Guy, then you disagree with the concept of diminishing marginal utility. That will get you a failing grade in all micro economics courses.

I'll remind you that Deleware has an income tax rate of around 4%. Seems odd that Texas Parade around a premise that income tax is bad sales tax is good.

Please note that the 4% is the starting point for the Deleware income tax make more pay a little more etc. The wonderfully sneaky fact is that tax paid is deductable straight off the top of your federal income. So in essense you aren't getting taxed on the tax.

You can itemize your sales tax and if it hits critical mass you can send in a 1040. Good luck getting the average person to keep every receipt through the year in an attempt to deduct it. Again, simplicity and ease of use go hand in hand with the Income tax. Frankly, I get tired of Ignorant Texans bragging that they don't pay income tax. I also get tired of explaining how 4% is much lower than 6.25 or even 8.25%

Both the rich person and the poor person can buy the same thing with one dollar. If one person has fewer than the next person and wants more, then that person needs to do something about it other than to complain he doesn't have as many as the next person.

And there are too many gaps in logic with whatever you're trying to say about taxes and Delaware. I noticed you didn't mention anything about the local property taxes in Delaware. And I noticed you didn't mention anything about the standard formula available for use to estimate the amount of sales tax in Texas to deduct from your taxable income. I don't know what you're trying to say.

And as for ignorant Texans, I won't claim all Texans are smart, but I'll take an ignorant Texan over just about anybody else on the east coast or the west coast.

It seems your only argument is that people should get off their lazy low paid asses and get a better job. What you neglect to say is that there are only so many well paying jobs. There are however many more low paying jobs for people with little or no education, a criminal record or low IQ. Thats not to say we dont have a problem with low IQ at higher paying jobs.
You can make a one man stand that a dollar to a rich man is worth less than it is to a poor man. You'd also be surprised at how much more a low income person goes through to earn that dollar and his need for the most efficent use of that dollar. A rich man will buy what he wants because he knows he has plenty of cash to throw at his bills/troubles. A poor man must be frugal with every penny unless they want to be living without heat,lights or a roof over their head.

It saddens me to hear some incredibly self righteous claptrap about "just go make more money" argument. Some people just can't and that is that. Please stop insisting that they just need more money to solve their problem with not having more money. It's a silly circular argument.

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In a rich man's house there is no place to spit but his face.
Diogenes Of Sinope

Guy, then you disagree with the concept of diminishing marginal utility. That will get you a failing grade in all micro economics courses.

I'll remind you that Deleware has an income tax rate of around 4%. Seems odd that Texas Parade around a premise that income tax is bad sales tax is good.

Please note that the 4% is the starting point for the Deleware income tax make more pay a little more etc. The wonderfully sneaky fact is that tax paid is deductable straight off the top of your federal income. So in essense you aren't getting taxed on the tax.

You can itemize your sales tax and if it hits critical mass you can send in a 1040. Good luck getting the average person to keep every receipt through the year in an attempt to deduct it. Again, simplicity and ease of use go hand in hand with the Income tax. Frankly, I get tired of Ignorant Texans bragging that they don't pay income tax. I also get tired of explaining how 4% is much lower than 6.25 or even 8.25%

Both the rich person and the poor person can buy the same thing with one dollar. If one person has fewer than the next person and wants more, then that person needs to do something about it other than to complain he doesn't have as many as the next person.

And there are too many gaps in logic with whatever you're trying to say about taxes and Delaware. I noticed you didn't mention anything about the local property taxes in Delaware. And I noticed you didn't mention anything about the standard formula available for use to estimate the amount of sales tax in Texas to deduct from your taxable income. I don't know what you're trying to say.

And as for ignorant Texans, I won't claim all Texans are smart, but I'll take an ignorant Texan over just about anybody else on the east coast or the west coast.

It seems your only argument is that people should get off their lazy low paid asses and get a better job. What you neglect to say is that there are only so many well paying jobs. There are however many more low paying jobs for people with little or no education, a criminal record or low IQ. Thats not to say we dont have a problem with low IQ at higher paying jobs.
You can make a one man stand that a dollar to a rich man is worth less than it is to a poor man. You'd also be surprised at how much more a low income person goes through to earn that dollar and his need for the most efficent use of that dollar. A rich man will buy what he wants because he knows he has plenty of cash to throw at his bills/troubles. A poor man must be frugal with every penny unless they want to be living without heat,lights or a roof over their head.

It saddens me to hear some incredibly self righteous claptrap about "just go make more money" argument. Some people just can't and that is that. Please stop insisting that they just need more money to solve their problem with not having more money. It's a silly circular argument.

A MickieDees observation ...
At the outlet in the hood, you know it is in the hood because the menu prices are up $1, when the beggar works the room just about everyone gives him something.
At the outlet in the middle class area, prices on the board are $1 less, the beggar is lucky if he can get anyone to give him a dime.

Does this mean?
A) Middle class are greedy bastards
B) Poor are poor because they give it away
C) The middle class are struggling much worse than we know
D) Government programs make the poor rich
or
E) The poor have been there and remember what it means to not have enough money for a meal

---

Its our politicians who fisted us. They should be called to answer for it.

Thank Reagan.

No thank YOU democrat houses and senates since 1913.

Funny how the national debt was stable and fairly low until Reagan sold Congress and the US people the Supplyside/"trick"ledown lie. Reagan won by a landslide so he could do no wrong. We get it the Gipper can't be blamed for being irresponsible because congress wrote it. Yet it was all about him and because of him we owe and owe and owe. We've had 20 of the last 33 years dealing with the same failed policies. Can we agree that Tricklingdown and supply siding failed. Being that can we never ever try that again.

---

In a rich man's house there is no place to spit but his face.
Diogenes Of Sinope

Its our politicians who fisted us. They should be called to answer for it.

Thank Reagan.

No thank YOU democrat houses and senates since 1913.

Funny how the national debt was stable and fairly low until Reagan sold Congress and the US people the Supplyside/"trick"ledown lie. Reagan won by a landslide so he could do no wrong. We get it the Gipper can't be blamed for being irresponsible because congress wrote it. Yet it was all about him and because of him we owe and owe and owe. We've had 20 of the last 33 years dealing with the same failed policies. Can we agree that Tricklingdown and supply siding failed. Being that can we never ever try that again.

Another creative rewrite of history by Guy.

---

....why? what makes adults take the job?

Possibly necessity and survival ? If you are out of work, and nothing is available in your field. You take what you can get.

From the link

it's also part of a broader problem in that most of the job growth since the recession has been in low wage jobs.

I'm not 100% sure, but I believe the wage for a junior at McDonalds in Australia is around $12/hr. A "Happy Meal" costs $A4.99. how does this compare to the cost in the US ?

more bitching about symptoms

Yes, but you know as well as I do that nothing will ever be done to cure the disease. Congress just doesn't have the "cojones" to do what's required to fix it. Until the system finally falls in a heap it will be Bandaids, neglect and a "let them eat cake" attitude from the GOP/Tea party.

I agree with you that the answer is to get people off Social Security, but this can only be done by increasing wages. This would also reduce the infamous 47%.

T.A.

Its our politicians who fisted us. They should be called to answer for it.

Thank Reagan.

No thank YOU democrat houses and senates since 1913.

Funny how the national debt was stable and fairly low until Reagan sold Congress and the US people the Supplyside/"trick"ledown lie. Reagan won by a landslide so he could do no wrong. We get it the Gipper can't be blamed for being irresponsible because congress wrote it. Yet it was all about him and because of him we owe and owe and owe. We've had 20 of the last 33 years dealing with the same failed policies. Can we agree that Tricklingdown and supply siding failed. Being that can we never ever try that again.

Transitory blip ...
http://elsa.berkeley.edu/~saez/pikettyqje.pdf wrote:

Our long-term series place the TRA86 episode in a longer
term perspective. Feenberg and Poterba [1993, 2000], looking at
the top 0.5 percent income shares series ending in 1992 (respectively,
1995), argued that the surge after TRA86 appeared permanent.
However, completing the series up to 1998 shows that
the significant increase in the top marginal tax rate, from 31 to
39.6 percent, enacted in 1993 on did not prevent top shares from
increasing sharply.19 From that perspective, looking at Figures II
and III, the average increase in top shares from 1985 to 1994 is
not significant higher than the increase from 1994 to 1998 or
from 1978 to 1984. As a result, it is possible to argue that TRA86
produced no permanent surge in top income shares, but only a
transitory blip.

... if it was transitory blip on the income side, that would mirror taxes ergo congress must have a spending problem.

---

Another hard question:

Which is better for Main Street?
A) You buy a washing machine with a 1 year warranty that lasts 5 years.
B) You buy a washing machine with a 5 year warranty that lasts until your children get sick of looking at it.

Oh, and what is the price difference?


(A is obviously better for Wall Street.)

<ed>Didn't see an answer to my previous hard question: Is a Carbon Tax regressive?

---

but this can only be done by increasing wages. This would also reduce the infamous 47%.

It would be really easy to increase wages. All we have to do is increase prices.

As I said above. what is the price of a "Happy Meal" in the US.

Guy. You and I both know that the real answer is a two pronged solution. The government not only has to cut expenditure, it has to increase revenue.

If the US is like most other governments in the world it's two main costs are Social Security and Defence. I cannot see either of these being cut by too much as even the dumbest politician knows that hungry people tend to riot in the streets and the Defence conglomerate has too many lobbyists working for it.

The other prong, increasing revenue, i.e. increasing taxation, is also a no goer as it would be rigorously opposed as well. Every politician knows that increasing taxes is political suicide.

So therefore, as I said to Gary, nothing will be done until the system totally collapses. The US financial system is a house of cards, all it needs is the wrong person to sneeze, and then Thor help us all.

T.A.

1. Simplify the laws, rules and regulations so as many people understand them.

2. Stop rewarding failure with tax payer money.

Totally agree with #1

As far as #2 goes. Does that include industry and banks and all government subsidies ? If so, I agree with that too.

.....I seem to remember a #1 (big mac, fries and a coke) is just under $5 here in east Texas. Probably much more in NYC. Probably a few dimes cheaper in small town USA.

A #1 is what is known over here as a "Happy Meal". Funny how it sells for the same price, even though wages are higher over here. And Maccas Australia still makes a handsome profit.

T.A.

Later today I'll see if I remember to post what a #1 (big mac meal) runs in the barrio and the price of a happy meal (with kids toy) runs.

---

Gary, a carbon tax is something that gives the government more power and authority over its citizens. This is a good thing from the perspective of many in here. It is a regressive tax. This is a bad thing from the perspective of those same many in here.

Yes it is regressive. Extremely so. It is a tax on consumption of a necessity of life. Of course it isn't direct, so I suppose some ignore it and still advocate it, while railing against other regressive taxes.

Looks like we're both trying to instigate some long-term thinking in here. I commend you for that. Sometimes I feel I'm beating a dead horse. I feel compelled to keep trying for some reason though.

Not just long term thinking, but a realization that a lot of what is being thrown out has been tried before and it didn't work. The sole exception seems to be the 40% corporate tax rate with the 80% personal income tax rate. I suppose that is because those rates were high enough to be on the other side of the Laffer curve.

The lesson to take it that tax policy changes in general do not work long term. Money is smart enough to simply find a different loophole to use. Short term it has to look for it and then it takes a couple years to shift around to exploit it. Long term however tax changes are blips.

Unfortunately this view doesn't go well with political slogans and the blame game. Technical changes just happen, no one is at fault. It is much harder to get pissed at Fedex existing and being able to ship that widget from a third world factory for less than the price difference of labor between the third world and the USA. Of course Fedex creates a lot of nice near minimum wage jobs delivering those widgets.

---

Guy, then you disagree with the concept of diminishing marginal utility. That will get you a failing grade in all micro economics courses.

I'll remind you that Deleware has an income tax rate of around 4%. Seems odd that Texas Parade around a premise that income tax is bad sales tax is good.

Please note that the 4% is the starting point for the Deleware income tax make more pay a little more etc. The wonderfully sneaky fact is that tax paid is deductable straight off the top of your federal income. So in essense you aren't getting taxed on the tax.

You can itemize your sales tax and if it hits critical mass you can send in a 1040. Good luck getting the average person to keep every receipt through the year in an attempt to deduct it. Again, simplicity and ease of use go hand in hand with the Income tax. Frankly, I get tired of Ignorant Texans bragging that they don't pay income tax. I also get tired of explaining how 4% is much lower than 6.25 or even 8.25%

Both the rich person and the poor person can buy the same thing with one dollar. If one person has fewer than the next person and wants more, then that person needs to do something about it other than to complain he doesn't have as many as the next person.

And there are too many gaps in logic with whatever you're trying to say about taxes and Delaware. I noticed you didn't mention anything about the local property taxes in Delaware. And I noticed you didn't mention anything about the standard formula available for use to estimate the amount of sales tax in Texas to deduct from your taxable income. I don't know what you're trying to say.

And as for ignorant Texans, I won't claim all Texans are smart, but I'll take an ignorant Texan over just about anybody else on the east coast or the west coast.

It seems your only argument is that people should get off their lazy low paid asses and get a better job. What you neglect to say is that there are only so many well paying jobs. There are however many more low paying jobs for people with little or no education, a criminal record or low IQ. Thats not to say we dont have a problem with low IQ at higher paying jobs.
You can make a one man stand that a dollar to a rich man is worth less than it is to a poor man. You'd also be surprised at how much more a low income person goes through to earn that dollar and his need for the most efficent use of that dollar. A rich man will buy what he wants because he knows he has plenty of cash to throw at his bills/troubles. A poor man must be frugal with every penny unless they want to be living without heat,lights or a roof over their head.

It saddens me to hear some incredibly self righteous claptrap about "just go make more money" argument. Some people just can't and that is that. Please stop insisting that they just need more money to solve their problem with not having more money. It's a silly circular argument.

A MickieDees observation ...
At the outlet in the hood, you know it is in the hood because the menu prices are up $1, when the beggar works the room just about everyone gives him something.
At the outlet in the middle class area, prices on the board are $1 less, the beggar is lucky if he can get anyone to give him a dime.

Does this mean?
A) Middle class are greedy bastards
B) Poor are poor because they give it away
C) The middle class are struggling much worse than we know
D) Government programs make the poor rich
or
E) The poor have been there and remember what it means to not have enough money for a meal

Empathy is the most obvious reason that people give...and it seems there is a relation between how much empathy you have and how wealthy you are:

How Wealth Reduces Compassion

---

Reality Internet Personality

Later today I'll see if I remember to post what a #1 (big mac meal) runs in the barrio and the price of a happy meal (with kids toy) runs.

#1 Big Mac Meal US$6.19 + tx
Happy Meal (cheeseburger) US$4.58 + tx
tax is 9.0%, minimum wage US$8.00 at the location.

---

I've noticed the price disparity in poor neighborhoods vs average to well off as well. Bought an Icecream cone at Dairy Queen and noticed a variation in price from $1.99 to $2.99 for the same item.

I assume the reasoning is the higher instances(unsubstantiated) of loss from employee neglect and theft to actual robberies.

One would think the better neighborhood would cost one more moeny because of the location. Traffic is the big difference. More people are going to go through a nicer neighborhoods DQ than an old shabby looking one.

---

In a rich man's house there is no place to spit but his face.
Diogenes Of Sinope

Empathy is the most obvious reason that people give...and it seems there is a relation between how much empathy you have and how wealthy you are:

How Wealth Reduces Compassion

Nice article. Too bad they don't have a study over time to see if being greedy as a child and through your adult life results in being wealthy.

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