Tag Archive
for Money
Tagged as: Money, Political, The-News, Video
Aug
18
Lately I have been reading and enjoying Big Government, which is a website created by Andrew Breitbart. It is a website that advocates a smaller government by exposing the ways that the government is improperly doing things. It is definitely enlightening because the articles attempt to show the readers ways that our very own federal government (of the United States of America) are doing things that most of us would very likely disapprove of. And boy do we! (Or at least…I do.) Compounding the problem is that many of these things do not even seem legal in light of the 10th amendment!
This isn’t a long post and really I am not adding anything to the collective knowledge or opinion of the Internet. However I have been enjoying some of the videos that I have seen there and would therefore like to share:
Tagged as: Money, Political, Rant, Seen-Around
Aug
05
Lately I feel like I have been encountering people who are getting paid under the table, which means that they are being paid in a way that attempts to circumvent tax laws. Basically whoever is paying them is not reporting that payment as wages and that means that they are not liable for their share of the tax to the government. The person being paid has the benefit of also not being subject to tax for that payment amount, which effectively means that everyone is keeping more money for themselves.
Unfortunately there is a loser in this transaction. And that loser is everyone else. Everyone who does pay their taxes loses because:
- they could be paying less
- they could receive more benefits if everyone paid their taxes
- the national debt (which at the time of writing stands at over $13 trillion – check it out) could be lower
Instead it is left to the taxpayers to pick up their slack. Yes, even though they (the ones involved in this nefarious transaction) are likely working members of society who do not see themselves as being a burden (they are making their own money after all), their presence on the roads, need for protection (e.g., police, fire), and receipt of other benefits are proof that they have an impact on us.
Integrity? Yeah why don’t we go for that. Or at the absolute very least acknowledge label black as black and white as white. It is not something to be proud of and neither is stealing lunch money from a child.
Tagged as: Money, Political, Seen-Around
Jul
01
The whole situation with the California budget crisis is ridiculous. It is looking very likely that California will have to issue IOUs as the new fiscal year rolls around. How did we get into this pickle? The recession! The decreased revenue from falling property taxes and lack of state income taxes from those who are not working has left the Golden State in a huge predicament. $24.3 BILLION?? That is ridiculous.
In the special election on May 19, 2009, the people of this state voted against the increased taxes that were proposed. I am a fairly modest supporter of our Governator as he is standing against the tide. I agree with his observation that the people of California are sick and tired of living in the most taxed state of the United States of America! Even though he has not always been my favorite politician (really who is?), I am glad that he is attempting to stand for what he thinks that the people want.
Democratic state politicians on the other hard are, inexplicably, ridiculous. While they, too, are trying to stand for what they think that the people want, they are doing it in a way that is illogical. From trying to find loopholes to pass the budget with a simple majority (since they can’t pass what they want without Republican support) to trying to pass tax increases along with budget cuts, they are not making the process extremely difficult. They are still trying to get theirs while seeming to not understand what basic tasks they need to do in order to get the state’s finances in order.
Let us put it simply: California needs to cut its costs. It doesn’t have the money and at this point it is not reasonable to increase the taxes that it imposes on its population. At some point people are going to get tired of paying so much for the privilege of wonderful weather (and horrible smog). I wonder if the politicians know this. Maybe good old Mr. Olympia himself knows.
Tagged as: Money, Political, Rant
Feb
13
“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”
This is the 10th amendment to the United States Constitution, which effectively limits the power that the central government has. Have we forgotten this? Whatever happened to letting states decide things for themselves? Or even more, giving the rights to the people (without having it become a law).
On the cusp of the likely signing into law of the Economic Stimulus Plan by President Obama, I can’t help but wonder how we got to this place. This place is one where the federal government gets to control so much of such a wide variety of areas. Will spending more of (essentially) our money revive us? I have my doubts as that has been tried before by FDR’s administration.
This whole administration change has been interesting while I’m reading Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand, who would likely say that what President Obama stands for some of the most ultimate in evil because he is taking from the competent and giving to the incompetent.*
Check out the 10th Amendment Center.
What can we do? Perhaps decentralize the government a bit, huh? Not only is the government fairly unable to spend all of that money in a wise way, but they (at least in my mind) are going against the founding documents that this country is based on. Pragmatists will argue that desperate times call for desperate measures, but ideals are not just nebulous vapor. They are the foundation. Don’t let the foundation rot just so that the roof has new shingles. You can imagine the effect or even perhaps read about it here.
* – Amusingly, I say this as if I know Rand even though I’m only halfway through the novel. So if you know contrary please let me know but don’t spoil the novel for me!
Tagged as: Entertainment, Money, NBA
Jan
05
I do enjoy myself some National Basketball Association. The Los Angeles Lakers have been doing fairly well, and I must say that I’m happy about that. If you’re wondering, I’m not a band wagon fan unlike many other people in southern California!
Sometimes, though, I stop and think about the marketing for the NBA. “I love this game”?? Yeah, I’m sure that they love it so much. But what if they weren’t getting paid millions of dollars to play it? What if they only made the average salary of an American in 2007, which is $50,233? Okay let’s be generous and just go with an even $100,000. I doubt that we would get the talent that we have now because people wouldn’t devote their entire lives to getting better at the sport. Parents would force their kids to go through endless numbers of camps and drills in order to just get that perfect arc on their shot. They definitely wouldn’t spend every moment of the day in a gym. Well at least not the majority of them. I’m sure that some of them would still work just as hard because they really do love the game. But I’m sure that some of them would have to pursue other more lucrative careers that they could be successful at (such as rapping or investment banking).
Love the game? Yeah, not so much.
How is it that we live in a world where the player of a game (which I admittedly enjoy watching and participating in) can make many many times the amount of money of someone who is saving lives as a fireman? Or putting their lives on the line as policemen. Or helping the downtrodden. Money sure isn’t a direct correlation to importance in the grand scheme of things, is it?
How inequitable! But what else can I expect from a world tainted by sin?