Huntn
Mar 12, 09:49 AM
They don't come any sexier than an American Corvette
My favorite 1966 Vette:
http://www.precisionmotive.com/img/customer_rides/1966_corvette_pat.jpg
I also liked the 1966 Camaro:
http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQb0szUhB4bZWzKKWaSkuvu-8rjvddX0A84wms28VmIzLjwCENbRw&t=1
Honestly, I'm looking around my room right now and the only things that I think were made in America are books and software...
Pretty much everything was made in Japan or China.
I remember 1965 when made-in-Japan was viewed with derision. Not to imply Japanese made products were shabby, it was mostly prejudice. My first made-in-japan product was a small battery powered transistor radio. Regarding home-made US products, it's been down hill ever since.
My favorite 1966 Vette:
http://www.precisionmotive.com/img/customer_rides/1966_corvette_pat.jpg
I also liked the 1966 Camaro:
http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQb0szUhB4bZWzKKWaSkuvu-8rjvddX0A84wms28VmIzLjwCENbRw&t=1
Honestly, I'm looking around my room right now and the only things that I think were made in America are books and software...
Pretty much everything was made in Japan or China.
I remember 1965 when made-in-Japan was viewed with derision. Not to imply Japanese made products were shabby, it was mostly prejudice. My first made-in-japan product was a small battery powered transistor radio. Regarding home-made US products, it's been down hill ever since.
Eraserhead
Mar 17, 04:51 PM
No, both should just be civil offences.
zap2
May 2, 02:51 PM
Gives us a nice goal to get out of Afghanistan have finished. We got him and destroyed his network ability to launch large attacks. And hopefully but Afghanistan into a position where the moderates will be in control.
Were we ever going to stop terrorism with guns? No, but thats a long term battle we need to be fighting. And its one that starts with leaving Iraq and Afghanistan.
Were we ever going to stop terrorism with guns? No, but thats a long term battle we need to be fighting. And its one that starts with leaving Iraq and Afghanistan.
Waybo
Mar 14, 10:23 PM
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5082/5258900474_266e7d179b_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/69707513@N00/5258900474/)
I agree with fcortese: I really like the picture, but would love it if there was more space to the right, where the horse is looking. Could you crop the left and top a bit? I think that would make it more powerful. IMHO, Rule of Thirds would turn this good shot into a great shot.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5298/5515712207_7aa9475c8f_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/22077805@N07/5515712207/)
I'm still trying to decide if I love it or hate it! It's beautiful, yet ugly ... all at once. I definitely see all 4 elements -- another nice contrast. I think it would have done well in the surreal contest we just had.
I agree with fcortese: I really like the picture, but would love it if there was more space to the right, where the horse is looking. Could you crop the left and top a bit? I think that would make it more powerful. IMHO, Rule of Thirds would turn this good shot into a great shot.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5298/5515712207_7aa9475c8f_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/22077805@N07/5515712207/)
I'm still trying to decide if I love it or hate it! It's beautiful, yet ugly ... all at once. I definitely see all 4 elements -- another nice contrast. I think it would have done well in the surreal contest we just had.
pyrotoaster
Aug 19, 04:04 PM
Bravo, Mud! Bravo! :D
scottishwildcat
Mar 25, 03:28 PM
I dunno what Kodak does with all the patent settlements they win... they won a fortune off Sun Microsystems a decade or so back, too. I wouldn't say they're dying, though, their focus has just moved to document imaging workflow systems and other such exciting things.
bennetsaysargh
Mar 12, 10:23 PM
It's like the 2004 presidential election all over again. How much do you want to bet that more iTunes bottle caps were distributed amongst the blue states?
Fishes,
narco.
haha, i wonder what the breakdown would eventually be :confused:
Fishes,
narco.
haha, i wonder what the breakdown would eventually be :confused:
Squadleader
Apr 8, 05:40 PM
Or just, uh.... not smart?
Trying to kill planned parenthood = less birth control available = more abortions.
That's just common sense. I know they're all about abstinence being the best option but come on!
It's not the only option. Jees. :rolleyes:
How dumb can a party/movement be? Are they just refusing to think more than the one superficially thin layer of preventing Planned Parenthood providing abortions? Is that what they think PP just does?
I'm so confused.
celtic cross tattoo, back of
COOL CROSS TATTOOS PICTURES
and cross tattoos designs
Cross Tattoos Designs
I tattooed a cross to my wrist
Tribal Crosses Tattoo Designs.
Cross Tattoo Style
Not all cross tattoo designs
SANCTI CRUSADERS TATTOO CROSS
celtic cross tattoo designs
Cross Tattoos Designs.
Trying to kill planned parenthood = less birth control available = more abortions.
That's just common sense. I know they're all about abstinence being the best option but come on!
It's not the only option. Jees. :rolleyes:
How dumb can a party/movement be? Are they just refusing to think more than the one superficially thin layer of preventing Planned Parenthood providing abortions? Is that what they think PP just does?
I'm so confused.
gwangung
Sep 25, 11:02 PM
So? Some words like "Podcast" are adopted from popular culture. I still talk about Walkmans, not "Portable Audio Cassette Decks". Imagine how annoying that would be to say every time?
I can understand why they want to protect the iPod name. That is their name, and that is their product. However, they really should leave "Podcast" alone. Having a "Podcast" is like the ultimate insult to everyone like Creative, Microsoft, etc. The name "Podcast" exists not because people want to leech off of the iPod's popularity, but because of the iPods popularity, and how endeared it is by our culture. These "Podcasts" were created to be downloaded onto iPods so that people can listen. In our society, iPod comes to mind first. Nobody was thinking of creating these audiocasts with the Creative Zen or MS Zune in mind. If they end up on a Zune, that's fine, but the thought was to get their content on iPods, which is really quite a compliment to Apple when you think about it.
Apple should really reconsider their actions.
Hm?
This really doesn't make sense.
The word "Podcast" is derived from iPod, of course, but the CONCEPT of podcast is not inherently ipod-related. Because of that, it inherently dilutes the iPod trademark. You could just as easily call it an MP3-cast, and not have people be confused that it's coming from Apple (and the fact that Apple has been continually trying to trademark iPodcast itself for quite some time is another interesting bit of info).
The very fact that you're trying to have it cover Zune, Creative, etc. when it's derived from a specific product shows that Apple HAS to protect its trademark, particularly when another company is trying to profit from that name.
I can understand why they want to protect the iPod name. That is their name, and that is their product. However, they really should leave "Podcast" alone. Having a "Podcast" is like the ultimate insult to everyone like Creative, Microsoft, etc. The name "Podcast" exists not because people want to leech off of the iPod's popularity, but because of the iPods popularity, and how endeared it is by our culture. These "Podcasts" were created to be downloaded onto iPods so that people can listen. In our society, iPod comes to mind first. Nobody was thinking of creating these audiocasts with the Creative Zen or MS Zune in mind. If they end up on a Zune, that's fine, but the thought was to get their content on iPods, which is really quite a compliment to Apple when you think about it.
Apple should really reconsider their actions.
Hm?
This really doesn't make sense.
The word "Podcast" is derived from iPod, of course, but the CONCEPT of podcast is not inherently ipod-related. Because of that, it inherently dilutes the iPod trademark. You could just as easily call it an MP3-cast, and not have people be confused that it's coming from Apple (and the fact that Apple has been continually trying to trademark iPodcast itself for quite some time is another interesting bit of info).
The very fact that you're trying to have it cover Zune, Creative, etc. when it's derived from a specific product shows that Apple HAS to protect its trademark, particularly when another company is trying to profit from that name.
Pants
Sep 15, 11:21 AM
Originally posted by MisterMe
I have not seen those posts, but then I have seen a lot of other bitching and moaning about one thing or another. Point No. 1: Although I don't have access to a 17" iMac, I do have Jaguar installed on my 2000 Firewire PowerBook G3. I don't see any of that choppiness and jerkiness that you mentioned. I would be astonished to find it on a faster machine like the 17" iMac. Point No. 2: Don't take anybody's word for it. Drive down to your nearest Apple retailer. Look at the machines yourself. That should end all arguments.
I have a recent ibook running jaguar - it has had a clean install (twice) and, quite frankly, its annoyingly slow. This is a current mac, running its current os, and its hardly acceptable - running illustrator? expect the beach ball, the same with large word documents. And I still see the beachball with annoying frequency in the finder. I don't care that this isnt the top of the range 3,000 quid machine - it is stupid to only expect acceptable performance in Word on the top of the line machine. No, don't take my word for it, go have a look at a fully loaded i-book
Again, have your actually seen this "choppiness" on that $2000 machine with the brand new OS? Now for the issue of MHz, browse the web sites of the expensive UNIX workstations and servers. Look at the clock speeds of the offerings from IBM, HP, SGI, and Sun. For the most part, you will see that their machines have clock speeds in the sub-GHz range. Yet these are the machines of choice when price is no object and the job must get done. Just think about this: these boards are filled with laments that effectively tell you that you need substaintially higher clock speeds to run a computer game than you need to simulate the gas flow in a jet engine. Don't you think that something is just a bit warped here?
these machines are 64-bit, with floating point performance that widdles all over apples current offerings. The reason they are used is for this feature alone - and yepI would rather run my simulations on a sparc box than a pc, although the cost of a cheap linux box is pushing us down that route. At some point there is a balance between cost and performance. Yes it is odd that I need the fastest box around to run ut2k3 acceptably, and i agree there is something wrong with the way the market is being driven, but I suppose if thats what customers want (and are prepared to pay for), this is what they'll get....
Think. Think. Think. Apple does not "appear" to be purposesly crippling its systems. The entirity of the corporation orbits about the Macintosh. No company would purposely cripple its central product. The fact that Apple is only one of two profitable personal computer manufacturers serve as loud testimony to the contrary. Just because a bunch of idle college students post things on the Internet does not make them so.
never intentionally 'crippled' a machine? what about teh video card on teh ibook?
I have not seen those posts, but then I have seen a lot of other bitching and moaning about one thing or another. Point No. 1: Although I don't have access to a 17" iMac, I do have Jaguar installed on my 2000 Firewire PowerBook G3. I don't see any of that choppiness and jerkiness that you mentioned. I would be astonished to find it on a faster machine like the 17" iMac. Point No. 2: Don't take anybody's word for it. Drive down to your nearest Apple retailer. Look at the machines yourself. That should end all arguments.
I have a recent ibook running jaguar - it has had a clean install (twice) and, quite frankly, its annoyingly slow. This is a current mac, running its current os, and its hardly acceptable - running illustrator? expect the beach ball, the same with large word documents. And I still see the beachball with annoying frequency in the finder. I don't care that this isnt the top of the range 3,000 quid machine - it is stupid to only expect acceptable performance in Word on the top of the line machine. No, don't take my word for it, go have a look at a fully loaded i-book
Again, have your actually seen this "choppiness" on that $2000 machine with the brand new OS? Now for the issue of MHz, browse the web sites of the expensive UNIX workstations and servers. Look at the clock speeds of the offerings from IBM, HP, SGI, and Sun. For the most part, you will see that their machines have clock speeds in the sub-GHz range. Yet these are the machines of choice when price is no object and the job must get done. Just think about this: these boards are filled with laments that effectively tell you that you need substaintially higher clock speeds to run a computer game than you need to simulate the gas flow in a jet engine. Don't you think that something is just a bit warped here?
these machines are 64-bit, with floating point performance that widdles all over apples current offerings. The reason they are used is for this feature alone - and yepI would rather run my simulations on a sparc box than a pc, although the cost of a cheap linux box is pushing us down that route. At some point there is a balance between cost and performance. Yes it is odd that I need the fastest box around to run ut2k3 acceptably, and i agree there is something wrong with the way the market is being driven, but I suppose if thats what customers want (and are prepared to pay for), this is what they'll get....
Think. Think. Think. Apple does not "appear" to be purposesly crippling its systems. The entirity of the corporation orbits about the Macintosh. No company would purposely cripple its central product. The fact that Apple is only one of two profitable personal computer manufacturers serve as loud testimony to the contrary. Just because a bunch of idle college students post things on the Internet does not make them so.
never intentionally 'crippled' a machine? what about teh video card on teh ibook?
devman
Apr 2, 07:18 PM
I have to agree with most here that Pages didn't live up to my expectations. However, I can't agree with you that Word has been perfected. Word is complete nightmare in certain situations. Its non-intuitive and not very user friendly in many cases (especially the windows version!). I do prefer it to Pages, but its by no means the best that can be done.
Keynote on the other hand is fantastic, and considerably easier to use and prettier than Powerpoint.
Great post and very well said. Being forced to use Word to write a technical book several years ago was one of the worst experiences of my life.
Anyway, back to Apple, Mellel is a very good word processor for OS X. Interestingly though, I find myself using Pages more and more often.
Keynote on the other hand is fantastic, and considerably easier to use and prettier than Powerpoint.
Great post and very well said. Being forced to use Word to write a technical book several years ago was one of the worst experiences of my life.
Anyway, back to Apple, Mellel is a very good word processor for OS X. Interestingly though, I find myself using Pages more and more often.
Repo
Apr 30, 11:34 AM
3GB download. It's times like this I wish I lived in Hong Kong.
Susurs
Apr 20, 11:03 AM
I third that...Intel integrated 'thing' will never be in a product I buy (If it's the only GPU in mac and nothing else is there like with MacBook Pro where you can switch between graphics 'device'). :)
DakotaGuy
Apr 8, 09:30 AM
That's so disgusting.
Why? Everyone needs to be taking cuts including PPH. I am a Democrat, however I know if it were not for the Republicans controlling the House right now the talk would be of increasing spending instead of cutting spending.
I think everyone can agree that we need to get spending under control and every department and entitlement program should be looked at and take cuts if necessary. What I would really like to see is an across the board 10% cut if I had it my way. That won't get rid of the deficit, but it would help.
Why? Everyone needs to be taking cuts including PPH. I am a Democrat, however I know if it were not for the Republicans controlling the House right now the talk would be of increasing spending instead of cutting spending.
I think everyone can agree that we need to get spending under control and every department and entitlement program should be looked at and take cuts if necessary. What I would really like to see is an across the board 10% cut if I had it my way. That won't get rid of the deficit, but it would help.
trrosen
Apr 17, 04:20 AM
They need to post EVERY SINGLE REQUIREMENT in plain language and say explicitly which of the published policies the app did not meet and give an explanation as to why.
They do and they did. But the fact is the line between ridicule and a humorous commentary is pretty fuzzy. Expecting a first tier employee to get it right 100% of the time while examining 100 other apps is silly. In fact sometimes the only difference is the reputation of the person making the statement. Fior does push the boundaries in his cartoons.
Also, They should not be able to deny developers access to certain APIs in order to keep their own products more competitive. (pinch to expand for that photo app that got rejected, in-app brightness control, etc.)
If Apple can't compete on their own programming and design merits, then they shouldn't be releasing applications in the store. Your a moron. (see now thats ridicule) Limiting access to APIs is part of Apple's design merit. If you allow people to implement thing outside of approved APIs theres no point in having them. APIs are not created as shortcuts for developers they exist to insure compatibility, reliability and consistency. Without then it would all be DOS. If you don't like the rules just write for a platform that doesn't have any...opps sorry there aren't any. The whole point of a platform and a SDK is to give a consistent set of features and limitations thats why every environment limits some API and the usage of others. Even Android has rules, although few outside Google know them as Google has far less transparency then Apple.
PS you do realize that Apple's photo app is free and comes with the iPad right. That sort of makes they theory of them doing it to prevent competition silly doesn't it.
They do and they did. But the fact is the line between ridicule and a humorous commentary is pretty fuzzy. Expecting a first tier employee to get it right 100% of the time while examining 100 other apps is silly. In fact sometimes the only difference is the reputation of the person making the statement. Fior does push the boundaries in his cartoons.
Also, They should not be able to deny developers access to certain APIs in order to keep their own products more competitive. (pinch to expand for that photo app that got rejected, in-app brightness control, etc.)
If Apple can't compete on their own programming and design merits, then they shouldn't be releasing applications in the store. Your a moron. (see now thats ridicule) Limiting access to APIs is part of Apple's design merit. If you allow people to implement thing outside of approved APIs theres no point in having them. APIs are not created as shortcuts for developers they exist to insure compatibility, reliability and consistency. Without then it would all be DOS. If you don't like the rules just write for a platform that doesn't have any...opps sorry there aren't any. The whole point of a platform and a SDK is to give a consistent set of features and limitations thats why every environment limits some API and the usage of others. Even Android has rules, although few outside Google know them as Google has far less transparency then Apple.
PS you do realize that Apple's photo app is free and comes with the iPad right. That sort of makes they theory of them doing it to prevent competition silly doesn't it.
justjohn025
Mar 23, 02:36 PM
Why does every headline have to be a question? look at the past three headlines. It's so annoying. Rephrase the headline.
mdelvecchio
Mar 23, 04:21 PM
Why don't they just use existing standards? RTSP, H.264/MPEG4 video and bonjour. There. No licensing required.
But no.
Apple pulls the "standards compliant" flag out of their asses only when it suits them. Boo.
if it was that simple, somebody else would be doing it. it isnt, and they arent.
But no.
Apple pulls the "standards compliant" flag out of their asses only when it suits them. Boo.
if it was that simple, somebody else would be doing it. it isnt, and they arent.
codo
Oct 26, 02:36 PM
Who the hell wants this? This space is already filled.
Port Audition to the Mac already - I've been using it for years, and its literally one of two things i cant stick on my MacBook. (Editing in Parallels is foul, and Boot Camp is a waste of space on a 120 gig hard drive for a few applications.)
Port Audition to the Mac already - I've been using it for years, and its literally one of two things i cant stick on my MacBook. (Editing in Parallels is foul, and Boot Camp is a waste of space on a 120 gig hard drive for a few applications.)
vincenz
Apr 6, 09:48 PM
He's so right. I can't imagine how much of the older generation uses the Internet now because of the iPad.
epictempo
Apr 24, 01:07 AM
Sd card slot and an 8 hour battery life (videos) will have me ditching this iPad2 quicker than the flash. :D intended.
djltoronto
Jan 7, 01:36 PM
There needs to be a way to manually sync contacts, as not all my contacts in my phonebook have the same name as Facebook (i save them as nick names, family names etc).
:apple: KrayzieKray :apple:
ya... that would be nice..
But.. FYI.. even if the names don't match, as long as the contacts have email address in both the phone and FB - it will sync the.
Several of my contacts did sync, even though the names didn't match (but the email address's did.
:apple: KrayzieKray :apple:
ya... that would be nice..
But.. FYI.. even if the names don't match, as long as the contacts have email address in both the phone and FB - it will sync the.
Several of my contacts did sync, even though the names didn't match (but the email address's did.
Thomas Veil
Apr 3, 11:58 AM
States broke? Maybe they cut taxes too much (http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/03/28/111161/states-broke-maybe-they-cut-taxes.html#storylink=omni_popular)
WASHINGTON — In his new budget proposal, Ohio Republican Gov. John Kasich calls for extending a generous 21 percent cut in state income taxes. The measure was originally part of a sweeping 2005 tax overhaul that abolished the state corporate income tax and phased out a business property tax.
The tax cuts were supposed to stimulate Ohio's economy and create jobs. But that never happened once the economy tanked. Instead, the changes ended up costing Ohio more than $2 billion a year in lost tax revenue; money that would go a long way toward closing the state's $8 billion budget gap for fiscal year 2012.
"At least half of our current budget problem is a direct result of the tax changes we made in 2005. A lot of people don't want to hear that, but that's the reality. Much of our pain is self-inflicted," said Zach Schiller, research director at Policy Matters Ohio, a liberal government-research group in Cleveland.
Schiller's lament is by no means unique. Across the country, taxpayers jarred by cuts to government jobs and services are reassessing the risks and costs of a variety of tax reductions, exemptions and credits, and the ideology that drives them. States cut taxes in hopes of spurring economic growth, but in state after state, it hasn't worked...
In Texas, which faces a $27 billion budget deficit over the next two years, about one-third of the shortage stems from a 2006 property tax reduction that was linked to an underperforming business tax.
In Louisiana, lawmakers essentially passed the largest tax cut in state history by rolling back an income-tax hike for high earners in 2007 and again in 2008.
Without those tax reductions, Louisiana wouldn't have had a budget deficit in fiscal year the 2011 deficit would've been 50 percent less and the 2012 deficit of $1.6 billion would be reduced by about one-third, said Edward Ashworth, the director of the Louisiana Budget Project, a watchdog group.
These and similar budget problems nationwide are symptoms of a larger condition, said Timothy J. Bartik, senior economist at the Upjohn Institute for Employment Research in Kalamazoo, Mich.
"If state and local taxes were at the same percentage of state personal income as they were 40 years ago, you wouldn't have all these budgetary problems," Bartik said.
Before California's Proposition 13 triggered a nationwide tax-cut revolt in the late 1970s, state and local taxes accounted for nearly 13 percent of personal income in 1972, Bartik said. By it was 11 percent.
State corporate income taxes have fallen as well. Once nearly 10 percent of all state tax revenue in the late '70s, they accounted for only 5.4 percent in 2010.
"It's a dying tax, killed off by thousands of credits, deductions, abatements and incentive packages," according to 2010 congressional testimony by Joseph Henchman, the director of state projects at the Tax Foundation, a conservative tax-research center.
Even now, as states struggle to provide basic services and ponder job cuts that threaten their economic recovery, at least seven governors in states with budget deficits have called for or enacted large tax reductions, mainly for businesses.
Five are newly elected Republicans in Florida, Maine, Michigan, New Jersey and Wisconsin. The others are Republican Jan Brewer of Arizona and Democrat Beverly Perdue of North Carolina.
Their willingness to forgo needed tax revenue is hard to fathom, as states face a collective $125 billion budget shortfall for the coming fiscal year, said Jon Shure, the deputy director of the State Fiscal Project at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a respected liberal research institute in Washington.
"To be cutting taxes when you're short of revenue is like saying you could run faster if you cut off your foot," Shure said.
"States have suffered an unprecedented collapse in revenue, and they are at the bottom of a deep hole looking up, and these governors are saying, 'You need a ladder to climb out, but I'm going to give you a shovel instead, so you can dig the hole deeper.' "
...After the nation recovered from the 1990-91 recession, 43 states made sizable tax cuts from 1994 to 2001 as the economy surged. Twenty-eight states, in fact, reduced their unemployment insurance payroll taxes after 1995.
But states that cut taxes the most ended up with the largest budget shortfalls and higher job losses when the economy slowed again in according to research by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.I think this is roughly as surprising as Charlie Sheen's tour bombing.
Of course, it would fall to one of the smaller media companies to report that not everything is about cutting expenses, that maybe it's a revenue problem as well, if not more so.
Whether you believe that tax cuts are part of a plan to attack public workers and privatize state functions, or just an unrealistic ideological belief, the fact is if you're not talking about right-sizing your state's taxation level, you're not serious about reducing the deficit.
WASHINGTON — In his new budget proposal, Ohio Republican Gov. John Kasich calls for extending a generous 21 percent cut in state income taxes. The measure was originally part of a sweeping 2005 tax overhaul that abolished the state corporate income tax and phased out a business property tax.
The tax cuts were supposed to stimulate Ohio's economy and create jobs. But that never happened once the economy tanked. Instead, the changes ended up costing Ohio more than $2 billion a year in lost tax revenue; money that would go a long way toward closing the state's $8 billion budget gap for fiscal year 2012.
"At least half of our current budget problem is a direct result of the tax changes we made in 2005. A lot of people don't want to hear that, but that's the reality. Much of our pain is self-inflicted," said Zach Schiller, research director at Policy Matters Ohio, a liberal government-research group in Cleveland.
Schiller's lament is by no means unique. Across the country, taxpayers jarred by cuts to government jobs and services are reassessing the risks and costs of a variety of tax reductions, exemptions and credits, and the ideology that drives them. States cut taxes in hopes of spurring economic growth, but in state after state, it hasn't worked...
In Texas, which faces a $27 billion budget deficit over the next two years, about one-third of the shortage stems from a 2006 property tax reduction that was linked to an underperforming business tax.
In Louisiana, lawmakers essentially passed the largest tax cut in state history by rolling back an income-tax hike for high earners in 2007 and again in 2008.
Without those tax reductions, Louisiana wouldn't have had a budget deficit in fiscal year the 2011 deficit would've been 50 percent less and the 2012 deficit of $1.6 billion would be reduced by about one-third, said Edward Ashworth, the director of the Louisiana Budget Project, a watchdog group.
These and similar budget problems nationwide are symptoms of a larger condition, said Timothy J. Bartik, senior economist at the Upjohn Institute for Employment Research in Kalamazoo, Mich.
"If state and local taxes were at the same percentage of state personal income as they were 40 years ago, you wouldn't have all these budgetary problems," Bartik said.
Before California's Proposition 13 triggered a nationwide tax-cut revolt in the late 1970s, state and local taxes accounted for nearly 13 percent of personal income in 1972, Bartik said. By it was 11 percent.
State corporate income taxes have fallen as well. Once nearly 10 percent of all state tax revenue in the late '70s, they accounted for only 5.4 percent in 2010.
"It's a dying tax, killed off by thousands of credits, deductions, abatements and incentive packages," according to 2010 congressional testimony by Joseph Henchman, the director of state projects at the Tax Foundation, a conservative tax-research center.
Even now, as states struggle to provide basic services and ponder job cuts that threaten their economic recovery, at least seven governors in states with budget deficits have called for or enacted large tax reductions, mainly for businesses.
Five are newly elected Republicans in Florida, Maine, Michigan, New Jersey and Wisconsin. The others are Republican Jan Brewer of Arizona and Democrat Beverly Perdue of North Carolina.
Their willingness to forgo needed tax revenue is hard to fathom, as states face a collective $125 billion budget shortfall for the coming fiscal year, said Jon Shure, the deputy director of the State Fiscal Project at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a respected liberal research institute in Washington.
"To be cutting taxes when you're short of revenue is like saying you could run faster if you cut off your foot," Shure said.
"States have suffered an unprecedented collapse in revenue, and they are at the bottom of a deep hole looking up, and these governors are saying, 'You need a ladder to climb out, but I'm going to give you a shovel instead, so you can dig the hole deeper.' "
...After the nation recovered from the 1990-91 recession, 43 states made sizable tax cuts from 1994 to 2001 as the economy surged. Twenty-eight states, in fact, reduced their unemployment insurance payroll taxes after 1995.
But states that cut taxes the most ended up with the largest budget shortfalls and higher job losses when the economy slowed again in according to research by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.I think this is roughly as surprising as Charlie Sheen's tour bombing.
Of course, it would fall to one of the smaller media companies to report that not everything is about cutting expenses, that maybe it's a revenue problem as well, if not more so.
Whether you believe that tax cuts are part of a plan to attack public workers and privatize state functions, or just an unrealistic ideological belief, the fact is if you're not talking about right-sizing your state's taxation level, you're not serious about reducing the deficit.
rhett7660
Apr 8, 08:55 AM
The fact that congress cannot construct a budget is simply a failure of them to perform their duties. Part of the reason is that the motivation to avoid a shutdown isn't great enough, thus I propose a two-fold solution to motivate them a little
1) Congress persons do not get paid during the shutdown. Perhaps if they were to not get paid they would be more motivated.
2) In the event of a shutdown all members of congress immediately become ineligible to run for re-election for their current position and ineligible to run in any other federal election. Since a shutdown means they've failed, they shouldn't be allowed to continue.
I would need to find a cite, but this was actually brought up and was put to vote in one of the houses. Of course it was struck down. I want to say this happened around the last time the government shut down under Clinton.
This has also happened at the state level (here in California anyway) and of course they were still getting paid while they, the Government, continued to work on something they should have done. Amazing, if you or I don't get the job done, we are out of a job.
I agree with another poster. Vote of no confidence on all and have a special election to get them all out of office. Ughhh. Very frustrated right now.
1) Congress persons do not get paid during the shutdown. Perhaps if they were to not get paid they would be more motivated.
2) In the event of a shutdown all members of congress immediately become ineligible to run for re-election for their current position and ineligible to run in any other federal election. Since a shutdown means they've failed, they shouldn't be allowed to continue.
I would need to find a cite, but this was actually brought up and was put to vote in one of the houses. Of course it was struck down. I want to say this happened around the last time the government shut down under Clinton.
This has also happened at the state level (here in California anyway) and of course they were still getting paid while they, the Government, continued to work on something they should have done. Amazing, if you or I don't get the job done, we are out of a job.
I agree with another poster. Vote of no confidence on all and have a special election to get them all out of office. Ughhh. Very frustrated right now.
KnightWRX
Mar 26, 08:30 PM
Yes - all they've decided to do is REVIEW it. They've overturned nothing. And the overturn rates are very low.
It's still on, no matter what you try to spin it as. A review is a review. This is the same as when an appeals court decides to hear a case, they haven't overturned anything until they've overturned something. But they can't overturn something without first REVIEWing it. ;)
It's still on, no matter what you try to spin it as. A review is a review. This is the same as when an appeals court decides to hear a case, they haven't overturned anything until they've overturned something. But they can't overturn something without first REVIEWing it. ;)
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