California
Los Angeles Times: Corporations lead taxpayers to the shearing
January 6, 2014
(Original Post) By Michael Hiltzik January 5, 2014, 5:00 a.m. Here’s a business practice likely to keep booming in 2014: corporate extortion. We don’t mean extortion of corporations, as is practiced by Somali pirates or entrepreneurial Russians. We mean extortion by corporations. In this field the victims are taxpayers, and what makes it a beautiful […]
Chicago Tribune: Boeing makes sky-high request for states wanting 777X plant
December 19, 2013
When it comes to corporate incentives, leave it to an aerospace company to test the limits of what will fly. For those hoping to host production of its newest big jet, Chicago-based Boeing has a wish list that even Santa, his reindeer and all his little helpers would be hard-pressed to lift, let alone […]
The Daily Californian: Rights for all, not for some
October 15, 2013
(Original Post) STATE ISSUES: Legislation focused on undocumented Californians who aren’t perfect will aid millions more and address painful stigmas. BY SENIOR EDITORIAL BOARD | STAFFLAST UPDATED OCTOBER 11, 2013 Legislation aimed at immigration reform often focuses on granting rights to undocumented Americans who are exceptionally accomplished individuals. Just recently, California passed a bill that […]
Politico: Arthur Laffer is back as GOP tax man
October 15, 2013
By RACHAEL BADE | 10/14/13 11:03 PM EDT Four decades ago at the Washington Hotel, a quirky economist made a pitch on the back of a napkin to Ford administration officials Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld: Cutting taxes would create an economic boom. Back then, many Republicans opposed tax cuts, but that famous “Laffer […]
Gas tax revenues are on an unsustainable course. Over the last five years, Congress has transferred more than $53 billion from the general fund to the transportation fund in order to compensate for lagging gas tax revenues. By 2015, the transportation fund will be insolvent unless an additional $15 billion transfer is made. Larger transfers will be needed in subsequent years.
Media Matters: Conservative Media’s Misplaced Hysteria Over Immigrants And Welfare
September 23, 2013
(Original Post) Blog ››› September 18, 2013 6:04 PM EDT ››› SOLANGE UWIMANA Right-wing media have seized on a report noting that American children in Los Angeles County with undocumented parents are receiving millions in benefits to revive the spurious smear that undocumented immigrants come to this country only to receive welfare. However, these outlets […]
Columbia Journalism Review: Invasion of the Job Snatcher
September 9, 2013
(Original Post) As the Missouri media takes up arms against Rick Perry, some facts and context get lost in the fray By Deron Lee FAIRWAY, KS — Texas and Missouri no longer square off as Big 12 opponents, but governors Rick Perry and Jay Nixon—with some help from Missouri’s media—have ignited a new interstate rivalry. […]
Fox & Hounds: Immigration Reformers Must Tell a Better Story
August 21, 2013
(Original Post) By Joe Rodota CEO and founder of Forward Observer, a research and strategy firm Monday, August 19th, 2013 In a recent column, Washington Post Wonkblog writers Ezra Klein and Evan Soltas ask: “Why hasn’t this been immigration August?” Five years ago, they write, individual members of Congress were “engulfed by tea-partiers” protesting […]
US News & World Report: Immigration Reform Could Boost U.S. Economy
August 21, 2013
(Original Post) Study shows immigration bill would create 14,000 jobs in each congressional district By LAUREN FOX August 20, 2013 Opponents to immigration reform have called the Senate’s bipartisan and comprehensive immigration reform bill a “job killer,” but a new report by the conservative-leaning American Action Network, is evidence that the bill might just be […]
Colorado has become infamous for its Taxpayer Bill of Rights, or TABOR, a constitutional amendment restricting growth in revenue collections to an arbitrary "population-plus-inflation" formula. Although TABOR has had significant negative effects on Colorado's finances, similar proposals have surfaced in at least 30 states over the past decade. None of these proposals were approved, and in five states they were placed directly on a state-wide ballot where they were rejected by voters. Even in Colorado itself, citizens voted to suspend TABOR for five years in an effort to allow the s
Tax Expenditure Reports: A Vital Tool with Room for Improvement
August 14, 2013 • By Carl Davis
State and local tax codes include a huge array of special tax breaks designed to accomplish almost every goal imaginable: from encouraging homeownership and scientific research, to building radioactive fallout shelters and caring for "exceptional" trees. Despite being embedded in the tax code, these programs are typically enacted with tax policy issues like fairness, efficiency, and sustainability only as secondary considerations. Accordingly, these programs have long been called "tax expenditures." They are essentially government spending programs that happen to be housed in the tax code for ease of administration, political expedience, or both.
PBS: State Tax Cuts: Is Arthur Laffer All Wet?
August 2, 2013
The correlation between states having no income tax and their economic growth is not as direct as Reagan White House economic adviser Arthur Laffer says it is, argues tax economist Joel Slemrod.
The Davis Enterprise: Snippets of energy news
August 1, 2013
Back in the old days, when you went to the movies, theaters often would show a double feature, and these two movies would be preceded by a cartoon and a newsreel. The double feature is long gone, as is the cartoon, and the newsreel has been replaced with about 20 minutes of previews of coming attractions and, if you get there early enough, a bunch of advertisements.
PBS: How Low Can They Go? Arthur Laffer Defends Slashing State Income Taxes
August 1, 2013
In this 2012 Making Sen$e report, former Reagan White House economic adviser Arthur Laffer drew his famous curve on a napkin -- just the way he did for the Ford administration -- and explained how it works.
Media Matters: Conservative Media Ignore That Immigration Reform Is An Economic Issue
July 26, 2013
In Fact, Immigration Reform Has Everything To Do With The Economy Immigration Reform Would Increase Revenues ITEP: Newly Legalized Immigrants Would “Increase Their State And Local Tax Contributions By An Estimated $2 Billion A Year.” A study by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found that while undocumented immigrants already contributed an estimated $10.6 […]
About.com: Unauthorized Immigrants Paying Plenty in Government Taxes
July 15, 2013
(Original Post) By Dan Moffett, About.com GuideJuly 15, 2013 A nonpartisan Washington think tank says that unauthorized immigrants generally pay as much in taxes as U.S. citizens and they would pay a lot more to the state, local and federal governments if comprehensive immigration reform happens. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) released […]
Stateline: Immigration Overhaul Could Bring States, Localities $2 Billion a Year
July 10, 2013
(Original Post) By Daniel C. Vock, Staff Writer Fiso Kilifi of western Samoa stands for the Pledge of Allegiance during the ceremony to become a U.S. citizen. (AP) States and localities could collect an extra $2 billion a year in taxes from immigrants—on top of $10.6 billion they get already—if Congress overhauls the country’s […]
US News & World Report: Gas Taxation Without Representation
July 10, 2013
(Original Post) By GREGG LASKOSKI July 10, 2013 Effective in July, eight states increased their gasoline tax rates. 11 others are said to be considering similar action, according to Transportation for America, a Washington D.C.-based public advocacy group. According to another organization, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, 16 states now have taxes that […]
Reuters: Immigration overhaul could boost U.S. states’ revenue
July 10, 2013
(Original Post) By Kim Dixon WASHINGTON | Wed Jul 10, 2013 12:03am EDT (Reuters) – Granting citizenship to 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States could boost state and local government coffers by about $2 billion annually, said a liberal-leaning think tank study released on Wednesday. The findings come as the House of Representatives […]
Undocumented Immigrants’ State and Local Tax Contributions (2013)
July 10, 2013 • By Matthew Gardner, Meg Wiehe
In the public debates over federal immigration reform, much has been made of the argument that undocumented immigrants would be a drain on federal, state and local government resources if granted legal status under reform. But it is also true that the 11.2 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States are already taxpayers, and that their local, state and federal tax contributions would increase under reform.
The Philadelphia Inquirer: N.J. highways cost most, study says
July 8, 2013
(Original Post) By Paul Nussbaum, Inquirer Staff Writer POSTED: July 05, 2013 New Jersey’s roads may not be paved with gold, but they certainly are expensive. The state ranks highest in the nation in the cost of maintaining its roads, spending almost twice as much per mile as the number-two state, California, according to a […]
MSN Money: 8 states where the gas tax just went up
July 3, 2013
(Original Post) From Connecticut to Wyoming, lawmakers are turning to these hikes to fund long overdue road and infrastructure projects. By Bruce Kennedy It’s the summer driving season, and while gas prices traditionally rise this time of year, they’ve been falling of late. But July 1 was the start of a new fiscal year for […]
CNN Money: Just in Time for the Holiday, 8 States Raise Gas Taxes
July 2, 2013
(Original Post) POSTED BY RYAN HOLEYWELL | JULY 1, 2013 Drivers hitting the road for the Independence Day holiday will encounter higher gas taxes in eight states, according to data compiled by Citizens For Tax Justice. While the changes could frustrate drivers — if they notice the slight hikes — there’s a silver lining: many […]
Triangle Business Journal: N.C. gas tax rises to 37.6 cents a gallon
July 1, 2013
(Original Post) Jul 1, 2013, 3:57pm EDT Logistics & Transportation Chris Bagley Staff Writer- Triangle Business Journal North Carolina increased its motor fuels tax to its second-highest level in history on Monday. The increase was small, just one-tenth of a cent per gallon, but the 37.6-cents-per-gallon level is second only to the 38.9 cents per […]
The Barre Montpelier Times Argus: Kids count
June 28, 2013
June 28,2013 Once again Vermont finished high in the ranking of children’s well-being released earlier this week by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The foundation’s Kids Count survey of the states measures children’s well-being in 16 categories relating to economic well-being, health, education and family and community. These include categories such as the number […]
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