MuniLand

State income tax rates range from zero percent in seven states to 8.95 percent in the District of Columbia. Via the Tax Foundation

Good Links

Institutional Investor: How the government is robbing pension plans

Stateline: When is a temporary tax increase really temporary?

Morningstar: States positioned to avoid default

Barron’s: Morgan Stanley issues sell rating for muniland

WSJ:  High yields — and defaults — for retirement community bonds

MSRB: Muniland trade prices on your cell phone?

Detroit News: Detroit running out of cash

Pennsylvania Independent: Early release of prisoners could save money

Today is the day Harrisburg: Harrisburg’s use of sewer funds contested

Daily Bankruptcy Review: The tangled Jefferson County bankruptcy mess

@Twitter Talk

@FreddieMac Freddie Mac‏ S&P/Case-Shiller – all 3 Home Price Composites end 2011 at new lows: bit.ly/AwlhTv

@stone_circle stonecircle‏ Hospitals Drawing Huge Subsidies from Taxpayers Set Aside Entire Floors for the Wealthy nyti.ms/yQbEsI

@PensionDialog Pension Dialog‏ If it ain’t broke, why fix it? That’s what Louisiana State Employees Retirement System says to the governor bit.ly/wp32iq

@GreeneBarrett Barrett and Greene ‏ 2001-2010 – increase in proportion of U.S. pop. w/ bachelor’s degree or higher grew from 26.2% to 30.4%  ow.ly/9ikD2

@cbcny Citizens Budget Comm‏ New York state had a tax surplus of $800 million at the end of last June; by January, it turned into a $389 million shortfall

@jdrive James D. Robinson‏ Next yr, # of fed-mandated illness categories will soar from 18k to 140k, including 9 categories for injuries caused by parrots -economist