Licenses,Taxes, Fees, OH MY!!!

I am starting to brace myself for the day we are to pay a fee for the air we breathe. I can't help but think our government is extorting millions at our expense. Fees and taxes would be easier to accept if I saw a change for the better as a result of the fee or tax.

If an item (cigarettes for example) is taxed and the funds are to be used to ease the burden on the health care system as a result of smoking, why are cigarettes taxed so heavily while foods and beverages with sugar that have absolutely no nutritional value what-so-ever not taxed just as heavily? How much does obesity and diabetes cost America? I believe these taxes are to relieve a burden due to a general lack of funds. They are easily taxed.

So, we pay.

It is a fine day when, down the road, you find that  the funds have been diverted from it's original purpose. Possibly a bond was paid instead of a new safety facility being built. Or our dollars could have been "invested" unwisely and lost all together. Look at the L.O.S.T funds. They're lost. Our city planners make plans and never seem to look at the possibility of a economic downturn. What was a five year plan turns to the ten year plan.

Now, our county wants to require a license for tree trimmers.

The claim is there are people doing this work that are not educated in how to trim a tree. I agree. Homeowners shop around and most likely choose the least expensive way to meet their needs. This opens the door to the unqualified. From what I have read the focus seems to be on the guys eeking out a living. Not the utility workers and cable companies.

Because of the type of work I do, I notice the many trees that have been disfigured along our roadways. The work has been done to clear the way for wiring and such. This leads me to believe the work is done by utility and cable companies. I have often thought ... I would never be able to do their job (even if I was qualified) if this is what I have to do to a tree.

Is this licence an effort to make sure the trimmers are educated in their field? To make sure the work is done with integrity? Will this proposal require everyone that puts a saw to a tree be licensed? Will a loophole be established as to exempt county and utility workers?

Is this license just another tactic to get some more money?

Check out the Tax Watch Turkey Watch Report

The only difference between a tax man and a taxidermist is the taxidermist leaves the skin

~Mark Twain~