Seriously? The minimum wage is a terrible idea. The workers it makes better off, are better at the expense of the ones who are no unemployed. It's basic economics.
@Citizen Vande Brake: Yeah, I thought about pointing out the parts I liked the most and felt were the most pertinent to the conversation, but was feeling lazy:
"Even with near-record unemployment, the DOC reported in November of 2010 that U.S. companies just had their best quarter ever.
Repeat: THEIR BEST QUARTER EVER! Businesses recorded profits at an annual rate of $1.66 trillion in the third quarter of 2010, which is the highest rate (in non-inflation-adjusted figures) since the government began keeping records more than 60 years ago.
The take-away from this astonishing statistic is obvious. All that talk about the recession having crippled the American business community was either an extravagant hoax or a wild exaggeration. In either case, it resulted in us witnessing the middle and lower-income class being victimized. The middle-class dwindled, the number of poor sky-rocketed, and the number of wealthy rose significantly."
Anyway, I just don't understand how the tax increases on half-millionaires or whatever it was, alongside increased taxes on the rest of the population constitutes "punishing the rich" is all.
No Gods, No Masters!
Vive le Galt!
But, yeah, it's pretty crazy the way they've got this whole thing rigged and then have people convinced that Obama and the Democrats are doing anything other than serving the interests of the plutocracy.
"Even with near-record unemployment, the DOC reported in November of 2010 that U.S. companies just had their best quarter ever.
Repeat: THEIR BEST QUARTER EVER! Businesses recorded profits at an annual rate of $1.66 trillion in the third quarter of 2010, which is the highest rate (in non-inflation-adjusted figures) since the government began keeping records more than 60 years ago.
First off, listing figures (that you even said were not adjusted for inflation) says nothing. I'd expect it to go up as the economy grows. A big number out of context is just data. What companies? Were these banking institutions, or companies in general? Minimum wage employers? What was the net profit margin of these companies? What percentage went to Cost of Goods Sold and S&GA expenses? How many shares do they have outstanding, or are they private? If they are public, what percentage of shares are owned by the rich and what are held in the 401ks of the middle class?
Except that there's pretty good evidence that higher minimum wages tend to boost the economy in general and thus not cause the kind of job losses that conservatives and bosses always predict whenever talk of minimum wage increases comes up.
I'd be interested in this evidence. And contrary to popular belief, more spending does not mean a better economy.
First off, listing figures (that you even said were not adjusted for inflation) says nothing. I'd expect it to go up as the economy grows. A big number out of context is just data. What companies? Were these banking institutions, or companies in general? Minimum wage employers? What was the net profit margin of these companies? What percentage went to Cost of Goods Sold and S&GA expenses? How many shares do they have outstanding, or are they private? If they are public, what percentage of shares are owned by the rich and what are held in the 401ks of the middle class?"Even with near-record unemployment, the DOC reported in November of 2010 that U.S. companies just had their best quarter ever.
Repeat: THEIR BEST QUARTER EVER! Businesses recorded profits at an annual rate of $1.66 trillion in the third quarter of 2010, which is the highest rate (in non-inflation-adjusted figures) since the government began keeping records more than 60 years ago.
Couldn't say. More info to be found here
Bank bailouts being wrong aside obama has made a central platform out of tax the rich "fair share" class warfare.
I want you to really compare this for me financially.
What exactly is a rich person going to miss out on, versus a poor person who can't afford health care or food? Break down for me why I should feel bad that some guy has to scale back the options on his S-class, versus taking food out of children's mouths and healthcare for the elderly and disabled.
Anyway, I just don't understand how the tax increases on half-millionaires or whatever it was, alongside increased taxes on the rest of the population constitutes "punishing the rich" is all.The poor rich are already working so hard creating jobs for the rest of us out of the pure goodness of their hearts that insulting them by taking a few more of the precious dollars that haven't already been taxed away hurts them so badly. We're like ungrateful children, snapping at the hand that feeds us.
(I have no idea where that metaphor went wrong. It got away from me somewhere in the middle. Try this:)
The rich are like angry gods. Only the continuous sacrifice of more and more tax cuts will cause them to use their magical job creating powers to save us.
Tax cuts are least of what we deserve, you Commies!
Taldor will rise again!
There is a pretty large volume of work on tax competition (states using tax rates to attract residents / business) out there.
There are problems with his model, but Tiebout is a good place to start:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiebout_modelThere is also a heavily cited survey type article available here: (let me know if the pdf works - I'm at a university so I can download it no problems, but it might not work off campus).
http://socserv.mcmaster.ca/cuffk/wilson.pdf
Yeah, this and favorable laws regarding liability is why so many corporations are housed in Delaware.
Robert, you seem to know your stuff, so I'm a bit curious... given that the Constitution says that people are citizens of the US *and* of the state in which they reside, is it possible to renounce US citizenship but NOT state citizenship?You're not a citizen of your state. State citzenships went the way of the dodo when the Articles of Confederacy were replaced by the Constitution. You're a citizen of the country. You may be a part time or full time resident of it though, and that counts for electoral and taxation purposes.
And for filing of lawsuits including child custody and divorce, as well as for very limited protection from extradition to another state to answer for crimes in another state. State citizenship matters, just not as much as it used to.