Day: November 18, 2015

Taxpayers Special Enough To Fight Tax Hike

Taxpayers Special Enough To Fight Tax Hike
Leo Knepper and Penn Delco school director Lisa Esler at tonight’s update regarding the Pennsylvania budget.

A packed house of about 70 was on hand, tonight, (Nov. 18) at the Newtown Square Knights of Columbus Hall to hear Leo Knepper give the latest regarding the various dramas occurring in Harrisburg in a talk before the Delaware County Patriots.

Knepper is executive director of Citizens Alliance of Pennsylvania, an organization founded to raise the standard of living of all Pennsylvanians and battle government corruption.

Knepper pointed out that the sales tax hike being pushed by Gov. Tom Wolf is a 21 percent increase and noted that there are plenty of places the budget could be cut to more than make up for the $2 billion the proposed tax hike from 6 percent to 7.25 percent would be expected to raise.

Knepper said that the state is spending $250 million for race horse development alone. He said that besides the General Fund the state has $18 billion tucked away in fat-filled special and other funds.

The special and other funds are the playgrounds of special interests he implied and are never considered for pruning.

“We need to get them moving from other special interests because the taxpayers are special enough,” Knepper said.

Knepper said money is still being doled out in Harrisburg with favored agencies getting lines of credit. He said this included Gov. Wolf’s travel expenses. He said Wolf was selecting services not to fund based on how much suffering they would inflict on the populace so they would agitate for a budget agreement.

Knepper noted that Wolf had vetoed stopgap budgets passed by the legislature.

Knepper also described how regulations unnecessarily raise the burden on taxpayers. He cited specifically the prevailing wage mandate, the state law that requires any significant public project to pay a wage set by the state Department of Labor and Industry’s Bureau of Labor Law Compliance.  Knepper described how one school district bidded out a project under prevailing wage and without out and found they would have shaved the cost by 40 percent but for the state law.

For Springfield residents, that means the approved $140 million new high school would cost just $80 million sans the burdensome law.

In other bad news, Knepper said that regarding Pennsylvania’s pension crisis the $50 billion officially claimed unfunded liability  regarding the Pennsylvania State Employees Retirement System (SERS) and Public School Employees Retirement System (PSERS) is actually $120 billion if normal accounting standards are used.

Among those collecting a public-guaranteed SERS pensions are Gary Schultz and his  pal Jerry Sandusky.  Schultz’s yearly pension is $330,699.  Yes, you working class person, you have to cover that.

Regarding the Syrians that Gov. Wolf is trying to bring in, Knepper said his group is researching the issue and that while they have not had time to come to any certain conclusion it appears that there is little a state can do to stop a federal resettlement program.

Agnes Trouillet was given an ovation at the meeting. Agnes is a Parisian who is teaching French at Penn and doing a paper on American Tea Party groups. While she didn’t know any of the victims of the Nov. 13 terrorist attack she had friends who did.

Taxpayers Special Enough To Fight Tax Hike

ISIS Posed As Refugees

It’s up to 27 states that have now declared that they won’t accept Syrian refugees due to concern that ISIS operatives will be hidden among them. ISIS Posed As Refugees

Pennsylvania is one of but four that has definitively said it will accept them.

Gov. Tom Wolf has said there is nothing to fear and is sneering at all who do.

Meanwhile, Turkey has just reported that it has arrested eight ISIS operatives posing as refugees.

Accepting refugees from that region is a remarkably stupid idea especially when we can be looking for ways to arm them and otherwise support them in defending their homes.

To let Gov. Wolf know how wrong he is, his Twitter account is  @governorTomWolf. The phone number for his chief of staff is 1-717-787-2531.

ISIS Posed As Refugees

Sad Dog Story

Sad Dog StoryHere is a sad dog story and a warning about not abandoning your best friend.

When I was a puppy, I entertained you with my antics and made you laugh. You called me your child, and despite a number of chewed shoes and a couple of murdered throw pillows, I became your best friend. Whenever I was “bad, “you’d shake your finger at me and ask “How could you?” -but then you’d relent, and roll me over for a belly rub. My housebreaking took a little longer than expected, because you were terribly busy, but we worked on that together. I remember those nights of nuzzling you in bed and listening to your confidences and secret dreams, and I believed that life could not be anymore perfect.

We went for long walks and runs in the park, car rides, stops for ice cream (I only got the cone because “ice cream is bad for dogs,” you said), and I took long naps in the sun waiting for you to come home at the end of the day.

Gradually, you began spending more time at work and on your career, and more time searching for a human mate.

I waited for you patiently, comforted you through heartbreaks and disappointments, never chided you about bad decisions, and romped with glee at your home comings, and when you fell in love.

She, now your wife, is not a “dog person”- still I welcomed her into our home, tried to show her affection, and obeyed her. I was happy because you were happy. Then the human babies came along and I shared you excitement. I was fascinated by their pinkness, how they smelled, and I wanted to mother them, too. Only she and you worried that I might hurt them, and I spent most of my time banished to another room, or to a dog crate. Oh, how I wanted to love them, but I became a “prisoner of love.”

As they began to grow, I became their friend. They clung to my fur and pulled themselves upon wobbly legs, poked fingers in my eyes, investigated my ears, and gave me kisses on my nose. I loved everything about them and their touch-because your touch was now so infrequent-and I would have defended them with my life if need be. I would sneak into their beds and listen to their worries and secret dreams, and together we waited for the sound of your car in the driveway.

There had been a time, when others asked you if you had a dog, that you produced a photo of me from your wallet and told them stories about me. These past few years, you just answered “yes” and changed the subject. I had gone from being “your dog” to “just a dog,” and you resented every expenditure on my behalf.

Now, you have a new career opportunity in another city, and you and they will be moving to an apartment that does not allow pets. You’ve made the right decision for your “family,” but there was a time when I was your only family. I was excited about the car ride until we arrived at the animal shelter. It smelled of dogs and cats, of fear, of hopelessness. You filled out the paperwork and said “I know you will find a good home for her.

“They shrugged and gave you a pained look. They understand the realities facing a middle-aged dog, even one with “papers.” You had to pry your son’s fingers loose from my collar as he screamed “No, Daddy! Please don’t let them take my dog!” And I worried for him, and what lessons you had just taught him about friendship and loyalty, about love and responsibility, and about respect for all life.

You gave me a good-bye pat on the head, avoided my eyes, and politely refused to take my collar and leash with you. You had a deadline to meet and now I have one, too.

After you left, the two nice ladies said you probably knew about your upcoming move months ago and made no attempt to find me another good home. They shook their heads and asked….”How could you?” They are as attentive to us here in the shelter as their busy schedules allow. They feed us, of course, but I lost my appetite days ago.

At first, whenever anyone passed my pen, I rushed to the front, hoping it was you-that you had changed your mind-that this was all a bad dream … or I hoped it would at least be someone who cared,….. anyone who might save me. When I realized I could not compete with the frolicking for attention of happy puppies, oblivious to their own fate, I retreated to a far corner and waited. I heard her footsteps as she came for me at the end of the day, and I padded along the aisle after her to a separate room.

A blissfully quiet room. She placed me on the table and rubbed my ears, and told me not to worry. My heart pounded in anticipation of what was to come, but there was also a sense of relief. The prisoner of love had run out of days. As is my nature, I was more concerned about her. The burden which she bears weighs heavily on her, and I know that, the same way I knew your every mood. She gently placed a tourniquet around my foreleg as a tear ran down her cheek. I licked her hand in the same way I used to comfort you so many years ago. She expertly slid the hypodermic needle into my vein. As I felt the sting and the cool liquid coursing through my body, I lay down sleepily, looked into her kind eyes and murmured “How could you?”

Perhaps because she understood my dogspeak, she said “I’m so sorry. “She hugged me, and hurriedly explained it was her job to make sure I went to a better place, where I wouldn’t be ignored or abused or abandoned, or have to fend for myself-a place of love and light so very different from this earthly place. And with my last bit of energy, I tried to convey to her with a thump of my tail that my “How could you?” was not directed at her. It was you, My Beloved Master, I was thinking of. I will think of you and wait for you forever. May everyone in your life continue to show you so much loyalty.

The End

Sad Dog Story

Sales Tax Hike Problem For Pa.

By Nathan Benefield Sales Tax Hike Problem For Pa.

After nearly five months of gridlock, a new state budget framework has been announced. The plan would raise the sales tax rate to the second-highest in the nation while promising property tax relief for homeowners in return.

At this point, it’s tempting to call any progress on budget agreement a victory, but is this tentative framework truly a “win” for Pennsylvanians?

Let’s start with the good: It appears taxpayers will be spared a personal income tax hike. A spike in utility bills caused by a new severance tax is also off the table. Additionally, Governor Wolf’s plan to expand the sales tax to 45 items like nursing homes, day care, funerals, and college textbooks has reportedly been dropped.

That’s great news, given Pennsylvanians already face the 10th-highest tax burden in the nation, but not everything is so rosy.

Under this budget plan, Pennsylvania would see the first sales tax hike in nearly 50 years and would have the second-highest rate in America. At 7.25 percent, the new rate would be 21 percent higher than the state’s current 6 percent rate.

It gets even worse for Pittsburgh residents who would pay a crushing 8.25 percent, and Philadelphia’s sales tax would spike to 9.25 percent. Delaware retailers, which benefit from no sales tax, should cheer, but business in the Keystone State would suffer.

The sales tax hike would collect about $2.1 billion more from consumers, while providing only $1.5 billion in property tax relief.

What about the leftover money? It will be used to replace $600 million in gambling funds formerly allocated to property tax relief that would now be redirected to additional spending.

Most homeowners would benefit from this tax shift, but businesses—which pay an estimated 40 percent of all sales taxes—and renters would lose. They would pay the higher sales tax but see no reduction in property taxes or rents under the current proposal.

In one sense, progress has been made. Wolf’s initial budget proposal in March called for the largest tax increase in the nation, costing an astonishing $1,400 per Pennsylvania family of four. While this sales tax is far lower, taxpayers should be asking what they’ll get in return for any increase.

Much is still being worked out behind the scenes, and there’s still an opportunity to act on crucial issues like pension reform, liquor privatization, and corporate welfare reform.

First, true liquor privatization—allowing private retailers to sell wine and spirits and ending the government monopoly over distribution—must be part of any deal. This would give consumers greater selection and convenience, generate recurring revenue, and end the state’s conflict of interest as both alcohol salesman and liquor law enforcer.

Though Wolf vetoed privatization this summer, Pennsylvanians still strongly support the measure because it makes fiscal sense and common sense.

In any serious discussion of property tax relief, lawmakers must first address the primary cause of property tax increases: unsustainable public pension costs. Only by moving to a defined-contribution plan, like a 401(k), will we stop the bleeding and end the political manipulation that created a $53 billion unfunded pension debt.

Moreover, any property tax shift should include strict controls over future school tax increases. Pennsylvania ranks near the top on education spending, while residents face some of the highest property taxes. To give taxpayers more control, lawmakers should give voters the chance to approve any school tax increase—a right residents of other states, like our neighbors in Ohio, already have.

For anyone looking to cut budget waste, this one’s hard to miss: Pennsylvania hands out nearly $700 million in corporate welfare subsidies through grant and loan programs. These subsidies provide businesses an unfair advantage at taxpayer expense and should be eliminated.

Finally, any budget agreement should include a long-term pledge that government will not recklessly overspend our hard-earned dollars. The Taxpayer Protection Act, supported by 64 percent of Pennsylvania voters according to a recent poll, would limit spending growth to the rate of inflation plus population growth.

Pennsylvanians need a state budget, but they don’t want promises of relief that hide higher taxes.  Before we ask taxpayers for more, the governor and lawmakers should ensure tax dollars are spent well. True reforms that will set our state—and our families—on the path toward lasting prosperity should be part of any budget deal.

Nathan A. Benefield is vice president of policy analysis for the Commonwealth Foundation

Sales Tax Hike Problem For Pa.