This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Health & Fitness

More Fun with Budgets & Taxes

So when presenting the new state budget proposal, did you catch Governor Brown using the word "subsidiarity." Usually recondite in such settings.

So when presenting the new state budget proposal, did you catch Governor Brown using the word "subsidiarity" to describe his intention to continue shifting responsibilities for policymaking from Sacramento to locally elected officials.

One had to be steeped in Catholic doctrinal history to grasp that it evolves from the work of an influential 20th-century German theologian, Oswald von Nell- Breuning.

von Nell- Breuning postulated that the fundamental autonomy of the individual meant that governments should leave as much decision-making as possible in private hands. It was one of the underpinnings of the Catholic Church's opposition to fascism, communism and other statist forms.

Find out what's happening in Redwood City-Woodsidewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Applying it, as JB did to the relationship between California's state and local governments is, therefore, a bit of a stretch but was a huge opportunity for Da Gov to flash his theological erudition, which you just gotta like – both in a personal and a Facebook sense. If not, then you have a subsidiarity problem.

Taxes, Taxes, Who’s Got Taxes

Find out what's happening in Redwood City-Woodsidewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

From the “You Can’t Make This Stuff Up” Department: Not one of the taxes listed below existed 100 years ago and our nation was the most prosperous in the world. We had absolutely no national debt, had the largest middle class in the world, and families were not fractured by the need for dual incomes and day care:

Accounts Receivable Tax
Building Permit Tax

Business License Tax
CDL license Tax
Cigarette Tax (sin tax)
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Excise Taxes
Federal Income Tax
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Gasoline Tax (currently 44.75 cents per gallon)
Gross Receipts Tax (used to charge businesses for a business license)
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax (sin tax)
Luxury Taxes
Marriage License Tax (sin tax? LOL)
Medicare Tax
Service Charge Tax
Social Security Tax
Road Usage Tax
Recreational Vehicle Tax
Sales Tax
State Income Tax
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Taxes
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Telephone Recurring and Nonrecurring Charges Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Utility Taxes
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax

And my favorites... Parcel Taxes, Property Tax, Real Estate Sales Tax, School Taxes and Traffic Mitigation Taxes, all of which along with growth control and urban limit lines, significantly increased housing costs in our lifetime. Very un-PC observation: One wonders if the enviros and NIMBYs actually had a secret plan to levy all these taxes, therefore slowing housing production and thus making their homes worth more? Nah, that's would require too much organization, right?

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?