The American Spectator

Reader Mail

(Page 5 of 8)

I work in an outlet shoe store in Corning, NY, and first read about this early Friday morning, May 30th, two days before June 1st, the day the new tax was to be charged. This meant that in my county of Steuben, clothing would be taxed at 4% on Saturday then jump to 8.25% on Sunday. I called our district manager, who knew nothing, who in turn called the regional manager, who probably called the head office. The shoe company was caught unawares, as many clothing businesses in the state apparently were. Our customers got a tax break on Sunday, June 1st, but it was business as usual by Monday morning.

This added tax is troublesome to the county as it borders Pennsylvania, a state where clothing is tax free, and it's especially troublesome to Corning, which has been clawing out of its own economic quagmire. Pennsylvania is noted for its outlet malls and New Yorkers used to flock to them by the busload. Shoppers didn't make these pilgrimages just to buy some underwear, as they might closer to home; they made an entire day of serious consumerism and bought in quantity. New York State exempted its portion of the sales tax on clothing in an attempt to keep New Yorkers' dollars within New York. This added tax will once again ship them and their money south.

p>Gov. Pataki is supposedly on record as having opposed this tax, which might be why David Hogberg's article did not include him. However, most of us conservatives in New York view Gov. Pataki with a jaundiced eye at best, so I'm certain I'm not the only New Yorker who read this article looking for him. Maybe Mr. Hogberg will be writing an update in the near future, as I hear that New York State is considering raising the sales tax again to 4.75%. br> -- Kitty Myers br> Painted Post, NY /p> p> What is it about Republican governors? For once, they hold the cards in the high stakes game of politics, and somehow they manage to shoot themselves by raising taxes? That is one sure way of really making certain they are never re-elected. Maybe they were never conservative to begin with, but rather sheep in sheep's clothing... br> -- Cari Gravellinini br> Cambridge, MA /p> p> TRAIN WRECK br> Re: "To Hillary and Back" in

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