World is Falling Apart Thread (Locked forever)

[Exhuminator]

"Carrier says it has struck a deal with Trump to keep nearly 1,000 jobs in Indiana"
http://money.cnn.com/2016/11/29/news/ec ... l?adkey=bn

[CRTGAMER]

"Carrier says it has struck a deal with Trump to keep nearly 1,000 jobs in Indiana"

http://money.cnn.com/2016/11/29/news/ec ... l?adkey=bn

The company, which is owned by defense contractor United Technologies, announced in February that it would close two Indiana plants -- a Carrier plant in Indianapolis that employs 1,400 workers and a United Technologies Electronic Controls plant in nearby Huntington, Indiana, that employs 700.

Carrier did not elaborate on the terms of the deal, but it is on the record, as are most other major multinational businesses, as wanting to see a cut in corporate tax rates, especially as it applies to cash earned overseas.

The fate of the more than 400 remaining jobs in Indianapolis was not immediately clear. Nor was it clear whether the 700 jobs at the Huntington plan would be saved. The company planned to send that work to Mexico starting next year, a move that would have saved it $65 million a year in labor costs, according to the union that represents the workers.

Nice! Included some highlights in your quote for a direct read. Carrier obviously concerned with Trump's proposed tariffs to keep the jobs in the U.S. However, some jobs appear not returned, I suspect part of the manufacturing might still be in Mexico. Hopefully NO business is exempt from EQUAL Trade that takes into account the difference in Wages, OSHA and Environmental regulations.

Case Study comparison just in the U.S.
The regulations and Tax Fees in the U.S. are way too strict compared to many countries. California is the worst, many companies will move out to nearby states due to the expense of doing business in California. This same scenario is amplified when other countries have minimal restrictions, taxes and low wages.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-08-0 ... california

Simple Charts That Help Explain Why 9,000 Businesses Have Left California In Just 7 Years

In the first chart, the Tax Foundation presents data from The Bureau of Economic Analysis to compare purchasing power of $100 depending which state you live in. Ironically, the map turned out to look eerily similar to recent electoral college maps of Presidential elections with the Democrat-leaning northeast and west coast areas getting less bang for their buck compared to the southeast and mid-west.



Ironically, the second chart which illustrates tax rates by state looks very similar to the first. The highest taxed states (dark blue) are in the northeast and west coast with lower tax structures in the southeast and mid-west.



And finally a map of minimum wage by state. Note that this doesn't reflect California's recent minimum wage hike to $15 which will be phased in over the next 5 years. At the risk of sounding like a broken record we'll spare you our additional commentary.

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Trump is planning to appoint Tom Price as the head of Health and Human Services.

Tom Price has written up plans for how he will dismantle the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare).

Watching the news last night a Diabetic was concerned on getting his medication. This was followed by a women concerned on getting her free birth control pills. That is laughable and does not ring as the same drastic emergency of the Diabetic that could die.

Obama Care really gets screened in removing waste. I mean come on, Viagra is free for patients! Any time the Government gets involved such as the free Cell phones, the cost contract to taxpayers is so much higher then when you are I would shop compare.

I found a website from one Congressman exposing some of the waste.
Wasteful Spending List - http://posey.house.gov/wasteful-spending/

The biggest Fraud is so many companies claiming NON-PROFIT and are TAX EXEMPT with fat paychecks from donations and government funding! The "Non-Profit" label should only be allowed if EVERYONE in a given company is strictly volunteer with no paycheck with 100% funds to charity and not "claimed overhead" costs.

There is also the issue of what should actually qualify as the initial purpose of Non-Profit as a "Charity".
Non-Profit List - http://www.guidestar.org/NonprofitDirectory.aspx

Everyone Has To Pay Taxes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZ0B_5N28vY

[prfsnl_gmr]

I don't have the time of energy to research its conclusion, but you are quoting an article on zerohedge.com written by someone writing under a "Tyler Durden" pseudonym. The use of a "Tyler Durden" pseudonym indicates that the author obviously missed Fight Club's point entirely, and you may want to view some of your sources a little more skeptically:

http://www.theonion.com/article/longtim ... -bia-54745

.....

Also, I would like to point out that there really is no comparison between the ACLJ and the ACLU. The ACLJ is an organization dedicated to expanding and protecting its view of Christianity. Accordingly, you will not see it take a case intended to protect a Muslim's right to the free exercise of religion. (You will see some fear mongering, however.) The ACLU, on the other hand, is a secular organization dedicated to expanding and protecting civil liberties for all citizens regardless of their national origin, race, religion, etc. (Although it frequently prevents local governments from improperly imposing Christianity or indicating that Christianity is a for of state-sponsored religion, a lot of the ACLU's "free exercise" work is done on behalf of Christian clients.)

.....

The biggest Fraud is so many companies claiming NON-PROFIT and are TAX EXEMPT with fat paychecks from donations and government funding! the "Non-Profit" label only if EVERYONE in a given company is strictly volunteer with no paycheck with 100% funds to charity and not "claimed overhead" costs.

My wife works full time for the Red Cross where she: (1) secures a lot of public and private donations and grants that go directly to disaster relief efforts; and (2) earns a salary that is drastically less than what she would earn working as an attorney in private practice. Should the Red Cross lose its status as a non-profit organization? Part-time, untrained, and notoriously flaky volunteers certainly can't get the work done, and no one that works there is getting rich. Should my wife work 50-60 hours per week for free? Or, is this an absolutely horrible idea reflecting gross ignorance of both non-profits and the implications of non-profit status?

.....

Finally, I think that it takes a lot of mental contortions to support the government providing some sort of subsidies to a specific private company to keep jobs in a specific location and condemn efforts by the government to subsidize certain medical expenses.

[J T]

Watching the news last night a Diabetic was concerned on getting his medication. This was followed by a women concerned on getting her free birth control pills. That is laughable and does not ring as the same drastic emergency of the Diabetic that could die.

Yeah, diabetes is life threatening and birth control isn't (at least not immediately), but that isn't the point.

I've already explained to you how paying for birth control SAVES tax payer money in the long run in healthcare expenses and other social services expenses. Seriously dude. Babies ain't cheap, and its your tax dollar paying for each new baby's delivery and further healthcare. I'm sure that the woman crying in that news story understands how expensive babies are. That's why she's crying.

I might be with you on free Viagra though, because I don't think we need to spend money for people to reproduce, which will cost even more money. However, it is treating someone for something about their biology that isn't working correctly, and it is really painful if you want to have a kid, but can't for reproductive health reasons. Privatized reproductive health clinics cost a fortune. I'm not 100% one way or the other on this particular micro issue of Viagra coverage.

Obama Care really gets screened in removing waste. I mean come on, Viagra is free for patients! Any time the Government gets involved such as the free Cell phones, the cost contract to taxpayers is so much higher then when you are I would shop compare.

The plans for Obamacare are not about going in and making small tactical cuts here and there for diabetes medication vs birth control vs viagra. They are giant machete cuts of making healthcare less equitable and less accessible. They want to make healthcare less expensive for the young and healthy so that it will be more expensive for the old and unhealthy. That way, the program is more popular with young people, who will probably opt out of insurance to save money (and then be subject to rejection later for pre-existing conditions), and the old or unhealthy people who can't afford it will just die off. If people opt out while they are young/healthy and then get themselves blocked out for a lapse in coverage, or if older people die under the added expenses, then the healthcare will be less expensive. That's what they want. That's what they define as success. Their emphasis is on cutting costs, not promoting public health. Focusing on free Viagra is just a distraction to make you feel angry about the wrong things.

[J T]

Also CRTgamer, you highlighted the following quote as evidence of Carrier being concerned about Trump's proposed tariffs:

"Carrier did not elaborate on the terms of the deal, but it is on the record, as are most other major multinational businesses, as wanting to see a cut in corporate tax rates, especially as it applies to cash earned overseas."

While tariffs may play a role in Carrier's concerns, I think you are misunderstanding what this particular quote is about. This isn't about manufacturing and production done overseas. When these big multi-national corporations are complaining about taxes on 'cash earned overseas' they are often talking about the cash earned in shell companies overseas that take advantage of tax shelters in other countries. After dodging their US corporate taxes by using offshore accounts, they want to be able to bring their cash back into the US without further corporate taxation. Basically, it's all a bunch of bookkeeping tricks to avoid paying taxes in the US. The article is insinuating that Trump will give these multi-national companies that further tax break they want when bringing their money back into the states. In return, they keep these factory jobs in the US.

[J T]

Bad news in the world for online privacy. The British Investigatory Powers Bill (aka the Snoopers Charter) passed. If you live in the UK, then your ISP will now keep records of every website you visit, which it must retain for at least one year for police, security, and other public bodies. There are a lot of other things that let the British government spy on you, which are summarized in bullet points here:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/ ... key-points

This is definitely bad for the UK's privacy, but it also may affect the privacy of anyone from other countries using UK-based internet services, especially since this bill also demands otherwise secure sites have a backdoor to break through encryption, which will weaken the security of anyone who uses a site with an encryption backdoor, because these are much more vulnerable to hacking than are sites that use encryption without a backdoor.

Further info about the ramifications of this bill are here:
http://www.wired.co.uk/article/ip-bill- ... ils-passed

[Ack]

Popular, that is a nasty blow. If Brexit wasn't enough to ostracize the UK from the EU, this won't help. Was this supported in Scotland or North Ireland?

[Forlorn Drifter]

Popular, that is a nasty blow. If Brexit wasn't enough to ostracize the UK from the EU, this won't help. Was this supported in Scotland or North Ireland?

IIRC the majority was against leaving the EU for both of those places. (Are they still considered countries, or is the term commonwealth? I don't know what is used.)

[alienjesus]

Popular, that is a nasty blow. If Brexit wasn't enough to ostracize the UK from the EU, this won't help. Was this supported in Scotland or North Ireland?

I'm not sure this was supported anywhere by the public tbh. The government basically snuck it through when people weren't paying attention.

[CRTGAMER]

Also CRTgamer, you highlighted the following quote as evidence of Carrier being concerned about Trump's proposed tariffs:

"Carrier did not elaborate on the terms of the deal, but it is on the record, as are most other major multinational businesses, as wanting to see a cut in corporate tax rates, especially as it applies to cash earned overseas."

While tariffs may play a role in Carrier's concerns, I think you are misunderstanding what this particular quote is about. This isn't about manufacturing and production done overseas. When these big multi-national corporations are complaining about taxes on 'cash earned overseas' they are often talking about the cash earned in shell companies overseas that take advantage of tax shelters in other countries. After dodging their US corporate taxes by using offshore accounts, they want to be able to bring their cash back into the US without further corporate taxation. Basically, it's all a bunch of bookkeeping tricks to avoid paying taxes in the US. The article is insinuating that Trump will give these multi-national companies that further tax break they want when bringing their money back into the states. In return, they keep these factory jobs in the US.

Did you see that video link in my previous Reply? I think I am like Jonathan Winters!

I don't think its right to give the company a Tax break to stay in the U.S. and definitely not that tax exempt from offshore cash import. The way I understand it, Trump negotiated a deal thru Pence for the State of Indiana to give that Tax Break! Though 1100 jobs are still not returned, the 1000 workers that did keep their jobs are happy.

However, no company should get a preferential treatment tax break over the rest of the state; this is why I am so against TAX EXEMPT Non-Profits. If someone takes home a pay check, all employees and company should pay their fair share of taxes. Some do not pay taxes means the rest are stuck with the higher tax bill, just not right!

A serious wrong message, other companies can threaten moving out to get the "Non-Profit" Tax Break. The best solution is to equal the play field on imports. Cut regulations that are not needed, but keep the workers and environment safe. Place the high tariffs on imports on other countries that do not have our standards of pay and safety. On the other hand, our standards maybe to too high when the minimum wage is pushed to $15.00 an hour! Really, the startup job should not be the pay of a career job; this is killing keeping jobs in the U.S.

The maps on the previous page show how the Regulations, Taxes and Minimum Wage increase also affects how much a dollar is worth in each state. A case study, shows how California with the most stringent regulation and costs force companies to leave the state.

Speaking of Tax Breaks, remember the bailout for the banks and car companies? So wrong, under the umbrella that claimed "it saved the economy". There used to be a Pizza Hut which became an independent restaurant and then a Christmas tree lot in the parking lot. The building deteriorating is still fenced off years later, the pizza hut red painted over in white primer. Meanwhile right next door the Bank Of America got a "home improvement" overhaul months after that bailout, huge columns in the front looking like a Greek Pantheon. This next to an independent gas station on the other side that is not anywhere near as refurbished.

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Anytime the Government gets involved such as the free Cell phones, the cost contract to taxpayers is so much higher then when you are I would shop compare.

So much waste with Taxes. At the local level, to show how taxes meant for one thing can be diverted.

http://www.sacbee.com/news/investigatio ... 12905.html

Millions of dollars in California fire prevention money goes unspent
Amid a drought that has created bone-dry conditions across much of California’s wildland area, a state fire prevention account has ended recent fiscal years with tens of millions of dollars unspent.

The money has been generated by a contentious, four-year-old fee pushed through by Gov. Jerry Brown and legislative Democrats over the objections of Republicans and rural property owners. The state collected more than $300 million through June and spent about $260 million, including roughly $228 million on administration and statewide prevention activities, vegetation clearing, defensible space inspections and other programs. About $22 million went to a state tax agency to cover collection costs. But as fires burned hundreds of thousands of acres this year, the state ended the fiscal year in June with an estimated $43 million in fee money left over.

More than 800,000 property owners pay the fee, most of them $117.33 a year for each habitable structure. Property owners in parts of the foothills east of Sacramento, as well as those in communities such as Shingle Springs, Georgetown and Pollock Pines, are subject to the charge.The money is intended to support fire prevention activities in the almost one-third of California where the state has the primary firefighting responsibility. Nearly three-quarters of the 31 million-acre area – mostly privately owned watershed, rangeland and forested areas outside city limits – presents a very high or high fire risk.

Take a wild guess how much each tree cost compared to if you or I went to Home Depot. The grant which was supposed to be for rural community fire prevention (who exclusively paid the fire taxes) is used for in the city Urban Renewal!

http://www.kusi.com/story/31337897/mayo ... on-project

Mayor Faulconer plants trees for Logan Heights city beautification project
San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer planted a tree Saturday near a Logan Heights elementary school during a city beautification effort. The city will plant 300 trees in Logan Heights, said Jen Lebron Kuhney, press secretary for the mayor's office. "It's just a small part of the bigger picture when it comes to San Diego's urban forest efforts,'' Lebron Kuhney said, adding that the city government will plant 1,800 trees throughout San Diego this year.

The city with help from Tree San Diego, Urban Core and One San Diego recently received a grant from CalFire to pay for the 300 trees, Lebron Kuhney said.