Missouri prepares to end tax credit for elderly and disabled

RAW STORY

The Associated Press is reporting that Missouri legislators are about to repeal a $750 state tax credit that has helped over 100,000 disabled and elderly residents who live in rental housing.

According to the AP, "The move could save the state $855 million over 15 years, and some lawmakers want to redirect a portion of that money to new tax breaks intended to lure Chinese cargo planes to the St. Louis airport and more businesses to Missouri."

Although opposed by advocates for the poor and elderly, the repeal is expected to pass in a special session that starts this week. It would be "the single largest budgetary savings being proposed to offset the cost of the new business incentives."

Even a representative of the Missouri AFL-CIO supports the plan, arguing that "while we're not very happy with the elimination of some provisions that help people in need, we've got to get our people to work if we're ever going to have enough money in the state coffers again to support human need issues."

When the Missouri Tax Credit Review Commission originally recommended an end to the tax credit for renters -- though not for homeowners -- the state's Democratic governor, Jay Nixon, opposed the recommendation and described the credit as "an important consumer protection."

Now, however, he says he will support the change if an equivalent amount of money is used to create a fund earmarked for senior citizen programs. That idea is being received with cynicism by many Missourians, who believe the fund would simplyend up being used to offset cuts elsewhere.

"When one chicken plucks a feather out of another chicken, all the other chickens do too until there's nothing left of the chicken," one elderly renter told the AP. "And that's just what these lawmakers are doing, they're taking one feather off at a time until the elderly and disabled have nothing. And there's just no need of it, absolutely no need of it."

Tax Companies For Every Job Outsourced

It is time for companies to be held accountable for sending jobs overseas. We need to tell our leaders that it should be more expensive for corporations to outsource jobs. Tax them for EVERY job they move overseas.

So I signed a petition to The United States House of Representatives, which says:

"Dear Speaker Boehner and Representatives:

For too long, it has been cheaper for corporations to outsource job overseas than to hire Americans. The national unemployment rate will never get better until more jobs are available to us in this country. It is also obvious that corporations will not do this unless it is more profitable for them to do so. The only way for this to happen is to tax companies for EVERY job they outsource. Make it cheaper for them to keep jobs here and they will. If companies still want to outsource jobs, at least they will be paying down our national deficit while they do so.

It is past time for you to make a commitment to the American People and do something constructive to create jobs. Tax outsourcing now!"

Will you sign this petition? Click here:

http://signon.org/sign/tax-companies-for-every?source=s.em.cp&r_by=540515

How the jews treat christians in israel

Tea Party Congressman Calls For Tax Breaks To Put Out Raging Wildfire In District

WASHINGTON—With a massive wildfire currently raging out of control in his district, Tea Party Caucus member Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) pressed Congress to pass immediate tax breaks Tuesday to combat the rapidly spreading blaze.

"This fire has already burned hundreds of square miles and left thousands of helpless families with only one hope: across-the-board income tax cuts and a sharply lower corporate tax rate," said Franks, stating that broad-based tax relief would spur investment and extinguish the towering flames that grow larger by the minute.

"We must act now. The longer the oppressive tax burden on honest, hardworking individuals remains unaddressed, the larger and more deadly this fire will become." According to staffers, Franks plans to honor the nine individuals who have perished in the blaze by introducing additional legislation this week that would eliminate Medicaid.

Media Matters Daily Summary 09-02-11

Fox Still Wrong About NLRB's Complaint Against Boeing
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Can't Wait: Conservative Media Attack Obama's Jobs Plan Before It's Even Released
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Fox News Still Pushing Myth That Stimulus Failed
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Columnist: Registering Poor To Vote 'Like Handing Out Burglary Tools To Criminals'

TPM

Conservative columnist Matthew Vadum is just going to come right out and say it: registering the poor to vote is un-American and "like handing out burglary tools to criminals."

"It is profoundly antisocial and un-American to empower the nonproductive segments of the population to destroy the country -- which is precisely why Barack Obama zealously supports registering welfare recipients to vote," Vadum, the author of a book published by World Net Daily that attacks the now-defunct community organizing group ACORN, writes in a column for the American Thinker.

"Encouraging those who burden society to participate in elections isn't about helping the poor," Vadum writes. "It's about helping the poor to help themselves to others' money. It's about raw so-called social justice. It's about moving America ever farther away from the small-government ideals of the Founding Fathers."

Most conservative criticism of voter registration drives aimed at poor and minority communities has been under the guise of worries about voter fraud. Vadum's column is notable because he isn't just pretending to be worried about the nearly non-existent threat of in-person voter fraud -- he just doesn't think poor people should be voting.

Motorcycles Made from Watch Parts (Picture Gallery)

dailypicksandflicks.com

Maybe you’ve already seen some motorcycle models made out of watches, but I promise you that none of them where as good and beautiful in detail as the works of Dmitriy Khristenko from deviantART. Visit his profile for more.

Media Matters Daily Summary 09-01-11

Fox's Chris Wallace Disappears Allegation That Boeing Retaliated Against Union Workers
Chris Wallace said that the National Labor Relations Board "went after Boeing for wanting to build a plant in right-to-work South Carolina." But this description completely obscures the motivation for the NLRB's action: Its complaint against Boeing alleges that the company illegally retaliated against union workers in Washington state for going on strike. Read More

Dick Morris Uses Fox To Push His Anti-Muslim Petition
In recent days, Fox News contributor Dick Morris has repeatedly used his Fox appearances to promote a petition on his website opposing the Park51 Islamic community center. Morris has a history of inflammatory attacks on Park51, including the outrageous claim that the community center is "designed to celebrate the attacks that killed 3,000 Americans." Read More

Fox's Bolling Forwards Myth That Texas Economy Demonstrates Success Of Conservative Policies
Eric Bolling attributed job creation in Texas to low taxes and the state's lack of regulations. In fact, Texas' economy has been helped by rising public-sector employment, federal stimulus money, and regulations that helped shield the state from the housing bubble. Read More