Your morning jolt: Girl Scouts ticked over cookie tax
Be prepared, lawmakers.
Over the weekend, an e-mail went out to Girl Scout leaders, warning them that HB 385, a bill to rewrite the state tax code, would subject their cookies to a sales tax – and would hit Boy Scout popcorn sales as well:
Gov. Nathan Deal holds boxes of Girl Scout cookies as the young women kicked off their sales season last month. Johnny Crawford/Jcrawford@ajc.com
This significant financial impact would take money away from Girl Scout programs, camp support, financial aid and proceeds from the sale that support troop activities and community service projects…
…[P]lease contact your State House Representative and State Senator TODAY and express your concern in a courteous, Scout-like manner about our Scouts being taxed. Please reference House Bill 385. Sample letters have been provided on the left to make it easy to copy and paste into your own email. There are sample letters for girls as well as for parents and volunteers.
The message appears over the name of Marilyn W. Midyette, CEO of Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta.
***
Young ladies intending to button-hole their legislators over cookie sales might want to read this from Jim Walls at Atlanta Unfiltered:
Beginning today, lobbying takes on a whole new meaning in Georgia. In essence, anyone who’s seeking to influence legislation now must file papers as a lobbyist if they’re being paid while doing so.
That includes corporate executives or school teachers visiting the Capitol, or witnesses at legislative hearings. Patrick Millsaps, chairman of the State Campaign Finance Commission, warned: “I think we are coming dangerously close to putting up barriers to prevent people from petitioning their government.”
***
Over the weekend, the Gainesville Times scrounged up the details of the penalty that U.S. Rep. Tom Graves, R-Ranger paid for his aggressive play in Washington:
Graves’ spokesman John Donnelly said the 9th District congressman was trying to beat Kansas Rep. Tim Huelskamp to the hoop at a Washington, D.C., gym that night. Graves jumped up, came down and hurt his left ankle.
Donnelly said an X-ray showed Graves suffered a broken ankle. More tests may be needed once the swelling in his foot recedes.
While he rests up, Graves will no doubt be listening to the radio. But according to this campaign fund-raising letter that hit late last week, he is very particular about which station gets his attention:
”I never listen to NPR. As I travel across Georgia, I tune in to hear Glenn Beck or Rush, Hannity or catch the news or just relax to good ole country music. NPR is too snooty for my taste.
“The politically correct drivel that passes for entertainment on NPR doesn’t appeal to me. Plus I’m probably like you and I believe that NPR is rightfully under fire from conservatives for firing Juan Williams for having the audacity to be conservative and appear on NPR’s most hated rival, Fox News.
“Whether NPR is on the air or not wouldn’t matter to me except for this cold hard truth: They’re funded with your tax dollars and mine….
“The NPR types like to project the image of being all lovey-dovey, but when it comes to negative campaigning, they’re cruel, relentless, personal and fueled by a self-righteous disdain for anything and anybody conservative.”
Sounds like somebody’s Saturday opera hour was interrupted one time too many by a guilt-inducing fund-drive plea. Read Graves’ entire anti-NPR letter here.
***
This is education week at the state Capitol. Gov. Nathan Deal has a 10:30 a.m. presser today to discuss pre-K funding. And we’re told that state senators have been invited over to the Governor’s Mansion for hors d’oeurvres and a little talk about the HOPE scholarship – due to hit the Senate floor on Tuesday. But the event is not on the governor’s public calendar.
***
The Tea Party Patriots has sent out this note about wavering Republicans in Wisconsin. But “fleebaggers”?
There are some rumors floating around that one or two or three of the GOP Senators may be going wobbly. This would be a huge, huge travesty after they’ve stood strong for so long. To give an inch would be to reward the fleebaggers for leaving town and the protesters that have repeatedly intimidated and acted aggressively (and even violently) toward those who support Walker.
***
PolitiFact this morning examines whether HB 87, an illegal immigration bill that passed the House last week, is indeed modeled after the Arizona statute.
- By Jim Galloway, Political Insider
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67 comments Add your comment
A Conservative Voice
March 7th, 2011
5:04 pm
We’ve subsidized ourselves into bankruptcy…….get rid of all of ‘em. As far as a tax on the GS cookies, hey take it out of your “fat”
profits….pay the tax, girls….it’s a “life” lesson.
Mystic55
March 7th, 2011
5:05 pm
@Centrist – Apparently neither did you or you would have addressed the facts of his argument instead of the clever quip.
And if Fox news rose up to fill a void, then you’ll certainly appreciate Current TV, which will be ACTUAL progressive news, not the crap put out by MSNBC that is censored by GE/Comcast or whatever corporation controls it.
I’ll grant, when Ted Turner ran CNN it was liberal, but since Fox News came into being they’ve been drifting to the right to the point that all news now is simply reposting what Fox News says and what anyone else says, and most of the time ‘anyone else’ is actually Blue Dog/Corporate Democrats not Progessives.
So if 50% is Conservative and 45% is Centrist/Corporatist then how is it liberal if 5% of the progessive view point is all that gets through?
It gets through because to a conservative if it isn’t 90% Conservative and 10% token argument from really weak, unphotogenic or stupid progressives that don’t talk back, it its liberal.
Tired of BS
March 7th, 2011
5:48 pm
Oh no…. a tagalong tax!
Jeff M.
March 7th, 2011
8:03 pm
I see stories like these, and I am more and more inclined to think that those outlandish stories being pushed by Glen Beck and Rush Limbogh might have some credence to them after all… I only catch bits and pieces of their shows, but I’m noticing a few things that people might just want to start paying attention to….
1) Anything they speak out against seems to be the next “conspiracy theory” the government is starting to fight against
2) On at least three major items (including the recent spreading of the uprising in the Middle East), Glen has been right on
3) The Tea Party, which – by the way – isn’t a party, is growing and is a lot more peaceful than ANY of the organizations that are backed by the government, including the ACLU, NAACP, etc. Their rallies are peaceful – the ACLU ones are all people yelling out a lot.
And here’s another thought… Glen has been saying to stock up on food, be prepared for the worst…. WHAT IS WRONG WITH THAT? In all seriousness, if he’s wrong, then you have some extra food stocked up… but if he’s right…. and it’s looking more and more likely that he is…. then we’ll soon see a food budget higher than the rent or mortgage payments, car insurance, and gas all put together. IF he’s right….
So if he’s a kook, I end up with extra food – if he’s right, I can still feed my family at least in the beginning of the worst time in American history since the great depression of the 1930s…. you know what? I’m going to hope for the best… .but prepare for the worst.
If the girl scout cookies are now taxable, and our right against petitioning the government to get it stopped is being taken away through required paperwork… it’s just a brick in the wall, but that wall’s getting pretty darn high. And since it appears the main news (CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, AP, …) doesn’t care about the story, I’m starting to see that as almost a given that it’s true… and I think I’m going to find a way to start listening to the Glen Beck show and Rush Limbogu at work, or a way to record them. What AREN’T they telling us that we should know?
Bobby Anthony
March 7th, 2011
8:19 pm
Sistie Hudson and Bill Jackson if you vote for this bill I will be very vocal in this next election about you taxing two of our nation’s fundamental youth organiztions.
Sam
March 8th, 2011
12:14 am
There are four (4) Girl Scout Councils that operate in the State of Georgia, Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta, Inc., Girl Scouts of Gateway Council, Inc.(out of Jacksonville FL), Girl Scout Council of the Southern Appalachians, Inc.(out of Knoxville, Tennessee) and Girl Scouts of Historic Georgia.
Which of the four would have to pay a sales tax on the cookies sold within the State of Georgia?
Who would be responsible for the collection of the sales tax? The individual girls (or their parents)? The troops? Or would it be the Girl Scout Corporation (the individual franchised Councils)?
I understand the reasoning of WHY? This is not a “funding project” that is part of the Girl Scout program as envisioned by Juliette Gordon Low back in 1912, no, this is BIG business, with the various Girl Scout councils more than HALF of the total income to the Council comes from the sales of cookies. With each troop getting something between $0.50 to $0.65 a box (depending on the age of the girls in the troop. Older girls get to keep a few cents more per box)
I have to tell you, I do not seeGirl Scouts of the United States of American Inc, or any of the Corporate franchise entities (the individual Councils) taking a “hit” to pay the sales taxes on cookies.
Concerned-Caring-Clowned
March 8th, 2011
5:30 am
My daughter’s troop of 9 girls “cleared” over $400 in cookie sales. The taxes on the $400 will go far more for this country by being “used” by the troop, than it being “blown” (e.g. out-dated affirmative action programs, lavish spending on govt. travel-staff etc.) by the USA. Tax breaks are the American Way… Give Peace a chance… and the Girls Scouts as well! Georgia really doesn’t get it?
John K
March 8th, 2011
8:08 am
When it comes to the Girl Scouts, conservatives are apparently pro-tax.
But freak out about losing tax cuts for the richest 2%.
The Koch Brothers are laughing all the way to the bank.
the Captain
March 8th, 2011
3:47 pm
You gotta love conservatives. Raise taxes on girl scouts, while at the same time lowering them on corporations…. And they have the stones to say the left is the ones who are morally bankrupt!
Luke
March 8th, 2011
4:53 pm
EVER year EVERY Georgian contributes $0.33 to NPR. This should stop. Help U.S. Rep. Tom Graves stop this GROSS over spending with a $35 donation. Please. Thank you.
janet
March 8th, 2011
9:54 pm
So Mr. Graves hurt his ankle playing basketball and now we the taxpayers who provide his healthcare and insurance get to pay for his ankle and his recovery. But I bet he thinks we should repeal the Affordable Health Care Act which covers regular Americans.
And if the state is so concerned about uncollected taxes, I think they should start taxing churches and all the fund raisers they have which net millions each year. I live in Roswell and the single largest land holders in our Historic District are churches which sit on millions of dollars worth land tracts and the City collects zero…nada…zilch. And every time one of these churches buys one more old house which is near by and makes it part of their church- there goes one more taxable piece of property. So taxes on GS cookies is chump change. Let’s go for the big guys- the churches.
Tax Corporations, Not Cookies! » Politics Plus
March 9th, 2011
9:53 am
[...] Many Georgians would be adversely affected by the tax hikes on basic commodities, including the Girl Scouts, who are worried about the “significant financial impact” the bill would have on the revenue they raise through cookie sales, which would now be subject to sales tax. Over the weekend, Marilyn Midyette, the CEO of Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta, sent an email to supporters warning them that the new tax on their cookies “would take money away from Girl Scout programs“: [...]
Mike
March 9th, 2011
1:34 pm
No one should be complaining about taxing Girl Scout cookies and Boy Scout popcorn since so many people are against other sources of revenue such as casino gambling, pari-mutuel betting and Sunday alcohol sales. The revenue has to come from somewhere and unfortunately this is one source.
Mike
March 9th, 2011
2:16 pm
News broke yesterday that Rush uses paid actors to call in to his show and pretend to agree with everything he says. Wonder if Hannity’s doing the same thing? Seems every caller wants to call him ‘a great American’.
findog, wake up!
March 9th, 2011
5:31 pm
Tax rates are the lowest. What we pay is not. You can not deduct even 1/8 of what used to be allowed.
Greg Louis
March 9th, 2011
10:43 pm
As bad as it is to have a sales tax on food, the sales tax on Girl Scout cookies will not reduce the amount of money that they receive. Sales taxes are applied to the price of an item. So in this case a $5.00 box of cookies would cost $5.25 (using a 5% sales tax rate). I am against taxing necesities such as food, but theses articles are incorrect when they say it will money away from the Girl or Boy Scouts.
desert_buckeye
March 10th, 2011
8:38 pm
Right-wingers throw the term socialists around so loosely … they need to look closer at their own party, who has been giving subsized taxpayer handouts to American farmers since the 1930s, to railroads, etc. … what a bunch of hypocrits!