Quote of the day 05-10-2010

Raising progressive taxes is a better move than budget cuts. It gets money moving through the economy again, jump-starting the economic recovery that is the principal engine of state fiscal health.

via CSMonitor.com.

Wow

Over-taxed? Or not?

You’ve no doubt seen this story:

47% of households owe no tax – and their ranks are growing

Most people think they pay too much to Uncle Sam, but for some people it simply is not true.

I guess it speaks to this headline, then:

Bad News For Dems– 66% Say America Is Overtaxed.

Since I withheld more than I wound up owing, I still paid taxes, right?

I mean, I don’t want to be unpatriotic or unChristian….

Waukesha Carnival 02/08/2009

Welcome to this week’s edition. It’s gettin’ late and I have to work tomorrow, so let’s get to it.

First sad news, Darryl Enriquez at Waukesha FYI tells us about the Waukesha Freeman layoffs. One of those laid off was photographer and Waukesha blogger Byron Houlgrave, who shared the last picture he clicked for the Freeman.

Continuing in Waukesha city, Jeff reviews the fish fry at Michael’s Italian America Restaurant at Five Points Blog.

James Wigderson went to the Waukesha Common Council meeting and shares his thoughts with us at Wigderson Library & Pub.

Spiralling out a little, Linda Richter at Inside New Berlin finds the security cameras in schools unsettling and it’s not just the price tag.

At peterepublic, Pete Fanning drops by to remind us he’s still alive, just very, very very busy.

Kyle Prast at Practically Speaking reminds us that US Rep. Sensenbrenner and state Rep. Leah Vukmir will have several town halls. One is past, two are upcoming.

In posts about state news, Wisconsin Sen. Mary Lazich (chief aide Kevin Fischer?) points out at Conservatively Speaking that the Wisconsin Covenant program could be costly.

In a couple of miscellaneous posts, Curt Otto gives us the question to last week’s answer, or something like that. Any way it’s all over at Maple & Main.

Meanwhile, over at the Spring City Chronicle, Michael Phelps gets the Bonehead of the Week award. Pretty much a unanimous vote, I would say.

Then in posts on national issues, MommaBlogger takes time out to rant over that Florida case of the botched abortion at Homemakers Guide to the Galaxy.

Dan Deibert shows us how fast government can move when they want to, with pictures at The D Spot.

Alex has some thoughts about Republican votes and raises at A Little off Main.

At The Other Side of  My Mouth, Tim Rock has some thoughts on the Republican vote on the stimulus package.

Silent e tells us why Democrats are unpatriotic at silent e speaks.

Cindy Kilkenny has a two-parter over at Fairly Conservative on building our own stimulus package.

Dad29 points out that the American people seem to be understanding the ramifications of the stimulus package.

Whew, that’s it for another long one. As usual, if you have one you liked add the link in the comments below or e-mail me at thoughtfulconservative [at] yahoo [dot] com. Same for posts you’d like to nominate for next week’s carnival. It doesn’t have to be one of your own. Links to our archives and future editions can be found here.

Taxes and spending

The Chief, who I don’t think would mind being called left-of-center, reminds us of something all conservative should know.

[L]et’s make something perfectly clear: any program introduced by a legislator — no matter how well-meaning, how virtuous, how essential to the public good — costs money.

The Chief is pointing at Sen. Mary Lazich’s Silver Alert legislation, which she plans to submit and, frankly, rightly calls it hypocritical. Now perhaps the senator is looking at cutting spending elsewhere to make room for this expense, but with Wisconsin already looking at having a $5 billion deficit, it’s hard to see where this would come from.

But maybe she’s looking elsewhere. In another post Sen. Lazich wrote,

Congress is considering giving grants to states to start their own Silver Alert programs. Another bill to be introduced in Congress this month would make Silver Alert a federally-run program in every state. [Emphasis mine]

Even if a federal program, it will be paid with my taxes. Is a state tax increase bad and a federal increase good?

But as a Stateline.org article notes

Silver Alert has few opponents, although proposals in some states have been rejected because of budget concerns and worries that law enforcers already are overburdened. Some state policymakers also have cautioned that too many alerts could make the public less likely to respond. [Emphasis mine]

Popular, but concerns.

So how much will it cost? I guess we’ll have to wait for the state bureau to look at it.

Should the federal government bail out the states?

From a NYTimes editorial

If Congress and the White House can bail out bankers and insurance companies and possibly the auto industry, they should be able to help state and local governments, too. The aid could be temporary, the way it has been during past recessions. And it should come after cities and states have downsized to the essentials.

The rub comes in defining those “essentials.”

Waukesha Carnival 10-26-2008

Where to begin? How about where we’re all hit–the wallet.

Dad29 exposes the Democrats plans for 401(k)s.

The Asian Badger links to a Wall Street Journal article that shows

that high tax rates on the “producers” cause dis-incentives on those who are the payors of those tax rates. At some point, they either stop producing or, move out of the country.

At Waukesha FYI, Darryl Enriquez notes that a local lady got her letter about the bailout printed in TIME magazine.

Politics are always on the mind. Kyle Prast wonders at Practically Speaking why Powell’s endorsement of Barack Obama matters.

JJ Gravelle muses in his own inimitable way about Colin Powell’s endorsement of Obama at The Daily Scoff.

Alex has a nice poll over at Hobo Springs. Go vote.

Locally, Wiggy gives us a short rant on yard signs at Wigderson’s Library & Pub.

Cindy Kilkenny at Fairly Conservative takes a critical look at Brookfield’s Vision 2035.

Meanwhile, Mayor Larry Nelson continues his steady stream of mayor memos. He’s a busy guy, I guess.

In miscellaneous posts, Bryon Houlgrave has some high school football “hits.”

MommaBlogger wonders what so secret about the 10 secrets of the effortlessly thin. You can read her thoughts at Homemaker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

At Inside New Berlin, Linda Richter informs about a year-round costume company. In New Berlin.

Find a tree? Curt Otto has reported one missing. A replacement is in the works. See Maple & Main for details.

Huckberry Dumbell adds a touch to his Ghost Blogging and Sunday Scan features. Go to Spring City Chronicle to find out.

That’s it for this week. If you see an interesting post, drop the link in a comment and I’ll add it to next week’s carnival.