Texas State Sales Tax

Here is my comment to this post

I agree that Texas' tax revenue system does not need reformation. Some states have no sales tax, but to counter it, they have a sales income tax. However there are many more average income and poor citizens than there are wealthy ones. Texas makes more revenue by over-taxing them, because they make up so much more of the population compared to the wealthy. However, if the wealthy were taxed more, there would definitely be a big uprising, because you must keep in mind that the wealthy are the ones who own the majority of public offices and most of the power in the state.

Used Car Sales to Change in Texas

Welcome to another edition of me ranting about the Texas Government's revenue.

Article Link

Some states such as Arizona do not even impose a sales tax on used cars. It is bad enough that Texas has one, but they are beginning to become sticklers about it. The Government wants to start making A LOT more money from used cars sales between private parties (not used dealership cars). So to do this, the DMV will begin charging sales taxes not based on what you bought the car for, but what the car SHOULD have been sold for, according to market valuations such as the Kelley Blue Book.

This is horrendous. We can no longer lie about the purchase prices of our used cars to save money on taxes. Of course, there is the usual way around this, by claiming the vehicle was a "gift". However I am sure there are many more stipulations than simply claiming it was a gift.

Thousands of students will not get expected aid

Here is a link to the article:
Thousands of students will not get expected aid

The Texas Higher Education Coordinate Board decided to let us college students know that the loans that are paying for our tuition bills were basically defaulted on by the lender. Luckily thanks to the discretion of a few schools, they opted not to tell incoming freshman about the loan program beacuse they didn't believe it would work this year.

Tuition assistance programs are very finicky these days. One day they are fine, others they disappear. You would think if tuition rates have risen 40% recently, then assistance programs would also grow by the same rate, but that doesn't hold true. If the program has no money, then it has no money, and nothing can be done about that. However, it should be their responsibility to notify students far enough in advance so that proper action can be taken. This procrastination will lead to some tough times for many families.

More than 10% of Texans are wanted by the police

Here is a link to the article: Here is a link to the first article http://www.shapleigh.org/news/1357-from-the-senator-s-desk

I think we've all been pulled over by a police officer for going a measly 5 miles over the speed limit, and given a nice hefty ticket. Just last week this happened to me when traveling to Houston on Hwy 71 East in Cedar Park. Before being pulled over, I had noticed about twenty other drivers pulled over being issued tickets. I guess it was just that time of the month to meet quotas.

To be honest, I was tempted to just take the ticket and tear it up. I don't care what Cedar Park does, hell, I rarely even drive through it. Hence, the reason why 11% of Austin drivers are currently wanted. It's because of these dumb tickets that are issued, and drivers just don't care enough. I think this is an important article for us students to read, because as youth we are most targeted by the police.