Democrats are already backing away from Gov. Rell and Republican attempts to end the oppressive corporate entity tax which soaks small businesses each year.

State Rep. Cameron Staples, D-New Haven, the co-chairman of the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee, ruminated today in the Hartford Courant that maybe some companies should continue pay the $250 nuisance tax which hits 118,000 businesses across the state each year and generates $35 million for the public coffers.

The tax hits the little businesses extremely hard – self employed plumbers, electricians, small LLC’s or literally anyone trying to make a living in the most over-taxed state in the nation. What is also absurd is the same assessment is made on big companies – like Aetna, United Technologies and Pjzier. It is an equal opportunity shake down of working people and those companies that keep most of us employed.

The history behind the tax is a classic tale of how the Democrats have been nickel and diming Connecticut into economic oblivion. It was set up as a “one-time” revenue stop gap with the pledge to sunset the law after a year – much like the equally oppressive real estate conveyance tax which still whacks home sellers at closing.

Democrats just can’t help themselves when it comes to revenue, even $35 million which should be left in the hands of small business owners. Soon, we will see more comments by liberals that there should be “fairness” and a “reevaluation” of who should pay and  maybe ”adjustments” so larger companies pay more simply for the right to do business.

What makes the tax different from say, professional licensing fees, is the corporate business tax provides no value to those who pay it. Professional licensing fees for lawyers, accountants and physicians, it can be argued, provides revenue to adminstering these professions by the various oversight boards.

The corporate business tax only serves to collect money for the bloated coffers of the state. The bill comes yearly from the Department of Revenue Services and a business doesn’t even get a certificate suitable for framing – denoting the shakedown.

The continued existence of the corporate business tax is a poster child for what the Democrats stand for – taxation simply for spite.