The income tax is regressive. It punishes people for making money, to the point that now we have a class of people who invoke a love of money. Like the income tax, sales taxes require business entrepreneurs to cut into their profits in order to pay people to maintain their books, or else cut into their OWN time for doing the business they are trying to do. This was once pointed out to me, as a kid, by a DEMOCRAT and small business owner when REPUBLICANS were implementing a sales tax in the state of New York. Who was Rocky? The small business person deemed the sales tax, “Rocky’s Tax?” Think about it and answer, who was Rocky? It was not Silvester Stallone, either. A value-added tax, or VAT, is a tax one time proposed by CONSERVATIVES because it returns us to the days before the income and sales taxes. As a solution, I don’t give one damn whether it is liberal or conservative. All Americans should be the same and stop the BS that goes into their ears from propaganda broadcasting owned by an immigrant from Australia. It allows a tax to be collected on products, perhaps not services, at the time the products are created or re-made and appraised. The cost to the consumer is the price figured with the tax added in and there is no damn paperwork and ledgers required by business. It would “save businesses” all this money that the big fat cats keep drying and moaning about not being able to save in order to make a profit. But really. These big business fat cats don’t have to worry about it because they can dip into their profits and pay lawyers and accountants, plus pay for lawyers and accountants to run for Congress. For the small business people of America, which is greatly declined, due to the deregulation and monopolized status resulting from supply-side non-capitalist, non-competitive business in America (which is like centralized business planning in a communist state like Cuba, China, or the former Soviet Union). Fat cat Ray Kroc, and other bastards of this non-capitalist model really did work to deliberately put small business people out of business. This is how we have ended up where we are, with jobs created for lawyers (ambulance-chasing bastards when there was a glut of lawyers with no jobs) while so many other jobs and businesses in America suffer or go under. This CAN be changed. It won’t be changed until the lousy no-brain idiocracy stops soaking up propaganda broadcasting, read newspapers and other publications with knowledge, not propaganda, lies, fibs, hatred, hypocrisy, and irrational crap. Replace income taxes and sales taxes with the VAT. Period. Another time, this author wishes to speak about other taxes, like property taxes, inheritance taxes, and professional fees required for those in the trades and in work such as EMTs to attain licenses to work for America and its people.
What has happened to the small business incubator concept which this professor taught students in business at the college level in the 1990s? We never hear about these anymore. We taught students about developing a small business and taught them how to use databases to do market research in order to identify the market portions which would help make them profits in a business. For instance, there was a database which could provide information to fulfill the requirement of “location, location, location” by examining the numbers of drivers going in dual directions on any street or highway. This could be utilized for best placement of a business. This was not the ONLY database, but it was useful for determining placement of brick and mortar retail establishments. You say, “well things have changed today.” You are correct. If it is not just “brick and mortar” alone, then there are statistics for the impact of ordering online and delivery services today. One could put together a successful business plan, according to such marketing trends which never end once the plan is made. So, of the idiocracy which finds fault with unemployment checks being issued (and just salivating about complaining about Democrats) and causing negative pessimism in order to DESTROY rather than fix, I never hear ANY of the lawyer-accountant politicians come up with optimistic ideas such as, “give unemployment checks” to those who will utilize and PROVE the use of business plans, business incubators, and other methods of doing supply and demand capitalist marketing. Provide options for training in corporate and business intelligence, something the big fat cats at the top of monopolistic centrally planned corporations figure they are above such use. These lazy fat cats at the heads of corporations believe we should just hand the money over to them so they can line their pockets and pay off lawyer-accountant politicians to do favors for them in government, lobbying for their fat ass benefit only. Small business incubators and other considerations could be pulled in, but who is doing this? Silly me that I don’t go along with the large numbers of people with their simplistic shallow no-brain lazy listening to Fox and other propaganda, lies, hatred, love of money and guns talk. They refuse to think for themselves so perhaps would find it hard to accept a check for unemployment with strings attached to do something to improve America by means of the business environment and other concerns for America.
Supply-side economics in America was promoted with deregulation by Ronald Reagan. The stupid man thought it would be about less regulation from the third-party government regulators. Instead, it has turned into a Roman gladiator game by big fat cats of corporations who destroy small business and any competitors. They act like cowards unable to know how to win in a competitive war. For instance, big health insurance helped sabotage and destroy the health insurance marketplace created for the purposes of CAPITALIST competition, by Democrats and President Obama. Corporate utilities have been deregulated and have turned into merged companies of large proportions. Newspapers and publishers have merged and become huge corporations. In each case, the excuse, without the competition, is usually these moans and groans about how “there is not enough profit.” It’s about the top corporate fat cats making the money to the tune of increased salaries and bonuses which have risen exponentially since the 1970s when we had smaller corporations, small businesses and more capitalist competition. The big fat cats at the top have been winning and don’t give one damn about the demand side of a capitalist market. Yet, the corporate where I worked, when it was deregulated and merged into a larger one was known as being a “cash cow.” There was no reason for doing this because more people took advantage of the “cash cow,” but now only a few at the top and those who own the most stock benefit from the profits. Thus, there is top-down control which does not benefit the Middle Class or lower classes. In the process, R&D money has been snipped and America has fallen far behind in the world economy. R&D being done in the company where I once worked has been moved to Europe and Asia. All due to supply-side economics in the name of “free markets” which then turn the big fat cats at the top into those similar to the big fat cats in a communist politburo who make all the money and CLAIM the workers do well. It’s centrally planned supply-side economics, stupid, not capitalism with its capitalist competition which creates “wealth of a nation” (18th Century theorist, Adam Smith who ultimately rejected “free markets” because he said human beings had no self-control, follow the model of Jesus Christ, and be moral and ethical when dealing with each other, so they need to be REGULATED).
People have a bias against Democrats, so without thinking reasonably, there are those who hear Fox or other bastard news sources who proclaim business cannot hire people due to the unemployment checks, then blame the Democrats. Oh, really? Before the pandemic hit and there was far less unemployment. At that time, BEFORE THE PANDEMIC, I was hearing moaners and groaners in business complaining there was not enough people to hire so the person “could not do my job.” I am hearing the same thing now, but they now have this bias on their lousy brains and blame Democrats. I never heard them blame Trump and the Trumpicans who proclaimed a “good economy” (that is, a good economy for the wealthy and the stockholders, but not many others). Repeat. I never heard these moaners and groaners complain about the Republicans and Trumpicans then, but now they figure they have something to grab and blame. What a bunch of stupid people of the idiocracy.
American Customer Service Sucks Big Time
American fat cats at the top of the big corporate conglomerates, go screw yourselves with your pockets being filled at the expense of employees and the consumers on the DEMAND SIDE OF THE MARKET.
Right now, there is a damn delay in everything I type and my keyboard sucks. Who does this and sets my Internet and computer up this way? Scam artists who suck. Lousy customer service. LOUSY in America.
Customer service sucks when you call and “due to COVID-19, we are inundated,” is the reply. I don’t believe it. I think there are a bunch of lazy liars in big corporate offices who don’t want to pay employees to do the job so they can take money from the consumer the lazy person’s way. Screw such American fat cats. SCREW them. So, what is it we do? We can wait fifteen minutes for someone to call back. Yes, and we on the consumer side have nothing else to do in our lives, do we? The lazy ones are at the top of the freaking fat cat line. We are not lazy. What are we supposed to do in these situations? Sit around twiddling our thumbs and wait for a phone call? That is BS and describes a really LOUSY American business today.
With so many people lacking jobs and income today, why is it that we, the customer of the local MORNING newspaper, Press & Sun-Bulletin, have to tolerate the lack of delivery and/or the delivery of a morning newspaper at 3 PM? Why?
When, as a kid, I delivered the morning newspaper called the Sun-Bulletin, I had the newspaper in the hands of my customers by 5 – 6 AM each morning. It never mattered whether the skies were clear, cloudy, rain coming down, or snow falling. I had the newspaper to my customers early in the morning. I wanted to provide QUALITY service.
How do the big corporate fat cats at Gannett handle this problem? They close the local offices of the Press & Sun-Bulletin, as well as the one for the Ithaca Journal. Everything operated out of Virginia and customer services provided by people with foreign accents. Perhaps these people pick up their phones in India or elsewhere? When someone wishes to cancel the subscription, the answer is to convince them … CONVINCE THE DEMAND SIDE OF THE MARKET… to read the newspaper online. If the newspaper does not get delivered, customer service then tries to convince THE DEMAND SIDE OF A CAPITALIST MARKET to read it online. We on the DEMAND SIDE OF THE CAPITALIST MARKET don’t want waste American energy reading newspapers because the newspapers are not readable for us. Thus, the big fat cats at the top can convince everyone that “no one wants to read the print copy and it costs us too much.” Who does not want to read print copies? It’s the damn fat cats at the top of the corporation. They are like the early days of a young Anakin Skywalker (who later becomes Darth Vader, the evil dark side of the Jedi knights) who would use his powers to CONVINCE people. The big fat cats want to horde money by destroying pensions and benefits of the hard-working folks and then horde the money for the fat cats only. Just like Southern plantation owners. Since the 1970s, fat cats have found their incomes increase exponentially, over 1000%. Hard working people have not seen such an increase, while published print copies of newspapers and books are taken from them.
A claim I have heard, possibly created by lousy accountants whose lips are brown after supporting the fat cats, that circulation of the newspaper no longer helps set the price of advertising. Oh, really. I don’t really believe such BS. If I do believe such BS, I have to ask, then WHO made the change in the newspaper industry that we have arrived at such a circumstance and for what reason was the change made? So as to allow fat cats to horde more money, like an Ebeneezer Scrooge.
No one stands up to this, as I do. But I won’t tolerate the crap. What kinds of retributions should I see, as I criticize and people act like a lousy coward like Donald Trump and attack us, as if there should be no free speech or criticism. Only speech of hatred allowed, right? But absolutely no criticism for making life better for all American citizens, right? Is that where we are today? BS on that.
A morning newspaper at 3 PM. How bizarre. There are three morning newspapers within about equal distance to my home. The Press & Sun-Bulletin, the Ithaca Journal, and the Morning Times of Sayre, PA. The ONLY one to deliver newspapers here, outside of the Sunday edition of The New York Times from NEW YORK CITY, is the Press & Sun-Bulletin. No competition and choice for delivery of a LOCAL daily newspaper. The Morning Times of Sayre, PA, is published six days of the week, as was the Sun-Bulletin, when I delivered it, and Gannett did not own it. But the Morning Times does not deliver to this area and one has to subscribe to it for mail delivery. It arrives several days late. Unlike Gannett, though, the Morning Times is still run at the local level. One can actually call a local office and speak to a human being, not a damn computer with extensive useless sequence through a “menu” of options.
This is just one part of the disgust I feel about American business and the fat cats who horde the money and don’t give one damn about what happens at the local level. As long as they get their pockets lined, these fat cats run a supply side economics which is NOT capitalism which is intended to be supply AND demand, providing choices in the market which give each organization a chance to make money through profits the old fashioned way: “to earn it.”
I am being such a damn conservative when I say this, don’t you know? For the sake of progress, I believe in some conservative methods and principles which have been abandoned by the fat cats who support the Trumpicans. These fat head fat cats are NOT conservative, but a bunch of fascist neo-cons.
There is no thanks to give to fat cats, lawyers, accountants and the other dimwits who allow this all to happen because, with their pockets heavily lined, they can encourage Americans of the Middle Class and below to pit one against the other and can afford really lousy commercials to do it. Shallow commercials. They laugh and think this is all humorous. It is not humorous, including the Trump dimwitted crap about “you’re fired” on a lousy freaking reality show. Shallow crap. Or should I say I need to put on my hip boots to walk through the muck (meaning something else with a different word, but I won’t use that other word).
Sixty Minutes: The Richie Boys
What a neat story about the Richie Boys, as told this evening (May 9, 2021) on Sixty Minutes. The guys interviewed explained how proud they were to be Americans and to serve the nation they could turn to as Hitler threatened these guys in Germany and they lost family to the Holocaust. Stupid people of the American idiocracy make false claims about the Holocaust not existing, as they claim that Trump won the 2020 election and Biden lost. They have only false information they love to spread and have loud big mouths and people who enable them to spread the lies. These Richie Guys appreciate what America did for them.
The Proud Boys and Qanon and other idiots of this sort need to take lessons about how to appreciate what they have in America. They need to stop the BS regarding the gun folks of the NRA and the violence they promulgate. These idiots in American white supremacy need to express appreciation for what they have, whether it comes from liberal or conservatives, black people or gay people or whomever. Shame on this hypocrisy and vicious attitudes of white supremacists who work to scare Americans.
Interestingly enough, Texans defeated many Democrats (according to article in May 9, 2021, New York Times Magazine) and then turned on black voters by putting voting restrictions in place. This was done with a false sense of voter fraud and insistence that Trump won the election. If there is fraud, then why do the Republicans still control the state of Texas? Could it be due to fraud in the election as the reason for such power by the Republicans of Texas? Stupid people of idiocracy in big Texas.
Someone I knew in my younger years lives in Houston and badgered me in 2003-2004 to vote for Bush. People were also so impressed because he works for the Saudi Arabians. The Saudi Arabians, like Hitler, executes the nation’s own citizens. What vicious and stupid people in the idiocracy of big Texas.
Fraud in elections helped elect the power base of Republicans, just as in Florida.
George W. Bush once said, “what’s good for business is good for America.” I never liked it when he said it in the past. It has gotten worse today. What he TRULY means is that what is good for supply-side economics in America is good for America. In other words, what’s good for fat cats at the top, with a love of money, taking and hoarding the money for themselves and working “trickle-down” economics otherwise, like WE THE PEOPLE are a bunch of slaves designed to get a pittance of money to live on. At least we get more than the Africans who were brought to these shores beginning in 1619.
What’s good for America is good business and capitalism with supply AND demand side considerations, with competition and regulation by government. This was actually what theologian and economist, Adam Smith, a contemporary of our Founding Fathers, said was best, due to the natural human tendency to be greedy and selfish.
For example. Local newspapers in America no longer feel compelled to compete, especially where there is a less dense population, such as the areas around Binghamton, Ithaca, and Sayre, PA. Three newspapers serve this area, but only ONE newspaper, from Binghamton, will deliver to an area situated DIRECTLY BETWEEN ITHACA AND BINGHAMTON, as the CROW flies. Communist style Moscow Pravda runs it all from Virginia and at offices of Gannett. They don’t find good delivery people, in the midst of a population which is crying out, due to the lack of money. So we constantly get screwed and feel po’d about the services and get no satisfaction. The lazy bums at the tops of the corporations simply write it off as no problem and insist we read it in digital copy. BS. Most people do not want to read it that way, but it is the way the freaking fat cats can horde more money, proclaiming that “they cannot make as much otherwise.” Sure. THEY, the FAT CATS cannot make more money, so they push a LAZY MAN’S way of delivery – electronically, which uses MORE energy to do so and they proclaim they are “saving trees.” BS. I have an answer. Publish on RECYCLED PAPER and you can save more TREES and use LESS ENERGY. You BS artists with a love of money.
Then there is Verizon Wireless in this low-density population area. We can look out of our yard and can see the Verizon tower. No hills to interrupt it. Hell. There were more high-rise buildings in Palm Beach County to block the signal there and we COULD NOT VIEW the damn tower from our home. But the service was far better and we seldom had connections in which people keep repeating, “Did you say something? Hello? Hello?” Constantly on Verizon Wireless in this little town in America. One can travel down the road and receive NO service at all. That sucks and I am here to say, “I am sick and tired of this BS and ain’t going to take it anymore.” Will anyone join me in saying this?
No one wishes to join collectively and say anything about this in loud voices. Instead we are forced to listen to the BS of QAnon or Proud Boys with their damn guns of the NRA. Instead, with regard to Verizon, which has a tower near my home, this is what people say. “Well, it gets worse when the leaves are on the trees.’ REALLY? In Florida with high rise buildings blocking signals there is one more thing. THEY HAVE LEAVES ON THE TREES 12 MONTHS OF THE YEAR, DAMN IT ALL. That is making excuses for big business and their love of money attitude which pays no attention to the DEMAND SIDE of the market and MEETING the demand. They put money in the pockets of Claudia Tenney, the bitch who won a congressional seat by only 100 votes and into the wealthy of fat cat Mitch McConnell who uses his money to sabotage efforts of Biden and the Democrats to accomplish something. While wimps among the damn Republicans GO ALONG out of fear of being attacked. Poor people. Feel sorry for such wimps.
Then there is Spectrum which also contributed heavily to BITCH Claudia Tenney who won by only about 100 votes. They are in denial about attacks online against their customers and do nothing. Their streaming service sucks big time as we get constant buffering all the time. CONSTANT. Are they interested in giving more than, “oh, we apologize,” and DO SOMETHING? Nope. The dopes of Spectrum with fat cats at the top, trying to preserve their supply side trickle-down economics, while in denial to the DEMAND SIDE of the market. At least in Florida, there was Laurie’s TV which provided us with a Community Antenna TV (CATV) option which was far better than the crap from a monopoly here. And get Haefele TV or others to COMPETE effectively with Spectrum with CATV? Forget it. We take more than just one step back in this situation, when one considers the BETTER service we received back in the 1960s and 1970s, due to LOCALLY OWNED cable television. We did not have hundreds and hundreds of channels, as what is provided by Laurie’s TV in Palm Beach County, but we on the demand side were happy. It was a capitalist competitive means, too, of selling homes in the community which had Laurie’s TV. Capitalist competition at the local level.
We’re mad as hell and ain’t going to take it anymore. Anyone with us, collectively, or do you continue to be a bunch of wimpish people afraid of confrontation and retribution and who won’t do one damn thing to maintain America’s capitalism and democratic forms of government?
Tioga Herald 
Short & To the Point: Property Taxes or Not?
Property taxes have been around for a long time. At one time, property could only be owned by white males. They paid the property taxes. It is pleasant that we live today with human equality. Or do we? Perhaps, because if one can afford property, they pay the taxes, irregardless of sex, color of skin, religion, or sexual identity. Thank God for that. But are property taxes the best form of tax or should we have other forms? This author is not certain and has wrestled with this question for some time. Property taxes are used at the local level to support streets, sidewalks, public schools, public hospitals, and other local community facilities and actions. Property taxes are paid whether one owns the property or rents the property. If one rents the property, the tax is like a value-added tax (VAT) and is opaque to the renter. The owner of the property sets the price of rent based on the property taxes (supposedly, if the owner is an intelligent one who pays the taxes). What is the alternative? Opaque taxes like a VAT take less paperwork and less work by accountants and lawyers, so we save money. If the VAT causes too high a price for the commodity, then people have a choice in a capitalist market. Thus, the price can be controlled by the value of the commodity PLUS value of the tax on the commodity. With property taxes, this can become a more complicated matter, as the demand side of the housing market is quite an infinite demand, unless people choose to pitch a tent in a public park, as what happens with the homeless. Also, property taxes are applied whether there is a home for residents or a building for commercial or industrial use. The tax is lower when it is an open field or wooded area with no buildings. Then there is the farmland consideration. Too complicated for me to consider here at this time. Homestead exemption options (primary residence, so get a deduction, but 2nd property and/or property only used as an investment not residence, and there is no deduction) and STAR (NYS). People who own rental property do so as an investment, so to lower the cost to renters, rental property for personal residences could have a higher homestead exemption, could they not? After all, owning a piece of real estate with no building does have a lower assessment and a lower tax. I know. I was once in that position. So, why can’t we give residential rental property a higher exemption? Owners of business, commercial, and manufacturing rental property are leasing to people who are more likely expected to make a profit. Residents are often pushed into a position to make little profit, especially with an income tax which considers profits for the “little guys” – the common folk – to be “disposable income.” How insane, which also makes me consider how irrational the regressive income tax is in punishing people for making a profit.
Category:
Commentary, Economics, Regulated Capitalism, Commerce, New Comments
Leave a comment
Tagged with: