Sacramento Democrats are looking to sneak in a tax increase by abusing a technicality of the California Constitution. Normally, all tax increases require two-thirds of each house of the legislature, which means in practice Republicans can and do veto tax increases.
However now Assemblyman Charles Calderon, Democrat of Los Angeles, wants to amend the state sales tax law in a way that he says will require Apple’s customers to pay sales taxes on all iTunes downloads, applying state sales taxes on a service instead of a tangible good for the first time.
Because this proposal redefines and expands an existing term in the state lawbooks, rather than creating a tax increase, Calderon and other tax-hungry Democrats claim that only a simple majority is required, which means the tax hike can sail through the Democratic-controlled legislature without a single Republican vote.
Anything to swipe a buck from our pockets. That’s the Democratic Party way.