STILL THINK WE NEED A GAS TAX?
Earlier this week we dropped a bombshell on the Palmetto political universe when we reported that the state’s financial advisors were going to certify $1 billion in new money.
Well guess what … it’s actually $1.2 billion in new money.
The amounts certified this week by the S.C. Board of Economic Advisors (BEA) included roughly $750 million in new, unrestricted recurring money – or money that’s available to be spent on anything lawmakers want. On top of that is $500 million in new one-time money – which lawmakers can also apply to whatever priorities they wish.
That’s a whopping seventeen percent increase.
Now … did your income grow by seventeen percent last year? Um, no. It did not.
Anyway, we’d been told the agency was certifying $1 billion – roughly $350 in new recurring money and $650 million in new one-time money. The difference in the first total, according to our sources, is that lawmakers previously applied $400 million in recurring funding to pay for a one-time grant to county governments for road repairs.
However it’s classified, all $1.2 billion of the new revenue is part of the state’s general fund – which is one of three pots of money that comprise the larger state spending plan. Last year the general fund totaled approximately $7 billion – to which lawmakers added $8.3 billion in federal funds (i.e. “manna from heaven”) and $9.4 billion in “other funds” (i.e. monies generated from hundreds of different fees and fines assessed on the people of South Carolina).
Oh, they also spent $1.5 billion on food stamps (although that money was taken off the books by lawmakers last year).
Add it all up at the current state budget – which began on July 1, 2015 and runs through June 30, 2016 – is roughly $26 billion. These projections would indicate the FY 2016-17 budget will be at least $27.2 billion – another increase of more than a billion dollars from the previous year.
This wave of new money should help blunt legislative momentum to raise the state’s gas tax. In fact in a government that confined itself to core functions, such a windfall would kickstart a movement for tax relief.
But that’s not the sort of government we have in South Carolina …
Still, all this new cash will make it much harder for the tax hikers.
Additionally, as we noted in our previous coverage, the mainstream media in the Palmetto State has finally awakened to the rampant corruption in road funding. Additionally, a national advocacy group signaled its intention to remain engaged in the debate – arguing against new taxes.
All of this is good news for taxpayers …
83 comments
man oh man, this gonna be like giving a 100 dolor bill to a crack head.
Yeah, and all I want is an Obamaphone, an EBT card and a state credit card with no limit.
you do know the “obamaphone” is not funded with tax dollars
I don’t care who pays for it, it is free, I want one.
If you make $15,890 or less a year OR you participate in SNAP, Medicaid, SSI, Free Lunch program, Low income energy help program or live in section 8 housing – then you qualify.
Thanks, I appreciate the info, but I was just kidding to make a point.
http://www.freegovernmentcellphones.net/faq/obama-phone
Is the government giving out free cell phones?
Yes. This part is true. They fund low end cell phones plans, and offset some of the cost of landline phones. The programs that authorize the phone distribution program are called Lifeline Assistance and Lifeline Link-Up. Lifeline Assistance helps pay monthly phone bills and Lifeline Link-Up helps pay the initial outlay for the phone and installation. The two programs are often lumped together and simply called Lifeline.
“Not so Fast,” Stumpie, read the explanation of the tax in an article at Forbes.
Thought I had read something to this effect a few years back.
The phone companies actually collect the tax, which the federal government mandated. Just a mere slight-of-hand by the Feds to keep the people fooled.
It may not be an “Obamaphone, but the taxpayers are still funding the program through the “USF on our phone bill..
Taxpayers do pay for coverage but not via federal income taxes. Instead, the Act “mandated the creation of the universal service fund (USF) into which all telecommunications providers are required to contribute a percentage of their interstate and international end-user telecommunications revenues.” So that little fee on your phone bill labeled USF? That’s what you’re paying for.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/2012/09/28/crazy-for-obama-phones-but-are-they-for-real/
ok, i’ll buy that, i got my info from a pretty good source but i’m not stubborn
http://www.factcheck.org/2009/10/the-obama-phone/
hats off to you and Taz by not opening up with “you stupid lying son of a bitch” at least you two know how to act when there is a disagreement.
Yeah, Thanks, keeping it civil is not that hard.
So many disagreements here go into the dumper with name calling and personal attacks. I usually abandon the thread when it gets to that point.
A difference of opinion is just that, nothing more.
Thanks again.
Fees/Taxes. Is the money any less gone out of your pocket?
Thanks, you are absolutely correct. Please see my reference to the Forbes article.
The Reagan thing is a complete canard as well. In the 80s it was deemed cruel and unusual for a home not to have phone service for emergencies. That has bastardized into a handful of O phones for every ghetto and trailer park dweller. Remember the stink when the WH wanted to start sending out “public service announcements”, Chairman Mao style?
Yeah, Good point, the program really began to flourish under Obama.
I certainly don’t remember any Bush phones! No Bush phone, but I had my “little gold/black book”. ;-) Seems archaic now, at least I wasn’t making booty calls on a candlestick.
Bush expanded it to prepaid cell phones due to what happened during Hurricane Katrina. Cell phone providers took advantage of it and there was a lot of fraud and waste. Believe Congress intervened in 2012 or 2013 and cleaned it up.
And you have a link to that, and a chart showing federal payments by year? Something tells me that would show something remarkable right around the year 2009 for some reason…..
No chart link. I can only relate what I’ve read. In 2005 Bush made them available to everyone effected by Hurricane Katrina. Then in 2008 he expanded it to everyone that qualified for the Lifeline program. I did find this 2012 CNN article about Congress getting involved-
The FCC implemented anti-fraud measures earlier this year, requiring subscribers to prove their eligibility, canceling service if the phone is not used for 60 days, and preventing individuals from having multiple phones. The agency says it canceled 800,000 duplicate contracts and expects to save $200 million this year.
Is the government giving out free cell phones?
Yes. This part is true. They fund low end cell phones plans, and offset some of the cost of landline phones. The programs that authorize the phone distribution program are called Lifeline Assistance and Lifeline Link-Up. Lifeline Assistance helps pay monthly phone bills and Lifeline Link-Up helps pay the initial outlay for the phone and installation. The two programs are often lumped together and simply called Lifeline.
http://www.freegovernmentcellphones.net/faq/obama-phone
You mean the Reagan-Clinton-Bush-Obama phone?
The truth about those phones doesn’t matter. Neither does the fact that nobody knows of anyone at all who really has one. They just keep repeating the shit they are programmed to repeat.
I know several people who use an “Obamaphone.”
I know over 100 that use Reagan phones.
Good for you, at least you won’t be lonely, you can always give them a call.
They are real. the two closest convenience stores to me advertise them. Plus YouTube has videos of people with purses/pockets full of O phones.
“Still, all this new cash will make it much harder for the tax hikers.”
Sadly, no it won’t.
Did we ever pay back that loan for extended unemployment insurance?
Yes, and unemployment withholdings tax has been reduced by, I believe, 17%. 977 million was paid back and a required emergency fund is being built up.
By the way Fitsnews has written several stories critical of the debt which was at a maximum two months after Haley took office and has continued to decline since. It is a positive story of good government: Finding jobs for the unemployed, reducing fraud etc.. That’s why you’ll never see Fitsnews write about it.
See top link under “News answer Information” at the right of this website. http://www.sces.org/
“It is a positive story of good government”
Good government? “Fixing” a problem it created in the first place is “good government”?
“Finding jobs for the unemployed, reducing fraud etc.”
Government does not create jobs. If someone can’t find themselves a job I posit that a government “finding” them one is going to make matters worse.
As far as fraud goes, are you referring to government agency fraud or unemployed workers fraudulently collecting benefits from an inept government that steals it from businesses to start?
The unemployment insurance program in SC is supposed to be an insurance program with the fund paid by the employers.
Haley took hundreds of millions of dollars from the General Fund…that is right, the General Fund…and paid the debt down.
it was probably illegal if not unconstitutional. But since Leatherman and Harrell were OK doing it, it happened.
The taxpayer got screwed. Big business got relief. And not one media person gave a damn.
Employment insurance in SC no longer exist.
Tell that to the 17,363 people receiving benefits now.
http://www.oui.doleta.gov/unemploy/claims.asp
You are right. I got fired a few months back, took 2 weeks to find a job. Applied for unemployment and was denied. The manager said I disrespected him with a text message. We used to text each other all the time and poke fun at each other, he was able to single out some of those text messages to make me look bad and won. I will say they are on the employer side, R that OK?
Could you not use his text replies to prove your point “of poking fun”?
I had erased them not even thinking about it.
The problems in the insurance fund occurred under the libertarian administration of Sanford. 223 million was paid by general funds, but 754 million was paid by higher unemployment tax, higher employment numbers and lower unemployment payments (fewer weeks and fewer unemployed).
There were 70,000 unemployment recipients when Haley took office. Just before the flood, there were 15,000.
What about a Tax Rebate. It’s our money. the government just took too much.
Yeah, “the government” being a lot of the “Republicans” you support, along with their Dem cronies, you total fraud.
Where does the Democrat Party get fuckers this stupid? …LMAO….
TIP: If you remained silent, no one would know.
It is just inherent in the political philosophy.
One last thing before i have to go. Have you seen where the Cops just figured out that Mohammed didn’t stab those kids over study group issues? Seems he had radical religious beliefs. :-0
I am not familiar with that. Where is the story?
You pulling my leg?
Front page FOX
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/11/10/uc-merced-stabber-had-isis-flag-among-his-belongings-report-says/
They changed it for the Debate.
Thanks for sticking around, I was beginning to think I was alone till you showed up.
Marines have your back.
Watch out…FITS, who has already convicted Dr. Ben Carson…will blast your ass if you don’t give (confessed) radical, child-murdering Jihadist Due Process…THEY have rights (even if Republicans are guilty, no matter what REALITY says)…. (:
Is it any wonder we’re in this mess…with Dumbasses like that voting?…and influencing the stupid who follow him…
Yeah, Thanks for reminding of that story. Just checked it out. Seems the cops arrested the Muslim student for stabbing four students, but declared the crime had nothing to do with the muslin religion. really bizarre situation. Authorities these days are are bending over backwards to call these “Muslim hit jobs” just an average crime. We are not facing up to the problem with Islam and the attendant problems.
That is the Progressives trying to keep the heat off the POTUS for the ridiculously stupid stuff like making “clock boy” a celebrity and terms like “workplace violence”. No, instead our biggest threats are uneducated, overall wearing, bumpkins with a shotgun and a dislike of black folks. While I find their thought patterns disturbingly sickening I don’t see anywhere close to the same action level as those who want to relive the 7th century.
We’re all over the USA. That’s why we will beat your ass in 2016. I told ya “20 years”.
The multi-voters won’t risk jail for Hillary. Not to mention: Obama had the Voter Integrity Laws delayed until after the 2012, election….and remember what happened in 2014…LMAO…
Your run of corruption, and hate of America, is over.
Actually it hasn’t started. Hillary will re-educate you.
All the lawsuits and fines, ( If ‘we pay them ) plus what we owe. We can put the “Nikki Haley” thing as a “Federal Reformer”.
These fuckers have cut state employees agencies and retirees for years. …thats why there is such surplus…..give the state employees and retirees a desent cost of living raise instead of big bonuses to the loyal sucubues.
Can the state lose damage lawsuits and have to pay over DHEC’s negligence with dam inspections and safety?
That may take some big chunk of money, though it would take a while to play out?
Fortunately or maybe miraculously DHEC didn’t seem to be mixed up in the Columbia Canal dike failure. That was negligence or incompetence on the part of the canal operators.
Should DHEC be responsible for damage of a 500-year flood? What about a 1000-year flood? We use to call these “Acts of God”
What makes you think there was any 1000-year flood?
Should DHEC be responsible for not enforcing against dam safety violations they cited for year after year after year on the same dams?
http://www.cnbc.com/2015/10/05/1000-year-flood-hyperbole-or-hard-science.html
The person cited is responsible for getting into compliance. The fact that they were cited indicates they were at least partially doing their job. Their enforcement powers could be limited by statute. Also, engineers may have signed off that they were in compliance and we’re found not to be at a later time.
I was told a few days ago that one now-failed dam’s serious deficiency was cited first well over 30 years ago.
It will be hard to spin that one favorably.
We are incredibly lucky that the canal operator’s incompetence or negligence was aside a roaring river–i.e., it added little, comparatively–and also not upstream of any houses or businesses.
Their enforcement powers could be limited by statute.
…………..
Or not. Especially if not even attempted.
Also, engineers may have signed off that they were in compliance and we’re found not to be at a later time.
………….
Year after year, or at least inspection after inspection. Or so I was told by a person in position to know.
http://www.cnbc.com/2015/10/05/1000-year-flood-hyperbole-or-hard-science.html
Hyperbole. Relates to rainfall anyway, not the flood.
they should be responsible for insuring there are proper measures in place to relieve pressure on the dams.
Thumper, would it ever cross your mind to have a portrait of yourself with Jesus smiling putting a hand on your shoulder? this is not a gotcha question, carson scares me. to even conceive a portrait like that reeks of too much pride to me. i worry if world events get beyond the scope of his understanding and he gets over his head, he will think to himself, Jesus sent me and it is time for armaggedon and he launches nukes.
As I was reading your post, Jesus laughed and patted me on the shoulder, but he was not visible, so sorry no photograph. If Carson was honest, he would also tell about the swift kicks in the butt. Such stories would not influence my vote favorably any, but I don’t hold it against him either.
i want to drill down on this, is Jesus always with you or does he pat you on the shoulder when you are good and spank you when you are bad? i have never gotten a pat on the shoulder but Jesus is always with me.
The brain is very interesting organ. It can create experiences that have only happened in your mind. This ability seems to be by design/evolution. It must have a purpose and important purpose. We like to think we are rational, but these irrational abilities seem to be vital to our survival. I choose to embrace it. I believe that it is important to a person’s psychological health that they do.
I have not had supernatural experiences, but I have had experiences that I couldn’t explain.
oh you have, they call it luck, God gives you what you need, it ain’t luck.
I have had preminitions, but not any that would give me any advantage in dealing with others or lottery numbers, but they did prepare me to face difficulty. A phone call that you know beforehand is bad news etc… even approaching the phone before it rang.
little miracle tonight, i felt you are a fellow believer, we had this chance to talk,IN HERE, take care i’m gonna watch the debate so at least i have first hand knowledge of it when i raise hell in the morning.
niters
The more I know about the candidates, the more I’m disappointed. I’ll pass, it is too early in the campaign.
Did God build the dams?
If we are going to allow people to build dams that put other people at risk of death, there needs to be regulation and follow-up on whether the regulations are working.
Sanford/Haley, every DHEC board member that they appointed and agency heads the board (ha) appointed, every budget writing legislator who had a part in eviscerating the DHEC dam inspection program for years – you have read about that, right?
It would be nice if they all could be held personally responsible to some degree for their abject failure in protecting the health and safety of the people in the flood zone of each of those dams.
They could make monthly payments. I would be happy with that.
But, accountability will be hard to find. I have not heard of one ‘journalist’ asking Sanford/Haley, the DHEC board members of the last 15 years, the past DHEC heads, like Templeton, or the legislators on the committees with DHEC oversight and budget writing responsibilities about whether they were asleep at the switch…because they really were.
I haven’t read of any deaths or injuries caused by dam failures. 12 drownings, 7 in traffic accidents. All were out in vehicles. Failed bridges are responsible for more death and injury. Dam inspecters have been increased since 2005. A failure to close roads or people going arround barricades seems to be the biggest cause of death and injury.
No deaths occurred in homes, which is often the case with catastrophic dam failure.
Even when dams fail, if designed properly they are designed not to fail catastrophically, endangering life.
2400 dams in South Carolina, one third of the state declared a disaster area and 36 dams failed.
Ask the worthless middle management at DHEC that eviscerated the program and always gets away with ‘we didn’t have enough money” excuse Ask why those dams that were inspected and found lacking never had any enforcement for the repairs, sometimes for decades! Ask why the DHEC enforcement people failed time and again at their job.
People, we have a $21 billion pension liability and it is growing at $1.5 billion a year. We must start paying it down. If we don’t it is going to force spending cuts in every area of our government. it will cost us our credit rating and we will all pay the increased cost of borrowing.
Don’t let the tax and spend crowd avoid this issue. Don’t let them raise taxes and spend money, then make us pay the pension debt a couple of years after they fleece us with their pet projects.
The pension liability is our biggest debt. Pay it first or watch the state swivel up and die.
Agreed. Pay it now or pay twice as much later. Doesn’t take a genius to figure this out.
Hey, guess what,speaking of roads, there is a crack in the road which takes you over the L. M. dam.
Let’s hope Hugh doesn’t PISS it away.
Is this like our public school districts — they intentionally over-tax us year-after-year so they can build up these huge reserves… then spend it like they want?
Obama is a dick sucking, nigger Muslim!
Thank you, Rep. Wilson, for participating and so ably reflecting the will and desires of your constituency.