Waiting for Fitzgerald

[Captain]

Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
If you could create a country how would you set up its tax structure?

I don't think there is a one-size fits all solution for tax structures. I'd like a flexible structure where if the economy is down, congress is supposed to figure out how to spur investment and get it going, while if the economy is roaring, Congress is charged with not slowing it down.

What I'd most like in any system is the disclipline for Congress to clean the tax code up periodically. Every provision that is not of general application, and some of those that are, should have a sunset provision so it is revisited in a certain number of years.

[Captain]

Originally posted by Spanky
I agree with but I also think it is that so many immigrants make it big here (like Carnegie) that our economy attracts the best entrepenerus from around the planet. Other countries drive them out and we suck them in.

What I don't get is the obsession in my party of some of the people to protect wealthy tax payers. It is bizarre. And it is not the wealthy country club Republicans that are obsessed with tax cuts for the rich, it is more of the middle class Republicans. It is like it is some moral crusade or something. The point behind low taxes is to stimulate the economy so the rising tide lifts all boats. It is not to stop the government from "unfairly taxing" the rich.

It is like free trade an capitalism. We don't have them to help a few get rich, it is because free trade and capitalism, when instituted properly, benefits every strata of society.

Tax policy should be engineered so that growth can be optimized. If you can get more tax money out of the rich while you are doing that, that is the best of all worlds. Taxes are a necessary evil. It sucks that we have to tax rich people. But it sucks even more that we have to tax poor people.

The point is to increase growth while taxing the poor people as little as possible.

I'd only add to this that somewhere the Government has decided that spending and taxing are only remotely and not directly related. Whether it was the late Keynesian advocacy for mammoth deficit spending or the Supplier-siders' theories that tax reductions would pay for themselves, the idea that you don't have to make both sides of the equation add up strikes me as blindingly, obviously wrong.

[Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)]

Originally posted by Captain
I'd only add to this that somewhere the Government has decided that spending and taxing are only remotely and not directly related. Whether it was the late Keynesian advocacy for mammoth deficit spending or the Supplier-siders theories that tax reductions would pay for themselves, the idea that you don't have to make both sides of the equation add up strikes me as blindingly, obviously wrong.

Someone in government, that is everyone elected to Congress, realized that most of their constituents now operate this way, paying with credit and an expectation to pay it off in the future.

Of course, for an individual, at least of working age, their wages are likely to increase more rapidly than is the overall national income, so overspending is a little less unreasonable. We need the Amish to run the budget.

[Penske_Account]

Schroeder is still not conceding. Why does he hate Germany so much?

[Sidd Finch]

Originally posted by Spanky
The key is to put the money into the poor persons hand and get them to invest it. That is the best utilization of the money for everyone involved. If my trust fund cousin spends it on Crystal, not so much help.

But what if Crystal is putting herself through school?

[Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)]

If Kim Jong Il is ever deposed, he should become a car salesman.

Does he ever actually agree to anything, or does he always say "it's a deal" and then, upon getting agreement from the other side, thinks he can ask for more?

Can we give up on Iraq and finish the job from 50 years ago on the Korean peninsula?

[Sidd Finch]

Originally posted by Captain
I'd only add to this that somewhere the Government has decided that spending and taxing are only remotely and not directly related. Whether it was the late Keynesian advocacy for mammoth deficit spending or the Supplier-siders' theories that tax reductions would pay for themselves, the idea that you don't have to make both sides of the equation add up strikes me as blindingly, obviously wrong.

2.

And yet, the Bushites think that more tax cuts is the way to resolve this. And we have yet to see the Repubs using their complete control of the legislative process to bring spending in line with revenue. (Though I suppose any day now they will find the 400 billion dollars of waste, fraud and abuse they need to cut.)

[Sidd Finch]

Originally posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
If Kim Jong Il is ever deposed, he should become a car salesman.

Ew. I wouldn't depose him with fringey's twat.

Does he ever actually agree to anything, or does he always say "it's a deal" and then, upon getting agreement from the other side, thinks he can ask for more?

The latter. Seems to work well for him, kind of like "the asshole gets the money" theory of negotiation.

Can we give up on Iraq and finish the job from 50 years ago on the Korean peninsula?

There may be a connection between this sentiment and his intense desire to have nukes. I'm just guessing.

[Hank Chinaski]

http://news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=1951292005

So in the months after the Tube bombings, what has the UK Muslim community been busy doing?

• Burger King recalls 'sacrilegious' desserts
  
  
  THE fast-food chain, Burger King, is withdrawing its ice-cream cones after the lid of the dessert offended a Muslim.
  
  The man claimed the design resembled the Arabic inscription for Allah, and branded it sacrilegious, threatening a "jihad".
  
  
  The chain is being forced to spend thousands of pounds redesigning the lid with backing from The Muslim Council of Britain. It apologised and said: "The design simply represents a spinning ice-cream cone."
  
  The offending lid was spotted in a branch in Park Royal last week by business development manager Rashad Akhtar, 27, of High Wycombe.
  
  He was not satisfied by the decision to withdraw the cones and has called on Muslims to boycott Burger King. He said: "This is my jihad. How can you say it is a spinning swirl? If you spin it one way to the right you are offending Muslims."
  
  A Muslim Council spokesman said: "We commend the sensitive and prompt action that Burger King has taken."

I played basketball for about a year in the Nike "Allah flame" shoes. That year, my game was live. No word on whether the ice cream was good.

[Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)]

Originally posted by Sidd Finch

There may be a connection between this sentiment and his intense desire to have nukes. I'm just guessing.

Sure. Beat him to the punch.

[SlaveNoMore]

Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
If Kim Jong Il is ever deposed, he should become a car salesman.

Does he ever actually agree to anything, or does he always say "it's a deal" and then, upon getting agreement from the other side, thinks he can ask for more?

Can we give up on Iraq and finish the job from 50 years ago on the Korean peninsula?

Better yet, why don't we give "North Korea" to the Palestinians and drop a few Hamas leaders in there.

[SlaveNoMore]

Sidd Finch
But what if Crystal is putting herself through school?

Does he not get paid for hosting the Oscars?

[SlaveNoMore]

Hank Chinaski
[THE fast-food chain, Burger King, is withdrawing its ice-cream cones after the lid of the dessert offended a Muslim...

The man claimed the design resembled the Arabic inscription for Allah, and branded it sacrilegious, threatening a "jihad".

... He was not satisfied by the decision to withdraw the cones and has called on Muslims to boycott Burger King. He said: "This is my jihad. How can you say it is a spinning swirl? If you spin it one way to the right you are offending Muslims."

But they want to build a memorial to Flight 93 that looks exactly like a Muslim Crescent. Funny dat.

PS - I saw this ice cream thing yesterday and thought it was a joke.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by SlaveNoMore
But they want to build a memorial to Flight 93 that looks exactly like a Muslim Crescent. Funny dat.

Who put Burger King in charge of building that memorial?

Corporations aren't supposed to run everything until I'm 50, I thought.

[SlaveNoMore]

Tyrone Slothrop
Who put Burger King in charge of building that memorial?

Come to think of it, a Burger King in Mecca would be a fitting tribute to Flight 93.