There were only two states on the East Coast that ranked in the Top 10 of the Tax Foundation's 2020 State Business Tax Climate Index. Those states were Florida at number 4, and New Hampshire at number 6. In the ranking, states were graded on corporate taxes, individual taxes, sales taxes, property taxes, and unemployment insurance taxes. Florida led the nation with the best ranking for individual income taxes and also secured the second-best ranking for unemployment insurance taxes. Florida placed in the top half of states in all categories. This year New Hampshire moved to 6th … [Read more...]
Power Outages about to Get Even Worse in California
More Californians than ever are about to face the man-made disaster of an intentional power shutdown. As fires already blaze across the state, utility companies PG&E and California Edison are preparing for the biggest outages yet. Stuart Leavenworth and James Rainey report in the LA Times: PG&E, which has 5.4 million electric customers and provides power to 16 million Californians, was projecting Thursday that it could shut off power across nearly all of its territory in Northern California on Sunday and Monday because of ferocious gusts. “This system will likely be the strongest … [Read more...]
California’s Government Makes Living Hard
"It makes life hard." Those are the words of a California delivery driver discussing the high cost of living in the state. He continued, telling The Wall Street Journal's Amrith Ramkumar "You can’t go out and do the things you want to do." Gasoline prices, for instance, are nearly always highest, or near the highest, in California. The reason why reports Ramkumar, is California's heavy regulation. Catherine Reheis-Boyd, president of the Western States Petroleum Association, said the industry group is reviewing the report and noted that California’s regulations play a large role in the … [Read more...]
Tax Planning: Don’t Buy Mutual Funds’ Cap Gain Distributions
When you invest in your retirement life, it’s paramount you harness the advantages of a tax-efficient investment strategy. One strategy is to avoid surprise year-end capital gains distributions from mutual funds. Year-end distributions are why I prefer having individual, dividend-paying stocks in a brokerage account rather than the uncertainty that comes with mutual funds around this time of year. Take caution. Be prudent. Do not buy a fund around this time of year to immediately be on the hook for a tax gain. It’s like showing up for dinner, after it’s been eaten, and being stuck … [Read more...]
Good Morning from Newport, RI
Good morning from Newport, RI. The Fall is an especially nice time to visit this city by the sea. … [Read more...]
Top Gun 2, Key West, Florida, and You
Originally posted November 29, 2018. Top Gun 2 is expected to be released in the Summer of 2020. Kelly McGillis—Top Gun flight instructor Charlie—after the original Top Gun, opened a restaurant in Key West in the old Pan Am building. And as Dick Young has told me, she was there from the beginning working hard while pregnant overseeing its opening. Always a popular spot, it has since been sold, and, although the Top Gun memorabilia (her leather jacket) may be gone, it’s still a neat spot to have a beer. You have two winters, until the release of Top Gun 2, to Escape to Margaritaville—from … [Read more...]
Music That Will Make You Feel the Tropics
Wishing for some tropical weather like I am? Then let Jimmy Buffett’s Tin Cup Chalice bring you there. Hard to beat Doyle Grisham’s pedal steel play at minute 2:07. OFFICIAL CORAL REEFER LINER NOTES A1A IS THE BEACH ACCESS ROAD THAT RUNS OCCASIONALLY ON AND OFF U.S. 1. IT CAN TAKE YOU TO SOME OF THE PRETTIEST BEACHES IN FLORIDA EAST OF SAINT AUGUSTINE, RIGHT THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF “WRINKLE CITY” BETTER KNOWN AS MIAMI BEACH AND ENDING SUDDENLY 90 MILES NORTH OF HAVANA AND FOUR BLOCKS FROM MY HOUSE. PETER WHORF CAME TO KEY WEST TO TALK ABOUT MY IDEAS FOR THE COVER. AFTER SEVERAL HARD SKULL … [Read more...]
Are Californians Prepared to Suffer Through 10 Years of Power Outages?
Those Californians who haven't already fled the state's high taxes, are looking at man-made power outages for as much as 10 years, reports Katherine Blunt in the Wall Street Journal. She writes: PG&E Corp. PCG -0.37% ’s chief executive said Friday that it could take as long as 10 years for the company to improve its electric system enough to significantly diminish the need to pull the plug on customers to reduce the risk of sparking fires. Bill Johnson, who joined the company in May, made the disclosure at a California Public Utilities Commission hearing where the panel’s president, … [Read more...]
California’s Tax Increases Spur 40% More Wealthy Residents to Leave
Just how long will wealthy Californians accept being used as an ATM machine by the state's legislators? For years Democrats have said their ever-increasing taxes don't drive wealthy people away from the state. A new study says that theory is false. In fact, the study suggests higher taxes in California increased the number of wealthy residents fleeing by 40%. Americans do, in fact, want to leave their high tax states. The Editors at The Wall Street Journal write: Democrats in California have raised taxes on the rich again and again, and liberals claim it has no effect on taxpayer … [Read more...]
In Mexico, Gun Control Kills
Americans questioning whether or not national gun control is an appropriate course to take for fighting crime have the ability to peer in on an experiment that has tried just that. Just below America's southern border lies a laboratory that has been testing some of the toughest gun control laws in the world. Despite those tough controls, in Mexico, violence is rampant. In the Wall Street Journal, John R. Lott, Jr., author of More Guns Less Crime, The War on Guns, and The Bias Against Guns, explains what can be learned from the situation in Mexico. He writes: Another month, another … [Read more...]
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