Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[iam416]

[Da Geezer]

Hack said (on this page alone):

IMO a rethinking of priorities would first and foremost include an increase in revenue.

The corporate-tax burden is particularly small here

what a deal commerce gets from light-touch regulation

but with income equality at a historic high

I'm confident you could convince a supermajority to lay the wood on a certain undertaxed minority

Are you talking Canada?

Hack, I'd be happy to send you a check so you can go to a local community college and take a course in basic economics. You should do that for your own good.

Or are you just trolling? Do you actually believe that regulation is light-touch, that income equality is at an all-time high, or that the corporate tax burden is low in the US?

You seem always to focus on large corporations, but the tax cut that has been proposed is a cut for all pass-through entities (Sub-S, LLC, etc.) and the vast majority of these entities are owned by small business people who produce roughly 80% of new job growth. Further, if you take my suggestion, you will find that "laying the wood to..." a minority of people just doesn't make enough difference in overall tax receipts.

IMO, there is only one way to pay down a $ 20 Trillion debt, and that is growth in the economy. I agree with Jon that not making the matter worse is a reasonable goal, but even assuming we could do that (and we have proven we cannot do that) there is still the 20T nut. When interest rates rise, and they eventually will, the amount of extra interest the government will have to pay will blow up any budget. That would be the time when the US defaults or, alternatively, would have to tax the crap out of all taxpayers and cut entitlements to everyone.

[hack]

I wonder how Simon feels, but all those things are examples of the old saying that the press can't tell you what to think, but it can and should tell you want to think about. I had quit my old paper in FL by this time, but when the final count on the 2000 election came out nobody gave a fuck. You still have to write the stories, because that's a basic democratic process and its health is important. Same as Russia now, or Omar fictionally. If you care about the integrity of the country you care about this investigation. If you care about Baltimore you should want to know about characters like Omar, and you should want your newspaper to understand how to get at them.

I wonder if Simon ever managed to do a profile of the real-life Omar. I did the cops beat for 3 years; Simon for 13, but he hated it, IIRC. Maybe he got that profile into his book. I should read it. He's a truth teller.

[iam416]

The NYT did a lot on the actual recount vote tally in Florida. But it wasn't much news because the Gore-requested recount was still a loss. If he had requested a full statewide recount then I think he won by 150-200 votes. Something like that. They did like 7 different scenarios and ways of counting and GWB won 5 of the 7 ( think--going off memory). Statewide and the most permissive standards, Gore won. All very interesting.

Having lived that on these types of forums (and as an ardent Gore supporter), I was a little disappointed in the actual consortium recount results.

Also, I know that's an aside.

Simon definitely has his viewpoint. I don't agree with him on some things, but it's hard not respect his opinions given their general breadth and nuance.

[hack]

No matter what though, the results matter -- not to have undone what was done, but to learn for next time. The process is our chief source of wealth, and the press may only be a self-appointed guardian, but guardians are nonetheless needed. But that whole thing is too much nuance for most people to embrace too. If the system needs a flawed, disliked and ill-understood actor prone to sensationalism in order to succeed, then that's a weak spot.

[crashcourse]

newsroom season 3 was a nice precursor to what cnn became

[hack]

Geezer the debt will never be repaid, nor should it be. That would bring about a great loss of soft power. Without it, the dollar isn't the defacto global currency, oil would be traded in yuan instead, and anyone with stored wealth would no longer have a stake in positive US outcomes.

[Jeff Buchanan]

I'm probably not as down on today's journalism as some here. You can evaluate from 10K feet by reading lots of sources (and that's much easier today than it was 20-30y ago) and then drill down on what you think is fact based and important. Certainly, there is a built in bias to that approach.

Breaking through those biases is maybe the most important thing to obtaining a decent local, national and global view. Avoiding info overload probably is equally important along with evaluating the reliability and truthfulness of what you are viewing or reading.

Point is it is possible to understand events and develop a well informed opinion about them at all levels. Not easy, especially for average man who may not look at multiple sources and critically exam them and maybe even more difficult for above average man who is doing that but is time constrained by work and has family responsibilities.

[whodean]

Geezer the debt will never be repaid, nor should it be. That would bring about a great loss of soft power. Without it, the dollar isn't the defacto global currency, oil would be traded in yuan instead, and anyone with stored wealth would no longer have a stake in positive US outcomes.

It will never be repaid and the consequences for that will be grave.

Is there really a niche of intelligent people in this country that truly think the enormous amount of national debt is a GOOD thing?

[whodean]

oil would be traded in yuan instead

Already happening



September 1, 2017 8:56 pm JST

https://asia.nikkei.com/Markets/Commodities/China-sees-new-world-order-with-oil-benchmark-backed-by-gold?page=1

China is expected shortly to launch a crude oil futures contract priced in yuan and convertible into gold in what analysts say could be a game-changer for the industry.

China's move will allow exporters such as Russia and Iran to circumvent U.S. sanctions by trading in yuan. To further entice trade, China says the yuan will be fully convertible into gold on exchanges in Shanghai and Hong Kong.

[hack]

I think there's a reasonable argument to be had about the right size of the debt. The rest is nonsense.

[whodean]

I think there's a reasonable argument to be had about the right size of the debt. The rest is nonsense.

The debt and deficit have definitely been used as a "boogie man" by politicians to promote or oppose views their special interest masters favor.

but, yes $20T and rapidly growing is unsustainable. This WILL come home to roost. Would have by now without the Fed's unprecedented qualitative easing, which makes the problem worse in the long run. It's a been a band aid of low interest rates.

[hack]

Already happening



September 1, 2017 8:56 pm JST

https://asia.nikkei.com/Markets/Comm...by-gold?page=1

They are trying very hard. So did Saddam. Would be a major loss of global soft power for the US.

[froot loops]

What are the grave consequences and when do they happen? It's been a warning since Hamilton prevailed over Jefferson.

[AlabamAlum]

Go to Hell, Talent. Now I'm gonna have to watch "The Wire" again.