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Ranzenhofer urges WNYers to rise up against proposed federal tax change

By Howard B. Owens

Press release:

State Senator Michael H. Ranzenhofer today urged New Yorkers to sign his new online petition, rejecting Federal budget proposals that would increase taxes on Western New Yorkers by an average of $2,800. Residents can sign the petition by visiting Senator Ranzenhofer’s Web site, ranzenhofer.nysenate.gov.
 
“If enacted, this federal budget proposal would negatively impact the budgets of thousands of Western New Yorkers. I am urging Western New Yorkers to say NO to a new $2,800 tax increase,” Ranzenhofer said. “It is important for residents to be heard on this issue. By working together, we can send a strong message to Washington that Western New Yorkers are not an ATM machine.”
 
New Federal budget proposals would end a longstanding policy of allowing taxpayers to deduct state and local tax liability, including property taxes, on Federal tax returns. Eliminating the deduction would effectively double tax residents, since residents would be subject to Federal tax on income used to pay state and local taxes.
 
The impact of the proposal in Western New York is estimated to increase tax bills by an average of $2,800 for more than 139,101 residents. Federal tax bills for affected taxpayers would increase by an average of 30 percent.
 
Additional information is available in a report by Governor Cuomo, entitled "Impact on New Yorkers of Federal Tax Proposals," at http://www.governor.ny.gov/assets/documents/Impact-of-Federal-Tax-Proposals.pdf.
Mark Potwora

Maybe this could have the opposite effect and force state and local governments to lower their property and state tax rates... Ranzenhofer and other state officials should be working on ways to get rid of the state tax.. Their are many states have no state tax ...I think getting rid of all federal tax write offs is a fair and good thing...Tax when you spend not on what you make and this is all a mute point..

May 10, 2013, 11:04am Permalink
Robert Brown

One of the problems is the insistence on EVERY level of government focusing on taking a chunk of change from taxpayers (including businesses) instead of focusing on running an efficient government. Just about every layer claims to provide services and even hand out money, but at the end of the day, what goes in does not come back out - government adds overhead and is the most inefficient distribution system on the planet. And that's all it is - taking X dollars in and dolling Y dollars out in cash and services where Y is always always ALWAYS less than X.

And even worse, money that goes to the top level bubbles down in part to the lower levels and likewise money that goes into the lower levels sometimes bubbles down in part to the lowest level. It's an absurd process that no one in their right mind would create or invest in willingly unless of course they were the system controllers and manipulated the redistribution rules in their favor.

And that my friends is exactly why the country is currently run as it is today. Do not for a second think that the United States is this wonderfully magnanimous nation. The PEOPLE in the United States are for the most part some of the most generous and caring people on earth, but the government is nothing but a smoke screen for the manipulators in its current incarnation.

It wasn't always that way.

So, to Mark's point, we need to demand that government at all levels start behaving in a fiscally responsible fashion. That includes eliminating the complexities. That includes eliminating the write-offs at all levels. That includes eliminating property and income taxes. That includes significantly reducing the bureaucracy in place to control and manage the huge money vacuum. Get efficient, get real, and let people help people instead of pretending government does.

May 10, 2013, 11:33am Permalink
Jim Rosenbeck

GCEDC handing out corporate welfare. The city of Batavia raising the assessments of local businesses by up to 400% and the federal government proposing to drop the income tax deduction for state and local tax payments. Somebody please wake up the voters.

May 10, 2013, 1:09pm Permalink
tom hunt

Mark, you live in a dream world if you really think government at any level would or could reduce spending. It is like a one way valve; money flows one way and very little returns the other way.

May 10, 2013, 1:12pm Permalink
Doug Yeomans

Dump the two parties that have cause all the problems. It's time for real change. I recently registered as Libertarian and dumped a decades old affiliation with the Repuglican party.

May 10, 2013, 4:20pm Permalink
Mark Potwora

Congrats Doug..Lets hope more Americans see the light..This so called two party system is really one party system....They both do the same thing nothing changes..R or D..They both represent a government that doesn't work..

May 10, 2013, 9:22pm Permalink
Jim Rosenbeck

Great to hear that Doug! The hope for real change doesn't start within a dysfunctional national duopoly. Good people from both parties are findng that the libertarian message resonates with them. They are tired of the same old rhetoric with no results. Today we have republicans embracing big government spending like democrats and democrats embracing asaults on personal freedom (NDAA, GITMO, Patriot Act) like republicans. All politics begin at the local level. We welcome friends and neighbors into the most exciting political movement happening in our comminity. Check out the Genesee County Libertarian Party on Facebook and attend our first ever county convention on June 8 at the Homestead Event Center in the Batavia City Centre!

May 11, 2013, 7:06am Permalink
Raymond Richardson

But wait a second. It's been reported that for the first time since the Clinton administration, the U.S. has had another surplus. $113 billion in April.

Why would congress think of raising taxes when we're in the black?

May 11, 2013, 8:20am Permalink

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