Hell..I live in California and almost 50% of my income goes to taxes (Federal + State + St Sales Tax)
And that my friend, is why California is most desirable state to live in, and we have a bigger population than any other state in the US. Because it's nice here.
Call it what you want - The result is some of the happiest, healthiest, best-educated free people in the world, with 80%+ less crime than the USA. If that's "socialism" I think many, many Americans would happily take it.
It is socialism, and many Americans would love to see it happen here. And it will.
Even with that definition, I think there's a bit of a sticking point on what exactly is meant by "regulated". I'm not sure how much you'd appreciate your grocery shopping choices (i.e., your personal exchange) to be regulated by the rest of your neighbors. Do they get to pick what you're having for supper or what products can be sold at the grocery store?
I'd really need to hear what your definition of socialism actually is
I use the dictionary definition:
"a political and economic theory of social organization that advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned OR REGULATED by the community as a whole."
The only other thing you could possibly mean is that everyone acts as a capitalist agent, but the government takes most or all of their earnings.
Well, the income tax rate in Denmark is just over 60%, so it fits that definition, too.
I don't know if there's a group of people on the planet weird enough to play by those rules.
Denmark. Denmark plays by those rules. More than 60% of income in Denmark goes to taxes. Last time I checked the definition of "most", 60 percent meets the definition.
Face it: The happiest countries in the world are the countries that have struck a balance between socialism and market economies.
Socialism is by definition incompatible with Nordic Social Democracy model. We categorically reject all main cornerstones of socialism, and instead go for market economy with high taxation that funds the baseline income level and services.
You can gripe all you want, Anders Breivik, but the fact is that what you have is socialized medicine, socialized education, socialized welfare system, socialized retirement, and highly regulated corporations.
If you read that wiki entry, you will learn that there's nothing in there that is incompatible with a market economy.
In fact, to quote the Prime Minister of Denmark himself (from the same article): "The Nordic model is an expanded welfare state which provides a high level of security to its citizens, but it is also a successful market economy with much freedom to pursue your dreams and live your life as you wish."
Market economies and socialism are a perfectly compatible. In fact, you could say that one does not work without the other.
Was that quote from Denmark's PM too complicated for you?
Not at all. It's even more enlightening when you include the entire quote and not just the part that supports your assertion.
"n Rasmussen's view, "The Nordic model is an expanded welfare state which provides a high level of security to its citizens, but it is also a successful market economy with much freedom to pursue your dreams and live your life as you wish."
See, the mistake you are making is thinking that socialism and market economies are mutually exclusive. In fact, they work best in combination with each other.
Denmark absolutely deserves to be on that list. It is a social democracy in the Nordic model. Denmark has a wide range of welfare benefits that they offer their citizens, from universal health care to free education and family leave.. As a result, they also have the highest taxes in the world. Equality is considered the most important value in Denmark. Small businesses thrive, with over 70 percent of companies having 50 employees or less.
When Denmark was named the happiest country in the world, there was an effort by right-wing jackoffs to try to paint Denmark as not really a social democracy. They are trying to bullshit you. It is listed as one of the most successful socialist countries in the world.
So either Mueller is so incompetent he couldn't find his ass with both hands and assistance from three interns, or this investigation was a farce from the very beginning. Pick one.
Five convictions so far. And counting. Not so incompetent.
If you really thought Mueller was incompetent, you wouldn't be so keen on seeing him fired and the investigation closed. Tick tock.
There is no such thing as a popular vote for president in the United States.
Of course there is. It may not be the deciding factor, but the vote is taken nonetheless, and it is the best metric we have for what percentage of people wanted a certain person to be president. They are actual votes cast by individuals.
None of which have anything to do with Trump or Russiagate in general.
Three of those convictions address Russiagate and Trump directly.
You know that the Whitewater investigation produced fifteen convictions
From an investigation that took 6 years. The Trump/Russia investigation has been going on for about 16 months.
does that mean that the investigation wasn't a pile of partisan bulllllllshit crafted by opponents of a president they just didn't like?
So, are you saying right here, right now, that the Whitewater investigations and all the subsequent investigations of Hillary Clinton were all "partisan bullshit crafted by opponents" of someone Republicans just didn't like? Is that your story now?
Most people didn't want his equally atrocious opponent in the general election.
And yet, she got 3,000,000 more votes.
Never have. I bring them up because Russigaters have as much evidence for their theories as the Birthers do for theirs.
Except there are over 30 indictments and five guilty pleas and counting. Unlike the birthers, who had absolutely nothing, yet managed to get Obama elected twice for their troubles.
They are attacking us the same way the US has historically, for many years, attacked elections in foreign countries.
The US has invaded Mexico on several occasions, so I assume you don't have a problem with Mexicans immigrating here without documents. I mean, if you're going to be consistent.
No server, no evidence. No evidence, no conviction. Even then the lack of any chain of custody calls into question the quality if any evidence found on it.
You're completely wrong about the FBI "not having the server".
The DNC server was forensically imaged by incident response experts, those snapshots were cryptographically signed, cataloged, and turned over to the FBI. Copies reside at Quantico, Ft Meade, and the Bureau's DC office.
The FBI has the server. There is evidence. Look beneath the Fox News surface and learn these things for yourself.
Estimates put the tear-down cost of a single modern wind turbine, which can rise from 250 to 500 feet above the ground, at $200,000
How much does it cost to decommission an offshore oil rig? How much to clean up contaminated ground water near a fracking site? How much to decomission an old nuclear plant? How much to restore the land around a coal mine?
Uh huh. You guys should go all out and hire Ken Starr to interrogate Trump on the Stormy Daniels affair, and then indict him for perjury at the first pretense.
Nah, Stormy's just a sideshow. Don Jr and Ivanka get brought in and offered deals and then Trump ends up naked on the White House lawn in a thunderstorm going full King Lear before being gently led off personally by Robert Mueller in a yellow DOJ slicker. Trump's confused face is framed in the window of the black van as it's being driven to the federal lockup. DIssolve to a shot of a smiling Michael Cohen driving the van. Fade to black. Benny Mardones singing "Into the Night" plays over the credits. But stay through all the credits for a bonus scene of unwigged Trump negotiating with the cashier at the prison infirmary for a bag of zoom zoom and wham whams.
The real action is on the treason front. Count on it.
US hacked Russian networks that is the only way some of the evidence in this indictment could have been gathered.
Nope, that would be inadmissible. More likely the information has come from one of the US co-conspirators who are or were part of the Trump campaign. The best guess is Roger Stone and/or Mike Flynn.
Here in the US, we refer to those technicalities as "felonies".
Anyone can be convicted if you financially drain them to where they either slip up or just say anything to make it go away.
With all the dark money floating around the GOP, you think any of these convicted felons were "drained"? No, the thing that shook them was the proposition of sitting in a jail cell, eating a baloney sandwich and crapping on a stainless steel toilet, like Paul Manafort is doing right this minute.
If I had the unlimited purse of the US Federal Government to prosecute you, you'd be convicted too.
Um, what you call the "unlimited purse of the US Federal Government" is actually the limited budget of the United States Department of Justice, which is part of the Trump Administration. So, unless you believe that a Republican President and a Republican Congress are going to throw the entire US Federal budget into prosecuting their own leader for something he didn't do, you should probably rethink that whole line of thought.
Actually, the number of mice is now over 30, and the mountain is a long way from done. And never forget what a single mouse can do to an elephant, especially a big, wet, orange elephant with bone spurs.
I'm sure Russia will be falling over themselves to round these guys up and turn them over to the U.S. We can hold a trial in absentia to help make us feel better, but these individuals will never see the inside of a courtroom unless they are paying a parking fine in Mother Russia.
The purpose of these new indictments is not to bring Russian intelligence operatives to justice. The purpose is to establish grounds for conspiracy charges against Americans. There's still a lot more to come from this investigation. Don't think for a second that this is some sort of conclusion. That mistake has been made every time new indictments are brought: "Is that all Mueller has?" is the cry from the Trump camp every time one of these new indictments is announced. You can tell from the unforced errors coming out of the Trump administration that the pressure is building.
Interesting. What makes the people in government so angelic and the people in private employ so demonic? They are both people, no?
No. Corporations are not people.
Anyway, it's not about "angelic" or "demonic", although your desire to frame economies in biblical terms makes me wonder if you're some kind of crazy. It's about what works. And there is not a single country that has succeeded by leaving their economy in the hands of the private sector. Ever. Not one. As in it has never happened in the history of the world.
So seriously, until you have some proof that it works besides a dog-eared copy of Ayn Rand you've been carrying around since junior year of high school, kindly take your mythical free market and go fuck yourself.
I hear that POTUS just appointed a coal advocate to head the EPA. I'm guessing that coal mines will get government subsidies now.
Absolutely not. The coal companies will get the same thing Trump has given everyone to whom he's made a promise: Jack and shit, and maybe not in that order. He only pays his bill when it's hush money to a porn star, and even then under protest.
Best leave private sector investing to private sector investors and concentrate on the actual functions of government like national defense, police, and the courts...
That approach hasn't worked in one single country in the world. Not one. It's been tried, but it failed.
The problem with leaving investing in the hands of the private sector is that the private sector would gladly throw a baby off a bridge for a dollar. That, and the fact that there are no such things as free markets. They do not exist in nature. They always fail.
Slashdot Mirror
And that my friend, is why California is most desirable state to live in, and we have a bigger population than any other state in the US. Because it's nice here.
It is socialism, and many Americans would love to see it happen here. And it will.
When we're at our best, we are.
That's not what socialism means. Not at all.
I use the dictionary definition:
Well, the income tax rate in Denmark is just over 60%, so it fits that definition, too.
Denmark. Denmark plays by those rules. More than 60% of income in Denmark goes to taxes. Last time I checked the definition of "most", 60 percent meets the definition.
Face it: The happiest countries in the world are the countries that have struck a balance between socialism and market economies.
You can gripe all you want, Anders Breivik, but the fact is that what you have is socialized medicine, socialized education, socialized welfare system, socialized retirement, and highly regulated corporations.
That's socialism, bro.
If you read that wiki entry, you will learn that there's nothing in there that is incompatible with a market economy.
In fact, to quote the Prime Minister of Denmark himself (from the same article): "The Nordic model is an expanded welfare state which provides a high level of security to its citizens, but it is also a successful market economy with much freedom to pursue your dreams and live your life as you wish."
Market economies and socialism are a perfectly compatible. In fact, you could say that one does not work without the other.
Not at all. It's even more enlightening when you include the entire quote and not just the part that supports your assertion.
See, the mistake you are making is thinking that socialism and market economies are mutually exclusive. In fact, they work best in combination with each other.
Denmark absolutely deserves to be on that list. It is a social democracy in the Nordic model. Denmark has a wide range of welfare benefits that they offer their citizens, from universal health care to free education and family leave.. As a result, they also have the highest taxes in the world. Equality is considered the most important value in Denmark. Small businesses thrive, with over 70 percent of companies having 50 employees or less.
When Denmark was named the happiest country in the world, there was an effort by right-wing jackoffs to try to paint Denmark as not really a social democracy. They are trying to bullshit you. It is listed as one of the most successful socialist countries in the world.
Five convictions so far. And counting. Not so incompetent.
If you really thought Mueller was incompetent, you wouldn't be so keen on seeing him fired and the investigation closed. Tick tock.
Fortunately for Apple, they're not the ones doing the R&D on the CPU.
Of course there is. It may not be the deciding factor, but the vote is taken nonetheless, and it is the best metric we have for what percentage of people wanted a certain person to be president. They are actual votes cast by individuals.
Three of those convictions address Russiagate and Trump directly.
From an investigation that took 6 years. The Trump/Russia investigation has been going on for about 16 months.
So, are you saying right here, right now, that the Whitewater investigations and all the subsequent investigations of Hillary Clinton were all "partisan bullshit crafted by opponents" of someone Republicans just didn't like? Is that your story now?
And yet, she got 3,000,000 more votes.
Except there are over 30 indictments and five guilty pleas and counting. Unlike the birthers, who had absolutely nothing, yet managed to get Obama elected twice for their troubles.
The US has invaded Mexico on several occasions, so I assume you don't have a problem with Mexicans immigrating here without documents. I mean, if you're going to be consistent.
You're completely wrong about the FBI "not having the server".
The DNC server was forensically imaged by incident response experts, those snapshots were cryptographically signed, cataloged, and turned over to the FBI. Copies reside at Quantico, Ft Meade, and the Bureau's DC office.
The FBI has the server. There is evidence. Look beneath the Fox News surface and learn these things for yourself.
How much does it cost to decommission an offshore oil rig? How much to clean up contaminated ground water near a fracking site? How much to decomission an old nuclear plant? How much to restore the land around a coal mine?
Nah, Stormy's just a sideshow. Don Jr and Ivanka get brought in and offered deals and then Trump ends up naked on the White House lawn in a thunderstorm going full King Lear before being gently led off personally by Robert Mueller in a yellow DOJ slicker. Trump's confused face is framed in the window of the black van as it's being driven to the federal lockup. DIssolve to a shot of a smiling Michael Cohen driving the van. Fade to black. Benny Mardones singing "Into the Night" plays over the credits. But stay through all the credits for a bonus scene of unwigged Trump negotiating with the cashier at the prison infirmary for a bag of zoom zoom and wham whams.
The real action is on the treason front. Count on it.
#StormysComing
#TrustTheProcess
#Qanal
#FollowTheBlackPresident
Nope, that would be inadmissible. More likely the information has come from one of the US co-conspirators who are or were part of the Trump campaign. The best guess is Roger Stone and/or Mike Flynn.
Here in the US, we refer to those technicalities as "felonies".
With all the dark money floating around the GOP, you think any of these convicted felons were "drained"? No, the thing that shook them was the proposition of sitting in a jail cell, eating a baloney sandwich and crapping on a stainless steel toilet, like Paul Manafort is doing right this minute.
Um, what you call the "unlimited purse of the US Federal Government" is actually the limited budget of the United States Department of Justice, which is part of the Trump Administration. So, unless you believe that a Republican President and a Republican Congress are going to throw the entire US Federal budget into prosecuting their own leader for something he didn't do, you should probably rethink that whole line of thought.
That "false pretense" has already led to five convictions.
Actually, the number of mice is now over 30, and the mountain is a long way from done. And never forget what a single mouse can do to an elephant, especially a big, wet, orange elephant with bone spurs.
The purpose of these new indictments is not to bring Russian intelligence operatives to justice. The purpose is to establish grounds for conspiracy charges against Americans. There's still a lot more to come from this investigation. Don't think for a second that this is some sort of conclusion. That mistake has been made every time new indictments are brought: "Is that all Mueller has?" is the cry from the Trump camp every time one of these new indictments is announced. You can tell from the unforced errors coming out of the Trump administration that the pressure is building.
No. Corporations are not people.
Anyway, it's not about "angelic" or "demonic", although your desire to frame economies in biblical terms makes me wonder if you're some kind of crazy. It's about what works. And there is not a single country that has succeeded by leaving their economy in the hands of the private sector. Ever. Not one. As in it has never happened in the history of the world.
So seriously, until you have some proof that it works besides a dog-eared copy of Ayn Rand you've been carrying around since junior year of high school, kindly take your mythical free market and go fuck yourself.
Absolutely not. The coal companies will get the same thing Trump has given everyone to whom he's made a promise: Jack and shit, and maybe not in that order. He only pays his bill when it's hush money to a porn star, and even then under protest.
That approach hasn't worked in one single country in the world. Not one. It's been tried, but it failed.
The problem with leaving investing in the hands of the private sector is that the private sector would gladly throw a baby off a bridge for a dollar. That, and the fact that there are no such things as free markets. They do not exist in nature. They always fail.
Oh yes, and they have the full support of the Russian government.
https://www.theguardian.com/ne...