I just read a letter to the editor of National Geographic concerning the controlled harvesting of redwood trees in California. This reader was opposed to the controlled cutting of these trees which is a legitimate position to take. However his solution was a bit hard to swallow; there wouldn’t be any need to cut these forests if we just reduced the world’s population by three quarters. I noticed that his letter didn’t contain an offer to be the first in line for “self-reduction.”
FYI Documentation obtained by Judicial Watch show that over a two year period as Nancy Pelosi served as Speaker of the House, she has used military aircraft for her travel at a cost of $2,100,744.59 – including $101,429.14 for in-flight expenses, including food and alcohol. This averages a bit over $87,500 per month.
Like almost every state in the Union, Mississippi is facing a budget crisis. There is a great deal of debate about where, how and even if cuts be made in state budgets. The figures keep moving and I’m not even sure what the shortfall is going to be, but I thought I might throw out some interesting statistics for us all to consider: Mississippi’s 2010 budget for state funds is roughly 4.9 billion. Over 70% of those funds come from sales tax and state income tax. The tobacco tax and the gaming tax (on casinos) each only provide about 3.5% of the funds available. This 4.9 billion dollar figure does not include federal funds provided to the state.
Where’s this money spent? More than 62% of the revenue goes to education in Mississippi (includes k-12 and higher education) Only about 5% each goes to Corrections and hospitals. Roughly 8.5% goes to welfare programs and over 7% goes to pay the interest on state debt. ( About 55% of the federal funds provided to Mississippi is used for Medicare/Medicaid)
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