And another piece of the liberal in my dies

[Vibecrewangel]

My response to this is completely emotional. Maybe when I have calmed down I'll feel differently. I just can't figure out how much less I can budget with to get from paycheck to paycheck. And I'm considered "wealthy" by the government.........
Between the H1 visa holders adding to the unemployment and much of the social service funds going to people who don't need it, I'm ready to f'n explode.
We already pay 8.5% sales tax and he wants to increase it. Tripple registration fees for automobiles. All on top of our fed state and local income tax.
It's moments like this when I want to channel Vince and scream from the rooftop "I PAY FOR MY OWN MEDICAL COVERAGE.....I SHOULDN'T HAVE TO PAY FOR PEOPLE TO GO TO COLLEGE I DIDN'T GET TO GO......I DON'T HAVE ANY CHILDREN WHY AM I PAYING FOR SOMEONE ELSES...."

Fuck...sorry, I'm just upset 'cause I am barely going to make it finacially this month and that was the first thing I saw on the news when I got home. Seriously there is something wrong when the "wealthy" have to live on Top Ramen for half a month.


At-a-glance look at Gov. Gray Davis' new budget proposal

Wednesday, May 14, 2003

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(05-14) 18:06 PDT (AP) --

Highlights of Gov. Gray Davis' new $95.8 billion budget plan for the 2003-04 fiscal year, which begins July 1, 2003, and ends June 30, 2004:


Biggest revenue sources for budget's $70.9 billion general fund:

$33.4 billion from personal income taxes

$23.5 billion from sales and use taxes

$7 billion from corporate taxes

$1.9 billion from insurance taxes

$4.1 billion from other sources


Biggest spending categories:

$29.1 billion for K-12 education.

$21.1 billion for health and human services

$8.8 billion for state university education

$5.7 billion for youth and adult prisons


The budget:

Cuts less from elementary and high schools than the governor's January plan.

Restores $300 million to community college budgets and reduces fee hikes from original $24 per unit to $18. Fees are currently $11.

Restores car tax fees to 1998 levels to raise $4.2 billion.

Restores $40 million Williamson Act program to save farmland.



How Davis intends to erase long-term $38.2 billion deficit through June 30, 2004:

$18.8 billion in cuts and savings.

$10.7 billion with a deficit bond to be financed with a temporary half-cent sales tax increase until deficit disappears. (Tax begins Oct. 1, 2003, and will raise $1.7 billion through June 30, 2004, then $2.3 billion each year afterward).

$2.9 billion in loans and borrowing.

$1.7 billion in programs shifted to local governments and funded by hiking income taxes on the state's wealthiest residents and 23-cent tax hike per pack of cigarettes.

$3.9 billion in money borrowed and transferred from special state funds

[center:e3688740fb][/center:e3688740fb]

[GAsux]

Go Gray.

[Sethomas]

$33.4 billion from personal income taxes

$23.5 billion from sales and use taxes

$7 billion from corporate taxes

Don't these numbers seem a little skewed to anyone else? A shame that it's not cost-effective for J.Q. Public to bribe politicians to keep his spending minimal.

[AChimp]

Suck it up. We pay around 14% sales tax.

[Vibecrewangel]

Ouch chimp.....

How much do you pay in income tax? Total income tax....

[Sethomas]

A better question is how much you would pay for medical care versus what he would.

[Vibecrewangel]

Between my medical, optical (my eyes suck) and dental I pay almost $1000.00 per year. That is in addition to my nearly 32% in income tax.

[AChimp]

I paid no income tax this year because I am technically below the poverty line.

The average income tax rate, though, for a person making around $30,000/year ends up being around 30%. I believe that includes both federal and provincial taxes.

EDIT: Probably a higher rate, because I'm not factoring in all the extra sur-taxes, and the EI that's deducted off my paycheque (which I don't get back... something like 2% from each one)

[Vibecrewangel]

I repeat.....ouch.....


Maybe if I didn't have to pay so much out of pocket for health care on top of the taxes I would feel differently. But that $1000.00 is with my employer paying most of my medical premium. None of this includes my chiropractor which is another $600 per year. Chiropractic still isn't considered "medical" by my (or most for that matter) insurance carrier(s).

EDIT: My employer also isn't going to be giving raises this year to anyone. This includes faculty. This is in part to keep the health care benefits we have. Something I appreciate greatly.
The up side, the top level of administration is taking a 5% pay cut to help out. That means a lot to the rest of us.

[Zero Signal]

Chiropractic "doctors" are scam artists.

[Vibecrewangel]

Not if you have chronic migranes.

[Jeanette X]

Originally Posted by Zero Signal

Chiropractic "doctors" are scam artists.

Bullshit. My chiropractor worked wonders with my back.

[AChimp]

Chiropractors practice voodoo medicine. The stuff they do never sticks and you need to see them once a month for the next 15 years.

[Vibecrewangel]

Then I have faith in voodoo.

Once a month for an adjustment or being doped up on meds every day.......guess which one I choose.

Not to mention the x-rays of my neck show an amazing difference. Not surprising since it is where my migranes often begin.

[Zero Signal]

Seeing chiropractors perform on babies only HOURS OLD, shows me just how irresponsible and morally bankrupt these "doctors" are with their "medicine".

Penn & Teller shed light on this scam in their alternative medicine episode of Bullshit!: http://www.showtimeonline.com/ptbs/topics.cfm?topic=am