New York Post: “Only Albany could find a way to tax a cut. The cash-strapped state has been enforcing a bizarre distinction in the tax laws which requires delis and food peddlers to impose a levy on sliced bagels — even though there is no tax when the breakfast staple is sold [...]
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Another example of how desperate local governments are for money is the new$300 per year tax imposed by Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on bloggers who reside within the city limits. Apparently speech is not free in Philly. It costs $300 a year. There is no better example of the lunacy and arrogance of government waste than the new $578 million school built by the Los Angeles Unified School District. The LUSD has a $640 million budget deficit and laid off 3,000 teachers during the last two years, but that didn’t stop it from spending [...] Yea. We Arizonans have something to be proud of in these difficult economic times – highest taxes in the United States. Arizona is number 3 at 9.01% and kicking the tax butt of the lower taxed 47 states. Tennessee is 1st (9.44%) and California is 2nd (9.08%). Seven Arizona cities can also [...] We all need to get a job working for the federal government. The pay is great and the benefits cannot be beaten – great medical care, early retirement for a fixed amount not subject to stock market losses, lots of time off and virtually impossible to be fired even if you watch [...] New York Times article entitled “Battle Looms Over Huge Costs of Public Pensions” – “There’s a class war coming to the world of government pensions. The haves are retirees who were once state or municipal workers. Their seemingly guaranteed and ever-escalating monthly pension benefits are breaking budgets nationwide. The have-nots are taxpayers [...] Arizona Republic: “Even as Maricopa County supervisors question whether Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s office has misused county-issued credit cards, the supervisors have used their own government cards to buy gifts for constituents and employees, stay at luxury hotels and cater meals to their offices . . . .” Arizona Republic: “The cash-strapped city is considering three long-term solutions that could cost as much as $84 million. . . . Whatever the price, Tempe officials say they have no choice but to honor their long-term contractual commitments for the lake and to the commercial and residential developments around it. New York Times: “the future of General Motors (and the $50 billion taxpayer investment in it) now depends on a vehicle that costs $41,000 but offers the performance and interior space of a $15,000 economy car. . . . making the bailout work — whatever the cost — is the only good [...] Here’s a perfect example why nobody in their right mind wants the U.S. government to be in charge of anything important other than national defense. An audit finds that the U.S. has no clue on what happened to $8.7 billion of $9.1 billion spent on reconstruction in Iraq. Really! This is not [...] The Chairwoman of President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers and Christina D. Romer and economics Professor David H. Romer of the UC-Berkeley published The Macroeconomic Effects of Tax Changes: Estimates Based on a New Measure of Fiscal Shocks, 100 Am. Econ. Rev. 763 (2010). Here is the abstract: “This paper investigates the [...] More proof that the taxpayers exist to pay for the ruling class. Orange County Register: “the city manager of Bell [California], Robert Rizzo, receives a salary of $787,637 as the top bureaucrat in a city of about 38,000 residents, mostly Latinos. Bell’s Police Chief Randy Adams makes $457,000 a year while Assistant [...] The City of Tempe, Arizona, must be asking “how much does it cost to replace a billion gallons of water?” after one of the rubber dam units burst allowing the water in the lake behind the dam to leave the fake lake high and not so dry. Arizona Republic: “Tempe Town Lake [...] Hot Air: “Demand for loans to purchase U.S. homes sank to a 13-year low last week, and refinancing demand also slid despite near record-low mortgage rates, the Mortgage Bankers Association said on Wednesday.” Daily Caller reports from the “it’s not our money that the US doesn’t have so we can spend as much as we like, especially if we say its for green energy” department: “Abengoa Solar, which received $1.45 billion from the Department of Energy, admits on its website that it will use the money to [...] The Heritage Foundation conducted a study that refutes bogus claims made by the Obama administration and the news media that the reason federal workers are paid more than private sectors workers is because federal workers have more skills. Here’s the abstract from the study: “Salaries and benefits—for identical jobs—are 30 [...] ABC News: “Preliminary estimates released by the U.S. Department of Labor find that, in 2009, states made more than $7.1 billion in overpayments in unemployment insurance, up from $4.2 billion the year before. The total amount of unemployment benefits paid in 2009 was $76.8 billion, compared to $41.6 billion in 2008.” U.S. News & World Report article called “10 States Where Taxes Are Rising the Most” found that Arizona is number 6 on the list of the states whose taxes are rising the fastest. The top ten are: New York: $8.2 billion, $419 per person California: $11.5 billion, $312 per person Delaware: $253 million, $286 per person Connecticut: $777 million, $221 [...] From the tax anything that moves department, aka using taxes to affect behavior: New York Post: “Smokers huff & puff over new cigarette tax. Smokers are used to coughing up a lot — but this is getting ridiculous. The price on a pack of cigarettes has skyrocketed to $14.50 at some New York City [...] From the why the feds need to increase our taxes department. CNSNews.com: “Since 2008, U.S. taxpayers have contributed more than $60,000 for research to study the prevalence of water pipe, or “hookah,” smoking is among college students in Jordan.” Congrats to New York. It’s legislature just passed and Governor Paterson signed a new law that imposes a tax increase on cigarettes of $1.60 per pack. People who purchase cigarettes in New York outside New York City will now pay $4.35 in taxes for every pack. Those who buy cigarettes in New [...] MyFoxNY.com: “Ten dollars for a pack of cigarettes? It might soon become a reality in many stores in New York City. The cigarette tax in New York would jump $1.60 a pack under a tentative deal struck between Governor David Paterson and state government leaders.” Too bad for New York it’s leaders are not [...] We’ve all heard the saying that those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it. Unfortunately for all of us, politicians who do not know history are constantly repeating history to the detriment of their constituents. Case in point, the Democrat controlled legislature of New Jersey. The New [...] Arizona Republic: “Imagine boarding a train in Queen Creek and arriving 35 minutes later at a restaurant on Tempe’s Mill Avenue, then hopping back on board for a 10-minute jaunt to Chase Stadium in downtown Phoenix. That could be possibile someday, say transit planners with the Maricopa Association of Governments. . . [...] ABC News: “Arizona is spending $1.25 million to build bridges for endangered squirrels over a mountain road so they don’t become roadkill and then monitor their health. The money is being spent, officials said, because cars kill about five of these squirrels each year.” If the bridges save five squirrels a year [...] From the you won’t read or hear this from the U.S. media department. London Telegraph: “The Obama administration more than doubled spending on cycling and walking initiatives to $1.2 billion (£810 million) last year as it seeks to coax Americans out of their cars. . . . In March, Mr Obama’s transportation [...] The Tax Foundation has a blog post called “Arizona Politicians are Big Cubs Fans.” I checked the Cubs 2010 spring training schedule and they played 14 games at the the Mesa ball park. Some of the city powers that be want Mesa to spend $84 to build a new facility to keep [...] Arizona Republic: “Imagine selling your house to raise money – and then leasing it back, with interest, over 30 years. That’s essentially what Arizona is doing this week as it conducts a two-day sale of state buildings. The sale, which concludes today, is expected to net the state $300 million. But it [...] Reuters: “he U.S. debt will top $13.6 trillion this year and climb to an estimated $19.6 trillion by 2015, according to a Treasury Department report to Congress.” Seel “I Want It All, Even Better If You Pay for It.” New York Times: “a national soda tax was briefly considered by the Senate Finance Committee as a way to help pay for President Obama’s health care overhaul. But is a soda tax a good idea?” |
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