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Evil rich guy; I've just been out on a Friday night with extremely progressive anonymous young friends, so I'll try my best not to be a pant load.
If you and your income bracket feel you're being unjustly taxed, you can remove yourself from the country at anytime you feel comfortable to do so. Don't let the door of liberty hit you in the ass. You and those with your ideology have the money to facilitate this ....so do it. I'm committed to unions and cooperatives to take up the slack for capitalist slackards who need to exit this fine country my ancestors died for. I'm also committed to preventing digital election fraud!
I'm not an idiot....unlike the average pushover dem I totally get where you're coming from...give it up and move to a fascist state.
Evil rich guy....upfront I'll admit to just being out with extremely progressive anonymous young friends on a Friday night, so I'll try to respect your sincerity and will do my best to not be an ass.
I'll say this about your ideology: you and anyone else so inclined to remove themselves from this country because of unjust taxation can do so at anytime...you have the money to facilitate this. I'm committed to unions and cooperatives which will take up the slack for slackards who refuse to participate in democracy by and for the people. I'm also committed to making sure election fraud doesn't happen!!!!!!!
President Obama has been sued, lied about and not allowed to give us our next Supreme Court nominee because of bias & bigotry ! He was handed a huge platter of sh-t when elected by Bush & Cheney. How can anyone like Obama try to straighten out all of this BS???
The Military Industrial Complex has a strangledhold on our govt & we need to kick all of them out !!! I am sooooo tired of all of the BS being slung by the far-right together with the MIC's that if I were the next President I would put them all in their jails for what they have done to our country !!!
" "but the NRC has said that the leak "poses no immediate risks to any residents or the environment.""
They built 8 reactors at Fukushima based on (defense in depth) super safety, knowing that worse Tsunamai's had happened within the last 100 years. How can you trust these liars.
Forget boiling water for watts, it uses the Steam-Age's totally inefficient thermal method.
To get a Watt on-the-wire using steam takes 2-Joules, the Joules are waste-heat, a direct heating of the planet, it's air, soils and water so to understand how bad this is the analog is Arctic sea-ice albedo-loss.
With today's albedo-loss it's worth 25-years of USA power compared to the previous average 1980-2010 sea-ice cover, about 3,800-Terajoule-hours/yr for USA power = 95,000-Twh a year in energy, 1-Watt = 1-Joule.
Global steam capacity is some 18,000-Twh/year so the waste-heat is 36,000-Twh/year of direct heating; to compare: 36000÷95000 = 38% of albedo-loss for impacts.
We have direct control over this waste-heat.
End the Steam-Age close down all thermal power plants burning fuel, there's no excuse to keep them at any level of science.
I have been the CEO of a public company. My job was to maximize the return on investment for the owners of the company. In the case of public companies the owners are oft-times average people who own a mutual fund. They bought their stock expecting a return on investment. In order to grow a company money is needed. With more money, faster growth is possible. With more growth, more employees get hired.
CEOs are not "greedy" in the ordinary sense of the world. They just do their jobs. If widgets cost 10 cents in China and $1 in Ohio, then you build widgets in China. It's really that simple. If the government imposes a tariff on Chinese widgets then the economics change and it can make sense to buy Ohio widgets. As an American I would much rather buy American, but .. it's like saying "I'm black. I want to buy from companies with Black Management." Or, "I'm jewish. I want to buy from jewish companies" Or, "I like motorcycles. I want to buy from companies that give special parking places to motorcycles." In my opinion, none of that has any place in the workplace. My job was to grow the company and create value for shareholders, and jobs for employees. As Thom has been known to say, "Companies are not people." A company is an investment vehicle and my job was to build value. Period. Personal prejudices do not belong in the workplace.
To be clear -- the rules of the game are established by the government. As a CEO I did not get to define the playfield on which I competed. The laws were what they were. I would have preferred laws that allowed me to hire only American labor -- but, it wasn't my job to set global politics. I was just supposed to make and sell widgets profitably given the cards that I was dealt.
It is wrong to demonize corporate CEOs for legally maximizing profits based on policies set by politicians.
Nothing about this is a surprise. Our nation's nuclear power plants and our nuclear weapons programs operate in deep secrecy. The people who monitor them are "in bed" with the people who operate the systems. No one wants to be accountable for safety. I call these systems, "nuclear profit plants." The worst problem with the safe operation of nuclear profit plants is that there is no plan how to handle the dangerous waste materials created during the operation of the plants or weapons construction systems. No plan except to maybe bury them somewhere, sometime. It is a disgrace but no one is paying attention to this issue because the power creating systems make profits for the owners of the nuclear profit plants. The owner operators are given a free pass on the disposal of the waste materials. The entire system is a disgrace and a disaster waiting to occur. We can experience the same issue that Japan did five years ago with the earthquake and sunami. It is only a matter of when our disaster will occur. Sad.
radster63, It pollutes with high and low level radwaste that will be dangerous to humanity for 10000 years. Will you or anyone be around to manage the waste? Also you are dead wrong that it is the cheapest form of power generation. They have shut down and scheduled the shutdown of a dozen or more reactors because they are too costly to compete in the USA. Great Britain is on the verge of cancelling its Hinkly Point reactor economic disaster and is one of the best users of wind power in the world. Do some research. Go hug some high level radwaste that has no where to go.
2950-10k -- I am not anti-tax. Ultimately, if the government spends a dollar it must collect a dollar in taxes PLUS any accumulated interest on the borrowing. Taxes must be paid. I have a problem with the government wasting money, not with the fact that purchases must be paid for.
My only comment was that in a global economy, or even in a country where states compete for jobs, there needs to be an understanding that tax policy will have an impact on the willingness of corporations to do business in that locality. Taxes are only one piece of the puzzle, but they are an important one. Google, Facebook and other tech companies have been setting up in Seattle, and I'm sure a big part of the reason was the lack of a state tax.
I'm very worried about the push for a global economy. This is one where I agree with Thom that we need to use tariffs to level the playing field. If Hillary is elected we are in deep trouble. Expect that she is only paying lip service to being anti-TPP.
As to Denmark .. I once put together a point by point comparison of the two economies. There are things that work for them that wouldn't work for us, and visa versa. It really is Apples and Oranges.
As to fairness of tax policy -- We could debate that for a lifetime... I am not opposed to paying my share of taxes, and in fact pay a much bigger number each year than you can imagine. What I don't like is that people are allowed to vote who don't pay taxes, and who don't take the time to inform themselves on the issues. There are too many people who vote based on getting free stuff from the government. I believe taxation and representation should be linked much more so than they are today. I'm not sure the best way to accomplish that, but would love to see it happen. There are people that don't care about the size of the national debt, because they aren't the ones writing the checks to pay it off.
Elinore, people like you are so ilinformed about why nuclear power is the only form of power generation for the futer. It is the cheapest form of power generation and does not pollute. Wind is nothing short of a joke as they only last 20-25 years and have a payback of 50 yrs. England has committed to phase out their coal fired power plants by 2025 and make nuclear power as their primary source of power. For now, go hug a wind turbine if that makes you feel good.
All of our Nuclear Plants in this country should be taken down and put an end to the abuse of Native American tribal lands from the mining of Uranium that poisons their waterways including aquifers. It is time to stop the sale of oil leases including Fracking which is the worst at heightening Global Warming.
I am an activist who loves our earth & all the people, animals, plants, waterways,etc. & want for our gov't to take a lead in cleaning up our use of fossil fuels which are the culprit for the warming. More & more young people have been taught all about Global Warming & all we need to do to stop it. This movement I belong to is getting stronger everyday and I believe we can stop polluting our earth in my lifetime. I am 66 yrs. old and hopeful for the future.
Evil rich guy: The happiest people on the planet live in Denmark, and guess what?....they have the highest tax rate on the planet, almost 50%. When all is added up, property tax, sales tax, fees, and income tax, I pay about that same tax rate here in the United States...and my income isn't even close to six figures.
So why are citizens of Denmark happier than me? They have Democratic Socialism as their form of good government. They don't pay 50 cents out of every tax dollar to "military for profit." I believe if I can pay almost 50% in some form of tax, then a billionaire certainly can too. But unlike wealthy capitalists, my 50% tax rate has to be paid with hard earned money.
Stephen Hawking believes the world will be destroyed by greed and stupidity. I give you CEOs. They pollute our oceans, foul our air, sever our mountain tops, frack, develop our lands, burn our forests, cause wars, own governments, the media, create terrorists, give us most cancers, many diseases, their companies are considered people in court despite having the money and power to defeat real people. They warm the planet and are slowly but surely depleting clean water supplies and ocean and atmospheric oxygen levels. As for stupidity, we just need to look in the mirror. We are fighting the wrong terrorists.
I am all for single payer. As long as the single layer is George Soros. A true single layer system in this country would over charge 40 % of its citizens. The ACA, if the Cadillac Tax is ever implemented as written, will harm more Americans than the 20 Million it added on the rolls of the insured. Even Canada's system has significant supplement private policies to upgrade basic insurance to make it work for those who want specialists and any type of convenience.
Thom,
You are only telling half the story regarding offshoring of profits. Apple and other corporations through tax laws lobbied for and by the multinationals repatriate their money onshore and still don't pay one cent to the IRS.
How? Read the below link and you'll know.
https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/tax-reform/report/2014/01/09/81681/offshore-corporate-profits-the-only-thing-trapped-is-tax-revenue/
Apple's attemps at tax aviodance are not surprising. The most abhorrent act of Apple was to decimate the silicon valley by moving thousands of technology jobs from the US to China. Very little was said about it at the time, as we were under the cult of "genius Jobs".
This is where the US worker loses. Invention, innovation, and intellectual capital generated in America because of freedom, education, consumers, and investment is whored out to foreign countries with cheap labor and less taxation. For, in many cases, higher profits over already high profits. The stockholder's demands are put way above the needs of the US and its workers.
In terms of corporations dictating the terms of paying taxes, I think that one could entice these corporations to pay more if it was guaranteed that any increase in taxes above a predetermined baseline would be spent only on increasing our infrastructure. This earmarking would allay concerns that these taxes would be spent on direct income redistribution or social programs that don't work. It would also strengthen their businesses and be very popular with Americans of all political bents.
As these corporations have benefitted from our infrastructure, they can give back to strengthen it.
A few weeks ago Thom mentioned the 1998 movie called Bulworth starring Warren Beatty about a politician during the 1996 elections who went off the deep end, ordered a hit on himself and then figuring he had nothing to lose started telling the truth which made him wildly popular among the voters. A great movie and the content applies even more so today regarding money in politics and how it affects both democrats and republicans. I enjoyed it and found it fascinating especially when he told white people that they had more in common with black people than they did with rich people and how true that is. When a voter complained about not being listened to regarding health insurance he said that the insurance company contributed more to his campaign. How true is that? Thom should promote the hell out of this movie. Thanks Thom, I had forgotten the title but not the subject of this great movie. It's on Netfilx DVD.
Thom -- You have it backwards. Minimizing taxes is VERY American.
For example -- John Kerry chose where to park his boat based on a lower tax rate in Rhode Island. Low income tax states attract business, and if you look at states with low tax rates you'll see that jobs are flowing in.
If you don't want companies to park money in other countries you need to either provide an incentive for the money to be returned to America, or put laws in place that prohibit moving the money out of the US. The problem is that American laws only control American Corporations. Companies in other countries are subject to laws in other countries. And, those countries, if they are smart -- will create low corporate taxes so that jobs move their direction.
It's a fairly simple rule, and it is not unique to America -- create an attractive climate for business and you'll inherit jobs. Create a hostile environment and jobs will go away.
Do you want jobs? Each country and each state makes that decision. And ... there are winners and losers.
The right question to ask is, "How should government raise its revenue?" We know that the existing tax system is inequitable and unbelievably complex. It has created huge profits for tax attorneys, tax accountants and tax preparers. And, of course, every business and every individual who can finds the ways to avoid paying taxes. Years ago I was in the audience when a former deputy mayor of New York City testified on taxation before the City Council in Philadelphia. What he said made perfect sense. "When you tax people too heavily, they will move. When you tax businesses too heavily, they will move. When you tax property improvements too heavily, owners will stop making repairs and new buildings will not be constructed. But, when you tax land based on its potential annual rental value, owners of land cannot move it. They will either develop it to its highest, best use to offset the tax obligation, or they will sell it to someone who will." The lesson is that individuals and businesses should compensate society based on the value of the land (and land-like assets, e.g., the broadcast spectrum) they control and not on whatever income is generated from the goods they produce or the services they perform.
Edward J. Dodson, M.L.A., Director, School of Cooperative Individualism (www.cooperative-individualism.org)
Emperor’s Clothes
{... a rhyme and an image ...}
Dear Mister Trump:
What do you propose?
Please clarify. What?
Are we to suppose
that you know doodly-squat?
Please disclose
whether it’s X or not.
{Or is Emperor’s clothes
all that you’ve got?}
http://themoderatevoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/179519_600.jpg
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An Exercise in Wes’ Texis Tawlk
{… a rhyme …}
Thangs seems so dadburn’ bad it
looks {like} lahk soon we’ll {have} of had it.
Trump’s {voraciously} vorayshushly gapin’ maw
{pukes} pyewks gooey {slime} slahm frum ‘is {putrid} pyewtrid craw.
He’s th’ wurse durn’ thang we have ever dun saw.
==============================================
This year, corporate donations for Democrats will be far greater than corporate donations for Republicans. This is the opportunity that Hillary has been waiting for.
Hooked, so Tooked
{… a rhyme …}
Future historians, when back they’ve looked,
will lament that Americans got themselves hooked
on pols who rooked
to get themselves snooked
into elective office. Americans got tooked.
===================================
Thom should conduct seminars for the Dems on how to play offense when running for office. Tonight's blog is a direct and righteous attack on the Teapublic Party.....the party that is owned by, and supports the tax evasive billionaires. Many of these blogs take this postion of offense in that they spread the plain truth about big money and its corrupting influence over what should be representative government, but thanks to extreme concentration of wealth and thus power, we have ended up with an almost pure Fascist form of government.
Yeah I know there are those who will say this big money corruption is on both sides, and to an extent it is, but read the congressional voting record...just Ryan's year after year budget plan alone, and you'll quickly perceive that an extreme difference exists in who supports Fascism and who does not.
chuckle 8: I see a strong correlation, but believe the cause and effect is the inverse of yours. Strong family values lead to wealth and poor family values and decisions can lead to and perpetuate poverty.
Asian and African immigrants who come here with low incomes are greatly enabled by strong family values to achieve educationally and financially.
Throwing money at disfunction would just subsidize and perpetuate it. Reparations is also pipe dream with no chance of happening, so as any type of solution it is a non - starter.