"The race is not always to the richest," The Economist, December 6, 2007 ---
http://www.economist.com/world/international/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10251324

SPOOKED by the effects of globalisation on their low-skilled citizens, rich countries have been pouring money and political energy into education. In the United States, it has been proclaimed that no child will be left behind. Whether this programme, launched by George Bush in 2002, has raised standards will be a big issue in the 2008 presidential election. Next year Britain will introduce ambitious new qualifications, combining academic and vocational study. For the industrial countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), average spending on primary and secondary schooling rose by almost two-fifths in real terms between 1995 and 2004.

Oddly, this has had little measurable effect. The latest report from the OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment shows average attainment staying largely flat. This tome, just published, compares the reading, mathematical and scientific progress of 400,000 15-year-olds in the 30 OECD countries and 27 others, covering 87% of the world economy. Its predecessors in 2000 and 2003 focused on reading and maths respectively. This time science took centre stage.

At the top are some old stars: Finland as usual did best for all-round excellence, followed by South Korea (which did best in reading) and Hong Kong; Canada and Taiwan were strong but slightly patchier, followed by Australia and Japan. At the bottom, Mexico, still the weakest performer in the OECD, showed gains in maths; Chile did best in Latin America.

There is bad news for the United States: average performance was poor by world standards. Its schools serve strong students only moderately well, and do downright poorly with the large numbers of weak students. A quarter of 15-year-olds do not even reach basic levels of scientific competence (against an OECD average of a fifth). According to Andreas Schleicher, the OECD's head of education research, Americans are only now realising the scale of the task they face. Some individual states would welcome a separate assessment.

. . .

Letting schools run themselves seems to boost a country's position in this high-stakes international tournament: giving school principals the power to control budgets, set incentives and decide whom to hire and how much to pay them. Publishing school results helps, too. More important than either, though, are high-quality teachers: a common factor among all the best performers is that teachers are drawn from the top ranks of graduates.

Another common theme is that rising educational tides seem to lift all boats. In general—the United States and Britain may be exceptions—countries do well either by children of all abilities, or by none. Those where many do well are also those where few fall behind. A new feature in this year's study is an attempt to work out how differences between schools, as opposed to differences within them, determine performance (see chart). Variation between schools is big in Germany (to be expected, as most schools select children on ground of ability). But results also vary in some countries (like Japan) with nominally comprehensive systems. In top-performing Finland, by contrast, the differences between schools are nearly trivial.

Continued in article

"Let's Get Back to Education in Education," by Rick Fowler, The Irascible Professor, December 11, 2007 ---
http://irascibleprofessor.com/comments-12-11-07.htm

Education gurus have advocated and public schools have incorporated many new trends aimed at increasing the rankings of U. S. students in many standardized tests given in countries around the world.  From the ideas of writing gurus Glasser and Collins, to portfolios to state guidelines; from literature-based to whole language reading programs; from mapping to thematic approach, from weighted grades to tracking.  However, many if not most of these "cutting edge" programs and quick fixes for educators and education too often end up on the cutting room floor.  These "recipes for success" have cost public schools literally millions of dollars since my first day as an English teacher almost 30 years ago.

Too often "keeping up with the Joneses" is taking precedent over the real problem of maintaining adequate basic education.  Case in point, President Bush and many other politicians seem to believe that the No Child Left Behind act is of utmost importance in improving the performance of our students.  Yet I liken his reasoning to an analogy recently posted on the web:

No Child Left Behind: The football version

1.  All teams must make the state playoffs, and all will win the championship by the year 2014.  If a team does not win the championship, they will be on probation until they are the champions, and coaches will be held accountable.

2.  All kids will be expected to have the same football skills at the same time and in the same conditions.  No exceptions will be made for interest in football, a desire to perform athletically, or genetic abilities or disabilities.  ALL KIDS WILL PLAY FOOTBALL AT A PROFICIENT LEVEL.  

3.  Talented players will be asked to work out on their own without instruction.  This is because the coaches will be using all their instructional time with the athletes who aren’t interested in football, have limited athletic ability or whose parents don't like football.

4.  Games will be played year round, but statistics will only be kept in the 4th., 8th and 11th games.

5.  This will create a New Age of sports where every school is expected to have the same level of talent and all teams will reach the same minimal goals.  If no child get ahead, then no child will be left behind.

I  cringe every time I read about a new educational savior or new educational tool which is introduced supposedly to bring the United States back to respectability in the global markets of learning.  I also think parents and taxpayers would cringe if they knew of the cost of bringing this expert or plan into the district, explaining its merits, and then failing to implement the program because of money restraints or because staff will not buy into it.

What is the matter with traditional methods?  I realize that the computer has been an asset in the classroom.  Yet, it also has led to the near demise of the personal letter, to little or no proofreading, and to a myriad of excuses on deadline day.  Kids are sometimes aghast when I ask them to hand in their rough drafts hand-written and in ink.  I sometimes require  research papers with the title page, body and works cited that must be completed on notebook paper in ink, and either printed or written by hand.  By the looks on their faces it's as if I had assigned the complete memorization of Hamlet's soliloquy, Antony's funeral speech and Shylock's dissertation at the trial to be due in an hour.

. . .

We need to have a complete turnabout as far as knowing what's best for the students in our public schools. Without this change of thought, the implications are indeed frightening.

Continued in the article

 

 

Tidbits on December 14, 2007
Bob Jensen

Videos From Bob Jensen's Personal Camera (the pictures are clear but some of them lost a bit in the video) ---
http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/EdTech/Video/Personal/
The Tidbits.wmv video is narrated.

For earlier editions of Tidbits go to http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/TidbitsDirectory.htm
For earlier editions of New Bookmarks go to http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookurl.htm 

Click here to search Bob Jensen's web site if you have key words to enter --- Search Site.
For example if you want to know what Jensen documents have the term "Enron" enter the phrase Jensen AND Enron. Another search engine that covers Trinity and other universities is at http://www.searchedu.com/.


Bob Jensen's past presentations and lectures --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/resume.htm#Presentations   


Bob Jensen's Threads --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/threads.htm

Bob Jensen's Home Page is at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/

CPA Examination --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cpa_examination


You can read about Erika's surgeries and see her pictures at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Erika2007.htm
Personal pictures are at http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/PictureHistory/
Some personal videos are at http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/EdTech/Video/Personal/ 

Bob Jensen's blogs and various threads on many topics --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/threads.htm
Roles of Listservs and Blogs --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ListservRoles.htm

Free Internet FM Radio (choose the type of music you want to listen to without commercials) --- http://www.slacker.com/

Set up free conference calls at http://www.freeconference.com/
Also see http://www.yackpack.com/uc/   

World Clock --- http://www.peterussell.com/Odds/WorldClock.php

If you want to help our badly injured troops, please check out
Valour-IT: Voice-Activated Laptops for Our Injured Troops  --- http://www.valour-it.blogspot.com/




New Blogs (at least new to me)

Rate Your Students (be prepared for four letter words and worse silliness) --- http://rateyourstudents.blogspot.com/
Perhaps this to counter RateMyProfessor --- http://www.ratemyprofessors.com/index.jsp
There is also a Professors Strike Back (largely silly videos) site at http://www.mtvu.com/professors_strike_back/ 

Other blogs --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Searchh.htm#Blogs
Google's blog search tool is at http://blogsearch.google.com/
(For example, search "Student Examination" at the above Google site)
(Accountants may want to search for "Accounting" at the above Google site)
(More serious accountants may want to search "FAS 133" or "IAS 39" at the above Google site.)

Roles of Listservs and Blogs --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ListservRoles.htm
Bob Jensen's blogs and various threads on many topics --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/threads.htm


Online Video, Slide Shows, and Audio
In the past I've provided links to various types of music and video available free on the Web. 
I created a page that summarizes those various links --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/music.htm

Forwarded by Team Carper
Beautiful America's Fifty States --- http://oldbluewebdesigns.com/mybeautifulamerica.htm

Oceanus (video and pictures) --- http://www.whoi.edu/oceanus/index.do

NOVA: Pocahontas Revealed (from PBS) --- http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/pocahontas/

Forwarded by Tom in Alaska
Perfect Man and Woman (you must hit the continue buttons when they pop up) ---
CLICK HERE

Baby Boomers (Animation with music) --- Click Here

"Organic Chemistry for the YouTube Generation," PhysOrg, December 6, 2007 --- http://physorg.com/news116181206.html
Video Link --- http://www.scivee.tv/node/3005

Freakonomics Being Documentary-ized --- http://www.firstshowing.net/2007/12/07/indie-spotlight-freakonomics-being-documentary-ized/

Joe Paterno Acceptance Speech (College Football Hall of Fame) --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vhw_4SLDF0

Form National Geographic (U23D movie trailer) --- http://www.u23dmovie.com/

It’s one thing to imagine what Rome looked like in ancient times. It’s another thing to wander around a virtual-reality simulation of ancient Rome learning about buildings as you go by clicking on them. Sorin A. Matei, an associate professor of communication at Purdue University, is experimenting with various ways to blend databases with digital maps or 3-D models. I put together a short video report.
Jeffrey R. Young. Chronicle of Higher Education, December 7, 2007 --- Click Here
Jensen Comment
I really liked this video illustration of virtual reality (which by now is a rather old but still computer-intensive technology). You may have to be a Chronicle subscriber to view this excellent video.

Ethel Merman & Martha Raye --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wKj59poDVc

God's Comics --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjywoElfISI

Mae West --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mae_West

W.C. Fields --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WC_Fields 


Free music downloads --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/music.htm

While working on the computer, Bob Jensen mostly listens to (free and without commercials) --- http://www.slacker.com/

Songza Search for a song or band and play the selection free --- http://songza.com/ 
Also try  Jango --- http://www.jango.com/?r=342376581

Free Internet FM Radio (choose the type of music you want to listen to) --- http://www.slacker.com/
Although Slacker is free on your computer, Slacker also has players that will download FM radio via wireless connections.
Walter S. Mossberg provides a review in "Slacker Digital Player Handles the Drudgery For Busy Music Fans," The Wall Street Journal,  December 6, 2007; Page B1---
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119690438969515264.html
 

New from Jesse --- http://www.jessiesweb.com/

Forwarded by Team Carper
Beautiful America's Fifty States --- http://oldbluewebdesigns.com/mybeautifulamerica.htm

Dave Brubeck at the 50th Monterey Jazz Festival (entire concert) --- http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16437373

Great Big Band and Jazz Combo Trumpet Players
Maynard Ferguson --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maynard_Ferguson
List of Other Trumpeters --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_trumpeters


Photographs and Art

75 Optical Illusions & Visual Phenomena --- http://www.michaelbach.de/ot/
Link forwarded by Beverly K.

Panoguide --- http://www.panoguide.com/gallery/

Songza Search for a song or band and play the selection free
Also try Jango --- http://www.jango.com/?r=342376581

Oceanus (video and pictures) --- http://www.whoi.edu/oceanus/index.do

Cloudscapes --- http://cloudscapes.antville.org/

Nature Photographers --- http://www.naturephotographers.net/

E.J. Peiker, Nature Photography --- http://www.ejphoto.com/

Sutra Photos (they make you chuckle) --- http://photos.sutradirectory.com/clever-advertising/

Astronomy Picture of the Day --- http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050401.html

Symbols of Power: Napoleon And The Art of The Empire Styles, 1800-1815 --- http://www.mfa.org/napoleon/

Napoleonic Period Collection --- http://content.lib.washington.edu/napoleonweb/index.html 

Scottish Natural Heritage Information Service --- http://www.snh.org.uk/snhi/

Mapping The Pacific Coast --- http://www.mappingthepacificcoast.com/

Mike Skelton Photography (well sort of) --- http://www.skelton.biz/

Greg Martin Gallery --- http://gallery.artofgregmartin.com/

George W. Bush's Fondness for Bald Heads (and a Turkey or Two) --- http://www.satirium.com/pages/vol6/bushphotos.html

Other Humorous Photographs --- http://my.mmoabc.com/article/Michael/2132/Capturing-that-Special-Moment.html?login=no

Officials at Pennsylvania State University have apologized to Virginia Tech, and many students at both institutions are outraged by photographs showing that some Penn State students dressed up as Virginia Tech shooting victims for Halloween this year. The Centre Daily News reported. The photographs, which recently surfaced on Facebook, show the students with fake bloodied bullet holes and wearing Virginia Tech clothing. Penn State officials said that the students involved could not be punished without violating their free speech rights. The photographs are currently available on The Drudge Report here and here.
Inside Higher Ed, December 10, 2007 --- http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/12/10/qt

 


Online Books, Poems, References, and Other Literature
In the past I've provided links to various types electronic literature available free on the Web. 
I created a page that summarizes those various links --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ElectronicLiterature.htm

Internet FAQ Archives --- http://www.faqs.org/faqs/

A Glossary of Literary Criticism --- http://www.sil.org/~radneyr/humanities/litcrit/gloss.htm

From UC Davis University
British Women Romantic Poets (1789 - 1832) --- http://digital.lib.ucdavis.edu/projects/bwrp/

From Dartmouth College
Poems 1645 --- http://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/contents/

Sonnet Central --- http://www.sonnets.org/

Random poems penned by Barbara Fletcher --- http://www.barbarafletcher.com/

The Archive of Misheard Lyrics --- http://www.kissthisguy.com/

From the University of Wisconsin
Beowulf: A New Translation for Oral Delivery --- http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/Literature/subcollections/RinglBeowulfAbout.shtml

The translation is intended for "oral delivery," that is, to be read or recited aloud. Accordingly this work includes an audio stream in which the translator provides a reading of his version of the poem. This reading is meant to model metrical and rhetorical features of the translation, not to lay down the law about how it should be "performed." It can be listened to uninterruptedly from start to finish--which takes about three hours--or it can be accessed at the beginning of any of the forty-three sections into which it is divided (and which correspond to the numbered sections of the surviving manuscript).

Rare Book Room --- http://www.rarebookroom.org/  
Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America --- http://www.abaa.org/books/abaa/index.html
Other Rare Book Sources --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Searchh.htm#RareBooks

Best Books of 2007 --- http://www.economist.com/books/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10249833




The trouble with the gene pool is that there's no lifeguard.
As seen on the bottom of email messages from Paula.
Other possible endings: "no deep end," "no filter," "no disinfectant," and "no skimmer."

Christmas is cancelled! Apparently you told Santa you were good this year. He died laughing.
Forwarded by Paula

When I'm good I'm very good. But when I'm bad I'm better.
Mae West in I'm No Angel --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I'm_No_Angel

Where does the violet tint end and the orange tint begin? Distinctly we see the difference of the colors, but where exactly does the first blending enter into the other. So with sanity and insanity.
Herman Melville as quoted by Mark Shapiro at http://irascibleprofessor.com/comments-12-05-07.htm

Fifty Percent of Japanese Bestsellers Typed On a Cellphone --- http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2007/12/fifty-percent-o.html

When suicides are dredged from the Seine, it is said, the lovers and the debtors are easy to tell apart:  the lovers have paint under their nails, from trying to claw their way back to the bridge at the last moment, whereas the debtors sink like stones.
Bagehot, "Off With Their Heads," The Economist, December 1, 2007, Page 72.

Harvard Needs More Hippies
Some Harvard University alumni from the protest-era 1960s are concerned by the lack of protests today, and have written to President Drew Faust to express worry about “widespread apathy and political indifference” and to ask whether the university is not recruiting enough politically engaged students or encouraging such engagement, The Boston Globe reported. An editorial in The Harvard Crimson suggested that the alumni are too quick to equate student engagement with the use of tear gas. “We are doing just fine on our own,” the editorial concludes.
Inside Higher Ed, December 10, 2007 --- http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/12/10/qt

But this rise in (food) prices is also the self-inflicted result of America's reckless ethanol subsidies. This year biofuels will take a third of America's (record) maize harvest. That affects food markets directly:  fill up an SUV's fuel tank with ethanol and you have used enough maize to feed a person for a year. And it affects them indirectly, as farmers switch to maize from other crops. The 30m tonnes of extra maize going to ethanol this year amounts to half the fall in the world's overall grain stocks.
"The End of Cheap Food," The Economist, December 8, 2007, Page 11. 

Higher incomes in India and China have made hundreds of millions of people rich enough to afford meat and other foods. In 1985 the average Chinese consumer ate 20kg (44lb) of meat a year; now he eats more than 50kg. China's appetite for meat may be nearing satiation, but other countries are following behind: in developing countries as a whole, consumption of cereals has been flat since 1980, but demand for meat has doubled. Not surprisingly, farmers are switching, too: they now feed about 200m-250m more tonnes of grain to their animals than they did 20 years ago. That increase alone accounts for a significant share of the world's total cereals crop. Calorie for calorie, you need more grain if you eat it transformed into meat than if you eat it as bread: it takes three kilograms of cereals to produce a kilo of pork, eight for a kilo of beef. So a shift in diet is multiplied many times over in the grain markets. Since the late 1980s an inexorable annual increase of 1-2% in the demand for feed grains has ratcheted up the overall demand for cereals and pushed up prices . . . Ethanol is the dominant reason for this year's increase in grain prices. It accounts for the rise in the price of maize because the federal government has in practice waded into the market to mop up about one-third of America's corn harvest. A big expansion of the ethanol programme in 2005 explains why maize prices started rising in the first place.
"Cheap No More," The Economist, December 6, 2007 --- http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10250420

Intelligence vs. Politics
Israel has "incriminating" information Iran has continued its nuclear weapons program, a senior Israeli security official told WND, directly contradicting last week's U.S. intelligence report stating Tehran suspended its ambition in 2003. "The Iranians continue their push for nuclear weapons in specific ways, including the acquisition and development of missiles," said a senior Israeli security official who has access to classified Israeli defense material and intelligence reports on Iran. "Iran hides its nuclear weapons program but it continues nonetheless," he told WND, indicating the U.S. estimate may have been "politically motivated." The security official said Israel possesses "incriminating" information that Iran continues its purported drive to obtain nuclear weapons.
Aaron Klein, "Israel: Forget U.S. intel,:  Iran nukes at full speed Official cites 'incriminating information,' rips American report as 'politically charged'," WorldNetDaily, December 9, 2007 --- http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=59120

We wish we could be as sanguine, both about the quality of U.S. intelligence and its implications for U.S. diplomacy. For years, senior Administration officials, including Condoleezza Rice, have stressed to us how little the government knows about what goes on inside Iran. In 2005, the bipartisan Robb-Silberman report underscored that "Across the board, the Intelligence Community knows disturbingly little about the nuclear programs of many of the world's most dangerous actors." And as our liberal friends used to remind us, you can never trust the CIA. (Only later did they figure out the agency was usually on their side.)
"'High Confidence' Games:  The CIA's flip-flop on Iran is hardly reassuring," The Wall Street Journal, December 5, 2007 --- http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110010946

The three authors of a National Intelligence Estimate seen as undermining the Bush administration's efforts to keep Iran from creating a nuclear weapon are all "hyper-partisan anti-Bush officials," the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday in an editorial, citing an unidentified intelligence source. "As recently as 2005, the consensus estimate of our spooks was that 'Iran currently is determined to develop nuclear weapons' and do so 'despite its international obligations and international pressure.' This was a 'high confidence' judgment. The new NIE says Iran abandoned its nuclear program in 2003 'in response to increasing international scrutiny.' This too is a 'high confidence' conclusion. One of the two conclusions is wrong, and casts considerable doubt on the entire process by which these 'estimates' — the consensus of 16 intelligence bureaucracies — are conducted and accorded gospel status," the newspaper said. "Our own 'confidence' is not heightened by the fact that the NIE's main authors include three former State Department officials with previous reputations as 'hyper-partisan anti-Bush officials,' according to an intelligence source. They are Tom Fingar, formerly of the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research; Vann Van Diepen, the National Intelligence Officer for WMD; and Kenneth Brill, the former U.S. ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Greg Pierce, "Hyper-partisan," Washington Times, December 6, 2007 ---
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071206/NATION03/112060086/1008

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez on Wednesday used a four-letter expletive to dismiss the opposition victory in Sunday's referendum and pledged to press forward with plans to approve constitutional changes that would expand his power in one of the world's leading oil producing-countries. Chávez's remarks, made on television programs broadcast in Venezuela, represent a sharp turn from his magnanimous comments Monday after voters narrowly blocked 69 constitutional changes in a national vote. It was the opposition's first electoral victory since Chávez first won office in a landslide election in 1998.
Juan Forero, "Chávez Turns Bitter Over His Defeat in Referendum:  Foes of Amending Charter Have 'Nothing to Celebrate'," The Washington Post, December 6, 2007 --- Click Here

The president's drive to turn the armed forces into a tool of his socialist project aroused the weighty opposition of General Raúl Isaías Baduel, who stepped down as defence minister in July and who is a hero to the chavista grassroots for his role in restoring Mr Chávez after the 2002 coup. Installed in a sleek glass office block in Caracas, General Baduel, a man as serene as the president is intemperate, has spent the past few weeks telling Venezuelans that the proposed reform amounted to another coup. On top of that, many chavista politicians were unenthusiastic, since the reform would have let Mr Chávez run indefinitely for president but banned re-election for other posts. The chavista movement suffered “a top-to-bottom split, from state governors down to the grassroots”, said Ismael García, the leader of Podemos.
"The wind goes out of the revolution," The Economist, December 6, 2007 --- http://www.economist.com/world/la/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10251226

Although in some ways they threaten democracy, the likes of Mr. Chavez (Venezuela) and Mr. Morales (Bolivia) may well have ended up broadening it, since they represent groups who have previously felt excluded. Their mistake lies in clinging to an old-fashioned socialism, involving the centralisation of political power and state control of the economy. Most Venezuelans - and most Latin Americans - clearly have no enthusiasm for this. It was not so much Mr. Chavez who was defeated in the referendum, as his bankrupt philosophy. That is good news for Latin America, and especially for its poor.
"The Beginning of the End for Hugo Chavez," The Economist, December 8, 2007, Page 12. 
Also see "Rejecting Hugo" WSJ video at http://online.wsj.com/public/page/8_0004.html?bcpid=86195573&bclid=212338097&bctid=1338248568

When Abstention is a Vote Against
This is a preposterous claim, and no one is doing a better job of disproving it than Mr. Chávez himself. In the week since the vote, he has done nothing to conceal his appetite for vengeance and his determination to satisfy it. He has twice crudely referred to the opposition victory as excrement and he has even insulted his followers, who he says were "lazy and cowardly" for not turning out in greater numbers at the polls . . . Mr. Chávez denies that the military pressured him into accepting defeat. But he has not denied that he went to Fort Tiuna and met with the high military command. Mr. Lugo-Galicia reports that the president told the officers that until 100% of the votes were counted he would not recognize his defeat. "Tension is growing," Mr. Lugo-Galicia writes of that moment. The fort "is ordered closed and soldiers confined to their barracks. A general stands up, and after expressing respect for the commander in chief, warns that the Armed Forces will not go out to repress the population." If tallying the votes were to take four days, the general warns, there would be mayhem and "this country will not bear such days of agitation."
Mary Anastasia O'Grady, "Showdown at Fort Tiuna," The Wall Street Journal, December 10, 2007; Page A18 --- http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119724579402718787.html

Consider for example a bill which Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee has introduced in the Congress. That bill, H.R. 750, includes an amnesty for millions of illegals which is far broader than previous ones. She would allow illegal aliens who have been convicted of crimes of violence and sentenced to up to five years in prison to apply for amnesty (past amnesties have limited eligibility to criminals who have been sentenced ‘only’ up to one year’s imprisonment). Her bill would specifically allow states to prohibit state and local police from cooperating with federal government enforcement on immigration law. It would also repeal the current provision in federal law (Section 287g) which allows the Attorney General to enter into agreements with states and localities which deputizes their police to enforce immigration law.
Peter Gadiel, "Are You Ready for a ‘Violent Illegal Alien Criminal Empowerment Act’?" Family Security Matters, December 6, 2007 --- http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/homeland.php?id=1385809 Jensen Question
How would you like to be a citizen who got five years without a chance of amnesty versus the illegal who also got five years for an identical crime and received amnesty? What an insult to crime victims when crimes are forgiven more for those entering this country illegally! These are not United Nations parking ticket crimes. These are crimes of violence. Sheila Jackson Lee is an African American Congress Woman who represents all but crime victims in the 18th Congressional District in Houston's inner city  --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheila_Jackson_Lee

Germany's interior ministers announced Friday that they consider Scientology to be unconstitutional. They have asked the country's domestic intelligence agency to prepare a dossier on the organization's activities with a view to ban it next year.
Spiegel, December 7, 2007 --- http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0%2C1518%2C522052%2C00.html

Pretending bad loans aren't bad loans fixes nothing. Given the amazingly complex world of high finance—full of derivatives, hedges, and tranches—Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson last week hit upon a stunningly simple plan to fix the nation's subprime mortgage mess: Lie. And don't just lie, but get everybody together and agree to lie, thereby making the lie become truth. The fiction Paulson and the major banks are promoting is that extending the low "teaser rates" initially offered to many subprime borrowers fundamentally will help them and—here is a big lie—transform them from bad loans to good. Put another way, if the problem of bad subprime mortgages was caused by delusion over lending risk, this latest solution enshrines delusion as the defining characteristic of the American banker—backed by a facile enabler in Uncle Sam and his trillions, of course.
Jeff Taylor
, Reason Magazine, December 6, 2007 --- http://www.reason.com/news/show/123782.html 

"Dissecting the Bailout Plan:  Why put the foundations of our economy at risk to help so few people?" by Alan Reynolds, The Wall Street Journal, December 10 2007 --- http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119724608592918778.html

The only way to rescue our plug-hungry planet from catastrophic global warming is to embrace nuclear power, and fast. That's the argument of Gwyneth Cravens, a novelist, journalist and former nuke protester. Her new book, Power to Save the World: The Truth About Nuclear Energy, is a passionate plea to understand, instead of fear, atomic power. In her book, Cravens is guided Dante-like through the entire life cycle of nuclear power -- from mining to production to waste disposal -- by one of the world's foremost experts on risk assessment and nuclear waste.
John Borland, "Former 'No Nukes' Protester: Stop Worrying and Love Nuclear Power," Wired News, December 7, 2007 --- http://www.wired.com/science/planetearth/news/2007/12/nuclear_qa

Another thing Professor Dershowitz revealed tells us much about former President Jimmy Carter. It seems that when Carter appeared at Brandeis to plug his book Palestine: Peace, Not Apartheid, he pledged to answer any questions that students e-mailed him afterward. Many took him up on the offer, and Carter did answer every question... except one. That one was this: Did you advise Yasser Arafat to reject the peace offer Israel made at Camp David, at the end of Clinton's term? According to Professor Dershowitz, some 15 students e-mailed that question, and they were the only students not to be answered.
Alan Dershowitz at the Hudson Institute, December 8, 2007 --- http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives2/2007/12/019221.php
Jensen Comment
In fairness, the phrase "to plug his book" has overtones that are inappropriate. Carter at first did not want to accept the invitation to face students in America's main Jewish university since his book is highly critical of Israel. But there was media pressure to accept the invitation and Brandeis promised a polite audience. Refusing the invitation would've seemed cowardly. Carter did not accept to plug his book.

The guns of war have fallen silent for Hollywood. Studio executives, who could once count on Americans filling theaters for just about any war movie they produced, are finding this year's war flicks to be a bunch of duds. "Lions for Lambs," Robert Redford's case against the war in Afghanistan, is a flop. It stars Mr. Redford, Meryl Streep and Tom Cruise and may not make back its $35 million price tag. Brian De Palma's "Redacted" played to empty seats. Even "The War," Ken Burns's much-anticipated World War II documentary that aired on PBS in September, met a less-than-explosive reception. But Americans haven't lost their taste for war footage. They've just found a better place to see the type of war film they actually enjoy watching. Some of the hottest videos on YouTube are of actual battles that have taken place in Afghanistan and Iraq. This is footage that often hasn't made its way onto the nightly news or CNN--although some of it has--but it's largely unadulterated film that shows American soldiers in action, bringing the full weight of American military might to bear against the enemy. And in most of these films, it's clear who the enemy is.
Brendan Miniter, "Not According to Script Hollywood gets shown up by pro-war YouTube videos and a didactic antiwar cat," The Wall Street Journal, December 7, 2007 --- http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/bminiter/?id=110010956

Some of the are amateur productions and others are professionally produced, such as two films that have drawn about 700,000 viewers each: "Insurgent Snipers vs. U.S. Marines," put together by the History Channel, and "Iraq Marine Battle Fallujah." In the latter, U.S. Marines are seen assaulting Fallujah. The film, just 4 1/2 minutes, plays to the tune of Dire Straits' 1985 hit "Brothers in Arms," and is a better tribute to the men who fight the nation's wars that anything Hollywood has put out since John Wayne's 1968 film "The Green Berets."

Another film, this one billing itself as "Iraq War (The Great Footage Ever!)," was posted in February and has already drawn more than 1.3 million viewers. It runs a little less than 10 minutes and features shots of U.S. military attack aircraft and U.S. Marines in Iraq. The Marines, who fill the final half of the film, are shown kicking in doors, burning photographs of Saddam Hussein, and blasting insurgents with seemingly every weapon in the U.S. arsenal. It's raw, upfront military aggression targeted at bad guys, interspersed with lighter moments of kicking soccer balls around with Iraqi children and training Iraqi soldiers. It too is compelling video.

Yet another film winning attention--"Battle on Haifa Street, Baghdad, Iraq"--was posted nine months ago and has been seen by more than 1.8 million viewers. In nearly three minutes of combat footage, viewers can watch a battle scene play out where American and Iraqi soldiers attack and appear to kill insurgents in urban Baghdad. Another short film--"U.S. Marines in Iraq Real Footage Warning Graphic"--plays to American rock music, runs just five minutes. It is an adrenaline rush all the way through and has been seen by some 1.1 million people.

"Rx for Health Care: Pain Health care is ultimately a political issue of making choices:  The present politics aims to hide the costs and skew the choices," by Robert J. Samuelson, Newsweek Magazine, December 10, 2007 --- http://www.newsweek.com/id/73284

It is obvious to anyone that the patient is ill. But the physicians agree on little else: not the underlying cause, certainly not the appropriate course of treatment and least of all which among them is best qualified to administer it. As they argue, the patient just gets sicker. Health care, along with the economy in general, immigration and the whole alarming nexus of war, terror and security is, according to pretty much every poll, one of the issues that American voters consider most important. And next year, in both the primaries and the general election, it will have particular resonance. Iraq may even fade as an election subject, if the number of Americans killed in action continues to decline as a result of the “surge” of troops into the area around Baghdad. Meanwhile, uncertainties about the economy tend to feed through into a preoccupation with health care. A majority of Americans (around 54% last year, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, a Washington, DC, think-tank) get their tax-exempt health insurance through their employers, so losing a job often means losing cover. Even for those who remain in work, tightening market conditions are forcing employers to downgrade the insurance they offer . . . Voters think cost is a bigger problem than coverage. But none of the Republicans is stressing health to the same extent as the Democrats are. Maybe that is why our poll shows almost twice as many people prefer the Democrats on the issue.
"Arguing over the cure," The Economist, December 6, 2007 --- http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10254622

"Mormon in America," by Peggy Noonan, The Wall Street Journal, December 8, 2007 --- http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119706422040017530.html

It is called his JFK speech, but in many ways JFK had it easier than Mr. Romney does now. The Catholic Church was the single biggest Christian denomination in America, representing 30% of the population (Mormons: 2%, six million). Americans who had never met a Catholic in 1920 had by 1960 fought side by side with them in World War II and sat with them in college under the GI bill. JFK had always signaled that he held his faith lightly, not with furrow-browed earnestness. He had one great question to answer: Would he let the Vatican control him? As if. And although some would vote against him because he was Catholic, some would vote for him for the same reason, and they lived in the cities and suburbs of the industrial states.

Mr. Romney gave the speech Thursday morning. How did he do?

Very, very well. He made himself some history. The words he said will likely have a real and positive impact on his fortunes. The speech's main and immediate achievement is that foes of his faith will now have to defend their thinking, in public. But what can they say to counter his high-minded arguments? "Mormons have cooties"?

Romney reintroduced himself to a distracted country -- Who is that handsome man saying those nice things? -- while defending principles we all, actually, hold close, and hold high.

His text was warmly cool. It covered a lot of ground briskly, in less than 25 minutes. His approach was calm, logical, with an emphasis on clarity. It wasn't blowhardy, and it wasn't fancy. The only groaner was, "We do not insist on a single strain of religion -- rather, we welcome our nation's symphony of faith." It is a great tragedy that there is no replacement for that signal phrase of the 1980s, "Gag me with a spoon."

Beyond that, the speech was marked by the simplicity that accompanies intellectual confidence.

At the start, Mr. Romney was nervous and rushed, his voice less full than usual. He settled down during the second applause, halfway though the text -- "No candidate should become the spokesman for his faith. For if he becomes president he will need the prayers of the people of all faiths." From that moment he was himself.

He started with a full JFK: "I am an American running for president. I do not define my candidacy by my religion. A person should not be elected because of his faith, nor should he be rejected because of his faith." No "authorities of my church" or any church, will "ever exert influence" on presidential decisions. "Their authority is theirs," within the province of the church, and it ends "where the affairs of the nation begin." "I will put no doctrine of any church above the plain duties of the office and the sovereign authority of the law." He pledged to serve "no one religion, no one group, no one cause, and no one interest." He will not disavow his religion. "My faith is the faith of my fathers. I will be true to them and to my beliefs."

Bracingly: "Some believe that such a confession of my faith will sink my candidacy. If they are right, so be it." Whatever our faith, the things we value -- equality, obligation, commitment to liberty -- unite us. In a passage his advisers debated over until the night before the speech, Mr. Romney declared: "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Savior of mankind." He made the call. Why? I asked the aide. "Because it's what he thinks."

At the end, he told a story he had inserted just before Thanksgiving. During the dark days of the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia, someone suggested the delegates pray. But there were objections: They all held different faiths. "Then Sam Adams rose, and said he would hear a prayer from anyone of piety and good character, as long as they were a patriot. And so together they prayed." At this point in Mr. Romney's speech, the roused audience stood and applauded, and the candidate looked moved.

There was one significant mistake in the speech. I do not know why Romney did not include nonbelievers in his moving portrait of the great American family. We were founded by believing Christians, but soon enough Jeremiah Johnson, and the old proud agnostic mountain men, and the village atheist, and the Brahmin doubter, were there, and they too are part of us, part of this wonderful thing we have. Why did Mr. Romney not do the obvious thing and include them? My guess: It would have been reported, and some idiots would have seen it and been offended that this Romney character likes to laud atheists. And he would have lost the idiot vote.

My feeling is we've bowed too far to the idiots. This is true in politics, journalism, and just about everything else.

While Mitt Romney's speech on his Mormon faith this morning played to evangelicals by describing the role way his religion should play in public policy, it was unlikely to sway social conservative voters uneasy with his socially liberal background. The speech was meant to address fears that he would take policy cues from Mormon church leaders, and that his religion is a cult that is unacceptable to Christian conservative voters. But many social conservative voters are less concerned with the specifics of the former Massachusetts governor's religious creed than his sympathetic record on abortion rights.
Daniel Nasaw, The Guardian, December 6, 2007 --- http://www.guardian.co.uk/uselections08/mittromney/story/0,,2223448,00.html
Jensen Comment
Romney claims he has the same stance on abortion as the GOP hero Ronald Reagan. How can jihad, taxation, health care, environment, and employment matter when we've Planned Parenthood at stake? Political analysts repeatedly tell us that candidates at the extremes on some issues have nearly a zero chance of becoming president of the U.S. at this time. Republicans who back an obsessed anti-abortion candidate might as well give the election to the Democratic Party. Democrats who back an obsessed pacifist might as well give the election to the Republican Party. If the evangelical favorite Mike Huckabee wins the GOP nomination, the chances 2008 Democratic Party victory will soar. Most of the other leading GOP candidates are realists who truly want the GOP to win rather view a sinking GOP ship as a moral victory against Planned Parenthood. The only chance Mike Huckabee would have in saving the GOP sinking vessel would be to have a true pacifist like Dennis Kucinich on the Democratic Party ticket. Things do not look at all well for Kucinich or GOP Cruise next year.




For each word you get right, FreeRice will donate 20 grains of rice to the U.N. to fight world hunger --- http://freerice.com/
Nearly 200 million grains of rice have been donated to date.

“What if just knowing what a word meant could help feed hungry people around the world? Well, at FreeRice it does . . . the totals have grown exponentially.” 
The Washington Post

Web game provides rice for hungry . . . FreeRice went online in early October and has now raised 1 billion grains of rice [by November 9].
BBC News

“Addictive, yes. But . . . each correct answer results in the donation of rice to help feed the hungry around the globe. Perhaps that qualifies the game as a good addiction . . . one with redeeming qualities, something that’s, oh, didactic and edifying.”
Kansas City Star

“People from all walks of life and from around the globe have written in to express their appreciation for the game . . . Secretaries admit to playing it during boring business meetings.”
Christian Science Monitor

Every grain of rice is essential in the fight against hunger . . . FreeRice really hits home how the Web can be harnessed to raise awareness and funds for the world’s number one emergency.
UN World Food Program

 


Paygo:  Nancy Pelosi's Fraud

"Democrats are committed to ending years of irresponsible budget policies that have produced historic deficits. Instead of compiling trillions of dollars of debt onto our children and grandchildren, we will restore pay-as-you-go budget discipline," Speaker Nancy Pelosi, December 12, 2006. Well, as Emily Littela, the half-witted Gilder Radner character on Saturday Night Live, would have put it: "Never mind." Last week Congressional Democrats formally renounced their ballyhooed budget pledge to offset any new tax cuts with other tax increases or spending cuts. We're delighted to see this false promise go, but there's a larger lesson in this failure for the tax and spending battles of 2008. Senate Democrats gave up on "paygo," as it's called, when they realized they lacked the votes to offset the $50.6 billion cost of protecting more than 20 million middle-class taxpayers from getting whacked by the Alternative Minimum Tax this year. They've spent the year floating all kinds of tax increases to make up the difference. But in the end they passed an AMT relief bill without a penny to pay for it. Paygo is now pay gone.
"The Paygo Farce:  Democrats admit it was all a big confidence game," The Wall Street Journal, December 10, 2007 --- http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110010970
Jensen Comment
In fairness, the problem was almost as bad with the GOP-led Congress under George W. Bush. Bush will go down as the biggest spendthrift president in history until (if?) the Democrats win the presidency in 2008. Then the bottom will fall out of any hope for a balanced budget.

Bob Jensen's fraud updates are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudUpdates.htm


Whoppi's down on estate taxation
During a discussion of Republican Presidential candidates on ABC's "The View," which the comedian co-hosts, Ms. Goldberg said, "I'd like somebody to get rid of the death tax. That's what I want. I don't want to get taxed just because I died." The studio audience started applauding, but she wasn't done. "I just don't think it's right," she continued. "If I give something to my kid, I already paid the tax. Why should I have to pay it again because I died?" . . . Back in 2001, before President Bush signed estate tax reform into law, the death duty topped off at 55% on estates worth more than $3 million. Today the top federal rate is 45% with an exemption of $2 million, and under current law the rate falls to zero in 2010. In 2011, however, the death tax is resurrected, with the top rate restored to 55% and the exemption set at $1 million
"Death and Whoopi's Taxes," The Wall Street Journal, December 10, 2007; Page A18 --- http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119724552641918749.html 
Jensen Comment
Sorry Whoppi, a lot of rich folks do not pay any tax on income until they day due to the many (legal) tax avoidance schemes built into the tax code by their lobbyists. Death is the only way to tax this income. Of course assets passed from more than one generation may be double taxed with estate taxation. I think estate taxes are socially beneficial and recommend raising the bar to 95%. Let the heirs make their own way in life like most of us had to make our way. Of course the children may still get a huge break before death with gifts and expensive educations.


Leading Democrats Do Not Seem to Agree on Corporate Tax Rates
If you watch the constant stream of political advertisements in New Hampshire these days, all Democratic Party presidential candidates want to tax corporations harder but old Charlie, who really wields the power, thinks otherwise.

From The Wall Street Journal Accounting Weekly Review on December 6, 2007

Review & Outlook: Corporate Tax War
The Awll Street Journal
by WSJ Opinion Page Editors
Dec 04, 2007
Page: A20
Click here to view the full article on WSJ.com ---
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119673397691112663.html?mod=djem_jiewr_ac
 

TOPICS: Accounting, Personal Taxation, Tax Laws, Taxation

SUMMARY: This Fall, House Democrat Charlie Rangel proposed "...to cut the U.S. corporate income tax] rate to 30.5% from 35%." This WSJ opinion page article argues that, " As a new study makes clear, such a reduction would give a lift to the U.S. economy when it really needs it...[and concludes that] if America is going to remain the developed world's leading job creator and economic engine, corporate tax rates are going to have to fall -- and by more than even Mr. Rangel has suggested."

CLASSROOM APPLICATION: Use this article to integrate political and economic issues into tax policy discussion.

QUESTIONS: 
1.) What entity prepared this report assessing the association between corporate income tax rates and economic performance? Why does this entity undertake such analyses?

2.) What measures were used to identify the relationships between corporate tax rates and economic health? In your answer, be sure to define statutory income tax rates and effective income rates and to identify specific measures of economic health.

3.) Summarize the main points of the discussion. With what political party typical supports this viewpoint?

4.) Is it surprising to you that a Democrat proposes to cut the corporate income tax rate? Explain your answer.

5.) How do personal income taxes also contribute to the issues discussed in this article?

6.) This opinion page piece clearly presents just one side of the debate on raising or lowering income tax rates. Identify one counter-argument to those presented in the piece.
 

Reviewed By: Judy Beckman, University of Rhode Island
 

RELATED ARTICLES: 
Democrats' Tax Measure Could Delay Energy Bill
by John J. Fialka
Dec 05, 2007
Page: A5
 

"Corporate Tax War," The Wall Street Journal, December 4, 2007; Page A20

Word is that the Bush Administration will soon propose a cut in the U.S. corporate income tax, following House Democrat Charlie Rangel's proposal this fall to cut the rate to 30.5% from 35%. As a new study makes clear, such a reduction would give a lift to the U.S. economy when it really needs it.

The study, from the National Bureau of Economic Research, looked at corporate taxes in 85 countries from 1996 to 2005. Economists from the World Bank and Harvard University calculated the effective business tax rate for each country, because some nations have so many tax loopholes that the rate paid by companies can be one-half to one-third the statutory tax rate. The study found that corporate taxes have a statistically significant negative effect on economic performance.

High business taxes were found to reduce a nation's domestic capital investment, the amount of foreign investment into that country, and its overall growth in GDP. The authors conclude that "corporate taxation reduces the return on capital and thus discourages investment" and "reduces the cash flow of the firm" in such a way as to reduce the after-tax capital available for reinvestment.

The researchers also found that high corporate levies reduce entrepreneurship, which drives new industries and job growth. In many nations the corporate tax rate is paid both by large corporations and small businesses. In the U.S., small businesses are often organized under Subchapter S of the tax code and thus pay the personal income tax rate. However the tax is imposed, the study found, "a 10 percentage point rise in a nation's effective corporate tax rate causes a decline in the number of firms by 1.8 per 100 people (the average is 5 per 100 population)."

The clear implication is that raising the U.S. personal income tax rates would also stunt small business entrepreneurship. Yet this is precisely what all of the Democratic Presidential candidates, and even Mr. Rangel, propose. In Mr. Rangel's case, the benefits of his cut in the corporate tax for big business to 30% would be offset by the damage he'd do by raising the top marginal tax rate on individuals and small businesses to as high as 44%. The NBER research suggests this could discourage hundreds of thousands of small businesses from being formed in the next few years.

This study supports research earlier this year by economist Kevin Hassett of the American Enterprise Institute, which found that high business taxes also result in lower wages for workers. The higher rate means less capital investment in making workers productive, which translates into smaller pay checks.

What American CEOs understand, but most in the media and political class so far refuse to acknowledge, is that the U.S. is far behind the rest of the world in reducing corporate tax rates. The U.S. corporate income tax rate is the world's second highest after Japan's among developed nations. Even Mr. Rangel's proposed reduction would leave the U.S. well above the OECD average of 25%. In recent years, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Vietnam, Poland and Singapore, among many other nations, have either cut or proposed to cut their business tax rates. These lower rates are attracting more investment and capital, and they pose a threat to America's economic competitiveness if Washington fails to act.

The NBER study is a reminder of how out-of-touch America's current political debate is with global economic trends. American politicians are proposing new barriers to trade, as well as new obstacles to capital formation, even as the rest of the world is welcoming more of both. The study is also a reminder that because workers don't see a tax does not mean that they don't feel its impact. If America is going to remain the developed world's leading job creator and economic engine, corporate tax rates are going to have to fall -- and by more than even Mr. Rangel has suggested.

You can read much more about corporate taxes at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_Income_Tax


"The (Tax) War Between the States," by Arthur Laffer and Stephen Moore, The Wall Street Journal, December 10, 2007; Page A19 --- http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119724619828518802.html

A record eight million Americans moved from one state to another last year. Where is everyone going, and why? The answer has little to do with climate: California has arguably the nicest climate of any state in the nation -- yet in this decade more Americans have left the Golden State than entered it. Migration patterns instead reveal which states have the most dynamic and desirable economies, and which are "has-been" states. The winners in this contest for the most valuable resource on the globe -- human capital -- are generally the states with the lowest tax, spending and regulatory burdens. The biggest losers are almost all congregated in the Northeast and Midwest. Liberals contend that tax rates, regulations, forced union laws and runaway government spending don't matter when it comes to creating jobs, high incomes and a higher quality of life. People tell us otherwise by voting with their feet.

The American Legislative Exchange Council has just released a study we've done that presents a 2007 Economic Competitiveness Rating of the 50 states, based on 16 economic policy variables, including taxes, regulation, right to work, the legal system, educational freedom and government debt. Over the past decade, the 10 states with the highest taxes and spending, and the most intrusive regulations, have half the population and job growth, and one-third slower growth in incomes, than the 10 most economically free states. In 2006 alone 1,500 people each day moved to the states with the highest economic competitiveness from the states with the lowest competitiveness.

Total State Tax Burdens
Tax Foundation Data --- http://www.taxfoundation.org/research/topic/9.html
State-by-State Rankings in 2007 --- http://www.taxfoundation.org/research/topic/9.html

 

When it comes to rankings with respect to per capita total taxation, there are more disputes as to what taxes to include and exclude. One listing of such taxes and results state by state as of January 2007 is at http://www.retirementliving.com/RLtaxes.html

States are listed alphabetically in three sections:
Alabama-Iowa, Kansas-New Mexico, New York-Wyoming

Many people planning to retire use the presence or absence of a state income tax as a litmus test for a retirement destination.  This is a serious miscalculation since higher sales and property taxes can more than offset the lack of a state income tax. The lack of a state income tax doesn’t necessarily ensure a low total tax burden.

States raise revenue in many ways including sales taxes, excise taxes, license taxes, income taxes, intangible taxes, property taxes, estate taxes and inheritance taxes.  Depending on where you live, you may end up paying all of them or just a few.

This section of our Web site provides you with information on state income taxes, sales and fuel taxes, taxes on retirement income, property taxes and inheritance and estate taxes. as well as sales and fuel taxes. It is intended to give you some insight into which states may offer a lower cost of living.  To check out the state where you want to retire,  just select from the state menu above.

State Sales Tax
All states except Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire and Oregon, collect sales taxes.   Some have a single rate throughout the state though most permit local additions to the base tax rate. Those states with a single rate include Connecticut, Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia.

States with the highest sales tax are: California (7.25%), Mississippi (7.0%), New Jersey (7.0%), Tennessee (7.0%), Rhode Island (7.0%), Minnesota (6.5%), Nevada (6.5%), and Washington (6.5%).  Many cities and counties have the option of imposing an additional local option sales tax.  For instance, in Tennessee some cities add as much as 2.75%.  Nevada's sales tax varies by county and can be as high as 7.75%.

Most states exempt prescription drugs from sales taxes. Some also exempt food and clothing purchases and a few also exempt non-prescription drugs.

Fuel Tax
Every state collects excise taxes on gasoline, diesel fuel and gasohol. The figures shown for each state reflect only the amounts controlled by the states and do not include additional taxes imposed on motor carriers. However, they do include other taxes paid at the pump by consumers.  Where applicable they include sales taxes, gross receipts taxes, oil inspection fees, underground storage tank fees and other miscellaneous environmental fees. They do not include the federal excise tax which is 18.4 cents for gasoline and 24.4 cents for diesel fuel.

Nine states permit cities or counties to impose a local tax on fuel. Taxes in some states can also vary based on the wholesale price which is adjusted quarterly.

Cigarette Tax
Several states are continuing to raise excise taxes on cigarettes and other tobacco products in order to increase revenue.  The rates shown do not include the federal cigarette tax of 39 cents a pack.  Chicago is the most expensive place to buy cigarettes.  When you add the city tax, the Cook County tax and the state tax, the total is $3.66 per pack.  Evanston and Cicero (Illinois) also have city and Cook county taxes.  The top five states with the highest state tax on cigarettes are: New Jersey ($2.58), Rhode Island ($2.46), Washington ($2.025), tied for fourth place are Arizona, Maine, Michigan ($2.00), and fifth is Alaska ($1.80).   Counties and cities may impose an additional tax ranging from 1 cent to $2.00 on a pack of cigarettes. About 82% of what consumers pay for a pack of cigarettes (average cost $4.26 - including statewide sales taxes but not local cigarette or sales taxes) ends up going to the government in taxes and other payments rather than for the cigarettes.

Personal Income Tax
A total of 41 states impose income taxes. New Hampshire and Tennessee apply it only to income from interest and dividends. Seven states (Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming) do not tax personal income. Of the 41 with a broad-based income tax, 35 base the taxes on federal returns, typically taking a portion of what you pay the IRS or using your federal adjusted gross income or taxable income as the starting point.

Personal Exemptions and Standard Deductions
Most states specify amounts for taxpayers and each of their dependents that can be used as an offset in determining taxable income. Most also specify the amounts that persons 65 or older can deduct.

Medical/Dental Deductions
Most states treat health care expenses as having already been deducted from federal returns. Two states (North Dakota and Oregon) allow full deductions while Indiana does not permit itemized deductions on state taxes.

Federal Income Tax Deduction
Only 12 of the 41 states with broad-based income taxes permit taxpayers to deduct federal income taxes.  This is an advantage if you are deciding between two states with similar rate structures but only one allows you to deduct. The latter would give you a lower effective tax rate.

Retirement Income Taxes
Under federal law, taxpayers may be required to include a portion of their Social Security benefits in their taxable adjusted gross income (AGI).  Most states begin the calculation of state personal income tax liability with federal AGI, or federal taxable income.  In those states, the portion of Social Security benefits subject to personal income tax is subject to state personal income tax unless state law allows taxpayers to subtract the federally taxed portion of their benefits from their federal AGI in the computation of their state AGI.

Many states exclude Social Security retirement benefits from state income taxes.  The District of Columbia and 26 states with income taxes provide a full exclusion for Social Security benefits -- Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Virginia.

The remaining 15 states with broad-based income taxes tax Social Security to some extent:

  • Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont, and West Virginia tax Social Security income to the extent it is taxed by the federal government.
  • Connecticut, Iowa, Montana and Wisconsin tax Social Security income above an income floor.  Iowa will gradually phase out its Social Security tax levy from 2008 through 2014.  Wisconsin will fully exclude Social Security beginning in tax year 2008.
  • Colorado, New Mexico and Utah require that federally untaxed Social Security benefits be added back to federal AGI to calculate the base against which their broad age-determined income exclusions apply.

States are prohibited from taxing benefits of U.S. military retirees if they exempt the pensions of state and local government retirees.  Most states that impose an income tax exempt at least part of pension income from taxable income.  Different types of pension income (private, military, federal civil service, and state or local government) are often treated differently for tax purposes.  

States are generally free from federal control in deciding how to tax pensions, but some limits apply.  State tax policy cannot discriminate against federal civil service pensions.  Ten states exclude all federal, state and local pension income from taxation.  These include Alabama, Hawaii, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New York and Pennsylvania.  Among these 10 states, only Kansas taxes any Social Security income, but only to the extent it is subject to federal taxation.  These 10 states differ on the taxation of retirement income from private-sector sources.  Kansas and Massachusetts do not exclude any private-sector retirement income, but most of the others allow a fairly broad exclusion.  Pennsylvania allows a full exclusion.  Alabama excludes income from defined benefit plans.  Hawaii excludes income from contributory plans.  Illinois and Mississippi exclude income from qualified retirement plans.  Louisiana, Michigan and New York cap the private-sector exclusion at $6,000, $34,920 and $20,000, respectively.

Five states (California, Connecticut, Nebraska, Rhode Island, and Vermont) allow no exemptions or tax credits for pension and other retirement income that is counted in federal adjusted gross income.  Most in-state government pensions are taxed the same as out-of-state government pensions.  However, Arizona, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, New York, and Oklahoma provide greater tax relief plans than they do for out-of-state government pension plans.  The District of Columbia also provides greater tax relief for DC government pensions than for state government pensions.

Three states (New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania) do not allow IRA contributions to be deducted from taxable income.  Of the three, only Pennsylvania does not tax IRA earnings of taxpayers age 59 ½ years or older, since earnings are treated like pension income, which is tax exempt.

Retired Military Pay
Some states provide special tax benefits to military retirees.  Others simply follow the federal tax rules.  The states that do not tax retired military pay are: Alabama, Alaska, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky*, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi*, Missouri*, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina*, Oregon*, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
(*With conditions)

Property Taxes
Taxes on land and the buildings on it are the biggest source of revenue for local governments.  They are not imposed by states but by the tens of thousands of cities, townships, counties, school districts and other assessing jurisdictions.

The state's role is to specify the maximum rate on the market value of the property, or a percentage of it, as the legal standard for the local assessors to follow.  The local assessor determines the value to be taxed. You can't escape property taxes in any state.  But you can find significantly low rates in certain parts of the country.

Most states give residents over a certain age a break on their property taxes.  With some taxes, you'll need a relatively low income to qualify.  Forty states provide either property tax credits or homestead exemptions that limit the value of assessed property subject to tax.

There may be other tax breaks available, depending on where you live.  All 50 states offer some type of property tax relief program, such as freezes that will lock in the assessed value of your property once you reach a certain age, or deferral of taxes until the homeowner moves or dies.  They ultimately have to be paid.  In addition, counties and municipalities often have their own property tax relief plans.

Retirees with low incomes and high housing costs may face property tax bills that are higher than they can manage.  Some states target property tax relief to those homeowners bearing the greatest burden.  Property tax reform that takes into account a homeowner's ability to pay, such as a so-called "property tax circuit breaker," can better protect low-income homeowners from rising property taxes that accompany rising property values.  Targeted property tax relief avoids sharp reductions in funding for locally provided public services and inequities based solely on date of purchase.

  • A property tax circuit breaker prevents property taxes from "overloading" a taxpayer. Under a typical circuit breaker, the state sets a maximum percentage of income that an eligible family can be expected to pay in property taxes. If property taxes exceed this limit, the state then provides a rebate or credit to the taxpayer.
  • Currently, of the 31 states and the District of Columbia with circuit breakers for homeowners, only six and the District of Columbia permit all households to participate in the program without regard to age.
Other property tax relief strategies that may be used to target property tax relief include homestead exemptions which exempt a certain amount of a home's value from taxation, credits to rebate a certain percentage of taxes paid, and deferral programs to allow low-income elderly homeowners to defer payment of property taxes until property is sold.

Property Tax Swaps
More and more states are cutting property taxes in exchange for increases in sales or other taxes.  Idaho, New Jersey, South Carolina and Texas took this step in 2006.  In New Jersey the state increased the sales tax by 1 cent with half of it designated for property tax relief in 2006 and possibly the full amount in future years.  Voters in Idaho also approved a 1 cent sales tax increase that reduces property taxes by $260 million.  South Carolina's Republican governor, Mark Sanford, signed a measure that promises to cut average property taxes by 60% and makes up the revenue by increasing the sales tax by 1 cent.  The revenue will be used to support the Homestead Exemption Fund.  In Texas the state lowered property taxes by increasing the taxes on cigarettes and some business activity.

Best and Worst States: Based on data from the 2002 census, the following five states have the lowest local property taxes per capita/year. They are Arkansas ($191), Alabama ($285), Kentucky ($376), New Mexico ($380), and Oklahoma ($425). The states with the highest local property taxes per capita/year are: New Jersey ($1,871), Connecticut ($1,733), New York ($1,402), and Rhode Island ($1,369).

For more information about property taxes in all states, click here.

Inheritance and Estate Taxes
An inheritance tax is an assessment made on the portion of an estate received by an individual. It differs from an estate tax which is a tax levied on an entire estate before it is distributed to individuals. It is strictly a state tax. Eleven states still collect an inheritance tax. They are: Connecticut, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Nebraska, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Tennessee. Connecticut will be phased out after 2005. In all states, transfers of assets to a spouse are exempt from the tax. In some states, transfers to children and close relatives are also exempt.

As for estate taxes, the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (EGTRRA) phases out