maudlin27

Reply to AP is another Global Warming Alarmist in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote] "move closer" So To do that I have to screw up my life and the family setting for my kids. Yeah thats wonderful. Who give a hoot about my kids therapy... I mean its all for GREEN! [/quote] Right, so everyone else should suffer because you decided to buy a house miles away from your job without any decent public transport links, and then decided to buy a polluting vehicle. I mean it couldn't possibly be your own fault for forcing yourself into that metho

Reply to The single biggest difference between rich and middle class people in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote] And you are living in a society where the poor still live in caves and thus haven't profitted from the voerall increase of wealth? I'm not sure I understand your point here. [/quote] I'm not sure I understand your point! I've never argued that a growth in wealth will see the poor getting 0% of the wealth, with the rich getting all of it (examples I've used which feature this have been to demonstrate another point, and hence have been simplified to more clearly

Reply to The government's "money" in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote] Companies are taxed on profit. WHich means less to re-invest [/quote] But that investment will often count as an expense which will be tax deductable (albeit not immediately depending on the type of investment - e.g hiring a staff and spending a ton of money getting them up to speed will likely be deductable immediately, while buying a group of computers to improve the productivity of your workers will either have a proportion allowed for tax purposes over the years, or

Reply to The single biggest difference between rich and middle class people in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote] Do the poor live in caves? If not, then they seem to benefit when society as a whole becomes wealthier [/quote] If you have a society of 1 poor person and 10 average income people, and then society's wealth doubles, with the average income people all becoming rich, and the poor person having their income unchanged, other than the relatively insignificant positive impact on the poor person of there being a chance the rich might choose to give them money (via chairty), assuming

Reply to AP is another Global Warming Alarmist in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote] Gonna tax me because I drive an older car? give me a car then that runs on bio fuel then. I cant afford it [/quote] Public transport+bicycles are typically cheaper than a car, so if you can't afford to 'upgrade' to a green car, then downgrade to a green non-car. If you're too far away from work for those alternatives to be viable, then move closer. [quote] we dont know what is happening, what is causing it, or if it is natural or not. Putting aluminum foil on mou

Reply to The government's "money" in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote]High taxes don't affect me personally in the slighest. It affects you and people like you. The first thing tht gets cut isn't my salary. It's hiring new workers and expanding our business. That means fewer jobs available. [/quote] So you're not looking to maximise your profit then, but rather have inserted some charitable elements into it (hiring people who lose you money) if I'm reading that right? Just that I can't see any other way for you to maintain yo

Reply to The single biggest difference between rich and middle class people in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote] as a society overall, we are better off with the smallest government we can absolutely tolerate [/quote] No, that would be the case if you believed that $1 was worth as much to the very poor as to the very rich. Since we are talking about what's best for society overall, as opposed to what would maximise total wealth for society, it is quite possible that what's best for society overall might be to have government performing some redistribution which would likely involve a lar

Reply to Frankly I Prefer a Progressive Flat Tax … in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote] I fail to see this having anything to do with the thesis of the article. [/quote] Ok re: the title: It's an oxymoron. You can't have a progressive flat tax. The closest you could get is a flat tax with an annual exemption. It's a flat rate, hence is flat - it doesn't change based on income.

Reply to AP is another Global Warming Alarmist in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote] There is no reason to legislate carbon caps on businesses when we don't have enough evidence to suggest that their carbon is escalating global warming. Yes we should be researching solar power and wind power and other forms of "clean" energy but we can't mandate that companies start using this extremely expensive technology since it may end up putting them out of business [/quote] Carbon caps (if done via a permit system) can be a very efficient way of reducing emission

Reply to Some thoughts on "gun control" in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote] A real revolution, where the state has to be destroyed and replace, never ended up well [/quote] English civil war? You had a revolution/civil war, the monarchy's ruling power was effectively destroyed, yet there haven't been any revolutions since. Not that I'm disagreeing with your central point, just providing an exception to the rule! [quote] while it is nice to look at other examples for guidance, this is a time that it will fail you. Simpy put

Reply to AP is another Global Warming Alarmist in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote] there has been a dramatic increase in the amount of diabetes cases since Coca-Cola was introduced so it must be due to Coca-Cola so we should just get rid of all soda-pop right? [/quote] If you're going to argue against someone, at least make sure you read to the end of their or you end up embarrasing yourself, seeing as I already addressed that in the very next sentance. [quote] the global warming alarmists need to prove that man has a significant enough impact on glo

Reply to Some thoughts on "gun control" in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote] More people die due to cars [/quote] It's never a good sign when an argument starts using the same points to support it as Bond villains! Such a point could be used to try and justify just about anything, and so carries little weight IMO. It's also worth noting that cigarrettes kill people, and they are facing increasing restrictions on their use. [quote] Gun opponents tend to fixate at overall crime rates or cherry pick types of crime ("gun

Reply to AP is another Global Warming Alarmist in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote] And a very stupid measure. To take less than a blink of the geologic eye and call it a trend of any sort is foolish. The 15-20 year data are more likely the 'blip' than a true trend [/quote] A pretty hilarious 'counter' given just a moment before you were implying that 1 year seemed to be sufficient evidence against a trend. You can't have it both ways you know! [quote] It's a religion and no amount of contrary data will dissuade believers [/quote]

Reply to AP is another Global Warming Alarmist in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote] I didn’t know whether it was a real story or a propaganda piece from Al Gore [/quote] Out of interest, are you disputing any of the following: " Since Clinton's inauguration, summer Arctic sea ice has lost the equivalent of Alaska, California and Texas. The 10 hottest years on record have occurred since Clinton's second inauguration"? [quote] 2008 has been the coolest year (globally) in a decade. The alarmists will say it's ju

Reply to Not Yours to Give in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote] the money they mananage is not theirs to give [/quote] But it is. If the people decided actually they did want people who would spend the government's money helping victims of fire, they would vote for people who supported that. If they decided they didn't , they'd vote for those who opposed that. The domocratic system of governance gives elected officials the power to decide how the government will raise and spend money, thus it is for the people to decide which candidate/par

Reply to A conversation about taxes in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote] statistics show that the very wealthy have since Reagan increased their wealth fourfold as opposed to the rest whose improvement was nil [/quote] What about incomes? I'm far more interested in how incomes have changed than wealth, since for example someone who earns a fortune and splashes out on short-term benefits is going to have no wealth, even though they are living a much nicer life than someone who earns a modest amount and again spends it on non-wealth items.

Reply to Companies are taxed on profits, so why not individuals? in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote] Rich people tend to own more property whether it be a business or private residences. If any of those properties border public property (ie publice streets) then the government may end up provided 3 or 4 street lights to a rich person for every one provided for a poor person (on average). This evens things out a bit and justifies the progressive tax. The same goes for police and fire due to the rich owning more property [/quote] But the rich ar

Reply to Redistribution in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote] The rich got richer and the poor got richer too. ANY SYSTEM of independent units that is unregulated will, over time, show increasing differences between the min and max. If you have 2 people running and one is faster than the other, over time, there will be a huge gulf [/quote] Only in absolute/nominal terms, not in proportionate terms. You would expect the $ gap between the top 25% and bottom 25% to widen, for example, but not for the % of incom

Reply to A conversation about taxes in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote] How about cutting off the nose to spite the face--known as SMB 101. [/quote] Actually that's still 'UAW 101' - if unions strike, they're hurting the company, raising costs or allowing competitors to take over market share, meaning the company will then need to cut costs by cutting jobs (or lowering wages). [quote] If there were no taxes ever; business would not grow any more [/quote] Huh? How would no taxes mean that business would not grow? If you decrease tax

Reply to Companies are taxed on profits, so why not individuals? in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote] No, you are confusing taxing for society upkeep with redistribution. Taxes for roads, police, the Army, etc. benefit all, and are not GIVEN to another [/quote] No I'm not. I've already explained it to you several times before, but you haven't responded to those afaik so I don't know what part of it you are struggling to understand. Anyway here's how it works. Since you seem to think taxes for public goods (such as roads, the army, etc.) can't be redistribution, here's how:

Reply to A conversation about taxes in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote who="Draginol" reply="9" id="1957869"] are you saying those two people were hired just because the business got more money? that is a poor excuse to hire anyone WOW. Okay, Sorry Thinkaloud, I'm thinking you're too dumb to participate.[/quote] What's dumb about that comment specifically? If you are only hiring employees because you have lots of money floating around, it might well be a poor decision, because you may not be making the best use of that money.

Reply to Evil concealed by money in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote] The bottom 50% of the US population controls 3% of the nations wealth though YOU (directed at Stevendedalus [major] and other socialists [minor]) might think its bad but the bottom 50% of the WORLD only controls 1% of the total wealth [/quote] Wow, what an achievement to have slightly better inequality levels than dictatorships and various countries/regimes which look to keep the wealth within a tiny elite while the majority of the population struggle to survive.

Reply to Yes, Tax the Rich in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote] taxes are a cost of doing business that we pay for one way or another, either as purchasers or as investors. Since investors will hardly be happy about a company that only breaks even, we purchasers are going to end up footing at least some of the bill [/quote] Depends on the type of tax - the one that would produce the result you're referring to isn't the one being proposed. That is, to be a true cost you'd need the tax to actually work like an expense, by say being a t

Reply to Auto Industry Bailout in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote]yeah, they've made mistakes; but they now produce extraordinary vehicles and deserve a break [/quote] No, they don't. If you make a mistake, you should live with the consequences of that mistake. How else are you to learn? Regardless I'm still struggling to see how there are people starving in this world, yet rather than have money given to them you'd rather see them given to a company to produce vehicles that will kill people and damage the world we live in.

Reply to A conversation about taxes in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote] When I pay taxes, it's just another expense. My lifestyle is unaffected. When taxes go up, I hire fewer people or am forced to lay people off. Tax Supporter : Well then you're just being greedy [/quote] As I mentioned elsewhere I think, taxes aren't an expense like others - they will go up if you make more profit, and go down if you make less (and go away if you make 0 profit, and give you a refund in the future if you make a loss). Hence if you're making a p