I had read that article earlier. Absolutely unbelievable. The entire city council should be prosecuted. I'd like to be a fly on the wall at the August 12 meeting. This is now a national news story.
That's pretty amazing. I wonder how a City Manager of a 38K town convinced the council that he was worth that much money. And welcome back JO'Co, you have been missed. Hope you stay around.
Regardless of who is to blame here are the results..... http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/the-u.s.-middle-class-is-being-wiped-out-here%27s-the-stats-to-prove-it-520657.html?tickers=%5EDJI,%5EGSPC,SPY,MCD,WMT,XRT,DIA
Many of the members of the middle class used to be store owners. We used to have butcher shops, shoe stores, and hardware stores. Now we have Costco, Discount Shoe Warehouse and Home Depot. And of coure, there is America's favorite shopping area Walmart. Unfortunately, we are our own worst enemy.
I thought this was one of the more interesting factoids on the list... Hmmm I wonder who is going to pay for all these federal worker funds as the private sector continues to shrink... Ralph
I also heard that the top 20% of wage earners pay 80% of the personal taxes. What happens when that well runs dry?
Thank you lads for that rousing welcome. I'll try to maintain a more even keel this time... Mr. Rizzo ($800k+ 12% annual pay raises) began his career as a city manager in Hesperia, CA (where I work) in the early 1980's. It was a newly incorporated town with big dreams and flush with cash. Their plans included new schools, parks, public buildings, a central library and a bridge over the Santa Fe railroad tracks that divided the town. One year later, it was all gone and Mr. Rizzo had been fired. The city treasury was empty and NONE of the projects had even been started. His one year as city manager had set the town back 25 years. Today, many of our students still go to class in trailers (in the desert) with air conditioners that don't work properly. I teach in one of them... Meanwhile, everyone will have to pay Mr. Rizzo's retirement. The CalPERS retirement system (of which I'm a member) has groups of 140 member districts to share the burden of paying out these huge deals, so Mr. Rizzo's retirement will be funded by the taxpayers of school districts from Cerritos to La Canada and customers of water districts from Big Bear City to Los Angeles. As for Rizzo himself, he doesn't even live here. He breeds horses on a huge ranch up in the state of Washington... How do these guys stay out of jail? The mayor and city councilmen who hired him make $100k per year for their part-time jobs and that's probably part of the answer. ......The People's Republic of California......JO'Co
re: Federal taxes The last time that I looked... The top 1% pays 40% of all federal taxes, while the top 10% pays more than 60%...
:idea: Who pays taxes? Who doesn't? Here are the answers from the National Taxpayers Union. The original source is the Internal Revenue Service. http://www.ntu.org/tax-basics/who-pays-income-taxes.html Who Pays Income Taxes? Who Pays Income Taxes and how much? Tax Year 2007 Percentiles Ranked by AGI AGI Threshold on Percentiles Percentage of Federal Personal Income Tax Paid Top 1% $410,096 40.42 Top 5% $160,041 60.63 Top 10% $113,018 71.22 Top 25% $66,532 86.59 Top 50% $32,879 97.11 Bottom 50% <$32,879 2.89 Note: AGI is Adjusted Gross Income Source: Internal Revenue Service
Top 5% $160,041 60.63 Top 10% $113,018 71.22 Top 25% $66,532 86.59 These levels represent most of the middle class and it is these levels that get crushed with regard to retained income amounts. If a guy making 2 mil retains 60% of income he has 1.2 million to spend. If a guy making 160K retains 60% of income he has 96K to spend. Percentages are one thing but it is spendable income that is the bottom line.....the factor that drives the financial health of a family. Factor in the extreme cost of health care on the guy making 160 vs. that same exact cost on the 2 mil guy the impact is minimal on the 2 mil guy. I get the feeling on here that all I am dealing with is 2 mil guys......not real middle class people who actually are the ones most impacted by the taxes they pay where it counts......and that is retained income.
Actually Sid not many make 160k either but it is a very heavily taxed bracket with regard to retained income. The 250 k cut-off level or thereabouts always made sense to me because very few exceed that number and once you do your retained income amount is pretty decent. If anyone thinks the under 250 k crowd is set up well for a tax increase I beg to disagree.
You try living in NJ on $250,000 and see how rich you feel. And I do not earn that much money, not even close.
re: "I get the feeling on here that all I am dealing with is 2 mil guys......not real middle class people who actually are the ones most impacted by the taxes they pay where it counts......and that is retained income." I'm a school teacher. My pay grade is slightly lower than that. The upper 2% ($250,000) are the job creators. Two-thirds of all the people in this upper category are small business people. Most Americans either own a small business or work for someone who does. Here in California, small business pays 2/3rds of all state income taxes, which explains why we're bankrupt. The Democrats raised small business taxes so high that MOST small business in this state left or shut down in the last ten years. They killed the golden goose and now the Obamanites want to Californicate the entire nation...
BTW- did it ever occur to you that "retained" income for the upper 2% isn't stuffed into matresses or hidden in a wall safe. Its invested or reinvested and that's where jobs come from...
Thank goodness JO'Co is back. I can step down, not stop all together, my Don Quixotesque jousting with MCG the windmill.
I'm a "school teacher" as well. My chosen direction is related to adult education and pays a little better but does not generate the good feeling of molding the minds of our youth. Go ahead James "Joe Lewis" O'Connor. Quit playing around with jabs and go to the right cross. 8) 8) 8)