Political Article Response

       The article titled " Louisiana Sales Tax System now Ranks Worst than Last Place" by Tyler Bridges summarizes the current predicament of the state sales tax system. Throughout the column, Bridges questions the confusing parts of the system such as only keeping the increase for two years and then returning it. Other interesting and mostly unfair parts are that only certain items are taxed such as commercial fishing supplies but not Crawfish production supplies. Bridges contests that the government wins this system as consumers are forced to pay more money and businesses are forced to change their technology to include the new sales tax. Quotes from rebound economists sprinkled over the duration of the article show that Louisiana's intriguing tax system has made the process even more behind the other states across the nation.

       My opinion of the system is somewhat similar of Brooks' but with slight differences. I believe that the only winner is accountants and consultants as they are able to increase their profits from the raised tax. This tax is bad for consumers who would either have to pay more or travel to another state with a lower tax rate like Mississippi with 7 percent instead of almost 10, which therefore would give the government no money at all. The group who really gets the short end of the stick is businesses especially the small ones which would lose money by losing customers and having to pay technicians to include the new tax into their technology could ultimately lead to their closure. A quick disclaimer is that I do not have much depth inside this whole situation as this is just my opinion and could possibly learn more through interviews with owners of small businesses. I came across this topic by hearing my Dad complain about it at dinner and I found the article by assuming that the local newspaper would have something written about the tax system online.

Here is a link to the article: http://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/politics/legislature/article_b82b895a-0e5c-5cdf-abd8-2d2015e5b1d1.html