Donald Trump

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DalaiLama wrote:

Here's the video of her inane comment:

http://video.dailymail.co.uk/video/1418450360/2014/10/1418450360_3862400677001_Hillary.mp4

I've flushed things that have more business savvy than Hillary Clinton.

Trickle-down economics - that is, cutting business taxes to spur job creation - is a lot like giving someone money to get pick up your food from the drive-through. It's a little bit silly to pretend like it cannot work, but it's also quite silly to trust complete strangers to do the right thing.

More accurately, it's akin to a government-ran drive-through pickup service. Because we all know what great managers they are.

Overall, the cost-benefit on it has to be terrible. I'd be surprised if every dollar of cut business tax would create even twenty cents of annual wage. Sure, there's some percentage of impact, statistically significant and real... but like a giving to a poorly ran charity, it might be exaggerating to say donations don't help at all where help is needed, but it's still essentially a scam.

The name is very appropriate. A trickle of the money "donated" goes where it's intended to.

Thing about cutting taxes is that it must be balanced with the money needed for public goods. Tax cuts are good, but you still need some government services and a balance must be reached. And yes, what public services should exist is a normative issue, but most of the west goes social democratic rather than libertarian or socialist. Cutting taxes without credible cuts to spending is not fiscal conservatism and it should be condemned.

How much money do you obtain for cutting taxes dependes on what side of the Laffer curve you are, but to my understanding is bad economics to expect increased revenue cutting the current effective rates in US. Republicans are full of shit about taxation since Reagan, and Trump is one of the most self serving politicians ever given how much he benefits and how much revenue is going to be lost without credible cuts to spending (there is an analysis of how much trillions of dollars is going to increase the debt). About that one you are completely wrong. Trump is a crony, and this is the easiest way to see it.

I'd rather change to a more efficient taxation scheme (things like LVT, VAT and pigouvian taxes with a more progressive redistribution scheme to compensate) rather than play cutting and raising rates ad infinitum.

PS: the deal with Trump is complete hypocrisy. He normally does what he says others shouldn't do. That goes beyond taxes.

Given that he doesn't want to release his most recent tax returns, it's probably he lost even more money in 2000-2010 from his casinos (following the NY story).

Also, you are seeing things in a very biased way (see Clinton comments about Sanders supporters, almost the only offended people are Trump supporters that hate Sanders supporters anyway). She is a hawk, she is definitively going to get some people killed, but she is not the embodiment of evil, and Trump definitively has no plan nor thick skin and he is going to make more people die just because of incompetence and stupidity.

Also, I'm pretty sure Trump is the one who lies more. Believing in him requires doublethink.

And let's not even talk about compromise. He is a narcissist. He is probably unable to do that.

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ScrotieMcB wrote:

"

DalaiLama wrote:

Here's the video of her inane comment:

http://video.dailymail.co.uk/video/1418450360/2014/10/1418450360_3862400677001_Hillary.mp4

I've flushed things that have more business savvy than Hillary Clinton.

Trickle-down economics - that is, cutting business taxes to spur job creation - is a lot like giving someone money to get pick up your food from the drive-through. It's a little bit silly to pretend like it cannot work, but it's also quite silly to trust complete strangers to do the right thing.

More accurately, it's akin to a government-ran drive-through pickup service. Because we all know what great managers they are.

Overall, the cost-benefit on it has to be terrible. I'd be surprised if every dollar of cut business tax would create even twenty cents of annual wage. Sure, there's some percentage of impact, statistically significant and real... but like a giving to a poorly ran charity, it might be exaggerating to say donations don't help at all where help is needed, but it's still essentially a scam.

The name is very appropriate. A trickle of the money "donated" goes where it's intended to.

There is very little correlation between tax cut for the rich and economical growth.

By the way, I'm not saying I'm necessarily against (nor for) tax cuts for businesses and/or the rich. I'm just critical of bullshit reasons for justifying such tax cuts, e.g. pretending it's a (proactive Dalai nitpick edit: cost-)effective jobs program. Give me a real reason and I might hop on board.

"

ScrotieMcB wrote:

By the way, I'm not saying I'm necessarily against (nor for) tax cuts for businesses and/or the rich. I'm just critical of bullshit reasons for justifying such tax cuts, e.g. pretending it's an effective jobs program. Give me a real reason and I might hop on board.

I aprove this message by ScrotieMcB.

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ScrotieMcB wrote:

By the way, I'm not saying I'm necessarily against (nor for) tax cuts for businesses and/or the rich. I'm just critical of bullshit reasons for justifying such tax cuts, e.g. pretending it's a (proactive Dalai nitpick edit: cost-)effective jobs program. Give me a real reason and I might hop on board.

Tax cut for the poor and middle class is supposedly more effective in creating jobs. Tax hike on the rich have negligible effect on the economy. Shhhhhh.... It's a secret!

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NeroNoah wrote:

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/172772609627394049

That's a really bad spin. Get off the phone, Dahnald.

(I like how Ted Cruz says Dahnald)

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ScrotieMcB wrote:

Trickle-down economics

There is no "trickle" about it.

There are two parts:

1)Giant floodgate for development is opened or closed.

2)Alternate pumps and pipelines are activated to keep water flowing uphill. When floodgates are open, the pump rate is high. When floodgates are closed, the pump rate only needs to be positive.

We have been entering a closed flood gate cycle for several months. (I haven't looked to see whether economists have picked up on this yet).

I will not disclose anything that could be construed as inside information. It is typical in an election year to see business get antsy about what direction their money should take.

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ScrotieMcB wrote:

, but it's also quite silly to trust complete strangers to do the right thing.

Trust shouldn't even be part of the equation. Tying tax cuts to job creation, job sustainment and tangible productive gain with rates that reward longer term trends and penalize attempt to flip capital would take any need to trust out of the equation. How to do that without causing a collapse or panic for current finances (especially those whose investments are managed for them) is extremely problematic.

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ScrotieMcB wrote:

Overall, the cost-benefit on it has to be terrible. I'd be surprised if every dollar of cut business tax would create even twenty cents of annual wage.

The rule of thumb is a seven fold return of money to the economy for cut taxes. It depends on the actual tax rate and how many interim steps are involved. The amount of any cost cutting measure that is returnable to wages depends on the company's labor model. It can be as high as 33% or more, or as down to 10-15%. Getting below 10% requires a high order of efficiency, but it can be done.

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ScrotieMcB wrote:

Sure, there's some percentage of impact, statistically significant and real... but like a giving to a poorly ran charity, it might be exaggerating to say donations don't help at all where help is needed, but it's still essentially a scam. The name is very appropriate. A trickle of the money "donated" goes where it's intended to.

It can be abused (just as capital investment tax rates are frequently abused), but it isn't a scam.

Let's say you run a cab company and get 100,000 in savings. You can't just throw all of that money towards new employees. A portion your costs are fixed as overhead, but for each new potential driver you will need more than just their wages. You will need a vehicle, motor vehicle insurance, licensing, fuel and maintenance, L&I insurance, and possibly employee health insurance.

Is your business market conducive to expansion, or is it saturated? Could you better use that money to update your aging taxi fleet, or pay down some debt, so that you are wasting less income on financing costs?

There are a lot of risks to running a business. Certainty is a big helping factor. Even if the certainty isn't positive, at least it lets you make decisions that are better long term for your company.

When companies believe the long term outlook is good for investing and growing, they will begin to expand, if their company can do so. If you make popcorn machines for movie theaters and already have 85% of the market, expansion doesn't make much sense, unless you can branch out to something new like cotton candy.

So a the rising tide of money from a wise tax cut may not raise all boats, but in the long run, it will raise most boats.

Regulation can be just as big of a negative factor, if it isn't done very carefully.

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ScrotieMcB wrote:

By the way, I'm not saying I'm necessarily against (nor for) tax cuts for businesses and/or the rich. I'm just critical of bullshit reasons for justifying such tax cuts, e.g. pretending it's a (proactive Dalai nitpick edit: cost-)effective jobs program. Give me a real reason and I might hop on board.

It would need to be tied into investment reform. The people flipping money rapidly for small incremental percentages are sucking the life out of the system.

The resistance from large hedge funds would require an international pact to keep them from just shifting the money out of the regulated areas.

.....

It wouldn't matter what information I posted to explain or prove whether tax cuts generate a stronger economy. People who don't know how companies really work from a hands on perspective won't be able to gauge whether what I say is accurate or not. They will have to rely on "experts" and economists, and academics. While these folks seem to "know" a lot, they aren't the actual drivers of the economy.

They can talk about expanding and contracting economies and what drives them, but again, they are not there in the board room making decisions. When you are the owner/executive/decision maker of a company and you know EXACTLY why your company decided to do X instead of Y, it is an entirely different game.

The tax percentage is a factor on the PNL, but it is just one of many factors. People are entitled to their opinions, and they can believe which ever theories they want. I don't subscribe to any economic theories, as I have participated in economic actuals.

It doesn't matter to me whether people accept the truth or choose to ignore it. I'm not making the effort to persuade people to change their opinions. That almost never does any good, except make enemies.

Why bother then?

When you repeatedly and consistently offer correct information, there are enough people who realize it later on and come back and either engage in productive discussion, or thank you for showing them something they would not have seen on their own for a long time.

IRL, it is often much easier, because you can show people a lot, rather than tell them about it. When they can see it, touch it and watch it happening, they are seldom unconvinced.

Enjoy the ride.

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Xavderion wrote:

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NeroNoah wrote:

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/172772609627394049

That's a really bad spin. Get off the phone, Dahnald.

2012 called and Merveil wants her fireball spell back!

Path of Exile patch history from the same month and year as that tweet:
Version 0.9.6 Feb 2012:

Vulatas has been reborn as Hailrake, is now cold-themed and casts Ice Spear.

Merveil now uses Ice Spear rather than Fireball. Cold resistance is an effective plan against her.

Made all Maelstrom of Chaos areas level 60. Increased their difficulty substantially.

Added a new monster aura: Other allies can't die until the boss is killed.

Added a new monster mod: Immunity to curses.