Dear COOK COUNTY NEWS MEDIA
Need your help!! Please publish and broadcast to our community
AARP/MN estimates that there are 64,000 Minnesotan's who are eligible
to claim the Stimulus payment from the Federal government and have
not yet done so.
Please, if you know someone, who is retired or is living on a limited income,
and for this reason does not normally file a Federal Tax return,
have them contact Harriet Walsh (387-1367) or Chuck Flickinger (475-2776)
so that we may help you with this matter -
Many people who do not earn enough income to file and pay taxes think
they do NOT qualify
for the Stimulus payment, however
* BUT all you need to qualify is $3000 of earned income, OR,
* $3000 of social security, disability, SSI, or
Veteran benefits to qualify
Thank you all for your help
I am Chuck Flickinger
187 Whippoorwill Lane
Hovland MN 55606
Showing posts with label taxes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label taxes. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
Monday, June 02, 2008
Press gives free full-page ads to Lutsen Mountain owners
Both the Star and the News Herald have strict policies about word limits on their editorial pages. Lots of just plain folks as well as elected officials have gotten the brush-off when they attempted to exceed the limits, maybe because they were writing about an issue too complex to cover in 400 words.
Not so the Poplar River Management Board, that thinly veiled cover for the owners of Lutsen Mountain who want a North Shore Aspen of megadevelopment to add to the already overtaxed Poplar River...
No, both papers gave these folks a full page, right a full page, presumably without charging for the advertising that their devious spin on the facts amounted to.
Corporate owners don't deserve to get public support, period. And when they are part of the problem they darned well ought to pay for the solution, and not pass it on to the hapless residents who can so ill afford to pay more taxes.
True
Not so the Poplar River Management Board, that thinly veiled cover for the owners of Lutsen Mountain who want a North Shore Aspen of megadevelopment to add to the already overtaxed Poplar River...
No, both papers gave these folks a full page, right a full page, presumably without charging for the advertising that their devious spin on the facts amounted to.
Corporate owners don't deserve to get public support, period. And when they are part of the problem they darned well ought to pay for the solution, and not pass it on to the hapless residents who can so ill afford to pay more taxes.
True
Monday, March 31, 2008
Here's a pretty mess!
Reprise: Developer mania once seen in downtown Grand Marais is alive and well on Lutsen Mountain. True is reminded of the neocon power domination philosophy so eloquently stated by Karl Rove (or was it Darth Cheney?): You just push and push and keep pushing until you get stopped.
So it is on Lutsen Mountain. The rich owners who here shall remain nameless wish to turn the moutain into an Aspen-like city of huge buildings (55 plus feet high) and infrastructure paid for by the government (as in "public-private partnership" meaning public subsidies of private enterprise) and utterly destructive of the moutain's steep-slope land with its limited soil on bedrock, and the Poplar River watershed that supports all life within its domain.
The nameless management has shamelessly advocated for a new one-percent sales tax that will like the proverbial straw break the backs of us poor folks already suffering from huge new costs for food, energy, gas and health care.
Says Leroy Halberg, water and septic inspector for Cook County, "No one is lookiing at the overall picture, the cumulative effect of development on the watershed."
A recent letter was sent to the Lutsen town board from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and the Minnesota Department of Health. In part this letter read, "We are starting to question whether the area can sustain such increased pressure on its water resources without impacts to human health and the environment. Currently there are 14 noncommunity wasterwater treatment systems in the area and all of this water is obtained from aquifers that have limited capabilities for providing drinking water."
In case y'all haven't noticed, neocons in the years since Reagan have increasingly de-clawed regulation; all the more remarkable that two Minnesota regulatory agencies have the courage to send a letter like this to challenge the corporate-owner dominated Poplar River Management Board.
There will be public meetings between the PRMB and the county coming up to consider wastewater treatment and drinking water safety.
Folks, turn out! Or failing that, write letters or emails or call your West End Commissioner Bruce Martinson.
Do you think Lutsen Mountain makes a profit from its disregard of the Poplar watershed? Does the Pope shit in the woods?
So it is on Lutsen Mountain. The rich owners who here shall remain nameless wish to turn the moutain into an Aspen-like city of huge buildings (55 plus feet high) and infrastructure paid for by the government (as in "public-private partnership" meaning public subsidies of private enterprise) and utterly destructive of the moutain's steep-slope land with its limited soil on bedrock, and the Poplar River watershed that supports all life within its domain.
The nameless management has shamelessly advocated for a new one-percent sales tax that will like the proverbial straw break the backs of us poor folks already suffering from huge new costs for food, energy, gas and health care.
Says Leroy Halberg, water and septic inspector for Cook County, "No one is lookiing at the overall picture, the cumulative effect of development on the watershed."
A recent letter was sent to the Lutsen town board from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and the Minnesota Department of Health. In part this letter read, "We are starting to question whether the area can sustain such increased pressure on its water resources without impacts to human health and the environment. Currently there are 14 noncommunity wasterwater treatment systems in the area and all of this water is obtained from aquifers that have limited capabilities for providing drinking water."
In case y'all haven't noticed, neocons in the years since Reagan have increasingly de-clawed regulation; all the more remarkable that two Minnesota regulatory agencies have the courage to send a letter like this to challenge the corporate-owner dominated Poplar River Management Board.
There will be public meetings between the PRMB and the county coming up to consider wastewater treatment and drinking water safety.
Folks, turn out! Or failing that, write letters or emails or call your West End Commissioner Bruce Martinson.
Do you think Lutsen Mountain makes a profit from its disregard of the Poplar watershed? Does the Pope shit in the woods?
Friday, March 07, 2008
To the GM Park Board: Government Ethics 101
One of the biggest problems with having two local papers in Cook County is that neither one can devote adequate resources to the big issues. The Park Board meetings, for example, often get bypassed entirely.... it has been True's experience that these folks want to encourage the rich and get rid of the middle class who now support Rec Park with their huge fees for utilities and space for their RVs....
So, the latest brouhaha is the decision to add nine (count em, nine) new docks to the present marina of 16 slips. By True's calculations this is an increase of MORE THAN HALF (56 percent) without, as far as True knows, any public process.... The new slips obscure the lake view of North House and the Hjordis. It looks like a hostile takeover by the downtown Bidness interests from where I sit....These guys compare our tiny harbor to MegaMarina Bayfield. They think the big bucks are just waiting to descend on Grand Marais, despite recent studies that rich yacht owners are on the decline. Wheareas our loyal Rec Park tenants have stayed year after year despite knockout increases in fees. Hello, Grand Marais? The rich will see us as a "slapdash" town and won't want to be bothered to stay here. Too totally funky. So, why do we care? The ordinary folks, the working folks and the middle class, love us. They are our bread-and-butter, our biggest fans.
Bidness doesn't like North House because they pay their way and yet they still make money, they draw in tourists from all across America, and they are committed to sustainable development of the harbor. Bidness couldn't care less about sustainability so long as they can sell more gas to the rich s---ers who want to dock here but don't want to pay their fair share like the rest of our tourists who pay for lodging and meals or the RV Park folks who pay horrific fees to retain their spaces...
Worst of all are the statements by board member Carol Backlund and Recreation Area Assistant Manager Dave Tersteeg. True is appalled that they just don't get it, that conflict-of-interest means DO NOT VOTE. Ya shure, anybody can express an opinion. Carol, Dave, do your worst... but DO NOT VOTE. Hello, you think your opinions are valuable? Duh.... so is everybody else's opinion, but the rule goes that if you have even the slightest interest in the decision you DO NOT VOTE.
Civics and Government appear to be low on the list of classes for Cook County students.
The ultimate decision about extra slips in the marina should be considered in terms of its impact on existing businesses and the environment, as well as the view shed that visitors expect during their holidays. NOT NOT because anybody might even conceivably profit from additional slips....
It is no wonder that the neocons who control the government slash away all legal challenges to their limitless power: The Sheep are putty in the hands of the Wolf.
True's fave paper is not the Star and yet they had the story this time.
So, the latest brouhaha is the decision to add nine (count em, nine) new docks to the present marina of 16 slips. By True's calculations this is an increase of MORE THAN HALF (56 percent) without, as far as True knows, any public process.... The new slips obscure the lake view of North House and the Hjordis. It looks like a hostile takeover by the downtown Bidness interests from where I sit....These guys compare our tiny harbor to MegaMarina Bayfield. They think the big bucks are just waiting to descend on Grand Marais, despite recent studies that rich yacht owners are on the decline. Wheareas our loyal Rec Park tenants have stayed year after year despite knockout increases in fees. Hello, Grand Marais? The rich will see us as a "slapdash" town and won't want to be bothered to stay here. Too totally funky. So, why do we care? The ordinary folks, the working folks and the middle class, love us. They are our bread-and-butter, our biggest fans.
Bidness doesn't like North House because they pay their way and yet they still make money, they draw in tourists from all across America, and they are committed to sustainable development of the harbor. Bidness couldn't care less about sustainability so long as they can sell more gas to the rich s---ers who want to dock here but don't want to pay their fair share like the rest of our tourists who pay for lodging and meals or the RV Park folks who pay horrific fees to retain their spaces...
Worst of all are the statements by board member Carol Backlund and Recreation Area Assistant Manager Dave Tersteeg. True is appalled that they just don't get it, that conflict-of-interest means DO NOT VOTE. Ya shure, anybody can express an opinion. Carol, Dave, do your worst... but DO NOT VOTE. Hello, you think your opinions are valuable? Duh.... so is everybody else's opinion, but the rule goes that if you have even the slightest interest in the decision you DO NOT VOTE.
Civics and Government appear to be low on the list of classes for Cook County students.
The ultimate decision about extra slips in the marina should be considered in terms of its impact on existing businesses and the environment, as well as the view shed that visitors expect during their holidays. NOT NOT because anybody might even conceivably profit from additional slips....
It is no wonder that the neocons who control the government slash away all legal challenges to their limitless power: The Sheep are putty in the hands of the Wolf.
True's fave paper is not the Star and yet they had the story this time.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Minnesota: raise income taxes!
Hello, Governor Pawlenty. Hello, Cook County. Hello, Minnesota legislators!
Stop taxing the poor! New gas taxes, new sales taxes, new fees, but NEVER new income taxes! Y'all are shifting the tax burden from the richest to the poorest.
Can you say, REGRESSIVE TAXES?
Minnesota used to be all about graduated taxes, all about ability to pay. No more. Cook County and Grand Marais are hollering for a new one percent sales tax, claiming that it is borne by tourists. Hello, hello? WE are the ones who live here, who pay the tax every single day on every single thing we buy.
The legislature passed a new gas tax without even asking what anybody thinks about that. This happens even as gas prices break all records. Us po' folks can hardly manage to buy gas to get to work. Our food, our heat, our rents and mortgages, not to mention our health care have all shot through the roof. How much blood can you squeeze out of a stone? How much poorer will we have to be before the big D word is spoken aloud?
As for property taxes, nobody seems yet to have caught on: we are being taxed on inflated property values!!! We can no longer sell our homes for their inflated values but we still have to pay taxes on them. Property taxes are also regressive, but necessary at the local level, WHICH is why Minnesota used to offer lots of aid to local governments as well as homeowners. Back in the day when Minnesota government meant something good for people, before the Repugnants took over.
As for the No New Bridges governor, who keeps sending my "tax bill" spiraling by increasing all those fees like license tabs in the name of "no new taxes" meaning no new FAIR income taxes, well I hope you will be soundly defeated by an old-fashioned Minnesota DFL progressive next round.
True
Stop taxing the poor! New gas taxes, new sales taxes, new fees, but NEVER new income taxes! Y'all are shifting the tax burden from the richest to the poorest.
Can you say, REGRESSIVE TAXES?
Minnesota used to be all about graduated taxes, all about ability to pay. No more. Cook County and Grand Marais are hollering for a new one percent sales tax, claiming that it is borne by tourists. Hello, hello? WE are the ones who live here, who pay the tax every single day on every single thing we buy.
The legislature passed a new gas tax without even asking what anybody thinks about that. This happens even as gas prices break all records. Us po' folks can hardly manage to buy gas to get to work. Our food, our heat, our rents and mortgages, not to mention our health care have all shot through the roof. How much blood can you squeeze out of a stone? How much poorer will we have to be before the big D word is spoken aloud?
As for property taxes, nobody seems yet to have caught on: we are being taxed on inflated property values!!! We can no longer sell our homes for their inflated values but we still have to pay taxes on them. Property taxes are also regressive, but necessary at the local level, WHICH is why Minnesota used to offer lots of aid to local governments as well as homeowners. Back in the day when Minnesota government meant something good for people, before the Repugnants took over.
As for the No New Bridges governor, who keeps sending my "tax bill" spiraling by increasing all those fees like license tabs in the name of "no new taxes" meaning no new FAIR income taxes, well I hope you will be soundly defeated by an old-fashioned Minnesota DFL progressive next round.
True
Friday, February 01, 2008
Read my lips, no new taxes
A good decision by the county board
Dear True,
Times are tough. It’s a safe bet that Cook County, at the tip of the Arrowhead, is especially hard hit by rising costs of gas and food; everything that other people take for granted has to be trucked up here and so we pay extra.
People are losing their homes. More and more of us visit the food shelf to make ends meet. We apply for fuel assistance but find it cut; Bushco prefers to spend tax dollars destroying Iraq. Budgets are scrunched down.
And so, it is with thanks and relief that I report that the county board decided not to ask for a continuation of the one percent sales tax now that the hospital bond is paid off. One percent doesn’t sound like much, but it can buy a couple of meals or a tank of gas over the course of a month.
The board voted unanimously to keep a sales tax referendum off the table this year. It will probably come back later, and most of us would probably support a tax that would give us a new library and a fix for the pool. But, not now. Now we need to help each other to survive these hard times. While the MSM won’t even admit to a recession, ordinary older folks are talking about their memories of the Great Depression, brought to mind by recent events.
There’s a time and a place for everything, and I am thankful that the county board recognizes that a one percent tax is not the solution now.
Anonymous
Monday, August 06, 2007
The Soft Underbelly of the Democratic Party - CommonDreams.org
Since the vote by Congress to support warrantless spying on all Americans, the blogosphere has been buzzing. Hmm, Minnesota "Nice" folks don't like Minnesota Mad Belding; they prefer to sit back and ignore the evil around them while making nasty cracks at the people who speak out.
Even the stuffy New York Times is with Belding on this one, though not using the "H" word. Oh my goodness, how NOT nice.
The frustration is not being listened to by any of the three branches of government which are supposed to check and balance each other. The Rage is that the Congress has given retroactive approval to the crimes of Bushco.
True
Read this Common Dreams post; others will follow:
The Soft Underbelly of the Democratic Party - CommonDreams.org
Even the stuffy New York Times is with Belding on this one, though not using the "H" word. Oh my goodness, how NOT nice.
The frustration is not being listened to by any of the three branches of government which are supposed to check and balance each other. The Rage is that the Congress has given retroactive approval to the crimes of Bushco.
True
Read this Common Dreams post; others will follow:
The Soft Underbelly of the Democratic Party - CommonDreams.org
Saturday, August 04, 2007
Minnesota Mad: Disgust and rage
Dear True,
No, not love and happiness, not today. I have nothing but disgust and rage for the politicians of this country, ALL of them (well, almost).
As for Mr. No New Taxes Pawlenty, he bears a great share of the responsibility for the lives lost and maimed in the Minneapolis bridge collapse, not to mention the fear and terror of the rest of us who must entrust our lives to structurally unsound bridges, having vetoed a major transportation bill in 2005 that would have addressed the state's aging road infrastructure.
As for the evil cowboy Mr. Photo Op Bush, he bears an even greater burden of this guilt, having squandered the resources paid by taxpayers in the assumption that they will be spent to keep bridges and levees and roads and waterways and sewers and .... well, everything we depend on for life and health, safe. No, better to spend a couple trillion dollars killing off people in Iraq and destroying THEIR infrastructure completely, so his Texas cronies continue to reap megaprofits from oil and get no-bid private contracts to run the war. Who gives a flying fuck that the people of Baghdad don't have any water? That Iraqis working with Americans have separate (presumably not equal) bathrooms and meals? That millions are homeless thanks to the devastation wrought by the US, that people are starving, that there is no electricity for most of the day in devastating heat? Who cares? They are only Iraqis, as one US soldier said.
As for the Congress, shame. They bear the responsibility to reign in a rogue administration, protect the Constitution, and make laws that promote the general welfare. But what do they do? They sling impeachment off the table when the constitutional crimes of this administration challenge our three-tiered government to the very core, and then they proceed to knuckle under to every illegal and outrageous demand made by Bushco. The latest: a secret FISA panel decided Bush's wiretapping was illegal and so what does Congress do? They pass a law to make it legal. I for one am sick of knowing I have no private communications unless I meet someone somewhere where there are no phones, computers, or mail and even then who knows what those satellites are picking up?
It's a sad, sad world but the worst is that it doesn't have to be that way. The American people want good government, good schools, good health care, good communities, good infrastructure, a clean and safe environment, retirement security ... and they are paying enough to get it. Even without new taxes, which in Minnesota is totally stupid because we will pay one way or another.
Us poor people pay so much in fees and sales taxes that we trump even the biggest billionaire who actually does pay tax (if any) in terms of percentage of income. However, almost any of us would gladly pay more to save the lives of loved ones and protect the world for future generations. As for Bushco, he lavishly rewards the richest of the rich, not only with absurd tax cuts but also with his shadow government which pays them billions in contracts that are scrutinized by none. Many of these contracts usurp the lawful function of government, such as intelligence gathering and military forces, and unlawful ones as well, such as murder, torture, rape and spying.These bad politicians, and that includes nearly all of them, know that people don't like what they do. They receive thousands and millions of emails, phone calls and petitions daily from people who feel they must speak out. Bush apologist Sen. Coleman responds with a knee-jerk blip but never a word on any issue. All elected officials in this mega-media, mega-business and mega-shadow government age depend on the millions these people pay them. Who will stand up to the coal industry, the nuclear industry, big oil, when they are major campaign contributors? All the major candidates are beholden to the big multinational corporations and media, without whom they could never be elected. (Except maybe John Edwards who is getting a rilli-rilli-bad media rap....)
Finally, the American people have allowed these travesties to happen. Democracy means that the grass roots don't get mowed down, even if all their heroes are assassinated: John and Bobby Kennedy, MLK, John Lennon, and YES, our beloved Paul Wellstone.... I don't have a nanosecond of doubt that they were removed by the Rich Repug Reich.
Hate and rage.
Nancye Belding
Grand Marais
No, not love and happiness, not today. I have nothing but disgust and rage for the politicians of this country, ALL of them (well, almost).
As for Mr. No New Taxes Pawlenty, he bears a great share of the responsibility for the lives lost and maimed in the Minneapolis bridge collapse, not to mention the fear and terror of the rest of us who must entrust our lives to structurally unsound bridges, having vetoed a major transportation bill in 2005 that would have addressed the state's aging road infrastructure.
As for the evil cowboy Mr. Photo Op Bush, he bears an even greater burden of this guilt, having squandered the resources paid by taxpayers in the assumption that they will be spent to keep bridges and levees and roads and waterways and sewers and .... well, everything we depend on for life and health, safe. No, better to spend a couple trillion dollars killing off people in Iraq and destroying THEIR infrastructure completely, so his Texas cronies continue to reap megaprofits from oil and get no-bid private contracts to run the war. Who gives a flying fuck that the people of Baghdad don't have any water? That Iraqis working with Americans have separate (presumably not equal) bathrooms and meals? That millions are homeless thanks to the devastation wrought by the US, that people are starving, that there is no electricity for most of the day in devastating heat? Who cares? They are only Iraqis, as one US soldier said.
As for the Congress, shame. They bear the responsibility to reign in a rogue administration, protect the Constitution, and make laws that promote the general welfare. But what do they do? They sling impeachment off the table when the constitutional crimes of this administration challenge our three-tiered government to the very core, and then they proceed to knuckle under to every illegal and outrageous demand made by Bushco. The latest: a secret FISA panel decided Bush's wiretapping was illegal and so what does Congress do? They pass a law to make it legal. I for one am sick of knowing I have no private communications unless I meet someone somewhere where there are no phones, computers, or mail and even then who knows what those satellites are picking up?
It's a sad, sad world but the worst is that it doesn't have to be that way. The American people want good government, good schools, good health care, good communities, good infrastructure, a clean and safe environment, retirement security ... and they are paying enough to get it. Even without new taxes, which in Minnesota is totally stupid because we will pay one way or another.
Us poor people pay so much in fees and sales taxes that we trump even the biggest billionaire who actually does pay tax (if any) in terms of percentage of income. However, almost any of us would gladly pay more to save the lives of loved ones and protect the world for future generations. As for Bushco, he lavishly rewards the richest of the rich, not only with absurd tax cuts but also with his shadow government which pays them billions in contracts that are scrutinized by none. Many of these contracts usurp the lawful function of government, such as intelligence gathering and military forces, and unlawful ones as well, such as murder, torture, rape and spying.These bad politicians, and that includes nearly all of them, know that people don't like what they do. They receive thousands and millions of emails, phone calls and petitions daily from people who feel they must speak out. Bush apologist Sen. Coleman responds with a knee-jerk blip but never a word on any issue. All elected officials in this mega-media, mega-business and mega-shadow government age depend on the millions these people pay them. Who will stand up to the coal industry, the nuclear industry, big oil, when they are major campaign contributors? All the major candidates are beholden to the big multinational corporations and media, without whom they could never be elected. (Except maybe John Edwards who is getting a rilli-rilli-bad media rap....)
Finally, the American people have allowed these travesties to happen. Democracy means that the grass roots don't get mowed down, even if all their heroes are assassinated: John and Bobby Kennedy, MLK, John Lennon, and YES, our beloved Paul Wellstone.... I don't have a nanosecond of doubt that they were removed by the Rich Repug Reich.
Hate and rage.
Nancye Belding
Grand Marais
Friday, July 20, 2007
70 reps, three from Minn., tell Bush no more dollars for war
Here's the text of a letter sent yesterday to The Shrub by 70 liberal members of Congress, including our own Jim Oberstar. A note of thanks might be in order.
True
Dear Mr. President:
True
Dear Mr. President:
We are writing to inform you that we will only support appropriating additional funds for U.S. military operations in Iraq during Fiscal Year 2008 and beyond for the protection and safe redeployment of all our troops out of Iraq before you leave office.
More than 3,600 of our brave soldiers have died in Iraq. More than 26,000 have been seriously wounded. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have been killed or injured in the hostilities and more than 4 million have been displaced from their homes. Furthermore, this conflict has degenerated into a sectarian civil war and U.S. taxpayers have paid more than $500 billion, despite assurances that you and your key advisors gave our nation at the time you ordered the invasion in March, 2003 that this military intervention would cost far less and be paid from Iraqi oil revenues.
We agree with a clear and growing majority of the American people who are opposed to continued, open-ended U.S. military operations in Iraq, and believe it is unwise and unacceptable for you to continue to unilaterally impose these staggering costs and the soaring debt on Americans currently and for generations to come.
Sincerely,
Rep. Lynn Woolsey (CA); Rep. Barbara Lee (CA); Rep. Maxine Waters (CA); Rep. Ellen Tauscher (CA); Rep. Rush Holt (NJ); Rep. Maurice Hinchey (NY); Rep. Diane Watson (CA); Rep. Ed Pastor (AZ); Rep. Barney Frank (MA); Rep. Danny Davis (IL); Rep. John Conyers (MI); Rep. John Hall (NY); Rep. Bob Filner (CA); Rep. Nydia Velazquez (NY); Rep. Bobby Rush (IL); Rep. Charles Rangel (NY); Rep. Ed Towns (NY); Rep. Paul Hodes (NH); Rep. William Lacy Clay (MO); Rep. Earl Blumenauer (OR); Rep. Albert Wynn (MD); Rep. Bill Delahunt (MA); Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC); Rep. G. K. Butterfield (NC); Rep. Hilda Solis (CA); Rep. Carolyn Maloney (NY); Rep. Jerrold Nadler (NY); Rep. Michael Honda (CA); Rep. Steve Cohen (TN); Rep. Phil Hare (IL); Rep. Grace Flores Napolitano (CA); Rep. Alcee Hastings (FL); Rep. James McGovern (MA); Rep. Marcy Kaptur (OH); Rep. Jan Schakowsky (IL); Rep. Julia Carson (IN); Rep. Linda Sanchez (CA); Rep. Raul Grijalva (AZ); Rep. John Olver (MA); Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (TX); Rep. Jim McDermott (WA); Rep. Ed Markey (MA); Rep. Chaka Fattah (PA); Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (NJ); Rep. Rubin Hinojosa (TX); Rep. Pete Stark (CA); Rep. Bobby Scott (VA); Rep. Jim Moran (VA); Rep. Betty McCollum (MN); Rep. Jim Oberstar (MN); Rep. Diana DeGette (CO); Rep. Stephen Lynch (MA); Rep. Artur Davis (AL); Rep. Hank Johnson (GA); Rep. Donald Payne (NJ); Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (MO); Rep. John Lewis (GA); Rep. Yvette Clarke (NY); Rep. Neil Abercrombie (HI); Rep. Gwen Moore (WI); Rep. Keith Ellison (MN); Rep. Tammy Baldwin (WI); Rep. Donna Christensen (USVI); Rep. David Scott (GA); Rep. Luis Gutierrez (IL); Lois Capps (CA); Steve Rothman (NJ); Elijah Cummings (MD); and Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX).
Monday, June 04, 2007
Congressman James L Oberstar -- Federal Highway Projects Save Northeast Minnesota from All-Time Construction Low
Our Rep. Jim Oberstar is always looking out for our interests here on the North Shore. The governor has vetoed any improvements to our highways because he doesn't like an increased gas tax. Hmm. True doesn't like that either, but only because it will hit the poor the hardest.
Government is the right place for infrastructure, the only question is who pays for it?
True contends that fair taxes based on ability to pay ought to provide safe highways. Our Rep. Oberstar has a plan to help this to happen. If the governor refuses to provide the local match that would make Highway 61 safe, well, this would look bad to those of us who depend on this highway for our livelihoods and life lines.
Really, folks, the slick gov is just passing the buck. He pretends he is saving taxpayer money by passing it along to local municipalities, individual property tax payers, and the poorest of the poor who must pay for state-mandated services.
Check out Jim's latest post on our behalf:
Congressman James L Oberstar -- Federal Highway Projects Save Northeast Minnesota from All-Time Construction Low
Government is the right place for infrastructure, the only question is who pays for it?
True contends that fair taxes based on ability to pay ought to provide safe highways. Our Rep. Oberstar has a plan to help this to happen. If the governor refuses to provide the local match that would make Highway 61 safe, well, this would look bad to those of us who depend on this highway for our livelihoods and life lines.
Really, folks, the slick gov is just passing the buck. He pretends he is saving taxpayer money by passing it along to local municipalities, individual property tax payers, and the poorest of the poor who must pay for state-mandated services.
Check out Jim's latest post on our behalf:
Congressman James L Oberstar -- Federal Highway Projects Save Northeast Minnesota from All-Time Construction Low
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Foster mom asks True for backbone on issues
I almost missed this very excellent letter from Foster Mom, which was in response to a True post about the "poor tax" (i.e., new sales tax).
Others have also said we should not be anonymous. Mom makes a good point. Please share your thoughts.
True
Have a voice, people. What you think is important. Regardless of the popularity. I like this site for its voice but to be anonymous is chicken shit. It is like all the people at the local watering holes running their mouths about what should be done, while doing nothing themselves. It is a waste of time if you don't have the backbone to stand up for what you think and believe. I have a sick mother, I have a very sick father, I have work, I have dogs. I have no time for other crap.
But I begged people to come to "the meeting". True north posted it. Very few of you came came. Restaurant owners did. We beat our part of of it but when the vote came for the rest of it ... I said, "Who is here to speak for the outfitters, the other people?" and about six people raised their hands. Somebody has to speak out!!
Anonymous people deserve what they get. Nothing. We needed your opinions then! Before it left Cook County.
Sarah Hamilton
Trail Center Lodge
Others have also said we should not be anonymous. Mom makes a good point. Please share your thoughts.
True
Have a voice, people. What you think is important. Regardless of the popularity. I like this site for its voice but to be anonymous is chicken shit. It is like all the people at the local watering holes running their mouths about what should be done, while doing nothing themselves. It is a waste of time if you don't have the backbone to stand up for what you think and believe. I have a sick mother, I have a very sick father, I have work, I have dogs. I have no time for other crap.
But I begged people to come to "the meeting". True north posted it. Very few of you came came. Restaurant owners did. We beat our part of of it but when the vote came for the rest of it ... I said, "Who is here to speak for the outfitters, the other people?" and about six people raised their hands. Somebody has to speak out!!
Anonymous people deserve what they get. Nothing. We needed your opinions then! Before it left Cook County.
Sarah Hamilton
Trail Center Lodge
Thursday, May 03, 2007
House tax bill passes without local tax options
True thanks the Cook County News Herald for letting us know that our local tax "options" were not approved by the Minnesota House.
True also thanks some kind providence that perhaps favors the poor.
Here's the link:
News Express » Archive » House tax bill passes without local tax options
True also thanks some kind providence that perhaps favors the poor.
Here's the link:
News Express » Archive » House tax bill passes without local tax options
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
Paul Campos | Bush's Farewell Tantrum
True has of course been closely watching the events surrounding congressional funding of the outrageous war in Iraq that has claimed so many lives and ratcheted up the level of hatred in our world. NOT TO MENTION, that the money spent alone would have addressed climate change, Katrina, health care, and untold other domestic needs like local tax relief and infrastructure management.
This story by Paul Campos says all of what True thinks:
Paul Campos Bush's Farewell Tantrum
This story by Paul Campos says all of what True thinks:
Paul Campos Bush's Farewell Tantrum
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Sales tax reprise: county to hire lobbyist!
The Cook County board will spend up to $10,000 on a lobbyist to support the sales tax proposals currently wending their way through the legislature.
The board takes this step after hearing a lot of public criticism, including Yours Truly, against more sales taxes that are hardest on the poor.
Also, it comes after their knee-jerk response to the self-justifications and manufactured facts presented by the so-called Cook County Economic Analysis Council, a self-serving group that represents resort owners and others who consistently pay the lowest wages to their employees, so that they can fund yet MORE PR stuff on their own behalf than they already get from taxpayers. (See previous posts, including "Tourism sales: one-third or 82 percent?" Click on the labels for tourism, taxes, and economy.)
True thinks of forming a Cook County Bullshit Analysis Council, writing a more truthful and fact-checked report about the county's economy and our need to promote NON-tourism jobs, and making as much noise as the ATV and CCEAC folks.
As for the dropping the cap on the hospital levy, True does support this. It is a fair tax and we need our hospital. As for the so-called "infrastructure" tax, True agrees that we need infrastructure improvements in the county, but there are plenty of state and federal and private grant programs that ought to be looked at first. $10K would pay for a powerful lot of grantwriting. Moreover, the proposed improvements in the present version will all go to Grand Marais. West-Enders, a lot of whom didn't like the sales tax idea in the first place, will get shafted.
As for the three-percent recreation tax, the idea here seems to be that only tourists will be paying it. Not so, struggling young families will be paying it so their kids can have some fun.
VOTE NO on the one-percent referendum! But the ordinary citizen apparently won't even get a vote on the three-percent, if it passes the legislature. True calls this TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION! Only the CCEAC is represented, not the vast majority of voters and taxpayers.
The board takes this step after hearing a lot of public criticism, including Yours Truly, against more sales taxes that are hardest on the poor.
Also, it comes after their knee-jerk response to the self-justifications and manufactured facts presented by the so-called Cook County Economic Analysis Council, a self-serving group that represents resort owners and others who consistently pay the lowest wages to their employees, so that they can fund yet MORE PR stuff on their own behalf than they already get from taxpayers. (See previous posts, including "Tourism sales: one-third or 82 percent?" Click on the labels for tourism, taxes, and economy.)
True thinks of forming a Cook County Bullshit Analysis Council, writing a more truthful and fact-checked report about the county's economy and our need to promote NON-tourism jobs, and making as much noise as the ATV and CCEAC folks.
As for the dropping the cap on the hospital levy, True does support this. It is a fair tax and we need our hospital. As for the so-called "infrastructure" tax, True agrees that we need infrastructure improvements in the county, but there are plenty of state and federal and private grant programs that ought to be looked at first. $10K would pay for a powerful lot of grantwriting. Moreover, the proposed improvements in the present version will all go to Grand Marais. West-Enders, a lot of whom didn't like the sales tax idea in the first place, will get shafted.
As for the three-percent recreation tax, the idea here seems to be that only tourists will be paying it. Not so, struggling young families will be paying it so their kids can have some fun.
VOTE NO on the one-percent referendum! But the ordinary citizen apparently won't even get a vote on the three-percent, if it passes the legislature. True calls this TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION! Only the CCEAC is represented, not the vast majority of voters and taxpayers.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
DFL-led House OKs shift in tax burden, Pawlenty promises veto
Governor Tim Pawlenty, best known for a swell haircut, a toothy smile and a total lack of understanding of Minnesota history and values, has promised to veto a House bill shifting some of the state's tax burden to those who can afford it.
Dear old Hubert H. Humphrey, our long-winded and well-beloved former Vice President, who faithfully spoke his joyful message at DFL bean feeds, would be glad today at the House vote. Paul Wellstone, the people's senator, would be jumping up and down with joy.
Minnesota has (until the bad old Reagan years) always been about its people, its workers, its children and their collective well being. AND also, about supporting local governments and schools so the big tax burdens don't fall on the few.
True is proud to provide the link to this story from the Strib. Hopefully people in Cook County will recognize that the old Minnesota way that produced a great way of life is still the best way.
Read on:
DFL-led House OKs shift in tax burden
Dear old Hubert H. Humphrey, our long-winded and well-beloved former Vice President, who faithfully spoke his joyful message at DFL bean feeds, would be glad today at the House vote. Paul Wellstone, the people's senator, would be jumping up and down with joy.
Minnesota has (until the bad old Reagan years) always been about its people, its workers, its children and their collective well being. AND also, about supporting local governments and schools so the big tax burdens don't fall on the few.
True is proud to provide the link to this story from the Strib. Hopefully people in Cook County will recognize that the old Minnesota way that produced a great way of life is still the best way.
Read on:
DFL-led House OKs shift in tax burden
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