Make some tough decisions
The Winston-Salem City Council's finance committee has proposed a lower property tax increase (3.4 percent instead of almost 9 percent). That's progress. But what happens next year after the 2013 property revaluation, which should lower property values, if accurately done? That will reduce property tax revenue unless the tax rate is drastically increased, or other sources of revenue are found.
Why not charge the nonprofit hospitals an annual fee for the fire and police services the city provides that have been costing city taxpayers $1 million per year? Fees are not taxes, according to government's definition. This would help alleviate the shortfall until this tax-exempt status could be changed in the N.C. legislature. The percentage of non-taxable "nonprofit" property has been growing for decades, requiring a larger percentage of revenue to be extracted from residential-property owners. This cannot continue if the city is to avoid a tax revolt.
In this economy, the city council needs to make some tough decisions like Gov. Scott Walker did in Wisconsin, and adopt a budget with no tax increase, like we hope our Forsyth County commissioners are doing. Remember, you can't increase egg production (tax revenue) by strangling the chicken (taxpayers).
BRUCE A. GUSTAFSON
Winston-Salem
Teaching
Teaching, like preaching, is a calling. It is not a career entered lightly, or a job just for something to do. Having had children graduate from and currently attending Winston-Salem schools, and having proctored at Kennedy High School, I have seen firsthand the dedicated, caring professionals who guide our children every day. Therefore, I am always amazed that politicians and others with agendas continue to degrade these amazing leaders.
Our society has saddled them with great responsibility, yet stripped them of all authority. So how are we rewarding them? By passing laws to destroy their union? Then who speaks up for our teachers?
Demanding better and better test results, yet cutting resources at every opportunity? Creating criteria for measuring success when each victory is subjective, yet making a difference in a child's life? Why do we as a society insist on demeaning the very people who care the most for our youth?
Are there bad teachers? Yes, of course, but there are bad politicians, bad policemen, bad businessmen and the list goes on.
We can do better by our teachers; we can give them the respect they deserve, we can give them the pay they deserve.
JOHN S. EDER
Winston-Salem
Just fine?
In an incomprehensible statement, President Obama says that the private sector of the economy is doing "just fine." Adjusted for the change in the "participation rate" among the Black/African-American segment of the population, unemployment stands at 17.1 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
I wonder how many of them agree with Obama's assessment.
JOHN F. HAGEMAN
Winston-Salem
Rules
Rules for telling an effective lie: make it big, make it simple, tell it often. Hence, government is bad and President Obama is bad — over and over and over.
Will Americans buy it? For our country's future, let's hope not.
BILLY C. MEADOWS
Winston-Salem
One of our finest
If all of our nation's banks and other financial institutions had a leader the caliber of John Medlin, there would have been no banking crisis and no weakened economy.
Our community, our state and our country has lost one of their finest leaders ("Banking icon John Medlin Jr. dies," June 8).
EDWARD L. POWELL
Winston-Salem
Re LTE #1: Why not ALSO revoke tax-exempt status to churches that are used as voting sites, or that preach politics at the pulpit? This would increase tax revenue.
ReplyDeleteOn average, people in the U.S. think that 25% of the population is gay or lesbian. While the real figure is around 3.5%.
ReplyDeleteWow! That tells me that the few gay and lesbians that are out there must be causing quite a ruckus. Or because of the Jerry Sandusky case. That's my take on why the percentage is so high.
There is little doubt that the gay and lesbian population has become increasingly emboldened by recent events. As such, their 'in-your-face' tactics have increased. With gay and lesbians demanding that all Americans accept their lifestyle.
Although there are no known statistics on what percentage of Americans find gay and lesbian behavior (both sexual and other) utterly disgusting, there is new evidence that's on the rise based on the above figures.
6 in 10 said that Obama's new stance on gay marriage would make no difference in their vote in the upcoming election, but 28% said it would.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/147824/Adults-Estimate-Americans-Gay-Lesbian.aspx
Almost all of the politicians who expound on the evils of government either have government jobs, or are fighting like hell to get one.
ReplyDeleteKinda tells you something.
"I am in politics because of the conflict between good and evil, and I believe that in the end good will triumph."
DeleteMargaret Thatcher
Yeah, right!
LTE #1 – Tax whiner.
ReplyDeleteAgree on fees for hospitals…churches should also be taxed.
LTE #2 – My friends who are teachers take one of three approaches to their union. Some say it helps them, some say it doesn’t and some are barely aware that there is a union.
In general, since the all-out war on unions began in Reagan days, middle class incomes have taken a beating. In 1980, the median annual income in the US was about $37,000. Today, it is about $55,000. That sounds pretty good until you add inflation to the equation. Just to stay even, a middle class worker would need over $96,000/year.
During that same period, the income of the top 1% rose from 9% of all income to 24%. Where did that money come from? Read the above paragraph again.
LTE #3 – This is the same kind of bullshit that we hear about the Obama administration being spendthrifts. Just like Dr. Goebbels, keep telling the lie.
Actually, the private sector is doing quite well. Last year, corporate profits were 10% of the US economy, a record. In Reagan’s last year they amounted to only 5%. And the private sector has added 4.3 million jobs since 2009. The reason that they haven’t added more is that many of them are sitting on huge surpluses because of the gridlock in Washington.
Our businesses are certainly booming, but we don’t sit on surpluses…we have hired 5 people this year, increasing our work force by 12.5%.
It is the public sector that is hurting, because tax revenues are at an all-time low. At this point in his first administration, W. had increased government employment by 3.7%. President Obama has watched government employment shrink by 600,000 jobs. That is not his doing…it is the doing of Congress and state and municipal legislative bodies who are starving for revenue.
According to BLS, the employment level (seasonally adjusted) reached it's low point in December 2009 at 137,968,000. The May 2012 number is 142,287,000. That's where the 4.3 million figure comes from.
DeleteWhen Obama took office, the employment level was 142,187,000. That means that since Obama took office we've added just 100,000 jobs. In the same time frame we've added 800,000 people to the labor pool.
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More liberal manipulation of statistics.
You gotta love our resident NW. He keeps trying!
It would appear that I missed a couple of LTEs.
DeleteI agree with Ed Powell, who I know, concerning John Medlin. He was widely known as the best banker in the world during his time at Wachovia, yet he was one of the most modest people I have known. It is a shame what others did to the institution that he helped build.
The last time I saw him he was driving down Fourth Street puffing away at his usual cigarette. A great man...we will always miss him.
I won't insult rocks by saying that Buck boy is as dumb as a...
DeleteWhen President Obama came to office, the economy was in free fall, thanks to the policies of Reagan, Bush I, Clinton and, most of all, Bush II. That plunge did not end until early in 2010.
4.3 private sector jobs have been added during the recovery. Manipulate all the figures you want, dunce, that is a fact.
4.3 million, of course...
DeleteWonder if Forsyth Tech has any remedial typing courses...
Got it...
DeleteOST 130 Comprehensive Keyboarding
Already signed up...anything you need, FTCC has it. I may go on to a PhD in keyboarding.
One of President Obama's former Harvard professors is calling for the president's defeat in November, releasing a scathing video in which he accuses the president of abandoning America's workers while pushing a policy of "food stamps."
Delete__________
Oh dear! Even his former friends have figured out Obama has been a failure.
As always, the dunce soldiers on, having no idea what he is talking about. He ought to watch the video before he runs off at the mouth.
DeleteDr. Roberto Unger has stated that President Obama has never been his friend.
And if you do a little checking around, you will find that Dr. Unger is an effing socialist.
Put on your dunce cap and go stand in the corner until recess.
Buck boy is always reporting irrelevant matters to us, but since he “no longer reads the extreme liberal red communist left wing Journal”, he probably missed this mornings front page, which is chock full of Buck-related news.
ReplyDelete1. Rielle Hunter’s new book is out, so Buck boy can indulge his lurid taste by reading all the dirt. Oops, forgot, he doesn’t really read very well…ah so, his minder can read it to him.
2. The state mental health bill has passed the house and should pass the senate, so there will be funds to pay for his treatment.
3. Even as the national crime rate continued to drop…I know that doesn’t make sense what with those billions of illegal Mexicans raping and pillaging night and day…the W-S city crime rate skyrocketed last year by a whopping 4%. This is due mostly to “emboldened” gays running wild in the streets. I saw some just yesterday and ran for my life…lucky to get away.
The number of murders increased by three, all committed by banging bucks in public toilets. I’d advise people to stick to their own bathrooms.
Forgot the most important front page piece.
DeleteThe Phillips Building is almost ready to become the new home of the sheriff's department. But they will occupy only two floors for the time being. There is talk of using some of the empty space to expand our existing high rise luxury $52 million jail. I guess they don't have enough people locked up already.
But I heard a rumor that on top of the building they will build a 100 foot high chain link fence where they can put any gay people who get arrested.
This is great news because Buck boy can now fulfill his lifelong dream of working for the sheriff. They will be administering a "gay test" to every arrestee. Buck boy is a shoo-in for the job, because there are no requirements except being obsessed with gay people. Nobody else will apply.
Good afternoon folks!
ReplyDeleteLTE 1: I don't understand why people want to compare city budgets to state budgets or household budgets to the nation's budget, when they aren't comparable in the least. Also, by definition, where is the tax revenue to come from except from taxpayers? One thing Mr. Gustafson suggests that does make sense is to broaden the definition of taxpayers so that it starts to include non-profits who own major real estate in the city and county.
LTE 2: Excellent thoughts from Mr. Eder.
LTE 3: The private sector is extremely broad, so I'm not sure it's valid to make a sweeping general opinion about its economic state. Parts of the private sector are doing extremely well, some parts are doing ok, and some are still struggling. Businesses have reported record profits, Ferrari sales were at an all-time high last year, yet some have been out of work for 2 years. It just depends on your level of education, type of occupation and individual circumstance.
LTE 4: There will be hundreds of millions spent over the next 4 1/2 months to emphasize Obama - bad; Romney - bad to make us all sick of it. I'm already sick of it.
LTE 5: Mr. Medlin was indeed one of the finest. Could the RE bubble and subsquent crash have been averted if all bankers had Mr. Medlin's wisdom? Greed is awfully difficult to keep under control. Certainly, some of the poor purchases made, such as the western mortgage companies which were already feeling the effects of the end of the RE bubble, would have not been done. Wachovia would still be here if it wasn't for its ill-conceived mortgage company purchase.
I think that one of the biggest mistakes that Wachovia made was its move to Charlotte. When it comes to banking Charlotte is like Dodge City once was, full of cowboys practicing their fast draw...witness Bank of America's mess and others.
DeleteJohn Medlin's greatest strength was his deliberate approach to everything...before he made any move, everything was carefully investigated. So he was never the first to do anything, but he was always the best when he did.
Don't worry about it. If Bank of America gets in trouble, Obama will bail it out.
Delete"One thing Mr. Gustafson suggests that does make sense is to broaden the definition of taxpayers so that it starts to include non-profits who own major real estate in the city and county."
DeleteDotnet
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Spoken like a true gay activist out for revenge on Christian institutions.
Amazing how a serious discussion can be going on and then the village dunce pops in with his mindless babble.
DeleteBTW, it was Duh, duh, duh doubleyou who bailed out the banks.
You need to take some reading comprehension classes over at Forsyth Tech, where you obviously teach-"How to be a liberal nitwit' and 'How to make a fool of yourself in 500 words or less'.
DeleteRoger Clemens found not guilty of perjury.
ReplyDeleteMark Fuhrman was found guilty of perjery. I guess Zimmerman's wife is next. Our justice system has crumbled.
Anyone who can translate the above comment into something that makes sense wins the Grand Babble Award with Crossed Palms, presented by Miss Winston-Salem, 1960.
DeleteOh, for christ's sake, somebody can do this. All it takes to unravel this convoluted statement is reading what passes for a mind.
DeleteDid I mention that the palms are gold, and that she is still a knockout?
People who take anabolic steroids are bad.
DeleteRacist cops and wannabe mall cops are the true victims of society, as are morons who use the word $250 in code (on a prison phone line) to mean $250,000.
Met you friend at the NC room (I assume he's the guy...someone told me he's a genius re: Winston history). Didn't get to talk much but he seemed an interesting fellow. I'll have to pick his brain re: Madge Roberts.
Really? You met my friend? Extraordinary! How did that happen?
DeleteYou can be sure that he is, indeed, the expert on local history, although sometimes he speculates a bit too much for my pitiful academic soul. But his stories are always better than mine. You have read a few of them here as transmitted by me. He has turned several of us into avid local history nuts.
As to Madge, unfortunately, neither of us was right here when the case broke. I was teaching in Chicago and he was in grad school at UNC-G. But as it turns out, one of Madge's girls was in grad school there at the same time and he knew her well...I think their carrells were next to each other in the UNC-G library.
When things started coming apart, she set up her own solo business, often operating out of the Howard Johnson's at the Lee Street exit in Greensboro on I-40.
If you see him again, ask him about me. That will get him going.
Will do. I'm volunteering in the archives there. My boss told me he knew everything about NC history, so I put 2 & 2 together.
DeleteAha, so you are going to be seeing him often...I assume you are working with his colleague Melodie, who I have not met, but hear a lot about from him. As they used to say in the '40s, she is a crackerjack. He really loves working with her.
DeleteThis does not mean, however, that you have won the Grand Babble Award with Crossed Palms.
1. I agree that athletes who use steroids are simply cheaters. But recent discoveries in the field show that carefully controlled dosages of steroids can improve the appearance of us older folks, which has turned out to be true for a couple of my female friends. They're not quite to the teen look yet, but when I go out with them I feel like people are labeling me as a cradle robber.
Since our society puts such a high value on youth and beauty, we vain oldsters are mightily tempted. And there do not seem to be any negative affects from such low dosages.
2. I agree that racist cops and mall wannabes are victims, just as way too many boys are. They are all getting the wrong signals from a society obsessed with sports, especially the NFL and all the macho violence that goes with it.
When I was a kid, my role models were people like Ernie Shore, a former major league pitcher, Babe Ruth's roommate, who served as sheriff of Forsyth County for 36 years and was a wonderful human being. And Ab Alexander, another local sports star, recently retired as chief judge of the Superior Court.
I feel sorry for today's kids who are left with Roger Clemens and Mark McGuire and Barry Bonds and Michael Vick.
3. And yes, the poor little fools, the Zimmermans who were stupid enough to think that they could fool a bunch of cops with their dumbass "code". On any given day there are around 600 people sitting in our local jail who are charged, but not convicted, with mostly simple possession of illegal drugs. They are there because they cannot make bail. Maybe they should have lied to the magistrate about their financial resources.
Unfortunately for you, Buck boy's comment remains an enigma to me, mostly because I just don't want to be bothered to figure it out. So no award, yet.