Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations

From: The Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations
Contact: Susan Kniep, President
Website: http://ctact.org/
Email: fctopresident@aol.com
Telephone: 860-841-8032

TAX TALK AUGUST 16, 2010

Citizens for Change

http://www.cfc.us/

hartfordteaparty415@gmail.com

Constitution Ride Across America

http://www.craa2010.com/index2.html

Global Economic Trend Analysis

http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/

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Money is God� �August 6, 2010 �Editorial by Keith Burris of The

Journal Inquirer Newspaper of Manchester, and reprinted by the Middletown Press.� Mr. Burris can be reached at �860-646-0500

So Meg Whitman has spent $99 million running for governor of California and it�s not even Labor Day yet. In Connecticut Linda McMahon has spent $22 million running for U.S. senator so far, and, if she wins the primary, probably will spend another 20 mil. McMahon has outspent her main GOP opponent, Rob Simmons, by roughly 7 to 1, and her prospective Democratic opponent, Dick Blumenthal, 5 to 1.
Meanwhile, Chelsea Clinton�s wedding cost ... $5 million? (Three million for the party and two mil of your tax dollars at work for protecting Bill, Hillary, and various foreign potentates.) And John Kerry has a yacht worth $7 million, on which he has neglected to pay his taxes. The numbers alone are mind-blowing. The indecency of them is mind-blowing. The distance of the American ruling class from those struggling to make house and car payments, or to find gainful employment, is stunning.� Continued at �. http://www.middletownpress.com/articles/2010/08/07/opinion/doc4c5cccd90cb5f951910888.txt

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Trivial Pursuit ,Wall St Journal, August 12, 2010, In erroneously crediting Obama for TARP, voters show an appreciation for the big picture. By JAMES TARANTO, So how's the Democrats' blame-Bush campaign going? Worse than anyone could have imagined, to judge by this finding from the Pew Research Center:� In numerous polls, the public has voiced their displeasure at the much maligned bank bailout, but most don't know which president signed the controversial act into law. Only a third of Americans (34%) correctly say the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) was enacted by the Bush administration. Nearly half (47%) incorrectly believe TARP was passed under President Obama. Another 19% admit they do not know which president signed the bank bailout into law. Notably, there is no partisan divide on the question. Just 36% of Republicans, 35% of independents and 34% of Democrats know that the government bailout of banks and financial institutions was signed into law by former President Bush. And Democrats (46%) are just as likely as Republicans (50%) to say TARP was passed under Obama.�� Continued �..

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704407804575425291563205442.html

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Are the Bush Tax Cuts Paid For?� In the middle of a national debate about the Bush tax cuts that are set to expire at the end of the year, and what it would cost to make them permanent, NBC�s David Gregory set out to determine whether extending the cuts would add to the deficit. On Meet the Press Sunday, Gregory got right to the issue with House Minority Leader John Boehner. After showing a clip in which former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan argued the U.S. couldn�t afford to extend the tax cuts, Gregory pressed Boehner, who showed off what one might call the Washington two-step�avoiding the question five times: http://www.newsweek.com/blogs/the-gaggle/2010/08/09/are-the-bush-tax-cuts-paid-for.html

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The stunning decline of Barack Obama: 10 key reasons why the Obama presidency is in meltdown http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/nilegardiner/100050412/the-stunning-decline-of-barack-obama-10-key-reasons-why-the-obama-presidency-is-in-meltdown/

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Grim Voter Mood Turns Grimmer �- Pessimism Rises on Economy and War; Bad Reviews for Both Democrats and GOP By PETER WALLSTEN And ELIZA GRAY �Wall St Journal� Aug 11, 2010�� Americans are growing more pessimistic about the economy and the war in Afghanistan, and are losing faith that Democrats have better solutions than Republicans, according to a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704901104575423674269169684.html?mod=WSJ_hp_mostpop_read

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Rich Would Still Get Tax Cuts Even If Bush Tax Cuts Expire �08-11-10 Taxpayers with income of more than $1 million for 2011 would still receive on average a tax cut of about $6,300 compared with what they would have paid under rates in effect until 2001, according to the analysis, which was prepared by the Joint Committee on Taxation at the request of the Democratic majority on the House Ways and Means Committee.� Read the whole story: THE NEW YORK TIMES

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The Bush Tax Cuts and Fiscal Responsibility, Aug 12, 2010, NYTimes,

By SIMON JOHNSON AND JAMES KWAK During this hot summer of fitful economic growth, high unemployment and an oil slick visible from space, Washington is obsessed with � deficits. The resurgence of this periodic fascination is not entirely surprising, given our historically large current deficits. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the 2010 deficit will come in at $1.3 trillion, almost 10 percent of our gross domestic product and, along with the deficit of 2009, the highest level since World War II. http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/12/the-bush-tax-cuts-and-fiscal-responsibility/

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Study Looks at Tax Cut Lapse for Rich By JACKIE CALMES NYTimes,

August 10, 2010 WASHINGTON � As debate heats up over President Obama�s proposal to let the Bush tax cuts expire for the wealthy but to extend them for everyone else, a nonpartisan Congressional analysis circulated on Capitol Hill on Tuesday provides a look at the impact the plan would have on high-income taxpayers. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/11/us/politics/11tax.html?_r=1

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Economists Cut U.S. Growth Forecasts as Firms Limit Hiring A lack of jobs will shackle consumer spending and restrain the U.S. recovery more than previously estimated, according to economists polled by Bloomberg News. Gross domestic product will expand at an average 2.55 percent annual rate in the last six months of 2010, according to the median of 67 estimates in a survey taken July 31 to Aug. 9, down from the 2.8 percent pace projected last month. Household purchases will climb at a 2.25 percent rate, compared with a 2.6 percent gain previously forecast. ��Simply put, job growth in the private sector hasn�t improved as we would�ve expected,� said John Silvia, chief economist at Wells Fargo Securities LLC in Charlotte, North Carolina. �The consumer continues to contribute to growth but at a subpar pace.� http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-08-11/economists-cut-u-s-growth-forecasts-as-companies-limit-hiring.html

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New York Jumps Ahead of Feds With Law Holding Mortgage Companies Accountable on Mods by Paul Kiel ProPublica, Aug. 10, 2010, New York regulators have crafted new laws to give the state authority to punish mortgage servicers -- something the Treasury Department, in administering its struggling mortgage modification program [1], has so far failed to do. The new rules set clear standards for how servicers must handle homeowners seeking a modification. http://www.propublica.org/article/new-york-jumps-ahead-of-feds-with-law-holding-mortgage-companies-accountabl

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Better infrastructure, more schooling trump subsidies in luring businesses, UMass prof�s study concludes By Don Michak, Journal Inquirer, August 14, 2010 �

Thompson�s study, �Prioritizing Approaches to Economic Development in New England: Skills, Infrastructure, and Tax Incentives,� is available online at the institute�s website: www.peri.umass.edu

�.. state policymakers are increasingly turning to corporate tax breaks to attract businesses and public subsidies for employers who pledge to hire Connecticut workers. But he says the evidence suggests that such subsidies � which he said cost Connecticut $556 million just in fiscal 2009 � often are ineffective and in some cases lead to net job losses.

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Rell asks CSU to reduce raises for chancellor and top officials By Robert A. Frahm , CTMirror.com, July 23,� 2010� Gov. M. Jodi Rell asked Connecticut State University officials Friday to reduce pay raises granted this month to top managers, calling the raises "excessive" and "intolerable" in light of the state�s fiscal crisis. She also said she will order a study of the possible elimination of the central office of the 36,500-student system. The governor took the action a day after the Mirror disclosed that raises, some as large as 10 percent, had been granted to non-union managers, including high-ranking officials such as Chancellor David G. Carter and the presidents of CSU's four campuses. Continued at �. http://www.ctmirror.org/story/6944/rell-asks-csu-rescind-raises

The following articles can be found in Tax Talk August 10, 2010

� Blumenthal Finds Improper Use Of Bysiewicz Office Database; Probe Concludes With Report, Referral To Chief Prosecutor

� Bysiewicz's Campaign-Funded Parties Raise QuestionsThe University of Connecticut will terminate its lease on the private home where President Michael Hogan lived after spending nearly $500,000 in state money to upgrade and maintain the Gurleyville Road house.�

� Citizens: Follow the money.

� CSU reduces salaries for chancellor, campus presidents

� Real Race To The Top Requires New Focus

� Sunset in America: an unpaved, unlit road to nowhere

� Freddie Mac reports loss, seeks another $1.8 billion in taxpayer bailout�

� Read: Regulators' Deepwater Drilling Document Is "at War With Itself"��

� Despite Extra Help, Weakest Bailed-Out Bank Is Still Among the Worst ��

� Fed expected to downgrade US growth outlook

� Senate�s Costs for Foreign Travel May Set Record

� Arianna Huffington: Third World America: Chronicling the Assault on America's Middle Class...and the Solutions

� Hartford Council Approves Purchase Of 'Butt Ugly' Building

� Jobs Report Brings More Bad News for the Unemployed

� PATCHWORK NATION �

� Problematic contract lurks in intelligence nominee's past