Gov. Rendell's proposal to raise income taxes

OvertaxedTed:

A few posts are stating this as a 0.5% increase, but jumping from 3.07% to 3.57% is a 16.3% increase in your income tax.  Ouch!!! 

And they're going to rescind it in 3 years?  Like they promised in 1991 when the income tax went from 2.1% to 3.1% then back down to only 2.8%?  Right.

Don't you wish you could force your boss to give you a 16.3% raise?  I do.

 Wow, you ought to work for the government or for a political campaign, Ted!  Your "tricky dicky" calculations are accurate yet remarkably deceptive.  Sure, if you divide 0.5 by the existing 3.07 tax you can say it is a 16.2866% increase but that is not really the impact people feel by this tax increase.  What people will see and feel is a 0.5% decrease in their take home pay.  I obviously have no dog in your fight but I distrust government accounting as well as the type of misleading information you've put forward here...

What options do you guys prefer?  Reduction in police forces?  How about slow downs on state funded road and bridge repairs? 

 Great feedback from everyone!

I don't think anyone can argue that a tax increase is the solution or would be temporary.  Things can be cut on many levels, but here's one that bothers me.

First of all, I do appreciate the fact that welfare is needed from time to time to assist folks down on their luck.  However, there is a disgusting amount of waste in the welfare system.  I saw the other day that welfare recipients can get a free cell phone now.  It is an abomination that public taxpayer money from working individuals and families goes to fund a program that has become a way of life for many Americans.  Isn't the purpose of welfare to be a temporary stop gap to assist the transition between employment?  It is being abused beyond belief when cash can be withdrawn from their EBT cards to purchase drugs, booze, cigarettes, etc. Political bobbleheads like Rendell are exited when more people are added to the welfare rolls and claim that it's the reason America is great. 

It sickens me to no end that my state is fourth behind California, NY, and Texas in welfare caseloads.  http://www.statemaster.com/red/pie/eco_wel_cas_tot_rec-economy-welfare-caseloads-total-recipients

How about a statewide campaign to get people off of welfare and back to work if they are not disabled? 

First of all, we just cannot afford to keep illegal aliens on our welfare rolls, I'm sorry if you are one, but the free ride needs to end. 

Secondly, there should be no cash value to welfare.  Access cards should be only accepted for food, clothing, and utilities, rent, etc should be paid directly to those companies.  And if we are going to raise taxes, how about using that money for mandatory random drug tests for anyone receiving public assistance?  

If you are going to be paid by the public, then it should have some requirements.  Most employers require drug tests, why would anyone object for welfare recepients?

 Dear Fast Eddie:

You must be out of your mind.  Get a clue as to what is going on in this state.  My husband has received a 10% paycut this month, he delivers concrete forms to construction sites, which should be one of the first businesses actually doing well at this time, being we were supposed to be paying for all kinds of construction with the unstimulating plan.  Surprise!!!  No business, and this is a national company, so where is all the building going on?  They have laid off and cut pays up to 17% to stay in business!!!  I have been working without a contract for 1 year with no sign of an ending and this pig (and I hate to offend pigs) wants more money?

It is time for state employees (management and union) to take a pay cut, they have been being paid better than most of the people who pay them for years.  It is time for you to SUCK IT UP!!! 

My daughter has lost her job in this mess also, and she had her children have moved in with us, how much more can we actually cut to satisfy you greedy, glutenous politicians?  Do you really need the $5.00 extra a week, or do you think we can keep it to spend on milk and diapers for the babies?

Inflation will be kicking in with the massive exidus of newly printed money from Washington, and you want more too?

I didn't vote for you, Eddie, and I WILL NEVER VOTE FOR ANOTHER SPENDOCRAT EVER!!!

DrSteelhammer76:

 

First of all, we just cannot afford to keep illegal aliens on our welfare rolls, I'm sorry if you are one, but the free ride needs to end. 

 

 Umm, excuse me steelhammer, but illegal immigrants have already been barred from "welfare rolls" as well as SSI and Medicaid.  Have been for years by federal rules that govern state administration of these programs.  If you were to apply today, be ready to present a passport or certified birth certificate accompanied by other documents to prove your citizenship.  Read up on it, it is true.

To be clear, emergency medical care must, by federal rule, be provided to illegals.  That seems reasonable as we do live in America and we do not want to have hospitals refusing care to any human being in acute emergency need, now do we?  Can you imagine taking your kid to the ER for stitches and then have your kid ask why that lady over there is bleeding to death but no one will do anything to help her and instead they tell her she has to leave?  That would not be pretty.

I'm sorry, but I am not misinformed. Neither one is a state agency, for they don't rely wholly on taxpayers monies to operate.  PA has a system of government that includes state agencies, offices, commissions and councils, boards, and bureaus and authorities.  The Turnpike falls under the commission category; it is a business enterprise, that is it is a revenue generating body.  PHEAA falls in the category of bureaus and authorities.  Not all of the PHEAA membership is appointed by the State House. In fact the board is made up of the following: 1)the Governor appoints four members, 2) eight members are appointed by the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House (divided between both parties), 3) Sec of Education, 4) Sec of Banking, 5) Sec of Community Development and 6) five reps from higher education institutions.

Relying wholly on taxpayers' (note the possessive) money is irrelevant as is whether it is a commission or an agency. The fact is, that the entire board of the turnpike commission is appointed by the state, which makes it under state control. It is duplicative of PennDOT in terms of administrative costs and ripe with patronage jobs. 

The board of PHEAA has 16 of its 20 members appointed by the state and receives almost $500 million/year from the taxpayers and paid $6.4 million in bonuses during a 3-year audit period, 60 percent of which went to top management, which could have been used to increase by 1,702 students, the number of students receiving the maximum education grant. This is in addition to the well publicised jaunts which cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

So who is second changing the education of Pennsylvanians?

PHEAA was created to guarantee low interest loans provided by private lenders. It was not created to be an investment fund, a business nor a slush fund for the legislator members.

Both of these organizations are diverting revenues and taxpayer funds into efforts that have nothing to do with their core mission and which, in some cases, duplicate the functions of other government offices.

They should go!

 Fast Eddie just can't help himself.  Big promises about eliminating property taxes [anyone remember those?] yet every year he comes to a "budget crisis" & starts hacking away at budget areas that help the least able to defend themselves from him or his greed-obsesed "pals" [the poor on welfare & changing the state employees contracts on the fly/the handicapped/prisoners/public broacasting/elementary school kids].  We could excuse his behavior if he were a republican [in short pro-Scrooge] but from a democrat?  I agree with one poster that said it's hard to speak about him while still being "family friendly".  I'm still waiting for an explanation about how a fed tobacco tax wound up in Pa. doubling the prices!  & let's not forget how he's treated this side of the state.  From the long promised links to the light-rail system, to the missed sales from the tax-holidays for computers [I've seen the folks come to Erie from New York & Ohio just to buy computers for their kids or themselves], to trying to sell the Turnpike & tolling I-80!  It's almost like he wants to draw a line just past Harrisburg & do absolutely nothing but pluder like a viking on steriods.  For half a century, politicians from Philly looked at this end of the state as nothing more than a piggy bank, & now after driving all businesses from Erie & Pittsburgh theres nothing left for them to take.  It's time to invest in this side of the state Mr. Rendell.  If you were a true CEO of the state you'd call it R&D, you'd invest in high-speed rail lines to the west, linking up to the Amtrak/Accela lines & thereby expanding the Boston-Washington Corridor- saving or using Bio-diesel & other renewable fuels from this state, employing the GE Engine-builders in Erie,Pa. rather than laying them off.  You could use the new rail-siding to upgrade internet connections [to fiber-optics] and build new, safe high-voltage feeder electric transmission lines to avoid blackouts that hit the east coast a couple years ago.  How many unemployed people would just that adjustment in your thinking put to work?  We need "crazy" visionaries in this state, we helped build all those steel & auto plants in Germany & Japan after the war, now we can't even help New Orleans after a flood!  I'm deeply disappointed in both parties, the right for their lack of "Christian Values" they only tout every 2 years & the left for their collective faith in "Big Brother".

 anytime you'd like to "walk in my shoes" with that Magic EBT card you speak of, you can come on down.  Welfare pays so little to doctors that I had 5 PCPs [primary care providers] in ONE YEAR, I finally threw in the towel & went begging the VA for health-care!  I worked for 25 years & welfare wouldnt even pay for the gasoline to go to my disability hearing [that took 2 years to get BTW, nor would social security even though its a law!], its bad when more than 7 doctors say I should be on disabillity [incuding welfare & social securitys own doctors] & fast Eddies little buddies in Greensburg & DC say no.  Like I said, anytime you'd like to try & get by on the whopping $205 I get, you're a better man than I!  Stop drinking that Fox News Kool-Aide & get your facts straight before you mouth-off.

 The more the state cuts the more it hurts the economy. Raise the income tax, 10 bucks a week is not going to hurt anyone. One less trip for fast food.

Cutting spending is going to raise my school taxes so I will have to pay one way or the other.

Tax the Marcellus shale gas. When fuel hits 6 bucks a gallon next year, the gas will be worth a fortune. The gas belongs to the people of PA, the state should benefit. People and some of our legislators who think the gas developers will leave are crazy. Alaska has a significant tax on oil extracted from the state and oil companies are crying for more leases to drill on. Right now their legislature is deciding how high a tax to put on the natural gas exported via a pipeline to be built to the US.

Alaska has no income or sales tax and gave everyone $1,700 this year, all supported by the oil industry. Maybe we should learn something.

 I want to propose a simple, hopefully effective action to our government.  Create a sign with the simple words:

 NO MORE TAXES.  LEAVE MY PAYCHECK ALONE!!

Hang this sign anyplace you can think of.  You can write to all your government representatives these two simple sentences.  This says it all. 

It's time to stop the robbery.

forestranger52:

That is one of the dumbest things I've ever read.

How is taking more disposable income from consumers going to help?

Buying to the promises made by gas and oil companies is a pipe dream at best.

And guess what, you know how Alaska is able to pay their residents? They tax the oil companies who then pass that cost on to consumers.

Its nice to know that we all pay welfare to the great state of Alaska and its idiot governor.

This is not a republican or democrat or any other party thing, politicians from ALL parties have had a hand in this, though I mostly blame the wonderful folks who "cut taxes" without cutting spending to pay for it. Yes the "great" Ronnie Regan's administration started the ball rolling and a couple of Bushes later and you see what we got.

forestranger52:

"The nore the state cuts the more it hurts the economy."

Nonesense. By this logic, if we taxed everyone 100% and then spent the money hiring other people, we'd have a strong economy. That 10 bucks a week for fast food is likely spent in your neighborhood to support your neighbors who will spend some of their hard earned bucks on you. Think that'll happen if you send it to Harrisburg, instead?

Consumption is what drives the economy because it stimulates production. Take away discretionary spending and you drive down consumption, period.

The massive Federal economic stimulus package is being funded by a combination of shifting funds from current revenues and borrowing, not by taxing existing producers. The theory (more of a gamble, really), is that putting people to work on shovel ready projects will create more consumers. The weakness is that unless people perceive the recovery to be long term they'll sock the money away instead of spending it.

But the point is, that you don't create economic stimulus by taxing those who are producing in order to create new producers. And since the state is not in a position to borrow massive amounts of money, the only other course of action is to cut spending.

Tax revenues are down because people aren't spending. They'll spend even less if you take more away from them in taxes. When revenues decline in business, you don't raise your prices, you cut production. That is the only option.

 Taxes Are Up in 23 States, Expected to Go Up in 13 More

By Erica Alini

States are increasingly dipping into Americans’ pockets to replenish their cash-starved coffers.

Faced with gaping budget holes, 23 states have raised taxes this year, and 13 more are considering doing so as they set out to approve 2009-2010 budget agreements, according to a report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a liberal think-tank. In most cases, the tax increases come on top of cuts in public services.

The raises include income, sales and business taxes and take aim at anything from slot machine licenses to motel room taxes. Another popular target is alcohol and tobacco. New York, which estimated its budget gap at 29% in its 2010 budget, will charge 30 cents more on beer and wine. Similarly, seven states will race the price of a pack of cigarettes anywhere between 2 cents and $3.46.

This, however, may be just the beginning. In most cases, the actual deficits states will have to balance are wider than they estimated in the budget plans they’ll pass in the next few weeks. As the Journal reported on Thursday, a recent survey of 37 states found that revenues from income taxes fell by more than most states’ legislators expected in the first four months of 2009.

This will leave an additional gap, with which current budget plans don’t come to grips. In New York, for example, where the fiscal year kicked off on April 1, legislators have already announced that the skimpier-than-expected income tax harvest for Jan-April 2009 has left an additional hole of between $400 and $700 million in the state’s finances, according to Don Boyd, a senior fellow at the Rockefeller Institute, a non-profit.

Expect more tax hikes and services cuts in six months.

 two things are very clear from this report...

1) governments are incompetently run, not this is some grand revelation to anyone...

2) governments are too big....

this is what happens when you get career politicians instead of servants of the people in office....

Reagan increased defense spending to fulfill an objective:  destroy the Soviet Union....

Bush, I will agree with....increased spending with decreased taxes....not a good recipe....