Report:
Hillary Clinton hospitalized after doctors find blood clot
December 30, 2012
From: The Federation of
Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations
Contact: Susan Kniep,
President
Website: http://ctact.org/
Email: fctopresident@aol.com
Telephone: 860-841-8032
FISCAL CLIFF!
WILL THERE BE A
$$$ DEAL OR NO DEAL $$$
On Sunday, Dec 30, 2012 at 8:24pm EST, Reuters reported Washington pushes United States to edge
of "fiscal cliff" noting:
Lawmakers pushed the country to the edge of the "fiscal cliff"
on Sunday as they struggled to reach a last-minute deal that could protect the
world's largest economy from a politically induced recession. Democratic and
Republican leaders in the Senate had hoped to clear the way for swift action
that would avert sweeping tax increases and spending cuts due to kick in on
Tuesday. But with the two sides still at loggerheads in talks, Senate
Democratic leader Harry Reid postponed any possible votes and the Senate
adjourned until Monday, leaving mere hours to pass any deal that may emerge
through both chambers of a bitterly divided Congress. "There are still
significant differences between the two sides," Reid said on the Senate
floor. Continue to read the article at http://ca.reuters.com/article/topNews/idCABRE8A80WV20121231
As the deadline grows near which could bring us over the
Fiscal Cliff, news reports focusing on Connecticut note that State's unemployed will be first to feel fall over the 'fiscal
cliff' | The , Connecticut defense
firms first in line to fall over fiscal cliff | The ... putting more than 36,000 jobs in Connecticut at risk,
and UConn journal: Job growth may lag until second
half of 2013 -- or later if fiscal cliff isn't averted, and Why Connecticuts Deficit Keeps Reappearing
Although today a Deal reached for stopping spike in milk
prices, The Hill reported at 7:30
PM House Democrats urge GOP to allow vote
on Obama's $250K tax-break threshold
…. urging
Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) to stage a vote on President Obama's
proposal to extend tax breaks only on incomes below $250,000. The Democrats insist
that Obama's bare-bones legislation – which also
includes provisions to extend emergency unemployment benefits – represents the
best chance for Congress to prevent tax hikes from hitting middle-class workers
on Jan. 1, as current law dictates. Continue reading at http://thehill.com/homenews/house/274931-house-dems-urge-vote-on-obamas-250k-tax-break-threshold
Prior to the 7:30 PM report, at 4:30 PM The Hill reported
that Spending sequester emerges as key to
deal noting: A Senate
fiscal cliff deal on Sunday appears to be threatened more by differences on
spending cuts rather than on whose taxes will go up on Jan. 1. Senate Democrats and Republicans are hung up on how to deal
with $109 billion in sequester cuts to defense and non-defense spending that
forms part of the fiscal cliff. Senators and their aides say that both
sides are closer on how to extend the Bush era tax rates, with Democrats
willing to back off their demand that taxes go up for everyone making more than
$250,000 per year. “That is gone. The president already said $400,000,” Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) told reporters.
While Hutchison and other Republicans want to keep the estate tax as
is—with an exemption to $5.2 million—the GOP is also showing flexibility. “It
can’t go to a million,” she said. But the sequester
is proving to be a hard nut to crack. Hutchison said Democrats are demanding
that the deal turn off two years of automatic spending cuts, not just those in
2013. Continue reading at http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/budget/274919-spending-sequester-emerges-as-key-to-deal
The Hill also reported that Senate inches toward fiscal deal
noting:
Senate Republicans say Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) is willing to drop
his demand to curb the growth of Social Security cost-of-living increases. The
demand from McConnell had thrown a wrench into talks Sunday on a “fiscal cliff”
deal, as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) and other Democrats quickly balked at
the request, which they said they could not accept. But a number of Senate
Republicans said it was not a core demand of their conference, suggesting
taking it out of a deal would not prevent a last-second agreement from being
reached. Continue reading this article at http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/274917-mcconnell-talking-to-biden-willing-to-drop-social-security-demand
As Americans remain at risk of being pushed over the Fiscal
Cliff (What is the Fiscal Cliff?) and landing on billions of dollars in tax increases and
spending cuts, members of Congress
joined federal workers in seeing their pay increase by 0.5 percent as
reported by The Hill in their article Congress,
federal workers to get raise.
As the Huffington Post reported
“the 112th Congress
is set to end the session as the most unproductive since the 1940s, with only 219 bills passed by the body becoming law” some
might feel that the increase for Congress was not based on merit.
On the home front, other benefactors of government money
were those who benefited from Governor Malloy’s giveaway of millions of Connecticut taxpayer
dollars based on speculative job creation as noted within State focuses on bankrolling businesses .
Bloomberg news recently focused on Governor Malloy, the
former Mayor of Stamford, giving a $20 million loan to UBS to keep at least
2,000 of their employees in Stamford. The Bloomberg article captioned UBS Gets Loan While Connecticut Economy
Falters: Muni Credit further notes that the loan will be forgiven if the 2,000
employees remain in Stamford until the year 2017, emphasizing that Malloy “in
his first two years in office gave companies a record amount of tax incentives,
only to see the economy stall and the state budget fall into deficit.
“Connecticut doesn’t seem to be yet fully on top of what the competitive world
looks like,” said Fred Carstensen, director of the
Connecticut Center for Economic Analysis at the University of Connecticut in Storrs. “Financial services is
like manufacturing. It’s not a sector that’s going to be a job creator.”
Bloomberg further notes that Connecticut: has one of the nation’s highest jobless
rates, at 8.8 percent in November,
compared with the 7.7 percent U.S.
average. It had 87,000 fewer jobs last month compared with the peak in 2008 after
the 18-month recession began. According to the state Labor Department, among
the weakest areas has been finance, which includes
banks and insurers. The industry lost 3,000 jobs in the last year, even with
the governor’s efforts. Continue reading the article at http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-24/ubs-gets-loan-while-connecticut-economy-falters-muni-credit.html
Recently, the Federation noted: State Cannot Pay Its Bills, Governor Authorizes Over 500 Million Dlrs Credit as we also reported on the The
State of Connecticut’s recently released
[PDF] Fiscal Accountability Report -
Connecticut General Assembly - C which
illustrates the State of Connecticut’s
significant debt.
|
State Budget Outlook (in millions)
|
|
FY 13 $
|
FY 14 $
|
FY 15 $
|
FY 16 $
|
Estimated Expenditures
|
19,335.8
|
20,861.7
|
22,048.7
|
23,070.7
|
Estimated Revenue
|
19,015.1
|
19,723.6
|
21,032.3
|
22,136.6
|
Surplus/(Deficit)
|
($320.7)
|
($1,138.1)
|
($1,016.4)
|
($934.1)
|
% of Estimated Expenditures
|
-1.7%
|
-5.5%
|
-4.6%
|
-4.0%
|
While Bloomberg places Connecticut in the national spotlight, Arielle Levin
Becker of CTMirror.org writes Audit cites Department
of Public Health procedural weaknesses noting….
The state Department
of Public Health issued licenses to day-care facilities without the needed
criminal background checks on employees, failed to take action against a
dentist despite four complaints, and paid more than $25,000 to volunteer stem
cell grant reviewers that it might not have had the authority to spend,
according to a state audit released Thursday. The
audit, which
covered the period from July 1, 2007 through June 30, 2009, also raised
concerns about the department's oversight of contracts and overtime payments,
and inadequate membership of licensing boards and commissions….. The auditors
also raised concerns about the handling of contracts for human-service
programs. During the period covered by the audit, DPH approved 807 contracts
for $192.6 million. But only 7 percent of those contracts were approved before
their official start date. And 362 of the contracts -- nearly 45 percent --
were approved between 91 and 548 days after the contractual start date.
Continue reading this article at http://www.ctmirror.org/story/18575/dph-day-care-background-checks-audit
Also reported by CTMirror.org was Panel: Pay raises of college system's
central office unnecessary noting
that ….Eighteen of the 21 controversial pay raises unilaterally approved last
year by the state's former college president have been determined to be
inappropriate. Basically, the salaries
were competitive before the raises," said Naomi K. Cohen, the chairwoman of the panel tasked by the Board of Regents
for Higher Education to examine the $299,532 in raises awarded earlier this
year. "Workload increases, by themselves, do not justify [salary]
increases," the review by Owen-Pottier Inc. concluded. The 18
raises that the panel has decided to stall indefinitely would have cost the
system $131,700 a year. Another $120,000 in raises, however, are
moving forward for three top central office officials. Elsa Nunez will make $347,460 a year for her joint role as president of Eastern Connecticut State
University and the
system's vice president for state universities. David Levinson, Norwalk Community College President and the
system's vice president for community colleges will make $252,188 a year. Braden Hosch,
the director for policy and research will
make $149,000 a year, a $24,000 a
year boost for temporarily taking on the responsibilities of the director of
academic programs and student services. Continue reading this article at http://www.ctmirror.org/story/18563/panel-pay-raises-college-systems-central-office-unwarranted
Scott Rasmussen,
president of Rasmussen Reports, writes that 5% Think Congress Is
Doing A Good or Excellent Job With the nation teetering on
the brink of the "fiscal cliff," Congress' job approval ratings have
fallen back to the lowest level of the year. Read More
As US Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner Warns Lawmakers Debt Standoff Risks U.S. Default, check out How Much the 'Fiscal Cliff' Will Cost
You - Rick Newman (usnews.com) as
the tax hikes and spending cuts due to take effect total more than $600 billion
per year—with tax hikes accounting for most of that.
As
USNews Reports ….So
while the policies under debate are somewhat arcane, the outcome could lead to
tax hikes for virtually every American if Congress plunges over the fiscal
cliff, even temporarily.
[The nonpartisan Tax
Policy Center
says that if all the scheduled tax increases occur, the average household would
have to fork over an extra $3,400 to Uncle Sam next year. Here's the average
hike taxpayers would face, broken down by income group:
- Lowest fifth of households (average income: $11,239): $412
- Second-lowest fifth (average income: $29,204): $1,231
- Middle fifth (average income: $49,842): $1,984
- Second-highest fifth (average income: $80,080): $3,540
- Highest fifth (average income: $178,020): $14,173
- Top 1 percent (average income: about $1.3 million): $120,537
The biggest hit for most people would come from the
expiration of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, which would raise income-tax rates
for everybody by 3 to 5 percentage points, depending on the tax bracket.
Continue reading at http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/rick-newman/2012/11/12/how-much-the-fiscal-cliff-will-cost-you
With only hours to go, have you
placed your bet on whether or not we will tumble off the Fiscal Cliff? Scott Rasmussen of The Rasmussen Report
offers his opinion as to why Tax Reform Works for Voters, Not for Political Class: By Scott
Rasmussen while noting “The ability to control deductions allows
politicians to direct money into politically approved areas of the economy or
to help the politically well connected”.
It’s also interesting to reflect on the many multi millionaires we have
in Congress who could be working toward their own financial interest.
In the article captioned Tax Bracket Calculator Brings
Perspective to the Fiscal Cliff, its
author Ross Kenneth Urken notes the following: Tax brackets are moving targets,
shifting as the years go by in the eternal political tug-of-war. That's the
story of the fiscal cliff, with
Democrats generally championing tax
hikes for the rich and Republicans
favoring decreased governmental aid to the less fortunate. With Pres. Barack Obama returning from his
holiday in Hawaii
to try to resolve the fiscal cliff conflict, we thought it was worth sharing this interactive chart created by Ritchie King at Quartz. You can type in your
taxable income and see your tax rate in any year, going all the way back to
1913. Although many are arguing that tax rates are too high, a historical
glance at effective income tax rates -- defined as what you pay in federal
taxes divided by your taxable income -- indicates that current percentages for
top income earners are significantly lower than in decades gone by. During the
1950s and '60s, for example, the top income tax rate was over 90 percent. The article is continued at http://www.dailyfinance.com/2012/12/27/tax-bracket-calculator-brings-perspective-to-the-fiscal-cliff/
****************
Visit the Federation’s Website at
http://ctact.org/