“Everything is on the table….No one is safe.” : August 2016 U.S. Federal State & Local Shenanigans

Incomplete list of U.S. Federal/State/Local Government self-destruct announcements for August 2016:

Bill & Hillary Clinton claim they paid 34.2% of their income to federal income taxes.  They also claim they paid 9.8% of their ‘adjusted’ income to charity, mostly to their own charity informally called Clinton Family Foundation (which, by the way, is how they keep their daughter Chelsea employed, it’s officially called the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation).

Flip-Flopper Hillary: According to The Washington Times, Hillary Clinton helped create the not-so-free Obama regime’s free trade deal known as Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), but now as a presidential candidate Hillary Clinton claims she will cancel TPP becasue it’s not free or fair to the working class!

The Washington Post revealed that despite Donald Trump claiming his golf courses are worth tens of millions of U.S. dollars his state tax filings are claiming otherwise, but only because Trump is trying to reduce paying his fair share of taxes.  

California: Victor Valley Wastewater Reclamation Authority laid off 13 people.  VVWRA is paid by how much sewage water flows into their privately run treatment plant, and sewage flows crashed by 22% (since 2010), forcing VVWRA to conduct across the board layoffs.  VVWRA blames the city of Victorville for diverting one-millions gallons of sewage into the city run treatment plant.  The city of Victorville counters by blaming delayed construction of a new pipeline on VVWRA.  That pipeline is supposedly functional now, and was 94% funded by taxes from the federal government (through FEMA).  Not only has Cupertino based Apple avoided paying its fair share of taxes to the not-so Golden State, as well as the United States, but apparently failed to pay the equivilant of $14-million USD in taxes to the European Union!  The Guardian reports that the Obama regime is threatening the European Union (an ally of the U.S.) for demanding U.S. companies like Apple pay their fair share in taxes!  And San Francisco based Uber failed to pay Taiwan the equivilant of $6.3-million in taxes!  The government of Taiwan (an ally of the U.S.) says Uber hasn’t paid taxes since 2013!

Colorado: The Colorado Weekly Homebuyers List reports at least six property owners/businesses facing federal and state tax liens, just in Boulder County.

Delaware: Illinois based HVS Convention, Sports, and Entertainment Consulting ties Delaware with Idaho for the 8th highest hotel tax rate in the U.S.

Florida: Brevard County Court warning of layoffs due to state taxpayer funding cuts.  The county Clerk of Courts told local news that 28 jobs could be eliminated between now and January 2017.  Local news reports say Brevard County Court has been eliminating jobs since 2008; from 480 to now less than 3-hundred.

Idaho: A Fourth District Judge has thrown out a lawsuit challenging the 2014 law that heaps huge taxpayer funded incentives on companies moving to The Gem State.  Tens of millions in tax breaks (supposedly in the form of “reimbursements”) have already gone to companies like California based Amy’s Kitchen and Ireland’s Glanbia Foods. Agricultural news source Capital Press also revealed that an undisclosed food producer was recently given a $15-million tax credit for creating a piddly 80 jobs in Boise.  The state Depatment of Commerce claims that tax ‘reimbursments’ helped create 4,737 new jobs. But if companies aren’t paying their fair share of taxes how are the state and local governments going to make up for it?  By hitting Idaho residents with jacked up taxes and fees, of course.

If you’ve got a family and you’re thinking about moving to Idaho to get a job with one of those taxpayer subsidized companies, think again.  The Gem State is one of the worst when it comes to affordable child daycare, and the state government does nothing about it.  Economic Policy Institute says the average Idaho family spends $6-hundred per month per child on daycare.  Child Care Aware says from 2013 to 2014 childcare costs in Idaho skyrocketed by 19.9%!  Even a daycare operator says it’s not worth it to raise a family in Idaho: “Ultimately, when you do the math, and mom is only making X amount, how much of that money is going toward lunches out, and extra clothing, and taxes, and gas to get to and from? You have to look at all of that and see if it’s cost-effective.”-Megan MacCleary, Megan’s Munchkins Preschool, whose income from her daycare operation is so low she qualies for Medicaid (even though daycare rates have gone up Idaho still ranks third lowest for daycare operator/worker pay)

Indiana: Ball State University economist Michael Hicks warned that taxpayers are being raped in the name of saving the corporate retail industry: “We are in the fourth or fifth iteration of government subsidizing new development at the urging of property developers, consultant firms and bond attorneys. Each time a shiny new strip mall is opened, a small-business owner somewhere else is eventually put out of business. The cycle continues. Consultants get rich, local economic developers claim jobs and local taxpayers get struck with empty retail infrastructure they didn’t need, and not enough money to fix the schools…”

Kansas: More proof of Failed State-ism; yet again monthly state tax collections failed to cover state government expenses.  August tax collections were $10-million USD short of what was needed!  Blame unAmerican corporate America: “Individual income taxes beat estimates for the second month of the fiscal year, which is encouraging, but corporate, sale and use tax receipts continue to lag pulling down the overall totals.-Nick Jordan,  Secretary of Revenue

Kentucky: Illinois based HVS Convention, Sports, and Entertainment Consulting says Kentucky experienced a 19.32% hotel tax revenue growth, the biggest growth in the U.S.

Massachusetts: The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority warning of mass layoffs due to being ‘in the hole’ by $100-million USD!  At least 60 MBTA janitors are being laid off, for a start.

Michigan:  Proof of Failed State-ism; Montcalm County Sheriff Department warning deputies of possibly layoffs due to the county being in the financial hole by $1.5-million USD.  County administrators revealed that since 2012 tax collections have fallen behind expenses by an average of $2-million per year!  (if the private sector can’t pay people enough, then people can’t pay taxes)

New Jersey: More proof of Failed State-ism; The city of Paterson shutdown 36 taxpayer funded summer camps, warned of 250 layoffs, forced furlough days for remaining employees, and  intentionally increase police issued traffic tickets to generate cash!  Even with the layoffs, and forcing police to arbitrarily issue 30-thousand (80 per day) additional money generating traffic tickets, city administrators whine that they will still be short $2.1-million USD!  The New York Times revelaed that when Chris Christie became governor he reduced the $30-million in taxes owed by the now dead Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort to just $5-million!  Now we know the reason why Trump went from being a Democrat to being a Republican; bribery!

New Mexico: Cibola County prison shutting down by October, 3-hundred jobs affected!  The prison has been operated by the evil for profit Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) since 1998, CCA refused to say why they’re shutting the prison down.  It might be connected to the fact the federal government’s own study shows “They do not save substantially on costs and … they do not maintain the same level of safety and security.”

New York: The town of Oyster Bay is $700-million USD in debt, 103 employees have been retired early and another 150 will be laid off!    John Venditto, town supervisor for 18 years, warned “Everything is on the table. There will be a proportion between non-exempt employees and exempt employees. No one is safe.”

By the way, former Oyster Bay commissioner Frederick Ippolito had his federal court sentencing delayed. He pled guilty to failing to pay taxes on a $2-million consulting fee he was paid while serving as the town’s planning and development commissioner.

Ohio: According to Crain’s Cleveland Business the Internal Revenue Service has filed federal tax liens against 21 businesses.

South Carolina: Illinois based HVS Convention, Sports, and Entertainment Consulting says South Carolina experienced a negative 3.22% hotel tax revenue ‘growth’, the biggest decline in the U.S.

Washington DC: The Congressional Budget Office says within ten years taxpayer spending on military and civilian government jobs will hit a 53 years low, due to crashing tax revenues and skyrocketing costs of operations (especially due to ObamaCare).  Already the Internal Revenue Service has eliminated 17-thousand tax collecting jobs in the past six years!

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification

JULY 2016 U.S. FEDERAL/STATE/LOCAL GOVERNMENT SHENANIGANS