Global Economy Bursting?

[Randolph Kinney]

Steinberg defends letter to Microsoft over possible Kings exit

http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2013/01/steinberg-defends-microsoft-letter.html

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg is not backing down from a request for information about Microsoft's dealings with California, a gesture that many interpreted as a warning to prospective Sacramento Kings buyer and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.

After reports emerged that Ballmer was one of the investors seeking to purchase the Kings and relocate them to Seattle, Steinberg sent a letter to the Department of General Services asking for data about California's contracts with Microsoft and the monetary value of the state's past purchases from the technology giant.

Steinberg faced criticism from those who said he was unfairly bullying Ballmer and endangering a lucrative partnership. But Steinberg defended his move on Thursday as a service to constituents and said he would press on.

"There's something that doesn't feel right about making money working directly with the state of California - in fact, having some of their largest contracts with the state of California - and at the same time using at least some of those gains or profits to try to move a major asset out of the state of California in its capital city," Steinberg said after emerging from a closed-door meeting about the Kings with Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson and other lawmakers on Thursday.

"We're elected to fight for our communities, and that's what we are all doing here."

Steinberg said he would study to the information he receives to determine the "appropriate public policy response." He said he would not attempt to modify existing contracts California holds with Microsoft and noted the Legislature doesn't have authority over issuing contracts.

 

[Randolph Kinney]

Gov. Perry to wealthy Californians: We won't tax you in Texas

http://www.kvue.com/news/consumer/188200531.html

Phil Mickelson is talking more about how much he pays in taxes than how many fairways he hits off the tee.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry even weighed in with this tweet: "Hey Phil....Texas is home to liberty and low taxes...we would love to have you as well!!"

The response to Mickelson's opinions on taxes ranged from mocking a guy who has become a multimillionaire by playing golf to support for having such a high tax rate and not being afraid to speak his mind.

A majority of PGA Tour players live in Florida and others in Texas, two states that have no state income tax. Tiger Woods grew up in Southern California and played two years at Stanford. He was a California kid when he won an unprecedented three straight U.S. Amateur titles, but when he made his professional debut in Milwaukee a week later, he was listed as being from Orlando, Fla.

 

[Randolph Kinney]

The Sacramento Kings' Departure From Hypertaxed California Signals Return Of The Seattle SuperSonics

http://www.forbes.com/sites/rexsinq...ia-signals-return-of-the-seattle-supersonics/

There are many reasons for teams to relocate, and the built-in Seattle fan base is certainly a plus for this NBA team. However, it is crucial to remember that sports franchises are multi-million dollar businesses. Those who occupy the front office spend a lot of time scrutinizing the finances. From this perspective, a move from California to Washington State is a no-brainer. The marginal personal-income tax rate for wealthy Californians – a category under which professional ballplayers almost certainly fall – is a whopping 13.3 percent. Washington, on the other hand, levies no personal income tax on any of its residents. Whether a member of the SuperSonics organization is shooting free-throws or taking tickets, he gets to keep more of his earned income.

Professional sports teams aren’t the only organizations ditching California for Washington’s friendlier tax climate. According to migration data from the Internal Revenue Service, over the 15-year period from 1995 to 2010, King County (where Seattle is located) has gained $32 million in adjusted gross income from Sacramento County. Other California counties have added significant amounts to King County’s coffers, too. During those same 15 years, Orange County lost $98 million in net AGI to King County. Los Angeles saw a huge hit, with King County gaining $313 million of Los Angelenos’ net AGI.

Clearly, investors like Chris Hansen and Steve Ballmer understand that personal income is one of our most precious and most highly mobile assets. For the Kings, the move to Seattle is one for the win column. For Sacramento, it’s yet another loss, provoked by a growth-stifling tax climate. Seattleites are no doubt looking forward to cheering for the SuperSonics this fall.

Thanks to the state’s lack of a personal income tax, these fans may even have enough spending money for a courtside seat.

 

[Couch Potato]

Fed. INCOME taxes perhaps. But the middle class pays sales and property taxes too. And it is property taxes and sales taxes that run local and state governments.

BTW, I went into the town of Gentry (pop. 3000±) yesterday and sitting at the cafe was a black Hummer....markings? "GENTRY POLICE" ... What the **&^% does a pizzant town like that need with a HUMMER???

Factoring in all taxes here are the percentages of income going to taxes:

Here are the percentages of all taxes paid by various income levels:

Note the top 20% pay more than 60% of all taxes and the percentage of taxes paid is greater than the percentage of income earned.

 

[Randolph Kinney]

Tina Turner To Become A Swiss Miss. Is It To Avoid Taxes?

http://www.mfi-miami.com/2013/01/tina-turner-does-to-america-what-she-did-to-ike-she-splits/

Legendary singer and awesome vixen from the Mad Max is renouncing her U.S. citizenship in order to become a citizen of Switzerland.

Tina Turner will be joining French actor Gérard Depardieu who is expected to give up his French citizenship in order to become a Swiss Citizen as well to escape higher tax rates.

 

[Randolph Kinney]

Prop. 30: Bad for California, good for Texas

http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/b...3/01/prop-30-bad-for-california-good-for.html

Austinites, brace yourself for more new neighbors from California.

The number of California companies seeking sanctuary in more business-friendly environments such as Austin could be accelerated thanks to California's Proposition 30, local economic development guru Gary Farmer said.

"I've had three California companies interested in Austin contact me in just the past eight days because they heard that I know how to navigate things here. And those calls are just to me personally, not to the Chamber," said Farmer, president of Heritage Title Co. and a longtime leader of the Austin Chamber of Commerce.

Prop. 30 yields several new taxes for businesses, consumers and wealthy residents in California. Dozens of California companies have collectively added thousands of employees in Austin during the past few years, including Apple Inc., Facebook Inc. and Visa Inc.

The Phoenix Business Journal reported in November that Arizona officials are eager to poach California companies after the passage of Prop. 30.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

I can't blame anyone for moving to avoid taxes. It's a free country isn't it? To keep my OK appraisal license I have to file a corporate and personal income tax return annually..and I don't owe them anything. Our family partnership has to file in Colorado although the oil company takes the taxes out of our check.

 

[Randolph Kinney]

Things to come in the economy as a result of green energy:


German Green Energy Push Bites Hand That Feeds Economy

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-...sh-bites-mittelstand-hand-that-feeds-gdp.html

Worlee-Chemie GmbH, a family-owned company that has produced resins in the city of Hamburg for almost a century, is trying to escape the spiraling cost of Germany’s shift to renewable energy.

A 47 percent increase on Jan. 1 in the fees grid operators set to fund wind and solar investments is driving the maker of paint ingredients to Turkey, where next month it will start making a new type of hardening agent at a factory near Istanbul.

The levy will cost Worlee 465,000 euros ($620,000) this year, the equivalent of 10 full-time salaries, or one-third of the company’s tax bill. As German labor costs rise at the fastest pace in a decade, the price of weaning the country off nuclear energy by 2022 is crushing the so-called Mittelstand, the three million small and medium-sized businesses like Worlee that account for about half of gross domestic product.

 

[Randolph Kinney]

California firms hang out shingles in Douglas County, Carson City

http://www.nnbw.com/ArticleRead.aspx?storyID=20985

Five new companies, plus an expansion at the Starbucks roasting plant in Douglas County, will directly and indirectly add about 300 jobs and infuse about $42 million into the local economy over the next two years, according to Northern Nevada Development Authority, which introduced the newcomers at a breakfast it hosted last week in Carson City.

Several of the companies are relocating to Nevada from California, where the firms say taxes, regulations and other issues make life difficult to conduct business.

AnC Machining Inc., a 30-year-old parts maker and service supplier for aerospace and other industries is moving from Palmdale, Calif., to Gardnerville, Nevada.

D.P. Industries Inc., a manufacturer of hangar doors for the U.S. Air Force, U. S. Department of Defense and others, is in the process of moving its operations from Templeton, California.

Allstate Can Corp. is moving its Stockton, Calif., plant to the industrial area near the Carson City airport.

Aquasyn LLC is expected to bring 17 to 20 jobs to the area. The 17-year-old maker of diaphragm and disposable valves used by the pharmaceutical and biotechnology firms in clinical research is moving its manufacturing operations to a 6,614 square-foot industrial property it leased in Carson City.

NNDA continues to mine California for companies looking for a change. Rob Hooper, NNDA’s executive director, said Danny Campos, the group’s vice president of business development, was in Los Angeles last week, meeting with 10 southern California companies exploring the possibility of relocating to Nevada.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

A 47 percent increase on Jan. 1 in the fees grid operators set to fund wind and solar investments

The back up generating plants necessary to assure a steady flow of electricity at night has distorted the cost curve. It will only worsen as the economy improves and German plants run around the clock. It greatly increases the cost of electricity.

Further, the EU is trying to make Poland stop drilling for shale gas. Poland basically has told the EU to butt out. It is none of their business. Poland is tired of being at the mercy of Russian gas which was withheld over contract issues a few winters ago. Poland will be self-sufficient in gas while the rest of Europe licks Russian jackboots to assure a steady supply of natural gas which they desperately need in the face of using less nukes.