Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations

A special thank you to Kathleen Mitchell orkenizer44@aol.com of New London for forwarding the following important links which illustrate who received contracts or free money from the Feds.� Also check out Item 4 � US Census Release.�

http://fedspending.org/�� �
http://www.fedspending.org/aboutdata.php
Grants Recipient Report (FAADS data)�
US Census Press Releases

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****REMINDER****

The following announcement is from Brian Freeman of the Federalist Society

THE PUBLIC IS INVITED TO ATTEND THE

DEBATE � Thursday, October 19, 2006 from 12 noon to 1:30 pm on��

Fixing a Broken Immigration System:� National Security, Migration, and Jobs.�

State Capitol, Hartford - Old Appropriations Room (Rm. 310)

Free and open to the public - complimentary lunch served

RSVP:�� Brian Freeman, bfreeman@rc.com

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$$$$ PUBLIC PENSION FUNDS $$$$

UNFUNDED RETIREMENT BENEFITS TO COST

AMERICANS BILLIONS OF DOLLARS

FCTO extends a sincere appreciation to Arthur Landry, ALandry@cfund.org , of Wilton for forwarding these two MUST READ editorials.��

Another huge debt, Thursday, October 12, 2006, Copyright � 2006 Republican-American - A lot of people know, but few people seem to care about the huge unfunded liabilities that public pension funds have amassed. Standard and Poor's pegs the difference between expected assets and projected costs over the next 30 years at $285 billion. Connecticut's share is estimated at more than $12 billion.� But that giant IOU is dwarfed by the coming bill for government retirees' medical, dental, vision and life insurance. J.P. Morgan Chase and Co. says the present value of unfunded, non-pension benefits is as much as $1.3 trillion. This debt is coming to light only because of the Government Accounting Standards Board's new accounting rules, which will require governments to disclose by 2008 the projected costs of its promised pensions and benefits. Connecticut has yet to disclose its data, but the Center for Government Analysis said California's bill alone for its 2.3 million active and retired employees could be more than $200 billion through 2036, plus $100 billion in unfunded pension liabilities. The entire 2006-07 state budget is only $131.4 billion.�� If Connecticut's predicament is comparable -- New York's, Massachusetts' and Maryland's are -- then its liabilities could exceed $36 billion, more than double its annual budget.� States are in this leaky boat because of decades of shady political deals. Faithless public officials in collusion with public-employee unions back-loaded contracts to avert tax increases. They ensured their re-election but gave little thought to the massive fiscal problems they were creating for future mayors, governors or legislatures.�� Soon, taxpayers will have a better idea how much they actually owe and then can estimate how high taxes will have to be raised and how deeply services will have to be cut to pay the debt. In the interim, it behooves governments at all levels to do more to limit the growth of health-care and pension liabilities so that this fiscal disaster doesn't go on into perpetuity.

A $2-Trillion Fiscal Hole -- By Chris Edwards and Jagadeesh Gokhale - October 12, 2006; Page A18 Wall Street Journal -� State and local governments are amassing huge obligations in the form of unfunded retirement benefits for their workers. Aside from underfunded pension plans, governments have also run up large obligations from their retiree health plans. While a new Governmental Accounting Standards Board rule will kick in next year and reveal exactly how large this problem is, we estimate that retiree health benefits are a $1.4 trillion fiscal time bomb.� The new GASB regulations will require accrual accounting of state and local retiree health benefits, thus revealing to taxpayers the true costs of the large bureaucracies that they fund. We reviewed unfunded health costs across 16 states and 11 local governments that have made actuarial estimates, and found an average accrued liability per covered worker of $135,000. Multiplying that by the number of covered state and local employees in the country yields a total unfunded obligation of $1.4 trillion -- twice the reported underfunding in state and local pension plans at $700 billion.� To put these costs in context, consider the explicit net debt of state and local governments. According to the Federal Reserve Board, state and local credit market debt has risen rapidly in recent years, from $313 billion in 2001 to $568 billion in 2005. But unfunded obligations from state and local pension and retiree health plans -- about $2 trillion -- are still more than three times this net debt amount.�� The key problem is that the great majority of state and local governments finance their retiree health benefits on a pay-as-you-go basis. In coming years that will create pressure to raise taxes as Baby Boomers age and government employees retire in droves. New Jersey's accrued unfunded obligations in its retiree health plan now stand at $20 billion, and the overall costs of its employee health plan are expected to grow at 18% annually for the next four years.�� To compound the problem, defined-benefit pension and retirement health plans are much more common and generous in the public sector than the private sector. Out of 15.9 million state and local workers, about 65% are covered under retirement health plans, compared to just 24% of workers in large firms in the private sector.�� The prospect of funding $2 trillion of obligations with higher taxes is frightening, especially when you consider that state politicians would be imposing them on the same income base as federal politicians trying to finance massive shortfalls in Social Security and Medicare. Hopefully, most state policy makers appreciate that hiking taxes in today's highly competitive global economy is a losing proposition.�� The only good options are to cut benefits and move state and local retirement plans to a pre-funded basis with personal savings plans. Two states, Alaska and Michigan, have moved to savings-based (defined-contribution) pension plans for their new employees. Alaska has also implemented a health-care plan for new state employees, which includes high-deductible insurance and a Health Savings Account. Expect to see more states following Alaska's lead.� State and local governments also need to cut retirement benefits, which were greatly expanded during the 1990s boom. From a fairness perspective, cutting benefits especially of younger workers is reasonable given the generosity of state and local plans. Federal data shows that state and local governments spend an average of $3.91 per hour worked on employee health benefits, compared to $1.72 in the private sector.�� Underfunded -- or more accurately, over-promised -- retirement plans for state and local workers have created a $2 trillion fiscal hole. Every year that policy makers put off the tough decisions, the hole gets bigger. Hopefully, the new GASB rules will prompt them to enact the reforms needed to avert job-destroying tax increases on the next generation.�� Mr. Edwards is tax policy director at the Cato Institute. Mr. Gokhale is a senior fellow at Cato and a former senior economic adviser to the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.

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Rell would revive plan to eliminate car taxes if elected
WTNH - New Haven,CT,USA
3, 2006 11:00 PM) _ If Governor Rell wins next month's election, she plans to resurrect her plan to eliminate local property taxes on motor vehicles. ...
See all stories on this topic

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Bill O�Keefe, OKYOBILL@AOL.COM , Tolland, CT

Re: The Bush Administration's Expanded Anti - Terrorism Activities

September 21, 2006

Bill�s editorials frequently appear in the Journal Inquirer.� We appreciate Bill sharing one of his most recent editorials with us.

Patriot Act of 2001 vs. The Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798

The Bush administration, supposedly acting under the sanctions of the Patriot Act, publicly attacks anybody who dissents with their �warrant less� methods of fighting terrorism. Among those attacked, are those �disgraceful,� �un-American,� members of the print media. The administration says �un-patriotic� articles, aid our country�s enemies.

The administration�s various secretive and repressive anti-terrorism methods, result in a fundamental shift in governmental accountability; they greatly increase the government�s police powers; and they create basic civil liberties violations over which the public has little direct control.

�In the case of the media, such orchestrated attacks represent a determined, governmental policy of intimidation, which is tantamount to official governmental censorship of a free press, and a violation of the Constitutionally guaranteed right of free speech.

Over two hundred years ago our government enacted laws that cancelled basic Constitutionally guaranteed civil rights and liberties. These laws were known as the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798.

The Alien Act, among other things, granted the president the legal right to expel any foreigner he considered �dangerous�.

The Sedition Act passed by the Federalist Congress was the more dangerous of the two. It made any �False� writing against the government, Congress, or the President, or any attempt to stir up sedition against them, crimes punishable by fines and imprisonment. However, its real and obvious intent was to stifle the Republican press. (Not Today�s Republicans.)

In 1798, there were no formal political parties. Rather, the government was comprised of factions, or groups of individuals, such as the President, John Adams a Federalist, or Republicans such as Jefferson, and Madison.

Thomas Jefferson, while Vice President, summarized his opposition to the alien and Sedition Acts, saying that, �he stood- for freedom of the press, and against all violations of the constitution to silence by force and not by reason the complaints or criticisms, just or unjust, of our citizens against the conduct of their agents�.

Elected President in 1800, Jefferson freed all charged under the � Sedition Law�. He stated his actions were motivated by, �the obligations of an oath to protect the Constitution, violated by an unauthorized act of Congress.�

Who will take Jefferson�s place today in declaring the current administrations violations of our civil liberties unconstitutional? Bill O�Keefe

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From:� Judy Aron, imjfaron@sbcglobal.net

Subject:� West Hartford Taxpayers Association Elects New Leadership

West Hartford Taxpayers Association Meeting�

�November 15, 2006, 7:30 PM

Town Hall, Room 400�

The West Hartford Taxpayers Association elected a new president and treasurer. Thomas Guzzo was voted in unanimously as the new president of the Taxpayers Association, with Deborah Buckley as treasurer. A major issue on the minds of all assembled was the impending revaluation of property, and the upcoming budget cycle.

The October 2006 grand list will be used to do the 2007 town wide property re-valuation.� Fair market values of homes in West Hartford were quoted as having risen as much as 40% and will ultimately affect how much taxes each homeowner will pay after revaluation occurs.� Tax assessment is based on 70% of the fair market value of property.� A letter was included in the town's last tax bill, and is available on the West Hartford Town website, which indicates assessment time tables and when appeals can be made prior to April 2007 when the Town Council will be applying a new budget and mill rate to the new property assessments.�� The WHTA feels that not enough information has been given to the public to outline issues regarding revaluation, as well as the items that will most likely be included in the upcoming budget. The WHTA will be working to make information available to the public.� The WHTA urges every property owner to review the data on their property assessment and to make sure that their records are correct.� Letters with new valuations are expected to be mailed out soon, this fall by the town.� You can contact� the assessment office at Town Hall at 860-561-7414, if you would like more information.� The next meeting for the WHTA will be November 15, 2006, at Town Hall in room 400 at 7:30 pm. The October meeting included a presentation by Assessor Joanne Ferraresso CCMA II, from the tax assessors office. The WHTA urges every concerned resident to attend these meetings.� For more information, please contact Tom Guzzo at 860-206-1043, or write to West Hartford Taxpayer's Association at PO Box 270201, West Hartford, 06127-0201, or email at TomGuzzo@cs.com

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Crooks hijack online brokerage accounts

Spyware used to steal account details then liquidate, manipulate stocks, SEC says.� October 13 2006: 3:14 PM EDT� WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- High-tech crooks are hijacking online brokerage accounts using spyware and operating from remote locations, sometimes in Eastern Europe, U.S. market regulators said on Friday. http://money.cnn.com/2006/10/13/news/online_banking.reut/index.htm?postversion=2006101315

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