A split panel of the N.C. Court of Appeals might not agree that 2005 lottery legislation created a new tax, but John Locke Foundation President John Hood explained this week in a Fayetteville Observer interview that lottery participants clearly pay a tax to play the game. The N.C. Supreme Court could make the final ruling in an ongoing lottery dispute. Meanwhile, JLF Research Director Michael Sanera made the case on WRAL Television that Wake County commissioners should consider trimming the fat from their county budget, rather than pursuing a new local sales tax. Those who read Italian had a chance to benefit this week from the tax-related expertise of JLF Vice President for Research Roy Cordato. An Italian online publication, AGI Energia, translated a Freeman article from Cordato that blasted the idea of a new 50-cent gas tax to combat global warming.
