Klarinet Archive - Posting 000187.txt from 2007/02

From: "George Huba" <ghuba@-----.com>
Subj: RE: [kl] Band Directors-Help needed
Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2007 07:38:20 -0500

It is also "mean spirited" to deny future generations the benefits of a
first-rate education, first-rate health care, and a strong social services
network because the taxation system is irrational and broken and needs
drastic reform.

Proposition 13 was a poorly conceived tax reform that effectively broke the
fine system of education and an enlightened social network in California at
the end of the 1970s. The older social network benefited both the elderly
and the young and currently is severely limited in the post-Proposition 13
era for all groups. That means that tax reform in California is going to be
required if the citizens wish to protect the elderly and the young and
everybody else in between and wish to provide a well-balanced, high quality
education system supported by public funds that includes music instruction
for all who wish it, as Kurt suggested in his original posts on the poor
quality of music education in his part of California.

A series of drastic reforms is required to guarantee quality of life for
both the elderly AND future generations. The reforms need not be property
taxes, as opposed to other taxes, but something is necessary and I believe
that the most equitable way is for all to pay proportional to their net
worth which includes income from working, investment and pension income, and
assessed property values. Others will have different views about what is
"fair" but is clear that both the resources available to the social network
need to increase and social network organizations (the education system, the
health care system, and social agencies) need to use resources more
efficiently.

[And yes, I voted for Proposition 13. I was wrong. I also pay a lot of
business and personal income taxes and property taxes and I am not getting
the return I would like to see: the best quality of life for the average
U.S. citizen that is possible. And yes, music education for the young and
available music performances for all are part of a high quality of life as
are needed services for the elderly and a means of dealing with the issue of
those who outlive their pensions with dignity and fairness and compassion.]

George

-----Original Message-----
From: OhSuzan419@-----.com]
Sent: Wednesday, February 21, 2007 10:44 PM
To: klarinet@-----.org
Subject: Re: [kl] Band Directors-Help needed

In a message dated 2/21/2007 8:51:45 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,
ghuba@-----.com writes:
<<if the California voters had not been stupid enough to be pigs at a
trough and pass the infamous Proposition 13 in the 1970s (limiting property
tax to a percentage of what you had paid no matter how long ago that was>>

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--
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Having been one of those living in California and privileged to vote FOR
Prop 13, I find this characterization to be incomprehensible and incredibly
mean-spirited.

I gained nothing at all from the passage of that proposition -- the house
we had just bought was assessed at the price we had just paid for it. The
people who gained were little old ladies like our neighbor, who was being
forced by confiscatory taxes out of the home that she had owned since 1926.
By 1976, her ANNUAL tax bill was more than she had paid for the house in
the first place.

Retiring on a "fixed income" is not merely theoretical, nor limited only to
those who have done poor estate planning. Our neighbor was a retired
professional who ate cat food, burned trash in her fireplace for heat, and
discontinued her gas and electric service in an attempt to pay her taxes
and continue
living in her home on a fixed income.

I pray, sir, that you don't have the misfortune of outliving your pension.

Susan Kundert

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