Tag Archives: Government Spending

Local Governments Miscalculate Employee Pay

Local governments are making a major miscalculation if they downplay benefits when comparing government pay to private-sector pay. Government workers enjoy benefits that many private-sector employees can only dream about. Sham studies mean taxpayers might pay even more for government-employee benefits. Continue reading

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Time for Local Government Reform

Members of both the City and County councils want to fund government pay increases by continuing to pick taxpayers’ pockets while ignoring other options such as privatizing or contracting out poorly run government programs. Continue reading

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Local Government Pay Hikes Gouge Taxpayers

Government budget time at both the City of Cheyenne and Laramie County show just what their priority is – pay hikes for government workers. City and county councilors sure are generous with other peoples’ money! The City’s pay hike proposal … Continue reading

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Fishy Proposals Leave Taxpayers Floundering

Implementing budget cuts that would reduce the budget now and in the future (unlike current short-term measures such as delaying maintenance or leaving vacant positions empty) mean cutting programs that fall outside its traditional mission. However, the department is evoking the fear of program cuts to manipulate legislators into either increasing fees or finding more creative sources of revenue. Continue reading

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More Red Tape No Solution for Red Tape

The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration reports that Internal Revenue Service employees began using “inappropriate criteria” in 2010 when considering the applications of Tea Party organizations for 501(c)(4) tax exempt status. This included subjecting groups with “Tea Party,” “Patriots,” … Continue reading

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Time to Cut Bait at the Game and Fish Department

When the Game and Fish Commission was created by legislation passed in 1921, the role of the Game and Fish department was to protect, propagate, preserve and distribute “Game animals, birds and fish of this State.” Now, the department’s mission has morphed to “conserving wildlife – serving people.” This loose definition helps to explain the expansion of the Game and Fish department’s activities to pretty much anything that could possibly have anything to do with any animal or person in the state. Continue reading

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Tax Revenues Suffer from Sluggish Wyoming Economy

Recent employment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) show that the private sector of the U.S. economy has increased its number of employees by 3.4 percent since 2011. This is weak for a recovery, and you would expect that a low-tax state like Wyoming could beat that. Continue reading

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Wyoming Falling Behind National Economic Recovery

Recent employment numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that Wyoming is not out of the recession yet – far from it.  Total non-farm employment is going nowhere:  ·         In the fourth quarter of 2011 a total of 289,600 … Continue reading

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A Sober Look at the Internet Sales Tax

There has been a lot of public debate about the internet sales tax. Proponents argue that it will level the playing field between online retailers and brick-and-mortar stores; critics say the tax will increase the burden on consumers and depress … Continue reading

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On Good – and Bad – Spending Cuts

One of the immediate lessons that our state legislators should learn from the federal government’s grab of some of our severance taxes is that the federal government is no longer a reliable fiscal partner for the state. Whether we are … Continue reading

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