Working In Tbilisi

We tax all the others and pass the revenue on to you

I'm in Georgia -- the Tbilisi one, not the Atlanta one -- for a 4-week gig with an EU tax project. I haven't kept up my blog and I won't be regular (in more ways than one) until I get home later this month. Keep checking back, though. I'll try not to ignore my responsibilities here.

There was a war here last August. If you'd like to read a story about it, check THIS one out.

OK, back to the traces.

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Mortgagedfuture.com takes an interesting view of the fiscal debacle in California HERE. S/he opines that California's massive debt has accrued to support unreasonable spending plans that amounted to a "super stimulous" program... and it has been a colossal failure. They offer it as a bad example to our stimulous gurus. CA can't borrow any more money. Now what? No one knows. More and more people and unprotected entities (hello Trinity County) are getting RWs instead of payments. You remember RWs from previous mention here, don't you? RWs promise a 5% interest rate but where's that going to come from, and when?

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And remember our discussion about revenue vs. fairness? Turns out, the richest 400 Americans paid more in inflation-adjusted dollars after Tax Cuts for the Rich (TCFR) than they did before them. Thanks, Bloomberg. TCFR equals more tax revenue. You know, like Mr. Reagan and Mr. Bush promised... and proved. Can we agree that tax increases for the rich might mean less revenue?

NancyP wants to roll back TCFR, of course. I just can't remember why. There's a good reason the president is holding off on his promise to eliminate TCFR. He needs the money and he needs it now. Get it, Nancy? Ask Arnold how well his spending packages have worked so far, and how well his RWs are going over with Californians. Poor Californians.

Can't anyone here play this game? -- Casey Stengel