RE: The Manchin-Toomey Bill, I think at the bare minimum Senators Corker and Alexander owe the public and explanation as to why the "nay" vote on common sense gun safety, but of course we all know the real reason was they are petrified of the NRA and losing their "A" Rating.
I guess an "A" rating with the NRA is more important to them, than an "A" rating from 90% of their constituents.
Don't think either will be getting the Profiles In Courage Award any time soon :(
Once again Mr. Johnson's robotics thinking process - Private Sector Good, Government Bad - lacks facts and substance.
First it is factually incorrect that TVA received appropriated funds from congress for power generation programs. Appropriated funds have always been used for non-power projects such as the Chemical Development Center and management of parks and recreational areas - projects that have by and large gone by the wayside. Power related projects including maintenance and overhead are paid for 100% by power revenues.
Second to say TVA has some of the lowest rates in the country because it doesn't have a tax liability is beyond absurd. TVA has been a model of efficiency and innovation in the industry and has simply done a better job than most private sector utilities.
Rather or not TVA can continue to be the industry leader as it has in the past as a privately owned utility is a question for debate, but it's not likely IMO that rates would stay at their current levels, and low power rates are one of the things that attracts businesses to our region.
This is just one more salvo in Mr. Johnson's relentless attack against EPB, TVA the US Post Office and any other organization that doesn't have "Inc" after it's name.
Folks - for the record I'm not opposed to raising the contribution cap on payroll taxes, however the fact is the social security trust fund is now running a deficit of around $50 Billion per year and will be exhausted by the year 2024. That comes straight from the horses mouth:
http://www.ssa.gov/oact/trsum/
so it's going to need more than minor tweaking to get it back on the track on continued solvency.
The president's offer to index social security adjustments is part of what will hopefully be a grand bargain that will put us back on a road towards reducing the national debt and continue to cut the deficit. To achieve this concessions will have to be made by both sides. To me this is a rather small one but it shows the the president is making a good faith effort to reach an agreement with the other side, and it is symbolic and can give Republicans some political cover to hopefully allow them to agree to some revenue increases through reforms to the tax code etc.
BTW I'm a retiree myself, but I want to make sure that social security is still around for my 24 year old step son and his generation when they get there.
Once upon a time we had Taxation without Representation. As Pat Combs Has pointed out we now have Taxation without Medication.
The Governor has essentially denied the taxpayers of the state the benefit of the money they send to Washington DC, effectively making the overall cost of medical care in the state more expensive. And the only apparent reason for this is to appease a minority of ideological mouth-breathers whose support he needs.
The fiscal cliff deal did NOT "raise federal taxes on individual income and payroll" It simply allowed the temporary payroll tax holiday, enacted by Obama by the way, to expire. The payroll tax holiday was never intended to be permanent, it was a temporary measure to spike the economy. The payroll tax rates in effect today are the same as when G W Bush left office.
^There are 3 million people incarcerated in the US, that's male & female of all ages, out of a population of 300 million that's 1%.
That's not really going to impact the number of draft eligible people that much IMO.
I think the number of obese and physically unfit individuals is probable a bigger issue but that's fixable.
You should recheck your facts, I think you're off by several million.
Regarding the draft, I think that every able bodied citizen should give a couple of years in public service to the country, either military or other service.
The benefit of the draft would be that everyone would have some flesh in the game. Had this been the case we would not have had the long protracted wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as the public simply would not have stood for it.
The military much prefers the all volunteer force becasue volunteers are much more motivated and trainable then conscripts, but OTOH we have to have some fairness and shared sacrifice as well.
"Any time you start a sentence with "I learned from" or "I heard from" is a sign that you might want to check to see if what you "learned" or "heard" was accurate before you pass the information on."
Yea but that's better than completing the sentence and saying "I learned from Fox News or "I heard from Rush Limbaugh" :)
STEVEN SMITH has identified what could be one of the opening battles in a world-wide water war that may last for a century.
Fresh water supplies are drying up and big corporations are buying up municipal water supplies so they can jack the prices up and make big profits off of what may soon become the world's most precious commodity - fresh water.
Now is the time to act on health care and other letters to the editors
RE: The Manchin-Toomey Bill, I think at the bare minimum Senators Corker and Alexander owe the public and explanation as to why the "nay" vote on common sense gun safety, but of course we all know the real reason was they are petrified of the NRA and losing their "A" Rating.
I guess an "A" rating with the NRA is more important to them, than an "A" rating from 90% of their constituents.
Don't think either will be getting the Profiles In Courage Award any time soon :(
TVA privatization would benefit all: GOP should follow Obama's lead
Once again Mr. Johnson's robotics thinking process - Private Sector Good, Government Bad - lacks facts and substance.
First it is factually incorrect that TVA received appropriated funds from congress for power generation programs. Appropriated funds have always been used for non-power projects such as the Chemical Development Center and management of parks and recreational areas - projects that have by and large gone by the wayside. Power related projects including maintenance and overhead are paid for 100% by power revenues.
Second to say TVA has some of the lowest rates in the country because it doesn't have a tax liability is beyond absurd. TVA has been a model of efficiency and innovation in the industry and has simply done a better job than most private sector utilities.
Rather or not TVA can continue to be the industry leader as it has in the past as a privately owned utility is a question for debate, but it's not likely IMO that rates would stay at their current levels, and low power rates are one of the things that attracts businesses to our region.
This is just one more salvo in Mr. Johnson's relentless attack against EPB, TVA the US Post Office and any other organization that doesn't have "Inc" after it's name.
Don't cut Social Security checks instead of closing tax loopholes
Folks - for the record I'm not opposed to raising the contribution cap on payroll taxes, however the fact is the social security trust fund is now running a deficit of around $50 Billion per year and will be exhausted by the year 2024. That comes straight from the horses mouth: http://www.ssa.gov/oact/trsum/ so it's going to need more than minor tweaking to get it back on the track on continued solvency.
The president's offer to index social security adjustments is part of what will hopefully be a grand bargain that will put us back on a road towards reducing the national debt and continue to cut the deficit. To achieve this concessions will have to be made by both sides. To me this is a rather small one but it shows the the president is making a good faith effort to reach an agreement with the other side, and it is symbolic and can give Republicans some political cover to hopefully allow them to agree to some revenue increases through reforms to the tax code etc.
BTW I'm a retiree myself, but I want to make sure that social security is still around for my 24 year old step son and his generation when they get there.
Don't cut Social Security checks instead of closing tax loopholes
It's not a matter of either or. In reality we need to do both in order to stay fiscally solvent over the longer term.
'Haslam's plan costs Tennessee residents' and more letters to the editors
Once upon a time we had Taxation without Representation. As Pat Combs Has pointed out we now have Taxation without Medication.
The Governor has essentially denied the taxpayers of the state the benefit of the money they send to Washington DC, effectively making the overall cost of medical care in the state more expensive. And the only apparent reason for this is to appease a minority of ideological mouth-breathers whose support he needs.
Slaving away for the tax man
The fiscal cliff deal did NOT "raise federal taxes on individual income and payroll" It simply allowed the temporary payroll tax holiday, enacted by Obama by the way, to expire. The payroll tax holiday was never intended to be permanent, it was a temporary measure to spike the economy. The payroll tax rates in effect today are the same as when G W Bush left office.
Time to rethink military draft and other letters to the editors
^There are 3 million people incarcerated in the US, that's male & female of all ages, out of a population of 300 million that's 1%. That's not really going to impact the number of draft eligible people that much IMO.
I think the number of obese and physically unfit individuals is probable a bigger issue but that's fixable.
You should recheck your facts, I think you're off by several million.
Time to rethink military draft and other letters to the editors
Regarding the draft, I think that every able bodied citizen should give a couple of years in public service to the country, either military or other service.
The benefit of the draft would be that everyone would have some flesh in the game. Had this been the case we would not have had the long protracted wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as the public simply would not have stood for it.
The military much prefers the all volunteer force becasue volunteers are much more motivated and trainable then conscripts, but OTOH we have to have some fairness and shared sacrifice as well.
Obama's America hurts its citizens and other letters to the editors
lkeithlu said...
"Any time you start a sentence with "I learned from" or "I heard from" is a sign that you might want to check to see if what you "learned" or "heard" was accurate before you pass the information on."
Yea but that's better than completing the sentence and saying "I learned from Fox News or "I heard from Rush Limbaugh" :)
Georgia needs to use its own water supply and other letters to the editors
STEVEN SMITH has identified what could be one of the opening battles in a world-wide water war that may last for a century.
Fresh water supplies are drying up and big corporations are buying up municipal water supplies so they can jack the prices up and make big profits off of what may soon become the world's most precious commodity - fresh water.
http://www.deathandtaxesmag.com/32828/nestle-corporation-vs-americas-water-supply/