The August 2008 issue of Budget & Tax News is hot off the presses and spotlights state lotteries and smoking bans. It also covers the pledge by Senators McCain and Obama to support transparency in government, Congresses attempt to address flaws in the Alternative Minimum Tax and the former comptroller David Walker's remarks regarding sustainability.
Californian's are weary of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's plan to borrow against the state's lottery. It is a plan that budget experts and watch dogs caution about. The spotlight also asks the question as to weather state lotteries are stagnating and in several states' governors are pushing privatization of the lotteries.
In the other spotlight articles Budget & Tax News takes on the issue of smoking bans author Jeremy Richards writes that even though government-imposed smoking bans, though spreading, are likely to be repealed because history points in that direction. In a sidebar, New York sets a record cigarette tax and individuals seek 'loose square men' to purchase single cigarettes.
In other news this month, both Senators McCain and Obama vow support for transparency on government spending. The movement toward transparency is gaining ground because the people demand it. Second, Congress plans to address the AMT. Congress is fixing a flaw in the AMT that required many businesses to pay 300% of their salaries in taxes. Finally, former Comptroller, David Walker, warns about the sustainability of the current debt/deficit. In a key note address at the Washington Policy Center Walker called America a "Republic at Risk" because our current path with regard to size of government and spending are unsustainable.
These stories and more are available in the August issue of Budget & Tax News, a publication of The Heartland Institute.
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