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Rensselaer County Taxpayers Association

January 1997                                                                                                                                                     Volume 2, Number 1

Here we go with our second year. Are you still with us? We’re with you.

Just recently, it was officially announced that for one week the 4% state sales tax and most county and local sales taxes would be forgiven on clothing and a few other items. This was to be a bone thrown to retailers who had a bad season. Lo and behold, customers flocked to the stores in large numbers to take advantage of the "savings."

Once again, the fallacy of the tax and spenders attempting to maneuver the market place and our economy in general, is proven wrong. The tail is still trying to wag the dog.

All taxes are odious and regressive. The left-wingers and liberals just do not get it. Taxes are a necessary evil and should be imposed with great reluctance.

Regardless of what you may have heard concerning the law suit Crawmer v Mills (the NYS Commissioner of Education) hearing #78448, an appeal from a previous decision by the Commissioner will be heard before the Supreme Court - Appellate Division of the 3^rd Judicial Department in Albany, NY during the March 1997 term.

The suit is contesting the alleged illegal use of the public’s money to promote a bond issue of $ 29.7 million by the East Greenbush School District.

To all citizens who value their freedoms and stand up for their rights, this decision will have a vital impact.

If the public has no say as to the disposition of their tax money, we will be forced toward another step down the road to dictatorship.

Once upon a time, it was fashionable for a few individuals to experiment with potent drugs. Most were elitists who felt life was dull and all the kicks were not on the football field.

Many fell into the habit of smoking cigarettes, cigars, pipes and using chewing tobacco. These addictions seemed harmless until the truth struck home and tragedy was assured.

In every case the afterthought is "if I only had it to do over."

There is apparently one positive solution. This goes for most ills, including unwanted pregnancies, serious felonies and obnoxious behavior - don’t.

Human nature being what it is, all cannot be adjudged as perfect. Mother nature also goes on a rampage every once in a while.

Congressman Jerry Solomon, in a letter to the editor in the Albany, NY Times Union (January 20, 1997), clearly defines an answer to illegal drugs by strongly advising drug testing. He further states "memories are indeed short, because illegal drugs were an issue just this fall and President Clinton took a lot of heat from people like myself for failing to properly implement the White House drug testing policy. Now how would Congress look, if we didn’t follow up and implement our own policy?"

"Next time you don’t think that drug prevention is a pressing matter, go ask the next parent who finds their 13 year old has started doing drugs." - good analysis, Jerry.

Closely following up, we should insist that all school bus drivers, air line pilots and all public officials be tested - and this, just for starters.

A few months ago in November, before the election, I talked with people who were in favor of the Environmental Bond Act that was then on the ballot. I heard various reasons why these people supported the Bond Act and the borrowing of money it would authorize.

A prominent business person said to me that he was for the Bond Act because it would help inner city development by cleaning up hazardous waste sites known as "brownfields." Another person told me that the money would go toward buying sensitive ecosystems along the Hudson River. Another person said he was for it because he wanted to limit development in the Adirondacks and the money would be used by the state to buy forever wild land.

These all sound like great reasons. After all, I am an outdoor person myself. I enjoy hiking and photographing wildlife.

Well, hold onto your wallet. According to the January 7, 1997 edition of the Times Union, money from the State Environmental Protection Fund recently was granted locally to the following projects:

• Proctor’s Theater in Schenectady will receive $100,000 to repair its roof,
• Scotia will receive $50,000 to repair an Amphitheater,
• The Troy Public Library will receive $75,000 for restoration work,
• The Cathedral of All Saints will receive $100,000 for repairs.

What do these grants have to do with the environment? Nothing if you ask me. It sounds plain wacky to use Environmental Protection Fund money to pay for restoring a church, or fixing a library roof.

If this is what they spend Environmental Protection Fund money on, what do you think they will spend the Bond Act money on?

Well, when they spend that money, I will be here to say "I told you so."

Free credit, No payments ‘till next St. Swithin’s Day, Bad Credit? Don’t worry, Bankrupt? See us. You have all heard it and perhaps many of you have fallen for it. There is no such thing as Free Credit. Credit is money and money costs money. No one lends their money without a charge. Not even Mom and Pop. If you don’t pay the interest rate then Mom and Pop have to pay it by virtue of the fact that they did not get it from you as they would have if they had left their money in the bank.

Merchants don’t get free money, either. When they offer you these fantastic deals, they get the money from a finance company which charges them for the loan. From where does the money come to pay the finance charges? Easy, it is worked into the price of the goods or services which you are financing. You didn’t really think they were being "good guys", did you? How long would they stay in business if they weren’t making a profit? Better yet, why would they stay in business if they weren’t making a profit?

Since credit is money, the longer you use other people’s money the greater the charge for its use and eventually the greater the cost of their products or services.

The credit card is good example of what happens when you charge your purchases. Credit card interest rates average between 16% and 18.5% per year. This means that you are paying up to 18.5% more for your purchases than if you had paid cash. If you saw a merchant who charged 18.5% more for his product than another down the street you would deal down the street. Yet you readily pay the banks for the privilege of "charging" your purchase.

The real problem that this easy credit creates is that it makes it possible for many people who cannot afford their purchases to buy anyway. When time comes to pay the piper, they can’t. The merchant doesn’t care, he has already been paid by the credit finance company. The finance company doesn’t care because they deduct these "losses" from their taxes under the head of doing business and then they include the losses in their interest charges for next year. The merchant, upon finding that his interest rates are increasing as a rate of those bad debts, increases the price of his goods or services and you, the good customer who pays his debts, pay the higher prices.

So, friends, when you see a local merchant or bank advertising one of these credit gimmicks, be on your guard. These credit practices may result in your having to pay for the phonies and frauds who take advantage.

12/26/96

Letter to the Editor,

Let me begin by stating that I think American teachers are the best in the world, it’s their organized labor practices that offend me.

A December 10^th article in the Times Union entitled ‘U.S. Teachers Work Longer Hours Than Faculty Members Abroad’ illustrates the worth of a good spin doctor. Under the guise of a news story, readers are treated to a tearful rendition of how overworked and oppressed American teachers are. Hogwash.

Let’s start with the way their 955 hours per year are portrayed as high compared to the average of 755 hours in other countries. Maybe that’s because other countries realize teaching is a part time job! Most taxpayers consider 2000 hours to be full time.

The article also mentions that Germany pays teachers more than we do but states [by omission] that German teachers work less hours. For the record, both German and American students’ performance lags behind that of Japan and Korea which are curiously not mentioned in this article.

The article then goes on to paint a picture of despair for a Utah teacher who is moonlighting in a grocery store because she was only making $30,000 as a teacher.

For the record, Utah students rank highest in performance in the U.S. on a regular basis. The amount we pay public school teachers, as it is not based on merit, has no quantifiable relationship to student performance. In fact, a case can easily be made that lower teacher salaries result in higher student performance with a closer look at the facts in this report, and less reliance on the author’s spin.

The President of the Utah teachers union who brought a state legislator to meet the poor moonlighting teacher, ought not make it a habit. A smart legislator will realize that the unionized moonlighter is unfairly competing with really poor working stiffs who are compelled to pay teachers salaries and benefits. There is something insidious about a public employee with a narrowly defined union contract moonlighting in the private sector, while simultaneously excoriating competition in the classroom. I’ll bet there are some teachers who work summers that don’t even pay taxes on their extra income.

Regarding the author’s assertion that the United States is anticipating a teacher shortage, I’ve been told by a retired administrator from Nassau County that his school district routinely receives over 2000 applications for the 25 teaching positions that result from annual turnover.

Moreover, the student/teacher ratio locally is about 15 to 1, leaving plenty of room for the current crop of teachers to absorb any real increase in students.

The author also states the American teacher starting salary to be about $22,500., but doesn’t taint her spin by mentioning their $10,000 in benefits. For the record, the median salary of a teacher in the Capital District is over $50,000. That means for every entry level teacher who whines about earning only $20,000., there is one who is being quite mum about earning $80,000., plus benefits, part time. Which brings to mind another telling story I read in the Times Union on December 15^th regarding the retired SUNY professor who could afford to donate $1 million to SUNY stating: ‘But the university has paid my salary since 1948, and it has paid for my pension, and it was a simple matter of returning what I had gotten.’ Previously I would have considered ‘socialist millionaire’ to be an oxymoron. Clearly, we’ll soon be treated to a news story entitled: ‘American Teachers - The World’s Poorest Millionaires.’

David R. Crawmer

Are local school bus drivers extended special privileges and are they immune from speed laws?
Schodack Resident

How come in North Greenbush, the state mandate for counties is going down and the local town tax is going up?
North Greenbush Resident

Now that the House Speaker Gingrich matter has been adjudicated, it is hoped that justice and equality will prevail along all party lines.
East Greenbush Resident

We notice that our Senior Citizens groups are doing a fine job in Rensselaer and East Greenbush.
East Greenbush Resident

• School board elections are coming up.
  
• Notice to members… Annual dues are due.

Town Board person O’Brien should inform the public of a hearing to be held covering the excessive number and placing of election signs throughout the town. It is noted that many of the signs during the past election asked the voters to elect Mrs. O’Brien.
East Greenbush Resident

Congratulations are extended to the Schodack and Averill Park School Districts for the cost effective academic programs, as indicated by the State Education Department report card.
East Greenbush Resident

Four years ago the administration in East Greenbush said the Goff School was at capacity. Now four years later - what happened? Do we really have to spend $30,000,000 on our schools?
Schodack Resident