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Politics : Liberalism: Do You Agree We've Had Enough of It? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: lorne who wrote (118353)	11/26/2011 10:30:14 AM
From: MJ	5 Recommendations Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 224749

Why is Obama ignoring, the Muslim question of immigration? There is one big question that needs to be asked of Immigration and of Obama. HOW MANY MUSLIMS HAS OBAMA ALREADY IMPORTED INTO THE UNITED STATES WITHOUT THE AMERICAN PEOPLE KNOWING????

To: lorne who wrote (118353)	11/26/2011 12:51:00 PM
From: Hope Praytochange	1 Recommendation Respond to of 224749

Getting Bad Advice From Billionaires Posted 11/25/2011 06:03 PM ET California: In a state with a jobs problem, raising taxes is a sure way to make things worse. Yet this is just what some of the well-heeled — and supposedly wise — want voters to do. The very rich really are different from the rest of us, at least when it comes to taxes. A bite that's real and often painful for 99.99% of Americans is largely abstract for people like Warren Buffett, who have any conceivable tax liability covered many times over. (The one possible exception is the estate tax, but that conveniently strikes only after one dies.) The real victims of higher taxes, whether on the rich or anyone else, are the people who miss out on jobs because not enough money is available to boost businesses. One group in particular, California voters, needs to keep this truth in mind, because they're likely to see one or more tax-hike plans on their ballot next November. Hedge-fund manager Tom Steyer has filed a ballot initiative to raise $1.1 billion a year from out-of-state businesses for schools and retrofitting of buildings for energy efficiency. A group led by Molly Munger, daughter of Buffett's business partner Charles Munger, wants to raise income taxes to fund schools. Then there is Think Long, a committee of prominent Californians with a tax plan that would boost revenues by about $10 billion. Described by the Los Angeles Times as "a group of billionaires and political insiders," Think Long is funded by one of those billionaires, financier Nicholas Brueggen. Its roster includes ex-Gov. Gray Davis, former Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg, former Google Inc. CEO Eric Schmidt and philanthropist Eli Broad. This group plans to put a tax initiative on the ballot, and Brueggen has enough money to fund the needed signature drive. These proposals are getting a push from the recent news that state revenues in the current fiscal year were expected to fall $3.7 billion short of last summer's rosy forecast. Automatic cuts, including a shortening of the school year, could ensue if the gap isn't closed. As is their wont, the state's best, brightest and richest are turning their thoughts to the state's revenue problem. Think Long's solution is to revamp the tax system. It would tweak personal income and business taxes, but its most ambitious idea is to extend the sales tax at a 5% rate to most services (health care and education excluded). Broadening the tax base is not, in itself, a bad idea. It's one way to end the volatility that has made it almost impossible to do meaningful budget planning at the state level. The trouble is that Think Long's plan is not revenue neutral. Sales tax rates would be lowered, but not by much. Overall, Californians up and down the income scale would be paying more to government and keeping less to save or spend. This is a mistake compounded by another one — the assumption that California's biggest problem right now is its unbalanced budget. In reality, the budget shortfall is just a symptom. What truly ails the state — and what produces the budget problem — is its chronically high unemployment. As of October, California's total nonfarm payroll was still more than 1 million below the pre-recession peak. Texas, by contrast, has nearly made up its job loss. If California were to do the same, it might find its budget problem largely solved or at least manageable. The priority should be clear: Put jobs first. What the state needs now is a better climate for business, in taxation but also on the regulatory front. Just a change in attitude — not taking businesses for granted — would be a good first step. Tax hikes can only hurt, no matter what the billionaires say.