Can Pennsylvania Recall Gov. Tom Corbett?

**eldondre** · 10-15-2012, 07:45 PM

Originally Posted by Naveen

Part of having a functioning democracy is allowing everyone to have their say. Shouting down people you disagree with is wrong and something most people don't support. It was disgusting when the Tea Partiers did it during the town hall meetings of 2009, and it's pretty disgusting now.

As Adam says, protest what you are against -- that's almost your duty as a citizen. But to disrupt a public gathering? What does that accomplish except making your side look like jackasses? You end up doing your own cause a disservice most of the time, IMO.

democracy eludes philadelphia
Senate passes part two of prison reform | PennLive.com

**thoth** · 10-16-2012, 11:31 AM

Originally Posted by eldondre

democracy eludes philadelphia
Senate passes part two of prison reform | PennLive.com

I don't get it.

**Gio7707** · 10-19-2012, 02:02 PM

Fracking Pollution Sickens Pennsylvania Families, Environmental Group Says

Rates of symptoms since drilling began generally went up the closer people lived to gas facilities, according to the survey. Children averaged 19 health problems, with throat irritation and severe headaches topping the list.

"The health effects are the biggest uncertainty with this issue. There's almost no information about it," said Jackson, whose research has found some evidence for elevated levels of gases such as methane in water supplies close to gas wells. "That doesn't mean there are huge health effects. We just don't know."

Some recent studies have offered hints. Earlier this year, researchers suggested that average birth weights may drop and peoples' exposure to known carcinogens may rise close to natural gas development sites.

Another study found animals living near fracking wells suffered serious health effects. (The McIntyres' dog suddenly died around the same time they began to be sickened by what they believe is their water.)

"Public health has not been invited to the table yet," Brink said, referring to the relatively "new industry."

**bootsywannabe** · 10-19-2012, 02:54 PM

Hey how's that Occupy stuff going any way Gio?

Wasn't that supposed to be the Democrats big answer for this election - blame everything on those greedy corporations!

Oops, looks like that didn't work too well.

**Gio7707** · 10-19-2012, 04:19 PM

WELL AND ALIVE ...

**bootsywannabe** · 10-19-2012, 05:29 PM

Oh sure burning and looting small businesses, and sucking up police resources are great acts of community service we need more of here in Philly, again.

Occupy Oakland has turned into Obliterate Oakland

**Gio7707** · 10-25-2012, 11:35 PM

and another nice action from our governor ....

PA law would make workers pay taxes to their boss | Philadelphia City Paper | 10/24/2012

Republican Governor Tom Corbett is deciding whether or not to sign legislation that would require some workers to pay taxes to their bosses. Yes, you read that right. The bill, which would allow companies that hire at least 250 new workers in the state to keep 95-percent of the workers' withheld income tax, is an effort to to recruit Oracle to the state.

Your taxes would get withheld by your boss like normal, but they would then keep them and spend it on private jets or monogrammed bathroom fixtures or whatever instead of turning them over to the state--turning your tax dollars over to the state being the whole reason they were ostensibly "withheld" in the first place.

In some sense making workers pay taxes directly to their boss is just cutting out the middleman: lavish corporate welfare in the form of taxpayer subsidies to business is the norm. States fall over each other in a rush to make themselves look the most appealing--meaning low taxes and wages alongside weak labor and environmental protection--and then sweeten the deal with specially-tailored giveaways to lure specific companies (see Corbett's $1.6 billion tax credit to Shell oil).

A spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi (R-Delaware) told The Inquirer, which ran this very under-covered story on their front page yesterday, that the measure is "another tool for the state to attract quality jobs." State Sen. Jim Ferlo (D-Allegheny), however, complained that it amounted to "waylaying those employees' wages, almost akin to Jesse James robbing a bank, and we're going to put it back in the pockets of one company, in one locale, in one county, in one job site."

**eldondre** · 10-25-2012, 11:52 PM

it would appear that both ferlo and pileggi are idiots, or politicians, whichever you prefer.

**mixiboi** · 10-25-2012, 11:59 PM

Wait, wait, so the workers still pay taxes, but the taxes instead going to the good of the community, it goes to the company that is paying you in the first place and then making your check smaller by taking said taxes that they don't have to pay..ever?

**BarryG** · 10-26-2012, 12:03 AM

Originally Posted by mixiboi

Wait, wait, so the workers still pay taxes, but the taxes instead going to the good of the community, it goes to the company that is paying you in the first place and then making your check smaller by taking said taxes that they don't have to pay..ever?

Workers still pay taxes but the corp gets tax credits, keeping withholding is just the mechanism for the credit. It's no different than any other tax credit.

**eldondre** · 10-26-2012, 08:12 AM

Originally Posted by mixiboi

Wait, wait, so the workers still pay taxes, but the taxes instead going to the good of the community, it goes to the company that is paying you in the first place and then making your check smaller by taking said taxes that they don't have to pay..ever?

BarryG is right, and the claim that the taxes would have gone to the "good of the community" is dubious at best. corbett can't please some people. the real problem with it is it's still trying to buy jobs instead of making the state a better place to do business. you can't buy a prosperous state whether you're ed rendell dumping tax dollars into the convention center or corbett throwing money at big companies like shell and oracle.PA still has the highest CNI and it still has an unresponsive bureaucracy.

**eldondre** · 10-26-2012, 08:26 AM

speak of the devil

Among the bills is one that received little attention when approved along with the tax code and state budget in June. It establishes a single factor — sales — for calculating corporate income taxes. Before, the state based net income taxes on sales, property and payroll....single sales factor “is really important to members of the Pittsburgh Technology Council,”...House Majority Leader Mike Turzai, R-Bradford Woods, said the move becomes a tax reduction for Pennsylvania employers. The state would collect about $12 million less in 2012-13 and $48 million less when it is fully phased in, but Turzai said more jobs as a result — and more Pennsylvanians paying taxes — would make up for that.
“Instead of taxing companies for having assets here or employing people here, which is the way it’s been done in the past, we are solely focusing on the business activity,” Turzai said.

Read more: Corporate net income tax cut, *other legislation favor business | TribLIVE
Follow us: @triblive on Twitter | triblive on Facebook
the only one against this change in the article is from Philadelphia
this is one change that needs to happen, much like cuts to the capital stock tax. penalizing companies for maintaining a presence in your state is not the right way to tax

**raider.adam** · 10-26-2012, 08:49 AM

Originally Posted by BarryG

Workers still pay taxes but the corp gets tax credits, keeping withholding is just the mechanism for the credit. It's no different than any other tax credit.

Originally Posted by eldondre

BarryG is right, and the claim that the taxes would have gone to the "good of the community" is dubious at best. corbett can't please some people. the real problem with it is it's still trying to buy jobs instead of making the state a better place to do business. you can't buy a prosperous state whether you're ed rendell dumping tax dollars into the convention center or corbett throwing money at big companies like shell and oracle.PA still has the highest CNI and it still has an unresponsive bureaucracy.

Correct. It's just an efficient way of handling the tax credits. Instead of giving the money to the state and the state giving it back, they have the money stay there and just report it.

**mixiboi** · 10-26-2012, 07:28 PM

The money stays where? Not in the workers checks....That is the rub. I guess I'd be ok since I only have this job because they aren't giving the taxes to the state, but still...its coming out of my check.

Eh, its all moot until those jobs come and stay...

**raider.adam** · 10-26-2012, 07:53 PM

Originally Posted by mixiboi

The money stays where? Not in the workers checks....That is the rub. I guess I'd be ok since I only have this job because they aren't giving the taxes to the state, but still...its coming out of my check.

Eh, its all moot until those jobs come and stay...

The tax credit is coming out of your check anyway. The only difference is it doesn't go to the state first.

**Gio7707** · 12-09-2012, 05:35 PM

**AsYouWere** · 12-09-2012, 06:42 PM

Originally Posted by bootsywannabe

Hey how's that Occupy stuff going any way Gio?

Wasn't that supposed to be the Democrats big answer for this election - blame everything on those greedy corporations!

Oops, looks like that didn't work too well.

Turns out Occupy reinvented itself as OccupySandy providing relief to storm victims while the repubs faded away there Bootsy.........

It's hilarious stumbling on a month and a half old post that misread the majority sentiment so badly.

**eldondre** · 12-09-2012, 07:00 PM

Originally Posted by Gio7707

the purpose of the lottery isn't to provide union jobs, sorry

**AsYouWere** · 12-09-2012, 08:09 PM

Originally Posted by eldondre

the purpose of the lottery isn't to provide union jobs, sorry

anti union, living wage, are we? and what do you do for the betterment of society that deserves more than minimum wage?

**eldondre** · 12-10-2012, 01:07 PM

Originally Posted by AsYouWere

anti union, living wage, are we? and what do you do for the betterment of society that deserves more than minimum wage?

propaganda much?
there's nothing fundamentally wrong with unions but the purpose of the lottery isn't to provide unions with jobs. a living wage is a BS theory. take a bagger at a supermarket. when that jobs pays minimum wage, there are lots of baggers...it's a great way to get into the labor market for teenagers and people looking to rebound as well as people who, perhaps, can't handle more stressful jobs. when it's union "living wage" there are few, a few people get paid to do a lousy job and everyone else has no job. not every job needs to pay enough to support a family, there's a real function to having jobs that don't pay much and provide a foothold in the labor market. wages always need to take into account the value of the services. it's much more effective to, say, provide government funded healthcare than to force employers to provide it regardless of how much value is being added. if you make employment too expensive, you reduce it. all that being said, as before, the lottery has a purpose and it isn't to provide high wage union jobs or buy votes (not that there's any difference).