Most people hate toll roads, most people hate surveillance. Here we are implementing both.
I just drove home through part of rural Kentucky. I have to, to get too and from my farm. That farm that potentially feeds you. I’m going to be taxed more than the city folk, who eat my food. They don’t even realize it.
Now, I can’t raise my rates because you can buy your beef from Brazil or Argentina or from some bulk grower. All of whom this tax won’t impact because they have scale.
This, plus a bunch of tiny leeches will eventually suck the blood from my side business. Perhaps more importantly, it’ll suck the will of the people. The farmers around me are all old. A conversation I had with the guy next to me was “people just don’t wanna work any more”. He’s right. I work so hard, hard enough to buy a farm (while still doing tech during the days). I wanted to experience what they do (just raising grass fed cattle and bees for honey and a large garden to supplement my food), my operation is just starting, but I’m on year 3 of bees and been gardening forever just growing it every year.
Politicians and people just don’t get it. These kind of bills have a dramatic impact. Farmers by me make something like $40k net a year. A tax of a few hundred or thousand would push them to decide between dental care or food or fixing the car (they’d have to go car, food, dental). For me, I do this on the side, for them, they’re basically losing their livelihood. I’m not saying this tax is the one to push them over. But it’s just another cut forcing them to bleed out.