There are many factors driving America towards either a full scale Revolution and/or Civil War.
Will add to this thread as the many issues perculate.
Many are intertwined:
Loss of Freedom
Loss of free speech
Religion
Abortion
Gay & Lesbian
Political party battles
Taxes
Censorship
Internet access
Right to bear arms
Loss of Border Control
=================================================
Taxes
3-8-2006 High property taxes driving a new revolt
In Orford, N.H., a tin-roofed hunting cabin worth $10,000 was recently assessed at $200,000, just for its mountain view. Taxes on the cabin and its outhouse skyrocketed.
Around Lake Tahoe, along the California-Nevada border, property taxes have shot up 135 percent in the past four years.
Residents of Beaufort, S.C., pay $17 million more in property taxes today than in 2000.
Welcome to the flip side of the real estate boom. Years of rising home values have boosted property taxes steadily. Now, homeowners across the United States are fighting back.
This year, legislative proposals, citizen initiatives, and lawsuits are on the agenda in at least 20 states.
These new efforts reflect both residents' distrust of how their property tax dollars are being spent and concerns that rising assessments are driving working-class people out of popular towns and cities.
Revolt is in full swing in Incline Village, Nev., on the shores of Lake Tahoe.
There, Maryanne Ingemanson's tax bill is now $80,000 a year
Should you get taxed for a view?
Assessments can vary according to a community's affluence and aesthetics, such as views of mountains or lakes. Tom Thomson, leader of the "Ax the View Tax" movement in New Hampshire, objects to taxing people on intangible qualities such as a view. "It's another process of dipping into taxpayers' pockets without any legislative process, and that is taxation without representation," says Mr. Thomson, son of the late Gov. Meldrim Thomson Jr.
Tax revolt in the states
In the wake of the real estate boom, lawmakers in several states are pushing to keep property taxes from skyrocketing. Among the initiatives:
? Idaho: Lawmakers are mulling over eight bills limiting property taxes. One would revise the "homestead exemption," which now keeps the first $50,000 of a home's value off the tax rolls. The bill boosts that to $100,000.
? South Carolina: Having capped the rise in property tax assessments at 3 percent per year until a home is sold or improved, the legislature is now considering a rollback of property taxes, replacing them with a hike in the sales tax.
? Georgia: Many lawmakers are backing legislation that would put a similar 3 percent cap into the state constitution.
? Nevada: Protesters are gathering signatures for a citizen initiative that would require the state to refund taxpayers if state revenues rise faster than inflation. They also want to cap the growth in property tax bills at 1 percent per year.
? Connecticut: After an uproar over massive assessment hikes for lakefront properties around the state, state officials have ordered cities and towns that have seen property tax spikes to calibrate disputed assessments to "comparable" properties, based on records of recent sales.
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I've seen personally the rises in Taxes forcing people to sell their home for a loss and they are forced back to renting.
This is clearly against what America is supposed to be about.
Of course the rich would disagree.
=====================================================
I love this one:
Latest Republican State manuever to start Revolution II
5-17-2006 St Louis Missouri Town Denies Unmarried Couple Permit To Move Into Their House
BLACK JACK, Mo. - The city council has rejected a measure allowing unmarried couples with multiple children to live together, and the mayor said those who fall into that category could soon face eviction.
Olivia Shelltrack and Fondrey Loving were denied an occupancy permit after moving into a home in this St. Louis suburb because they have three children and are not married.
Mayor Norman McCourt declined to be interviewed but said in a statement that those who do not meet the town's definition of family could soon face eviction.
Will add to this thread as the many issues perculate.
Many are intertwined:
Loss of Freedom
Loss of free speech
Religion
Abortion
Gay & Lesbian
Political party battles
Taxes
Censorship
Internet access
Right to bear arms
Loss of Border Control
=================================================
Taxes
3-8-2006 High property taxes driving a new revolt
In Orford, N.H., a tin-roofed hunting cabin worth $10,000 was recently assessed at $200,000, just for its mountain view. Taxes on the cabin and its outhouse skyrocketed.
Around Lake Tahoe, along the California-Nevada border, property taxes have shot up 135 percent in the past four years.
Residents of Beaufort, S.C., pay $17 million more in property taxes today than in 2000.
Welcome to the flip side of the real estate boom. Years of rising home values have boosted property taxes steadily. Now, homeowners across the United States are fighting back.
This year, legislative proposals, citizen initiatives, and lawsuits are on the agenda in at least 20 states.
These new efforts reflect both residents' distrust of how their property tax dollars are being spent and concerns that rising assessments are driving working-class people out of popular towns and cities.
Revolt is in full swing in Incline Village, Nev., on the shores of Lake Tahoe.
There, Maryanne Ingemanson's tax bill is now $80,000 a year
Should you get taxed for a view?
Assessments can vary according to a community's affluence and aesthetics, such as views of mountains or lakes. Tom Thomson, leader of the "Ax the View Tax" movement in New Hampshire, objects to taxing people on intangible qualities such as a view. "It's another process of dipping into taxpayers' pockets without any legislative process, and that is taxation without representation," says Mr. Thomson, son of the late Gov. Meldrim Thomson Jr.
Tax revolt in the states
In the wake of the real estate boom, lawmakers in several states are pushing to keep property taxes from skyrocketing. Among the initiatives:
? Idaho: Lawmakers are mulling over eight bills limiting property taxes. One would revise the "homestead exemption," which now keeps the first $50,000 of a home's value off the tax rolls. The bill boosts that to $100,000.
? South Carolina: Having capped the rise in property tax assessments at 3 percent per year until a home is sold or improved, the legislature is now considering a rollback of property taxes, replacing them with a hike in the sales tax.
? Georgia: Many lawmakers are backing legislation that would put a similar 3 percent cap into the state constitution.
? Nevada: Protesters are gathering signatures for a citizen initiative that would require the state to refund taxpayers if state revenues rise faster than inflation. They also want to cap the growth in property tax bills at 1 percent per year.
? Connecticut: After an uproar over massive assessment hikes for lakefront properties around the state, state officials have ordered cities and towns that have seen property tax spikes to calibrate disputed assessments to "comparable" properties, based on records of recent sales.
======================================================
I've seen personally the rises in Taxes forcing people to sell their home for a loss and they are forced back to renting.
This is clearly against what America is supposed to be about.
Of course the rich would disagree.
=====================================================
I love this one:
Latest Republican State manuever to start Revolution II
5-17-2006 St Louis Missouri Town Denies Unmarried Couple Permit To Move Into Their House
BLACK JACK, Mo. - The city council has rejected a measure allowing unmarried couples with multiple children to live together, and the mayor said those who fall into that category could soon face eviction.
Olivia Shelltrack and Fondrey Loving were denied an occupancy permit after moving into a home in this St. Louis suburb because they have three children and are not married.
Mayor Norman McCourt declined to be interviewed but said in a statement that those who do not meet the town's definition of family could soon face eviction.