Opinion
- Opinion
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CONFER: N.Y. should tax public pensions
New York residents are excluded from paying state taxes on the first $20,000 of their retirement income from private pensions. If they happen to be former government workers, though, things are quite different: Local, state, federal and military retirees don’t pay any state tax at all on their publicly-provided pensions, whether it’s $20,000 or $80,000.
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VALLEY: Let's use last week's headline, here
The headline of last week’s column was “Where do you draw the line?” and this week’s article could very well have been called the same thing. It deals with those gray areas where lines are drawn and how those lines seem suspect when a broader perspective is added to the equation. It sounds confusing but you’ll see what I’m talking about.
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CONFER: Social Security, Medicare really are entitlements
When the issue of cutting America’s two largest and most broken social welfare programs — Social Security and Medicare — was broached during the recent debt ceiling debate, most Americans raised a considerable stink about it. Because of that, reform was never really tabled. It would have been political suicide for any representative or senator that dare force much-needed transformation of how we observe the golden years and peoples’ responsibility to prepare for it.
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VALLEY: Where do you draw the line?
Every year I call the Ministry of Natural Resources Department in Ontario and purchase my Canadian fishing license — an expensive transaction. But I do so because I fish the St. Lawrence River. And as most people are aware, somewhere in the middle of the river is the border that separates the U.S. from the Great White North. And since there’s no visual evidence of said border, I’m never quite sure where I am — country-wise.
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CONFER: Political theater and debt ceiling
I wasn’t among the countless Americans who fell for the political theater when Gabby Giffords cast her “yea” vote for the raising of the debt ceiling. While many couldn’t see through their tears, I could see through the smokescreen and took it for what it was. It was a climactic moment much like you’d find in a Hollywood production and it was just as scripted as one. Washington higher-ups forced her appearance (against all good judgment) and wanted to paint it as something miraculous. By doing so, they were able to frame the debt debate in much the same way.
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CONFER: Tax credits and corporate welfare
While brainstorming ways to overcome the federal debt and future deficits, the U.S. Senate’s Gang of Six came up with the suggestion that American workers give up — either partially or entirely — certain tax exemptions that cover mortgages, health insurance, retirement investing and charitable giving.
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CONFER: Government: A corporation's friend
Countless small businesses like mine devote an incredible amount of time and money to ensuring tax compliance. From internal checks and balances to the utilization of outside accounting firms, we all dot our “I”s and cross our “T”s whilst we record and pay our annual and periodic taxes. Even then, no matter how exacting we may be in the details, it seems like the threat of a federal audit always lingers. The mere mention of the IRS sends chills up a businessperson’s spine.
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CONFER: Overseas tax havens
U.S. corporations evade paying taxes by setting up shop in the Cayman Islands.That has been said so often by so many people that it almost seems to be an urban legend.
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VALLEY: Huckleberry fish hound
A couple of weeks ago I was in my boat fishing in the middle of the St. Lawrence River. The boat is a modest 17-foot craft — I bought it from my friend Ralph. It has fewer bells and whistles than a piece of cheese, but it’s mine and it floats.
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CONFER: The taxation obligation
Long-time readers of this column know that I personally despise federal income taxes. But for as much as I complain about them, I also understand that I have a legal and moral responsibility to pay them. I know that we could not do without constitutionally-authorized expenditures such as national defense.
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