Want To Read About An Actual Government Grant Recipient?

If you don't already know, I do grant research as a living.

There are so many people out there who are skeptical about government grants but I'm here to tell you that they do actually exist! As a matter of fact here is a link to someone who actually got 2 government grants to get their power shut back on!

It Seems That California Is Having Even More Bad Money Problems!

Now comes word that tapxpayers won't be receiving any state income tax refunds is there were supposed to get them.

Also some of those that work for the state have found out that they won't get reimbursed for travel expenses ie inspectors of things like nursing homes won't be getting reimbursed for the amount of money it takes them to travel to the nursing homes to inspect them. An online news article has said that some of these workers use their credit cards when paying for these expenses and if they aren't reimbursed that just makes their credit card balances higher! What's odd about it is that the state isn't even required to reimburse their state workers for their job-related expenses.

Also being withheld are college grants to students - government related grant programs.

For more information about government grant programs or college scholarships that you may be eligible to apple for, please visit my Grant Basics 101 Blog)

Some state workers are being mandatorily asked to not work for 2 days a month which of course means that they don't get paid for those 2 days which means they will make less money and will have less money to pay their mortgages and other bills.

Ironically, the lawmakers themselves receive as much as $4500 per month in expense allowances.

In California Taxpayers May Get An IOU Instead Of A Tax Refund!

Like a lot of states, California is also feeling the "pinch"! Not since 1992 has the state issued IOU's instead of cash payments. In 1992, amid a budget crisis triggered by a deep recession, natural disasters and the Los Angeles riots, California ran short of cash and was forced to send out thousands of IOUs. They resembled checks but included a notice that they could not be paid by California "for want of funds."

In addition to maybe not receiving tax refunds, there is also the possibility that some student grant payments will not be made as well and that vendors may also not be paid! Under the state Constitution, schools and bondholders get first rights to any cash from the state. Among the first to get IOUs instead of payments would be business and individual taxpayers who are expecting refunds, local governments and recipients of grants from that state's student aid organization. Last year, more than 10 million taxpayers received state refunds totaling $8 billion.

Court-appointed lawyers, 1,700 judges, legislators and their staffs would also go unpaid. And officials are preparing to delay a popular program that helps elderly and disabled Californians by paying their property taxes.

Last year, nearly 5,500 homeowners benefited from a 32-year-old Property Tax Program, which was created to help keep low-income elderly people from being forced to sell their homes or lose them to foreclosure.

(For more information about student loans and grants, just click here)

There is a budget gap (projected to reach $41.6 billion dollars by the middle of next year) in California and no agreements between Govenor Schwarzenegger and the democratic legislators so far.

In a letter sent to the Democrats on Tuesday night explaining his veto, Schwarzenegger wrote: "The measures you sent me punish people with increased taxes, but do not make the serious cuts in spending necessary to balance our budget; do nothing to help keep California families working during this recession; and do nothing to help Californians facing foreclosure in this mortgage crisis."

Another Fee That Farmers May Have To Pay?

As a person that does grant research for a living, there have been times when I have had to defend them but here is a strange story!

It seems that there is a proposed new fee that farmers may have to pay for some of their farm animals! Here is an excerpt:

"An Environmental Protection Agency proposal to combat air pollution from flatulent farm animals would require farms with large number of animals to pay annual fees of about $175 for each dairy cow, $87.50 per head of beef cattle and $20 for each hog."

If this proposed fee becomes law, it is estimated that some farmers could pay as much as $30,000 per year!

Farmers (as well as mostly everybody else) are struggling now as it is and as you can well imagine some farmers are not happy with this proposed fee!

You can read more about this proposed fee by going to the link below:

Making Farmers Pay For "Gassy" Animals?

Paying Income Taxes - A Necessary Evil!

Well I'm almost finished filing out and completing my income tax forms for this year. I have already completed my local tax form which is called an Earned Income Tax where you are taxed 1 percent of your income.

I have also completed my state income tax forms which was the big holdup because I had to wait until I got a Schedule C form from them - which I got a few days ago. (By the way you can always go to your state website and download tax forms so that you can have them right away.)

I think I have finished my federal income tax form but I want to make copies of that before I seal up the envelope and put a stamp on it. The form(s) are downstairs and I just don't feel like getting them right now - but I should be finished completing them though.

Since I'm self-employed and work from home, filing out my income taxes this year was quite difficult and more complicated. It was a lot more easier when I was working for somebody else!

However on the plus side there were some things that I was able to deduct as far as business expenses were concerned and now I have made a mental note to save my receipts that are related to business because I never really done that before.

Of course when you're self-employed that means more paperwork as far as one's income taxes are concerned but since I have worked for both the IRS and H & R Block, I am familiar with the basic procedure of filing out tax forms. In fact it will be fun to see which business expenses I can legally deduct as far as my business is concerned.

I was also noticing when I was filling out my income tax retunrs just how many things one has to declare as far as income is concerned. Lottery winnings, grants and even the interest you get from banks and the like! Other things like social security and disability income that you get are sometimes not taxable BUT if you want to claim the special tax stimulus refund then you have to fill out an income tax form. I know someone who is doing this and they are expecting a $300 refund!

I also will be getting a refund this year - thanks mainly in part to the business expenses that I was able to claim and deduct.

I started to fill out my income taxes more than a month ago and I'm just now getting to the end of it. But once they are in the mail I will be quite relieved!

Have You Ever Heard Of "Eminent Domain"?

Its really a terrible situation. Basically what it means is that the government can take your land or property. Here is a link to an article where business owners are facing this threat.

The power of eminent domain means that the government can acquire property from landowners whether they want to sell or not.

What is also interesting about this situation is that a proposed proposition was put on the ballot that would decrease the power of eminent domain but the proposition didn't pass - meaning that it didn't get enough votes (from the voters) to pass. Since the proposition to decrease the power of eminent domain wasn't passed then that means that the power of being able to take one's property by eminent domain is still there.

It also seems that a couple of the buildings are on the historic registry but can still be taken away by the eminent domain process.

There is an effort going on now to collect signatures for a ballot initiative that would prohibit governments from using eminent domain to buy property that would be turned over to private companies. Cities under the proposal still would be allowed to use condemnation powers to build hospitals, schools, roads and other public-use projects.

I believe that this is another reason why people have to get more involved in their community and use the power of their "vote". You may think that something like this won't affect you but indirectly it really does!


I do a lot of grant research work and unfortunately this is a darker side of the government and what it can do.

So far the situation is at a standstill. The eminent domain process takes some time to implement and in the meantime the government wants to be able to settle with the landowners but some of them do not want to move!

This is truly a "darker" side of the government - unfortunately!

Congress.org

Here is a very good link that you should keep in your list of resources/references.

I know that a lot of people don't think that it would do any good to know the addresses of their Congress people but fortunately not all people feel this way. This link will take you to a page where you can find out what the addresses (including email addresses) of your Congress people are. Not only that but this site has a lot of information relating to Congress in general. You can find the Congress people for your area, get on the mailing list to see how your area politicians are voting on certain issues and a whole lot more. There are also examples of letter campaigns that have been done - and you can see examples of those.

I know that a lot of people don't think that it will do any good knowing this kind of information but I think that they are wrong. It's becoming increasingly hard enough not to be involved in politics because it affects so many areas of our lives.

I'm working on adding a direct link to this side on the side of my blog but I seem to be having trouble adding it but I will keep working on it.