The Mississippi Budget

The state legislature ended the regular session in early April, they came back in early May, recessed and now are back to see just how the Fed Stim cash will help the budget.

Forbes magazine is reporting:

Mississippi lawmakers said they did the opposite of what they intended Thursday as House and Senate negotiators moved farther apart, rather than closer together, in their budget talks.

Republican Gov. Haley Barbour has urged legislators to be cautious because the recession has caused a decline in state tax collections.  (Yes it has and thanx to Barbour’s BS of giving away everything to corporations.  If you want someone to thank then send Barbour a note.)

The session is now scheduled to end next Wednesday. If the budget is still not done by then, it would take a two-thirds vote of the House and Senate to extend the session to allow more time for talks.

You would think that people that are suppose to be our leaders would show some cajones and tell the residents the truth…..that is that they will most likely have to pay higher taxes if they want state programs to continue.

That is a pipedream on my part…they guys and gals that I speak of are cowards and will do nothing that can be used against them in their re-election bid.  The state’s poor will suffer…the state’s workers will suffer…….and still nothing will get accomplished….AS USUAL!

A Wind Pool Death

Mississippi’s Rep. Gene Taylor has had his pet project pulling from his hands by the Obama admin.

His pet project is a new Federal Wind Insurance.

Napolitano’s letter to key House leaders stated the Obama administration position on the issue: Wind insurance is too costly and unnecessary to add to the federal flood insurance program. FEMA chief Craig Fugate also wrote senators in response to questions at his confirmation hearing that he, too, was opposed to the wind plan, which the Senate rejected last year.

Mississippi’s Gov. Barbour said he is looking at “multi-state solutions” with states combining wind pools, and hopes to make more progress by the National Governors Association meeting in Biloxi in July.

Now this is where I start to worry…..these people, state government, who cannot do naything but give business everything, will not run an insurance program any more efficiently.  When the money is not there, they will start taxing the working class to pay for any programs they want.

Look at Mississippi’s Medicaid program…..all the cash from lawsuits and special cig taxes has not made it anymore stable…I would trust a Federal program way more than anything that a state politician would have.

It’s Medicaid Again!

All the cig smokers have been targeted in the past as the “sole” financiers of the medicaid program…..but all the taxes imposed on tobacco uses has done NOTHING to help the system at all.  And now the gov wants a tax on hospitals to help cover the program shortfall.

Barbour has pushed the proposed hospital tax as a way to fix a shortfall in the state’s Medicaid budget, but Democrats and the Mississippi Hospital Association have opposed it. Without the tax, Barbour has warned of severe cuts affecting vital state services.

Barbour has said he is asking hospitals to pay their “fair share,” but opponents have said the cost would be passed down to paying patients and have tarred the idea as a tax on the sick.

Brown said the House has agreed to a $60 million hospital tax – an increase over the MHA’s drop-dead figure of $45 million – but the tax would have to come with an agreement that Medicaid reimbursement rates would be frozen.

This all is so damn silly!  The state keeps raising taxes, some of them hidden, to pay for Medicaid abnd turn around and give away millions and in some cases billions to corporations…..why?  Let me guess…as an incentive to buil;d in the state, right?

That is silly too!  The way labor is suppressed in the state is enough to make it attractive without all the tax incentives.

Eventually, someone will realize that taxes MUST be paid if the state is to operate and that all concerned, including the corporations, which pay little as it is now, has got to be involved.  The people of Mississippi are asked to do MORE than their part while the vultures in government and business reap the benefits.

Your Car Tags

Something had to be done or the price of Mississippi car tags was going to go up……enter a trick play…..tie the unsuccessful cig tax to the car tag bill……genius…it worked….cigs have gone up.

If we look back 10 years ago and the tobacco lawsuit that was won by the state….think about it……that windfall was to be used to fund an ailing MedicAid program…did not work out that way…did it?  Or that the tax revenue from the new casinos would be used to fund education…..another lie……never do new taxes go to the promised programs or if it does it is some minor that it does not help in the less.

The big argument for a new cig tax was that it only effected a small portion of the population…using that logic….maybe the car tags could be funded by a whopping tax on luxury SUVs…after all that effects only a small portion of the population…..thast will not happen…why…rich people rule!

One of the biggest selling points was that Mississippi collected one of the lowest cig taxes in the country……they wanted it to be more in line with the rest of the country……cool……using that logic….why not bring teachers pay more in line or unemployment benefits or ….well you get my drift.  That selling point was as lame as the population argument.

The true is that it , the tax, will effect the working class more than any other and Mississippi is notorious for crap on its workers.

There Is Always Bad News For Revenue

It constantly amazes me that the state and local administrations continue to have a difficult time finding the money to fund the needed programs.  Yet there is a way and a way that could lead to a self-sufficient community, but stupidity comes into the equation.

Year after year after year, funds are not available and year after year the legislature tries to find ways to come up with the cash.  Most times it involves the bulk of the responsibility falls on the shoulders of the working class in Mississippi.

It is time for the state and local entities to find a better way to raise funds that are needed.  As the economy keeps getting worse, funds become smaller and smaller, the people of the state become less and less safe and secure.

The only way to keep the much needed cash rolling into the coffers is by finally accepting the need for Land Value Taxation.  (read page on LVT)  Why?  Easy answer…it fits all the requirements of a perfect tax.  These are:  1–the distribution of the burden would be equitable, 2–tax should minimize the effect on economic activity, 3–the structure should facilitate stabilization and economic growth, 4–should be simple and easily understood by the taxpayer.

If you want the governmental services for your community then a new system of taxation must be found.  It can be done and the people can make it happen.  But as long as they depend on the stale thinking of the past then their community will suffer and possibly wither and die.

It is your choice.

Time To Rethink Property Taxes

Mississippi is struggling with the reality that there is not enough cash to pay for the programs they have, much less any new programs.  The tax structure has been the problem….give aways to business and increases on others have made the whole system a joke at best.  It is time to rethink taxes, especially property taxes.

May I see a show of hands on the people that pay NO property tax thanks to Homestead Exemption?

I hate to be the one that pops a bubble here….but…you do realize that property taxes pays for such services as schools and funds many local programs, right?  Times are tough and getting tougher every year and every year the local politicians find ways to tax everybody.  Eventually reality will set in.

For too long Mississippi has given away revenue with the hope of attracting business and then asks the working majority to foot the bill.  There is a better way…and it would be a win-win scenario.

By making the Land Value Tax the rule, then the Coast and all of Mississippi could have the needed funds to use where it is needed, whether it is education or Medicaid or wherever.

Land rent means taxing land. Not buildings, not work, not commerce, just bare land. Or if land has buildings (as most land has) then the equivalent value of the land if it had no buildings.

Land gets its value its improvements (buildings etc) and from its location. The improvements were made by the hard work of the owners. But the location has value because of what society does, because of roads and schools and good neighbors.

If society taxes buildings and improvements, it steals people’s hard work, their time and energy, their life. Most taxation is therefore theft. But if society taxes the location, then it simply claims back the value it creates. Land rent distinguishes between the individual’s property and society’s property.

If you tax work, the amount of work goes down, because some work becomes less profitable. But if you tax land, the amount of land remains the same. So if you want to encourage work, you should tax land, not work.

Land rent is the only guarantee of fair property rights. If people can charge rent but they pay no rent themselves, eventually one person or one elite will own everything and nobody else can have any property unless it suits the elite. To see why, play the game Monopoly. Monopoly is based on “The Landlord’s Game,” invented by Lizzie Magie as a way to show why we need land rent.

Land rent is the most efficient way of creating wealth because it gives resources to those who can use them best (that is, those who can generate the most wealth from the land).

Land rent creates economic justice, by ensuring that everyone keeps the wealth they create, and any extra is given back to society. So nobody has unfair privileges, and everyone has an equal chance to succeed.

Land rent provides a fair system for all, because it generates wealth for society, yet it is so simple that corruption and inefficiency have nowhere to hide.  This is a definite plus, for today, those are the major problems with the taxation of land.

Even the Mississippi Economic Policy Center has called for the state to revamp its taxation system, then why not take the opportunity to truly revamp the tax policy?  Mississippi is always in need of funds, but its ruling few refuse to find a more equitable system.  The economic situation that Mississippi and the country finds themselves is a perfect time to find a more efficient tax system.

Taxation Proposal

In a local Coast community, Ocean Springs, MS has come up with a novel idea to get people to expand or innovate their businesses.

The proposed tax abatement will allow businesses to deduct up to 80 percent of their city property tax for a period of 10 years on any expansions or renovations.

It does not apply to businesses such as apartment complexes and condominiums.

Mayor Connie Moran said some business owners in Ocean Springs are unsure about expanding or renovating their businesses because of the higher tax bill they’ll receive.

By receiving a break on their city taxes, they can proceed with their improvement projects.

Another give away to business—where will the city make up for the revenue loss for this move?

Instead of looking for ways to increase the revenue and thusly able to fund city preojects without going in the hole, these people want to give away the revenue and worry about it later.  It is all just a stupid political game.

This could be avoided by one very simple move–Land Value Taxation–it is not a difficult thing to do…it will take will and ability…two things that most of the mayors on the Coast do not have.  They are elected by personality and likability, not capability

If more is needed about LVT then please click on my page here entitled, Land Value Taxation, and an explanation of the proposal will be there to check it out.

Mississippi Gets A Tax Holiday

Consumers will not pay sales tax on clothing or footwear that costs less than $100 on July 31 and Aug. 1. Gov. Haley Barbour signed the bill into law earlier this month.

The Tax Commission has been working to assemble information on the tax holiday since the state enacted the exemption earlier this month, commission spokeswoman Kathy Waterbury said

Mississippi’s sales tax holiday is relatively limited, but it is designed to give consumers, especially parents buying back-to-school clothing, a break.

Exempting some items from sales tax once a year is not a new concept.

The District of Columbia and 13 states have tax holidays of their own. Alabama and Tennessee’s include computers and school supplies, while Louisiana allows up to $2,500 in purchases.

In Mississippi, cities receive a portion of sales tax collections. Cities that feel it will cost too much can opt out of the sales tax holiday next year.

Is this a good idea in this time of economic crisis?  This where the disconnect gets interesting……the state is broke….it wants to tax somethings…..and then give some money back…….unfortunately this is just a misdirection…..give the people something to think about and they can run other crap pass them ….unopposed.

It is a political game and Mississippians fall for it everytime…….

Smokers Now, But Who Is Next?

Beginning April 1, the federal tax will increase 62 cents on a pack of cigarettes, bringing the total federal tax on a pack to $1.01.  Some tobacco companies already have increased their prices to help make up the difference.

I have read a piece that said the at least one million people have stop smoking ahead of the price increase.  Is that the desired outcome?  The higher price will force people to stop smoking or they will have to stop eating.

Has anyone stopped to consider something else?  Cigarette companies are a dying breed in the US….manufacturers.  The tax collect is to offset any future drain on the Medicaid/care system from the results of second hand smoke.  Cool, huh?

Are you ignorant?  Maybe just thick?  But that argument is just stupid!  Okay, let us say that millions of people stop smoking, thus stop buying the product….will not millions go to a US manufacturer that is in dire straits?  A bailout if you will.  So all the cash saved from those not smoking will be eaten up by another bailout of sorts.  Sounds like a sound, logical plan (that is sarcasm, in case you missed it).

So looking for another short term fix, these morons have created yet another failing industry that will most likely need bailing out.  What geniuses we elected!

With smoking eliminated what will be next?  Maybe everyone’s favorite liquor….or maybe those darn pesky fast food outlets.  Afterall, these institutions have and produce unhealthy side effects.

Once again the US government intervenes in the people’s private decisions….congrats morons!  You elected this group of idiots!

Where Is The State Tax On Smokes?

This is an editorial from the South Mississippi Sun-Herald:

Eight days after the Legislature convened this year, the House of Representatives voted 81-39 to increase the state tax on a pack of cigarettes from 18 cents to $1. Before the end of January, the Senate had voted 42-7 to increase the tax from 18 cents to 49 cents.

In early February, conferees from both chambers of the Legislature were named to work out the differences.

Yet more than a month later, with less than a month to go before the legislative session ends on April 4, not only has a compromise not been reached, negotiations have not begun.

Percy Watson of Hattiesburg, the chairman of the House Ways and Means committee, says he and others would rather wait on a dollar tax than settle for a 50-cent one.

That may be smart politics for Watson and other Democrats, but it is dumb public policy.

On April 1, the federal tax on a pack of cigarettes will jump from 39 cents to a fraction over $1. That federal tax hike ought to be coupled with a state tax increase to motivate smokers to quit.

The Senate’s proposed 49-cent per pack tax would match the average tax rate for states bordering Mississippi. It is a good place to start, and the House should embrace it and move on.

PLease look for the GSFP follow-up editorial on the smoking tax.