Everyone keeps saying how we don't want to raise taxes, but actually taxes are being raised all the time. Because cities are no longer getting enough revenue from the state and the federal government, they are finding other ways to bring in revenue. One particularly lucrative source is traffic tickets. I recently got a ticket in a spot that is marked (very poorly) as no stopping from 3-7 on weekdays. That cost me $64. A moving violation costs $500.
What particularly irks me about this is that this charge is the same for anyone, regardless of their income. At least with income taxes you pay as a percentage of your income.
I heard that in Sweden (I believe it's Sweden), the amount you pay is a percentage of your income. This means that a rich person is just as motivated to abide by the law as a poor person, because the monetary pain experienced is the same. I would love to see something like that implemented here, except of course the rich run this country...
