Upstate Citizens for Equality to Renew Campaign to Impeach New York Governor George E. Pataki
Governor Pataki is violating his oath of office and the State Constitutional command to execute all laws.
(PRWEB) October 10, 2004 -- Previously Upstate Citizens for Equality had called for the impeachment of Governor Pataki due to his policy of non-enforcement of the Tax Laws on Indian land. Our organization pulled back from this position in reliance on the introduction and passage of Bill S6822 which would remove all discretion in this area from the Governor. Absent immediate action on the part of our state legislature to deliver this bill, which had passed with an overwhelming majority, our organization will have no choice but to move forward on this campaign to remove the governor and those in office that support this policy.
Recently Erie County Executive Joel Giambra has asked state legislative representatives for support in increasing Erie Countys sales tax rate by 1%. His justification for this increase is that the countys funding of state mandated Medicaid has increased to the point that it is equivalent to the revenue generated by property taxes in the county. Mr. Giambra also stated that an increase in sales tax would be fairer than an increase in property taxes.
The state has steadily increased the taxes imposed on cigarettes under the rubric of defraying Medicaid related expenses. The current tax imposed on cigarettes is $1.50 per pack plus the sales tax rate of 8.25%.
Earlier this year a study was released by F.A.C.T. (Fair Application of Cigarette Taxes website: http://www.factalliance.org) that addressed the lost revenue by the States failure to collect taxes from non-members on Indian land. (This includes people of Indian descent who are not a member of the Indian nation or tribe whose land the purchase takes place.) The study concluded:
| | - collecting taxes on Native American sales would reduce total cigarette consumption by 5 percent and save 1,250 lives a year in New York. The state would collect $410 million in additional cigarette taxes per year and save $215 million in annual Medicaid costs;
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| | - shift 24 million cartons of local consumption from tax-avoiding sources to tax-paying sources;
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| | - reduce Internet sales, including out-of-state sales;
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| | - and reduce smoking in the state by 2.5 million to 3 million cartons;
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These changes in market conditions would create a direct net increase of 1,300 to 1,400 jobs in the retail cigarette market, with higher labor earnings of $35 million to $40 million. Indirect effects - from industries that supply or service cigarette retailers - combined with direct impacts would bring total job expansion to between 1,900 and 2,000, with a total net gain of $55 million to $60 million in taxable wages.
Although there is little doubt that major reform is needed in this state, this state should not increase the taxes on law-abiding citizens to benefit a few favored by the governor.
Absent coercive action on the part of the legislature to protect its constitutional position and remain a co-equal branch to the governor the citizens of the State of New York will no longer have a republican form of government, we will have a totalitarian one. As the late United States Supreme Court Justice Felix Franfurter said "If one man can be allowed to determine for himself what is law, every man can. That means first chaos, then tyranny. Legal process is an essential part of the democratic process."
Sincerely,
Daniel T. Warren
Chair
Niagara Frontier Chapter of Upstate Citizens for Equality
http://www.upstate-citizens.org
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