San Bernardino, Calif., files for bankruptcy with over $1 billion in debts

San Bernardino, Calif., files for bankruptcy with over $1 billion in debts

bottomline.nb cnews.com

San Bernardino, Calif., filed for bankruptcy protection on Wednesday citing more than $1 billion of debts and making it the third California city to seek protection from creditors. San Bernardino declared a fiscal crisis last month after a report said local government had tapped out its reserves and projected spending would top revenue by $45 million in the fiscal year that began on July 1. In the past two months, the cities of Stockton and Mammoth Lakes have also filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy

(visit the link for the full news article)

"The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money". Margaret Thatcher

Everybody is paying attention to the problems in Europe, but more and more American cities are bankrupt. Many still struggle complaining about declining revenues when the real problem is overspending. Inflated budgets, and even lying about those budgets can only lead to financial troubles. It is time to pay the piper people. Cut spending at all levels of government. It is the only way to begin getting back on track.

bottomline.nb cnews.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Yes, the dollar is collapsing, as is the euro; the West is falling apart and nobody seems to care. I mean what can us citizens really do to mend this situation? We rally together to protest against a gay-hating restaurant chain, but we can't band together to protest our government inability to correctly govern? What's wrong with us? We deserve this collapse because we are not willing to fight it.

reply to post by DarthMuerte

It is time to pay the piper people. Cut spending at all levels of government. It is the only way to begin getting back on track.

That's just it people don't want to pay the piper. Cities and states need tax revenue to run on and as long as you have people crying we don't want to pay taxes then keep looking for more cities to fail.

Also this may not have happened if people weren't falsifying document showing how bad things have been for the past 16 years Somebody needs to go to jail.

A recent report by the city attorney said officials had falsified budget reports to the mayor and council for 13 of the last 16 years, hiding the scale of the city's debt.

Originally posted by buster2010
That's just it people don't want to pay the piper. Cities and states need tax revenue to run on and as long as you have people crying we don't want to pay taxes then keep looking for more cities to fail.

This is an interesting post. What do think is a fair percentage of peoples income that should be taxed? The last thing I want to do is put words in your mouth/writing. If anything I'm interested in clarification of your point.Understand it is somewhat of a loaded question, I make no bones about it. Maybe I'm not understanding what you're inferring.

reply to post by GD21D
Income should not be taxed at all. Punishing a behavior results in altered behavior patterns. If you punish work/productivity by taxing it, you get less people wanting to work and/or be productive. Consumption should be taxed instead. We need to adopt "The Fair Tax"(fairtax.org) and do away with all other taxes.

reply to post by GD21D


I know you didnt direct the Q at me, but id like to suggest 20% is a good number.

no matter what you earn you always pay 20%.

but you have to earn a minimum first before tax kicks in, so students and youth who earn from weekend work dont pay if you get my gist.

Originally posted by buster2010
reply to post by DarthMuerte

 

It is time to pay the piper people. Cut spending at all levels of government. It is the only way to begin getting back on track.

That's just it people don't want to pay the piper. Cities and states need tax revenue to run on and as long as you have people crying we don't want to pay taxes then keep looking for more cities to fail.

Also this may not have happened if people weren't falsifying document showing how bad things have been for the past 16 years Somebody needs to go to jail.

A recent report by the city attorney said officials had falsified budget reports to the mayor and council for 13 of the last 16 years, hiding the scale of the city's debt.

I agree, people need to go to jail, but even without the lying about the budgets they are still bloated and need to be cut. Spending is the problem.

Originally posted by DarthMuerte


"The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money". Margaret Thatcher

Everybody is paying attention to the problems in Europe, but more and more American cities are bankrupt. Many still struggle complaining about declining revenues when the real problem is overspending. Inflated budgets, and even lying about those budgets can only lead to financial troubles. It is time to pay the piper people. Cut spending at all levels of government. It is the only way to begin getting back on track.

bottomline.nb cnews.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

And while you cut spending on social programs, leave the millionaires alone! In fact, why not increase their tax breaks, and let them continue to funnel their wealth out of the states and into tax havens!

Also, lets make sure that small businesses are destroyed by massive corporations that funnel wealth out of communities, paying their employees as little as possible.

The silver bullet here is not to cut social welfare systems or local spending. The result of that is increased poverty, increased homelessness, increased crime, increased health problems, disease outbreaks, damage to infrastructure through fire and flood with an inadequate response... All of these things cost the community more.

The silver bullet here is to FORCE those who refuse to contribute to their community while sucking the wealth out of it to actually pay their fair share.

Why should a corporation be permitted to destroy local small businesses that actually pay back into their communities far more? Why are they allowed to siphon wealth out of the communities in which they operate to tax havens? How does that do anything other than destroy a local economy?

Communities are water-filled buckets with holes in them. Occasionally it rains and adds a little, but those corporate holes are draining far more out than they are putting in. That is the fundamental problem here, and no cuts in social spending will fix that until the holes are plugged.

Originally posted by buster2010
reply to post by DarthMuerte

 

That's just it people don't want to pay the piper. Cities and states need tax revenue to run on and as long as you have people crying we don't want to pay taxes then keep looking for more cities to fail.

Heres the problem, you cannot get blood from a turnip....the biggest reason people dont wanna pay them taxes is they have no money to pay them. When your broke, your broke...and most of the middle class now and days (the ones who flip for the majority of the taxes in the first place) are in fact broke. These are the same people working their butts off to stay off welfare in which they probably wouldnt qualify for in the first place due to not being destitute enough to recieve them.

Its a horrible circle that seems to go round and round. Not enough money to stay affloat, but too much to get any assistance.

reply to post by buster2010


Agreed!!!
If I falsified ANY document I'd be in prison making office furniture for the next 25 to 40 years.
Of course being fat old and mostly broken, I imagine I wouldn't be as attractive as I used to be but...
Sorry got off track there.
Yeah 16 years worth of lying on legal documents deserve some prison time in my opinion.
(Edit)
Amd for the other counties, cities, Etc. tighten your belts and make some cuts at the top, the non worker type cuts.
We need the fire and police but a few administrators should make up that gap.

Originally posted by Agit8dChop
reply to post by GD21D

 

I know you didnt direct the Q at me, but id like to suggest 20% is a good number.

no matter what you earn you always pay 20%.

but you have to earn a minimum first before tax kicks in, so students and youth who earn from weekend work dont pay if you get my gist.

You do understand that just about everyone who works on the books pays well over 20 percent, hence my loaded question.I think people get so caught up in the income tax that they lose sight of all the other taxes we are subjected to. It makes not only the national, but local debts even more confusing to me. Think about this. Now I'm going off memory, but if I remember correctly the average yearly income tax is somewhere around 17.4 percent of generated income. Now let's include sales taxes, excise taxes, fuel taxes, vehicle registration taxes, utility taxes, phone taxes, garbage disposal taxes, ect, ect. I'm just touching on a few. How many really pay attention to how many things get taxed? What is the true percentage of peoples income that gets taxed? 30 percent? 35 percent? 40 percent? I'm not anti tax. I understand that taxes are a necessary evil to sustain government, thus you need government to maintain order, peace, and infrastructure. At what point does it become unfair? Like I've stated before, let's say it's 30 percent. Take an annual salary of $30,000 and subtract 30 percent. That individual is virtually living at a poverty level.

Originally posted by DarthMuerte
reply to post by GD21D

 

Income should not be taxed at all. Punishing a behavior results in altered behavior patterns. If you punish work/productivity by taxing it, you get less people wanting to work and/or be productive. Consumption should be taxed instead. We need to adopt "The Fair Tax"(fairtax.org) and do away with all other taxes.

YES YES YES. Consumption should be taxed, not income. Let people earn what they can but make them pay the price when they want to gorge themselves. It's a simpler solution, and one that would solve a ton of problems. Adjust the rate of taxation to deter the consumption of certain goods, for example things made of non-biodegradable plastics, food that offers little nutritional value, or dancing horses.... (Them dancing horses are good eatin' I hear.)

Originally posted by DarthMuerte

San Bernardino, Calif., files for bankruptcy with over $1 billion in debts

bottomline.nb cnews.com

San Bernardino, Calif., filed for bankruptcy protection on Wednesday citing more than $1 billion of debts and making it the third California city to seek protection from creditors. San Bernardino declared a fiscal crisis last month after a report said local government had tapped out its reserves and projected spending would top revenue by $45 million in the fiscal year that began on July 1. In the past two months, the cities of Stockton and Mammoth Lakes have also filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy

(visit the link for the full news article)

San Bernardino is one of the most corrupt cities and counties in the US. It was the murder capital of the US in the late 90's. The city has been running in the red for 13 of the last 16 years.

It never really recovered from the closure of Norton AFB in the mid 90's.

Originally posted by DarthMuerte
reply to post by GD21D

 

Income should not be taxed at all. Punishing a behavior results in altered behavior patterns. If you punish work/productivity by taxing it, you get less people wanting to work and/or be productive. Consumption should be taxed instead. We need to adopt "The Fair Tax"(fairtax.org) and do away with all other taxes.

We need a fair flat tax percentage for everyone. Also introducing a luxury tax wouldn't hurt either.

Originally posted by buster2010

Originally posted by DarthMuerte
reply to post by GD21D

 

Income should not be taxed at all. Punishing a behavior results in altered behavior patterns. If you punish work/productivity by taxing it, you get less people wanting to work and/or be productive. Consumption should be taxed instead. We need to adopt "The Fair Tax"(fairtax.org) and do away with all other taxes.

We need a fair flat tax percentage for everyone. Also introducing a luxury tax wouldn't hurt either.

I disagree with taxing income or production/work in any form. Punishing productivity is counter productive. Consumption is the issue, especially excessive consumption. That is what needs to be taxed/punished. We should consume only what we truly need. Taxing consumption would automatically reduce it.