This is actually part of a fantastically clever campaign to come up with laws that finally push the British Public to the point where they demand major roll-backs of the power of their government! Trouble is, every time we think we have something that they just won't put up with, they do!
I want to punish people who are rich that don't do anything but collect dividend checks.
And how exactly do you propose to define those people? You do realize that the bulk of corporate dividends that are paid today go to institutional investors like pension funds and mutual funds, right? Do you want to just bitch-slap anyone who makes a million bucks in a year, or would you just apply your discrimintation to anyone who's made twice what you make?
I want to put work above investment.
Umm... And who's goiing to come up with the investment necessary to create the workplace, when people like you have driven the capital out of the country?
What's wrong with it is that the mechanism of taxation as an instrument of policy is routinely used to benefit special interests at the expense of everyone else. A company's success or failure should be up to their performance in the market for their products, not by their ability to bribe congressmen to get them tax breaks (or even direct corporate welfare payments.)
So would a lot of people, and that's why we're in the mess we are today. Maybe you want to penalize people for getting rich, while other people want to punish those who get fat, and still others want to really fuck over anyone who builds a house taller than two stories. The upshot is a massive tax code that not even the IRS can understand or explain to the taxpayers.
The main purpose of the FairTax proposal is to remove taxation as means to push anyone's agenda, and limit it to raising the money that it takes to run a government. One industry that it would decimate would be the political lobbying business.
the moving money around in a circle deal should be taxed at a high rate, IMO.
Well, this is a case where you shouldn't get what you want. Any country that tries to "soak the rich" just drives their money away.
I could see some "abuse" with it though. I, for one, would simply live like a pauper until I saved up enough money to start making decent returns on conservative investments.
And why, exactly would that be a bad thing?
The fact is that under our present system, the bulk of the money comes from the middle class. If you make a million bucks in a year and actually pay the AMT or the full nominal amount for that tax bracket, then you simply have an incompetent accountant. Rich people can keep their money in the bahamas, they can buy "farms" that pay them subsidies for growing weeds, they can "invest" in whatever harebrained schemes have the favor of the right congresscritters this year, they can hold "charity" parties where they spend millions to raise thousands, and the list goes on and on.
Besides the benefit of efficiency of tax collection itself, we'd also see great improvements in our economy due to businesses being able to make decsions based on return on investment, without regard to tax consequences (since the tax consequences are always the same: you pay tax on what you spend.
Add to that the several trillions of dollars currently held in offshore accounts that would likely be repatriated to the United States (no need for a tax shelter anymore), and you have a recipe for a lot of people being able to improve their lot in life.
The problem happened, because Apple's assembly contractors used Windows machines in their production process. Clearly, this is not a wise choice from a security standpoint, and I would expect Apple to insist on replacing those machines with Macs or Linux hosts.
As far as I am able to find it there are only a couple of people and companies that are really starting to work on those alternatives,
Hundreds of companies, thousands of people. The long and short of it is, oil is still cheaper than the alternatives in most cases. Once the price curves cross, then we'll move to other sources of energy. It's just an engineering problem.
The point that the grandparent poster is making is that even though higher speed limits mean more people die on the roads, we make that trade-off because of the economic effects of being able to get somewhere on the road in less than a day.
We can and do set dollar values on human life every day. The alternative is to never mine coal, never build any houses, never do anything else that might get someone killed.
I despise him because he's an asshole, which he has demonstrated on many occasions. I say he has no talent, because he has never demonstrated any talent. I don't feel that I was insulted by him, because to the best of my knowledge, he's never said anything at all about me.
-jcr
I think Apple knows it's DRM is really a joke, but it's enough to appease the RIAA
Exactly. If it were up to ANY hardware manufacturer, there would be no DRM.
-jcr
maximum number of times you can burn a given track
You can burn a track as many times as you want. The limit is on how many times you can burn a particular playlist. Not much of an issue for home users, but it would be bloody inconvenient for anyone who was trying to use iTunes to do bulk duplication.
-jcr
the fart jokes (which you seem to believe is all he does).
Don't try to tell me what I believe, sunshine. I was living in the DC area at the time of the Air Florida crash. Stern is a fucking asshole, and that's about all there is to it. Just ask the NY Libertarians that he jerked around.
Interview techniques, my ass.
-jcr
But as someone who doesn't run Windows, I don't really care.
Well, I do care, because a lot of the bandwidth I pay for is crowded by the spam that my hosts filter for me. Not to mention, the bandwidth wasted and the increased cost of network service that comes from millions of unsecurable windows machines trying to infect each other with the malware of the minute.
If anyone ever sets up a "no windows allowed" ISP, I'd be a customer in a heartbeat.
-jcr
Stern is an important figure in the history of radio
That doesn't mean he has any talent. Jerry Springer's an important figure in the history of TV, too. They've both shown that you can make a lot of money hosting a freak show.
-jcr
How can a no-talent hack like me get a paycheck like that?
Do you seriously believe that what Stern does shows a talent?
If you want to do what Stern did, just get a radio show, and be an asshole. It worked for Stern, it worked for Limbaugh, and it could work for you, too.
-jcr
So, who has standing to file a complaint against this spammer?
He lied on the jurisdiction issue, and if that takes Spamhaus off the network, then millions of us suffer economic damage from the result of his perjury.
Anyone in Illinois want to register a class action against the son of a bitch?
Slashdot Mirror
Someone said that they didn't like the fairtax percentages. You stated that adjusting them meant they had an agenda.
He ALSO said that he wants to punish people who make money on dividends, or weren't you paying attention?
-jcr
This is actually part of a fantastically clever campaign to come up with laws that finally push the British Public to the point where they demand major roll-backs of the power of their government! Trouble is, every time we think we have something that they just won't put up with, they do!
-jcr
I want to punish people who are rich that don't do anything but collect dividend checks.
And how exactly do you propose to define those people? You do realize that the bulk of corporate dividends that are paid today go to institutional investors like pension funds and mutual funds, right? Do you want to just bitch-slap anyone who makes a million bucks in a year, or would you just apply your discrimintation to anyone who's made twice what you make?
I want to put work above investment.
Umm... And who's goiing to come up with the investment necessary to create the workplace, when people like you have driven the capital out of the country?
-jcr
What's wrong with using taxes to push an agenda?
What's wrong with it is that the mechanism of taxation as an instrument of policy is routinely used to benefit special interests at the expense of everyone else. A company's success or failure should be up to their performance in the market for their products, not by their ability to bribe congressmen to get them tax breaks (or even direct corporate welfare payments.)
-jcr
So, the fairtax people are the only people on the planet with no agenda
Of course they have agendas, but they've recognized that manipulation of the tax system is a lousy way to implement policy.
and their numbers are prefect.
The percentages are calculated to result in the same amount of revenue collected as the current tax system.
Anyone that might want to move a percentage up or down a little obviously has some agenda and wants to hurt others out of spite. With logic like that,
With logic like that, you sound like a DC lobbyist. Do you always try to put words in someone's mouth and then argue against your own straw man?
-jcr
I'd like to tweak the percentages here and there.
So would a lot of people, and that's why we're in the mess we are today. Maybe you want to penalize people for getting rich, while other people want to punish those who get fat, and still others want to really fuck over anyone who builds a house taller than two stories. The upshot is a massive tax code that not even the IRS can understand or explain to the taxpayers.
The main purpose of the FairTax proposal is to remove taxation as means to push anyone's agenda, and limit it to raising the money that it takes to run a government. One industry that it would decimate would be the political lobbying business.
the moving money around in a circle deal should be taxed at a high rate, IMO.
Well, this is a case where you shouldn't get what you want. Any country that tries to "soak the rich" just drives their money away.
-jcr
I could see some "abuse" with it though. I, for one, would simply live like a pauper until I saved up enough money to start making decent returns on conservative investments.
And why, exactly would that be a bad thing?
The fact is that under our present system, the bulk of the money comes from the middle class. If you make a million bucks in a year and actually pay the AMT or the full nominal amount for that tax bracket, then you simply have an incompetent accountant. Rich people can keep their money in the bahamas, they can buy "farms" that pay them subsidies for growing weeds, they can "invest" in whatever harebrained schemes have the favor of the right congresscritters this year, they can hold "charity" parties where they spend millions to raise thousands, and the list goes on and on.
Besides the benefit of efficiency of tax collection itself, we'd also see great improvements in our economy due to businesses being able to make decsions based on return on investment, without regard to tax consequences (since the tax consequences are always the same: you pay tax on what you spend.
Add to that the several trillions of dollars currently held in offshore accounts that would likely be repatriated to the United States (no need for a tax shelter anymore), and you have a recipe for a lot of people being able to improve their lot in life.
-jcr
We waste incredible amounts of time and money working around our Byzantine internal revenue code. There's a better way to handle this.
-jcr
I find that shredded documents make excellent tinder for the fireplace..
-jcr
Could someone who hasn't swallowed the anti-Israeli commie propaganda line please mod the parent up?
Thanks,
-jcr
the assembly contractors management is incompetent.
I agree. One should never have a Windows box in a mission-critical role.
-jcr
Nothing new here, nothing at all...
-jcr
The problem happened, because Apple's assembly contractors used Windows machines in their production process. Clearly, this is not a wise choice from a security standpoint, and I would expect Apple to insist on replacing those machines with Macs or Linux hosts.
-jcr
As far as I am able to find it there are only a couple of people and companies that are really starting to work on those alternatives,
Hundreds of companies, thousands of people. The long and short of it is, oil is still cheaper than the alternatives in most cases. Once the price curves cross, then we'll move to other sources of energy. It's just an engineering problem.
-jcr
The point that the grandparent poster is making is that even though higher speed limits mean more people die on the roads, we make that trade-off because of the economic effects of being able to get somewhere on the road in less than a day.
We can and do set dollar values on human life every day. The alternative is to never mine coal, never build any houses, never do anything else that might get someone killed.
-jcr
I despise him because he's an asshole, which he has demonstrated on many occasions. I say he has no talent, because he has never demonstrated any talent. I don't feel that I was insulted by him, because to the best of my knowledge, he's never said anything at all about me. -jcr
And you better believe Microsoft would weep with joy if people started using "Zune" as a verb.
Don't be too sure: "Man, that company totally zuned itself with that bonehead idea. What kind of a Ballmer do they have running that joint?"
"Zuned" will be a verb all right. Just like "Osborned" or "Borked".
-jcr
I think Apple knows it's DRM is really a joke, but it's enough to appease the RIAA Exactly. If it were up to ANY hardware manufacturer, there would be no DRM. -jcr
maximum number of times you can burn a given track You can burn a track as many times as you want. The limit is on how many times you can burn a particular playlist. Not much of an issue for home users, but it would be bloody inconvenient for anyone who was trying to use iTunes to do bulk duplication. -jcr
the fart jokes (which you seem to believe is all he does). Don't try to tell me what I believe, sunshine. I was living in the DC area at the time of the Air Florida crash. Stern is a fucking asshole, and that's about all there is to it. Just ask the NY Libertarians that he jerked around. Interview techniques, my ass. -jcr
But as someone who doesn't run Windows, I don't really care. Well, I do care, because a lot of the bandwidth I pay for is crowded by the spam that my hosts filter for me. Not to mention, the bandwidth wasted and the increased cost of network service that comes from millions of unsecurable windows machines trying to infect each other with the malware of the minute. If anyone ever sets up a "no windows allowed" ISP, I'd be a customer in a heartbeat. -jcr
Good work. -jcr
Stern is an important figure in the history of radio That doesn't mean he has any talent. Jerry Springer's an important figure in the history of TV, too. They've both shown that you can make a lot of money hosting a freak show. -jcr
How can a no-talent hack like me get a paycheck like that? Do you seriously believe that what Stern does shows a talent? If you want to do what Stern did, just get a radio show, and be an asshole. It worked for Stern, it worked for Limbaugh, and it could work for you, too. -jcr
So, who has standing to file a complaint against this spammer?
He lied on the jurisdiction issue, and if that takes Spamhaus off the network, then millions of us suffer economic damage from the result of his perjury.
Anyone in Illinois want to register a class action against the son of a bitch?
-jcr