Tag archives: taxes

On June 18, the Supervisors will decide whether our revenue-starved County will approve a ballot referendum that would increase our cannabis tax rates. Frankly, I’m not nearly as concerned about the tax itself, as I am about the fact that Supervisors Steve Lavagnino and Das Willams continue to dominate the cannabis conversation. Allow me to […]

In a recent New York Times editorial, socialist economist Gabriel Zucman of Berkeley wrote “It’s Time to Tax the Billionaires.” Congresswoman Barbara Lee proposed a wealth tax, the Oligarch Act of 2023. Rep. Lee wants a yearly 8% tax on the “extreme wealth” (net worth) of the “aristocratic” rich. Our legislators in Sacramento have also […]

When California voters passed Proposition 19 in November of 2020, many questioned why the Real Estate industry supported a law that eviscerated the “parent to child exclusion” (from property tax reassessments) in most cases. Well, like the Stones’ “Satisfaction” and the Beatles’ “Revolution,” the B side of this new law outshined side A. While Prop […]

In recent years, it has become a ritual for Republicans to threaten to shut down the government and crash the U.S. economy by refusing to raise the debt ceiling. This is like finishing your meal in a restaurant and refusing to pay the bill. These childish tantrums are in direct violation of the 14th Amendment: […]

These K-Rails on the 101 are extreme causes of fear. Who pays for the cleanup after accidents, including the semi on fire in Summerland backing up traffic for hours? Does the City have recourse for cleaning up after the fire and accidents? This superhighway they are building will have big effects on the community. I […]

A common refrain that has echoed around American society for the last 70 years or so goes like this: “Nothing in life is certain, except death and taxes!” Cute, and up until recently a truism that could be counted on. No longer. It turns out there is one other thing that is certain, is inescapable, […]

Republicans have railed against deficit spending for decades. But, every Republican president since 1981 has increased the Federal deficit. Only the Democratic presidents Clinton and Obama have lowered it. When the Democrats are in office, the Republicans oppose any plans to increase government spending, claiming that we can’t afford it. Even though they have no […]

Network news shows tend to end with a feel-good story about people helping people. This often involves someone who got cancer, or some other dreaded disease, and neighbors and friends who mount a fundraiser for them. Sometimes, it even involves children setting up a lemonade stand for the cause. GoFundMe has raised $9 billion since […]

In recent years, I’ve heard a growing amount of criticism of philanthropy. I sense that much of this flak comes from the explosion of wealth inequality in our country, which has actually accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s certainly not a pretty picture to see American billionaires gaining $1 trillion (one trillion dollars!) in wealth […]

On or before April 15, 141 million U.S. taxpayers voluntarily shipped to Washington an estimated $1.7 trillion in individual income tax dollars, or about half of all federal revenues, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). Taxpayers grappled with a federal tax code that is 73,954 pages long, which Albert Einstein called, “the hardest thing […]

Archie’s Last Days I just had a neighbor say… “Why would you let them print this (“The Last Days of Archie McLaren,” MJ # 25/15)?” My answer even surprised me. Archie wanted this story told so dying people had a choice. He actually requested me to find someone just weeks before he died. So back […]

Beware the Ides of April – the time when the Federal and State tax men cometh to collect their share of the money needed to pay for next year’s government follies. Here are some taxing takeaways for Montecito residents: The ZIP Code List Montecito is too often associated with Oprah Winfrey, large estates, and the […]

It is difficult to decide whether to laugh or cry at a recent judge’s ruling denying the U.S. government’s right to use the census to count the number of U.S. citizens. Laughing because it is deceivers’ dream to have every action of this presidential administration – including masking the difference between citizens and illegals – […]

In last week’s Montecito Miscellany, we mistakenly left out Gonzalo Sarmiento from the photo’s caption, which should have included Mr. Sarmiento. Many apologies. Mulling Mueller Matters There are certain areas of the Mueller investigation that could be very disturbing when his report comes out later this month. As a former FBI director, does Mr. Mueller […]

A few months before the fires and the terrible mud slides in Montecito, I wrote to Santa Barbara County South Coast Maintenance Superintendent Randy Carnahan and attached a picture of the cracked asphalts on the surface of Channel Drive and asked that it be repaired. He responded that he would place it on the repair […]

With the Democratic sweep in the November 2018 statewide elections, the Republican Party in California continues its descent into oblivion. The GOP won no statewide office. Democrats now have a death grip on California’s two U.S. Senate seats, all but eight of the 53 California U.S. House seats and a supermajority in Sacramento in the […]