Category: Pennsylvania

Looks like another attempt by the House Democrats to shift my taxes around in ways I don’t like:

The committee approved House Bill 1600, by Rep. David Levdansky, D-Forward. He proposes raising about $2.5 billion by doing three things. He would raise the state sales tax by 0.5 percent (making it 6.5 percent in most counties but 7.5 percent in Allegheny and Philadelphia counties.)

He would also raise the personal income tax rate by .22 percent, to a total of 3.29 percent. Those two moves would take effect July 1. Together they would generate an additional $1.5 billion, to which he would add the expected $1 billion from slots revenue once all 14 casinos are up and running. The resulting $2.5 billion would be used to lower property taxes.

Mr. Levdansky expects such tax shifting will slice several hundred dollars from the average homeowner’s property tax bills. The full House is expected to debate the bill in November.

Several hundred dollars?  That’s it?  The tax increase will cost me a more than that.   Is the concept of cutting spending and using that to cut my property taxes so hard to do?  Maybe if we didn’t have a governor wasting money on things like building soccer stadiums in Chester, we might be able to pull it off.

According to Wyatt our Governor thinks people in Chester share the European love of Soccer, and thinks they are deserving of considerable “Capital-Redevelopment Assistance Program” (read tax dollars) to build a stadium.  I grew up 3 miles outside of Chester, and I’m pretty sure that no one in Delaware County likes soccer enough to make a trip to Chester.

Let me just give you an idea of how bad Chester is.  When I was growing up, it was well known not to enter the city at night, or really during the day either.  Carjackings were not unheard of, and a few folks were dragged out of their cars and beaten for being at the wrong stoplight at the wrong time.

Thanks to PennDOT’s I-95 construction fiasco, I have been forced to drive through Chester on my way back from seeing Bitter on a few occasions.  Normally I just lock the Glock in the case for the whole ride, thanks to the Great State of Maryland, which is most of the transit miles between here in DC.  But when I have to drive through Chester, I make sure to stop at Delaware’s “Lock & Load” (also known as Service) Plaza and crack Mr. Glock out of his case, load it up, and get ready to do the Route 13 bypass at 1:00 in the morning.

Chester actually seems to look a little better these days than I remember it, but it’ll take a lot more than a soccer stadium to turn that city around.  I’d say our governor is smoking crack on this, but it looks to me like a way to pay off his political supporters, rather than something he really expects will make a difference.   A pity we’ll all have to pay for it.

There’s a move afoot to make Pennsylvania an initiative and referendum state, much like California.   No thanks.  I share our founding father’s skepticism of direct democracy.  Most people just don’t have enough information to make informed decisions about government, which is why we have republican government, where we elect people to represent our interests for us.

I don’t exempt myself from this ignorance.  I’ve more than a few times thought something sounded good, until I heard more information about through a legislator.  I much prefer to leave the ugly details to a delegate, than undertake them myself.

Let’s not take Pennsylvania down this road.  I have no desire to live under a state government that allows two wolves and a sheep to decide what’s for lunch.

I’ve said that Ed Rendell has never met a tax he wouldn’t like to raise.  Job killing corporate taxes for Pennsylvania are already among the highest in the nation.   Rendell is proposing a 3% tax on businesses as part of his health care initiative, which would make Pennsylvania and even less attractive place to do business than it already is.

Oh well, at least I don’t live in Michigan.

… I’ve had enough.

I was really surprised by this article in the New York Sun on Pittsburgh’s woes as a city.  Particularly this bit:

Pittsburgh is a cautionary tale for many American cities. It can either go the way of Detroit or become a comeback city like Philadelphia and Baltimore. Its future, as defined by either Mr. Ravenstahl or Mr. DeSantis, could provide a roadmap for how economically depressed cities can recover.

Philadelphia?  Baltimore?  Comeback cities?  Are you kidding?  Pittsburgh folks need to have higher ambitions than this.   The rust belt is a truly depressing place.

I was listening a bit to Cam & Company last night, to see how the NRA National Police Shooting Championships are going.  People in Albuquerque are very proud of their town, and what it’s achieved, and are optimistic about their future, which is the complete opposite of rust belt cities.  They remain proud and forward looking despite the fact that most people in the US have no idea how to spell Albuquerque.  I sure didn’t.   Thank god for spell checkers.

Bitter and I have come to hate Penndot lately, because of adding about an hour delay on the trip between here and DC.  Now she finds that they are probably ruined a potential Turnpike lease deal by not informing the state police there might be foreign men in the area taking pictures.

You know, it’s funny, but since when is taking pictures probable cause for an arrest?  Though, I suspect that stopping for a non-emergency along the Turnpike is a traffic infraction, and our Supreme Court has said you can be arrested for those at the whim of the officer.