This post is a part of Blog Action Day 2008, which attempts to change the conversation for one day to an important subject that affects our world. In 2008, that subject is poverty.
A friend of…
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Sarah Palin’s speech at the Republican Convention outlined her record and was full attacks on Obama. However, she seems to have failed to mention those pesky little facts in her speech.
Palin said…
To the families of special-needs children all across this country, I have a message: For years, you sought to make America a more welcoming place for your sons and daughters. I pledge to you that if we are elected, you will have a friend and advocate in the White House.
I told the Congress “thanks, but no thanks,” for that Bridge to Nowhere.
If our state wanted a bridge, we’d build it ourselves. When oil and gas prices went up dramatically, and filled up the state treasury, I sent a large share of that revenue back where it belonged - directly to the people of Alaska.
and the facts say…
She was in favor of the Bridge to Nowhere while campaigning for governor then was against it when it became a national laughingstock. Then, as Governor, she took the money for the bridge and spent it on something else.
Palin said…
I have protected the taxpayers by vetoing wasteful spending … and championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress.
As mayor of Wasilla, Palin hired a lobbyist and traveled to Washington annually to support earmarks for the town totaling $27 million. In her two years as governor, Alaska has requested nearly $750 million in special federal spending, by far the largest per-capita request in the nation.
Palin said…
Terrorist states are seeking nuclear weapons without delay … he wants to meet them without preconditions.
Al Qaeda terrorists still plot to inflict catastrophic harm on America … he’s worried that someone won’t read them their rights?
and the facts say…
Obama believes in this piece of paper called the constitution. You know that thing that gives us our freedoms. Those freedoms the terrorists are jealous off and want to attack us over.
Palin said…
Taxes are too high … he wants to raise them. His tax increases are the fine print in his economic plan, and let me be specific.
The Democratic nominee for president supports plans to raise income taxes … raise payroll taxes … raise investment income taxes … raise the death tax … raise business taxes … and increase the tax burden on the American people by hundreds of billions of dollars. My sister Heather and her husband have just built a service station that’s now opened for business - like millions of others who run small businesses.
and the facts say…
The independent Tax Policy Center did a study that shows those earning less than $111,000 earn more tax cuts under Obama’s tax plan and the majority of McCain’s tax cuts go to those that earn more than $600,000.
Palin’s speech sounded good, but it would help if she checked her facts next times.
The Government Accountability Office is set to release a report that says most U.S. corporations pay no federal income taxes.
And most foreign companies that do business in the United States aren’t paying corporate taxes.
The study says about two-thirds of American corporations paid zero income taxes to Uncle Sam between 1998 and 2005.
An even higher percentage of foreign corporations avoided federal corporate taxes. At the same time, said the GAO, the firms had trillions of dollars in sales.
The study was requested by Democratic Sens. Carl Levin of Michigan and Byron Dorgan of North Dakota.
“It’s shameful that so many corporations make big profits and pay nothing to support our country,” Dorgan said.
Corporations are heavy users of our nation’s infrastructure. Semi trucks clog our interstate highway systems. Companies use telephone and broadband lines to do business. Many of our courts are filled with cases brought by corporations. When corporations don’t pay for this infrastructure, you and I are forced to pick up the tab. It is time that corporations become responsible citizens and pay their taxes like the rest of us do.
The Washington Post put this graph together to show the amount of tax cuts people in different income brackets would receive from John McCain’s and Barack Obama’s economic plans.
According to a new analysis by the Tax Policy Center, a joint project of the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution, Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain are both proposing tax plans that would result in cuts for most American families. Obama’s plan gives the biggest cuts to those who make the least, while McCain would give the largest cuts to the very wealthy.
Whichever way you look at it, both the U.S. and U.K. governments are handing their citizens cash that was borrowed—and the citizens themselves are liable for the debt. If my bank manager arranged a surprise loan in my name and handed me the cash, I might feel pampered or put-upon, depending on whether I was planning to take out the loan myself anyway. Either way, doubt I would feel any richer. …
Who will be the fall guy? We don’t know for sure because we can’t say whom a future government will tax. But an obvious candidate would be today’s teenagers, very few of whom pay income tax today but most of whom will pay income tax in the next few years. Their best hope is that their grandparents add the tax windfall to their bequests rather than blowing the money on a weekend in the sun.
Economic development officials approved state loans valued at $155 million for 11 business projects on Thursday for companies promising to create 613 jobs.
Instead of handing out millions to a select few businesses in corporate welfare, Iowa must begin investing in a quality people climate that attracts and retains talented individuals.
From Richard Florida, author of Rise of the Creative Class, writes…
While it certainly remains important to have a solid business climate, having an effective people climate is even more essential. By this I mean a general strategy aimed at attracting and retaining people—especially, but not limited to, creative people. This entails remaining open to diversity and actively working to cultivate it, and investing in the lifestyle amenities that people really want and use often, as opposed to using financial incentives to attract companies, build professional sports stadiums, or develop retail complexes.
The benefits of this kind of strategy are obvious. Whereas companies—or sports teams, for that matter—that get financial incentives can pull up and leave at virtually a moment’s notice, investments in amenities like urban parks, for example, last for generations. Other amenities—like bike lanes or off-road trails for running, cycling, rollerblading, or just walking your dog—benefit a wide swath of the population.
A popular topic of discussion in my town seems to be how crappy the roads have been all winter. The discussion has moved into the local newspaper and into the city council chambers.
I have to agree with a lot of the criticism because many of the roads that I drive on everyday are pretty bad. However, I do not blame the city council or the city workers for the ice covered and snow packed roads. I put the blame on the anti-tax crowd that gets all worked up about any discussion of property taxes. Every time a new budget is discussed the anti-tax gets all riled up about property taxes without stopping and thinking about what we actually spend our money on. This lack of rational debate has caused us to become a low-tax minimal-services society.
If you think it is a wise investment to pay overtime for city workers to hop into their snow plows in the middle of the night to clear the roads, then you might just have to pay a couple more dollars on your property taxes.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not a fan of all taxes. I understand that our tax money is wasted over and over again by the federal, state, and local governments. I don’t like the fact that $9 billion of tax payer money is missing in Iraq. I don’t like the fact that the state promotes corporate welfare if the company promises to locate jobs in the state. I don’t like if cities abuse TIF districts that divert tax payer money away from schools and other services. It is too bad the anti-tax aren’t as vocal on these issues.
The question isn’t how much we pay in taxes, the question is about the the quality of services we receive from those taxes. Unfortunately, we have become a low-tax minimal-service society. So if you complain then you need to understand that you get what you pay for.
