jcd11235

Fair enough. Where I'm from, family owned farms are rarely so large. Math tutoring available. Only $6! per hour! First lesson: Factorials!

That's the difference between a defined benefit plan and a defined contribution plan. Social security is a defined benefit plan. You cannot outlive your benefits like is possible with a defined contribution plan. Why do you think the trend with employers has been to shift from pensions to 401K plans? It shifts all of the risk from the employer to the employee. It allows employers to pay a smaller benefit that appears bigger to employees because they have an account with a balance that they can observe. Since social security is an insurance plan, and not a retirement plan, it would be a very bad idea to set it up as a defined contribution plan. Math tutoring available. Only $6! per hour! First lesson: Factorials!

It's an insurance, not a retirement plan. You'll find very few, if any, life annuities that have averaged 7% return on investment since inception. That's what Social Security has averaged. Math tutoring available. Only $6! per hour! First lesson: Factorials!

I would be inclined to agree, except for the fact that the inheritance has to be multi-million dollar valued before it is subject to the estate tax. It simply doesn't affect most folks. Math tutoring available. Only $6! per hour! First lesson: Factorials!

I realize correlation does not prove causation, but … Math tutoring available. Only $6! per hour! First lesson: Factorials!

To throw out a hypothesis or two, it might be that ~71% have learned to not go to the DMV on the last day or two of the month. Or, perhaps, some states have implemented "expires on your birthday" policies for licenses and tags to better distribute the arrivals of those who do put renewals off until the last minute. Also, some states have increased the duration of vehicle tags and licenses, resulting in a reduction of the number of people in need of service at the DMV at any given time. Math tutoring available. Only $6! per hour! First lesson: Factorials!

Do you understand what exponentially means, or are you just trying to make your post sound more sensationalist? Math tutoring available. Only $6! per hour! First lesson: Factorials!

Wealthier families are also more likely to benefit more from everyone having access to education, as it reduces the cost of an educated labor force. True, but that doesn't give the poorer neighborhoods more benefit, it just means that the cost of providing benefit is a function of more than just the area of coverage. Who is more likely to be able to get an appointment to have lunch with the President (or the governor, mayor, etc.), Warren Buffett or the guy working two full-time jobs and still barely scraping by at poverty level? When one considers who benefits most and least by free trade agreements that have effectively encouraged moving jobs out of the country, contributing to the widening gap between the income of the richest and poorest of our country, we can see that the additional influence of the rich on government can actually provide negative benefit to the poor. I don't think they do get more than their share, generally speaking. One could argue that some people pay no income tax, so any benefit is more than their share. However, that occurs at both ends of the spectrum, with corporations utilizing loopholes in the tax code to keep their profits from being recognized as such by the IRS, sometimes to the extent that the shareholders can avoid taxes on the income. Math tutoring available. Only $6! per hour! First lesson: Factorials!

I would hate to see the state of solar energy today had the government not provided incentives in that industry in previous decades. Especially in the US, the private sector tends to be short-sighted. They seem to think of the next 5-10 years as long term w/r/t a return on their investment. Long term should be thought of as 50-100 years or longer. Until the private sector learns to do so, it will be necessary for the government to fund research that incurs short-term costs and provides long term benefits. Math tutoring available. Only $6! per hour! First lesson: Factorials!

One could argue the other way, as well. For example, schools in wealthier areas tend to have better facilities and resources available for students than schools in poorer areas. Wealthier neighborhoods tend to receive superior police protection than poorer neighborhoods. Compared to a poor person, a rich person is more likely to have access to lawmakers and government administrators, which offers more opportunity to influence their decision making. Defense spending, in theory, provides asset protection for the nation's citizens. The rich own a far greater proportion of the nation's assets than the poor, thus receive a much greater benefit from such government spending. More generally, the government's protection of property rights benefits richer citizens more than poorer citizens, as the richer citizens have more property. Tax credits (as opposed to deductions) essentially turn goods and services purchased by individuals into government benefits. Deductable credits benefit the rich and poor equally. Non-deductable credits benefit wealthier taxpayers more than poorer taxpayers. Likewise, partial tax credits (e.g. 50% tax credits) offer government benefit only to those who have financial ability to cover the other 50% themselves, an ability that increases with income. I recognize that poor people do have access to some need based government services and benefits that rich people must pay for on their own. I suspect, if one analyzed the relative value of government services received by the rich compared to the poor, the rich would come out ahead. Keep in mind, I'm referring to the value of benefits, not merely the cost. Math tutoring available. Only $6! per hour! First lesson: Factorials!

I can't say that I would consider B&O to be a fair tax structure. Two businesses could produce the same net income, but one could have four times as much gross revenue, meaning they are effectively taxed at four times the rate (assuming the state taxes both at the same B&O rate). Math tutoring available. Only $6! per hour! First lesson: Factorials!

To be fair, other reasons for this include the farm/ranch being left to multiple kids, who sell it off to divide the inheritance, and also kids selling off inherited farms/ranches because they don't want all of the work and responsibility associated with owning the farm/ranch. If it were only due to the taxes, we would more likely see the farms being downsized, kids selling just enough land to cover the tax and keeping the rest. IIRC, there is a rather large amount that can be inherited before the inheritance tax kicks in, which effectively eliminates the tax for most inheritances. Math tutoring available. Only $6! per hour! First lesson: Factorials!

Coffee is like a blowjob. Even when it's bad, it's still pretty good. Math tutoring available. Only $6! per hour! First lesson: Factorials!

I was merely trying to follow the flow of your posts and answer your question. Um, no - you tried to throw a couple of red herrings. Nice try. Now, back to the socialized medicine thread... Don't blame me if your question was incoherent. Accept some personal responsibility for yourself. Aren't you suppose to be big on that? Math tutoring available. Only $6! per hour! First lesson: Factorials!

I was merely trying to follow the flow of your posts and answer your question. Math tutoring available. Only $6! per hour! First lesson: Factorials!

Alright, but just one: You weren't the older friend. Math tutoring available. Only $6! per hour! First lesson: Factorials!

What do either of those have to do with getting out of Iraq? That was one of the major planks in the Dem congressional elections in 06, was it not? I'm not sure what you're asking? Elections don't generally have planks. Campaign platforms have planks, metaphorically speaking. Are you asking if one of the major planks of the Democratic platform for the 2006 Congressional election campaigns was that Congress has the authority to declare war? If that's the question, the answer is no. That authority is given to Congress by Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution of the uSA. Math tutoring available. Only $6! per hour! First lesson: Factorials!

What do either of those have to do with getting out of Iraq? Math tutoring available. Only $6! per hour! First lesson: Factorials!

That would only serve to give foreign retailers a competitive advantage, since they would not be obligated to charge sales tax. Math tutoring available. Only $6! per hour! First lesson: Factorials!

You may recall from law school that the Commander in Chief is not a Congressperson, but the President. Math tutoring available. Only $6! per hour! First lesson: Factorials!

I'll assume you mean generally, since I never mentioned untrustworthy. The short answer is that anecdote != data. I was once in an auto accident in which not wearing a seatbelt saved my life. Is that evidence that seat belts cause unnecessary risk to motorists? Of course not. I have a friend that used to have a cat that loved to play fetch, without ever having been trained to do so. Does that mean that playing fetch is instinctive to cats? Of course not. Re: Muenkel's anecdotal experience, the only conclusion we can draw is that it is not true that his insurance company never pays for any treatments recommended by doctors for any of their customers. We can't conclude anything further. We have an anecdote, not data. Since such a claim was not made, disproving said claim is merely knocking down a straw man. Math tutoring available. Only $6! per hour! First lesson: Factorials!

Except, if it were government provided, voters would have the ability to make changes if necessary. That's nothing like "NO chance of changing." Like how we can vote and change our income taxes, right? Like we vote for Congressmen who have the power to change our income taxes. Math tutoring available. Only $6! per hour! First lesson: Factorials!

Way to go out of your way to make a PA. Math tutoring available. Only $6! per hour! First lesson: Factorials!

If you believe that, you better go back and read what I've claimed. Math tutoring available. Only $6! per hour! First lesson: Factorials!

Except, if it were government provided, voters would have the ability to make changes if necessary. That's nothing like "NO chance of changing." Math tutoring available. Only $6! per hour! First lesson: Factorials!