I look foward hearing your thoughts.

Bazzo 02/14/12

You need a new accountant/strategic business consultant. You have bad facts and maybe are overpaying. Unemployment insurance for a 2 person company runs about $200 / year. OASDI -- a/k/a the Social Security tax -- stops at income greater than $110,100. Your business has very little overhead. You don't pay rent. You don't have employees. Just two guys and two vans. Car/Liability insurance. Health insurance. Gas. A local license fee to the City. And you run a cash business, subject to much abuse -- no one is watching what tips you get. Your platitudes ring hollow. New York State's Special Interest Assessment for 2011 was $21.25 per employee. I agree 99 weeks is a long time to collect. But as of November 30, 2010, just 24 states and Washington D.C. offered the full 99 weeks. Six states, including NY, offered benefits for 93 weeks, five had them for 86 weeks, nine allowed 73 weeks, and five states were at 60. Mississippi was alone in offering 79 weeks. Unlike you, those of us with W-2 income can't avoid paying more than 30% of our income in tax. If I were to lose my job, I would not collect in UI what I pay in tax for a single year. Your argument fails to embrace reality.

Correction: Employers pay both a federal unemployment tax ($56 per employee) and state unemployment tax (on avg $274 per employee).

Elmer Fudd, do you even have a job?

Mr. Bazzo, I am sure you are in a much better position then those who have had the misfortune of being on unemployment for 99 weeks. Please stop your usual whine-fest and be thankful for what you have. Jeff Meyer Tuckahoe, NY

Mr. Bazzo,
Please! Stop whining.

And why must we be subjected to his column in the Pennysaver?

Ah, but there is free lunch when you are a police officer who comes down with the 19 year backache and then goes on disability retirement in conjunction with the huge overtime pension pad benefit that is somewhere in the neighborhood of six figures annually. Maybe Mr. Bazzo you would not have to complain if you had free lifetime medical insurance for yourself and family paid by the taxpayers and then pay no Federal or State income taxes yourself. Stop complaining about your situation and just be happy you will be working till you are 85 to pay for those public serpents (not a typo).

I keep telling you that you should have taken the test Ross (false name). Happy Valentines Day. Jeff Meyer Tuckahoe, NY

I hope you bought your wife candy that we all paid for. Happy Valentines Day Jeff Meyer ,from Tuckahoe, NY. (I am glad you recognized that you are the public serpent so as not to diminish from the contributions that hard working honest police officers make)

Being that the unemployed are less likely to have a car and be in need of your services, I fail to see why extending unemployment benefits is not to your advantage.

You're right JQP. Something is amiss with Bazzo's post. If he actually pays unemployment insurance, he is covered. It's the law. Also, if he paid, he'd know about the $21.25 per employee special assessment employers had to pay to cover NYS's interest expense on their loan from the Federal Government in 2011. Bazzo, if you want to rant about the social safety net, unemployment insurance is your weakest argument. Talk to people who own real businesses that employee people. The $330/year it costs is a lot cheaper than severance and lawsuits.

Personal attacks will be deleted.

The United States has become the communist society it fought against for 50 years. Americans used to have pride. Now they don't. They think nothing of asking for a handout. Years ago that would have brought shame. The U.S. has become a sinkhole of dependency, greed, corruption and thievery. The founding fathers knew this would happen if you gave everybody the right to vote. The only way to stop this would be to pass a balanced-budget amendment and restrict the right to vote to property owners. But since that will never happen, secession is the only way out. I, Flem Snopes, Jr., hereby declare myself seceded from the United States. If you move upon the newly created state of Snopesistan, I will defend myself. You will not steal my bread to pay for the new slaveowners called public employees. You will not crucify a Snopes upon a cross of debt. Your communist tyranny shall not be abided!

Get a new accountant & lawyer, Bazzo. You are an agent-driver under NYS's Unemployment Law. http://www.labor.ny.gov/ui/dande/covered1.shtm You are covered. You complain about paying $330/year to the unemployment fund. If you didn't pay this, would you hire a new employee? I thought you frequently complain about Peekskill making it too easy for people to enter your line of work, a thinly veiled anti-immigrant argument.

Holy cow. From these comments, there's still a lot of work to do if we want to stop this runaway train to Greece. Whatever happened to American exceptionalism? Listen to these people who have succumbed to the statist rhetoric and have become drones for the state. Nah, it's not the government who's wrong, it's people like this working stiff Bazzo that we need to go after, right? He's so stupid he can't even appreciate nor pay attention to all the government rules and regulations that drowns him and others like him. And how dare he and others speak out about how difficult it is to run a business. Don't tell me there is no class warfare going on here, folks. Until the brownshirts arrive, I wish you well, Mr. Bazzo.

Peter, what is it with the extreme right that they can't help but resorting to calling the left, socialists, communists and now you're calling them nazis. I need to tell you that that alone is extremely offensive and not just to liberals but to all human beings.
The right is under the misguided belief that if we deregulate all industries, that the businesses will take care of us. Well what I've found is that businesses are there to make money and that is what they do. They aren't there to protect us, protect the environment or run the government. You know what I find really strange in politics today in the USA is that both the Republican Party base and the Anarchists want exactly the same thing. The removal of all rules. Well that can't happen today or any day. Even in primitive cultures there were rules that governed behavior. They were needed then for the good of the group and the same thing applies today but on a massive scale. If you don't like rules, maybe you can find an uninhabited island somewhere in the South Pacific and move there and I'll bet after your there a few months, you'll be making up some rules.

My Uncle George instilled in his family and employees the values of hard work and compassion, responsibility and generosity. He expressed this philosophy with the maxim: “You don’t work, you don’t eat, but if you can’t work because you were run over by an ox, we will give you soup and bread”. In America since the 1960s, however, we have a new maxim: “You work, you don’t eat; if you won’t work, you eat a lot.” That is not the America of Mt. Vernon.

Peter some of us run real businesses that employ many real people. If you accept the social safety net, then drop all the BS about "self-determination" etc. If you think America is like Greece, you are simple-minded. There is a law against firing people in Greece unless their hand is caught in the till. There are many people in the US with families who lose their jobs. Those of us who run real businesses never bitch and complain about the de minimus cost of unemployment insurance. Bazzo is divorced from reality.

A real business is one that employs people, like mine. Bazzo is self employed. And he's wrong about unemployment insurance, both practically and morally. Sad that he is given a forum to propagate untruth. I run my business as a family, and you are so wrong to call someone who employs others an "elitist". I see every penny that I spend, and for Bazzo to complain about paying $330 for unemployment insurance -- and make the preposterous claim that but for this tax he'd hire someone else is absurd. He badmouths freedom-loving people who come to the US and is constantly lobbying his friends on Common Council for preferential treatment. I applaud Mom-and-Pop businesses, but I have a problem when they get bad accounting/tax advice and then bitch about it like Bazzo.

Your comment is unintelligible. Your post seems full of self-hatred - you say you lost your job and yet you applaud Bazzo for saying you should live in the gutter.

Liz you are not an " elitist" because you employ others . I applaud you for being a capitalist which provides employment opportunities to the majority of people in America. You are an "elitist" because you denigrate someone who does not run a large company as you say you do. Maybe you should click on the link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business or look in your own dictionary to find the meaning of a "business".,There is no mention or distinction about the number of employees. For someone who purports to run a "real business" in Manhattan you sound quite small minded. I ask again are you the owner of your large Manhattan company or just a hired hand?

I don't denigrate Bazzo because he runs a small company. He's wrong on the law. If he pays unemployment insurance he is covered. So he's mistaken to say otherwise. I don't own a "large" company, I employ 47 people. That's 47 more than Bazzo. And we all survived 9/11 thank God.

So KB what's your point. I said Bazzo was morally wrong to insult the unemployed. Yet you attack me?

If Mr. Marengo gets his way and people are thrown out onto the streets, I hope they gravitate to the front of his home. This way he could see how pathetic and ignorant his opinions are. Jeff Meyer Tuckahoe, NY

So let me get this straight.
When a homeowner loses their job they should never have to leave their homes "under any circumstances" even if they can no longer afford to pay for them?

What does textbook economics have to say about almost two years of unemployment benefits? Here is a passage from a textbook called "Macroeconomics":

Public policy designed to help workers who lose their jobs can lead to structural unemployment as an unintended side effect. . . . In other countries, particularly in Europe, benefits are more generous and last longer. The drawback to this generosity is that it reduces a worker's incentive to quickly find a new job. Generous unemployment benefits in some European countries are widely believed to be one of the main causes of "Eurosclerosis," the persistent high unemployment that affects a number of European countries.

That textbook was written by none other than Paul Krugman, Obama’s de-facto economic advisor and intellectual father of the $800,000,000 stimulus (remember that?). Before we continue to liberate Bazzo from his hard-earned money, perhaps we could stop and consider whether Bazzo's money is best spent by the government this way, or if Bazzo could do a better job.

Are you losing it completely? You previously admitted numerous times that "Ross Revira" is a phony name. Whatever the case if I am going to continually consume you just remember that you have my phone number and I will gladly accommodate you with a meeting and we can deal with the matter like gentlemen. Or perhaps in your case like a lady since I don't even know your actual gender. JM Tuckahoe, NY

Again.
Let me get this straight.
When a homeowner loses their job they should never have to leave their homes "under any circumstances" even if they can no longer afford to pay for them?

Pat, I don't think anyone is saying that. Most compassionate people understand that there are times in many peoples lives when they need a safety net. Unemployment is paid if you are willing and able to work and if you were terminated only because there is lack of work and not some disciplinary problem. The net gives you time to find another job or if necessary sell your house so you can downsize and move into something less expensive. The alternative is to give people nothing and they will lose the house back to the bank who really doesn't want it in the first place. The perception that unemployed people hang around the house sleeping in a hammock and drinking beer is simply not true. I've been unemployed and I know that when I was it was a full time job to look for another job. The 405 a month was helpful but living in Westchester it is not enough to live the life of riley, especially when the average tax burden is close to 12K a year.
Hopefully, you will never know what it's like to face these financial challenges but many others aren't that fortunate.

What I'm disgusted at, is how many able bodied people collect from the system and work off the books. It makes an unlevel playing field for those of us in low salaried, unskilled jobs.
People throughout New York pay taxes, whether it be for a pack of gum, a gallon of gas or a shirt, they (we) pay taxes.
That money then goes towards people who live in low income housing while under-reporting their incomes, if reporting them at all.
They are then able to sustain in these $6-$8 per hour off the book jobs, instead of the employer paying the $12-$18 per hour needed to survive.
Unemployment should be limited to 1 yr. Then, when people "run out" the realism of this serious situation will set in and the Governemnt will have to fix this whole economic mess they've got us into.The Government keeps giving, giving, giving, soon it will run out, hyper-inflation will set in as the American dollar sinks in value, and I'll say "I told you so".

Bazzo, for crying out loud, get a new accountant. You claim you don't care about the $330 / year charge for unemployment insurance, but you're complaining about the $21.25 special assessment to cover NYS's loan from the Federal Government? You got bad advice about the corporate entity you do business under. Most self-employed people do not pay unemployment insurance, those that do can collect.

You are still a fool who knows nothing about my situation or my expenses and tax liabilities.

Bazzo 02/18/12

Bazzo, it's your right to take bad advice from the guy who killed the North County News. You're right I know nothing of the bad advice he's given you. But I also know that anyone with half a brain wouldn't spout misinformation like you do. You give self-employed people a bad name because you mismanage your business and complain about it.

Though I may not always agree with Bazzo, his article was interesting and thought provoking. There are 2 points I want to make. Food stamps, unemployment, Section 8 housing, WIC, free medical care, and everything else our govt gives out for EXTENDED periods of time is breaking the bank, and the backs of the middle class, and small business owners. I'm personally aware of people collectiong unemployment who work off the books (don't pay taxes). I'm aware of people getting their housing paid for (Section 8) who have girlfriends or boyfriends living with themand have incomes. The corruption with these free-bees is mind-boggling! Worse, it's near to impossible to turn these people in as cheaters.

Second point: I notice posts have been deleted by the editors of Patch. It's their choice if a post violates their terms of service. However, often their rules are selectively enforced. Examples: On 02/14/2012 someone wrote: You sir are a fool. ... You insinuation otherwise tempts me to flag this as inappropriare. However I will just flag you as a jerk afraid to use their own name ... " Then on 02/18 it was written: "You are still a fool ... " Sometimes there is no other way to say "You're a jerk!" And posts such as these I find someone's being human and should not be removed.

John Q. who quotes Lady Gaga with regards to the economy? Since when do you have to be raped by the tax man before one loses the "moral argument" on the amount of taxes paid? Why do you assume that all cash business owners under report their income? Is it not just as ignorant to assume that all people on unemployment insurance are not actively looking for work? Maybe instead of looking up to the likes of Lady Gaga you could "see the forest through the trees".

Peekskill Pete:

Your info. is totall incoorect. No wonder you don't use your real name, then every one would know you to be a dunce.

Bazzo 02/18/12

John Q. I will agree with you that the tax rates punish the "producers" and in many cases reward the "takers". That said you lambaste Bazzo for spreading misinformation but you seem to be doing the same. You say you pay 48.875% of your income in taxes. That is an impossibility unless you use the same tax adviser as Bazzo. Do you? The top Federal tax rate is 35%, State 6.85%, and NYC 3.648% (if you live or work there). These are marginal rates so you are not paying the total of 45.53 % on 100% of your income. Even if you add the approx. 8% FICA and Medicare tax you still don't pay the 48.875% rate because the FICA portion is only for the first $110,000 of income which would put you in the 28% Fed tax bracket. You further lower your Fed taxes by deducting state and local taxes . Now if you counted your property taxes they are also deducted from your total taxable income which would result in a smaller total tax bite (not to mention the mortgage deduction) So John Q. make sure when you live in a glass house pull the drapes before you to take a bath.

Ross -- Nice try but you miss that we live under 2 tax systems, the Alternative Minimum Tax and what most people pay. It's silly that you are quibbling about 3%. When you add my property tax in, I'm well over 50%. I am denied the deductions most people have because of AMT -- lots of middle class Westchester people suffer the same fate. Sorry you don't get it. I'm glad you can read, but sad you draw hasty and incorrect conclusions. Hopefully your kids will learn what you don't know.

John Q. I too have paid the AMT. The top rate is 28%. I have included the link so even you and your kids will understand. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_Minimum_Tax
Get a new accountant H&R block does not cut it for such a BIG taxpayer.

John Q read veeery sloooowly I paid (past tense) you pay (present tense) so who is Obama collecting from...yooou!

Jeff and Ross its time for you to become fully human and join me at Church tomorrow. Or listen to Sister Vickie Winans --Long as we got king Jesus we don't need nobody else -- Amen -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyAMCkHOb8U

JPQ, I have seen The Winans in concert numerous times. I actually saw them with Whitney Houston in 1989 in Ocean Grove, NJ. with my wife and other friends. Amen to what you say. www.christianleft.org. Jeff Meyer Tuckahoe, NY