January 3, 2018 8:33 AM
HomePoliticsMorning Reads for the New Year

Morning Reads for the New Year

By  Politics  18 Comments

I’m here to let you know: I’m back to run the show.

“Return of the Mack” by Mark Morrison. 

  1. Johns Lewis and Barrow both give shout-outs to the new Milledgeville mayor. 
  2. Tom Crawford previews the political year ahead. 
  3. Apparently people really want to be mayor of Columbus.
  4. The new Westside Park looks like it will be amazing. 
  5. Atlanta is number 1….again….shocking. 
  6. Sure it was a miniscule and probably irrelevant to the globe’s biodiversity but DAMMIT IT WAS OUR MINISCULE IRRELEVANT SNAIL AND NOW IT IS EXTINCT. 
  7. Allegedly kill someone in Buckhead and it won’t derail you from a hall-of-fame worthy career. 
  8. Allegedly. 
  9. How to offset the SALT deduction cap. 

About Author

edatlanta

18 Comments
  1. John Vestal

    Lara Fowler gives a preview of next Monday’s oral arguments before SCOTUS in the “water wars” between FL-GA. (H/T SCOTUSblog.com)

  2. Dave Bearse

    Good news and bad news this morning. Bill Schuster and GOP toady Orrin Hatch won’t be running for re-election. No worries GOP about neither seat though. Shuster is from a deplorables district, and Hatch’s seat is ready for Romney. Trump is daring Kim Jong-un to launch a nuclear missile. I’d call it juvenile of Trump, but that would insult adolescents.

    And how about Trump being responsible for a 11 months without there being a single fatality on a commercial airliner? Only another 7 years, assuming he stays in office that long, and his record on that count exceed that of the Muslin Negro foreigner that preceded him in office. MAGA.

  3. Noway2016

    Does anyone here understand the Bitcoin craze? And other Bitcoin wannabees? And I’ve never understood buying gold or silver. Unless they are rare coins, all you’re doing is essentially buying bullion and at one helluva premium. Who you gonna sell it to?

    • Benevolus

      No I don’t. But then I don’t understand paying big bucks for a purebred dog or collecting celebrity autographs either.

      • Noway2016

        I’d only do it for a Maine Coon kitten…

  4. Mr. Bear

    RE: The SALT deduction. The suggestion was made that: “Also, companies are still allowed to deduct payroll taxes, so the damage to business would be limited.” Of course not, the extra tax expenditures would simply be just another business cost, passed onto those who are buying the company’s products, no matter which state. So, again, someone living in a low-tax state ends up supporting the high-tax state’s profligate spending. It is another indication of the tax-addicted personalities of certain states. It never occurs to them that they should cut the costs of their operations.

    • Benevolus

      I am tempted to engage on this but I don’t follow you.
      “Of course not” what? Damage to business would not be limited?
      What extra tax expenditure? The story talks about trading one kind of tax for another. I don’t think there is any extra tax expenditure for business. It’s individuals who can’t deduct SALT anymore.
      So in what way are low tax states supporting high tax states?

      • Mr. Bear

        Yes, corporations “pay” taxes in that they send money to governments, but the money itself is a cost of doing business. That is, the money is collected by corporations as part of their general revenues, but from an accounting perspective, the actual dollars came from the customers who bought the corporation’s products. The corporation simply raises their prices to cover the increased costs.

        Of course, this can only go so far, but when you hear someone say “Let’s stick it to the [insert industry name] by increasing their taxes, the outcome is that they’re actually sticking it to the consumers. If the corporations operating in high tax states go to payroll taxes to make up for the SALT revenues, people buying their products in low tax states are inadvertently supporting the high tax state because the SALT related payroll tax is incorporated into the pricing of the products being bought.

        I suppose that this is arcane, and I will grant you that, but it just seems that rather than trying to compete with lower tax states, they revert to taxation related shenanigans. And, high taxes do make a difference; just ask those who are leaving Illinois for other states every day. And those who want to leave Illinois if they could just find someone who would buy their house.

        I think that we take for granted the financial actions of the State of Georgia, which seems to have worked very hard to make for a friendly business environment.

        • Benevolus

          I think you are fighting a different battle than what this story is about.
          The federal government is eliminating a deduction that individuals can take, and state governments are trying to mitigate that tax ‘increase’ for their citizens.
          Payroll taxes are not a cost of doing business for a company. They pay their employees and a percentage goes to the government. If that percentage goes up, more is deducted from the paycheck and sent on to the government. It doesn’t cost the company any more so no reason to raise prices- unless they feel compelled to raise wages to offset the tax increase, which is unlikely.

    • edatlanta

      “So, again, someone living in a low-tax state ends up supporting the high-tax state’s profligate spending. ”
      Yeah….that’s not what happens.

  5. Noway2016

    https://mobile.twitter.com/lohud/status/948646256011825158
    Fire at Clinton’s house. Secret Service is there 24-7. I’ll be curious as to its cause.

    • Ellynn

      When did you start following Twitter?

      • Noway2016

        I don’t. This story just came up on my news site.

  7. Ellynn

    For those worried over my snow bound self…

    I got a little over 1″ of snow, after almost 1/2″ of ice formed on my front parch and steps. My car doors are frozen shut and the mailbox lock is covered in ice. With out any brine or salt tricks, I’m sort of stuck until the sun shines in the morning. The positive it even with a thick coating of ice, there are few power outages. I’m going with the theory the 2 hurricanes in the last 17 month cleared out a lot of the week limbs, plus the loose electrical wires restrung.

    As a comparison, my hometown in WI has 8 briner trucks and can convert all of it’s 26 dump trucks to salt spreaders with snowplows in less then 48 hours. That’s’ more ice control equipment in a city of 40,000ish then what the local news tells me GDOT has for the southern districts. They had to move equipment down from the Macon area. Yes I know it’s the south, it only snows here every 30 years blah, blah, blah… this is not a criticism or a complaint, just showing you how different places have different needs to function on a daily basis. Also different expenses for their governing bodies to cover public safety.

    • ScottNAtlanta

      I’m down in Naples FL and it’s a balmy 48. Flew down with my sister who got out on the last flight from Charleston. You’d think I was in the artic by how they are dressed here

Add a Comment