SULLIVAN'S SALVOS
March 18, 2008
Sullivan’s Salvos 3/18/08
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! March 17 is always a big day for me. In addition to celebrating my Irish heritage, St. Patrick’s Day holds a special place in my heart, because it was the birthday of my late father. Bob Sullivan passed away 9 years ago this summer.
Nobody was more proud of his Irish heritage than Dad. He lived for St. Pat’s, and the St. Patty’s Days we shared contain some very fond memories. We had some good times on March 17 over the years.
Dad was always fun to be around – maybe the most fun person I ever knew. Dad firmly believed that life was too short- in his case, it certainly was. He also believed life was meant to be enjoyed.
With that in mind, I wanted to share an old Irish blessing that reminds me of Dad: “May your home always be too small to hold all your friends.”
That was never more true than in the case of Bob Sullivan. Happy birthday, Dad. I miss you.
Happy Easter to those of you who celebrate it. Easter is early this year; we do not usually have to deal with snow and ice still on the ground. But the spirit of rebirth and renewal is everywhere. After this long, hard winter, we could all use a renewal. Happy holiday!
The Board of Supervisors recently voted to place a Conservation bond referendum on the November 2008 general election ballot. The Conservation Board is requesting $20 million dollars (to be paid back over 20 years) to be spent on the protection of rivers, streams, woodlands, wetlands, prairies, and the development of trails.
If approved by 60% of the voters, the measure would cost the owner of a $100,000 house about $2.20 per month. It would cost owners of agricultural ground about 21 cents/acre.
Conservation experts predict that the $20 million raised locally could be used as a match to generate between $20 and $80 million in additional investments.
The Conservation Board will identify the spending priorities, but they plan on getting public input through a series of public meetings. The Conservation Board does not have the power to condemn land; they only work with willing sellers. In addition, the Conservation Board has a policy of never paying more than the assessed value for any piece of property. This would not change regardless of the results of the bond issue.
A group has formed to push for the passage of the measure. Contributions can be made to Citizens for Our Land, Water and Future, PO Box 5125, Coralville IA 52241, landwaterfuture@gmail.com. If interested in learning more, contact Janelle Rettig at 338-0999.
I am not aware of any group having formed in opposition. If someone has that info, please send it my way and I’ll pass that along, too.
From Citizens For Tax Justice: The Boston Globe recently broke the story of how Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR), until last year a subsidiary of Halliburton, is avoiding hundreds of millions of dollars in federal Social Security and Medicare taxes by pretending its Iraq-based employees are working for a Cayman-Islands based shell company.
According to the Globe, KBR recruits people to work on reconstruction-related projects. When the workers get their first paycheck, they see that it's coming from a KBR subsidiary, Service Employers International Inc, (SEI).
SEI's corporate home is the Grand Cayman Islands. (Legally, anyway -- SEI has no actual offices in the Caymans, just a mailing address.) And while KBR employees working in Iraq would be subject to payroll taxes, SEI employees don't incur federal payroll tax liability because they're not working for a US-based company.
The Globe estimates that SEI is avoiding about $101 million in payroll taxes every year using this scam. If this has been going on throughout SEI's 5-year stint in Iraq, that's more than $500 million in revenue that won't be shoring up the Social Security system.
One glitch in this clever plan, as the Globe alertly points out, is that Medicare benefits are not reduced for those who don't contribute. So the Medicare portion of the foregone tax is money is going to have to be raised through taxes on the rest of us. And Texas-based KBR is also avoiding state unemployment taxes on these workers, which means that they'll be ineligible for unemployment benefits later on.
Speaking of tax fairness, please continue to push your legislators to support Combined Reporting! This is an issue to embrace, not fear. Every Iowan would benefit from this common sense change. It is all about fairness. In addition, Iowa needs the money it is owed by these corporations!
PEACE VIGIL: March 19, 2008, dawn to Midnight on the sidewalk on the east side of the Pentacrest. (Bring signs and candles if you can. There will be some available there.) For further info, contact Ed Flaherty @ 621-6766 or Peggy Stokes @ 338-2924.
DID YOU KNOW? Iowa six-on-six girl’s basketball legend Denise Long of Union-Whitten High School once scored 111 points in a single game. Long also scored 93 points in a State Tournament game, and averaged over 60 points per game for her career. To top it all off, Long was drafted by the NBA!
Anyone interested in learning more about County government should take a look at the County website-
www.johnson-county.com.
"Sullivan’s Salvos" is sent once per week to any interested party. It will give a brief update on issues of interest to Johnson County residents.
These messages come solely from Rod Sullivan, and neither represents the viewpoints of the whole Board of Supervisors nor those of groups or individuals otherwise mentioned.
If you do NOT want the weekly E-mail, simply reply to this message, and type "unsubscribe" in the subject line.
If you know anyone else who might be interested, just forward this message. They can E-mail me at rodsullivan@mchsi.com with "subscribe" in the subject line.
As always, feel free to contact me at 354-7199 or rodsullivan@mchsi.com. I look forward to serving you!
---Rod
Labels: 3-18-08
posted by Rod Sullivan @ 9:24 PM
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