- Evert’s Electables
- How to Save the USA
- Football Player Exposes Diabolical Lies of Feminism
- Our Beloved Republic is in Danger of Becoming a Socialist Country
- A Layman's Awe in the Revelation of Jesus Christ
- Memorial Day - Including the Remembrance the USS Mount Hood
- American Lawfare in New York
- Timmons's Condescending Remarks of a Children's Christian Ministry
- There Is An Operational And Management Concern About Greenville Coroner’s Office
- Are SC State Legislators Spying on Its Citizens?
- Audacy Announces All-Star Lineup on 98.9 WORD
- Evert’s Electables Republican Primary - June 11, 2024
- County Council Candidate’s Shady Practices and Dark Money Ties
- Evert’s Electables - June 25th, 2024 Republican Primary Runoff
- The Times Examiner Endorses Steve Shaw for Greenville County Council
Financial
South Carolina Ranks 45th Most Independent of 50 States
- By Adam McCann, WalletHub Financial Writer
Most & Least Independent States (2024)
Americans value independence. We fought hard for it during the Revolutionary War, and in the present day, we celebrate not only our freedom from the British crown but also our strong ability to rely upon ourselves as individuals. Now, with inflation affecting people across the country, many Americans are struggling to maintain financial independence. Some have become at least temporarily more dependent on support from the federal government. Other people have become more dependent on personal vices, such as drinking and drugs, due to stress and depression.
In order to find out where Americans are the most self-reliant, WalletHub compared the 50 states based on five sources of dependency: consumer finances, the government, the job market, international trade and personal vices. We broke down these categories into 39 key indicators of independence, from the share of households receiving public assistance to the unemployment rate to the share of adults with gambling disorders.
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Job Openings Fall to Lowest Since 2021
- By Bob Adelmann - The New American
As the U.S. economy continues to slow, job openings are declining. They peaked at more than 12 million in March 2022. Today the Labor Department reported just eight million openings in April, the lowest number since February 2021.
The U.S. economy has been generating about 234,000 new jobs a month over the last year. The upcoming report due Friday from the Labor Department is hoping to see 190,000 new jobs created in April.
That could be a big miss. The third quarter of 2023 showed the economy growing at an annual rate of five percent. The fourth quarter showed the economy slowing, to a 3.4 percent annual rate.
The first quarter’s initial estimate showed GDP growth of just 1.6 percent, and the final number was just lowered to 1.3 percent. The early estimate for April shows a further decline to 0.2 percent. Adjusted for Bidenflation, GDP went negative in April.
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State Tax Rates on Long-Term Capital Gains, 2024
- By Katherine Loughead - Tax Foundations
When taxpayers sell their capital assets, like real property or their shares in a company, net earnings on those sales (capital gains) are generally subject to tax, and net losses on those sales (capital losses) can generally be deducted from income when calculating income tax liability.
One major shortcoming of current policy, however, is that when calculating the capital gain from the sale of an asset, the original purchase price (tax basis) is expressed in nominal terms when subtracted from the selling price. Because no inflation adjustment is made to the original purchase price, capital gains taxes are applied to nominal, not real, increases in wealth, meaning taxpayers are taxed on what is typically a combination of real and fictitious income (although the tax code does provide a few accommodations, such as for qualifying sales of owner-occupied homes and properties transferred to an heir). In some cases, this lack of inflation indexing of the tax basis results in taxpayers paying taxes on what appears on paper to be a capital gain but, due to inflation, is, in real terms, a net loss.
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SWIFT Launches Digital Currency System
- By Stefan J. Bos - Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
BRUSSELS (Worthy News) – The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) launched a central bank digital currency system despite worries the move would lead to more control over people’s finances.
SWIFT, the world’s biggest network ensuring transactions and interbank lending between nations, connects over 11,500 banks and institutions in more than 200 countries.
It also manages trillions of dollars worth of transactions per day. Nick Kerigan, SWIFT’s chief of innovation, said this system should be operational within 12 to 24 months.
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1.4 Million New Homes in 2023, but Plummeting Permits Point to Future Slowdown
- By Andra Hopulele - Point2Homes.com
The number of new homes added to the housing inventory increased in 2023, but the declining number of homes under construction and permits could be a sign of future challenges.
If completed units reveal the more immediate state of the housing market, housing starts and permitting activity are the canary in the coalmine: Fewer homes under construction and falling permits mean dwindling options for future buyers, adding more pressure to a market already strained by tight supply.
In 2023, housing completions seemed solid: 1.4 million new homes hit the market, a 4.2% increase compared to 2022. The catch? The number of new homes increased only due to the development of the multifamily sector, which jumped 22% year-over-year.
Coupled with the fact that new single family homes are dropping, this could point to a shift towards bolstering the rental sector rather than relieving the pressure on the homes for sale front.
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People Soon Paying With Hand, Face And Eyes
- By By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
TAIPEI (Worthy News) – A Taiwan-based company expects people to soon pay for goods and services through their “facial recognition, fingerprints, eye scans, and handprints.”
Jean-Philippe Niedergang, a regional CEO of global payment industry leader Castles Technology, said using “a totally personal and irreplaceable mechanism, biometric payment will significantly reduce fraud.”
He said payments at “points of sale,” such as in stores and restaurants will “allow for greater efficiency in the automated payment process by reducing waiting times for customers.”
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President Biden Outlines Vision for Higher, More Complicated Taxes in State of the Union Address and FY 2025 Budget
- By Garrett Watson, Erica York, William McBride - Tax Foundation
President Biden’s 2024 State of the Union Address presented a vision of higher taxes for American businesses and high earners combined with carveouts, credits, and more complex rules for taxpayers at all income levels. On Monday, the president released his proposed budget for fiscal year 2025 outlining how the White House would implement the president’s tax vision, amounting to a gross tax hike exceeding $5.1 trillion over 10 years.
Rather than aiming for a simpler tax code that broadly encourages investment, saving, and work in the United States, the president has promised higher taxes that would decrease economic output and incomes, reduce U.S. competitiveness, and further complicate the tax code.
While the Biden budget claims to reduce deficits as a share of the economy over the next decade, that claim is based on several unrealistic assumptions, including:
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- Greenville Takes 21st Place Among Cities Where Renters Can Stretch Their Dollars the Furthest
- Property Taxes by State (2024)
- State Corporate Income Tax Rates and Brackets, 2024
- Ban a Central Bank Digital Currency in South Carolina
- Ban a Central Bank Digital Currency in South Carolina — Support H.4373
- Stop Digital Currency Tyranny – Enact H.R. 1122
- Amid Recession Fears, Americans Expected to Step Up Charitable Giving