The voters of California have finally come to their senses. How this could have happened is way beyond my mortal powers of comprehension, but they have. They defeated all but one of the six propositions that the state legislators tried to have passed on the May 19 special election, and passed just one...the proposition that says no pay raises to state politicians when they don't balance the budget. Good for you, voters!
Now how about placing a proposition on the ballot that says NO PAY AT ALL IF THE POLITICIANS DON'T PASS A BALANCED BUDGET ON TIME? Bet that would get them off their dime and political oriented butts to pass the budget in a heartbeat! Or maybe get some of the dead wood out of office once and for all.
Or, maybe, California voters are going to dump the politicians who have been draining this state so long when the next elections come around? Or will they forget how bad things are and simply vote along the same old party lines and place the same old useless politicos back in their seats for another round of what could be bankruptcy and tax hikes?
Car taxes went up, sales taxes went up, counties are complaining they don't collect enough taxes because property values plummeted, people have asked for revaluations to reduce taxes on lower valued homes; many homes have been foreclosed, and taxes are not being paid.
Employment is the worst in about 40 years so income tax revenue is way down, so they raise the income tax rate..how about that for brilliance? Tax the crap out of the remaining working people to make up some of the lost income so the state can continue to pay for welfare and Medi-Cal for the illegals and the welfare recipients and the will-not works? Cut education, teachers and services for the understandably medically needy, but still be sure to throw that money at the services for those who won't ever contribute anything to society due to a lack of work ethic and/or pure laziness? How much can the working people of California accept before they realize how bad they're getting screwed? Year after year, ad nauseum?
Time to dump the surfer dude image, folks and get involved with changing the way Sacramento does business. If you don't, your children and grandchildren will bear the huge burden that the politicians keep piling up. The fastest and best way is to vote, and tell them you're not happy with them. Get them out of office, and make them get a real job for a change. Let them see what the working class sees, a dwindling paycheck and increasing bills and taxes. It isn't a pretty sight!
Showing posts with label income taxes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label income taxes. Show all posts
Monday, May 25, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
Bailing out a Boat with a Hole in the Bottom!
Somehow the government hasn't figured out that you need to plug the hole that the water is flowing through before you start bailing out the boat. In this case it's cash being thrown back into the system, but they haven't plugged the leaks that keep cropping up, and frankly, I see our Washington bureaucrats running amok with wads of cash trying to shore up a sinking ship that keeps leaking more and more.
Obama brought aboard a team of tax evaders and welcomed them with open arms. For God's sake, one of them he even appointed head of the Treasury Department, the people that run the IRS and tax collection! Gaithner didn't pay self-employment tax and the so-called nanny tax, and the IRS even forgave him penalties. How nice, and how unlikely that same scenario would happen to other Americans who are dogged for a few bucks when they make an honest mistake on their tax forms?
An even more disgusting move shows up on TV nightly with actors (I presume in lieu of the actual miscreants) bragging about how they owed the IRS tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars or even millions, and were able to get off by paying little. One brags they owed over a million and payed a tenth of that amount. WTF? And the ordinary guy owes a few hundred and gets slapped with fines and penalties and feels like a criminal? No wonder we're in such deep crap. We're bailing out everyone and Washington gives the nod to doing it. I can understand the logic of "not getting blood from a stone" but to let people get behind a million dollars and then accept pennies on a dollar as a settlement? Where's the watchdogs?
And guess what folks? YOU are paying what they didn't pay! Their free ride, just like the illegals, welfare recipients, AIG execs and the rest of the no-loads is on YOU!
Your taxes will increase exponentially as the administration goes into overdrive giving your tax money away. Many of us won't live long enough to see the eventual bankruptcy of our system, or maybe we will. But our children and grandchildren will. What a helluva legacy to leave them, debt that can never be paid back and a government that runs everything like a socialist republic. Not that it starts off that way but when you have everyone in "programs" it will end up that way.
And we fought and died to get this far, just to watch it all go down the tubes in a short time. Pessimistic? Yup. With a glimmer of optimism that some politicians will stop the madness before we self-implode.
Obama brought aboard a team of tax evaders and welcomed them with open arms. For God's sake, one of them he even appointed head of the Treasury Department, the people that run the IRS and tax collection! Gaithner didn't pay self-employment tax and the so-called nanny tax, and the IRS even forgave him penalties. How nice, and how unlikely that same scenario would happen to other Americans who are dogged for a few bucks when they make an honest mistake on their tax forms?
An even more disgusting move shows up on TV nightly with actors (I presume in lieu of the actual miscreants) bragging about how they owed the IRS tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars or even millions, and were able to get off by paying little. One brags they owed over a million and payed a tenth of that amount. WTF? And the ordinary guy owes a few hundred and gets slapped with fines and penalties and feels like a criminal? No wonder we're in such deep crap. We're bailing out everyone and Washington gives the nod to doing it. I can understand the logic of "not getting blood from a stone" but to let people get behind a million dollars and then accept pennies on a dollar as a settlement? Where's the watchdogs?
And guess what folks? YOU are paying what they didn't pay! Their free ride, just like the illegals, welfare recipients, AIG execs and the rest of the no-loads is on YOU!
Your taxes will increase exponentially as the administration goes into overdrive giving your tax money away. Many of us won't live long enough to see the eventual bankruptcy of our system, or maybe we will. But our children and grandchildren will. What a helluva legacy to leave them, debt that can never be paid back and a government that runs everything like a socialist republic. Not that it starts off that way but when you have everyone in "programs" it will end up that way.
And we fought and died to get this far, just to watch it all go down the tubes in a short time. Pessimistic? Yup. With a glimmer of optimism that some politicians will stop the madness before we self-implode.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
California Tax Refunds and the US Economy
Well, the dumbasses in Sacramento finally reached accord, and we'll soon be seeing our tax refunds. Oh wait...did I say soon? I note the FTB says it could take 25 business days for a refund to get to those who are owed money. That's another 5 weeks, or about the end of April for most of us as I figure it. Yet in another twist of their crooked tongue, they say the March refunds will be made on time. How in hell do they figure that will happen?
Folks, we're in deep kimche in California and the entire country. The tip of the iceberg has just surfaced and under the current Democratic leadership, we're screwed. Everyone wants a piece of the stimulus package but they have no idea who's paying for it! What a bunch of idiots! Where the hell do they think the money is coming from? I can understand the greedy bastards on Wall Street and the Banks and AIG screwing the taxpayers because that's what they do...but good lord, people, get some sense, and recognize you'll be paying this back for generations to come. Your children, grandchildren and those to follow will suffer for this debacle. IF the country as we know it survives at all.
I believe there will be a revolution between parties, a knock-down, drag-out fight in the halls of the legislatures in states and Washington until this is settled. Let's pray it ends there before it's taken to the streets by people who are out of work and out of hope. As unemployment grows and hope for the future dims, the Washington bureaucrats prattle on about a light at the end of the tunnel. What they don't tell you is that the light is at the head of a runaway locomotive and it's going to run your ass over! And the bureaucrats are riding the pork filled train that follows.
Mr. Obama made some big promises but all he seems to be able to do is piss away more and more money every day.
Folks, we're in deep kimche in California and the entire country. The tip of the iceberg has just surfaced and under the current Democratic leadership, we're screwed. Everyone wants a piece of the stimulus package but they have no idea who's paying for it! What a bunch of idiots! Where the hell do they think the money is coming from? I can understand the greedy bastards on Wall Street and the Banks and AIG screwing the taxpayers because that's what they do...but good lord, people, get some sense, and recognize you'll be paying this back for generations to come. Your children, grandchildren and those to follow will suffer for this debacle. IF the country as we know it survives at all.
I believe there will be a revolution between parties, a knock-down, drag-out fight in the halls of the legislatures in states and Washington until this is settled. Let's pray it ends there before it's taken to the streets by people who are out of work and out of hope. As unemployment grows and hope for the future dims, the Washington bureaucrats prattle on about a light at the end of the tunnel. What they don't tell you is that the light is at the head of a runaway locomotive and it's going to run your ass over! And the bureaucrats are riding the pork filled train that follows.
Mr. Obama made some big promises but all he seems to be able to do is piss away more and more money every day.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Idiots, Politicians, and No Brainers...One and the Same!
Wow..I must be on some other freaking planet. This just can't possibly be earth nor the USA. We're in a recession like we've not seen for decades. millions are unemployed, losing houses left and right, house values tumbling faster than AIG stock, gas prices more volatile than the hydrocarbons they're composed of. Food prices are astronomical, homelessness is at all all time high, uninsured people with no health insurance is epidemic.
Sooo, what do the politicians in Washingtom, DC and Sacramento, CA want to do? Raise the damned taxes! In California, Governor Schwarzenegger, who has never had to be without, wants to increase the sales tax, increase the tax on oil production ( a real incentive to produce our own oil there, right Arnie?), increase the automobile registration fee (tax), add sales tax to your pets veterinary visits and other presently non-taxable services (watch out...soon it will be your hospital and doctor visits too), and reduce the dependent care exemption on State income tax returns by two-thirds! Then the Democrats want to increase your income tax as well. All this in a year when many are struggling to survive.
Oh yeah, Schwarzenegger wants to add a 5 cent a drink tax on alcoholic beverages. Hmm...why not a buck a drink and we'd maybe be able to clean up the drunks off the streets of Oceanside and San Diego, fund the hospitals better and curb underage drinking and DWI? Oh wait, that's too logical for the Terminator and the lame brains in the legislature to figure out.
Then we have Washington DC who wants to add a 50% increase on the Federal Fuel Tax, which is already 18.4 cents per gallon. So this proposal would raise it to over 27 cents. And why? Because we did the right thing. We're conserving fuel and not driving as much. We did as they asked and suggested, and coupled with the high price of fuel, we cut our miles driven and consumption. And now we're going to get screwed, because the greedy bastards aren't getting enough tax money for roads and infrastructure, so their logic is to tax some more.
Want to read some sickening statistics and "think tank" crap, read this:
http://www.heritage.org/research/smartgrowth/bg2103.cfm
Those who hold positions in public transit are all for screwing the motorist to hold on to their highly paid jobs, and I'm not talking about bus drivers here. But the truth is they haven't figured out how to move the population from Point A to Point B effectively andd economically since they tore down the old trolley lines and interrurbans in the 1950's and 1960's. And you know who was responsible for that? The automakers, the rubber companies and Big Oil. They conspired to shut down the most effective, efficient rail services in the country and we'll never have that again, even though we now spend billions rebuilding many of the same routes.
Some info on that: http://www.trainweb.org/mts/ctc/ctc06.html
Why not simply cut off the free medical care for all the 14 and 15 year olds who have babies in our local hospitals time and again! Why not cut back on the Medi-CAL program and make the people pony up for some of the care. The poor elderly on Medi-CAL have to agree to sign over their home to get this coverage but what about the illegals and other immigrants who get it for free and contribute ZERO! We pay for all the losers time and again and I don't see our illustrious governor cutting these programs. Nor welfare and telling these losers to get off their butts and get a job. Jobs are scarce? Sure..but dump all the illegals working at the fast food places, car washes, construction and landscape companies and ship them back to wherever they came from, and there would be plenty of "entry level" jobs for the welfare recipients to do.
No work, no pay, no eat. Emergency medical care only. Getting pregnant doesn't entitle you to thousands of dollars of free medical care just because you laid your ass down. You need to work and pay for your bills like the rest of the DECENT Americans who are supporting the country. We're TIRED of going without because you won't work and are sucking the lifeblood out of America.
Worse yet, the politicians are pandering to you like a bunch of butt kissers. Even Arnold is looking more like a Girly-Man to his constituents with his proposals. Hey Arnie..get a budget passed so you don't have to give out IOU's. Or will you be able to give the welfare recipients IOU's for their food stamps and housing too? Right...I thought so. No, only the taxpayers and real workers who support the State.
Politicians..get it through your heads. Quit giving the money away and cut where it matters. Tax booze, cigarettes, and other non-essential items and spend that money on medical programs. Close the border and ship illegals back home. If a person has a baby and they're illegal...bill the foreign country and then cut all aid until they pay. That's not part of a free trade agreement!
If you keep going down this track, the derailment and consequences will be catastrophic, more than any of us ever thought. And we'll all be seated right in the "coffin car" as it runs head-on into disaster!
Sooo, what do the politicians in Washingtom, DC and Sacramento, CA want to do? Raise the damned taxes! In California, Governor Schwarzenegger, who has never had to be without, wants to increase the sales tax, increase the tax on oil production ( a real incentive to produce our own oil there, right Arnie?), increase the automobile registration fee (tax), add sales tax to your pets veterinary visits and other presently non-taxable services (watch out...soon it will be your hospital and doctor visits too), and reduce the dependent care exemption on State income tax returns by two-thirds! Then the Democrats want to increase your income tax as well. All this in a year when many are struggling to survive.
Oh yeah, Schwarzenegger wants to add a 5 cent a drink tax on alcoholic beverages. Hmm...why not a buck a drink and we'd maybe be able to clean up the drunks off the streets of Oceanside and San Diego, fund the hospitals better and curb underage drinking and DWI? Oh wait, that's too logical for the Terminator and the lame brains in the legislature to figure out.
Then we have Washington DC who wants to add a 50% increase on the Federal Fuel Tax, which is already 18.4 cents per gallon. So this proposal would raise it to over 27 cents. And why? Because we did the right thing. We're conserving fuel and not driving as much. We did as they asked and suggested, and coupled with the high price of fuel, we cut our miles driven and consumption. And now we're going to get screwed, because the greedy bastards aren't getting enough tax money for roads and infrastructure, so their logic is to tax some more.
Want to read some sickening statistics and "think tank" crap, read this:
http://www.heritage.org/research/smartgrowth/bg2103.cfm
Those who hold positions in public transit are all for screwing the motorist to hold on to their highly paid jobs, and I'm not talking about bus drivers here. But the truth is they haven't figured out how to move the population from Point A to Point B effectively andd economically since they tore down the old trolley lines and interrurbans in the 1950's and 1960's. And you know who was responsible for that? The automakers, the rubber companies and Big Oil. They conspired to shut down the most effective, efficient rail services in the country and we'll never have that again, even though we now spend billions rebuilding many of the same routes.
Some info on that: http://www.trainweb.org/mts/ctc/ctc06.html
Why not simply cut off the free medical care for all the 14 and 15 year olds who have babies in our local hospitals time and again! Why not cut back on the Medi-CAL program and make the people pony up for some of the care. The poor elderly on Medi-CAL have to agree to sign over their home to get this coverage but what about the illegals and other immigrants who get it for free and contribute ZERO! We pay for all the losers time and again and I don't see our illustrious governor cutting these programs. Nor welfare and telling these losers to get off their butts and get a job. Jobs are scarce? Sure..but dump all the illegals working at the fast food places, car washes, construction and landscape companies and ship them back to wherever they came from, and there would be plenty of "entry level" jobs for the welfare recipients to do.
No work, no pay, no eat. Emergency medical care only. Getting pregnant doesn't entitle you to thousands of dollars of free medical care just because you laid your ass down. You need to work and pay for your bills like the rest of the DECENT Americans who are supporting the country. We're TIRED of going without because you won't work and are sucking the lifeblood out of America.
Worse yet, the politicians are pandering to you like a bunch of butt kissers. Even Arnold is looking more like a Girly-Man to his constituents with his proposals. Hey Arnie..get a budget passed so you don't have to give out IOU's. Or will you be able to give the welfare recipients IOU's for their food stamps and housing too? Right...I thought so. No, only the taxpayers and real workers who support the State.
Politicians..get it through your heads. Quit giving the money away and cut where it matters. Tax booze, cigarettes, and other non-essential items and spend that money on medical programs. Close the border and ship illegals back home. If a person has a baby and they're illegal...bill the foreign country and then cut all aid until they pay. That's not part of a free trade agreement!
If you keep going down this track, the derailment and consequences will be catastrophic, more than any of us ever thought. And we'll all be seated right in the "coffin car" as it runs head-on into disaster!
Thursday, August 28, 2008
When the Freight Train Takes a Dirt Road Detour...
When the Freight Train takes a dirt road detour, it's time to start believing that something is really wrong with the economy, and those running the railroad. And, friends and readers, this freight train we call our nation's economy has not only taken that dirt road detour, but has run through the swamp as well!
What was a well oiled locomotive, pulling our train through the hills and valleys of the economy, sometimes straining a bit uphill, and sometimes free-wheeling and getting a good ride on better days, has been derailed by the political machine that was designed to serve the nation, not bankrupt it. That and the giant corporations that keep bleeding us dry, and filling their pockets while ours have nothing but lint left in the bottom!
For those who believe in paying more taxes, be sure to vote democrat in November. Regardless of what you think of Bush, the war or anything else, remember who has been at stoking coal into the locomotive for the past two years...the democrat controlled house and senate, and not the republicans. Ol' Bush might be the throttle man, but the train doesn't run very well unless you have good backup fire, and he sure as hell hasn't. I don't agree with some of his decisions, but it takes a consensus and that he hasn't had. In-fighting and pork-barrel spending just hurts everyone. Just look back to the Clinton years and the tax tables to see how much more your taxes will be, and get ready.
The government thinks you're an endless source of money. You paid all that money into Social Security in preparation for retirement, if you can ever afford it, and then they tax at least part of it. They constantly entreat you to save for your retirement in a 401(k) or an IRA, and if you do, they tax it when you withdraw it, no matter how little it is, or how much you have left.
If you work hard and pay taxes, you pay for those who sit on their butts and collect welfare, or who are here illegally, and have baby after baby free on your dollar, yet you can't afford to pay your medical insurance co-pays when you get sick or have to be hospitalized! The hospital writes off the care for those people but do you think they will write yours off? No way! You'll go to collections and they'll put a lien on everything you own to try and collect. All while the illegals and welfare cases go merrily on their way for free! And, for those on welfare, every free baby gets them more welfare money, WIC money, food stamps, etc. And you're paying for it. They won't admit who the baby's father is because the State might actually make the father pay, unless he is in jail, as many are. Plus, they get more on welfare if they just claim they don't know. Some women have six, eight or ten children each with a different "baby daddy"! Sure makes a case for involuntary sterilization, doesn't it! Or at least cut off welfare after one! Work or no welfare works too!
The government simply increases taxes to cover any and all shortfalls. politicians have diarrhea of the mouth and promise no new taxes but then sneak them in the back door so you won't notice them. Or at least hope you won't. Increase the sales tax by one cent seems minuscule and they tell you it's also paid by all the tourists and transients so it's a good thing. But when do tourists and transients but cars and appliances and the big ticket items that costs the most where that extra cent really hurts? Nobody tells you that, do they? Plus, the tourists go away and you're stuck the rest of the year and for many years with the tax!
Same with taxes to cover hospital districts, such as the one that was defeated narrowly this week for Tri-City Medical Center. They spent 400K on the election, 400K on TV ads, God knows how much for consultants and newspaper ads (couldn't that money have gone to repairs and modernization?) and the bond measure failed. For the third time! Here's a hospital that can't govern itself effectively, and has been whining for years about the same issues. They constantly put a proposition before the people asking them to tax themselves, using scare tactics that the hospital will close if the people don't approve a new tax. Didn't work before, and didn't work this time either. People are saying No More Taxes! Especially when you want to tax people who don't use the hospital (their insurance requires they use other facilities), tax only part of the cities covered so most of the people who use the hospital don't get taxed, the high use by illegals who pay nothing and no taxes, etc, etc.
Big business is suffering in this country, and in some cases, rightfully so. Take the auto industry. I don't drive foreign cars, so let's go from there. We took too long to catch up to the quality of the foreign imports, and we let them get too great a foothold in the US. Their pricing was more attractive, they lasted longer and didn't have to be replaced every few years. Their fuel economy was better and during the first fuel crisis we learned absolutely nothing. The US automakers didn't downsize vehicles and the public didn't really seem to want smaller cars, so as soon as it was over, we went back to burning gas and diesel like it was never-ending, and here we are again in a worse situation than ever.
And now, like then, the gas companies are raking in monumental profits,while we're standing with empty pockets wondering how to fill the tank on the behemoth in the driveway! And the US automakers are in trouble, trying to figure out how to survive in the marketplace. They're losing billions, yes billions of dollars every quarter, trying to stay alive, closing plants and laying off workers, stopping production of some SUV and truck lines and minivans, etc. Did it take this long to learn that the time was coming that gasoline and diesel would run short or too costly to fuel everything? And that fighting higher fuel mileage standards wasn't a prudent thing to do?
And, maybe some introspect is in store for some workers themselves, to see where it's actually worth the price they are paid to fit nuts and bolts onto a vehicle. Here's some amazing information and it goes to show how our own unions and workers have priced their own companies right out of the market. Sure, the buyouts are fine for them, since an autoworker worker making 60K could receive 100K and up to 81 weeks of severance pay to accept the buyout. (This varies by company, time worked, etc. Some Ford workers are offered $140K after 10 years)
Per the Center for Automotive Research: " On average, active union members cost automakers $130,000 a year, whether they are working or not, according to the Center for Automotive Research. That cost drops to $50,000 a year when someone retires early or takes a buyout, and once that retiree is old enough to move onto Medicare and Social Security, the cost drops to $20,000 annually. " Any wonder the cost for an automobile is so high?
Regardless, we're on that freight train and taxes and big business have derailed us and only government and big business are going to get those rails back in place to a healthy economy. We need to stabilize jobs in sectors where people can make a reasonable wage, have healthcare benefits, reduce taxation that is based on giving away to everyone and every nation that won't do for themselves, and start being America again. Maybe we need to reinvent the railroad and lay the tracks ourselves to assure it's done right, and use the cowcatcher to fling off the politicians who stand in the way enroute to a strong and healthy economy!
What was a well oiled locomotive, pulling our train through the hills and valleys of the economy, sometimes straining a bit uphill, and sometimes free-wheeling and getting a good ride on better days, has been derailed by the political machine that was designed to serve the nation, not bankrupt it. That and the giant corporations that keep bleeding us dry, and filling their pockets while ours have nothing but lint left in the bottom!
For those who believe in paying more taxes, be sure to vote democrat in November. Regardless of what you think of Bush, the war or anything else, remember who has been at stoking coal into the locomotive for the past two years...the democrat controlled house and senate, and not the republicans. Ol' Bush might be the throttle man, but the train doesn't run very well unless you have good backup fire, and he sure as hell hasn't. I don't agree with some of his decisions, but it takes a consensus and that he hasn't had. In-fighting and pork-barrel spending just hurts everyone. Just look back to the Clinton years and the tax tables to see how much more your taxes will be, and get ready.
The government thinks you're an endless source of money. You paid all that money into Social Security in preparation for retirement, if you can ever afford it, and then they tax at least part of it. They constantly entreat you to save for your retirement in a 401(k) or an IRA, and if you do, they tax it when you withdraw it, no matter how little it is, or how much you have left.
If you work hard and pay taxes, you pay for those who sit on their butts and collect welfare, or who are here illegally, and have baby after baby free on your dollar, yet you can't afford to pay your medical insurance co-pays when you get sick or have to be hospitalized! The hospital writes off the care for those people but do you think they will write yours off? No way! You'll go to collections and they'll put a lien on everything you own to try and collect. All while the illegals and welfare cases go merrily on their way for free! And, for those on welfare, every free baby gets them more welfare money, WIC money, food stamps, etc. And you're paying for it. They won't admit who the baby's father is because the State might actually make the father pay, unless he is in jail, as many are. Plus, they get more on welfare if they just claim they don't know. Some women have six, eight or ten children each with a different "baby daddy"! Sure makes a case for involuntary sterilization, doesn't it! Or at least cut off welfare after one! Work or no welfare works too!
The government simply increases taxes to cover any and all shortfalls. politicians have diarrhea of the mouth and promise no new taxes but then sneak them in the back door so you won't notice them. Or at least hope you won't. Increase the sales tax by one cent seems minuscule and they tell you it's also paid by all the tourists and transients so it's a good thing. But when do tourists and transients but cars and appliances and the big ticket items that costs the most where that extra cent really hurts? Nobody tells you that, do they? Plus, the tourists go away and you're stuck the rest of the year and for many years with the tax!
Same with taxes to cover hospital districts, such as the one that was defeated narrowly this week for Tri-City Medical Center. They spent 400K on the election, 400K on TV ads, God knows how much for consultants and newspaper ads (couldn't that money have gone to repairs and modernization?) and the bond measure failed. For the third time! Here's a hospital that can't govern itself effectively, and has been whining for years about the same issues. They constantly put a proposition before the people asking them to tax themselves, using scare tactics that the hospital will close if the people don't approve a new tax. Didn't work before, and didn't work this time either. People are saying No More Taxes! Especially when you want to tax people who don't use the hospital (their insurance requires they use other facilities), tax only part of the cities covered so most of the people who use the hospital don't get taxed, the high use by illegals who pay nothing and no taxes, etc, etc.
Big business is suffering in this country, and in some cases, rightfully so. Take the auto industry. I don't drive foreign cars, so let's go from there. We took too long to catch up to the quality of the foreign imports, and we let them get too great a foothold in the US. Their pricing was more attractive, they lasted longer and didn't have to be replaced every few years. Their fuel economy was better and during the first fuel crisis we learned absolutely nothing. The US automakers didn't downsize vehicles and the public didn't really seem to want smaller cars, so as soon as it was over, we went back to burning gas and diesel like it was never-ending, and here we are again in a worse situation than ever.
And now, like then, the gas companies are raking in monumental profits,while we're standing with empty pockets wondering how to fill the tank on the behemoth in the driveway! And the US automakers are in trouble, trying to figure out how to survive in the marketplace. They're losing billions, yes billions of dollars every quarter, trying to stay alive, closing plants and laying off workers, stopping production of some SUV and truck lines and minivans, etc. Did it take this long to learn that the time was coming that gasoline and diesel would run short or too costly to fuel everything? And that fighting higher fuel mileage standards wasn't a prudent thing to do?
And, maybe some introspect is in store for some workers themselves, to see where it's actually worth the price they are paid to fit nuts and bolts onto a vehicle. Here's some amazing information and it goes to show how our own unions and workers have priced their own companies right out of the market. Sure, the buyouts are fine for them, since an autoworker worker making 60K could receive 100K and up to 81 weeks of severance pay to accept the buyout. (This varies by company, time worked, etc. Some Ford workers are offered $140K after 10 years)
Per the Center for Automotive Research: " On average, active union members cost automakers $130,000 a year, whether they are working or not, according to the Center for Automotive Research. That cost drops to $50,000 a year when someone retires early or takes a buyout, and once that retiree is old enough to move onto Medicare and Social Security, the cost drops to $20,000 annually. " Any wonder the cost for an automobile is so high?
Regardless, we're on that freight train and taxes and big business have derailed us and only government and big business are going to get those rails back in place to a healthy economy. We need to stabilize jobs in sectors where people can make a reasonable wage, have healthcare benefits, reduce taxation that is based on giving away to everyone and every nation that won't do for themselves, and start being America again. Maybe we need to reinvent the railroad and lay the tracks ourselves to assure it's done right, and use the cowcatcher to fling off the politicians who stand in the way enroute to a strong and healthy economy!
Thursday, June 12, 2008
A Great Tradeoff for Veterans
Well, the VA says it can't afford to pay 3.3 billion dollars over the next 10 years if veterans who may have been exposed to Agent Orange are so adjudged, so it has continued to fight that issue, and for now it seems to be able to hold its own on the case. But, the fight isn't over yet.
Wait, though. I have a simple idea that would solve the funding issue once and for all. Take the money the government is spending on illegal aliens in this country, those who receive free everything, including healthcare, educational benefits, and more, and cut it off. They're illegal, meaning they are not entitled to anything! What part about illegal doesn't the government seem to understand?
In 2004, California alone spent over 10.5 Billion dollars supporting illegal aliens. That's 3 times the money the VA says it would spend in 10 years! Don't you see something wrong where a country would rather fund the illegal aliens than take proper care of their own veterans?
Illegal aliens who commit crimes, up to and including serious felonies are deported and come back time and again. One who brutally executed a police officer during a traffic stop had been deported at least three times. In 2004, California spent 1.7 billion dollars a year incarcerating illegals for various crimes, yet so many would have you believe the "poor illegals" just come here to work. Tell that fairy tale to the victims of their crimes. Deport them once and see that they never can come back. Seal the border as you need, to prevent infiltration by illegals and terrorists, for you know not which is which until you properly identify them.
Our state's nearness to bankruptcy can be closely related to the willingness to give away the store at each and every turn, and completely ignoring the will of the people for the past fourteen years, following the passage of Proposition 187, and continuing to dole out billions in free aid to illegal aliens. We have only the politicians to blame for the situation we're in, and regardless of how much any of them point fingers at the others, all one need do is look at the voting record of the Democrat controlled legislature who presses for money to be spent on these programs, and the witless judiciary who rule in the favor of giveaway programs.
And California is just the tip of the iceberg when you add in all the other states. There were an estimated 12 million illegal persons living in the US in 2007, according to government research. The cost associated with this illegal immigration was approximately 32 billion dollars, although some sources place the figures as high as 50 billion dollars or more. In California alone, the tax burden on every native-born family is said to be $1200 to make up for the illegals living on the system.
So, once again, why can we not take this money, being doled out to people who have no right to be here, who have broken Federal law to enter the country illegally, and are living off our tax dollars, and cut them off? And give that money to the veterans who fought for their country? Other than a bunch of bleeding heart politicians who pander to specific groups for their votes, and a judicial system that usually fails to do what's right for the public good and falls prey to short sightedness, and panders to splinter groups and special interests, there is no reason!
Remember when you vote to make it count and get rid of these people who constantly disrespect your service to your country. Most have never given anything to this country but rhetoric and, as you well know, that's worth nothing.
Wait, though. I have a simple idea that would solve the funding issue once and for all. Take the money the government is spending on illegal aliens in this country, those who receive free everything, including healthcare, educational benefits, and more, and cut it off. They're illegal, meaning they are not entitled to anything! What part about illegal doesn't the government seem to understand?
In 2004, California alone spent over 10.5 Billion dollars supporting illegal aliens. That's 3 times the money the VA says it would spend in 10 years! Don't you see something wrong where a country would rather fund the illegal aliens than take proper care of their own veterans?
Illegal aliens who commit crimes, up to and including serious felonies are deported and come back time and again. One who brutally executed a police officer during a traffic stop had been deported at least three times. In 2004, California spent 1.7 billion dollars a year incarcerating illegals for various crimes, yet so many would have you believe the "poor illegals" just come here to work. Tell that fairy tale to the victims of their crimes. Deport them once and see that they never can come back. Seal the border as you need, to prevent infiltration by illegals and terrorists, for you know not which is which until you properly identify them.
Our state's nearness to bankruptcy can be closely related to the willingness to give away the store at each and every turn, and completely ignoring the will of the people for the past fourteen years, following the passage of Proposition 187, and continuing to dole out billions in free aid to illegal aliens. We have only the politicians to blame for the situation we're in, and regardless of how much any of them point fingers at the others, all one need do is look at the voting record of the Democrat controlled legislature who presses for money to be spent on these programs, and the witless judiciary who rule in the favor of giveaway programs.
And California is just the tip of the iceberg when you add in all the other states. There were an estimated 12 million illegal persons living in the US in 2007, according to government research. The cost associated with this illegal immigration was approximately 32 billion dollars, although some sources place the figures as high as 50 billion dollars or more. In California alone, the tax burden on every native-born family is said to be $1200 to make up for the illegals living on the system.
So, once again, why can we not take this money, being doled out to people who have no right to be here, who have broken Federal law to enter the country illegally, and are living off our tax dollars, and cut them off? And give that money to the veterans who fought for their country? Other than a bunch of bleeding heart politicians who pander to specific groups for their votes, and a judicial system that usually fails to do what's right for the public good and falls prey to short sightedness, and panders to splinter groups and special interests, there is no reason!
Remember when you vote to make it count and get rid of these people who constantly disrespect your service to your country. Most have never given anything to this country but rhetoric and, as you well know, that's worth nothing.
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Tax Evasion and Who Ends Up Paying the Bill
You've all seen the ads on TV. "If you owe the IRS over $10,000 in back taxes, call us and we can help you settle for pennies on the dollar." Then the ads go on to show the smiling faces of people who have "settled" tax liens with the IRS, some of whom allegedly owed hundreds of thousands of dollars and only paid a tenth of that. WTF???
I am aware that the IRS will settle for less that what is owed, when there is little potential for getting the full amount. But how does it ever come to that when the people shown are individuals or small businesses? Outright tax evasion? Where was the government when this was happening? And, how could such huge amounts be let slide when they seemingly catch the little family guy for a minor mathematical error on their 1040?
Bottom line on this is that the honest taxpayers end up eating the taxes for those people who do not pay. Plain and simple. It may only be pennies or a single dollar, but we all contribute to the government coffers for those who don't pay. Tax evasion is a crime and somehow people are allowed to get away with it and pass the bill on to others and once again, the honest taxpayer ends up shafted!
I am aware that the IRS will settle for less that what is owed, when there is little potential for getting the full amount. But how does it ever come to that when the people shown are individuals or small businesses? Outright tax evasion? Where was the government when this was happening? And, how could such huge amounts be let slide when they seemingly catch the little family guy for a minor mathematical error on their 1040?
Bottom line on this is that the honest taxpayers end up eating the taxes for those people who do not pay. Plain and simple. It may only be pennies or a single dollar, but we all contribute to the government coffers for those who don't pay. Tax evasion is a crime and somehow people are allowed to get away with it and pass the bill on to others and once again, the honest taxpayer ends up shafted!
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