VOICE OF THE PEOPLE
May 3rd, 2008
Department of Revenue and Taxation Director Art Ilagan said tax rebate checks will be mailed out soon. He mentioned also that individuals who owe the Government of Guam money will have their rebates go toward their debts to the government.
I know that the government has been for years not returning excess tax deductions to individuals who owe the Guam Memorial Hospital Authority. This got me thinking. Maybe this concept can work both ways and be a win-win for all.
Some people owe GovGuam money and GovGuam owes a lot of people money. Govguam has not paid out all tax refunds for several years. (By the way, I don’t like the word “refund”. It should be replaced with “overpayment.” “Refund” sounds like the government is doing you a favor. “Overpayment” makes it very clear that the government is holding your money that you overpaid). Govguam also owes money to vendors and contractors.
If GovGuam can take your money and pay your hospital debt, maybe it could be made possible to pay your vehicle registration renewal fee and streetlight fund payment, your tipping fee, your utility bills, and for contractors/vendors their business license fees, their Gross Receipts Tax, and so on, by having the Treasurer of Guam subtract your fees from GovGuam’s debt to you.
Maybe this can be made possible by using vouchers or a process like gift cards or debit cards. For sure this will be an additional task if implemented and may (or may not) complicate revenue projections. It surely will reduce total revenue collection. However GovGuam will not have to borrow money and eliminate loan interest payments to the banks.
This is just an idea and of course a professional feasibility study and economic analysis are needed to determine if it would work.
BEN C. LEON GUERRERO
The government’s practices once again seem to be at odds with both common sense and the best interests of the people of Guam.
Tags: daily, news, pacific
May 3rd, 2008 at 7:32 pm
Half the people commenting here are saying these words shouldn’t apply anymore…The other half is saying stupid, ignorant ***** proving that these words just might still apply today.
May 3rd, 2008 at 8:22 pm
I apologize to Digg.com. I mean they should not be shown in a nice lights like whites who participated in the slave trade.
May 3rd, 2008 at 9:13 pm
While mr. X was railing against the whites for owning slaves he forgot to mention it was muslims that sold them into slavery to begin with. islam and slavery cannot be separated because the prophet of islam wrote that slavery is OK and so the supposed final word of a god is slavery friendly. Is there a bigger fool than mr. X? Yes, screwy louie fairy con.
May 3rd, 2008 at 10:03 pm
Black People Smell Funny.
May 3rd, 2008 at 10:54 pm
Politics & content aside, I just want to say that I love listening to Mos Def speak (and rap). Dude has such a smooth & soothing voice. Can’t we all just agree on that?
May 3rd, 2008 at 11:44 pm
‘I don’t believe that was Bin Laden… I don’t believe that was never him.”-Mos Def on 9-11, Real Time with Bill Maher. ‘nough said.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttMORI8thB0
May 4th, 2008 at 12:35 am
This place is a prison, and these people aren’t your friends….Good stuff from The Postal Service. Good line to think about. If inevitably death is in everyone’s future why do people not talk about it. Why must we try to hide this fact, the topic of discussion can shorten the distance. Anyone can do anything in life once they figure out what it is they want to do, and are ready to abandon the cycle,”society”, placed in motion for everyone who doesn’t. It’s all about self-realization. Realizing why the people around you act the way they do. Realizing that everyone on the inside is a scared little kid hoping for some kind of order, someone to tell them what to do, and more importantly someone to tell them everything is going to be alright. The truth is nobody knows. I think one of the first steps of realization is embarrassment. Stop judging others, and start judging yourself. Look at every situation from multiple points of views. Contradict yourself while still agreeing with yourself. Listen to new music, read new books, watch new movies, and more importantly meet new people.What is this thing called money? It all falls back on gold…what is gold? A shiny piece of metal that is “beautiful” to the eye, but is a common element on the periodic table. Is there any point to all of this complaining? Is it really complaining if it is the truth? If everyone around us today seems to be “lying”, then what does that tell you about the past? Lye, built upon lie…where are we at today? Is life just one big game? It appears so. Keeping our minds occupied until the last few breaths of life. If evolution is suppose to be slow, progress naturally, what are we doing with technology? It’s getting exponentially faster, faster than Moore’s Law predicted. Do we stop to think about the consequences our inventions might have? or do we just roll it out on the market to make money hoping everything will be fine? Who is really in charge? How are we going to fix this thing called inflation?Everything is going to be alright…don’t worry about it. Keep all of your thoughts bottled up inside of you. What difference can we individually make…right? These are questions with no answers. If we wanted to create a new America, what new land can we go to? Exponential population growth…psh, it’s just a lie…wait. Being passive instead of pro-active. It’s someone else’s problem, let them deal with it. All I want in life is a bunch of money, then I can buy a bunch of ***** to make me happy. To get respect from other people who probably don’t even fully understand you, or the cause you are fighting for. Asking questions is wrong…you gotta have faith right? The ultimate deceit would be if Jesus was really the anti-christ getting people to believe a certain way before the savior even comes. Then when the real Jesus comes everyone will think he’s the anti-christ. Did you ever play the game when you were a kid where one person whispers a story in someones ear, and they try to continue the story around the room, and when it gets to the end it is nothing like the beginning? We came over here and ***** on the Indians! We all have our own views of reality. Someone states there opinion, in their mind…they are right. Do you really “know” the people around you, or do you just pretend that you know them. If we are just complex molecular systems, or whatever, why do we make up this illusion that we are all different. Are who we are based on the environment we were brought up in, and how we interacted with this environment? Once we realize that this possibility may be true, can we then truly become ourselves? Why do we seek the approval of others around us?When will we change? Are we at the edge of the spiral? Change is inevitable.
May 4th, 2008 at 1:26 am
That last bit is especially interesting to me. I have been taking on more radical and almost anarchistic ideals lately (I’ve been enjoying the Noam Chomsky videos, notque), however I still consider myself a pacifist (or more accurately, a non-lethalist. There are times when force is necessary, but, given the technology of the modern era, lethal force seems somewhat antiquated and immoral.) There are times when I am on the verge of saying we need a violent revolution in this country, but it is hypocritical to use violence to bring about non violence. Anyway, I just thought it was interesting that he phrased it as a conditional, based on the audiences personal beliefs towards violence, and not as a declaration of what to do/believe.
May 4th, 2008 at 2:16 am
Again, the slavery of blacks in this country could not have happened without the sale of those slaves to this country by the muslims. Go research history. Which is worse, the one who bought the slave or the one that made a slave of a free man? Clearly you cannot purchase a slave if there are none and clearly at this point we see that were it not for the influence of mohammed who taught slavery was a good thing and even went at lenght to explain how to treat slaves the slave trade would have been nonexistent. If the world had learned from the words and deeds of Jesus and rejected mohammed there would have been no slavery. It was mohammed who taught about slavery and made it an accepted religious practice again.
May 4th, 2008 at 3:07 am
It always depresses me when I read comments on anything racial on Digg.
May 4th, 2008 at 3:57 am
I’m not denying that. I took a history class in the Trans Atlantic Slave trade and know very well that Muslims practiced slavery. But that doesn’t diminish the act of slavery despite who participate it. Of course blacks participated in the slave trade and even some blacks in the U.S. owned slaves. But am I suppose to be less critical of America because some blacks/Muslims participated in an unjust act. No. They made their decision in doing that and they should be shown in a nice light as well as whites. But who were the ones establishing the trade and institution? That’s why I said U.S. history is complex. I feel people use that complexity as a “well other ppl did this so the blame shouldn’t be on us.” It’s stupid and immature. You have to look at who was in power of that institution.