Check the percent of the population working for the Government. Those Nordic Model countries have a massive number (25% to 38%). The most important subgroup to pander to would be, in fact, Government workers. So increase taxes on all so you can continue employment/hire more at the Government level.
The US has socialized medicine (Medicare, Medicaid, and ~45% of all healthcare spending is by the Federal Government), socialized education (free K-12 throughout the US, and highly subsidized/free universities/colleges in many places), socialized welfare (SNAP, Welfare, etc) socialized retirement (Social Security) and highly regulated corporations (SEC, FDA, EPA, IRS, etc). I guess we're socialist, too, comrade!
So everyone owns the grocery store, but most people don't get a decision about how it's run? That sounds a bit like another political ideology that was opposed in the 1930s and 1940s...
You know, you are welcome to send in more than your minimum required taxes. You can overpay your taxes and donate, if you'd like to set an example of 60% tax rate being good and wholesome...
Communal ownership of some basic resources (infrastructure, for instance) is baked into western democratic practice. That's the case because it makes sense that those resources be held in common.
For some things - such as utilities and public parks, I agree it makes sense. HOWEVER, too often people want communal ownership AND communal control over those resources - and that breaks down quickly. Direct democratic operation really doesn't scale well at all; could you imagine having hundreds of thousands of people voting monthly on decisions made by your local utility? Best to think of it as a corporate model - the corporation (utility/park) is owned by the people (the shareholders) who empower control over the corporation to a small group. And review the performance of the group every few years. In other words - a republic model of control, rather than a democratic (mob rule) method.
The IMF makes a guess at what it "could" cost - and of course completely ignores the benefits of fossil fuels for things like air ambulances, transport of humanitarian supplies, economic growth, etc. Looking at actual REAL subsidies, we see it's three orders of magnitude lower - and "renewables" are double that of fossil fuels.
Ballard hasn't been Norwegian since the last shop selling lutefisk closed, and syttende Mai parades stopped hosting members of the Norwegian royal family. I grew up in Ballard, my next door neighbor Ron Olsen, used to record the Scandinavian Hour in his basement - and messing around with all that vintage 60s and 70s radio/audio gear is what got me into electronics back then...
In your judgement, is Tim Cook is worth the same as 400 Apple Genius in terms of contribution to the company and wealth creation?
Yes. That "Genius" can be replaced by literally tens of thousands of IT people here at/. alone, let alone across the US. Tim Cook has shown an extraordinary talent for supply chain management and operations and his decisions directly affect 100,000 people. Paying him 400 times what the "hipster Geek Squad" member makes is quite understandable.
We actually import very little oil from the Persian Gulf. Most of that oil we're protecting goes to our allies in the EU, or to Asia. I guess we should charge our allies for the protection we offer for their energy supplies...
Just history. They lose money on every car they sell - the fabled "gross margin" doesn't include the SG&A costs which are needed to support those sales. Including just the raw COGM in the calculation is a bit misleading; you have to include at least SG&A to realize the actual cost of selling a product. And if you do that - Tesla already loses money. Before R&D, before loan interest, etc.
So Tesla is slashing R&D, or SG&A? That's the only way they make a profit. We'll see if Q2 2018 continues the trend of the last several years - billions in losses whilst Teslerati crow about "gross margin" (which actually means nothing - it's net profit that matters at the end of the day).
If only a person could buy a Tesla model 3 for $35,000... At this point, Tesla's are just "feel good" rich boy toys for assuaging feelings of guilt for their success.
Sure, there are LOTS of reasons why someone may be homeless - and there are LOTS of ways out of it, including starting to work at Dick's. GP stated there are not enough jobs - but I've shown there are jobs that take NO special skills, pay a decent wage, include full benefits. But that would mean someone would have to WORK and we can't have that, forcing people to actually do something they may not want to do. Better to leave them on the streets and rave against Amazon, Boeing, Microsoft, Costco, and all the other companies that built the Puget Sound economy.
About 40 to 60% of homeless work sometimes but do not hold a regular job. I would surmise it's not because they are physically unable to hold a job, but a strong chance that addiction or simple lack of motivation interferes. That would slash homelessness in half right there.
HINT: Ratepayers (consumers) pay for ALL taxes and and mandated trust funds. Businesses never pay - they collect from consumers on behalf of the Governments.
Dick's is ALWAYS hiring... Just swing by one of their stores and fill out an application. They pay well ($16/hour to start), offer full medical, tuition reimbursement, childcare assistance, and time off for volunteer work. Yeah, you'll work your butt off (they don't tolerate slackers), but it's a step up the ladder.
No, but I can tell you there is a $64 billion retirement/decommissioning/waste storage fund that was paid for by the nuclear power plant owners, even though all those costs combined are expected to be less than $46 billion. Do you know of a similar over-funded "retirement account" for wind turbines?
Not to mention the bank doesn't lose, because it was probably a Federally-backed loan in the first place so they still get their money. It's just tax money to be spread around, after all...
Slashdot Mirror
According to this website, $56,000 would put you in the top 0.9% worldwide...
Check the percent of the population working for the Government. Those Nordic Model countries have a massive number (25% to 38%). The most important subgroup to pander to would be, in fact, Government workers. So increase taxes on all so you can continue employment/hire more at the Government level.
Seven out of ten dollars spent by the Federal Government goes to non-defense, non-corporate, non-religious spending.
The US has socialized medicine (Medicare, Medicaid, and ~45% of all healthcare spending is by the Federal Government), socialized education (free K-12 throughout the US, and highly subsidized/free universities/colleges in many places), socialized welfare (SNAP, Welfare, etc) socialized retirement (Social Security) and highly regulated corporations (SEC, FDA, EPA, IRS, etc). I guess we're socialist, too, comrade!
So everyone owns the grocery store, but most people don't get a decision about how it's run? That sounds a bit like another political ideology that was opposed in the 1930s and 1940s...
You know, you are welcome to send in more than your minimum required taxes. You can overpay your taxes and donate, if you'd like to set an example of 60% tax rate being good and wholesome...
Communal ownership of some basic resources (infrastructure, for instance) is baked into western democratic practice. That's the case because it makes sense that those resources be held in common.
For some things - such as utilities and public parks, I agree it makes sense. HOWEVER, too often people want communal ownership AND communal control over those resources - and that breaks down quickly. Direct democratic operation really doesn't scale well at all; could you imagine having hundreds of thousands of people voting monthly on decisions made by your local utility? Best to think of it as a corporate model - the corporation (utility/park) is owned by the people (the shareholders) who empower control over the corporation to a small group. And review the performance of the group every few years. In other words - a republic model of control, rather than a democratic (mob rule) method.
Air transport does not benefit society in any way? Refrigerated transport does not benefit society in any way?
A million deaths. He paid, but unfortunately just once.
The IMF makes a guess at what it "could" cost - and of course completely ignores the benefits of fossil fuels for things like air ambulances, transport of humanitarian supplies, economic growth, etc. Looking at actual REAL subsidies, we see it's three orders of magnitude lower - and "renewables" are double that of fossil fuels.
Ballard hasn't been Norwegian since the last shop selling lutefisk closed, and syttende Mai parades stopped hosting members of the Norwegian royal family. I grew up in Ballard, my next door neighbor Ron Olsen, used to record the Scandinavian Hour in his basement - and messing around with all that vintage 60s and 70s radio/audio gear is what got me into electronics back then...
In your judgement, is Tim Cook is worth the same as 400 Apple Genius in terms of contribution to the company and wealth creation?
Yes. That "Genius" can be replaced by literally tens of thousands of IT people here at /. alone, let alone across the US. Tim Cook has shown an extraordinary talent for supply chain management and operations and his decisions directly affect 100,000 people. Paying him 400 times what the "hipster Geek Squad" member makes is quite understandable.
We actually import very little oil from the Persian Gulf. Most of that oil we're protecting goes to our allies in the EU, or to Asia. I guess we should charge our allies for the protection we offer for their energy supplies...
That $5.3 trillion number is a fraud, cooked up to make it look bad. Actual subsidies are around $373 billion, and renewables are about double fossil fuels.
Just history. They lose money on every car they sell - the fabled "gross margin" doesn't include the SG&A costs which are needed to support those sales. Including just the raw COGM in the calculation is a bit misleading; you have to include at least SG&A to realize the actual cost of selling a product. And if you do that - Tesla already loses money. Before R&D, before loan interest, etc.
So Tesla is slashing R&D, or SG&A? That's the only way they make a profit. We'll see if Q2 2018 continues the trend of the last several years - billions in losses whilst Teslerati crow about "gross margin" (which actually means nothing - it's net profit that matters at the end of the day).
If only a person could buy a Tesla model 3 for $35,000... At this point, Tesla's are just "feel good" rich boy toys for assuaging feelings of guilt for their success.
According to the BBC, this can be attributed to the country's rapid economic growth, thanks largely to their huge oil and gas sectors
So we're to celebrate the fact that Norwegian millennials are rich because they are Raping Mother Earth?
Sure, there are LOTS of reasons why someone may be homeless - and there are LOTS of ways out of it, including starting to work at Dick's. GP stated there are not enough jobs - but I've shown there are jobs that take NO special skills, pay a decent wage, include full benefits. But that would mean someone would have to WORK and we can't have that, forcing people to actually do something they may not want to do. Better to leave them on the streets and rave against Amazon, Boeing, Microsoft, Costco, and all the other companies that built the Puget Sound economy.
About 40 to 60% of homeless work sometimes but do not hold a regular job. I would surmise it's not because they are physically unable to hold a job, but a strong chance that addiction or simple lack of motivation interferes. That would slash homelessness in half right there.
Who cares if you're running 32+ GB of RAM. Sucks if you're stuck on that modern new Macbook that caps out at 16 GB...
HINT: Ratepayers (consumers) pay for ALL taxes and and mandated trust funds. Businesses never pay - they collect from consumers on behalf of the Governments.
Dick's is ALWAYS hiring... Just swing by one of their stores and fill out an application. They pay well ($16/hour to start), offer full medical, tuition reimbursement, childcare assistance, and time off for volunteer work. Yeah, you'll work your butt off (they don't tolerate slackers), but it's a step up the ladder.
No, but I can tell you there is a $64 billion retirement/decommissioning/waste storage fund that was paid for by the nuclear power plant owners, even though all those costs combined are expected to be less than $46 billion. Do you know of a similar over-funded "retirement account" for wind turbines?
Not to mention the bank doesn't lose, because it was probably a Federally-backed loan in the first place so they still get their money. It's just tax money to be spread around, after all...