Look at this tripe BS from ABC WNT

[underpants]

The lead paragraph is a doozy. The telecast was an out of this world experience-I sit down to watch the news and suddenly *POOF* all is well gee look at how swell everything is....

They propose that this is all due to some "sweeping economic turnaround" but I think much of this "windfall" is due to states upping real estate assessments and sales taxes in expectation of the Feds not ponying up any money.

http://www.abcnews.go.com/WNT/Business/story?id=794714&page=1

May 26, 2005 — A sweeping economic turnaround could mean tax cuts and better service for millions of Americans. For the first time since the year 2000, many states are finding that budget time isn't all about belt-tightening and cost-cutting.

States collected a record $600 billion in taxes last year — an increase of 17.2 percent over 2003. Revenues are rising even faster this year, at a double-digit rate in some states.

Utah's Republican (emphasis NOT added) governor, Jon Huntsman, welcomes the added revenue but says it's challenging "because you've got two or three times the number of people knocking on your door trying to divert it to some new funding program."

Massachusetts epitomizes this dilemma. Gov. Mitt Romney, a Republican, wants an income tax cut, which the Democratic-controlled legislature is fighting.

[Pacifist Patriot]

1. Can I some of whatever it is that they are smoking?

[LizW]

2. I was wondering if anyone saw that!

It was the BIG LEAD STORY on ABC News last night. I felt like I was in an alternate universe! Elizabeth Vargas did the story and there was this full-screen graphic that said "Economic Turnaround". It was absolutely surreal.

They went on and on about "how are the states going to spend all this money? Tax cuts? Reducing class sizes? Better roads and services?"

They actually said tax revenues are up because "people are making more money".

My mouth was literally hanging open. WHERE is this happening? WHERE?

[underpants]

4. The whole telecast was like that, to me anyway

I have posted this before-there is a discernible difference when Peter Jennings is/was there. He wasn't Bill Moyers or anything but when he was absent (before the cancer diagnosis) it was like the kids got to take over the TV station and read what ever BS they were handed-- LOOK AT US WE ARE ON TV!!!

People making more money? That is directly opposite of every economic indicator *I* have seen over the last three months.

Since you watched it you know that the emphasis on "Republican" was noticeable.

And then there was this story-See these low cost air fares are BAD for you. If you paid full price you wouldn't have to wait so long. Bow down ye lowly consumer to your corporate (corporate welfare) masters!!!

http://www.abcnews.go.com/WNT/Travel/story?id=794847&page=1

[kedrys]

6. I did

Sort of. I was still trying to parse it 5 minutes later when my father-in-law called, and I paused the DVR and went back to my actual reality already in progress.

[Toots]

7. Up from 2003 but from 2000 way way down.

They are experts at Bullshit.

[patdem]

3. It says 'driven by sales and income tax'..but what about R.E. Taxes?

I would love to see a breakdown in the receipts..since the housing bubble has resulted in higher tax receipts from Real Estate Taxes?? Anybody have a breakdown? :shrug:

[underpants]

5. Yeah I think it has a lot more to do with that (no figures sorry)

They Gubernatorial campaign here in Va. is all about that right now. Suddenly the Repubs want to include increased assessments as part of the equation-they usually screamed "WE LOWERED YOUR TAXES" from the rooftops (lower tax rate but jack up the assessments).

[JDPriestly]

8. Up from what? Pay went down in 2004 --

YES, YOUR PAYCHECK IS SHRINKING

Yet another sign of the failure of Bushonomics: real wages in the US are falling at their fastest rate in 14 years, according to the Financial Times.

The British newspaper reported: "Inflation rose 3.1 per cent in the year to March but salaries climbed just 2.4 per cent, according to the Employment Cost Index. In the final three months of 2004, real wages fell by 0.9 per cent.

The last time salaries fell this steeply was at the start of 1991, when real wages declined by 1.1 per cent."
. . . .

http://www.americasdemocrats.org/exposing_gop.cfm

[Roland99]

9. Anyone remember this recent WaPo article?

Almost Unnoticed, Bipartisan Budget Anxiety
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/17/AR2005051701238.html

"The only thing the United States is able to do a little after 2040 is pay interest on massive and growing federal debt," Walker said. "The model blows up in the mid-2040s. What does that mean? Argentina."

<...>

"To do nothing," Butler added, "would lead to deficits of the scale we've never seen in this country or any major in industrialized country. We've seen them in Argentina. That's a chilling thought, but it would mean that."

<...>

Walker put U.S. debt and obligations at $45 trillion in current dollars -- almost as much as the total net worth of all Americans, or $150,000 per person. Balancing the budget in 2040, he said, could require cutting total federal spending as much as 60 percent or raising taxes to 2 1/2 times today's levels.

Butler pointed out that without changes to Social Security and Medicare, in 25 years either a quarter of discretionary spending would need to be cut or U.S. tax rates would have to approach European levels. Putting it slightly differently, Sawhill posed a choice of 10 percent cuts in spending and much larger cuts in Social Security and Medicare, or a 40 percent increase in government spending relative to the size of the economy, and equivalent tax increases.

[napi21]

10. I've heard this other places too! I don't understand.

The other morning, CNN asked the question: "What should YOUR state spend the extra revenue on?"

There were actually several people who emailed them with answers! I live in GA, and all I keep reading in the paper is how the Gov. is cutting things just to balance the budget! What states are they talking about with thes EXTRA MONEY???

[underpants]

11. The whole thing was quite surreal

What sudden economic boom?

What in the world are you (ABC) talking about?

Oh I see now it was the last newscast many people would see before the Memorial Day weekend.