Even worse than taxes ~ By John Stossel

From WorldNetDaily

By John Stossel Posted: November 18, 2009 ~ 1:00 am Eastern © 2009 Bill O'Reilly is mad at me because I'm not mad enough about taxes. Last week on "The O'Reilly Factor," we talked about California's and New York's enormous budget deficits and planned tax increases. Those states would have big surpluses had they just grown their governments in pace with inflation. But of course they didn't. Now the politicians act like their current deficits are something imposed on them by the recession. But that's nonsense. They created the problem with their reckless spending. Let's look at the particulars. Had the government of New York state grown at the rate of population and inflation over the past 10 years, it would have a $14 billion surplus today. Instead, spending grew at twice the rate of inflation. So New York has a $3 billion deficit. To dent California's deficit, bureaucrats will withhold an extra 10 percent from every taxpayer – at least from those who don't flee the state. New York planned to raise the price of new license plates, but then backed off. The visible tax was unpopular. But the hidden taxes grow. Hidden taxes are more pernicious because they disguise what we pay for government. We blame merchants, not our legislators, for the high price of gasoline, liquor, cigarettes and phone calls, but the money goes to the political thieves. New York imposes a gas tax of 61 cents a gallon – almost a quarter of the cost of the gas. New York City taxes cigarettes at $4.25 a pack. Washington state collects $26 per gallon of hard liquor. Illinois politicians take a sneaky cut when you buy junk food: They add 6.25 percent to the cost of soda and candy. [CLICK HERE TO READ MORE]