Sandbox – 15sep14

September 2014
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Sandbox – 15sep14

15 September 2014

[I salt this sandbox with a reminder to RR readers that Obama (with the enthusiastic aid of acolyte Schumer) is planning his next step to take the US down another notch – we are already 32 out of 34 developed countries. Today in the 15sep14 WSJ lead editorial we read –

Any day now the White House and Sen. Charles Schumer (D., N.Y.) will attempt to raise taxes on business, while making the U.S. tax code even more complex. The Obama and Schumer plans to punish businesses for moving their legal domicile overseas will arrive even as a new international ranking shows that the U.S. tax burden on business is close to the worst in the industrialized world. Way to go, Washington. … On Monday the Tax Foundation, which manages the widely followed State Business Tax Climate Index, will launch a new global benchmark, the International Tax Competitiveness Index. According to the foundation, the new index measures “the extent to which a country’s tax system adheres to two important principles of tax policy: competitiveness and neutrality.” (chart filched from the article) – gjr]

Posted in Comment Sandbox

61 responses to “Sandbox – 15sep14”

Bill Tozer

15 September 2014

Well, at least we beat France and the froggies already are walking back their 70% income tax and a slew of socialist taxes imposed after the last elections. That did not take long for the mimes in government to figure out that the more you tax, the less you get. Gee wiz Pierre, reality is a weird concept, unless, of course, you live in a vacuum or are not part of the global economy nor have to compete to keep create jobs on the Motherland. Think France went a few years without creating one single net job in the private sector before trying to tax the frog legs off the job creators. Reminds me of our little Stimuli thang that also did not create one net permanent job in the private sector.
Wasn’t too long ago that we beat Japan on the list, but the Japanese cried Tora Tora and attacked their corporate tax. Guess if we keep doing what we are doing, we will keep getting what we are getting.

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Barry Pruett

15 September 2014

In researching a project, we deteremined that corporate tax rates are lower in Russia than the USA. Disgusting.

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Gregory

15 September 2014

The true insanity of the high corporate tax rate is that while the target is all those ‘fat cat 1%’ers who should pay their fair share’, what it really does is loot the retirement savings of the middle class, whose 401K and IRA savings invested in the stock market are skimmed by the house much more deeply than the Mob ever did to the casinos.
The corporate tax rate should only be high enough to cover the actual expenses corporations cause the Feds to incur, probably low single digits. EVERY SINGLE DOLLAR OF PROFITS would still be subject to tax, but it would be incurred by the owner of the stock. The very stinking rich like Mitt Romney (not to mention Soros on down to the merely very wealthy like Feinstein) would pay on the profits they take, and the corporate income could accumulate tax free in middle class retirement accounts with taxes paid as spent in retirement.
Fat chance this will ever come to pass; Washington (and Sacramento) is hooked on spending other people’s money and fleecing middle class retirement savings with “fat cat” marginal rates isn’t a campaign issue.
With ultra low corporate tax rates you also get another bonus… any expenditure, capital, wage, salary or benefits, would come out of the hide of stockholders, not a shared expense with state and federal taxpayers. You think a corporate jet (or any other big capital expenditure) would improve productivity? Make a decision based on its value to the corporation, not the deal after tax attorneys structure the acquisition. Is that CEO really worth $40 million to the Board if shareholders are paying 97% of the expense?
Am I out to soak the rich? No. But the middle class is enjoying a meaty feast with big government sitting at the head of the table, ignoring the fact that they’ve lost an arm and a leg along the way.

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George Rebane

15 September 2014

Gregory 1052am – Agreed.

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Walt

15 September 2014

George.
This is the stuff I worked around back in my military days.
But our efforts were airborne to shoot down ground based missiles.
http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2014/09/15/us-military-new-laser-gun-zaps-drones/?intcmp=features#
This should have been deployed a LONG time ago.

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Walt

15 September 2014

How bad has the LIB Left damaged the U.S. with their dirty, underhanded, behind the scenes, use of government agencies? Visit the Daily Caller web site.
The Left hates them more than FOX. You should LOVE what they printed about the EPA’s real agenda. ( and “clean air” has jack sh** to do with it.) The other stories should make your blood boil just as well.

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RL Crabb

15 September 2014

Just learned via Facebook that Jeff Ackerman’s wife, LaVonne has lost her battle with cancer. Best wishes to Jeff and his family at this sad time.

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George Rebane

15 September 2014

RLCrabb 329pm – Sad tidings indeed Bob, thanks for bringing us the news. JeffA is a friend and our prayers go out for him and his family.

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George Rebane

15 September 2014

Walt 253pm – worked on that directed energy stuff myself, only it was against an incoming ‘cloud’. The question I have is how long will take to commercialize a shoulder fired version against the little handheld multi-copters. I can see the introduction of a new sport.

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Walt

15 September 2014

Hat in hand over Jeff’s loss. Sad news…
George.. A new kind of skeet shooting sport. Those green laser pointers have already been supped up with flashlight batteries. The younger generation is already working on that in Dad’s garage.
BTW, The homeless camp near Oak Ridge apartments have just set fire to the woodlands. OH JOY….

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Walt

15 September 2014

My little role was constructing the target arias. But once in a while I got to see the nice holes burned into various objects, as we hauled them away.
The big news was when the “laser bird” shot down the incoming sidewinders for the first time.

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George Rebane

15 September 2014

Did you know that there will be a Climate Change demonstration in NYC on 21 Sep? Departing for that demonstration from Emeryville, CA will be the “People’s Climate Train”. This socialist gathering from across the country spells out the fundamentals of the self-admitted “climate movement”. The bottom line is that as long been maintained by the skeptics, climate change has nothing to do with science, and everything to do with America’s fundamental transformation. Get a load of the train full of deep thinkers heading for NYC.
http://yubanet.com/california/People-s-Climate-Train-Leaves-California-En-Route-to-Historic-Climate-March-in-New-York-City.php#.VBeAZaOBH1I

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RL Crabb

15 September 2014

A rather pessimistic outlook for the future of the human race, but so much of it is true. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/16/opinion/roger-cohen-the-great-unraveling.html?src=me&ref=general&_r=0

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Gregory

15 September 2014

So very sad to hear of the death of Mrs. Ackerman. I sat and shared a homebrew with Jeff courtesy of a mutual friend, and we spoke of my own loss, which, if I recall correctly, was only a couple years earlier and he was weighed down with the gravity of what they were facing…call it 10 years ago. We only had an 18 month reprieve from diagnosis to death, and I envy the extra time the Ackerman family had but it doesn’t come without a cost… the stress takes its toll on everyone.

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Gregory

15 September 2014

George, here’s fresh meat regarding the so-called “STEM” shortage:
“STEM Grads Are at a Loss: Those who claim there’s a STEM skills shortage are ignoring the evidence.”
http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2014/09/15/stem-graduates-cant-find-jobs

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George Rebane

15 September 2014

Gregory 641pm – Well then, it’s settled. What I glean from the article is that –
1. There are half the number of STEM jobs created annually than America’s STEM graduates;
2. Greedy STEM corporations can’t get enough foreign STEM workers at significantly cheaper cost for any given skill level to substitute for American STEM workers;
3. All of our STEM labor problems would go away, according to the corporations, if Congress would only loosen the H1-B visa quotas so that all American STEM workers could be replaced once and for all by foreigners.
4. But whatever the situation is, our STEM worker surplus would go away if we could only convince all those young Americans to get back into the humanities, business, and other less demanding academic pursuits.

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Gregory

15 September 2014

George, once again, please, some evidence that a von Mises, a Hayek or a Friedman would accept as evidence there is a shortage of “STEM” workers and not a bizarre twisting of an article. The claim of “our STEM worker surplus would go away if we could only convince all those young Americans to get back into the humanities, business, and other less demanding academic pursuits” being a message of that article is purely a fantasy on your part. The STEM worker surplus already results in them going into other work, assuming they need to work.
Necessity remains the mother of reinvention.

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Walt

15 September 2014

Those aboard the crazy train better explain the record sea ice, snow in Summer as far South as Denver.
Then there is this little piece.
http://nypost.com/2014/09/14/leo-v-science-vanishing-evidence-for-climate-change/
The ECO gang should take a good look at the smoke cloud. Those are trees they were breathing this morning. It’s much better for them to turn to ash than be logged.. It’s “natural”. Right? Enjoy your “organic” air.

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George Rebane

15 September 2014

Gregory 745pm – I think the ball’s in your court to then reveal the proper message of the article. Specifically which of my four points is in error viz the article. Recall that I’m willing to be convinced that there is not a STEM worker shortage.

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Bill Tozer

15 September 2014

llhttps://www.facebook.com/OfficialRightWingNews/photos/a.401034789956656.90394.389658314427637/828579017202229/?type=1

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Walt

15 September 2014

Now three LIBS in Sac. have been sacked. I call it a good start.
http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/09/15/4154709/california-state-senator-resigns.html
” A Los Angeles judge and jury convicted Wright of eight felonies for claiming a home in Inglewood as his official address while he actually lived in Baldwin Hills, which is outside his district’s boundaries. The judge said he is barred for life from holding public office. ”
Then there was the gun runner, ( who liked to vote away our rights to own guns.)

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fish

16 September 2014

An that’s nothing Walt…..apparently jeffy is miffed that McClintock hasn’t registered to vote!
……but he promised……he promised…..!
A politician breaking his promise…..that’s unpossible!

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Russ Steele

16 September 2014

From WUWT:
World leaders not coming to Obama’s Climate Conference:
Eric Worrall writes: The imminent climate summit in New York is rapidly turning into an utter embarrassment for President Obama and UN Secretary General Bank Ki-Moon, in addition to becoming a bit of a punishment round for national deputy leaders.
Aussie PM Tony Abbott today defended his decision not to hop on an earlier flight to America, so he could attend the UN climate conference in New York, because he has more important matters to attend to, such as running the country.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/tony-abbott-defends-skipping-un-climate-change-summit-in-new-york/story-fni0xqrb-1227060005413
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi have also indicated they likely won’t attend the summit.
http://thediplomat.com/2014/09/top-leaders-from-china-india-to-skip-un-climate-change-summit/
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has indicated he will not be attending. https://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/canada-politics/stephen-harper-to-skip-un-climate-summit-183946998.html
Even Angela Merkel, President of über green Germany, will not be attending the UN climate summit. http://notrickszone.com/2014/05/26/merkel-snubs-new-york-ban-ki-moon-climate-conference-burying-the-global-climate-agreement/
Of course, things would probably have been totally different, if the summit organisers had guaranteed that attendees would definitely not have to sit through any more boring climate presentations by former Vice President Al Gore.

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George Rebane

16 September 2014

RussS 903am – It appears that both the true believers and skeptics have given up the substantive dialogue on the science of the matter, and from here on are just ignoring each other while trying to convince the undecided.
And on a broader view, today we learn that in the five states that have overwhelming popular support to raise their minimum wage levels, Republicans running for Congress there are also supporting such state mandated wage increases.
Both of these issues remind me of Francois de La Rochefoucauld, who said, “Hypocrisy is the tribute that vice pays to virtue.”
Finally, I invite your kind attention to the 16sep14 update of ‘Cultural Solidarity’.

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Bill Tozer

16 September 2014

What? Not attending? Darn, Leo Cappy (a talented young Hollywood actor and expert scientist on all matters concerning carbon) won’t welcome this news one bit. He has big plans to showcase his Carbon Flicks to the world leaders. He should have had Hollywood’s top starlets in his moving picture C02 flicks displaying front nudity to draw a bigger crowd. Oh well, live and learn.

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Walt

16 September 2014

PLEASE tell me the climate hippies are taking the historic, elegant, and beautiful Union Pacific stream liner steam engine powered passenger train.
Then tell them while in the middle of the Nevada desert that it’s oil fired.
” Who wants off?”

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Bill Tozer

16 September 2014

Come to think of it, it was Humanoid caused Climate Change that sank the Love Boat was well as putting a damper on the Titanic’s maiden voyage.
The highly educated old hippies probably think steam engines run on water and the sun makes steam. Do solar powered Choo Choos run at night?

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Gregory

16 September 2014

“Specifically which of my four points is in error viz the article.”
I already quoted one, George, and you chose to ignore it. Repeating from my 7:45PM, the claim “our STEM worker surplus would go away if we could only convince all those young Americans to get back into the humanities, business, and other less demanding academic pursuits” being a message of that article is purely a fantasy on your part.
“Recall that I’m willing to be convinced that there is not a STEM worker shortage.”
That must be a use of the phrase “willing to be convinced” of which I was previously unaware. You go right for the snark when challenged on the topic.
George, again, please produce evidence of a shortage that the Austrian Economists or the Chicago Boys would recognize as evidence of a shortage.

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Walt

16 September 2014

Well Bill,, we know how the hipsters have loved to say ” the science is settled”.
Well,, that makes them the “science deniers”. Science has called” BS on AGW “

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Bill Tozer

16 September 2014

Any scientist worth his/her weight in slide rules or pocket protectors will tell ya the science is never settled,
http://www.westernjournalism.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/153284_600.jpg

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Gregory

16 September 2014

A scoop! Ahead of the sleeping El Hefty, no less:
Brown has signed the groundwater bills; expect the usual suspects to be pushing to be in the front of the line forming to be collecting the rent.
http://www.gov.ca.gov/home.php

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Bill Tozer

16 September 2014

Wait a minute. Those that want to send us back to the Stone Age to live in caves to Save Mother Earth from our carbon footprint are taking modern transportation to New York City?
There are a lot more exotic or historical locations than New York City to save us all from being like ants on hot pavement., Bali, Paris, Rome, Java, or Fiji or any place besides New York City. Don’t take this wrong. I am glad New York’s local economy will get a boost from all the extra limo drivers descending on the airports to pick up 2-3 passengers each from the thousands of private jets and planes arriving at the Big Apple.
Now wait just another one cotton pickin minute. Should not they lead by example and arrive in sailboats, homemade rafts, or walk to New York City, leaving no carbon footprint save some flatulence??
Ok, they can ride bicycles or perhaps tricycles would be more appropriate. They can also use those adorable swimming pool floaties shaped like Puff the Magic Dragon to cross the pond. Definitely appropriate.

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George Rebane

16 September 2014

Gregory 1226pm – The article told us that we have too many STEM graduates and not too many college graduates. Therefore, it did not recommend that we reduce our college throughput. If not graduating with STEM majors, then other non-STEM majors are left to the same number of students. For non-STEM majors I used the place holders “humanities, business, and other less demanding academic pursuits”. Substitute your own, but mine was the proper deduction from the thrust of the article.
Have no idea from where your accusation of “snark” comes. Is it gratuitous?
With regard to ‘having enough STEM workers’, the question is a bit murky (at least to me), and the debate definitely is not over. The Dept of Commerce counts 7.6M workers holding STEM jobs in the nation, but only 3.3M have STEM degrees. Then there’s the longstanding claim by the BLS that 3M+ US jobs go unfilled due to the lack of talent that can do basic math.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/georgeleef/2014/06/06/true-or-false-america-desperately-needs-more-stem-workers/
http://www.voxeu.org/article/future-us-skill-shortages-sorting-out-evidence
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/07/08/report-economy-will-face-shortage-of-5-million-workers-in-2020
http://www.encore.org/leading-economist
http://archive.cra.org/reports/wits/chapter_4.html
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/worker-shortage-coming-as-population-ages-report-2010-03-22
One can dig up more links, but I think that these show at least that there is some basis to the shortage of STEM, if not by absolute number, then at least in the proper skill sets. The debate is still on.
Finally, I believe that the feds have so mangled the job markets (upping the total cost of hiring a full time worker) that companies are going through all kinds of acrobatics trying to get cheaper workers, part-time workers, doing without new hires, substituting technology, offshoring, … which suck the air out of the classical argument that if there really were a shortage of workers, then wages would go up. The funny thing is that wages for STEM workers with the exact skill sets required have gone up and markedly. And yes, there will also be big job growth in all the non-STEM fields that I abbreviated in my 712pm.

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Walt

16 September 2014

The new “water war”.. Standoffs with property owners when the Ca. water agencies come to slap meters on their wells. This will make the Bundy incident look like a friendly hoedown over at McPherson’s acres.
Let the lawsuits begin, before the shoot’n starts.

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George Rebane

16 September 2014

Re GeorgeR 341pm – William Galston reviews some of the facts behind today’s mangled labor markets and cites “Eight million Americans have simply dropped out of the economy since late 2007.”
http://online.wsj.com/articles/william-galston-saving-the-vanishing-american-worker-1410908001?mod=hp_opinion
I don’t think that humanities graduates heading for government jobs will be the ones to generate the GDP growth rate required to keep up with the net newbies hitting the job markets, let alone a growth rate that in any way can be considered to put us back on the road to recovery.
http://rebaneruminations.typepad.com/rebanes_ruminations/2012/09/the-real-jobs-problem-shhh.html
The obvious solutions for the growing throngs of unemployed is more welfare and diversions (in olden days they used to call it ‘bread and circuses’). Some non-obvious solutions have been discussed in these pages over the last several years. But as economist Tyler Cowen persuasively argues ‘The Average is Over’.
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303342104579097482945031804

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Brad C.

17 September 2014

And, in another poll, Panama ranks first in the well-being index.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/09/16/global-well-being-poll-panama/15679637/

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George Rebane

17 September 2014

BradC 909am – that’s a good find. A dear friend on the east coast (who was born and raised in the Canal Zone) is looking forward to retiring there. He has been singing praises of Panama’s manifest charms for years.
Don’t we all wish that the US would be a place that is attractive to the world’s successfully retireds?
PS. I draw your kind attention to the 17sep14 update to ‘Shamed into a strategy’.

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Gregory

17 September 2014

Is this the same Brad C. who once haunted the Java John’s morning martini brigade?

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Russ Steele

17 September 2014

Calpers Gets to Zero on Hedge Funds
By Megan McArdle in Bloomberg View
This is splendid news for all the people of California, though, of course, it will be a bit hard on the hedge fund managers. Notwithstanding the prospect of desperate fund managers having to fly commercial and sell the third home, other states should follow suit.
However, it’s worth noting what this means: California has given up on the hope of above-market returns from hedge fund investments. There is a reason that public-sector pensions have been pouring money into hedge funds: It’s become clear that they are dramatically underfunded. California, for example, is about 25 percent underfunded, according to its chief actuary, with only a 50 percent chance of meeting its 7.5 percent target for annual investment returns.
A state can deal with a pension shortfall in two ways: It can raise contributions, or it can try to get higher returns out of the assets it already has. As mentioned above, this isn’t really a strategy that’s open to a fund as large as Calpers, but that hasn’t stopped Calpers from trying. After a series of grossly irresponsible pension enhancements at the height of the stock market bubble, Calpers tried to make up for the shortfalls by using accounting gimmicks to lengthen the schedule of top-up contributions and pushing into riskier investments.

Now the riskier investments have failed, and the accounting gimmicks were mostly based on the hope that the higher returns would bail Calpers out at some unspecified later date. That leaves the California taxpayer with higher contributions. This has already become a problem with many state and local governments; expect it to become a problem for many more.

When SESF identified this potential problem in 2006 for our County Supervisors we were told they have it under control. I wonder if that is also true today? My guess it is not.

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fish

17 September 2014

Well of course no one wants to connect the dots….what with the bad press it might engender just prior to a contentious election.
http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-TV/2014/09/17/Doctor-Govt-Tight-Lipped-on-Respiratory-Virus-May-be-From-Illegals

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Brad

17 September 2014

Espresso martinis, mmm, good!

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Walt

17 September 2014

Is that urban Ritalin Brad?

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Bill Tozer

17 September 2014

On Dr.Rebane’s list at the beginning of this here sandbox, I could not but notice the top ten who have the lowest corporate tax rate are countries that are basically mono cultural. Guess they don’t embrace high corporate taxes nor worship diversity. Too many whites on the list which makes it soooooo wrong.
Our home brewed liberals here in the States don’t like low taxes one iota neither are they particularly fond of too many whities in one spot. Raise taxes and kill whities and all would be fine in the lib holes minds. Except if you be a white liberal, then raise taxes and kill the other whities that aren’t libowels.

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Walt

17 September 2014

These are just the ones they caught.
BREAKING: Four Terrorists Captured on US Border on September 10, 2014 – Day Before 9-11
Congressman Jason Chaffetz broke this shocking news Wednesday that four known terrorists were apprehended at the US border in Texas on September 10 – the day before the 13th anniversary of the 9-11 attacks.
I guess “O” heard about it on the news after his round of golf.

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Russ Steele

18 September 2014

Quote of the week:
The War on Poverty Has Been a Colossal Flop. “Since its beginning, U.S. taxpayers have spent $22 trillion on Johnson’s War on Poverty (in constant 2012 dollars). Adjusting for inflation, that’s three times more than was spent on all military wars since the American Revolution.”
If you think of it not as a program to eliminate poverty, but as a voter-farm for Democrats, it’s been fairly successful, though. Glenn Reynolds.
Now you know were the black hole for your tax dollars is, a failed war on poverty. This black hole has not gone away and it is still farming votes for Democrats.

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fish

18 September 2014

Espresso martinis, mmm, good!
Excedrin Migraine and Bloody Marys Now! Excedrin Migraine and Bloody Marys Forever!

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Walt

18 September 2014

The LIBS score another win against America.
http://dailycaller.com/2014/09/18/ninth-circuit-affirms-that-its-illegal-to-wear-american-flag-shirts-on-cinco-de-mayo/
They should be SO proud.

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Brad C.

18 September 2014

Another point of view on the war on poverty.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2014/09/16/us-poverty-rate-is-still-14-5-but-yes-the-war-on-poverty-worked/

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George Rebane

18 September 2014

BradC 854am – Excellent illustration of the liberal mind. The author argues that today our poverty rate should be lower (therefore the War on Poverty has worked) if we only counted most government welfare handouts (transfer payments) as ‘income’ to the recipients. This would push their total incomes above the defined poverty threshold income, and Voila! they would no longer be counted in the poor column. And then everyone could go back to celebrating the genius of Leviathan.
Instead, we don’t do that – we keep counting the welfare check from the govt as a welfare check from the govt (along with in kind services), and we only consider the recipient’s income as monies received in some form of non-transfer payments, like from a job. What a concept!
The article most certainly is “another point of view on the war on poverty”, and that it illustrates the fundamentals of progressive thinking, it also makes clear how in our polarized nation we should expect that never the twain shall meet. Bottom line, RussS’ 647am stands.

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Walt

18 September 2014

Ah yes.. the war on poverty… And poverty is winning. There is more on the dole than ever, despite the fake good news.

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