Things That Just Have Me Scratching My Head Saying, "WTF"

[Gawain 0]

Two completely unrelated items...each maybe worth their own thread, but holy cow....

Oregon looks at taxing mileage instead of gasoline.

I used to live in Oregon, beautiful state. Great quality of life. Does anyone really think the state will end up removing the taxes on fuel thus installing a "mileage tax"??? How about removing the state income tax and placing a sales tax instead? Say it can't be done? Bigger states do so quite well: Florida, Tennessee, Texas and Washington to name a few.

What worries me most about this for Oregon, is that the precedent will be easy to start there, because the state legislature is bi-annual, and thus, politics doesn't command the agenda across the state. Therefore, the clowns in Salem can really slide crap like this in.

Next item...

Funny Business in Minnesota.

Al Franken...I mean...wow...

You know, I was born in Minnesota, and if I could change my birth certificate, I'd give it consideration. A man that can't manage his own personal taxes, you want to play a role in spending your taxes??!! I know little about Sen. Coleman, but you know what...

So I try and I scream and I beg and I sigh
Just to prove I'm alive, and it's alright
'Cause tonight there's a way I'll make light of my treacherous life
Make light!

[Butters 0]

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Funny Business in Minnesota.

Al Franken...I mean...wow...

You know, I was born in Minnesota, and if I could change my birth certificate, I'd give it consideration. A man that can't manage his own personal taxes, you want to play a role in spending your taxes??!! I know little about Sen. Coleman, but you know what...

We had to choose between bad and worse and it looks like we chose worse ... not surprising considering we chose Jesse Ventura before.

PS: Although it honestly isn't clear what we chose given the fiasco that is playing out.

"That looks dangerous." Leopold Stotch

[Andrewwhyte 1]

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Oregon looks at taxing mileage instead of gasoline.

I used to live in Oregon, beautiful state. Great quality of life. Does anyone really think the state will end up removing the taxes on fuel thus installing a "mileage tax"??? How about removing the state income tax and placing a sales tax instead? Say it can't be done? Bigger states do so quite well: Florida, Tennessee, Texas and Washington to name a few.

What worries me most about this for Oregon, is that the precedent will be easy to start there, because the state legislature is bi-annual, and thus, politics doesn't command the agenda across the state. Therefore, the clowns in Salem can really slide crap like this in.

If they can find a good way to implement it I think it is a great idea. Sadly I cannot think of a way to prevent fraud, or even keep it down. The GPS in every vehicle for Big Brother to peruse doesn't thrill me.
That aside what is wrong with taxing mileage? The correct way to do it would be to make it a function of weight and axles as well as tie it to emissions testing. In Vancouver the Air Care system already gives a nice readout on CO CO2 SO2 and VOx per km driven. It is currently on a pass fail system (variable standard so larger engines are allowed to produce more emissions), but a pay to play system would be much more economically efficient. Don't like your rate? Fix your car, buy a more efficient one, or drive it less, your call. What it does is treat the atmosphere as consumable commodity that is not subject to the tragedy of the commons. This system also treats the roadways the same.
The next step would be to sell insurance by the km. The truth is if you take the train to work one day a week you have a reduced chance of a traffic accident; your insurance company currently cannot capture that savings. Every time you get in your car it is a consumption decision. What this does is internalize some of the current externalities in your decision.
As a conservative Max I think the more you really think about this, the more you will like it. It turns two public resources, the road and the air, into user (or despoiler) pay.

[billvon 3,110]

>A man that can't manage his own personal taxes, you want to play a
>role in spending your taxes?

Their choice. Heck, if Jesse Ventura, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Ronald Reagan can get elected . . . .

[Andy9o8 2]

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How about removing the state income tax and placing a sales tax instead? Say it can't be done? Bigger states do so quite well: Florida, Tennessee, Texas and Washington to name a few.

I don't think the public schools in Florida, Tennessee, or Texas are much to write home about. Correlation?

[ryoder 1,590]

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>A man that can't manage his own personal taxes, you want to play a
>role in spending your taxes?

Their choice. Heck, if Jesse Ventura, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Ronald Reagan can get elected . . . .

And who could forget Sonny Bono?
The jackass who paved the way for copyright infringement, (a civil matter), to become a criminal offense.

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[mnealtx 0]

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I don't think the public schools in Florida, Tennessee, or Texas are much to write home about. Correlation?

Schools are funded by property taxes, not income taxes. Funny how you leave the northern / western states with no income tax out of your post.

Did you have a point, or was this just another one of the usual "stupid rednecks" comment genre?

Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706

[Amazon 7]

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Their choice. Heck, if Jesse Ventura, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Ronald Reagan can get elected . . . .

Or Sonny Bono... and lets not forget Gopher from the Love Boat

[Ron 10]

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I don't think the public schools in Florida, Tennessee, or Texas are much to write home about. Correlation?

Doubtful.

CA has an income tax, yet compared to say TX (numbers for 2007) CA does terrible. CA also falls below FL which does not have a State income tax. OR does win this little 'battle', but the correlation between State incomes taxes and school performance does not seem to prove positive.

Per-pupil expenditures however, does seem to show correlation.

8th grade math (280 national avg (NA)):
TX: 286
OR: 284
CA: 270
FL: 277

8th grade reading (261 NA):
OR: 266
TX: 261
FL: 260
CA: 251

8th grade science (2005 numbers is all I have, 147 NA) :
OR: 153
TX: 143
FL: 141
CA: 136

8th grade writing (154 NA):
FL: 158
OR: 155
TX: 151
CA: 148

Pupil to teacher ratio:
CA: 20.8
TX: 15.0
FL: 16.8
OR: 19.5

Per-pupil expenditures:
CA: $8,295
TX: $7,684
FL: $7,917
OR: $8,643

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

[kelpdiver 2]

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CA has an income tax, yet compared to say TX (numbers for 2007) CA does terrible. CA also falls below FL which does not have a State income tax. OR does win this little 'battle', but the correlation between State incomes taxes and school performance does not seem to prove positive.

CA has a much more significant minority (non english speaking) problem then most. Texas, of course, has some of it, but most will be Spanish speaking. SoCal has far more languages to deal with, and this shows up in the results.

[Ron 10]

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CA has a much more significant minority (non english speaking) problem then most.

CA and TX have almost the exact same breakdown with exception to Blacks and Asians.

CA: Racial/Ethnic Background
White: 31.0%
Black: 8.0%
Hispanic: 48.5%
Asian/Pacific Islander: 11.7%
American Indian/Alaskan Native: 0.8%

TX: Racial/Ethnic Background
White: 36.5%
Black: 14.7%
Hispanic: 45.3%
Asian/Pacific Islander: 3.1%
American Indian/Alaskan Native: 0.3%

48.5 and 45.3 should not be statistically significant. OR has less Hispanics and ranks higher (15.9), but Florida has less than both TX and CA (23.9) and ranks lower.

So your supposition, does not seem to be supported.

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

[nerdgirl 0]

Is this an invitation to make a list of things that qualify for inclusion under the thread subject?

Mundane: if you are not driving the speed limit and there is a line of cars greater than 5 behind you, please move toward the right.

The IT guy in my office who seems to think that the IT dept exists for some reason other than to facilitiate execution of the mission of the office (which is not IT). He also has hoarded a closet full of computer and other IT equipment that a colleague & I discovered today.

People that use "theory" when they mean hypothesis or guess, or even "WAG."

Hmmm .... I think this could be a long list ...

/Marg

Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters.
Tibetan Buddhist saying

[Andrewwhyte 1]

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Mundane: Whether if you are not driving the speed limit or not, and there is a line of cars greater than 5 behind you, please move toward the right.

Fixed it for you.

[kelpdiver 2]

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CA has a much more significant minority (non english speaking) problem then most.

CA and TX have almost the exact same breakdown with exception to Blacks and Asians.

I addressed that, Ron.

You might be surprised to learn that Asians speak more than one language. Whereas the number of portugese speakers among the Hispanics is rather low.

[Gawain 0]

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Mundane: Whether if you are not driving the speed limit or not, and there is a line of cars greater than 5 behind you, please move toward the right.

Fixed it for you.

Good fix...

So I try and I scream and I beg and I sigh
Just to prove I'm alive, and it's alright
'Cause tonight there's a way I'll make light of my treacherous life
Make light!

[airdvr 210]

Welcome to the United States of Amerika.

WHat you are about to witness is taxation and government invovlement in your everyday lives on a new level never before seen.

We'll even have a Cow Tax which has nothing to do with greenhouse gases. We'll have welfare checks disguised as tax cuts (I know he's not the first to do this one), and we'll have congressional leadership that bends the rules to suit their needs.

The government is about to get so far up our asses they'll need a bellybutton window.

Please don't dent the planet.

Destinations by Roxanne

[Andy9o8 2]

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We'll have welfare checks disguised as tax cuts

...And now we see the FoxNews talking point for how to refer to any tax cut by a Democrat. Yawn.

[airdvr 210]

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We'll have welfare checks disguised as tax cuts

...And now we see the FoxNews talking point for how to refer to any tax cut by a Democrat. Yawn.

Ahh, but there's the rub isn't it? Barack will get everything he wants in the first 180 days. On January 21 we'll start seeing stories about how things are getting better. A true tax cut would mean the government getting out of the way and letting businesses and individuals do their thing. That's not what this is. It's more government regulation disguised as a tax cut.

From IBD Outcome Tax Cuts
But cash from Washington for people who don't pay income taxes, and for businesses that don't work, is not tax-cutting. Instead, it's exactly what Obama the candidate promised Joe the Plumber: wealth redistribution.

Please don't dent the planet.

Destinations by Roxanne

[Andy9o8 2]

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A true tax cut would mean the government getting out of the way and letting businesses and individuals do their thing. That's not what this is. It's more government regulation disguised as a tax cut.

Tax cuts are not a universal panacea, just as govt regulation is not a universal evil. It can reasonably be argued that a lot of the current financial crisis stems from under-regulation of the financial industry. (That, and Lodi and Kansas State U. undercutting the world with cheap jumps. Bastards.)

[Gawain 0]

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A true tax cut would mean the government getting out of the way and letting businesses and individuals do their thing. That's not what this is. It's more government regulation disguised as a tax cut.

Tax cuts are not a universal panacea, just as govt regulation is not a universal evil. It can reasonably be argued that a lot of the current financial crisis stems from under-regulation of the financial industry. (That, and Lodi and Kansas State U. undercutting the world with cheap jumps. Bastards.)

I disagree, there are plenty of banking regulations. Those regulations were side-stepped to a willing blind eye. No banker actually thinks NINJa loans (ala Indy Mac) are a good thing. The SEC was given red-flags over Madoff for years...

So I try and I scream and I beg and I sigh
Just to prove I'm alive, and it's alright
'Cause tonight there's a way I'll make light of my treacherous life
Make light!

[Ron 10]

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...And now we see the FoxNews talking point for how to refer to any tax cut by a Democrat. Yawn.

You don't find it funny that when Bush gave "rebates" the dems called it stupid. Yet when Obama suggested "rebates" they thought it was a great idea?

An idea is either good or bad on its own merits. When you consider good or bad based only on the source....You have a problem.

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

[billvon 3,110]

>I disagree, there are plenty of banking regulations.

There are indeed. However, I would argue that the elimination of oversight and reporting requirements on CDSes led directly to the CDS scandal and the collapse of that market - which was one of the early triggers of the recession.

[StreetScooby 5]

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(That, and Lodi and Kansas State U. undercutting the world with cheap jumps. Bastards.)

Clearly, Bill Dause is not in need of a bailout.

We are all engines of karma

[StreetScooby 5]

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However, I would argue that the elimination of oversight and reporting requirements on CDSes led directly to the CDS scandal and the collapse of that market - which was one of the early triggers of the recession.

What CDS scandal? That market is still functioning. Just because AIG's models didn't consider a reduction in their credit rating doesn't make the CDS market scandalous.

We are all engines of karma

[kelpdiver 2]

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Barack will get everything he wants in the first 180 days.

Clinton didn't, and the state of the economy wasn't great then either. I expect a rather stubborn GOP in Congress, stopping as much as they can. It's 22 months till the next election.