...Louisiana Tax Reform: Eliminating Corporate and Franchise Taxes The relationship between tax policies and economic growth is a topic that has been frequently debated. For decades, economists have developed studies exploring this relationship and analyzing its effects. These studies concluded that a negative relationship exists between taxes and economic growth. Taxes have a negative impact on economic growth because of how they influence the activities individuals and firms choose to engage in. Businesses and individuals often base their decisions on the overall tax burden, which creates a disincentive to engage in activities taxed at a higher rate. The Tax Foundation evaluates each state’s business tax climate every year in order to indicate which states’ tax systems are the most attractive to business and economic growth. According to the Tax Foundation’s 2013 State Business Tax Climate Index, Louisiana’s tax system is currently ranked 32nd, far below the rankings of progressive southern states such as Florida and Texas. In addition, Louisiana’s tax structure is poorly perceived because of its complexity. Therefore, in order to create a competitive advantage, the Louisiana tax system must be reformed. Several of the states that rank highest in the 2013 State Business Tax Climate Index do not levy a tax on corporations. Furthermore, the average annual growth rates for those states without a corporate income tax exceeded the growth rate of all other states...
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...Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in New Orleans Louisiana, killing 1,836 people third deadliest hurricane in the United States history. A town that sits below sea level never stands a chance of levee embankment not able to withstand the overflow of a flood from a river. When New Orleans Louisiana was founded in construction of the levee along the river began, and more extensive levee was built as the city grew. The barriers were erected to prevent seasonal flooding. Katrina was formed in the Atlantic and had reach a Category 5 status, it was described as the worst disaster of all times, hurricanes are formed in the tropics and required consistent heat to exist. Many scientists believe that global warming was partially responsible for the massive force hurricane Katrina threw out. Although there is considerable argument over how climate change will affect certain ecosystem, it is still believed that climate change causes major shifts in the distribution and ecosystem species. After reviewing the Katrina hurricane situation scientists and engineers research its alignment with national needs, the National Hurricane Research Initiative (NHRI) concluded that the United States must be engaged in a research initiative to expand the understanding of hurricane and determine some more effective’s strategies for dealing with the issue. Presently hurricanes are not obsolete researchers need to understand the complexities between hurricanes and climate. Modern shields and repair efforts has...
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...Assignment: Climate Change Proposal SCI/245 Axia College University of Phoenix June 17, 2012 Will Romine Assignment: Climate Change Proposal June 17, 2012 Dear Senator Lugar, I know you are a very busy man and I also understand that this is your last year as a senator for this wonderful state of Indiana. Therefore I believe that it is you that can help make a change in the senate. You would be speaking for everyone around the world who will be affected by global climate change. I do not pretend to be an environmentalist but I do know that global warming is real. The current warming trend is of particular significance because most of it is very likely human-induced and proceeding at a rate that is unprecedented in the past 1,300 years. In recent years there have been more and more devastating storms, many of magnitudes not seen in many areas. The climate is changing and we need to do what we can now to either slow that change down or stop it altogether. Glaciers are melting at an alarming rate. The Himalayas are sometimes called the world's "third pole" because they are covered with thousands of glaciers. Water from those glaciers helps feed some of the world's most important rivers, including the Ganges and the Indus. As those glaciers melt, they will contribute to rising sea levels. Nepal alone has more than 2,300 glacial lakes, and experts say at least 20 are in danger of bursting. Glaciers are not the only thing in danger of melting, if the ice cap of Greenland...
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...Elliott, Director of Policy and Planning Programs, ALIVE From: Jessica Fisch Date: September 25, 2014 Re: Topic Proposal Coastal Louisiana is losing ground. Since the 1930s, the state has lost 1,880 square miles of land, an area roughly the size of the state of Delaware and equating to the loss of 25 to 35 square miles per year. Up to an additional 1,750 square miles stand to be lost if no action is taken, and Louisiana’s wetlands will disappear in 200 years at the current rate of loss. Both human and natural causes are responsible, including the altering of natural hydrology through construction of canals, the dredging and filling of land for agriculture and development, sea level rise, and tropical storms and hurricanes....
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...I am all too familiar with the topic of coastal resilience and sea level rise. My grandfather on my mother’s side lives in Louisiana and so does majority of my family. I used to go there every summer to visit my grandfather and almost every time it rained the street would flood as if there had just been a hurricane. August of 2005 is a period of time that I will never forget. It might have been one of the worst things I’ve ever experienced and it still kind of affects me to this day. Me and my mother went to Louisiana for a family reunion which rarely happened on that side of the family. We ran out of ice at the family reunion so my mother and aunt went to the gas station to retrieve some more. When they got to the store all of the ice was...
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...a rain or shine event,” Corfah said. “People had mentally prepared themselves that it was going to be wet, muddy and rainy, but it still wouldn’t matter. We just wanted to go.” Corfah said she felt the rain added to experience and explained that seeing everyone in a Halloween costume made it more exciting. She also recalled there was only mud and no lightning that Saturday. While refunds will be issued for the day, fans and performers took to twitter to find venues for artists to perform. Corfah said, day three performer Chance the Rapper was in the French Quarter watching a magic show. “It looked like he didn’t know what he was going to do with himself,” Corfah said. The festival cancellation isn’t the first problem with Louisiana weather this year. On Sept. 5 lightning strikes canceled the first LSU home football game since World War I. Baton Rouge streets also flooded from excess rainfall on Oct. 25, leaving students stranded from their homes and parked cars sitting in in the flood water. LSU student Austin Hebert said he went to get groceries that night and found that some of the streets had been blocked off by police. Determined to get home, Hebert found a...
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...owe my deepest gratitude to mu supervisor, Mrs. Alka Singh, whose encouragement , guidance and support from the intial to the final level enabled me develop an understanding of the subject and helped in the completion of the project. Lastly , I offer my regards and blessings to al those who supported me in any respect during the completion of the project. Contents * Company background * Facts of Problem under discussion- Deepwater Horizon oil spill (2010) * Efforts to contain the Flow of oil * Permanent Closure by ‘Static Kill’ Operation * Areas affected – * Impact on US economy as a whole * Environment and ecological impact * Fisheries * Tourism * Individual impacts on states * Louisiana * Florida * Alabama * Unaccounted Oil * Commercial Law Suits * Damages paid * Long term effects * Reference Company Background * Name – British Petroleum * Founded- 1909 as the Anglo-Persian Oil Company 1954 as the British Petroleum Company 1998 merger of British Petroleum and Amoco * Industry – Oil Natural Gas Alternative Fuels Low carbon Energy Alternative Energy * Headquarters – St. James’s , City of Westminster , London (U.K) * Core BP brands * British Petroleum * Castrol...
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...Ironically, I chose to interview my father in our car returning from a holiday visit to his hometown in south Louisiana. The question and answer session led to my dad boasting with pride about his life as an authentic Louisiana “Cajun.” His responses, therefore, sparked my curiosity and I decided to research how French Acadian migration to southern Louisiana influenced the modern day “Cajun” culture that was such a huge part of his upbringing. As a result of cultural diffusion from approximately twenty years (1760s-1780s) of French Acadian migration to southern Louisiana, the sources and impacts of custom and tradition have developed and remain evident in the lifestyles of modern “Cajuns.” The term “Cajun” is a derivative of the word “Acadian”...
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... Herrmann Executive Summary Background On April 23, 2013 the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Tarrant Regional Water District v. Herrmann, a case that has overwhelming effects for Oklahoma’s water resources and has the potential to influence interstate water compacts throughout the country. On June 13, 2013 the court sided with Oklahoma in a unanimous decision not to cede sovereign powers. This examination is centered on the Red River Compact, which is an agreement between Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana that divides water rights from the Red River and its tributaries. Texas believes that Oklahoma has denied them rightful access to water under the compact. Interpreting the compact differently, Oklahoma says they have a concern to safeguard their water supply for future generations. The argument between these four states on how to manage the water has been going on for nearly 60 years. Congress authorized Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana to draft a compact to ensure fair access to water in the Red River Basin in 1955. After being signed by the states in 1978, the compact was ratified by Congress in 1980. The Red River Compact declares that each of the four states gets an “equitable apportionment of water” from the Red River and its tributaries (Red River Compact, 1980)....
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...Disaster Relief Management The Good and Bad of Disaster Relief Ceazare Kemp Public Administration and Policy 311 Ms. Bastedo Abstract: Whether you are from Oklahoma or New Jersey, Florida, California, Texas, Haiti, Thailand or Japan; Mother Nature holds no punches when it comes to dishing out her forms of friendly storms. Natural disasters have made a major financial, physical and mental impact on the people of the world. When disaster strikes and people are forced out of there neighborhood and homes, people want to know that when something like this happens, there is someone there to have their back; a piece of mind. In 1979, the Federal Emergency Management Agency was formed to help with state and local governments within the United States and the International Association of Emergency Managers was formed to help state, federal and governments ensure that their people have peace of mind. Table of Contents I. Introduction 3 II. Hurricane Katrina 4 III. Natural disasters in the United States 6 IV. Earthquake and tsunami in Japan 8 V. Natural disasters in the world 9 VI. Closing 11 VII. Reference 13 I. INTRODUCTIONS The environment is always changing and the people of the United States should always be aware of what could happen to them if they are not prepared for what Mother Nature do to their surroundings with no notice. There are several types of natural disasters that can maim...
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...any of Florida's native snakes the largest is the indigo snake that grows to 8.5 feet. It is estimated that these reptiles are escaped or discarded pets. State rules that went into effect this year should help prevent those less ethical individuals from dumping these creatures into our beloved eco system. The laws include a $100 annual permit to own “reptiles of concern,” and a mandatory microchip. Nevertheless, it is imperative that more be done to educate people about the problem of turning loose non-native species. In the past several decades, this species of reptile has thrived in the warm climate of the Everglades and surrounding areas of South Florida. Their numbers have since grown, with an estimated breeding population in Florida in the thousands. Pythons are likely to colonize anywhere alligators live, including North Florida, Georgia, and Louisiana. So far, reports from witnesses indicate most of the snakes have been found in Everglades National Floods, droughts,...
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...(Reuters) - With the failure this weekend of BP's "top kill" attempt to plug its leaking Gulf of Mexico oil well, fears are growing that the economic and environmental impact of the nearly six-week-old spill can only spread. Here are some facts about effects of the worst ever U.S. oil spill, triggered by the April 20 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig: THE SCALE OF THE CATASTROPHE "This is probably the biggest environmental disaster we have ever faced in this country," top White House energy adviser Carol Browner said on Sunday. "There could be oil coming up 'til August." Browner told CBS's "Face The Nation," "We are prepared for the worst." Louisiana, the nearest state to BP's gushing undersea well that is 42 miles out in the Gulf of Mexico, has been the most impacted by the spill so far. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal said this week that more than 100 miles of Louisiana's 400-mile coast had so far been impacted by the spilled oil. State officials have reported sheets of oil soiling wetlands and seeping into marine and bird nurseries, leaving a stain of sticky crude on cane that binds the marshes together. Billy Nungesser, president of Plaquemines Parish, saw dying cane and "no life" in parts of Pass-a-Loutre wildlife refuge. "Oil debris", in the form of tar balls and surface "sheen", has also been reported coming ashore since the April 20 accident in outlying parts of coastal Mississippi and Alabama. In the week of May 17, Coast Guard officials found tar balls...
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...example, at a particular school in a district there is a population of 1,000 students with 90% attendance and the weighted pupil units per district is $5,000. When using ADM, the weighted pupil units will remain at $5,000. However, if ADA is being used, the actual WPU would be $4,500. This would be a $500 decrease. With the aforementioned definitions of ADA and ADM, I would choose to use Average Daily Membership when distributing funds. Because ADA uses attendance rates, schools with lower attendance rates would suffer. Research shows that “districts with high poverty concentration and high minority concentrations have lower attendance rates for reasons beyond control” (retrieved from schoolfinance101.wordpress.com). Unfortunately, Louisiana has several districts with both high poverty and high minority concentration. Though these students are not there every day, resources are still expected to be provided for these students. This cannot happen if resources are taken from the schools or districts. Also the district in these high poverty/high minority situations need the resources more to provide things like tutoring and intervention materials. As with anything, there are...
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...Introduction Climate change is increasingly becoming a local issue as cities and counties consider its affects and implement mitigation and adaptation strategies in an attempt to limit its potential damage. Florida is particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. The state has over 1,200 miles of coastline, almost 4,500 square miles of estuaries and bays, more than 6,700 square miles of other coastal waters, and a low-lying topography. In addition, most of the state’s 18 million residents live within 60 miles of the Atlantic Ocean or Gulf of Mexico. Florida’s diverse and productive coastal and marine ecosystems are imperative to the state’s present and future. These ecosystems provide food and other products for its habitat as well as valuable and irreplaceable ecological functions. These systems also attract visitors from all over the world who wish to experience the beauty and recreational opportunities these locations offer. The state’s life-support system, economy, and quality of life depend on preserving and sustaining these resources over the long term . Of prime interest to Florida is the climate changes impact on rising sea levels. Sea Level Rise (SLR) has been identified as a major global problem. SLR has two causes, the melting of mountain glaciers and polar ice sheets and thermal expansion of the oceans. At present, the mean global rate of sea level rise is approximately 3 mm per year. However, within a relatively broad band of certainty...
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...the future climate changes can erase all the artic animals, and basically destroy the world as we know it. So, what will happen if we don’t act now? As I said, the world biggest bear is in danger. The polar bear uses the ice to rest and catch seals. Without the ice the polar bear will have no place to hunt or rest. The number of bears has never been so low. Today its just 20.000 to 25.000 left because the ice is melting. Their natural habitat is disappearing. The UN tells us that 50% of the winter polar ice will disappear before year 2100, and all the summer ice. If this happen, it’s hard to imagine that the polar bear and all the other artic animals will survive. And it isn’t just the polar bear that is in danger, but also our future generations. The polar ice cool down air, and stores millions of gallons of water. From now, and up to year 2100, the water level is likely to rise with 40 centimetres. It doesn’t sound like a lot, but even a small increase can have a devastating effect on coastal habitats. And in America parts of Louisiana, Texas, Florida and North Carolina will be flooded. So what causes this development, and the sea level to rise? Well, we have never been so sure that it`s the global warming that causes the polar ice to melt. When we burn fossil fuels as oil, coal and gas to generate electricity and to power our vehicles, we produce heat-trapping gasses like CO2 that cause global warming. The more we burn, the faster the global climate change. Now maybe...
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