From The Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations
Contact Susan Kniep
Website: http://ctact.org/
Email: fctopresident@aol.com
Telephone: 860-841-8032
Tax Talk
December 3, 2010
America Bails Out A Thankless World 12/02/2010 Investors Business Daily Turns out the Fed had
over a dozen emergency programs operating beginning in 2007-08, one of them
lending close to $9 trillion to Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and other
troubled institutions, often at the comical interest rate of 1%. Foreign banks
got much of the Fed's emergency credit. They included Britain's Barclays which on a
single day in September 2008 apparently received nearly $48 billion. Others
whose palms were greased include the Landesbanken and
Deutsche Bank of Germany, UBS
of Switzerland, BNP Paribas
of France and Dexia of Belgium,
not to mention the South Korean government-owned Korean Development Bank. Read
complete article at http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article/555577/201012021902/America-Bails-Out-A-Thankless-World.htm
Economy has
sent executives to jobs down corporate ladder
http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2010-12-03-lesserjobs03_CV_N.htm?csp=hf
For Tottering States, Bankruptcy Could Be The Answer (How To
Defeat The Public Union Mafia Alert)
Michael Barone Nov 29, 2010
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2634258/posts
Time Magazine
.. The War on Secrecy
(Cover)
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2034276,00.html
Congress passes
15-day funding bill
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State of Connecticut facing Multi
Billion Budget Deficit
From the Republican American Newspaper:
Connecticut faces a fiscal crisis unlike any other in its history. In the
fiscal year that begins July 1, the state expects to face a budget deficit of
as much as $3.6 billion. The next fiscal year, the deficit could reach $3.5
billion. These shortfalls greatly exceed the $246 million deficit in 1989-90,
just before the enactment of the state income tax.
http://www.rep-am.com/articles/2010/12/03/opinion/524767.txt
State of Connecticut Deficit
Panel Fails to Include Cuts to State Employee Wages or Benefits State panel targets big savings in health care, but avoids
worker concession debate By Keith
M. Phaneuf The legislative
panel charged with improving state government efficiency tentatively endorsed
more than $250 million in new cost-cutting measures, particularly targeting health
care for the poor and elderly. But it avoided one of the largest pieces of the
budget: pay and benefits for state employee http://ctmirror.org/story/8574/state-panel-targets-big-savings-health-care-avoids-worker-concession-debate
State employee wage info and more
.
Top 50 Base Pay vs Actual Pay
Pay Portrait for 3 Connecticut State Agencies
State Operating Costs pie chart
Private Sector or State Of Connecticut: Who pays more?
Comparing State Employee Salaries in the Northeast
WHAT THEY MADE: 2009 Connecticut State Employee W2 Summary
(2,181 pages, searchable by name)
WHAT THEY EARN: 2009 Connecticut State Employee Pay Rates
(1,244 pages, searchable by name)
Visit the Yankee Institute
for More Information on State and Local Spending on Public Employee Salaries,
etc. http://ctsunlight.org/
********************************
As Congress debates extending tax cuts for the
rich, this morning we learned Unemployment Rate Hits 9.8%, Highest Since
April
and
Unemployment
benefits have started running out for an estimated
2 million Americans.
http://www.turnto23.com/east_county/26003002/detail.html
and
Federal workers
rage over President Obama's two-year wage freeze
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2010/11/30/2010-11-30_fed_workers_rage_over_wage_freeze.html
National Debt: $13.7 Trillion
Deficit This
Year: $1.3 Trillion
Americans Split on Extending Tax Cuts
Deficit panel's plan goes down to defeat Erik Wasson 12/03/10 10:45
AM ET http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/budget/131841-deficit-panel-votes-down-plan
Highlight of Deficit
Commission Proposal http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/12/01/national/w074522S61.DTL
**********************
Connected Appointee Gets Immediate Raise - Hartford Courant
Nov 30, 2010 | By JON LENDER,
jlender@courant.com, http://articles.courant.com/2010-11-30/news/hc-mandyck-salary-1201-20101130_1_democratic-gov-elect-dan-malloy-jodi-rell-jackie-mandyck
Congressional Proposal Would Seek Greater Disclosure on
Funded Status From Public Pensions (Chris Panteli / Global Pensions) http://www.globalpensions.com/global-pensions/news/1929942/proposals-seeks-disclosure-public-funds
More on Pensions at http://www.pensiontsunami.com/
The Coming Property Tax Cliff
Means More Bad News for Municipal Finances Nov
27, 2010 By MICHAEL PANZNER See full article from DailyFinance: A recently updated Federal Reserve staff
working paper, "The Housing Crisis and State and Local Government Tax
Revenue: Five Channels," notes that property tax collections
"have been surprisingly resilient" during the financial crisis and
downturn. That's in sharp contrast to the steep drops seen in other municipal
revenue streams, as shown in the following chart from their study: http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/real-estate/the-coming-property-tax-cliff-means-more-bad-news-for-municipal/19731199/
Towns want to cut schools, Some municipalities hope to end
required spending levels Republican American Newspaper, For years, Connecticut's
cities and towns have been required to set their school budgets at or above the
previous year's level. Towns can spend the same on schools, or they can spend
more, but they cannot spend less. That has become a difficult requirement in
the midst of an economic downtown that has pushed unemployment rates past 9
percent and has choked traditional municipal revenue streams, such as
investment income, interest and real estate transaction fees. Now, some
municipalities are preparing to push for a suspension of that fiscal line in
the sand known as the Minimum Budget Requirement. This would open the door to
big cuts in education spending. Continued at
. http://www.rep-am.com/news/local/524765.txt
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`Real Bad' Cash Jam May Force
Michigan Towns to Borrow or Default by March Bloomberg http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-11-30/property-tax-collection-plunge-may-make-michigan-towns-borrow-or-default.html