scifiknitter

My husband is mostly self-employed, with many steady and semi-steady sources of work. He's done a lot of different things over time, but the strongest thread is housing. Currently he is a code enforcement officer, an administrator of a housing rehabilitation grant, and an EPA certified lead paint risk assessor. So when I learned that the local technical college was giving a course that would train one to become an energy auditor, it seemed like a perfect fit with the rest of his skills. He checked out some information on the web, and was going to pass on the course, because the certification process seemed very expensive. He talked to the man who would be teaching the course, though, and was encouraged to attend. The initial certification would not be expensive, and he could get 100% of the course fee reimbursed by the NY State Energy Development Authority (NYSERDA). So he pulled out our credit card and signed up. He has learned an awful lot about housing through the years, and he...

I have no crystal ball, and I don't know how this presidential campaign will turn out. I am willing to make one prediction, though: the citizens of Alaska will find their state budget and their personal pocketbooks are affected by this campaign. We denizens of the lower 48 had no idea of the extent to which we subsidize Alaska. For every dollar of federal income tax Alaskans pay, they receive back $1.84 in federal spending . We also pay through higher energy costs. Alaskans not only pay no state income tax, they receive an annual payment from the state funded by petroleum taxes on the oil they sell us. Michael Kinsley says, "The trick is that Alaska's government spends money on its own citizens and taxes the rest of us to pay for it." Alaskans pay property taxes, but have no sales tax. The result: a state and local tax burden of 3.3%, one of the lowest in the nation . It probably helps when a mayor of a very small Alaskan city can get federal earmarks of $1,000 per y...