Pure Speculation of course but funny none the less!

[wkohler]

With all due respect, we've seen it before...

[option00002]

With all due respect, we've seen it before...

Please elaborate on your veiled response...

[wkohler]

No thanks.

[ChefShawn]

[cavemanDarrell]

Well, if the original post wasn't all that funny, the reactions from those with a leftward bent sure is!

Anybody wonder whether those same voices would be complaining about a story like that making Conservatives look bad?

im not liberal by any stretch, but I cannot STAND the BS that the simple minded conservative base has said so many times they they start to believe it.
'if ya'll aint gun' vote blue, yer as queer as a 3 dollar bill and hate 'murica.'

it really detracts from what the GOP COULD accomplish if they went back to actually caring about power to the states, smaller government, etc.

[Mike W.]

Well, what have I learned tonight? Maybe I'll keep my mouth shut next time I see something disagreeable here. I'll stick to Tech Talk. I liked reading about the events in this particular forum, but it's clear I need to stick to lurking and avoid posting.
Thanks to the few who had constructive feedback for me.
-John

Be patient, there's a bunch of guys here that are hard on new people. Ignore them, don't engage, just ignore and all will be well in a short time. It's a good group, it just has it's quirks.

But there are no mods here, just Beamters!

[davintosh]

Well, if the original post wasn't all that funny, the reactions from those with a leftward bent sure is!

Anybody wonder whether those same voices would be complaining about a story like that making Conservatives look bad?

With all due respect do you actually believe there is a bent one way or the other!?

With all due respect, yes. Undoubtedly.

[WilNJ]

EDIT: On a relevant side note can anyone identify what kind of car this is?

It is surely JDM, but I can't place it.

Wouldn't a JDM car be RHD?

[snakebrain]

EDIT: On a relevant side note can anyone identify what kind of car this is?

It is surely JDM, but I can't place it.

Wouldn't a JDM car be RHD?

That's one deluded fool in that video...

[skip535i]

That was some funny stuff...all the aftermath I could do without, though. If you don't like it, STFU.

[w0014170]

JDM...Japanese Domestic Market...definitely RHD only

[djazz]

I bought an E28 a few months ago and this forum was recommended to me. I had hoped for a higher level of discourse than what I found today, but I guess I'm not going to get it here or anywhere else online...I guess I'll just stick to the useful parts of the site, meaning I'll stay out of the general conversation. Thanks so much.

You are soooo missing the point of this site.

[Tammer in Philly]

Well, if the original post wasn't all that funny, the reactions from those with a leftward bent sure is! :rofl:

Anybody wonder whether those same voices would be complaining about a story like that making Conservatives look bad?

We don't have to make up ridiculous fake histories to do that. ;-)

-tammer

[wkohler]

Well, if the original post wasn't all that funny, the reactions from those with a leftward bent sure is!

Anybody wonder whether those same voices would be complaining about a story like that making Conservatives look bad?

We don't have to make up ridiculous fake histories to do that.

-tammer

We don't either. Just open the newspaper, though it doesn't cover much of what's happening these days.

[cavemanDarrell]

Well, if the original post wasn't all that funny, the reactions from those with a leftward bent sure is!

Anybody wonder whether those same voices would be complaining about a story like that making Conservatives look bad?

We don't have to make up ridiculous fake histories to do that.

-tammer

We don't either. Just open the newspaper, though it doesn't cover much of what's happening these days.

must be that durned liberal media!

[wkohler]

Well, duh. They're so in the tank for Obama, they'd look bad for reporting the whole story.

[turbodan]

LOL y'all mad

Bunch of sandy vaginas

[nnarth212]

Politics of beer. Good stuff.

We can all take a deep breath-- the only change in government in the last 40 years or so was that they got a WEBSITE. Same liars arguing about the finer points of selling our nation to China.

Here's my nutcase position of the day: abolish Social Security before the GOP/DNC sells it to China.

[booker]

We can all take a deep breath-- the only change in government in the last 40 years or so was that they got a WEBSITE. Same liars arguing about the finer points of selling our nation to China.

Here's my nutcase position of the day: abolish Social Security before the GOP/DNC sells it to China.

Spot on.

I agree 100%

[option00002]

Politics of beer. Good stuff.

We can all take a deep breath-- the only change in government in the last 40 years or so was that they got a WEBSITE. Same liars arguing about the finer points of selling our nation to China.

Here's my nutcase position of the day: abolish Social Security before the GOP/DNC sells it to China.

Let's really rock the boat and eliminate inheritance...

[1st 5er]

[snakebrain]

If you want to really rock the boat, you need a Land Value Tax. There was nearly civil war the last time they tried that here...

[C.R. Krieger]

If you want to really rock the boat, you need a Land Value Tax. There was nearly civil war the last time they tried that here...

Ummm ... it's nearly universal in the US.

[snakebrain]

If you want to really rock the boat, you need a Land Value Tax. There was nearly civil war the last time they tried that here...

Ummm ... it's nearly universal in the US.

Really? Where would I go to find out more?

I've been reading about the 1910 constitutional crisis - which incidentally tied in very interestingly with the Larne Gun-running and raising of insurgent militias just up the road from me - and some of Martin Wolf's analysis in the FT that's got me interested in the topic lately.

[Rich Euro M5]

If you want to really rock the boat, you need a Land Value Tax. There was nearly civil war the last time they tried that here...

Ummm ... it's nearly universal in the US.

Really? Where would I go to find out more?

It varies from locale to locale within the US. Here's a list of taxes I pay which is based on the valuation of my home.

County Property Tax
Municipal Utility District Tax
Fire District Tax
School District Tax
Community College Tax

These 4 taxes combine to about $4K / yr, however we don't have income tax in Texas. Since I live in a non-incorporated area I don't pay City Property Tax.

If you don't pay your taxes, eventually you'll end up with a tax lien on your property. The taxing authority could then seize your property which would then be sold at auction to pay the back taxes you owe.

In the US you never actually own your property because you owe taxes on it every year.

Rich

[1st 5er]

Not trying to cause any trouble, but...

[snakebrain]

So isn't there a disincentive against owning/hoarding large parcels of land? How does that work out in the instance of large agricultural holdings, which I'd always considered to be very much a part of the American landscape?

One of the principal reasons for that constitutional crisis in 1910 was effectively that the ruling class had a huge proportion of their wealth in the form of land and had done so for hundreds of years. It formed the basis of a very unfair system whereby landowners were (and are) unfairly rewarded for ownership, whilst those who were excluded from ownership of land or property by virtue of poverty were doubly punished by effectively being taxed on the productive element of their labour that derived from the land or property they laboured on.

The argument goes that the productive capacity of a fixed asset like land cannot be held by a single individual when all the production that's actually derived from it is by the labour of others, who are unfairly excluded from it's benefit. Martin Wolf believes that a properly structured land value tax could eliminate the snakes'n'ladders game of property speculation by making it impossible for a single individual to appropriate all the growth in value of an asset. Instead, it's taxed and redistributed into the broader population.

In general, I'm not hugely excited about taxation, but in light of the excesses of the last 25 years in global property markets and the exponentially growing chasm between the wealth of the top 1% and the rest, it seems to be a concept that's worth looking at..

[snakebrain]

Not trying to cause any trouble, but...

Eh?

[WilNJ]

County Property Tax
Municipal Utility District Tax
Fire District Tax
School District Tax
Community College Tax

These 4 taxes combine to about $4K / yr, however we don't have income tax in Texas. Since I live in a non-incorporated area I don't pay City Property Tax.

In NJ, school taxes account for about 75% of our property taxes. I live in a 2,000sf home on a 50x100 lot and I pay $5,600/yr in property taxes and that's considered a bargain.

My sister lives in a 3,000 sf home in a neighboring county and her's are approximately $14,000/yr.

We also have a 7% income tax (9% for higher income brackets) plus a 7% sales tax on all items except groceries and clothing.

I know, what you're thinking...you all want to move here and start up businesses, right?

The vested establishment here tells you that we're more expensive but that we have better services.

We do have some of the best public schools in the country but I believe that's driven by a population that values education not how by how much we spend per student.

There are plenty of school districts that throw lots of money at their students (how does $20,000/student/year grab you?). Most of these districts have little to show for it.

So isn't there a disincentive against owning/hoarding large parcels of land? How does that work out in the instance of large agricultural holdings, which I'd always considered to be very much a part of the American landscape?

Typically, there is an exemption for ag land but to keep the ag assessment you need to show income. In NJ, we have the Farmland Assessment Act which provides a mechanism to allow agricultural land to be assessed at a much lower value, (I think the number is less than $1000 per acre) which means that the taxes paid will also be much lower.

Here's a quoted section from a brochure I found published by the state that provides examples of what is acceptable under the Act.

On a 10-acre parcel of land, 1 acre is used for residential dwelling, 3 acres are devoted to hay production, 4 acres are fenced pasture for boarded horses, .5 acres is for the boarding facility, and 1.5 acres is appurtenant woodland. 125 bales of hay with a value of $3 per bale generating $375 are produced annually and fed to the boarded horses. Income imputed to land for grazing of $100 per acre times 4 acres equals $400. As 7 acres of land producing $775 in income is adjacent to the boarding facility, 9 acres qualified for Farmland Assessment.

[nnarth212]

The bold portion below fits in with the story presented by the OP. I had to share.

I found the following comment left below an article about Congressman Paul Ryan's 'roadmap'

ANd I quote:

'Conservatives say if you don't give the rich more money, they will lose their incentive to invest. As for the poor, they tell us they've lost all incentive because we've given them too much money.' George Carlin

Of course Representative Ryan and all other conservatives in DC are allowed to make assertions unchallenged. The Washington press corps simply takes for granted anything said by Republicans and others mislabeled as conservative. Conservatives after all are manly men of action who get stuff done, fact checking is for wimps. This has been the case since the canonization of Reagan and the convenient erasure of Nixon from their collective memory. The man crush the press has for conservatives reached its most absurd (so far) point during the previous administration. I guess if Obama or any Democrat want to be taken seriously by the DC Kewl Kids they should simply make bold assertions and appear indignant when someone has the temerity to actually challenge the merits of those assertions. It might also help to buy a fake ranch in Texas, wear blue jeans, a cowboy hat and clear brush with a chainsaw, ... in August.

The DC chattering class has internalized the notion that America is a center right nation. Yet polls, even polls conducted by Fox News and assorted wingnut welfare conservative think tanks, show that Americans overwhelmingly prefer liberal or progressive government policies, even if it cost them more in taxes. But of course, as we all know, reality has a well-known liberal bias.

The end of this modern perversion of conservatism will end if somehow a press corps of real journalists arises in DC, or if the American people somehow acquire the ability to think critically and for themselves. In other words don't hold your breath. Modern conservatives will continue to be taken seriously until either they succeed in completely destroying the nation or they become the Whig Party of our time.