Top-ten reasons we're moving to Wyoming:

[MichaelNotMike]

Top-ten reasons Debra Jean and I are moving to Wyoming from SoCal:

1. The people
2. You can carry a gun to protect yourself.
3. Freedom!
4. Space/calm
5. Cheaper rent/purchase of homes, land
6. Unemployment is low (the fourth lowest of any state in the country.)
7. Economy not only doesn't have a deficit, it has a surplus.
8. No state income tax, sales tax is 4%, no sales tax on food.
9. Far from the creeping Mexican/American "war on drugs", and overall violent crime is much lower (see numbers 1, 2, 6, 7)
10. Bison!

MWD 

[Paul Bonneau]

Correction on the sales tax. The state share of the tax is 4%. Counties are authorized to levy up to an additional 3% for projects and operating expenses, by submitting measures to county residents.

[MichaelNotMike]

Correction on the sales tax. The state share of the tax is 4%. Counties are authorized to levy up to an additional 3% for projects and operating expenses, by submitting measures to county residents.

bleah!

Well, LA is about to go up to ten percent with the state/county.

[MichaelNotMike]

Is food tax-free in restaurants, or is the tax-free just on uncooked food bought in stores?

MWD

[Andrew]

Is food tax-free in restaurants, or is the tax-free just on uncooked food bought in stores?

Only unprepared food bought from stores are exempt from sales tax.   Deli items like fried chicken available for immediate consumption are taxed; however a cold salad bar would not be as long as you are not provided with a fork...

Lots of good info here: http://revenue.state.wy.us/PortalVBVS/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabindex=4&tabid=11

[MichaelNotMike]

Thank you!

MWD

[MichaelNotMike]

That's a useful site, though it's odd that you have to click the link to get a short answer to a short question. Maybe it's their way of seeing who is interested in what.

Anyone smoke? How much is a carton of smokes there? It's about 44 bucks here in SoCal now.

MWD

[Andrew]

it's odd that you have to click the link to get a short answer

yeah, I noticed that myself and find it pretty darn annoying... maybe I should apply for a job with the state and see if I can apply some usability standards to their web site.

Anyone smoke?

Not me anymore... quit before I moved here... actually been about 18 months now.  After having smoked for 20 years, I'm sure glad that I did.   

Years ago I had done some research and had thought that WY had a pretty low excise tax on smokes....

here's the current state by state tax rates:  http://www.ncsl.org/programs/health/cigarette.htm

although still not too bad compared with other states, seems higher that I expected.  Maybe they've been raised recently?   What I really find surprising is that CA is relatively low compared with a lot of places... go figure.

[MichaelNotMike]

....  What I really find surprising is that CA is relatively low compared with a lot of places... go figure.

Well, not that many smoke here. It's all body image/gyms/etc. (Though as I said on MM forums, "a fat Texan is far hardier than a Hollywood hard body in anything real, like any SHTF type thing.)

For the few of us SoCallies who smoke, they deal with it by law more than taxes. In Calabasas California it's illegal to smoke in a duplex you own (i.e. if a living area you own or rent shares a common wall with someone living on the other side, even if it doesn't seep over, and even if those people are fine with you smoking, it's against the law.)

And this wasn't put through even by a 51/49 tyrannical vote, it was put through by a city council. (Who are voted in.)

Here's a photo of those fine public servants, the Calabasas City Council. (hosted on my site).

I love how the eagle looks like it's about to poop on the mayor (the guy in the middle.)

[Paul Bonneau]

although still not too bad compared with other states, seems higher that I expected.  Maybe they've been raised recently?

Yeah, maybe 3 yrs ago. This in a time when state government revenues were through the roof, due to severance (mineral) taxes, so the reason was probably not financial. I suspect the "we do it for your own good" social engineering thing is alive and well in the Wyoming Legislature. Wyoming government is as rotten as government anywhere; it's just a few structural reasons that things aren't so bad here (mainly, ultra-short legislative seasons, and the small-town nature of Wyoming which means you can personally give your legislator hell for something).

Also, to be fair, Wyoming has been in the sights of the anti-smoking movement (and various other health nazis) for a long time. A fair amount of money must flow into the state from outside for these campaigns. And Wyoming legislators come cheap; it's not unusual to see contested races where $5000 was spent.

[Sharon Claire]

Congratulations on your plans for moving out, Michael. We would love to join you.  Fact is, I really love California (but we live up north in the Sierra Nevadas) and thought we'd stay here forever and fight the good fight, but it appears the domineering voices of the bigger left coast cities will not be speaking for us any time soon and my husband proposed that if I could find us a place to go where we could have more room for our horses and live amongst a more like-minded people, that this is the time to go.

Oh and as a small business owner in the golden state, I no longer refer to it as a "sales tax" in California. I refer to it as an unearned commission!

[elk]

Unearned commission...

*stops laughing long enough to gulp some air.*

Man that's good!  And accurate.  I guarantee you in their mindsets the government "feel" they've more than earned it, what with looking out for their propert... AHEM!  "citizenry"...

[MichaelNotMike]

....  I guarantee you in their mindsets the government "feel" they've more than earned it.....

All sociopaths, and also all co-dependent enablers, by definition, always believe they're always "doing the right thing", in all that they do.

MWD

[MichaelNotMike]

Correction on the sales tax. The state share of the tax is 4%. Counties are authorized to levy up to an additional 3% for projects and operating expenses, by submitting measures to county residents.

It's about to go up to ten percent in LA County. And they're thinking of adding another buck fifty to the price of smokes, on top of what Obama has already jacked it up to.

Is it "time"?
When is it "time"?
Maybe when smokes hit ten bucks a pack.

MWD

[Dirttime Dude]

 Smoking:::: I do some consultant work in the fair upscale city of Calabasses.
 I see people smoking out in front of office buildings all the time. No one seems to hassle them.

 Tax will kill the goose that lays those golden eggs that the "smoker" pays for.
 Soon it will be cheaper to just by illeagal drugs. No tax
 There is already a huge blackmarket in Ca for "smokes" with no tax.

 The Ca tax is just under the 10percent mark, but is so close as to a bad joke.
 Not defending Ca but in many counties in Ca you can get a CCW.
 Also Ca is a right of self defense state. That might be a surprise to some.

 I open carry in the bush all the time.

 In my home I carry on my property.

 Since this is the 4th , our independence day.... A short story:::

 3 years ago on the 4th we were having a little get together.
 The 4th was on a Tuesday. A gardner next door was "blowing leaves"
 I asked him to stop as the dust etc, was flying all over our food.
 He told m go f myself. ... I asked a bud to tell him in spanish. Same response.
 I reached out and turned off his "blower"
 He came at me with a set of pruning shears, and made a swipe at me, I moved back, my back was then against the garage door. The pruning shears have a wicked hook on them. A few folks have been killed with them.
 As I moved back , I had on shorts and a "T " shirt, training kicked in, the next thing this person knew he had a gun in his face
 I told him to drop shears, his choice. He dropped the shears. He stopped blowing the leaves.

 Not one of my 'guests" knew I had a gun. , much less one on me .
 I had the "gardener "fired, no pun.

 The 2 gardeners said they were going to call the cops. I said fine, I will wait right here for them.
 We had already called. .... Nothing happend.

 A few of my very close friends were right there in a heart beat to offer any help.
 All the rest of the "guests" just sat there. I didnt expect any help from those folks anyway.

 So happy 4th. We do have some rights. Even in Ca.
 But I still need to get out of here.

 Keep in mind all those men that signed the "document" mostly died with nothing, they lost everything. Fortunes, homes , families, and they were jailed, tortured, homeless and forgotten.
 Today is a good day to salute them .