Over the course of years I attended a great many play parties, especially up north in Vancouver B.C. For even more years I hosted play parties in my home. That's something I've gotten away from and for whatever reason I haven't felt a desire to attend or host a kinky party for quite some time now.

Last night I broke the trend. I attended a kinky Halloween party at the home of two very good, long time friends. It was great fun! I think that my long absence from public play brought the excitement and magic back to me.

As I was driving home last night, thinking about the party, two things came to me that I felt worth posting about.

S&M can be, and I think should be, art. If someone is watching us play, our scene should be conveying an emotion to our audience. Even when we are without an audience, our scenes should still convey an emotion, just because no one is watching is no excuse for less than the very best we can put forward. Clearly the better we do our play, the more we will enjoy it.

A scene can convey so many things: brutality, elegance, humor, joy, and so much more. Watching a scene take place in which both partners are on the same wavelength, in which they are both seeking and finding the same thing can be truly amazing.

On the other hand, many scenes convey nothing. They are dead, without emotion, without feeling. How sad.

When we play we should put our entire hearts, minds, and souls into that play. Doing so makes our play a truly wonderful experience.

The other thing that struck me is a lack of easily available information concerning a very small number of S&M activities. All S&M contains some measure of risk, but for most such activities that risk is negligible. A few are a good deal more dangerous. For all of these books and websites exist which attempt to teach their readers how to pursue the activities in the safest way possible.

There are though a small handful of activities that are considered to be so dangerous as to be somehow beyond the pale. They aren't written about often, and if they are at all, it is generally just a warning that these activities are too dangerous to actually do.

The problem with this is that people do them anyway. Do them with no knowledge about how to make them as safe as possible. That seems a troubling state of affairs.

I watched last night, a committed couple in a long-term relationship do something tremendously dangerous, but at the same time tremendously joyous and fulfilling to them both. The troubling thing to me wasn't their consensual exploration of this most physically dangerous play, it was that it could be done in such a way as to bring them just as much pleasure and fulfillment, but safer by great measures of magnitude.

Their activity will remain extremely dangerous no matter how they do it, but that risk could be tremendously reduced by making only one tiny change that would in no way reduce their pleasure or fulfillment.

How sad that there are some S&M activities that are simply deemed 'too dangerous' so that good information about making them safer isn't easily found. By deeming them 'too dangerous' our community makes them even more dangerous.

Posted by Milliscent at 9:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (12)

Since my last post I've now spent a great many hours with my new MacBook Air, and I have confirmed my previous thoughts about it. Quite simply, it is an amazing machine. Pound per pound it's the most powerful computer in the world and while it may not be as powerful as a new MacBook Pro, computers are now much, much more capable than 99% of us will ever use, let alone need.

What's great about it?

Instant on.
IPhone like navigation.
Tiny size while maintaining a full size keyboard and trackpad.
Virtually weightless.
Strong aluminum.
Unsurpassed Apple Quality.
No spinning hard disk.

And of course, as with everything from Apple, world-class industrial design.

It's drawbacks?

It is without a firewire port, and I'm one of the few people who use and like firewire.
Its keyboard is not backlit.

Why did I buy it instead of a new MacBook Pro?

There is no point dragging around a big heavy machine when I no longer need the capabilities of the fastest and most powerful of computers. They have now become so fast and powerful that I can't use all of their capabilities.

In my view industrial design is important. We feel good when those things that we spend countless hours with are enjoyable to see, touch, and feel. There has never been a more beautifully designed computer than this new MacBook Air.

Which one did I get?

I got the 13-inch model with the fastest processor and most memory. I added a Superdrive, a 500GB external hard disc, and Microsoft Office. Apple also was kind enough to throw in a new HP printer, I don't need it, but heh the price of zero dollars was perfect!

Would I recommend it?

Yes. Without hesitation to anyone except those who are serious gamers or video editors, those folks might need the power offered by the latest MacBook Pro line.

Beyond my new Air, I notice that Mac now holds about 25% of the PC market, up from about 11% in the darkest days. Things, they are a changin. I'm not though part of that change. My first Apple was an Apple IIc, and I think that this is my ninth Mac. I've never been disappointed or even had one die.

Except of course for the one that the glass of wine spilled inside, but heh, I was able to fix that myself with a handful of replacement parts and some very tiny tools.

Posted by Milliscent at 1:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

I spent an hour at the Apple Store this afternoon and a brand spankin new MacBook Air followed me home. Clearly the finest portable computer ever made, I look forward to great enjoyment with it over the next handful of years.

Best of all, for the first time ever I was able to transfer everything from my old computer to my new without a single error. Amazing.

If you haven't seen one of these small and light computers I urge you to check them out. Imagine, no hard drive!

Posted by Milliscent at 7:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Coming Soon:

To an electronic bookstore near you!

Bigger and longer, just for you!

Haven't read the first of the series yet? Better hurry! You can find it here.

Posted by Milliscent at 5:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

As my long-time readers will recall, I have in the past offered to place well thought out and written, femdom oriented personal advertisements here on my blog. Today, I bring you what seems to be a wonderful opportunity.

An online friend is seeking a male to join her as she cuckolds her slave/husband.

She is 50 years old, and athletic. Looking for a younger man who shares her athleticism. She is looking for a lover, preferably submissive or a switch, someone who understands that she is not looking to replace her husband, rather to dominate him by bringing another man/men into her life.

Her preferred playmate would be interested in an ongoing experience with her, not just a quick fling, he would be both reasonably available to her, and reliable.

She views her cuckolding of her husband as very closely related to whatever outside relationship she is pursuing and as she grows more into her lover, the less relief and pleasure she allows her husband.

She lives in Columbus Ohio, and travels regularly to Chicago and Orange County California.

If you are a submissive male, interested in a sexual relationship with a dominant woman, one with the delicious twist of cuckolding, and live in one of the areas above, it sounds like this just might be a perfect opportunity.

If you fit the bill, email me a detailed letter explaining who you are, your interests, and your experience. I will forward all reasonable replies along to the lady, and the two of you can take it from there. I will not bother to forward one line messages, messages with idiotic pictures of just one's cock, or messages that do not in some way explain why this lady should take the time to get to know more about you. Think about it and write her a letter that will catch her interest. Who knows, it might just be the start of something truly wonderful.

Send me those email messages at:

blog (AT) milliscent (DOT) com

Put the words Ms. Laura in the subject line.

Update: I forgot to mention that I do have pictures of Laura that I will email to those seriously interested in the position she is offering. I must say that any submissive would be lucky indeed to be on his knees, pondering her gorgeous legs and ass!

Posted by Milliscent at 5:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Washington State Supreme Court Justice Richard Sanders is the greatest champion of liberty we have in a high state office. He is, without a doubt, the very best leader we have in Olympia, and he richly deserves re-election to the bench.

Richard Sanders for Supreme Court Justice, Position 6

Posted by Milliscent at 4:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here in Washington our general election ballots will be arriving within the next few days. It is proving to be a very interesting election in more ways than one, and likely the most important election I've ever seen.

Its importance stems not from the candidates, nor the possible change in control within our federal and state legislative branches, but here in Washington because of the initiatives, referenda, and constitutional amendments we will all be voting upon.

By any measure our legislature performed horribly earlier this year. Indeed when additional budget action was needed last month our Governor did not feel confident enough in the legislature to actually call them back into session to take that action. This despite the fact that the legislative branch is wholly controlled by her own party. She found a way to circumvent the normal process and took decisive action on her own.

Our legislature dithered and dallied, putting off the most important decisions to the last minute, and as a result did not finish its work on time, adding additional costs to the taxpayers for every extra day they were in session. During those final days, they failed to meaningfully cut the budget, failed to make even the most modest reforms of state government, and raised taxes that directly targeted the poor. It was an utter failure.

Luckily here in Washington we have the initiative process, which allows us as the voters to step directly into the legislative role. To take over the functions of the legislature if you will. Due to the abject failures of our legislature, we have a large number of ballot measures this year.

The fate of these measures will either serve to get our economy rolling again, or serve to further degrade it. They will either expand the freedoms we enjoy, or curtail those freedoms. I hope that all of my readers in Washington will vote, and will vote well.

My thoughts on each of the statewide measures are below:

Initiative 1053

This initiative would restate long standing Washington law that requires a two/thirds majority of the legislature to increase taxes. The people have overwhelmingly supported this idea in past elections, but the legislature continually overturns their will, so the initiative must be passed again from time to time.

This session, the legislature levied a tax specifically on the poor by increasing taxes on cheap beer, but leaving taxes at the old rates on expensive beer. Can you guess which beer our legislators are most likely to drink? Do you think it moral to levy higher taxes on the beer enjoyed by the poor than the beer enjoyed by the rich? This nonsense would not have passed had the legislature not first done away with the two/thirds majority requirement.

Vote Yes on Initiative 1053

Initiative 1082

This initiative would allow employers to purchase industrial compensation insurance from any insurance company approved to offer it in our state by the Insurance Commissioner.

Currently an employer can only purchase this insurance from the state monopoly. This monopoly has increased rates on a massive scale over the past few years, and is projecting even larger rate increases far into the future. A lack of any competition in our state's industrial insurance market leads to zero incentive to keep our rates low, and indeed comparing us to Oregon our rates have increased 53% since the year 2000, and Oregon's rates with a competitive market have seen no increase over that time.

46 states allow a competitive industrial insurance market, and Washington should as well.

Vote Yes on Initiative 1082

Initiative 1098

I've written extensively about this initiative in a previous post, so will not restate what I've already said here.

Initiative 1098 would create an Income Tax in Washington State. It is being marketed as a tax that only the rich will have to pay, but that assurance is only valid for two years. Experience and simple common sense tells us that if this initiative passes we will see income taxes levied on all Washingtonians within a few short years. The legislature will be able to expand the tax with no more than a simple majority vote, and they will certainly do so.

This initiative would result in a 2 billion dollar tax increase on top of the 800 million dollar tax increases already imposed this year. Our economy desperately needs new investment, not almost 3 billion dollars in new taxes.

The Seattle Times, Tacoma News Tribune, Wall Street Journal, and other papers have already documented how badly this proposal will harm our state's economy, if you are in doubt about your vote, get the facts.

Vote No on Initiative 1098

Initiative 1100

Initiative 1100 would simply get our state government out of the liquor business. It would close state liquor stores and allow a private market to grow in their place. That private market would result in competition, which in turn would result in lower prices, better selection, and superior customer service.

Our state government is just that, a government, not a business. It has no expertise in operating a business, and cannot do so efficiently. Let's get the state out of the liquor business.

Vote Yes on Initiative 1100

Initiative 1105

Initiative 1105 is a sneaky little initiative. It is masquerading as an initiative that would get the state out of the liquor business just like I-1100, and it would.

That isn't all it would do though. I-1105 would create a monopolistic distribution system that would result in a few massive companies controlling all the distribution of spirits in our state. It would replace the state monopoly, with private monopolies. It's a dirty bill, proposed and supported by those who currently have near monopoly status in the common beer distribution market.

The largest problem with having both I-1100 and I-1105 on the ballot is that if they both pass, the laws will be in conflict with each other. As a result, the legislature would be given a free hand to make all the decisions. It is therefore important that we vote yes on 1100 and no on 1105, I think everyone agrees that the legislature is the very last body that should be making this decision.

Vote No on Initiative 1105

Initiative 1107

As mentioned previously, the legislature passed massive new taxes earlier this year, many of them targeted directly on the poor, and all of them oddly implemented. None of these taxes increases should have passed, and I-1107 would repeal many of them.

It would end the new taxes paid on candy that does not contain flour. (Almond Rocha is taxed, Ferro Roche is not)

It would end the tax increases imposed on bottled water.

End the tax increases imposed on pop and other beverages with carbonation.

It would end the tax increases imposed on some foods, depending upon their ingredients. Nalley's Chili for example.

These taxes were all unnecessary, absurd, and in the case of food, immoral. They should be repealed.

Vote Yes on Initiative 1107

Referendum 52

Referendum 52 would direct the state to borrow massive amounts of money through the bond market and spend that money in attempts to make our schools more energy efficient.

Borrowed money must be paid back. The state currently faces a budget deficit in excess of three billion dollars. There is no money available to make the payments if Referendum 52 passes. That means that taxes will have to be raised in order to pay off the bondholders.

Referendum 52 would also cause the state to borrow in excess of its constitutional debt limit, and will risk a downgrade in our bond ratings, resulting in higher borrowing costs over time.

Vote to Reject Referendum 52

Senate Joint Resolution 8225

SJR 8225 would change the way our state calculates the rate of interest we project we will have to pay when considering the borrowing of money.

In short, currently the state constitution prevents the state from borrowing more money than it can reasonably expect to be able to pay back. This resolution would change the way that limit is calculated, and would allow the state to borrow even more money than it does now.

Increased debt now directly translates to increased taxes later. We should not amend our constitution so that the legislature can borrow a few more bucks.

Vote to Reject Senate Joint Resolution 8225

Engrossed Substitute House Joint Resolution 4220

ESHJR 4220 proposes to change our state constitution to allow more people to be denied bail before they have been convicted of a crime.

It was passed in a mad response to a local tragedy, but isolated incidents do not make for good law. Our current bail system has served Washington State well since our very founding, balancing protection of the public with the presumption of innocence that is fundamental to our understanding of freedom and the rule of law.

ESHJR 4220 would erode the presumption of innocence, a bedrock principal of our nation, and it should be rejected.

Vote to Reject Engrossed Substitute House Joint Resolution 4229

In previous years I have given my endorsement to candidates here as well. I will not be doing that this year with the exception of one Judicial race because the ballot measures we are facing will have a much greater impact than any candidate could ever have.

Posted by Milliscent at 3:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Distribution for my book continues to grow, with the Diesel Ebook store coming on as the latest major retailer.

You can currently find it at:

Smashwords

Barnes & Noble

Sony

Kobo

Diesel

Also available via the native catalogs of top mobile e-reading apps such as Stanza on the iPhone and iPad, and Aldiko & Word Player on Android devices.

Check prices and formats before you buy; I see that there are radical price differences from retailer to retailer. Also remember that if you buy from Smashwords it is downloadable in a very wide variety of formats and comes to you without DRM.

Independent Reviews:

Saratoga

My Key

Cuckold Husband

Posted by Milliscent at 12:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Your cock is locked away in a beautiful stainless steel tube. You are more obedient when locked, more energetic, and more loving towards her. That's all wonderful but from a sexual standpoint things have changed. A man with his cock locked away is no longer someone she can consider a sexual dynamo.

She enjoys having your cock locked safely away but certainly doesn't feel that her sexuality should be denied just because yours is. An elegant and dominant solution presents itself to her mind and she cuckolds you.

She thinks about things philosophically. She knows that orgasm denial is hard for you and part of her wants to nurture you so she is tempted to make things easier for you by letting you cum more often. On the other hand she knows that a slave's life is supposed to be hard. She knows that deep down slaves are better off when they are treated harshly. She decides that on balance it is better if you cum less frequently. She is the dominant in her relationship. She knows that as such sex should be all about her pleasure. She can't help but notice though that when you are allowed release, sex becomes all about your pleasure as you masturbate under her supervision. She decides that you should cum less frequently still.

She doesn't approve of a slave complaining about his condition, and she knows that if you talk about chastity you are at that moment focused upon your own sexuality and not hers. She therefore decides that you may never mention chastity, your chastity device, your sexual needs, or your sexual denial to her or in her presence.

Consider all of that. She enjoys having your cock locked away. She has a lover to provide her with her own sexual pleasure. She has decided that the suffering denial of your orgasm brings you is a benefit to you. She has decided that your masturbation takes your focus off of her, something she disapproves of. Lastly, you are never permitted to make reference to her denial of your orgasm in any way.

Ask yourself:

Will she forget that you are even in chastity? Her forgetfulness leading you to permanent denial?

Ask yourself:

Will she want to forget?

I think that if I was her, I would want to forget. I think that I would forget.

Remember those of you dreaming of the woman who will lock you in chastity and enjoy other lovers... God sometimes punishes us by giving us exactly what we desire!

Posted by Milliscent at 12:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)

A very nice gentleman has been talking to me about full time, long-term slavery recently and that has had me thinking about the subject.

All of the men who have entered my personal life over the years have come to me from the group of men who see me on a professional basis. Those few who have entered my personal life have joined me in a variety of ways from friends to submissives, some spending time with me on an infrequent basis, some spending a great deal of time in my home. I guess though that this group isn't limited to gentlemen, a few ladies have also moved from my professional to my personal life.

I don't want to draw a hard distinction with my paragraph above, and I hope that it is not misunderstood. I enjoy all of the people who come to visit my domination studio on a regular basis, and I consider all of them friends. Most of them however, due to their own personal situations, cannot spend time with me without a measure of pre-planning to ensure their freedom at a specific time, and that limits my possible interactions with them.

Beyond the people who are in my personal life I have thought a great deal about possessing a long term, full time slave but I don't actually search in an active way for such a person. That is I think because I don't think that the perfect person for me exists. My requirements are too strict and my desires of her qualities are too far outside of the mainstream of submissives.

You see, I'd desire a full time, long-term slave to be, for want of a better term, a housewife. She would be female and free of outside commitments. Her days would be spent keeping my house and studio, outdoors and in. Running the household errands and taking care to prepare wonderful meals. In addition to her household chores she would join me in my studio while I played, likely not an active participant, but as art, a body bound in the background serving as visual stimulation much like a painting on a wall. She would be beautiful, forever dressed provocatively, and would be required to spend a good deal of her time maintaining her figure for my pleasure and the pleasure of those who put eyes on her. She would also truly be my slut. She wouldn't necessarily be used for my own sexual satisfaction but my life contains men who are not necessarily submissive, vanilla men who nevertheless know about my lifestyle and spend a good deal of time at my home. My contractor comes to mind. My slave would be required to energetically pleasure men in my life such as this, offering her mouth or body as I command, as I watch, or not. Alas, I fear that such a woman does not exist.

Many delightful female submissives are out there, but one who is erotically fulfilled by housework? I fear not.

The fact that I do not actively search for a full time, long-term slave does not mean that I don't actively think about possessing such a slave. I do think about it. Who's to say that the perfect woman does not someday stumble across my path, or that a male with his life in order for such slavery does not interest me enough to make him so.

That thinking has resulted in this post. Specifically thinking about free time.

I don't think that such a slave should have free time. A slave is in an owner's life for only one reason, to provide pleasure through service. A slave enjoying free time is not providing service.

I think that a slave's time should be kept full. A slave living with me could expect to have his or her days filled with work for me. Not meaningless works like scrubbing a bathroom with a toothbrush, while such work might be delightful, it isn't really work, and would be a reward for a slave not a service to his or her owner. Meaningful work is what I would expect, work that improved my life and my household. Not necessarily physical work either, intellectual work is of tremendous value in our society, and I would use a slaves gifts, talents, and education to the fullest.

A slave does not need television, does not need to sit and relax. I don't think that such things are properly a part of a slave's life because they add no value to their owners. What does add value is work and self-improvement. In my view those two items should be made the predominant parts of any slaves life.

That is not to say that a slave would not have an opportunity for refreshment, certainly a slave should be given eight hours a day for refreshment and sleep. A slave would enjoy outings with his or her owner as the owner desired, would have opportunity for play such as that cleaning of the bathroom with a toothbrush, or even a nice whipping, and I imagine romantic time serving an owner in erotic ways. It is though to say that a slave would not sit and vegetate. Slaves should be working to serve and bring pleasure, never just sitting like a bump on a log, that is something fundamental that I think they should be denied.

I know that this view seems harsh, that it seems unreasonable to say that a slave should not be given time to just sit and contemplate, but it should be remembered that a life of service and slavery is not supposed to be easy. It is supposed to be hard. A slave is supposed to suffer and be denied so that his or her owner can have greater pleasure than they would experience without ownership of the slave.

Ultimately as well, I think that a slave who is kept busy from waking in the morning to sleeping at night would be a happier slave than one who is left with free time. Slaves desire to be of service, and they desire suffering. While they might temporarily enjoy having the opportunity to just sit and relax, ultimately that opportunity is denying that which they most desire and that which brings them the greatest fulfillment.

I look forward to reading your comments.

Posted by Milliscent at 2:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (26)

Yesterday I played tourist in my own city. Always fun, and something I hadn't done in quite some time.

A visit to the Pike Place Market, the waterfront, and dinner at Elliot's Oyster House. It was a great little spur of the moment afternoon and evening.

Posted by Milliscent at 2:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

As of this morning Dystopian Longings is available at Sony. Distribution for my little book continues to grow. Awesome!

Posted by Milliscent at 2:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Outside Vanilla, the blog of the very kinky and very handsome MyKey and his lovely dominant wife, has a review of my book, and an interview of me.

If the politics of my last post have bored you to death, run over to Outside Vanilla and read all about my twisted kinky side. The questions were interesting; I don't think that you will be disappointed!

Outside Vanilla: A Review

Posted by Milliscent at 5:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

The public vote on Initiative 1098 is rapidly approaching us here in Washington State. This is likely the most dangerous initiative I've ever had the opportunity to vote against, and I hope to urge all Washington voters who read these words to do the same.

I-1098 would quite simply create an income tax in our state. As those who live here know Washington State has historically been without an income tax. What folks may not know is that our lack of an income tax is one of the prime movers of our economy, the prime reason why our state is constantly rated as a good place to start or move a business.

As the Seattle Times has pointed out:
"I-1098 also takes away the most important tax-based advantage Washington has in attracting business and jobs here: our lack of a state income tax. This state needs that advantage..."

As the Wall Street Journal has pointed out:
"Washington's lack of an income tax is among its main comparative advantages in luring those top 3%, [of wage earners] along with their businesses and jobs, into the state. In addition to Washington, the states without an income tax are Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and Wyoming. Combined they had an average 18.2% growth rate in jobs over the past decade, more than twice the 8.4% job growth in the nine states with the highest income tax rates, according to a new report based on Commerce Department data by the American Legislative Exchange Council."

Indeed, if I-1098 passes Washington will jump immediately from having no income tax to having the eighth highest income tax rate in the country. That would be devastating to our economy and destroy job creation, locking us into the recession for as far as the eye can see.

The money and power of our state's most famous father and son duo are pushing the campaign for I-1098, Bill Gates Senior and Junior. With that kind of backing initiative supporters are able to push half-truths about the measures impact on to the electorate. Those half-truths are numerous, and should be examined.

Half-truth #1: I-1098 provides dedicated funds for education and health care.

Through the years our state has created a massive number of 'dedicated funds' meant to fund specific budget items. Dedicated funds are not a constraint on the legislature that gleefully raids such funds, dumps them into the general fund, and spends them at will. Remember the education initiatives passed just a few years ago that were ignored by the legislature? Remember the dedicated tobacco prevention funds created with the tobacco settlement then Attorney General Gregoire won for our state, funds 'securitized' then spent on a myriad of things other than tobacco prevention? Remember the NOVA funds raided just last year and given to State Parks? Dedicated Funds are a useful lie told by the legislature, and initiative backers when such a lie serves their purposes.

Half-truth #2: I-1098 will cut taxes for the middle class.

The overall fiscal impact of I-1098 is a 1.5 billion dollar tax increase in 2012 and 2.5 billion a year by 2016. A tax increase in the billions of dollars on Washington citizens is not a tax cut. Indeed small businesses will be hit with a massive new tax, personal state income tax paid on profits.

Half-truth #3: Property and B&O taxes will be cut if I-1098 passes.

That may be true for two years, but after that, all bets are off. By law the legislature only has to respect an initiative for two years. After that a simple majority of the legislature can change it at will. Ask yourself before you vote, do you truly believe that two short years from now our legislature will not bring property and B&O taxes right back up to their previous levels? Remember that they raised taxes by over 800 million dollars just this year. Remember your $30 car tabs? Remember your 'public vote' for all tax increases? Oh yeah, the legislature just got rid of those constraints two years after they passed.

Half-truth #4: Income tax rates imposed under I-1098 cannot be increased without a vote of the people.

This one is a huge whopper of a half-truth. Enjoy trying to stomach it. The fact is that it is only true for two short years. After that a simple majority of the legislature can change the initiative, and then set whatever rates they desire, on whomever they desire. Remember before you vote that when the federal income tax was first imposed it was sold to the American people as a 'tax on the rich' only to pay for World War 1. Funny how it's now a tax on everyone, and I think that we paid for World War 1 a very, very long time ago. Make no mistake about it, I-1098 will give our legislature the power to place a tax on every person's income two short years from now. A simple majority of the legislature.

Half-truth #5: I'll quote straight from the Voter's Guide to prove their lie: "Middle class families pay four times the tax rate of the rich."

No. We all pay the same rate of taxes, regardless of our income based upon where we live and where we shop. Sales tax rates are the same within the City of Seattle for everyone. Bill Gates Jr. pays the exact same sales tax rate on his cup of Starbucks as his lowest paid employee. He does of course pay many more dollars in tax, because his resources allow him to buy much more. Likewise he pays the exact same property tax rate as his next-door neighbor. He pays more dollars because his house is worth more money. The tax rates in Washington are exactly the same; dollar values change from person to person because the rich own more and spend more than the poor. The rich are paying their fair share, as are the poor. Washington's tax system is remarkably fair in that each individual ends up paying according to his or her means.

Half-truth #6: Rich people are fighting I-1098.

Absurd. It is not possible to be any richer than the Gates boys. They are the Rich People in our state and indeed the world over. They are not fighting I-1098, they are pushing it.

In these tough economic times, if our state is to recover, politicians must be forced to reign in governmental spending and growth. They must be forced to prioritize spending, not increase taxes. If our state government is given this new tax, we will all be paying it two short years from now, and our economy will loose all hope at recovery.

I have an idea:

If the Gates boys, father and son, are so worried that they aren't paying enough in taxes, how about instead of trying to destroy everyone else's lives they run a new initiative next year. An initiative to nationalize Microsoft and their other holdings. Microsoft's cash reserves alone are large enough to stabilize our state government's budget as far as the eye can see. Perhaps these titans of the legal and tech world will feel better about their contributions to society if they are without wealth. Perhaps they would sleep better at night that way, knowing that they had finally paid their fair share.

Ah, wait a minute. I forgot. Folks like the founder of Microsoft have loads of cash to spend on lawyers who can set up lots and lots of tax shelters. Maybe they figured it out in advance; maybe I-1098 will just hurt the sorta rich folks and leave the incomes of billionaires intact.

If you have read this far and live in Washington, let me urge you, vote well, or be saddled with your very own 9% income tax rate just a few short years from now.

Posted by Milliscent at 3:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)