Neff Zone Column - November 1, 2008

Print Edition: November 1, 2008

WHILE YOU’RE WAITING TO VOTE…

Since it’s pretty much all over but the shouting in terms of the presidential campaigns, I thought it might be a good time to check what else has been happening below the radar in the world of news. If nothing else, it might give you something to think about as you wait in line to vote next Tuesday.

Taxes are always a hot topic during an election year. It might interest you to know that for a combined state-local tax burden as a percentage of household income Michigan ranks 27^th of all states with a 9.4% rate according to the Tax Foundation. That’s lower than Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Ohio, and virtually the same as Indiana and Illinois. Even if you moved to Mississippi, a state that ranks at the bottom of almost all categories from education to senior citizen programs, you’d only save a half percent.

If you follow the law and pay your taxes you also might be interested to know that a new study by the Office of Tax Policy Research and reported in Forbes magazine reveals that when it comes to paying taxes the rich hide more of their income than the middle or working class. The bottom line is that many people earning between $500,000 and $1 million have been cheating on their taxes. In fact, an IRS audit shows a "tax gap" of $345 billion for 2001 alone. It doesn’t take a genius to see that if these cheats had paid their taxes according to law (just like the rest of us) the amount collected would dwarf the $700 billion needed for the Wall Street bailout. This has nothing to do with redistribution of wealth, new taxes, or anything else other than plain theft. Cheats break the law. They need to pay up or be jailed. End of story.

Oh, and about the bailout, reports are surfacing in Associated Press stories that some bankers might be not using the bailout money to, you know, bail out anything. Instead they are putting that money aside to buy other banks, pay dividends, give employees raises, and award bonuses to executives. Keep an eye on this one, folks. Another trickle down is about to become a tinkle down.

Now, as you can see, there are serious news items to consider. However, that does not mean the news has not been filled with a bunch of head-scratchers too.

In Jamaica, thieves stole a whole beach from the Coral Springs resort, an estimated 500 truckloads of sand. I wonder if we could convince those thieves to come to Cadillac this winter. I, for one, would be willing to look the other way while they abscond with all the snow in my driveway.

The National Basketball Association season began this week. The average price to attend a Pistons game this season will be $66 and that’s the fourth lowest in the league. Not counting gasoline, parking, and snacks, that’s $264 for a family of four. It costs $155 to attend a Los Angeles Lakers game. Geez, an average guy would need a government bailout to be able to afford to go to an NBA game.

They’re calling it "Outsourcing 3.0," otherwise known as intellectual outsourcing. It seems that some big law firms are sending legal work to places like India rather than having the work done within their own companies by junior lawyers and paralegals. The outsourcing of work on legal documents was a $3.05 billion industry in 2007. Gee, I’m sure there is no danger of identity and data theft with this trend. Having the information about my will and other personal matters being outsourced to the lowest bidder in Bombay is just dandy.

Speaking of identities, you have to give it to the Transportation Security Administration when it comes to foolproof practices. Next year, passengers will no longer be able to board planes unless they give their full names. For example, I won’t be able to use Jim Neff as my name, I’ll have to use James Neff and also be able to provide my birth date. I feel much safer; no terrorist will be able to crack that new code.

Finally, something I found immensely interesting in the New York Times. An article entitled "How to take American health care from worst to first" argued that by using a statistical system called Sabermetrics this country could deliver the best quality care at the lowest possible cost. The entire article is worth a read at www.nytimes.com/2008/10/24/opinion/24beane.html.

Beyond the concept itself, what made this article so fascinating to me was who authored the piece – Newt Gingrich, John Kerry, and Billy Beane (president of the Oakland A’s baseball team). That’s a diverse trio if I’ve ever seen one.

Remember, go to the polls this Tuesday. In the famous words of the famous Chicago mobster Al Capone: "Vote early and vote often."

Jim Neff is a local columnist. Comments to neffzone@gmail.com. Read Neff Zone columns online at www.neffzone.com/cadillacnews.