Friday, May 18, 2012

California’s Dreaming (Snowballs Always Roll Downhill)

May 11, 2012 by  
Filed under Economy, Taxes

When governments raise taxes and/or increase regulations, businesses leave. When businesses leave, governments raise taxes and/or increase regulations even more. When governments raise…  Snowballs always roll downhill.

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In early May, we like to visit California. It is spectacular, beautiful, and special. Our hero Ronald Reagan once said that “If the pilgrims had landed in California, we would have never found the rest of the country.” He was right. Today, he would be wrong.

Pilgrims were productive settlers, and today successful and productive citizens are fleeing en masse from California. It is a shame.

First stop on our trip is Oakland. Floyd has a meeting with an innovative medical specialty firm trying to start in California. The owner of the firm has started many companies, all in California. Early on the agenda for discussion was talk of moving out of the Golden State to another less regulated, business friendly state.  westernjournalism.com.

Higher Taxes?

February 6, 2012 by  
Filed under Taxes

Michael Alan Hawkins Photo

Scott Walker, Governor of the year!!

December 29, 2011 by  
Filed under Taxes, Tea Party, Uncategorized, Unions

Governors Journal recently named Wisconsin governor Scott Walker “Governor of the Year.”

Governor Scott Walker

How cool is that!

  And the Liberals, Unionistas, Teachers, and other outside groups want to Recall him. They want him recalled because he took away their POWER and primary sources of money, Union Dues and WEA & Trust Health Insurance, which was found to overcharging for premiums by as much as 60%!!!!  And noone has even been charged w/ that extortion!!  Recalling Scott Walker  would be as stupid as the Packers cutting Aaron Rdgers.  Being a transplant from Chicago, and a lifelong Bears fan, that would be OK w/ me, but it’s not going to happen.

Here is some of what Scott Walker has accomplished in less than a year:

 A REPORT CARD ON SCOTT WALKER

Why was WEA Trust Insurance allowed to rip off the Wisconsin taxpayer for so many years? Why was the corruption allowed? 3.1 million a year saved by the Appleton School districts and thousands saved in other school districts simply by dropping WEA Trust Health Ins. How does this happen? We the Wisconsin taxpayer deserve an answer, at least an investigation.  Share with other Wisconsin taxpayers so they know the truth – we’re sure not getting it from our media.

> EXAMPLES OF GOOD STUFF HAPPENING IN WISCONSIN:

> Ashland School District – saved $378,000 on health insurance;

> Kimberly School District – saved $821,000 by dropping WEA Trust Insurance;

> Edgerton School District – dropping WEA Trust, expecting to save at least
$500,000;

> Baraboo School District – dropping WEA Trust, expecting to save at least $660,000;

> Dodgeland School District – dropping WEA Trust, expecting to save $260,000

> Elmbrook School District – changing health care provider, savings estimated at $878,000;

> Mequon-Thiensville School District – saving $49,000 on dental insurance coverage;

> Marshfield School District – saving $850,00 by dropping WEA Trust;

> City of Sheboygan – Mayor Bob Ryan says collective bargaining reforms will  provide enough savings to make up for the reduction in state aid;

> Wauwatosa School District – tax levy decreasing, no programs will be cut, class sizes won’t increase, thanks to the reforms in collective bargaining;

> Manitowoc – Laid-off city workers may get their jobs back due to the wage/benefit reforms contained in Walker’s budget. Changes to overtime rules saving the county $100,000;

> Pittsville – will see a 9% decrease in the school portion of their property tax levy. “This is the first year we have not needed to short-term borrow,” stated Board President Strenn;

> Appleton School District – will save $3.1 million just in health insurance costs due to being able to bid out the coverage and being able to drop WEA Trust;

> Racine County – inmates can now be used to perform tasks such as landscaping, painting and shoveling sidewalks. Executive Ladwig states this is a win/win for the inmates and the county. It frees up county employees for other tasks, gives the inmates a sense of value, and helps the county maintain property that has been neglected.”

> Kaukauna School District – hiring additional teachers, reducing class sizes, enacting a merit pay system, and due to Walker’s Budget Bill, Kaukauna’s operating budget has moved from a negative $400,000 to a positive $1,500,000. Much of this savings was due to being able to drop WEA Trust.
> Hartland School District – switched from WEA Trust and saved $690,000;

> Hudson School District – saved $832,000 on health insurance due to ability to bid the insurance.

> KSTP did a study of the savings in Sheila Harsdorf’s 10th Senate District. They found that Ellsworth, Prescott, Menomonie, Somerset and Hudson school districts are all reporting large savings due to the changes signed into law by Gov. Walker.

> Keep in mind, WEA TRUST is Shelly Moore’s union insurance company,
a company that has obviously been ripping off the school districts for years,
thanks to collective bargaining that prohibited school districts from seeking insurance coverage from any company other than WEA Trust.

> How much tax money would we have saved if school districts had been “allowed
by the unions” to bid out their insurance over the years? I’d say probably many, many, many millions statewide. It’s the union money train running off the
tracks, finally, and Shelly and her union don’t like it.

> WANT MORE GOOD NEWS??

> Walker signed an Unemployment Insurance extension adding 13 weeks of UC benefits.

> Passed a state budget on time, without tax increases, that leaves WI in the black for the first time in over 10 years.

> Turned a $3.6  billion deficit into a $300 million surplus.

> Cut bonding by nearly 20%.

> Cut more than 1,000 government jobs, including 735 long-term vacancies.

> In the first 6 months of 2011 WI showed job growth more than twice  the national rate.

> Protected our votes by requiring a picture I.D. at the polls.

> Became the 49th state to recognize our 2nd Amendment right to carry concealed weapons.

> Paid off WI’s $60 million debt to MN under the former tax reciprocity agreement.

> Paid back over $200 million to the Injured Patients and Families Fund. This is money that Gov. Doyle unconstitutionally raided from the Patients’ Compensation Fund.

> Walker expanded the prohibition against tax money being used to subsidize abortion.

> SO WITH THE WISCONSIN TAXPAYER FINALLY IN CONTROL AND NO MORE HIGH PROPERTY TAX INCREASES EVERY YEAR, WHY ARE THE DEMOCRAT’S RECALLING GOV. WALKER – IS IT BECAUSE THEY ARE AGAINST SUCCESS AND THE VERY PEOPLE WHO PAY THEIR SALARIES, THE WISCONSIN TAXPAYER.

 

I THINK HE GETS AN A+

 

STAND WITH SCOTT WALKER!!

I RECALL SCOTT WALKER……..I VOTED FOR HIM IN 2010!!!!

 Hat tip:  TeaPartyNation

The Original Tea Party – December 16, 1773

December 14, 2011 by  
Filed under Economy, National Info, Taxes, Tea Party

Although I’m a big fan of Alan Caruba, why wouldn’t I be, just look at his first name, I must take exception to the beginning of this otherwise great article.  While the fight against the government’s takeover of our healthcare system has been an integral part of the modern Tea Party movement, most believe it really got its start from Rick Santelli’s now famous “rant” against the Stimulus and for Fiscal Responsibility, Limited Government, and Free Markets.  ADB

- Alan Caruba Wednesday, December 14, 2011
The modern-day Tea Party is a loose amalgamation of people who came together in March 2009 to protest against passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act otherwise known as Obamacare. There was a large gathering in Washington, D.C. with estimates of several hundred thousand to a million participants.

There had been other events associated with the Tea Party movement and in the 2010 midterm elections the movement was credited with returning power to the Republican Party in the House of Representatives by supporting candidates that associated themselves with the movement. It is, however, not a political party in its own right.

The story of the original Tea Party that occurred on December 16, 1773 is told in a new book, “Ten Tea Parties: Patriotic Protests That History Forgot” (Quirk Books) by Joseph Cummins, a historian who quite coincidently lives in Maplewood, NJ, my home town for more than sixty years until I moved to an apartment complex one town over. Maplewood has a number of homes from the Revolutionary War era so a sense of history pervades the community. Just up the road is Morristown, the site of one of George Washington’s winter headquarters and Jockey Hollow where his soldiers were billeted. Continue reading on canadafreepress.com.

Obama: “Since I’ve Taken Office, I’ve Cut Your Taxes”

December 1, 2011 by  
Filed under Executive Branch, National Info, Taxes

“I know you hear a lot of folks on cable TV claiming that I am this ‘big tax and spend liberal.’ Next time you hear that, you just remind the people who are saying it that since I’ve taken office, I’ve cut your taxes. Your taxes — your taxes today, the average middle class family, your taxes today are lower than when I took office. Just remember that. We have cut taxes for small businesses, not once, not twice, but 17 times. The average family’s tax burden is among the lowest it’s been in the last 60 years. So the problem is not that we’ve been raising taxes. We’ve been trying to give families a break during these tough times,” Obama said at a campaign event in Scranton, Penn.  Continue reading at: CommonSensePost.com

We Don’t Need NO Stinkin’ Supercommittee

…and by the the way, it’s unconstitutional!

Art Laffer: Tax Compliance Costs

October 27, 2011 by  
Filed under Hot Topics, Taxes

Art Laffer showcases the  “The 30-Cent Tax Premium”

Tax compliance employs more workers than Wal-Mart, UPS, McDonald’s, IBM and Citigroup combined.

“There is a lot more to taxes than simply paying the bill. Taxpayers must spend significantly more than $1 in order to provide $1 of income-tax revenue to the federal government.”

Full article…http://www.laffercenter.com/2011/04/1073/

Standard and Poor’s: Just As Stupid As Hobbits!

August 8, 2011 by  
Filed under Economy, Hot Topics, National Info, Taxes

This article showcases just how stupid Obama,  his administration and many “business as usual” politicians think we are. What’s quite amusing is they think Standard & Poor’s is just as stupid. Laughable if the consequences were not so dire.

“A review of White House budget proposals from 2009 to present reveals a series of long-term economic assumptions that torture credulity in service of Mr. Obama’s big-government agenda. 

According to the fiscal 2010 budget proposal, released in February 2009 and modestly entitled “A New Era of Responsibility,” prosperity was just around the corner. The projected gross domestic product for 2009 was almost zero, but in 2010 the Obama administration foresaw 3.43 percent growth, followed by 5.23 percent in 2011 and an astonishing 6.26 percent in 2012. By 2015, this would level out to a comparatively modest but objectively unrealistic 4.45 percent, which was the default assumption out to 2019. These growth dreams were laughable. Without credible rationale, the White House posited that the U.S. economy would grow at a record pace for almost 20 years. This red-hot growth projection was necessary, however, to justify and cover the record levels of government spending Mr. Obama was planning.”

Sorry, Mr. President, we hobbits are just not that dumb!

Full article…

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/aug/8/obamas-tantrum-against-sp/