Taxachusetts, once again.

Today, Massachusetts governor Duval Patrick signed a state budget that cuts local aid and increases the state sales tax from 5% to 6.25%. The budget cuts a ton of government programs but does give about $4 billion for education funding and restores health care for 30,000 legal immigrants.

I'm somewhat at a loss over this. On one hand, yay budget for education. On the other hand, HELLO? This is not a good methodology for increasing consumerism in the commonwealth. Here I am, cash-strapped normal middle class doofus with surprisingly little extra cash to help stimulate the economy. But, I still need to provide for my family, so purchases are not uncommon. However, I can very much say that I will be doing a significantly higher percentage of my business online with nationwide vendors who do not charge sales tax. Not because I don't want to help out my community, but because I cannot friggin afford not to anymore.

You want to get us out of this dilemma? Try DEcreasing the sales tax. This will inspire more consumer activity. Don't believe me? One weekend a year Massachusetts has a "no sales tax" event. Quite obviously, that is a huge deal and tons of revenue is earned by all parties. Now imagine that we drop the sales tax to 4%. Not a huge number, but enough for some jerkoff like me to actually go to a store rather than go online or to New Hampshire. I believe that this would be a common perception and our economy will sustain more of a boost than increasing taxes.

Example: Walmart is a tremendously successful corporation. They garner small profit margins per item because they can rely on volume. Tweeter, Etc, an esoteric electronics chain, did the opposite. Small volume, high margin. Take a look at where both companies stand today.