From: The Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer
Organizations
Contact: Susan Kniep,
President
Website: http://ctact.org/
Email: fctopresident@aol.com
Telephone: 860-524-6501
Feb 22, 2009
Please
forward to your family, friends and business associates
TAX TALK
FOR
FEBRUARY 22, 2009
As the economy plummets
worldwide and 5 million private sector workers in our country are relegated to
the unemployment line, Connecticuts Democrat-controlled State Legislature has
allowed a multi-million dollar state union contract, with some wage increases
as high as 6%, to become effective!!!!
In January, Governor Rell, unsuccessfully urged our State Legislature to vote NO on
this contract which will cost Connecticut
taxpayers $86 million. http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/86-Million-Contract-Unaffordable.html
. As her
requests were ignored, it is important to note that this contract could set
precedent for future state and local public sector union contracts. Taxpayers in Connecticuts 169 towns pay approximately
85% of their property taxes to support the wages and benefits of Town and Board
of Education employees and retirees.
Contact your State Legislators today http://www.cga.ct.gov/maps/townlist.asp
and urge them to support Governor Rells
proposals to Revise State Binding
Arbitration Laws which will, in turn, allow the Governor to control the States
budget and give your local elected officials the tools they need to control
your property taxes!
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2/21/09 - Gov. Rell Announces Order to
Eliminate Boards and Commissions
2/20/09 - Gov. Rell: Current Budget
Deficit Now at $944 Million
2/19/09 - Gov. Rell Delivers Third Budget
Mitigation Plan to Legislature (Listen)
More - http://www.ct.gov/governorrell/site/default.asp
The
State Legislative Calendar Follows which includes Public Hearing Dates on
Subjects you may be interested in!
..
The following provides insight into what is
transpiring in our world, our country, our state and our towns, the effects of
which are impacting our lives!
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Stimulus Watch
Find Project by State Town http://www.stimuluswatch.org/project/by_state
Projects in Connecticut
The total of
cost of all the projects submitted by Connecticut
is $2,650,247,958
http://www.stimuluswatch.org/project/by_state/CT
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Get ready for a wave of bank
failures, Feb 20, 2009, In
less than two months, regulators have seized 14 banks. Experts think many more
banks will collapse before the financial crisis is over. NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- If it's Friday,
there must be a bank failing somewhere across the country. For six consecutive weeks, industry
regulators have seized control of a bank after the market closed on Friday,
bringing the total number of failed banks so far this year to 14. To put that into perspective, 25 banks failed
in 2008, suggesting that the rate of failures is quickening as the economic
crisis deepens.
"We'll have a banner year [of failures] this
year," said Stuart Greenbaum, retired dean and
professor emeritus at the Olin Business School
at Washington University
in St. Louis. http://money.cnn.com/2009/02/20/news/companies/bank_failures/index.htm?postversion=2009022022
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Dodd: Nationalization Of Banks Might
Be Necessary
Sen. Christopher Dodd sent the already reeling shares of
major U.S.
banks to nearly two-decade lows midday Friday after he said nationalization of
banks might be a necessary step.
http://www.courant.com/business/hcu-doddbanks-0220,0,7362950.story
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Obama aims to cut deficit in half by 2013
By Ross Colvin, Reuters, Feb 21, 2009 WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama wants to slash the ballooning
deficit in half by 2013, U.S. officials said on Saturday, after massively
increasing public spending to stem the worst economic crisis in decades. Obama will outline
his ambitious goal when he hosts a summit at the White House on Monday on
fiscal responsibility and later in the week when his administration presents a
summary of its first budget, for the 2010 fiscal year. With tens of thousands of Americans losing
their jobs in the midst of a global economic meltdown, Obama
has said fixing the U.S.
economy is his top priority. He has acknowledged that his success or failure in
that will define his presidency. http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSTRE51G5X720090221
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NEARLY 5 MILLION AMERICANS
DRAWING JOBLESS BENEFITS, Feb 19, 2009 By Lucia Mutikani
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of U.S. workers
drawing unemployment aid jumped to a record high of nearly 5 million, the
government said on Thursday, as a worsening economy made it increasingly hard
to find jobs. Continued at http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN1949726420090220
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This financial
crisis is now truly global
The financial crisis has
moved from Wall Street to all streets, as the economic shock causes strains and
suffering in every part of the world economy By Adrian
Michaels Last Updated: 9:11PM GMT 20
Feb 2009, Telegraph.co.uk In Florida, a
state devastated by tumbling house prices and repossessions, the inhabitants
are arming themselves against recession, with requests for concealed weapon
permits up 42 per cent in the past 45 days. In Moscow, the murder rate has climbed by 16 per
cent. At Tetsuya's the most exclusive and expensive restaurant in Sydney the waiting list
has shrunk from three months to 24 hours.
Over the past few months, we were told that we were caught in the worst
economic crisis for 20 years, then 30, then 80, then 100. It can't be long
before someone points out that really, all things considered, the Black Death
was comparatively pleasant. But beyond the hyperbole, one thing is clear: what
began as a financial problem in certain debt-soaked nations is battering the
economies of dozens of others, as well as millions of people working in almost
every trade. It will change behaviour and alter the
pecking order of the world's economies. There will be social unrest and changes
of regime. Received wisdom, whether about the benefits of
free trade, globalisation or European integration,
may be cast on to a bonfire of recrimination. Estimates of how long the
pain will last range from a year to a decade. Bring out your dead. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/financialcrisis/4736387/This-financial-crisis-is-now-truly-global.html
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Markets around the world
tumble, FTSE 100 falls
3.2pc and Dow Jones touches 12-year low, while Gold price breaks through $1,000
barrier. By James Quinn in New
York and Yvette Essen in London Last
Updated: 9:43PM GMT 20 Feb 2009 Global stock markets tumbled on Friday as
concerns mounted about the depth of the recession and for the future of the
banking sector. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/markets/4737087/Markets-around-the-world-tumble.html
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Bank Bailout Could Cost Up to
$4 Trillion: Economists
By: Reuters | 29 Jan 2009 | 04:35 PM ET The cost of
restoring confidence in U.S. financial firms may reach $4 trillion if President
Barack Obama moves ahead
with a "bad bank" that buys up souring assets. The
figure far exceeds even the most pessimistic estimates of how great the loan
losses might be because there is so much uncertainty about default rates, which means the government may need to take on a
bigger chunk of bank debt to ease concerns.
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White House stands by private banking as talk of
nationalization surfaces amid deep recession WASHINGTON (AP) The White House on Friday insisted it's not
trying to take over two ailing financial institutions, even as stocks tumbled
again. On Wall Street, talk of nationalization of Citigroup Inc., and Bank of America Corp., prompted investors to
continue to balk, worried that the government would have to take control and
wipe out shareholders in the process.Citigroup fell
20 percent, while Bank of America fell 12 percent in afternoon trading but also
came off their lowest levels.
"This administration continues to strongly believe that a privately held
banking system is the correct way to go, ensuring that they are regulated
sufficiently by this government," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs
said when asked about nationalizing the banks. http://www.courant.com/business/sns-ap-obama-banks,0,6506560.story
Wall Street ends another terrible week; major indexes drop
by more than 6 percent
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Obama tells Treasury to begin cutting taxes Feb 21, 2009, 6:26am EST
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama ordered the U.S. Treasury on Saturday to implement
tax cuts for 95 percent of Americans, fulfilling a campaign pledge he hopes
will help jolt the economy out of recession. Full Article http://www.reuters.com/news/politics
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How Obamas
mortgage relief plan pencils out
Effort has two main parts: One knocks down barriers to
refinancing, the other subsidizes at-risk homeowners By Lisa
Mascaro
Sat, Feb 21, 2009 (2 a.m.)
Washington President Barack Obamas housing recovery plan landed with a thud this week
as skeptics in Southern Nevada doubted it
offered much help to a region where more homeowners are upside down on their
mortgages than anywhere in the nation.
Continued at
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/feb/21/how-obamas-mortgage-relief-plan-pencils-out/
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US SNAPSHOT MORTGAGES WITH
NEGATIVE EQUITY
See Where Connecticut
Ranks
http://www.lasvegassun.com/photos/2009/feb/20/22723/
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Why The
Street Hates Geithner
David Serchuk and Michael Maiello, 02.18.09, 04:00 PM EST
The Forbes.com Investor Team discusses what it would have
done to get the Street stimulated. In
the wake of Timothy Geithner's first major public
address as Secretary of the Treasury and the subsequent rebuke handed to him by
Wall Street, we gathered three members of the Forbes.com Investor Team to try
to figure out where Geithner went wrong
. Geithner "There really is no plan yet, but don't
worry, we'll make it happen, and we have an unlimited budget so we'll take care
of it." http://www.forbes.com/2009/02/18/geithner-treasury-stimulus-intelligent-investing_0218_geithner.html?partner=links
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Lebanon central bank chief
got it right, Riad Toufic Salame bucked pressure in
2005 and kept Lebanese banks from investing in mortgage-backed securities. Now
the sector is prospering amid the global downturn. By Borzou Daragahi February 21, 2009 Reporting from Beirut -- Throughout history, men braved the
odds to perform great feats. Outmatched generals snatched victory from the jaws
of defeat. Titans of industry gambled on bold innovations to reap jackpots.
Athletes tested the limits of human endurance in quests for glory.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fg-lebanon-banker21-2009feb21,0,1982246.story
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Is the New Haven Register, Another Newspaper
Going Out of Business????????
Journal Register files for
bankruptcy protection, cites slumping ad revenue and circulation By Associated Press
11:24 PM EST, February 21, 2009 PHILADELPHIA (AP) The Journal Register Co., publisher of the New Haven (Conn.) Register and other newspapers, filed
for bankruptcy protection Saturday
.http://www.courant.com/business/sns-ap-na-us-journal-register-bankruptcy,0,3631514.story
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