NY’s proposes 18% tax on iPods, Sodas, Cars, Clothes and more

ALBANY - Gov. Paterson’s proposed $121 billion budget hits New Yorkers in their iPods - and nickels-and-dimes them in lots of other places, too.

Trying to close a $15.4 billion budget gap, Paterson called for 88 new fees and a host of other taxes, including an “iPod tax” that taxes the sale of downloaded music and other “digitally delivered entertainment services.”

“We’re going to have to take some extreme measures,” Paterson said Tuesday after unveiling the slash-and-burn budget.

The proposal, which needs legislative approval, did not include broad-based income tax increases, but relied on smaller ones to raise $4.1 billion from cash-strapped New Yorkers.

Movie tickets, taxi rides, soda, beer, wine, cigars and massages would be taxed under Paterson’s proposal. It also extends sales taxes to cable and satellite TV services and removes the tax exemption for clothes costing less than $110.

“The governor is nickel-and-diming working class families,” said Ron Deutsch, executive director of New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness, an advocacy group.

State Conservative Party Chairman Michael Long warned that reinstating the sales tax on clothing and shoes will drive people to New Jersey, where they will also gas up their cars and pick up their wine, spirits and soda because the prices are less due to lower taxes. “You’re sending notice to the people of New York that we really don’t want you here,” Long said. “The governor proposed flat spending, but why not actually cut the budget before raising taxes and fees?”

Paterson’s 2009-10 budget proposal represents only a 1% increase in total spending from this year’s budget - the smallest increase in a dozen years. It also calls for:

• A 3.3%, or $698 million, reduction in school aid.
• $3.5 billion in health care savings, including reductions in payments to hospitals and nursing homes.
• Video slot machines at Belmont Park, more multistate lottery games and expanded hours for the state’s Quick Draw lottery game.
• Layoffs for 521 state workers and the elimination of seven state agencies.

“This is where we are,” Paterson told reporters. “Maybe we should have thought about this when we were depending on what we thought was inexhaustive collections of taxes from Wall Street - and now those taxes have fallen off a cliff.”

Paterson aides say the budget represents a net gain for New York City, but Mayor Bloomberg wasn’t buying it. He said it could cost the city more than $1 billion, including a $600 million reduction in school aid.

“I don’t know that 100% of it is going to go the classroom, but a large percentage of any reduction we get from the state will go to the classroom,” Bloomberg said. “That will mean larger class sizes and fewer services.”

Education and health care advocates also blasted Paterson’s budget and urged state lawmakers to increase income taxes on wealthy New Yorkers to offset the cuts.

“We will be fighting this tooth and nail. We think it is irresponsible to make this level of cuts and not ask the wealthiest New Yorkers to help ease the pain,” said Billy Easton, executive director of the Alliance for Quality Education.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who supports a so-called millionaire tax, has said he’d “rather have a broad-based tax than nickel-and-dime” people.

Still, Silver (D-Manhattan) Tuesday indicated major cuts are in store. “Everything the governor has proposed is on the table,” he said.

Republican lawmakers expressed concern with the tax and fee increases.

“Instead of raising taxes, we need to be reducing them,” said Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco (R-Schenectady).

Paterson did not rule out income tax increases but said spending reductions are the priority. He also defended the fee and sales tax increases, saying they would be less harmful to the state’s economy.

“If you start taxing at times when [revenues are] receding, you’ll drive job creators out of the state,” Paterson said.

Additional items the state is considering raising fees and taxes on:

• An “iPod tax” that charges state and local sales tax for “digitally delivered entertainment services” - in other words, that new Beyonce song you download.
• State sales tax at movie theaters, sporting events, taxis, buses, limousines and cable and satellite TV and radio.
• Costlier driving with the repeal of the 8-cents-per-gallon sales tax cap on motor and diesel motor fuel, plus and increase in the auto rental tax.
• Tuition increases at SUNY and CUNY, $620 and $600 a year respectively.
• A 50 cent tax on cigars. The current tax is equal to 37% of the wholesale price, or 34 cents a cigar.
• No more sales tax break on clothes and shoes worth $110 or less, except during two weeks a year.
• Higher taxes on wine, beer and flavored malt beverages. He would also impose an 18% tax on non-nutritional drinks like soda.
• The rich would pay more for luxury items through an additional 5% tax imposed on cars costing more than $60,000, aircraft costing more than $500,000, yachts costing at least $200,000 and jewelry and furs costing in excess of $20,000.
• In addition, a host of a fees, including those related to motor vehicle licensing and registration, parks and auto insurance, would go up, as would various state-imposed fines.

klovett@nydailynews.com

With Kathleen Lucadamo

MAYOR ANNOUNCES PLANS TO READY CITY FOR DAVIS CUP MATCH, MARCH 2009

United States Tennis Association officials today confirmed it will hold its first-round tie of the Davis Cup in Birmingham March 2009 as Mayor Larry P. Langford readies the Magic City for the historic match.

“We were sworn to secrecy for many months now but now I guess the secret’s out,” Mayor Langford said. “I’ve been working on this deal for some time and yesterday met with members of the City Council to enlist its help in preparing the streets of downtown for a massive makeover in advance of the game.”

The repaving campaign, which will include 26 miles of streets in the city’s central core, will be presented at next week’s City Council meeting. The mayor will propose spending $11.6 million dollars to repave the streets that will include the BJCC, the Civil Rights District and Linn Park, to name a few.

Birmingham will host the first-round Davis Cup match featuring the United States against Switzerland March 6-8. The game will be played at the Birmingham Jefferson Civic Center. A news conference is slated for later today at 1 p.m. at the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame.

“When I announced plans that Birmingham was going after the Olympics, this is exactly the kind of outcome I expected — for the City of Birmingham to be taken seriously as a real contender for big ticket sporting events,” Mayor Langford said.

“We beat out San Antonio, Las Vegas and Greenville, S.C. and that is no small accomplishment. The reality is if we take ourselves seriously, others will take notice.”

The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men’s tennis. Expected to play at the match in March are James Blake, Andy Roddick and Roger Federer.The largest annual international team competition in sport, the Davis Cup is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested between teams of players from competing countries in a knock-out format. The competition began in 1900 as a challenge between the United States and Great Britain.

 

City of Birmingham’s Division of Youth Services Joins the National CARES Mentoring Movement

The City of Birmingham Mayor’s Office-Division of Youth Services (DYS) has joined the National CARES Mentoring Movement (NCMM).  To celebrate National Mentoring Month, DYS will host the Birmingham CARES Mentoring Fair on January 10, 2009 at the Boutwell Auditorium, from 10:00am – 2:00pm.

This FREE event is designed to promote the spirit of giving back to Birmingham’s youth throughout the year. Youth attendees will be connected to local mentoring organizations and adults will be encouraged to get involved by signing up to become mentors.

By joining the National CARES Mentoring Movement, DYS has become a part of a coalition of trusted national, business, community, and government leaders who are committed to working together to solve the escalating crisis among our youth.  To help us achieve this goal, a wide variety of organizations will be represented at the Mentoring Fair, including Girls, Inc., the Birmingham Police Department-Be Who You Want to Be Program, 100 Black Men of Birmingham-Mentoring the 100 Way, YouthServe, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Promoting Uplifting Life Lessons for Girls, Impact Counseling-Mentoring Children of Prisoners, and many other organizations.

For more information about the Birmingham CARES Mentoring Fair, contact DYS Executive Director Cedric Sparks or DYS Public Information Officer, Beverly Meadows, at 320-0879.

Kanye West - 808’s and Heartbreak Review

When I first heard about Kanye West’s new album I was skeptical and somewhat disappointed and also a little concerned. Skeptical because one of my favorite artists, one who I attributed to genius status has chosen to follow the newest and tired cliché trend in hip-hop to forgo innovative wordplay for a robot machine and become another rapper turn sanger. Disappointed because we were promised a collection of albums in a series… the next being Good Ass Job. And concerned because I thought that he may have finally lost his mind or was finding it hard to work while still grieving the tragic loss of his mother. But then I realized that, this is Kanye West I was talking about. And hate it or love it Kanye is a genius and in his grief and insanity he delivered a great album that as he calls it is not hip-hop but a work of pop art. Well almost…

Say You Will: Kanye croons over a haunting but inviting melody that just screams REMIX. And while he contends that this album is not hip-hop but pop art, I could hear a rapper going in on this beat. Check out Drake’s more than dope rendition here. The song in itself is tells the story of love and loss but the lyrics also convey a deeper frustration that being in love can cause. When I grab your neck/I touch your soul.

Welcome To Heartbreak: One of my favorites and a standout track on the album. The production on this is solid, a very complex beat, with the keys and the drums coming in at exactly the right moments. And while Kanye’s lyrics about the things that are missing from life, and that all the money and the fame can’t compensate for it, ‘my friend showed my pictures of his kids/and all I could show him was pictures of my cribs.’ Adding to this piece is a powerful hook by Kid CuDi adding something extra special that brings the track to life.

Heartless: This is one for the clubs even if he didn’t mean it to be. But while listening to it I can’t help but imagine a line of sorority girls with their pinky’s in the air doing synchronized dances around the floor. The track is good in that it’s catchy and has a steady melody but in my opinion can be overlooked in the rotation.

Amazing: This is the closest that Kanye has to rapping on this album also ironically the track where the auto tune effect is most pronounced. It’s the standard Kanye braggadocio I’m the best, I’m a genius and so forth. But moreover it’s the man telling his audience that even though some of you don’t like me, I know that I’m great. And no matter what you’ll never take that from me… The additional verse from Jeezy doesn’t really add anything to the track but it is a nice departure from the auto tune enhanced singing.

Love Lockdown: The track that started the love/hate controversy, and made people look at Ye sideways. I actually loved it when I first heard it live on the VMA’s mainly because at that particular time I was actually going through the same situation he’s describes in the song. The lyrics are powerful and delivered with great intensity made more better by the steady and continuous thumping of the simulated heart beat and tribal drums making this track standout.

Paranoid: Another favorite on the album, partly because it’s so fun. Everyone can relate to the lyrics about the paranoid partner that is constantly worried about something being wrong instead of what’s right. It’s very catchy and you may find yourself unconsciously singing along to it. Hopefully alone in the car.

Robocop: Well they can’t all be winners. This in my opinion is the dud of the album. The one that I find myself skipping to get on to the next track. The Coldplayesque beat and dead lyrics don’t do anything for me and I don’t see how it really fits into the overall theme of the album. It sounds like it should have just been left on the cutting room floor.

Streetlights: By far my favorite track on the album but it’s so solemn that it kind of hard to listen too. Sort of like when I was younger and listening to REM but couldn’t do it in excess because it was just so damn depressing. Yeah that’s what it reminds me of. The emotion that is expressed in this song is so powerful and the feeling that it evokes and gets amplified by the background choir. The images that come to mind when listening are beautiful, and again I can see why Ye calls this pop art.

Bad News: I don’t really know how to describe this one. It begins very suddenly and feels more like an interlude than an actual feature. Lyrically Kanye is very solemn in his delivery and sounds as if it was sang with a lot of hurt. The production is beautiful and plays out like a symphony concert rising in tempo and then it slowly going down until it fades away.

See You In My Nightmares: The obligatory featuring Lil’ Wayne track that appears on almost every album that has been released this year. Of course he too makes use of the auto tune enhancement. And you would think that the two together would be overkill but they both blend very well together on the track. The flow and the delivery is spot on and Weezy and Jeezy made a surprisingly good ballad together.

Coldest Winter: Another favorite but a very sad piece in which Kanye pays tribute and eulogizes his mother. Again a song that is delivered with an understandable feeling of pain, it’s a very heartfelt song and the highlight of the album. The melody is poignant and hypnotic and the ups and down in tempo draws the listener deeper into the song. I wish more artists were as this passionate about their music.

I give this album 6 out of 7 headnods. 808’s and Heartbreaks may not end up being the master work of art that Kanye wanted it to be it is still a very solid and beautiful album. It show’s his progression as an artist and that he’s not afraid of stepping outside and perhaps compromising himself at expense of his fan base. Those that appreciate good art and good music will love this and with the exception of a couple missteps one that will definitely get repeat listens. This is one to place in your collection.

*Head Nod Scale

1=Don’t waste your time like I did mine.
2=Waste your time like I did mine but I dare you to disagree.
3=Well, there was the single.
4=If it were a hand in spades there’s “two and a possible”.
5=It’s a “good” album. Meaning at least 3 or 4 solid songs.
6=Really Good Project. Has the “Rewind Factor” more than once.
7=The number of completion. Great Album. Instant Classic

Recession? Depression? What’s the difference?

What’s a recession? How do we know if we’re in one?

There is an old joke among economists that states:

A recession is when your neighbor loses his job.

A depression is when you lose your job.

The difference between the two terms is not very well understood for one simple reason: There is not a universally agreed upon definition. If you ask 100 different economists to define the terms recession and depression, you would get at least 100 different answers. I will try to summarize both terms and explain the differences between them in a way that almost all economists could agree with.

Recession: The Newspaper Definition

The standard newspaper definition of a recession is a decline in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for two or more consecutive quarters.

This definition is unpopular with most economists for two main reasons. First, this definition does not take into consideration changes in other variables. For example this definition ignores any changes in the unemployment rate or consumer confidence. Second, by using quarterly data this definition makes it difficult to pinpoint when a recession begins or ends. This means that a recession that lasts ten months or less may go undetected.

Recession: The BCDC Definition

The Business Cycle Dating Committee at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) provides a better way to find out if there is a recession is taking place. This committee determines the amount of business activity in the economy by looking at things like employment, industrial production, real income and wholesale-retail sales. They define a recession as the time when business activity has reached its peak and starts to fall until the time when business activity bottoms out. When the business activity starts to rise again it is called an expansionary period. By this definition, the average recession lasts about a year.

Depression

Before the Great Depression of the 1930s any downturn in economic activity was referred to as a depression. The term recession was developed in this period to differentiate periods like the 1930s from smaller economic declines that occurred in 1910 and 1913. This leads to the simple definition of a depression as a recession that lasts longer and has a larger decline in business activity.

The Difference

So how can we tell the difference between a recession and a depression? A good rule of thumb for determining the difference between a recession and a depression is to look at the changes in GNP. A depression is any economic downturn where real GDP declines by more than 10 percent. A recession is an economic downturn that is less severe.

By this yardstick, the last depression in the United States was from May 1937 to June 1938, where real GDP declined by 18.2 percent. If we use this method then the Great Depression of the 1930s can be seen as two separate events: an incredibly severe depression lasting from August 1929 to March 1933 where real GDP declined by almost 33 percent, a period of recovery, then another less severe depression of 1937-38. The United States hasn’t had anything even close to a depression in the post-war period. The worst recession in the last 60 years was from November 1973 to March 1975, where real GDP fell by 4.9 percent. Countries such as Finland and Indonesia have suffered depressions in recent memory using this definition.

Now you should be able to determine the difference between a recession and a depression without resorting to the poor humor of the dismal scientists.

- By Mike Moffatt, About

Foreclosure or Not?

1 of Fantasia’s homes in NC is up for auction

By MIKE BAKER

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — “American Idol” winner Fantasia Barrino is again finding that, like the title of her autobiography, life is not a fairy tale.

Court documents obtained Tuesday show one of Barrino’s houses in Charlotte is up for auction after a company said Barrino failed to repay money it loaned her to cover her taxes in 2006.

The Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office is scheduled to sell the home, valued at $1.1 million, in January. The home isn’t in foreclosure, but rather is being used to compensate the company that loaned Barrino money to cover taxes.

Barrino, whose autobiography is titled “Life is Not a Fairy Tale,” has rapidly ascended to stardom after winning the third season of “American Idol” in 2004.

A single mother and high school dropout from High Point, located in central North Carolina, Barrino has released two albums and debuted on Broadway playing the lead role of Celie in the musical version of “The Color Purple.” She also is nominated for a Grammy for “I’m His Only Woman,” a song she performs with fellow “American Idol” alumna and Academy Award winning actress Jennifer Hudson.

Even if January’s sale proceeds, Barrino still has a house in Charlotte. The soul singer has a $529,000 home a couple miles from the one scheduled for sale in south Charlotte.

Larry Goldman, a Charlotte-based attorney representing the Florida company that made the loan, said he hopes Barrino will pay the judgment before the home goes to auction on Jan. 12.

“It seems like a huge waste of time and resources, and puts her home at risk,” Goldman said. “I can’t imagine that somebody is not advising her that it would be expedient to write a check and not have to deal with all the ramifications of having her home sold.”

He said the two sides had contact when the complaint was initially served in January, but he’s had no formal contact since then. Goldman said he decided to go after Barrino’s larger home because it appeared to be her place of residence.

Fantasia’s record label, J Records, had no comment.

Court documents show that Broward Energy Partners agreed to pay more than $68,000 of Barrino’s taxes in October 2006. The company said Barrino eventually repaid $10,000 of the loan. The company later sued for full compensation, but Barrino failed to appear in court to defend the lawsuit.

A judge agreed in October to allow Broward Energy Partners to recover the money from Barrino, plus 8 percent interest and court costs. That was an estimated $65,541 in September, according to the court documents.

Sgt. J.W. England, supervisor of civil judgments with the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office, said Tuesday that deputies tried to contact Barrino by both mail and in person.

“Her people never got in contact with us,” England said. “We could have gone in another direction if she would have communicated with us. I hope it doesn’t go to that extreme. We’re hoping she’ll pay this thing and we’ll be out of the picture.”

Associated Press writer Mitch Weiss contributed to this report from Charlotte.

Got Food? DYS to provide food to needy Birmingham families

City of Birmingham’s Division of Youth Services Giving Away

FREE Nonperishable Food Items to Families in Need

 

 

(Birmingham, AL) – The City of Birmingham’s Division of Youth Services is donating nonperishable food items to Birmingham families as a part of our Youth First Holiday Campaign “Feed the Need” Project.

The distribution process will start on Tuesday, December 9, 2008. Supplies are limited and all food donations will be distributed on a first come/first serve basis. Birmingham families that are interested in receiving assistance should contact DYS at 320-0879 for additional details.

For more information about the “Feed the Need” Project, contact DYS Executive Director Cedric Sparks or DYS Public Information Officer, Beverly Meadows, at 320-0879.

FREE Tickets to SWAC Championship Game

City of Birmingham’s Division of Youth Services Giving Away

FREE SWAC Football Championship Tickets to Local Youth Service Organizations

(Birmingham, AL) – On Saturday, December 13, 2008, Jackson State University and Grambling State will face-off at Legion Field Stadium for the 10th Annual SWAC Football Championship, and the City of Birmingham’s Division of Youth Services has the ticket!

DYS is offering FREE game day tickets to local 501(c)(3) youth service organizations for their program participants who are under the age of 12 years old. Tickets will be available in increments of 50 per organization and will be distributed on a first come/ first serve basis. Organizations interested in obtaining tickets should contact DYS at 320-0879 for more information.  All tickets must be picked up from the DYS office no later than 4:00pm on Friday, December 12, 2008.  The DYS office is located at 808 North 18th Street, in downtown Birmingham.

For more information about the ticket giveaway, contact DYS Executive Director Cedric Sparks or DYS Public Information Officer, Beverly Meadows, at 320-0879.

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DeShawn Snow of the Real Housewives of Atlanta to visit Birmingham

Agency Helping with Utility Bills

I read about an agency assisting with utility bills this season. Here´s
the information to pass on. According to the article, the agency is
expecting to have $7 million available, and had $3 million dollars
available last year.

To make an appointment, please contact:
The Community Action Agency
589 Bessemer Super Hwy (Midfield)
Phone Number: 497-6591

Bring the following with you to your appointment:
-Documentation of income
-Size of the household
-Utility Bill
-Public assistance documentation ( if applicable )
-Health endangerment documentation ( if applicable )
Individuals will not receive checks. Funds are paid directly
to the utility company.

UPDATE: No more applications accepted until January 5th. But you can still call for an application!

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