OT: Sad Day For "815" And ALL Illinoisans
As usual here in Illinois the social service agencies are the first on the chopping block because we have no lobby in Springfield, and don't provide enough monetary compensation for our representatives to give a damn about us.
When agencies asked how to deal with the thousands of people who will be displaced by these cuts, the State's Secretary of the Department of Human Services had no response. The new fiscal year as well as the budget cuts started today.
I want to have my state legislature spend an afternoon in any number of agencies today who are closing their doors and explain to an adult or child suffering from mental illness–self-mutilation, pyromania, dimentia, schizophrenia, bi-polar disorders, sudden onset explosive disorder, anger management etc. that the one place which has been helping them is now closing. That where they have friends is closing. That where they have built a life for themselves is closing.
But our clients are the marginalized, the poor, the ghosts who walk our city streets seen but not heard, acknowledged but not understood, and in most cases roundly ignored and thankfully forgotten by our politicians as soon as they are finished with their photo op at our agencies. They have no lobby and no money and are therefore expendable.
These people will be tossed out onto the streets with no treatment, no help and no options. People will die, and no one seems to care.
over 2 years ago
Chiburb
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can't pay for everything.
such days have been a long time coming for this state, and others. waste money for years and you end up doing things like this.
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I hear you.
We went through the same thing in the 1980-1982 recession (when I was first working with street people), both in Indianapolis and Illinois. It’s all cyclical, yet the “de-institutionalizing” has been going on since the late ’80’s. Get mad, get sad, but get on the bus, because it is what it is.
This is why charities funded by private donations need to be encouraged – yet our Administration is considering reducing/cutting the tax deduction charitable contribution limits. Very counterproductive, but when 95% of people are broke/debt-laden there are few sources of income.
We’re a pack of a-holes.
by rhythm on Apr 14, 2009 1:45 PM EDT
That would essentially be privatizing human services (albeit not-for-profit)
Gates Foundation offers an example of the road we’re going down, and I wish it weren’t the case. The government should be accountable to provide the safety net in this area. To rely on charities and foundations isn’t going to cut it.
We can agree to disagree..
Always bet on black!
by onlysoxfaninboston on Jul 1, 2009 2:59 PM CDT up reply actions
nobody runs a business like the government. fuck it. privatize everything.
Cashing checks and having sex.
I believe you are reading something else into my comments.
I did not say that private donations should replace the governement safety net, I said because the net has way too many large holesthat private donations should be encouraged. Tax deductions/credits are a means of encouragement. Buffett/Gates can do what they want with their well-earned funds, and seem to be doing good work so far, despite your seeming distate.
Right now, most folks are broke, so anyone who able or actually giving money should have every incentive to do so. Altruism is not genetic. It might not even exist (depending upon your philisophy).
We’re a pack of a-holes.
by rhythm on Apr 14, 2009 1:45 PM EDT
yeah, i misinterpreted, thanks for clarifying
when it comes down to buffet/gates, sure they can write have their billion whatever tax write off with the foundation work, but i don’t want the buffet/gates shaping (and possibly dictating) policy with respect to health and human services.
Always bet on black!
by onlysoxfaninboston on Jul 2, 2009 12:34 PM CDT up reply actions
What the hell do you think the govt. does?
You’d rather have our Congressional bozos do it? Fer Chrissakes, I’ll take Buffett’s and Gates’ track record over effing Barney Frank and Ted Stevens.
We’re a pack of a-holes.
by rhythm on Apr 14, 2009 1:45 PM EDT
for health and human services
yes…
Always bet on black!
by onlysoxfaninboston on Jul 2, 2009 1:30 PM CDT up reply actions
let them both do it.
competition is good.
White Sox Minor League Updates: http://twitter.com/SouthSidelarry
Right on, WU
I just took my first tax course in Marquette’s accounting program… holy shit, talk about a clusterfuck of legislation. I took a (perverse) pleasure in pointing out very subtle intricacies where I could see special interests had their hands in shaping how the code was written.
If I’m reading this correctly the average state is going to spend >$30 billion on the oh so effective war on drugs this year, yet something like this gets cut? Are you fucking kidding me?
(I’ll also note, WU, the (again perverse) hilarity of your second paragraph — the folks in Washington always complaining about losing jobs overseas. How ‘bout cutting corporate taxes? Oh no no no no no, can’t do that not a solution nope no way no how.)
The amount that we spend jailing non violent drug offenders
Is out of control… get rid of that and it would put quite a dent in the deficit we are in right now.
Wave that flag.... Wave it wide and high.. Summertime... Done come and gone, My oh my
yes
it certainly is out of control
The greatest trick the White Sox ever pulled was convincing their fan base that "Ozzieball" ever existed.
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No, they actually want to do the opposite
and raise corporate taxes by taxing every $ made overseas. It is absurd. You want jobs staying in the U.S.? You have to actually compete with your competition (i.e. foreign countries). When foreign countries are offering long term tax breaks for setting up mftg plants in their countries and the US response is to raise those same taxes . . . well, what the hell do you think is going to happen?
"I can picture in my mind a world without war, a world without hate. And I can picture us attacking that world, because they'd never expect it."
maybe this is just my own experience
but i don’t really hear companies talking about tax rates as a primary concern for such things. labor costs are the primary concern. while there are certain countries that are attractive in terms of tax rates overall, companies are often concerned with whether such rates will actually remain in effect as “promised” due to a variety of reasons. in addition to uncertainty, there are added costs with operating in foreign markets. while taxes and other sweeteners can mitigate such things, i’m not sure i believe (most) companies when they whine about taxes being such a paramount concern to them.
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Especially since many corporations don't actually pay taxes.
And on the original topic, the last #s I saw showed that the average Federal cost per taxpayer on ‘safety nets for the poor’ was $400. The average cost for corporate welfare was $1400.
"It's better to be an optimist who is sometimes wrong than a pessimist who is always right"
but "corporate welfare"
also serves the purpose, perhaps in a roundabout way (i’ll leave that to others) of being a safety net, as well, since not all of that money lines the pockets of the rich and at least some of that money goes to keeping people employed. rather the point of the tax and other incentives (including not paying taxes) given to corporation is to keep/attract jobs.
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Indeed, there are reasons for it. And some would argue that the disparity is too great.
But not me now. I have a train to catch.
"It's better to be an optimist who is sometimes wrong than a pessimist who is always right"
That is not the experience in my world
big concern and is a huge reason we have tax rates well below industry/large corporation averages . . . huge driver of profitability . . . we have tax ‘haven’ mftg plants set up in numerous countries throughout the world . . . and while some are in cheaper wage countries . . . many are not.
"I can picture in my mind a world without war, a world without hate. And I can picture us attacking that world, because they'd never expect it."
who is "we" in that first sentence?
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the company that I am
so privileged to work for.
"I can picture in my mind a world without war, a world without hate. And I can picture us attacking that world, because they'd never expect it."
ah.
well, there are different reasons for different companies. but the large corporations – who are blessed, i believe, with being “multi-nationals” – already know how to do the ole income-shifting shuffle. my point is that i don’t believe that the US loses manufacturing jobs – or, quite frankly, very many other types of jobs – because of taxes. if you strip out all the garbage tax rebates, incentives, whatever and include all the creative tax work done, the US’ tax rate is far lower than the rate that gets thrown around by lobbyists and much more competitive with the rest of the world.
i’ll certainly concede that there are companies that perhaps are not structured to take advantage of income shifting and the like. but the primary driver is labor costs (and, let’s not forget, lax environmental standards) for moving jobs overseas.
White Sox Minor League Updates: http://twitter.com/SouthSidelarry
There is no doubt
that the marginal rate is very high in the US and the effective rate is significantly lower . . . which makes it more competitive than often advertised, but still higher than most. And maybe more importantly, we USED to have a significantly lower effective marginal tax rate than most of the world . . . just 15-20 years ago that was the case. But, while the rest of the world has continued to lower their rates, the US has largely left it untouched. So, the US has gone from the place to be, from a corporate tax standpoint, to no better than, if not worse, most of its major competition. And as you point out, when you factor labor costs on top of that, it is not surprising you see jobs going overseas. Tax rates are a factor though, there is no question about that.
There are a lot factors that go into choosing mftg facilities, but taxes are a significant factor . . . labor costs are one as well. I mean we have 0-2% tax rates in the majority of our mftg facility locations. When 2 to 2.5B of your profits are rolling through those facilities . . . it doesnt take a math major to see the enormous benefit that provides to the bottom line. For example, we dont have plants in Ireland and Switzerland based on labor costs. The same for PR . . . while there are marginally lower labor costs there, it isn’t as big a difference as you might think.
"I can picture in my mind a world without war, a world without hate. And I can picture us attacking that world, because they'd never expect it."
People do not have enough to give right now
Plenty of private agencies operate in Illinois, plenty are also shutting down right now because of these recent events.
Its great that people donate and all, but most non-profits need that grant money.
Wave that flag.... Wave it wide and high.. Summertime... Done come and gone, My oh my
the state need to save money
move the entire state to single-payer
The greatest trick the White Sox ever pulled was convincing their fan base that "Ozzieball" ever existed.
White Sox news, Minor Leagues updates and more
Thanks for writing this
I appreciate it. I really have no clue what is going to happen.
Wave that flag.... Wave it wide and high.. Summertime... Done come and gone, My oh my
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