The October 2008 issue of Budget & Tax News highlights the high cost of government, reporting on the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Ten Thousand Commandments report and the annual Cost of Government Day report issued by the Americans for Tax Reform Foundation. On page 1:
* The New York Yankees’ new $1.3 billion stadium—the most expensive ever built in the United States—is being made possible by a generous grant from an increasingly familiar sponsor: the taxpayer.
* Personal incomes and average tax rates on Americans’ incomes have both been climbing, especially at the highest earnings levels.
* Officials of a mass transit agency serving the Seattle region have agreed to ask area citizens to vote on a $22.8 billion transit measure in November.
* A new report refutes one of the biggest gripes about Wal-Mart—that it drives mom-and-pop establishments out of business and causes people to lose their jobs.
Also in this issue: state and local government spending, smoking bans, the IRS, excise tax trends, the Alternative Minimum Tax, the Davis-Bacon Act, and more.
