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| Economy |
| Tax proposals shot down by (KS st.) Senate panel |
| 2010-04-10 |
| TOPEKA -- After several days of hearings on various tax proposals, the Senate tax committee on Thursday spurned all of them, rejecting plans to increase levies on cigarettes, alcoholic beverages, soda pop and other sweetened drinks. Also shot down was the governor's call for a 1 cent increase in the general sales tax. It now most likely falls on the Senate Ways & Means Committee to get a tax bill approved for debate by the full Senate where leaders have said about $300 million in new revenues are needed to avoid harmful cuts to schools, social services and public safety programs. The Ways & Means Committee has been considering Senate Bill 476, which would generate about $168 million, mostly through eliminating the state tax exemption on sales of residential utilities such as heating fuels and electricity. Senate Majority Leader Derek Schmidt, R-Independence, said he didn't plan to vote for any of the tax increases, but pleaded with fellow tax committee members to vote out at least one proposal "without favorable recommendation" to allow for the "inevitable" tax debate he said would happen on the Senate floor before the session ends. Hokay, I would like to propose a tax conversation under cover of the KS State Gov bucking the trend, inspired by this topic from yesterday: @OldPatriot: So you think half the taxpayers are like you? I'll bet that when you mark your ballot, you have your wallet in mind, like any good Democrat. I think Franklin said something like, "When the people find they can vote themselves money, that will be the end of the Republic." It's up to our legislators to resist such tendencies. Yeah, right. @swksvolFF: SS and Medicare are not "Fed Income Tax". Obviously a person can only generalize the motives of other taxpayers. It should be pointed out that most people just collect their paycheck and the withholdings are just glanced at, especially in the era of electronic fund transfers where a person just makes sure that the check was in the virtual mail. My position: unless someone owns and runs a business and/or writes the paychecks the impact of payroll taxes is not completely appreciated. For example, do you know how much money your business pays into unemployment taxes? Now to start things out: I call out that social security and medicare is a percentage withheld automatically from each and every paycheck is indeed a federal tax on income. Second, I propose that paying taxes is part of an agreement to work with a government of any sort. I have no problem adding my amount to a necessary government. I do however have issues with hearing that there is no money for schools or police when government entities have the money to make loans for imax theatres or lcd game boards at publicly assisted universities. Crap like that is inspiring me to become a Tea Party person, I'm getting it, and if not now when? Apologies to mods for format or intention errors, but this anklosaur pup is...unhappy. |
| Posted by:swksvolFF |
| #7 With concurrent receipt, service related disability can amount to nearly nothing. A 20% disability under concurrent receipt means for example, the VA takes $200. per month out of your existing retirement pension and sends it back to you tax free. Your monthly gain could be as little as $15. to $25. per month. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2010-04-10 21:00 |
| #6 Old Patriot is being modest. If I understand correctly, his disability is the direct result of his service on our behalf. Lumping him in with the welfare queens must surely have been the result of a lack of familiarity with that service. |
| Posted by: lotp 2010-04-10 20:52 |
| #5 was trying to start a conversation. "You smell bad and your mother dresses you funny" is hardly what I'd call a conversation-starter. But maybe that's just me. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2010-04-10 18:40 |
| #4 @OldPatriot: So you think half the taxpayers are like you? I'll bet that when you mark your ballot, you have your wallet in mind, like any good Democrat. I wanted to comment on this yesterday, but I didn't see it until after midnight, EDT. First of all, whoever KBK is, he hasn't been hanging around here very long, or he doesn't read much. I have NEVER been a Democrat. I have always been an Independent, and proud of it. I HAVE voted for a Democrat - once for a state senator, and once for a congresscritter. Both of them were the most qualified candidate up for election at that time. Secondly, I am totally disabled today because of things I did during my AIR FORCE CAREER, which spanned 26 years and a couple of wars. Got shot AT a lot, but never suffered a wound. I get my Air Force retirement (which is taxed), Social Security (which it taxed), and a VA disability (which isn't taxed). Between the standard deduction, individual deduction (for 3), disability/over 65 deduction, my taxable income is usually zero. I don't get EIC, or anything else other than the individual deduction, for our 5-year-old. BTW, my itemized deductions are nearly half again what the standard deduction is, but I don't file, because there's no need to. I don't think half the taxpayers are like me. I do know, however, there are quite a few retired vets here, and a number of them have disabilities that put them either in the same category I'm in, or very near it. Lumping everyone who doesn't pay taxes into the same group as welfare cheats, fraudsters, and other leeches is just stupid. Just to finish clearing the air, I believe that everyone who is a resident of this nation and receives a dime in income from any source should pay taxes. My proposal is on my website, if anyone's interested. You might also note it's dated more than a year ago. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2010-04-10 18:22 |
| #3 Yeah, why I don't post much, will do it next time - didn't feel right posting a comment on my own posting either and was trying to start a conversation. I'm still in a foul mood about it, don't like being told that 15% off the top of each paycheck for programs where even the teachers in liberaltown would say "You ain't gonna see any of that money" isn't a tax on income, don't like that the business has to pay a tax to employ someone, don't like any of it. But will get the post right next time. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2010-04-10 17:16 |
| #2 Apologies to mods for format or intention errors, but this anklosaur pup is...unhappy. What you should be apologizing for is placing your remarks within the body of the article, in your moderator colors, rather than in a comment like any other reader. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2010-04-10 13:33 |
| #1 Here's an interesting factoid: Mrs. Bobby works as a real estate agent. At marginal rates, (on top of my modest income as a civil engineer) how much does she pay in federal income, state income, and self-employment* (FICA) tax? (Including the SE tax 'credit'.) 47.96%. She was distressed, but not surprised. Then there's real estate and sales tax, and a plethora of others. Taxed Enough Already, I'd say. *I love it. Self-employment tax. |
| Posted by: Bobby 2010-04-10 08:05 |