jobs seem to be paying so well while the rest of us suffer, I'm not easily swayed by the notion that cutting taxes will somehow harm us more than help. Oh, it'll harm the leeches…

posted @ 8/14/2010 8:04:31 PM

Incoming Links

SayUncle » You mean it’s like shopping online? on 8/16/2010 8:24:06 AM

Comments

alan says:

on 8/14/2010 8:56:17 PM

7% off is a good start. I bet we can do better though. :D

One of my biggest criticisms of the flat tax proposals is that they try to be "revenue neutral" as if that were a good thing.

MichaelB says:

on 8/14/2010 9:30:09 PM

Louisiana has a three tax free weekends.
Last weekend of May (weekend before Huricane season), no state sales tax (4%) on hurricane preparedness items up to $1,500
First weekend of August (for back to school), no state sales tax on almost all tax able goods (no cars, prepared food), up to $2,500.
First weekend of Sept, no state or parish taxes (up to 10% depending on parish) on firearms, ammunition and hunting supplies.
All 3 bump up business for stores.

tkdkerry says:

on 8/14/2010 9:30:15 PM

7% less to the store? Not too exciting.

7% less to the government? When does the store open? I want to be first!

Will says:

on 8/14/2010 9:30:50 PM

Any time I'm not paying taxes to the government black hole is a good thing.

Robb Allen says:

on 8/14/2010 9:37:50 PM

While most of my readers are more than happy to stick their thumb in Uncle Sam's greedy eyes, think of this from a standard, apolitical consumer.

They go crazy when they know they're not paying tax, even if it's only 7%. Imagine how that works when you block taxes for an extended period of time across the nation.

And Alan, I'm a fan of dividing the cost of the government by the number of citizens 18 years or older and sending each and every one of them a bill, making it illegal for anyone else to do your taxes, and the receipt you get stating that you paid your taxes in full is your ticket to vote.

K says:

on 8/15/2010 12:35:35 AM

I must have somehow accidentally found my way to the hind tit. I work for the gov't - a university - and I'll be damned if I or anybody I work with is making even 50% of what people in private sector make for identical jobs.

I don't know where this trope about the rich gov't workers comes from, but they sure don't work with me! I'm not saying that never happens, but I think it's much less common than people are led to believe.

Sailorcurt says:

on 8/15/2010 9:08:32 AM

I must have somehow accidentally found my way to the hind tit. I work for the gov't - a university - and I'll be damned if I or anybody I work with is making even 50% of what people in private sector make for identical jobs.

Sorry, but unless you can substantiate that, I've gotta throw the BS flag on that one.

You're making HALF what your counterparts in the civilian world make? Including benefits? Not buying it.

Anon45Guy says:

on 8/15/2010 9:11:25 AM

K - I am with you. My job for the government requires extensive education, extensive training, and the indignity of peeing in a bottle regularly...for about $35-40K less than the same level peer earns in industry.

The ugly reality is that the government got rid of most of the lower grade jobs (GS 7-9) and the jobs that remain tend to be pretty specialized in a lot of cases. That tends to skew the results pretty heavily.

Reputo says:

on 8/15/2010 9:44:23 AM

Anon45Guy,

Then why don't you leave your government job and take the extra $35-40K, and not have to pee in a cup?

Methinks you haven't read the studies that purport this. The ones that I have read show that salary wise (which appears to be what you are talking about), government workers make slightly less (although not by much). However, when benefits (insurance, retirement, pension, etc.) are added in over the projected typical career, government workers are making double. The kicker is the generous pensions in the public sector that are given for minimal amount of service. So while a government worker may work for 25 years and then receive a substantial amount of their salary as a pension, a private sector worker would have to work at least 35-40 years to get the same benefit. When total lifetime compensation is divided by actual working years, government workers make out like bandits.

Why else would government workers put up with peeing in a cup so often?

Anonymous says:

on 8/15/2010 10:08:36 AM

Well, I can tell you what I make vs. industry standard, but I doubt you'll believe me. I'm feeling like a good sport today, though, so what the heck...

I work in IT security and have 7 years experience as the *sole* IT security admin in a 15,000 user university network. I've also got 15 years of experience (concurrent to the security gig; I've been doing both for years) as a PC/network repair guy. I'm also the sole Linux administrator at the Uni. I don't know if you know anything about IT job roles, but that's a pretty big load to do by myself.

According to the Computerworld magazine industry salary survey available at http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9174032/Salary_Survey_2010 ,the regional average for my experience level and job role is ~$97,000.

I make about $38,000.

So, you're half correct. 50% of market *is* BS... I'm much closer to 40%. What a little ray of sunshine.

Linoge says:

on 8/15/2010 10:31:10 AM

7%? Bah. Pansies. We save all of 10% here in the Patron State of Shootin' Stuff. Well, a little less, or a little more, depending on city/county.

That said, when the stores start matching the sales tax discount (which many of those establishments we visited did), I start getting interested.

TJP says:

on 8/15/2010 1:05:18 PM

Heck, some folks get a 6% discount year-round in Connecticut simply by pretending the Sales and Use Tax doesn't exist. (I call this technique the "Senator Kerry".)

There was a time when running around claiming that you loved big government was enough, but now it's fun to watch the snake eating its own tail.

craig says:

on 8/16/2010 11:22:31 AM

Anonymous says:
"Well, I can tell you what I make vs. industry standard, but I doubt you'll believe me."

I'm having a hard time believing you. The same link you posted shows entry-level help desk staff making more than $38K. So several things could be happening:

(a) you have some special situation you have not disclosed here which renders you unable to demand more pay (e.g., you're an ex-convict or a dropout, or you live in the Alaskan bush and there are no other IT jobs for 300 miles);

(b) you get some non-monetary satisfaction to compensate (e.g., you think your work directly helps feed starving children in Africa);

or else (c) you have no-one to blame but yourself for permitting the situation to continue. Sorry, but those are pretty much the only explanations.

Anonymous says:

on 8/16/2010 12:35:58 PM

I really don't care if you believe me or not.

My point was - simply - that many of us in public jobs make far less than in private industry.

I didn't say that you should cry for me, or that there was no other work around. I simply said that the common belief of rich gov't workers isn't true in my case, nor any of the people I work with. Our salaries are published and a matter of public record, freely available on the Internet.

I never said anything about "blaming" anyone...

Reading comprehension. You fail it.

Comments have been closed on this topic.