Gold Dome Live

By geekboy

February 6, 2009 12:15 PM | Link to this

$2 billion would be quickly made up if we quit paying to house illegal immigrants in jail and quit educating their children in our schools.

A third of all inmates at the Gwinnett jail are here illegally. I wonder how many kids in the school system are their children? Another 33 percent?

By dj

February 6, 2009 12:30 PM | Link to this

I think the best way the state / fed can collect the taxes is by doing what my job does - collect the taxes every two weeks. The cash is taken from me every pay period so the companies should send the taxes to the state / federal govt every two weeks.

By Stanley22

February 6, 2009 12:43 PM | Link to this

Eliminate the tax-free holidays.

By malcolm

February 6, 2009 1:02 PM | Link to this

If the Feds would slash corporate tax then firings would stop, hiring would increase, the economy would surge and……tax revenue would rise. It’s not rocket science, JFK, Reagan, Japan all did it and it worked, it’s simple economics.

By TaxHelpPlease

February 6, 2009 1:03 PM | Link to this

The State needs to take a serious look at the number of corporations, businesses, and individuals who owe taxes but are not being made to pay. How many ‘favors’ are being bestowed on this privileged many by our elected officials? Of course, these officials will swear that they aren’t playing favorites, but can we really beleive them? How many of the privileged many are taking advantage of tax credits and exemptions when they rightfully shouldn’t be? It’s time the State started dropping credits and exemptinos instead of allowing more and more every legislative session.

By John

February 6, 2009 1:05 PM | Link to this

By WhenWhen?

February 6, 2009 1:08 PM | Link to this

When is the State going to address the issue of taxing all the illegal immigrants who live and work here? There is a huge cash-only, untaxed, economy in place whose participants only drain State resources and contribute nothing. I understand an across-the-board, tax-everything, State sales tax would hurt poor people, but it would also tap into this huge cash-only economy. Us legal, law-abiding tax payers can only do so much!

By Michael

February 6, 2009 1:15 PM | Link to this

Legalize and tax marijiuana! We will have A LOT more tax money and all feel much better at the same time?

By Lil Milton

February 6, 2009 1:23 PM | Link to this

We may not have a cent to pay the rent But we’re gonna make it, I know we will We may have to eat beans every day But we’re gonna make it, I know we will And if a job is hard to find And we have to stand in the welfare line I’ve got your love and you know you got mine So we’re gonna make it, I know we will

We may not have a home to call our own But we’re gonna make it, I know we will We may have to fight hardships alone But we’re gonna make it, I know we will ‘Cause togetherness brings peace of mind We can’t stay down all the time I’ve got your love and you know you got mine So we’re gonna make it, I know we will

Our car may be old, our two rooms cold But we’re gonna make it, I know we will We may not can spare a roach a crumb But we’re gonna make it, I know we will And if I have to carry ‘round a sign Sayin’ “Help the deaf, the dumb, and the blind” I got your love and you know you got mine So we’re gonna make it, I know we will

We’re gonna make it (We’re gonna make it, we’re gonna make it) We’re gonna make it, baby (We’re gonna make it, we’re gonna make it) It might seem hard sometime (We’re gonna make it, we’re gonna make it) But don’t worry, darlin’ baby (We’re gonna make it, we’re gonna make it) We’re gonna keep on tryin’ (We’re gonna make it, we’re gonna make it)

By PayFairShare

February 6, 2009 1:27 PM | Link to this

Raise income taxes by 1% until the economy improves. It’s the obvious solution but nobody will go there.

By KeepBonus

February 6, 2009 1:39 PM | Link to this

Since the GA Lottery is a private corporation, they should be as free as every other corporation to administer bonuses as they see fit.

In addition to the itemized list in the earlier posting: *cap all State employee salaries to $100K.
*reseind all Legislative perks, raises, and reimbursable expenses awarded during Perdue’s reign. * reduce the number of contract State workers, and set all contract hourly rates to a single, State-wide rate, regarless of experience or job duties.

By OneMoreThing

February 6, 2009 1:41 PM | Link to this

Finally, and most importantly: * send this blog to all of our State House and Senate legislators. None of them would ever dream of reading this blog, much less come up with these suggestions.

By Rip

February 6, 2009 1:41 PM | Link to this

Blame it on the rural folks who control the majority of the votes in state legistlature yet they dont contribute the majority of revenue perspective. Seems backwards, no pun intended.

By FreeLoader

February 6, 2009 1:42 PM | Link to this

How bad does it have to get before the daft legislators will see the problem? We throw out MILLIONS of our precious dollars every year for illegal immigrants - their medical care, their housing, their jailing, their kids to go to OUR schools and bring our educational system to the rock bottom.

Raising taxes is NOT the answer. The answer is STOP WASTING OUR TAX DOLLARS ON UNNECCESARY EXPENSES!

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A FREE LUNCH. I guess that’s true - unless you’re an illegal in Georgia and then everything is free!

By Ted Striker

February 6, 2009 1:44 PM | Link to this

1) Eat the poor.

2) Inform Native Americans they owe back rent for the period of time their ancestors lived in North America prior to being conquered/naturalized.

3) Tax “new” immigrants — in addition to blaming them for all of America’s ills that existed before the new immigrants ever stepped foot on US soil

4) Keep ignoring the fact that the US has created it’s own problems over a period of 230+ years.

5) Criticize anyone who dares speak their mind as “unpatriotic” and “unamerican”. After all, this nation was founded on squashing freedom of speech.

By Fairness

February 6, 2009 1:50 PM | Link to this

By John

February 6, 2009 2:06 PM | Link to this

It’s not the rural folks who are the problem. We never had budget problems as long as people like Tom Murphy were running state government. The problems started when the Republican leadership, which is almost exclusively from metro Atlanta, gained control of the legislature.

By Mike

February 6, 2009 2:13 PM | Link to this

When did the Ga Lottery become a private corporation? If they are, I think we should open the contract to bidding and see if we can get a contractor that can do a better job. I really don’t see the challenge in making money with the only gambling game in town!

By Jaye

February 6, 2009 2:17 PM | Link to this

geekboy, it’s not altogether obvious that you have an agenda of Lou Dobbs proportions. (/sarcasm)

By SoxyGirl

February 6, 2009 2:32 PM | Link to this

Ground Sonny’s Helicopter. Make him take a car to work like everyone else.

By GeorgiaPeach

February 6, 2009 2:39 PM | Link to this

Get rid of the rural, ignorant, envious (Repug) legislatprs and all of Georgia’s problems will be gone with the wind!

By herbK

February 6, 2009 3:08 PM | Link to this

We start by cutting all employees (including ALL politicians) by a minimum of 20%. All state cars are sold. All pork projects are eliminated. IF you are not a citizen, you get NO FREE HEALTH CARE for you, your family, or your kids. Then, all state contracts with ALL VENDORS are renegotiated (a tremendous source of waste) downward, via DOAS. All special no bid/3 bid expenditures are eliminated for all state departments and state agencies. The current pension plans for the older long term ex-state employees must be reduced by a minimum of 20%. This is a start and all of the above could be implemented withing 10 days. Will it hurt? I sure hope so, because if it doesn’t, it won’t work.

By adele

February 6, 2009 3:18 PM | Link to this

“Finally, and most importantly: * send this blog to all of our State House and Senate legislators. None of them would ever dream of reading this blog, much less come up with these suggestions.”

Thank God.

By Silverchief

February 6, 2009 3:19 PM | Link to this

PAyFairShare you must be a Democrat..Raise taxes until the economy improves…You have got to be kidding, do you really think that they will reduce the tax after improvement…not a chance. You want to give them more money to waste.

By Dan

February 6, 2009 3:56 PM | Link to this

This is simply the chickens of the Republican tax policy coming home to roost. Sure, the Dems are heavy on the pork, but think about it, folks - it doesn’t take a wizard to figure it out:

Healthcare gets more expensive every year. Education gets more expensive. Insurance gets more expensive. Inflation Happens But all the Republicans can do is cut taxes, and give big fat tax breaks to their corporate buddies. Meanwhile, our schools are scraping the bottom of the barrel, parks a closing, cops are getting laid off, and people are starving. In tough economic times - demands on public infrastructure increases, ergo so do the costs to the state. What is the option? Without the State’s assistance programs - people will die. Cut the school budgets, again? Really? How stupid do you want your children to be? This will require nothing short of a fundamental shift in thought on the part of the American Citizens. Trickle-down economics do not work. Look around you, Republicans - what you see are the results of following this failed tax-policy. NOW is the time to begin to right the ship. We’ve already cut the fat from the budget. What we are left with are essential services that must be funded through tax increases.

By Raul Duke

February 6, 2009 4:04 PM | Link to this

Cut spending to make up the tax short fall. Any politician suggestting more taxes should be run out of office. We are in for hard times, all government spending should be cut to nothing except for police and firefighters. There maybe soup lines and more sleeping under bridges. So be it, thank the government for that.

By aaron humes

February 6, 2009 4:22 PM | Link to this

rip … talk about STUPID!

Most of the legislature is NOT from low density rural areas.

Representation is based on populations. Guess where most of Georgians live??

By vlscpa

February 6, 2009 5:04 PM | Link to this

My first question, as a CPA, is how much of this collection problem is sales tax withholding or payroll tax withholding (taxes collected from others and not remitted)? That’s the main problem with the Fair Tax, BTW. There are always folks out there collecting and not remitting, and there will be even more when they’re in charge of even more tax. The Fair Tax spreads the responsibility around too much.