11/23/08    This guide addresses the problem of government at any level, including Federal, State, County, Town, City, & Village, in not being able to meet their budgets. When projected income, (tax revenue), does not meet with the projected expenses, the government experiences a budget shortfall. During this current economic crisses, most all levels of government are dealing with this problem. I must say however, that an economic downturn, is not the sole cause of all shortfalls. History will show, (both ancient & current), that even during fruitful economic periods, causes can be attributed to the gross mismanagement of funds, total lack of prudent controls in the spending of our tax dollars, together with both, deliberate & undeliberate human errors by our government leaders.  I would like to illustrate some examples of what is happening at some of the different levels of government right here, right now, in my state of New York.  I reside in the town of Evans, NY, where all properties were recently reassessed for property tax purposes. While the town officials were looking to gain equality in assessments, it is also believed by the citizens that a main purpose is to increase it's revenue stream. (Higher property taxes).   In our City of Buffalo, we are under a mandatory "Control Board", designed to monitor all budgetary issues & spending.  In our County of Erie, we are also under the auspices of a "Control Board". Both control boards had nothing to do with the current downfall of Wall Street, & this economy, as they have been in place now for several years.  Next, moving on to our state of New York, our Governor Patterson has been making headlines since he first took office. He warns of the billions & billions of dollars in cuts that must be made in order for our state government to continue on.  Next, continuing on up the government ladder is our Federal Government. While currently being in mega debt, we cannot even measure it in Millions, or Billions of Dollars. Our Federal Government debt my friends, can only be measured in the Trillions of Dollars. Numbers that are difficult for the average American to comprehend. It is a quite a mystery even trying to determine what this debt will esculate to, with interest, the governments current role in bailouts, loans, & becomming the comaker on more & more high risk situations.  We have financially troubled government, at all levels, not only in this state, but throughout most of our country. With the failure of many Banks, Large & Old Companies in many fields, troubled Automakers, etc., why then should the American Families' concerns be any less than what they are? (TBC) Atticus Alberts                                                                             11/26/08.  I'm back...   there are many different directions in which I could take this guide, but as indicated by its title, I shall stay focused on the topic of Government Budgets & Income Taxes. I think we can all agree that "We the People", want any form of increased or new taxes, TAKEN RIGHT OUT OF THE EQUATION!, in the attempt to balance budgets. Here in Erie County, the new currently proposed budget, already has a negative twist to its citizenry, just because of an even small proposed property tax increase. AT the point of sale, we also have to pay 8 & 3/4% sales tax, out of what was supposed to be our net income.  People in general are totally fed up with the current fees & taxes that they must endure. Just the thought of any additional tax increases, in any form or disguise, is outright sickening! Still, budgets are not being balanced.  My proposal is that we go back to grade school, & review the subject of % (percentages). I am now submitting to you & our government, what I see as the correct answer to now balancing budgets at all levels. We must first examine all of the categories that we MUST spend money on. Next, we must determine the amount of money needed to fund all of these expenses. We next determine the amount of income, that is, the total amount of money that we will actually have to work with. Now subtract the income from the expenses, to see what the shortfall is.  (You know, kind of like we do at home).  Now reverting back to grade school arithmetic, convert the dollar shortage amount into the total percentage short. Finally, take that % off of each & every category that was initally targeted to receive money. We now have a balanced budget! ...  Now as an example, let's say that the original budget was 10% short on the revenue side of meeting expenses.  We already know that whenever government cuts back on funding, there will be outcry, protests & complaints from those most directly affected. It could range from charities to department heads, to affected groups, organizations, individuals etc. ...  The government response would uniformly be, that each & every segment of the budget was cut the same, and the equal amount of 10%. Why?  Because we did not have enough money - and we Will Not Spend money that we do not have. ( you know, like we do at home ). You therefore must operate with the 90% allocation  that you are being granted. (TBC) Atticus Alberts                                                                                         It is now Friday, 11/28/08, and I do hope that everyone had a Blessed & Thankful Thanksgiving Day yesterday. I will now continue on how we should determine the amount of income taxes that Americans pay. As demonstrated on how to cut the expense side with an equal percentage applied to all areas, this same method could be applied to both Federal & State income taxes. I see & recognize the mathamatical % to be the "Great Equalizer". To illustrate in simple numbers once again, if it were determined by our government decision makers, that each American should pay 10% of their yearly income in Federal Taxes, then a person earning $150,000 X a 10% tax rate = $15,000, & a person earning $20,000 X a 10% tax rate = $2,000.  Finally, there could be a cut off on the low end, where there would be no tax payment due from those individuals unfortunate enough in their jobs, who haven't earned a pre-established minimum income... This is ATTICUS ALBERTS, signing off until I am inspired to write my next eBay Guide.