Slashdot Mirror

Upon further reflection and (more) careful reading, I realized that misunderstood your argument.

But the basis of your argument is still flawed. Everything required to calculate sales tax is (has to be!) published. RI has a sales tax on goods (not services), but it excludes clothing and most groceries. In order to allow shopkeepers to calculate the sales tax they offer this absurdly detailed website:

RI Taxable Grocery Items

It may be difficult to keep track of all the published laws across thousands of jurisdictions, and so paying a third party may be the virtually required. But it's no different than trying to calculate your own corporate taxes. All the information is there but it requires a lot of time and effort to apply it and to keep up with the changes. The lawyers that run the government have created a system that requires us all to hire lawyers when we interact with some very important parts of the government.

http://www.dot.state.ri.us/bikeri/pedlaws.html - search for 31-18-11 - "Any person jogging or running during the time from one-half hour after sunset to one-half hour before sunrise, shall, in addition, wear reflective material which is visible by low beam headlamps from a distance of at least five hundred feet (500')." There's a bit more on the original page.

Finding more is hard, but I have no doubt there are. Google has not been good to me in terms of searching for state laws. Perhaps there is a niche for a specialized search engine somewhere, but isn't that what Lexus-Nexus does already?

Now is a good time to be a a citizen and a netizen. I'll explain:

More and more people are discovering things like Thomas, and more and more states are implementing things like lobby tracking, bill tracking, open meeting and notes tracking among other things.

The key is that delivery of this information is becoming much more flexible. For example, the items I mentioned above can be obtained via RSS feed or email. More interestingly is that open meetings can actually RSS an ical file so you can easily bring it into your application of choice.

But my favorites in Rhode Island are the Lobby Tracker which shows all lobbying activity right down to what bill is being lobbied for/against, but who's doing the lobbying, who's paying for it, etc.

Of course perusing that you see the usual players like the Catholic Church, the insurance companies, etc. http://www2.sec.state.ri.us/lt_filing/lobbyTracker 2.0/public/

Rhode Island (which by the way, isn't the original name of the state)

It isn't the current name of the state either.

You sure have your antennas all aquiver in the wrong directions. You claimed I hadn't read the article, my point was I had gone beyond simply reading the article to actually thinking about it. You too can be on a first name basis with people at the Inq, I get the impression that hundreds of people send them email every day. This is the internet get used to the flat topology.

Meanwhile, you too can also harness the power of the net to do a little research. Here's some footprints that took me about 10 minutes to dig up when the GC Air registration showed and, well another 3 or 4 to redig just for you:

Find the listing for GC Air LLC as a registered business in Rhode Island. Note the owner's name, note all the other business that the same owner has registered in the state.
2002 Corporate Registrations

Find the owner of GC Air LLC listed in the NBAA's list of companies that do aircraft leasing. Notice he is listed as contact for "GE Corporate Aircraft Group Commercial Finance."
NBAA

Think about that name for a second: GE Corporate Aircraft ... GC Air, what a coinkydink! Follow up on that website, and see that, surprise, they provide financing for aircraft purchases.
GC Air, LLC

Why would HP need financing, they've plenty of cash in the bank to spend if they wanted to buy a fleet of aircraft. Ergo they either leased it, or they took out a loan. Either way, it isn't HP money being spent willy-nilly.

Furthermore, why don't you take a look at what Gulfstream has to say about their very good buddy, el Jefe Supremo, Jorge Bush:
Flying Pigs

Wow! 50% depreciation in the first year. What a huge barrel of pork! Yeah, that sure will help out employment, el Jefe. Not! But regardless, HP would be fiscally irresponsible to not make use of this enormous tax break. Anyone who has paid attention to (or done much of any research on) civil aviation knows that the real market value of private aircraft has a very low rate of depreciation -- sometimes that shiznat actually appreciates. Even if the IRS plays dumb to that fact, best case is probably (yes probably, aircraft depreciation is actually fairly complicated unlike, say, automobile) the 5 year MACRS schedule, so average 20% per year. That means, at the very best, HP's only going to see about 20% depreciation out of their current fleet this year. But under el Jefe's plan, they can realize 50% right off the bat for no more money than they were paying out before. Since the real market depreciation on private aircraft is probably much less than the 20% the IRS might normally let HP max out, the real cost of the lease or loan is going to be relatively small, plus you can be pretty confident that interest rates are less today than they were 3 years ago, so HP could easily end up with a smaller monthly payment and a huge increase in tax-writeoffs by making these transactions.

So put that in your pipe and fark it.

PS, if I wanted to respond and pretend I was someone else, I would just use a sockpuppet, that's at least twice as sexy as doing it AC.

There is one state, that I can find, that has specific laws saying that you do not have to provide you social security number to obtain services and that is Rhode Island.

A few months ago, I signed up for new cell phone service. They asked for my social security number and I told them I did not want to give it to them. They then said that I would have to go with a pre-paid plan or give a rather large security deposit. After haggling a little and escalating this, they found out that I did not have to provide a social security number to establish service, nor did I need to go with a pre-paid plan or leave a large deposit. My driver's license (which does not have my social) was enough.

Look at THIS page on the social security admin's website.

Here is the state law link

The maintenance cost of this site is very low, but the request for additional features will probably soak up some additional funding. There are plans to add a freshmeat like feature to the site where individuals can ask to be notified any time a new regulation comes out that matches a query.

William Clinton President The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW Washington, District of Columbia 20500 United States of America phone 1-202-456-1414 fax 1-202-456-2886 or 1-202-456-2461 (busy, keep trying) e-mail president@whitehouse.gov webpage http://www.whitehouse.gov/

House Majority Leader House of Representatives Washington, District of Columbia 20515 United States of America webpage http://www.house.gov/

House Minority Leader House of Representatives Washington, District of Columbia 20515 United States of America webpage http://www.house.gov/

Speaker, House of Representatives House of Representatives Washington, District of Columbia 20515 United States of America webpage http://www.house.gov/

Senate Majority Leader U.S. Senate Washington, District of Columbia 20510 United States of America webpage http://www.senate.gov/

Senate Minority Leader U.S. Senate Washington, District of Columbia 20510 United States of America webpage http://www.senate.gov/

Governor Don Seigelman State Capitol, 600 Dexter Ave. Montgomery, Alabama 36130 United States of America phone 1-334-242-7100, fax 1-334-242-4541 webpage http://www.state.al.us/

Governor Tony Knowles P.O. Box A Juneau, Alaska 99811 United States of America phone 1-907-465-3500, fax 1-907-465-3532 e-mail office_of_the_governor@gov.state.ak.u s webpage http://www.gov.state.ak.us/

Governor Jane Dee Hull State House Phoenix, Arizona 85007 United States of America phone 1-602-542-4331, fax 1-602-542-7601 webpage http://www.state.az.us/

Governor Mike Huckabee 250 State Capitol Bldg. Little Rock, Arkansas 72201 United States of America phone 1-501-682-2345, fax 1-501-682-1382 e-mail mike.huckabee@state.ar.us webpage http://www.state.ar.us/governor/gover nor.html

Governor Gray Davis State Capitol Sacramento, California 95814 United States of America phone 1-916-445-2841, fax 1-916-445-4633 e-mail hometeam@ca.gov webpage http://www.ca.gov/s/

Governor Bill Owens 136 State Capitol Denver, Colorado 80203-1792 United States of America phone 1-303-866-2471, fax 1-303-866-2003 webpage http://www.state.co.us/

Governor John Rowland State Capitol, 210 Capitol Ave Hartford, Connecticut 06106 United States of America phone 1-860-566-4840, fax 1-203-524-7396 e-mail governor.rowland@po.state.ct.us webpage http://www.state.ct.us/governor/

Governor Thomas Carper Legislative Hall Dover, Delaware 19901 United States of America phone 1-302-739-4101, fax 1-302-577-3118 e-mail ssnyder@state.de.us webpage http://www.state.de.us/governor/index.htm

Governor Jeb Bush State Capitol Tallahassee, Florida 32399 United States of America phone 1-850-488-4441, fax 1-850-487-0801 e-mail page http://www.state.fl.us/eog/govmailform. html webpage http://fcn.state.fl.us/gsd/

Governor Roy Barnes State Capitol Building, Room 203 Atlanta, Georgia 30334 United States of America phone 1-404-656-1776, fax 1-404-657-7332 e-mail governor@gov.state.ga.us webpage http://www.state.ga.us/

Governor Benjamin Cayetano State Capitol, Executive Chambers Honolulu, Hawaii 96813 United States of America phone 1-808-586-0034, fax 1-808-586-0006 e-mail gov@gov.state.hi.us webpage http://gov.state.hi.us

Governor Dirk Kempthorne State Capitol PO Box 83720, 700 West Jefferson, Fl. 2 Boise, Idaho 83720-0034 United States of America phone 1-208-334-2100, fax 1-208-334-2175 e-mail governor@gov.state.id.us webpage http://www.state.id.us/gov/govhmpg.htm

Governor George Ryan 207 Statehouse Springfield, Illinois 62706 United States of America phone 1-217-782-0244, fax 1-217-524-4049 e-mail governor@state.il.us webpage http://www.state.il.us/gov/

Governor Frank O'Bannon Statehouse, Rm. 206 Indianapolis, Indiana 46204 United States of America phone 1-317-232-4567, fax 1-317-232-3443 e-mail page http://www.ai.org/gov/gov_mail.html webpage http://www.ai.org/gov/index.html

Governor Thomas Vilsack State Capitol Des Moines, Iowa 50319 United States of America phone 1-515-281-5211, fax 1-515-281-6611 e-mail general.office@igov.state.ia.us webpage http://www.iowaccess.org/

Governor Bill Graves State House Topeka, Kansas 66612 United States of America phone 1-913-296-6240, fax 1-913-296-7973 e-mail page http://www.state.ks.us/public/g overnor/comment.html webpage http://www.state.ks.us/public/governor/

Governor Paul Patton State Capitol, 700 Capitol Ave. Frankfort, Kentucky 40601 United States of America phone 1-502-564-2611, fax 1-502-564-2517 e-mail governor@mail.state.ky.us webpage http://www.state.ky.us/agencies/go v/govmenu6.htm

Governor Murphy Foster, Jr. State Capitol, P.O. Box 94004 Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70804 United States of America phone 1-504-342-7015, fax 1-504-342-7099 e-mail page http://www.gov.state.la.us/governo r/contact2.htm webpage http://www.gov.state.la.us/

Governor Angus King, Jr. State House Station 1 Augusta, Maine 04333 United States of America phone 1-207-287-3531, fax 1-207-287-1034 e-mail page http://janus.state.me.us/govoffice/ gov_form.htm webpage http://janus.state.me.us/govoffice/ homepage.htm

Governor Parris Glendening State House Annapolis, Maryland 21401 United States of America phone 1-410-974-3901, fax 1-410-974-3275 e-mail governor@gov.state.md.us webpage http://www.gov.state.md.us/

Governor Paul Cellucci State House, Room 360 Boston, Massachusetts 02133 United States of America phone 1-617-727-6250, fax 1-617-727-9725 e-mail goffice@state.ma.us webpage http://www.magnet.state.ma.us/gov/gov.htm

Governor John Engler State Capitol, PO Box 30013 Lansing, Michigan 48909 United States of America phone 1-517-335-7858, fax 1-517-335-6863 email page http://www.state.mi.us/MIGOV/ gov/ContactGovernor.shtm webpage http://www.state.mi.us/migov/

Governor Jesse Ventura 130 State Capitol, 75 Constitution Avenue St. Paul, Minnesota 55155 United States of America phone 1-651-296-3391, fax 1-651-296-2089 e-mail Governor.JesseVentura@state.mn.us webpage http://www.mainserver.state.mn.us/gover nor/

Governor Kirk Fordice P.O. Box 139 Jackson, Mississippi 39205 United States of America phone 1-601-737-9540, fax 1-601-737-9507 e-mail governor@govoff.state.ms.us webpage http://www.state.ms.us/

Governor Mel Carnahan Missouri Capitol Building, P.O. Box 720 Jefferson City, Missouri 65102-0720 United States of America phone 1-573-751-3222, fax 1-573-751-1495 e-mail page http://www.gov.state.mo.us/guest.htm webpage http://www.gov.state.mo.us/

Governor Marc Racicot State Capitol Helena, Montana 59620 United States of America webpage http://www.mt.gov/governor/governor.htm

Governor Mike Johanns State Capitol, Executive Suite, PO Box 94848 Lincoln, Nebraska 68509-4848 United States of America phone 1-402-471-2244, fax 1-402-471-6031 e-mail jodee@mail.state.ne.us webpage http://www.state.ne.us/

Governor Kenny Guinn State Capitol Carson City, Nevada 89710 United States of America phone 1-702-687-5670, fax 1-702-687-4486 webpage http://www.state.nv.us/

Governor Jeanne Shaheen State House Concord, New Hampshire 03301-4990 United States of America phone 1-603-271-2121, fax 1-603-271-2130 e-mail nhgov@nh.com webpage http://www.state.nh.us/

Governor Christine Todd Whitman Office of the Governor State House, 125 West State St., CN-001 Trenton, New Jersey 08625-0001 United States of America phone 1-609-292-6000, fax 1-609-292-5212 e-mail page http://www.state.nj.us/governor/govmail .htm webpage http://www.state.nj.us/governor/officeo .htm

Governor Gary Johnson State Capitol Santa Fe, New Mexico 87503 United States of America phone 1-505-827-3000, fax 1-505-827-3026 e-mail gov@gov.state.nm.us webpage http://www.state.nm.us/

Governor George Pataki State Capitol Albany, New York 12224 United States of America phone 1-518-474-8390, fax 1-518-474-1513 e-mail gov.pataki@chamber.state.ny.us webpage http://www.state.ny.us/governor

Governor James Hunt, Jr. State Capitol Raleigh, North Carolina 27603 United States of America phone 1-919-733-4240, fax 1-919-733-2120 webpage http://www.sips.state.nc.us/

Governor Edward Schafer 600 E. Blvd, State Capitol, Fl. 1 Bismark, North Dakota 58505 United States of America phone 1-701-328-2200, fax 1-701-328-2205 webpage http://www.ehs.health.stat e.nd.us/gov/governor/index.htm

Governor Bob Taft State House Columbus, Ohio 43215 United States of America phone 1-614-466-3555, 1-614-466-9354 webpage http://www.state.oh.us/gov/

Governor Frank Keating State Capitol Bldg., Rm. 212 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73105 United States of America phone 1-405-521-2342, fax 1-405-521-3353 e-mail governor@oklaosf.state.ok.us webpage http://www.state.ok.us/

Governor John Kitzhaber State Capitol Salem, Oregon 97310 United States of America phone 1-503-378-4582, fax 1-503-378-4863 webpage http://www.governor.state.or.us/

Governor Tom Ridge 225 Main Capitol Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17120 United States of America phone 1-717-787-2500, fax 1-717-772-8284 e-mail governor@state.pa.us webpage http://www.state.pa.us/PA_Exe c/Governor/overview.html

Governor of the Commonwealth Commonwealth of Puerto Rico San Juan, Puerto Rico 00936 United States of America webpage http://fortaleza.govpr.org

Governor Lincoln Almond State House Providence, Rhode Island 02903 United States of America phone 1-401-277-2080, fax 1-401-273-5729 webpage http://www.doa.state.ri.us/info/exec.htm

Governor James Hodges State House, PO Box 11369 Columbia, South Carolina 29211 United States of America phone 1-803-737-9540, fax 1-803-737-9507 webpage http://www.state.sc.us/

Governor William Janklow State Capitol, 500 East Capitol Ave Pierre, South Dakota 57501-5070 United States of America phone 1-605-773-3212, fax 1-605-773-5844 e-mail sdgov@gov.state.sd.us webpage http://www.state.sd.us /state/executive/governor/governor.htm

Governor Don Sundquist State Capitol Nashville, Tennessee 37243 United States of America phone 1-615-741-2001, fax 1-615-532-9711 e-mail dsundquist@mail.state.tn.us webpage http://www.state.tn.us/governor/

Governor George W. Bush State Capitol, P.O. Box 12428 Austin, Texas 78711 United States of America phone 1-512-463-2000, fax 1-512-463-1849 webpage http://www.governor.state.tx.us/

Governor Michael Leavitt 210 State Capitol Salt Lake City, Utah 84114 United States of America phone 1-801-538-1000, fax 1-801-538-1528 e-mail governor@state.ut.us webpage http://www.governor.state.ut.us/

Governor Howard Dean 109 State St. Montpelier, Vermont 05609 United States of America phone 1-802-828-3333, fax 1-802-828-3339 e-mail governor@state.vt.us webpage http://www.state.vt.us/

Governor Jim Gilmore State Capitol Richmond, Virginia 23219 United States of America phone 1-804-786-2211, fax 1-804-371-6351 e-mail page http://www.state.va.us/governor/govmail .htm webpage http://www.state.va.us/governor/

Governor Gary Locke State Capitol, P.O. Box 40002 Olympia, Washington 98504-0002 United States of America phone 1-360-902-4111, fax 1-360-753-4110 e-mail governor.locke@governor.wa.gov webpage http://www.wa.gov/governor

Governor Cecil Underwood State Capitol Charleston, West Virginia 25305 United States of America phone 1-304-558-2000, fax 1-304-342-7025 e-mail governor@state.wv.us webpage http://www.state.wi.us/governor/default .htm

Governor Tommy Thompson State Capitol, Room 115 East Madison, Wisconsin 53707 United States of America phone 1-608-266-1212, fax 1-608-267-8983 e-mail wisgov@mail.state.wi.us webpage http://www.wisgov.state.wi.us/

Governor Jim Geringer State Capitol Cheyenne, Wyoming 82002 United States of America phone 1-307-777-7434, fax 1-307-632-3909 e-mail governor@missc.state.wy.us webpage http://www.state.wy.us/gove rnor/text_governor_home.html