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 19, 2010

Forget a Double-Dip, We're Still in One Long Big Dipper , Robert Reich, Former Secretary of Labor, Professor at Berkeley, Huffington Post, Aug 14,2010, More people are out of work today than were last year, counting everyone too discouraged even to look for work. The number of workers filing new claims for jobless benefits rose last week to the highest level since February. Not counting temporary census workers, a total of only 12,000 net new private and public jobs were created in July -- when 125,000 are needed each month just to keep up with growth in the population of people who want and need to work. This article is continued at �.. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-reich/forget-a-double-dip-were_b_682334.html or you can visit RobertReich.org.�

Greenspan should shut up, By John Stossel, August 15, 2010,� http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/opinion/columnists/guests/s_694851.html

New York Can�t Collect Property Tax From UN Missions

August 17, 2010, By Bob Van Voris ��Aug. 17 (Bloomberg) -- New York has no legal authority to collect property taxes on foreign missions to the United Nations, a U.S. appeals court ruled, overturning judgments for $42.5 million against India and $4.4 million against Mongolia. A three-judge panel of the court today reversed lower court rulings that allowed the city to tax the parts of foreign diplomatic missions that are used to house employees and their families. In the decision, the court said a 2009 U.S. State Department notice that established exemptions from real estate taxes preempts state and local laws and applies retroactively to taxes already assessed. �The city�s tax liens are invalid and no taxes on property owned by foreign governments and used to house staff of permanent missions to the United Nations or of consular posts are due and owing,� Judge Guido Calabresi wrote. �This provides a free ride for foreign countries owning certain properties in New York City while unnecessarily burdening local taxpayers,� Michael Cardozo, New York�s corporation counsel, said in a statement today. The city will seek review in the U.S. Supreme Court, he said. Continued at �.. http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-08-17/new-york-can-t-collect-property-tax-from-un-missions.html

Obama Urgently Launders Taxpayer Money� Submitted by may on Aug 16, 2010, The spending bills pushed through Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama have been called �stimulus� bills and �bailout� packages. It reality, these bills result in taxpayer money being spent to reward unions and other special interest groups that traditionally support Far Left Democratic candidates and issues. These groups have supported Obama and the Democrats and continue to give massive amounts of political donations to the Democrats, work to elect Democrats, and vote Democratic. Such government spending is little more than laundering taxpayer money so it can be directed into Democratic election efforts. http://lubbockonline.com/interact/blog-post/may/2010-08-16/obama-urgently-launders-taxpayer-money

Economist: 'The stimulus substituted for thinking' By Jay Heflin - 08/15/10 Economist Jeffrey Sachs, the director of Columbia University�s Earth Institute, on Sunday slammed the Obama administration�s approach to combating the recession. Sachs took particular issue with the multi-billion dollar stimulus package Obama signed into law shortly after taking office that added to the deficit when the country was already drowning in red ink. http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/801-economy/114357-economist-the-stimulus-substituted-for-thinking

Chamber economist: Obama tax increase would be 'bullet in the head' of recovery ��Jay Heflin �August 16, 2010, The Hill, Analyst Martin Regalia said tax increases advocated by President Obama would essentially kill any chance for an economic rebound. � http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/domestic-taxes/114451-chamber-economist-obama-tax-increases-are-a-bullet-in-the-head

The End of American Optimism, Wall Street Journal, Aug 16, 2010,� By Mr. Zuckerman, chairman and editor in chief of U.S. News & World Report. We are at least 2.5 million jobs short of getting back to the unemployment rate of under 8% promised by the Obama administration. Concern grows that we are looking at a double-dip recession and hovering on the brink of a destructive deflation. Things are bad enough for Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to have characterized the economic outlook late last month as "unusually uncertain." http://online.wsj.com/article/NA_WSJ_PUB:SB10001424052748703960004575427332237529948.html

Bell OKs property tax cuts amid state scrutiny, Associated Press, ��August 17, 2010 The suburban Los Angeles city embroiled in a pay scandal has lowered its property taxes after a state audit showed it overcharged residents to cover pension obligations. Bell Councilman Luis Artiga says the council unanimously voted on the resolution during a lengthy, heated meeting that lasted into Tuesday morning. He says the city also voted 5-0 to seek a plan with the state to refund overpayments directly to taxpayers. A state audit last week found the Bell overcharged residents more than $3 million over the last three years to pay for pension obligations. The finding came after state and local prosecutors launched investigations into high salaries paid to the city's leaders, including nearly $800,000 to Bell's city manager. Continued at �.. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/08/17/state/n084249D90.DTL&tsp=1

Calif. says Bell got $3M in illegal property taxes

The Myth of the Free Market , By Craig Barnes, Aug 16, 2010 Author, playwright, trial lawyer, negotiator, frequent commentator on public radio , August 16, 2010, The free market sent jobs to China and Mexico, India and Taiwan. The free market encouraged subprime mortgages and collateralized debt obligations that were collages of numbers that the market itself did not understand. The free market encouraged insurance companies to compete for ways not to pay for health care rather than to encourage ways to provide health care. During the years of the Bush administration's free market advocacy, Bear Stearns collapsed, Merrill Lynch failed, and Lehman Brothers collapsed. The free market enabled Goldman Sachs to act as if it believed in securities that it sold to others while at the same time betting with its own money that these securities would fail. To knowingly induce buyers with misinformation is intentional fraud, but the free market did not and has not ever protected against intentional fraud. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/craig-barnes/the-myth-of-the-free-mark_b_683090.html

America's Biggest Jobs Program Is the US Military Robert Reich, Robert Reich's Blog: "America's biggest - and only major - jobs program is the U.S. military. Over 1,400,000 Americans are now on active duty; another 833,000 are in the reserves, many full time. Another 1,600,000 Americans work in companies that supply the military with everything from weapons to utensils.... If we didn't have this giant military jobs program, the U.S. unemployment rate would be over 11.5 percent today instead of 9.5 percent." http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Robert-Reich-s-Blog/2010/0813/America-s-biggest-jobs-program-The-US-military

President Obama Says Gulf Beaches Are Safe�But Are They? The Gulf is Dying, Environmentally and Economically. http://blog.buzzflash.com/contributor/3539

The following articles can be found in Tax Talk August 18, 2010

� Deficit in July Totals $165.04 Billion

� Culture of corruption intensifies

� When Does It End? Top 10 Reasons to Oppose Speaker Pelosi's 'Stimulus' Bailout for Union Bosses

� Message from the National Taxpayers Union

� House Sends $26 Billion in Aid to States for Teachers, Medicaid

� Did the Stimulus Help? A New View�

� Attacking Social Security,�

� Two TARP "dividend deadbeats'' were cited for unsound practices prior to getting taxpayer aid

� Return of the Killer Trade Deficit�

� United Patriots of America� Message from Ron Bass

� Two Weblinks provide information on Public auctions on foreclosed properties by town and much more��