when they outlaw garra rufa...

[penguinsscareme]

No feet nibbling in New Hampshire!  No!

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123776729360609465.html#mod=todays_us_page_one

From Turkey, the practice spread throughout Asia, employing garra rufa, toe-size carp that live in warm water, have no teeth and, according to those in the business, like to suck off dead skin. Another fish sometimes used to treat feet, called chin chin, is bigger in size and grows tiny teeth.

In Derry, N.H., salon owner Kim Ong heard about Mr. Ho on television, and traveled to his spa undercover, posing as a pedicure customer. She liked what she saw and bought 500 chin chin from a dealer in Washington state for about $6,000.

To New Hampshire regulators, Ms. Ong's proposal to use fish for pedicures was nearly as unusual as an inquiry they once had about using snakes for massages. The answer, to both, was no, says Ms. Elliott of the cosmetology board.

Okay, it's not a big and sexy issue like firearms, jury nullification or tax resistance.  But it did garner some negative commentary for the home of the free state project here.

After customers flocked to pay $35 to have tiny, toothless carp nibble away dead skin on their feet, state regulators forbade the practice in multiple states.  There were no hearings, no injuries, no evidence presented, no arguments, no defense allowed.  The business was forbidden.  The so-called Free State led the way; hatred of business large and small is deeply ingrained in NH.

[K. Darien Freeheart]

The government people use dogs to try and sniff out BOMBS! Why can't animals be useful?

Contrary to the bureaucrat's opinions... People know best how to spend their own money.

Though... This does remind me of that (I think) episode of Penn & Teller's Bullshit where they got people to get a snail facial.

[silver]

Hey PSM,

I appreciate the effort, and I know you don't feel this way.

The sad truth is that it is no accident 50,000 Massholes drive from NH to MA every morning, and back every night.
It's probably the largest, most prolonged mass migration in human history.
MA is much more friendly to business than NH; that's why the jobs are there and not here.

Consider the circumstances: some poor SOB in the self-declared free state tries to make a buck by following the latest fad.
They lay out 6 large for fish and g$d only knows how much for equipment, space, insurance, etc.

Some dickhead who doesn't even rate a tin badge slams them.  No hearing.  No evidence.  No accusations of injuries or illness.  No videotape of lardass trespassing to drop off a citation, just a letter telling the SOB they are SOL.  Just another government asshole who likes to use their authoritah.  It happens every day, and it's OK in the free state.

We're not talking people who want to drive without papers or insurance.  It's not gun rights or something really important like sofas on porches. It's just a greedy businessman trying to make a buck, so it's OK to slam them.

That's the way it is up here, and if you don't like it, don't try to set up a business here.  Better still, just stay away.

I'd love to be proven wrong, but I'm not holding my breath.  I'll get my pedicures in business-friendly MA, where people still yelp a little
when they are shat upon.

Peace,

Silver

[Tom Sawyer]

I understand being pissed that New Hampshire regulates away business, but I don't think the reason there are a lot of jobs in Mass. is because Mass. is so business friendly. I think it is the fact that Boston is a large metropolitan area, a financial center and has lots of tech jobs because of the universities.

Mass. is losing population each year.

[Lumpy]

I understand being pissed that New Hampshire regulates away business, but I don't think the reason there are a lot of jobs in Mass. is because Mass. is so business friendly. I think it is the fact that Boston is a large metropolitan area, a financial center and has lots of tech jobs because of the universities.

Mass. is losing population each year.

mAss lost my non-tax paying ass a while ago...  man I'm glad to be here where potentially soon I won't be regulated by anyone but the one who is capable...  that one is me.  Thank you freedom and freedom lovers for giving me that chance.  mAss sucks.  They just stole another property from someone on The Cape.  Horrible state.

[penguinsscareme]

Yes, MA has Boston and all that that entails in its favor, while NH does not.  But

MA is much more friendly to business than NH

and that's a fact.  If I can find the hard data to back that up, I'll post it.

[Lloyd Danforth]

Anecdotes ensue

[Tom Sawyer]

Freedom in the 50 States: An Index of Personal and Economic Freedom

Seems to be a comprehensive/latest study on the subject done by Jason Sorens, William P. Ruger


After a quick look see, it does seem NH is worse towards business than I expected and Mass. is better than I would have thought.

[penguinsscareme]

from Silver:

http://thementalmilitia.com/forums/index.php?topic=9162.msg113214#msg113214

Business Profits Tax:  An 8.5% tax is assessed on income from
conducting business activity within the state.  As a collective,
NH hates business, large and small.  That's why I have 2 NH
residents commuting 60+ miles south every day to work in
my offices in "high tax" MA, where the tax on my business
s over 40% less than if I had made the grave mistake of
locating in NH.

Interest and Dividend tax: A 5% tax is assessed on interest and
dividend income.  If you want to retire, don't do it in NH.

Business Enterprise Tax:  A 0.75% tax is assessed on the sum of all
compensation paid or accrued, interest paid or accrued, and dividends
paid by any business enterprise with more than $150,000 of gross
receipts from all their activities. This tax applies even if the
business operates at a loss.

Communication Services Tax:  A 7% tax on all two-way communication
services.

State Education Property Tax:   $3.33 per $1,000 (as of April 1, 2005)
of total equalized valuation is assessed on all New Hampshire property
owners.  This is in addition to what the local towns take in property
taxes.

Electricity Consumption Tax:    A tax assessed on consumers of
electricity in the amount of $.00055 per kilowatt hour of electricity
consumed.

Meals and Rentals Tax:  An 8% tax is assessed upon patrons of hotels
and restaurants, on rooms and meals costing $.36 or more, and on motor
vehicle rentals.

Tobacco Tax: A tax of $.52 is imposed on each pack of 20 cigarettes,
and a tax of $.65 on each pack of 25 cigarettes. A comparable tax rate
for smokeless tobacco products is established by the department twice
per year.

Inheritance and Estate Tax: An 18% tax is assessed upon property
passing at death on both probate and non-probate assets including
assets passing through trusts, if the property is passed to non-lineal
descendants or ascendants (ie. brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews,
cousins or friends)

Real Estate Transfer Tax: The tax is $.75 per $100 of the price or
consideration of the transfer, assessed on both the buyer and the
seller, with a minimum charge of $20 each.

Timber Tax: Timber on all landownership is taxable at 10% of the
stumpage value at the time of cutting.

Gravel Tax: I kid you not.  The "Granite State" taxes rocks.

Also from Silver:

http://thementalmilitia.com/forums/index.php?topic=4034.msg47707#msg47707

New Hampshire steals an additional 0.75% of all compensation paid.  Forget profits, forget about if you have any money at all left from your business, if you have an employee in NH, you must pay the state first.  Some people think that 0.75% doesn't sound like much.  When you consider that a well-run business might post a profit of 15% in a year, and that compensation can easily exceed 80% of revenues in a professional service business, that 0.75% of compensation becomes a 40% tax on profits.  There are no large law firms, no big consulting engineering firms, no world-class medical facilities in NH.  They are common in Boston.  Why? Because every one of the employees and employers in those professions can get a much better deal in Massachusetts than in New Hampshire.

Point being this:  I lived my whole life in MA until I bought into the fsp, signed on, and moved to NH in early 2005.  On the whole, I much prefer New Hampshire to the land of my birth.  There is less police presence, less restrictive gun laws, and so on.  However, the tax and business climate here is not nearly as friendly as I had expected...and I blame only myself for not researching it ahead of time.

This beautician in Derry made a successful free market decision, and the state stepped in and put a stop to it, as was said, without showing any just cause, without investigation, without trial, without producing any aggrieved parties, just a unilateral decision.  BECAUSE THEY CAN.  Okay, fish pedicures are not as resonant as some other issues.  But I thought it deserved attention.

[Tom Sawyer]

Gravel Tax: I kid you not.  The "Granite State" taxes rocks.

Yeah, I heard some stories of the Gravel Tax, if I remember it was like 10 grand a year, and if I am not mistaken it didn't matter how much you mined as long as you sold any. Sell your neighbor a truck load of gravel from your land, you owe 10 grand.

[Fluff and Stuff]

This ReasonTV video was just posted to youtube, New Hampshire Nannies: Why is The "Live Free or Die" State B

[MaineShark]

I'm a business owner in NH.  I've found it to be far more business-friendly than any of the neighboring states.

Yes, there are some business taxes.  Oddly enough, there are massive deductions available.  If you have the least bit of sense, you can pretty much operate as a non-profit, by the time you take all of them into account.

Freedom in the 50 States: An Index of Personal and Economic Freedom

Seems to be a comprehensive/latest study on the subject done by Jason Sorens, William P. Ruger


After a quick look see, it does seem NH is worse towards business than I expected and Mass. is better than I would have thought.

FYI, that's not exactly a scientifically-valid study.  They weighted categories with whatever weight they felt like, so the results reflect their opinions of how important various things are, not unbiased data.

Joe

[KBCraig]

I'm a business owner in NH.  I've found it to be far more business-friendly than any of the neighboring states.

When you consider the "neighboring states", it makes it sound like NH can claim to be the "tallest midget".

[MaineShark]

I'm a business owner in NH.  I've found it to be far more business-friendly than any of the neighboring states.

When you consider the "neighboring states", it makes it sound like NH can claim to be the "tallest midget".

Oh, eliminating some of the business restrictions is certainly important.  NH is not anywhere near perfect in that regard.  But claiming that Mass is more business-friendly is just silly.  I mean, the sales tax, alone, would knock Mass well below NH.

Joe