FT 8-06: Commonwealth Budget for FY2019 (Passed)

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This looks like on the surface a copy/paste from last year's bill. Am I correct?

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Amendment to remove from stuff that was never passed outside the previous year budget so we're basically starting from scratch. Will make a post of all the spending bills since October as well soon.

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Central and Northern Pacific Railway Act of 2017: $10,424,400,000 - one time thing
Private Prison Depopulation Act of 2017: $500,000,000
Earthquake Act: $50,000,000 - one time thing
Working Retraining and Introduction Act: .5% of GDP per year
Rural High-Speed Internet Improvement Ac: $1,000,000,000
Standing with Survivors Act  $50,000,000 - one time thing
LFTR Act: $5,000,000,000
Fremont Railway and Pan-Regional Transport Act of 2018: $1,118,200,000 - one time thing
Innovation Prosperity Act: $50,000,000 - expires in 5 years
The Fremont Parks and Recreation Act of 2018: $750,000,000 - one time thing
Bank of Fremont Act: $1,540,457
Fremont Promise Act: $3,350,000,000
Fremont Urban Renovation Act of 2018: $250,000,000 - one time thing
Fremont Farm Maintenance Act of 2018: $350,000,000 - one time thing


Gaming Tax
Estate Tax
 

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So in 2018 we had a $474 billion surplus which would carry over to 2019. The budget assumes a $516 billion surplus so that puts a dent in things slightly. So that brings us down to $423 billion not counting my amendment.

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^Why should we be increasing revenues with such a massive surplus?

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Nay

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Looking through older stuff, I stumble upon two bills that were signed prior to the signing of the FY2018 Budget yet not included in the final bill.

Warren Act: $618,750,000 - one time thing
Mann Act: $300,000,000,000 - one time thing

None of these were actually included in the FY2018 so I'm not sure if they're legally funded programs.

I also think I found an error in the math of the FY2018 budget (not counting for the above two items). I am getting $804,529,005,200 in revenue, $426,628,500,000 in spending,  leading to a surplus of $377,900,505,200.

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The original post I was replying to was deleted but I’ve wanted to say this for a while so here I go.

This isn’t real life. In real life, our politics is controlled by big money interests that contribute obscene amounts of money to both Republicans and corporate Democrats to allow for them to increase their profits, be hostile to workers who want a living wage, pollute the environment, and pay nothing in taxes. The GOP, in hopes of undercutting the labor left, runs up large deficits and they cries foul about the deficit, contributing to reducing public confidence in government and the welfare state while pushing issues like gun control and abortion in an attempt to divide us up. Since this is just a game, those factors aren’t in play. No one is being paid money to play this game.

With that out of the way, we have such a massive surplus that I don’t think is good for the region. Billions in revenue leads to a stale economy, so I don’t think it is necessary for us to raise the top tax rate to 25%, especially since I already got through an amendment to eliminate last years rebate. There’s also a point in time IMO (and you may disagree with this) where you run out of other people’s money because the economy can’t attract businesses. We’re nowhere near that point IRL but if you completely run out of billionaires to tax, the country collapses ala USSR.

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Amendment to update 2018FY surplus from earlier findings and to clear last year's surplus and revenue and spending since that's changing:

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Oh the tax rates will be adjusted downward. I want taxes to bring in around 40 billion or so since the political ideology ancestrally favored here is one that favors spending and I don’t want a deficit.

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Am currently thinking of these following tax brackets:
-2%
0%
2%
5%
10%
15%
20%

Not sure on exact income thresholds yet but the highest will be in the hundreds of millions. Also will be added in taxes from the drug bill and cutting the tobacco and alcohol taxes and gut the firearm tax altogether.

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First of a series of amendments (this one is procedural more or less to add the spending):

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Is it bizarre to anyone else that we're getting so much money from the Carbon Tax with our low levels of spending?

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I mean those are probably too high given current levels of spending and my intent of allowing the surplus to last but I'm not forcing a vote on it. Can we save the "10% is taking 90% of the wealth" rhetoric for real life please? I think most here support progressive taxation - the key is I'm trying to get the target amount of revenue (~$25 billion or so from progressive taxes) without too much of a surplus.

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^That'd end up generating too much revenue.

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Next amendment (to adjust income tax rates):

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Next amendment (to cut sin tax rates):

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I object. I'd rather keep sin taxes high and discuss lowering taxes elsewhere, particularly if those taxes can act as a deterrent to reduce the consumption of alcohol and tobacco. Also, why get rid of a tax on firearms?

Because it makes no sense to have weed and tobacco at much higher rates than weed? I don't see a reason to tax firearms that disproportionately affect poor rural areas given our fiscal situation.

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^Also why I didn't increase the weed and other drug taxes to alcohol and tobacco levels in the legalization bill.

Anyhow, aye.

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Is it bizarre to anyone else that we're getting so much money from the Carbon Tax with our low levels of spending?

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Are we at least satisfied with the budget in its current framework?

I am. I'll get to revising the carbon tax stuff over the weekend (probably once the hurricane nearing the Aloha state that has my fascination passes through and I'm all weathered (pun intended) out).

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https://uselectionatlas.org/AFEWIKI/index.php/Royalties_Act
https://uselectionatlas.org/AFEWIKI/index.php/Green_Vehicle_Promotion_Act_of_2017
https://uselectionatlas.org/AFEWIKI/index.php/Fremont_Carbon_Taxation_Act_of_2017

Looking at the substance of these bills, this is good policy that just happened to bring in too much revenue. If we're going realistically, this region would have lost tons of manufacturing jobs and the economy would have suffered had tremendously and there'd be a right wing wave against the environmental left.

Most likely I'll half or even fourth the tax rates listed here.

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Submitted three bills revising the three tax bills. Hopefully Scott moves them ahead of any other bills since these requires the GM. I'll suspend the rules once they're on the floor to get a quick up or down vote to speed up the budget process.

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Amendment (just adding the new taxes in - basically a procedural amendment):

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This amendment has passed with no objection. Now it's time to get the GM.