Budget

Sometimes just one chart says volumes. I give you the US GDP to US Debt chart. In all it’s glory.
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A lot of retirement planning are based on a 7% rate of return.   Especially pension plans that are not subject to change.  With the Federal Government keeping interest rates artificially low these pension plans are having a hard time delivering. Additionally the amount of money that people not on pensions have to save prior to...
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Exposing the Student Loan Racket (Infographic) Student loan debt, now at $830 billion, has surpassed credit card debt—a statement not likely to have been heard 20 years ago. Student loans, unlike any other form of debt, CANNOT be forgiven via bankruptcy—these loans MUST be repaid. Is this the next bubble to burst? Personally I...
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The number of minivans in the school parking lot was a giveaway.  The budget passed 181 Yea, to 50 Nay (or something close to that). No drama, no questions.  Just the check in and voting. This was the third budget vote and essentially the same budget tax increase and spending wise.  The bottom line...
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The U.S. Treasury has been dipping, or as it is also known “disinvesting”, into the G-fund and the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund (CSRDF). In a nutshell, since the debt ceiling breach in mid May, Tim Geithner has replaced one IOU (that of the Fed) with another (that of the Treasury) in the...
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The government long ago, (Jimmy Carter time frame) eliminated certain items from the official calculation of the rate of inflation.  Specifically food and energy (gas).  The graph below calculates inflation with the old formula with food and energy included and compares with the new and improved government approved inflation rate.   The data speaks for...
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From the Shadow Stats Website: The seasonally-adjusted SGS Alternate Unemployment Rate reflects current unemployment reporting methodology adjusted for SGS-estimated long-term discouraged workers, who were defined out of official existence in 1994. That estimate is added to the BLS estimate of U-6 unemployment, which includes short-term discouraged workers. The U-3 unemployment rate is the monthly headline...
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CT Mirror: Nonpartisan legislative analysts say they can vouch for less than 40 percent of the $1.6 billion in labor savings figured into the next biennial budget, and are unable to assess the rest–more than $1 billion–because of unanswered questions or insufficient data, according to a memo submitted late Monday to the General Assembly....
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5/9/2011 Budget fails on a paper ballot 91 Nays to 76 Yeas. The proposed budget increased total expenditures by 1.19%, but would have resulted in a tax increase of 2.35% because of reduced tax revenues and reduced state aid. a $                71,292,340.00 Regional Board of Education 1.16% b $                  6,966,599.00 Local Board of Education...
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Taxing behavior reduces that behavior. Taxing work causes people to work less. Here’s the punch line from the end of the article: HERE’S the bottom line: Without any taxes, accepting that editor’s assignment would have yielded my children an extra $10,000. With taxes, it yields only $1,000. In effect, once the entire tax system...
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The U.S. government can save more than $1 trillion over the next 10 years by consolidating its IT infrastructure, reducing its energy use and moving to more Web-based citizen services, a group of tech CEOs said in a report released Wednesday. The Technology CEO Council’s report, delivered to President Barack Obama’s National Commission on...
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From Pam Sawyer Please don’t trust what you see in the latest articles from the Leadership of the Democrats……. Latest Budget Myths Myth: State of CT ended last year with a $450 million surplus. Truth: CT is still facing yearly deficits of more than $3 billion starting next year and beyond. Two days ago...
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This seems to be the economic policy question of the hour. It might be worth recalling that last month, the Wall Street Journal polled economists about this question. Of those who expressed an opinion, here are the results: * 6 percent said no, all the tax cuts should be allowed to expire, * 24...
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Just think how great our kids would learn in this school. Oh, by the way, the only factor ever proved to improve kids’ learning, is Mom. Yes, this is the same state that just gave out vouchers (IOUs) to state employees. With 9$B in debt and the highest taxes in the country, don’t laugh...
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Every year, the Americans for Tax Reform Foundation and the Center for Fiscal Accountability calculate Cost of Government Day. This is the day on which the average American has earned enough gross income to pay off his or her share of the spending and regulatory burdens imposed by government at the federal, state, and...
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