Posted on 12/04/2007 8:08:35 PM PST by Libloather
Pols target tax on home heating
Savings to hard-pressed New Yorkers would amount to $300M
Saturday, December 01, 2007
By TOM WROBLESKI
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The unseasonably warm weather Staten Island has seen lately doesn't mean that homeowners aren't feeling the pinch of rising energy costs.
Before the cold weather settles in for good and really drives up the price of heating oil and gas, three Republican lawmakers are calling on the City Council to eliminate the 4 percent tax on home heating fuel.
"Talk is cheap," said state Sen. Andrew Lanza (R-South Shore). "To reduce the skyrocketing cost of heating this winter, the tax must be eliminated."
The price for a gallon of heating oil rose from $2.09 in November 2004 to $3.26 this November, Lanza said.
"As a senior citizen on a fixed income, every dollar counts," said Tottenville resident Rudolph DiNunzio, who attended a press conference with the lawmakers yesterday. "Eliminating this tax could mean almost $150 in savings for me over a typical winter season."
"We do not want to bring this situation to the point where anyone on a fixed income, least not seniors, has to cut back on food and provisions to afford their heating bills," said Councilman Vincent Ignizio (R-South Shore), who plans to submit a tax-elimination bill to the Council.
If passed, the legislation would reduce or eliminate the local sales tax on residential energy sources, including fuel oil, coal, wood, propane, natural gas, electricity and steam, saving New York City residents nearly $300 million this year.
In 2006, the state Senate and Assembly passed legislation that allowed the city to eliminate or reduce the city tax on fuel, but the Council has yet to act on the measure.
A source familiar with the inner workings of the Council said that adjusting the tax structure is something that ordinarily would be handled during budget negotiations, which wouldn't start until early next year.
However, he said that stand-alone legislation could be passed sooner if the mayor and Council speaker were on board with it.
Ignizio said he would lobby City Hall and the Council leadership on the issue.
"I am hopeful that, by providing tax breaks for home heating, we can reduce the need for individuals to look at alternative and oftentimes dangerous means to heat their homes," said Assemblyman Lou Tobacco (R-South Shore).
Coumadin
Generic name: Warfarin sodium
Why is Coumadin prescribed?
Coumadin is an anticoagulant (blood thinner). It is prescribed to:
Prevent and/or treat a blood clot that has formed within a blood vessel or in the lungs.
Prevent and/or treat blood clots associated with certain heart conditions or replacement of a heart valve.
Aid in the prevention of blood clots that may form in blood vessels anywhere in the body after a heart attack.
Reduce the risk of death, another heart attack, or stroke after a heart attack.
Most important fact about Coumadin
The most serious risks associated with Coumadin treatment are hemorrhage (severe bleeding resulting in the loss of a large amount of blood) in any tissue or organ and, less frequently, the destruction of skin tissue cells (necrosis) or gangrene. The risk of hemorrhage usually depends on the dosage and length of treatment with this drug.
Hemorrhage and necrosis have been reported to result in death or permanent disability. Severe necrosis can lead to the removal of damaged tissue or amputation of a limb. Necrosis appears to be associated with blood clots located in the area of tissue damage and usually occurs within a few days of starting Coumadin treatment.
How should you take Coumadin?
The objective of treatment with a blood-thinner is to control the blood-clotting process without causing severe bleeding, so that a clot does not form and cut off the blood supply necessary for normal body function.
Therefore, it is very important that you take this medication exactly as prescribed by your doctor and that your doctor monitor your condition on a regular basis. Be especially careful to stick to the exact dosage schedule your doctor prescribes.
Effective treatment with minimal complications depends on your cooperation and communication with the doctor.
http://www.pdrhealth.com/drugs/rx/rx-mono.aspx?contentFileName=Cou1103.html&contentName=Coumadin&contentId=147
That’s a scary drug. Doesn’t PLAVIX do the same thing with fewer side effects?
As for the chill, a handmade Irish Fisherman knit sweater of pure wool is the best insulator.
If $150 is 4% of his total, then his total before taxes is $3750. That's one big fuel bill.
I am on warfarin for a blood clotting genetic disorder. I have never been told anything about the house temperature. Why should I increase the temperature if I am on a blood thinner?
It makes you feel much colder. Turn up the heat!
I still do not understand. Why does the blood thinner make one feel colder?
Viscosity. Ask A Scientist.
3750 is entirely possible.
If you figure an old 2 storey house with little insulation and an old fashioned steam boiler in a region where the heating season is 6 months long, then the monthly heating bill is...3750/6= 625. That’s not impossible. Here in the midwest (iowa) where Nat. Gas. is the norm, a 2500-3000 sq ft old fashioned brick 2-1/2 storey house with a steam boiler gets an 800 dollar heating bill for the month of january.
What I don’t understand, in the article, they said there is a tax on wood and on steam??? How do they do that???
I am in central Illinois with a 3 bedroom, well insulated home and my Ameren Cilco bill is around $200 for the coldest months. That’s electric and gas combined. “well insulated” makes a big difference.
Coumadin is also used in rat poison.
The idea of any tax at all on home heating fuel is just basically evil.
Wow. I have an oil burner in my basement. My tank is at 1/2 now. I havn’t fired it up in years.
I just switched from burning 100% wood (in my dual fuel wood/ coal stove on my first floor) to burning about 10% wood and 90% coal in the last few weeks. My heating bill with coal is about $24.00 a month now. I like warm weather. It was about 15 degrees outside the other night and I was sleeping with my windows wide open in my bedroom upstairs. It was 92 degrees up there and a bit stuffy....even for me. An added benefit is that I’m actively contributing to global warming, thus hopefully in a few years I’ll not have to contend with these harsh winters anymore. Every little bit helps...I do my part. to screw OPEC and employ coal miners in PA.
I’m a “boomer on Coumadin.” Have been on Coumadin for a number of years now. (After valve replacement surgery.) Have had NO problems. I don’t regard it as a “scary” drug. It’s certainly a lot less scary than risking a stroke. All medications have scary sounding side effects.
The pharma companies have to list EVERYTHING that might happen to you, no matter how unlikely. The literature you get with coumadin could make you think that you will be severely limited in diet and activity, but in reality, no. Mainly you need CONSISTENCY in diet. The coumadin dosage is adjusted to your diet and lifestyle rather than the other way around. You need to have regular blood tests to make sure you are in the “desired range,” and you need to be hooked up with a doctor or other medical provider who knows what they’re doing. Working with a specialized anti-coagulation clinic is the best way to go because they do know.
Testing is probably the single most annoying aspect of being on coumadin, but after you get within range, you usually don’t have to go in for testing more than once every four-six weeks. It is a lot less onerous than what diabetics have to do.
There are also procedures now available for home-testing for coumadin users, but I’ve never explored those; the clinic I go to works fine for me.
Coumadin is also frequently used for people with atrial fibrillation, also to minimize stroke list. (Dick Cheney is on it for a-fib.)
I don’t know what you are talking about when you say people on coumadin are more prone to feel cold. I have had no problems with cold; nothing I have noticed in that area that is different from before I went on coumadin.
As for plavix — yes, it is an anti-coagulant, like coumadin. But they don’t act in the same way. They are used for different conditions and purposes. Coumadin is an anti-thrombin; plavix is an anti-platelet. Plavix also comes with a list of potential “scary” side-effects. But name me a drug that doesn’t.
This chap would do better for himself by dropping the thermostat a couple of degrees, wearing a sweater off and on while inside, and buying a roll of duct tape to reline windows seldom used.
No, this isn't Jimmy Carter speaking. This is SAJ, who does this in his home and also in his rental properties. The cash savings are remarkable even without NY's silly tax. Considerably more than $150 per location per heating season.
I know three people on the stuff and have to keep their homes very warm. They are all over 60 years old and get chilly even in moderate temperatures. They all recognize coumadin as the main cause.
What kind of stove do you have ?
Nobody's gonna freeze.
After three weeks of the Coumadin clinic failing to find my therapeutic dosage, I bought my own tester. The visits to the rat poison clinic were $65 a wack. The used tester only cost $350, and I could test whenever I wanted in the comfort of my own home. I don't use rat poison anymore.
I would say that obstructed arteries are the reason they are taking Coumadin. Obstructed arteries will also make them feel cold.
You are correct. Besides, if you read the cited web article all the way to the end, you will see that the body compensates for any changes in viscosity due to external temp, anyway.
I am going to try this stuff before I try coumadin or more plavix.
http://www.healthresources.net/itemdy00.asp?t1=HCSLN&SRCCODE=HEZ4907M
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