Bear Pit: now the sole domicile of politics at LuLa

[jeremyrh]

You're smart you left when you did.  California is so broke,

Quite bizarre.  TechTalk gave you chapter and verse on how California is not at all broke, and you take no notice and just repeat the falsehood. Really - what’s the point in engaging with you if you just make stuff up?

[Robert Roaldi]

What's the thinking behind this kind of thing? Why do conservatives/Republicans/Trumpeteers not care about having clean drinking water?

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/13/trump-epa-toxic-chemical-458962

Long-term, what's the upside?

[MattBurt]

What's the thinking behind this kind of thing? Why do conservatives/Republicans/Trumpeteers not care about having clean drinking water?

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/13/trump-epa-toxic-chemical-458962

Long-term, what's the upside?

Good for the bottled water industry maybe? It's weird.
In reality I think they just don't like it because Dems like it.

[Robert Roaldi]

Money talks, Trump walks https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/13/koch-network-capitol-riots-459143.

Sorry, but how could I resist?   

[Robert Roaldi]

Here's an article about one those "First Amendment Protesters", https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/13/qanon-nancy-pelosi-murder-plot-458981.

I guess he feels he needs ammo to be heard.

[Alan Klein]

Quite bizarre.  TechTalk gave you chapter and verse on how California is not at all broke, and you take no notice and just repeat the falsehood. Really - what’s the point in engaging with you if you just make stuff up?

California is broke.  I'm not lying and it's tiring you calling me that.  That Trump game you play is getting old.  California had a one-time input from billions in capital appreciation of stock sold by rich Californians.  This was not expected by anyone.   They were expecting billions of dollars deficit which will continue in the future.  Half of California's income comes from rich people.    What are they going to do next year? 

Why do you think rich Californians like Elon Musk are moving out taking a Tesla plant with him to Texas?

State Expects to Receive Surplus Revenue, But Sees Deficits on the Horizon
"Despite enjoying a record $34 billion budget surplus and prudent reserves from burgeoning but one-time tax revenues, California budget officials expect to see fiscal deficits in the next three years, state Finance Director Keely Martin Bosler told business leaders during a California Chamber of Commerce webinar yesterday."
https://advocacy.calchamber.com/2021/01/13/state-expects-to-receive-surplus-revenue-but-sees-deficits-on-the-horizon/

[jeremyrh]

California is broke.  I'm not lying and it's tiring you calling me that. 

So a $34 billion surplus means "broke". Thanks for clearing that up

[Petrus]

Alan is a man of the future. What for us is "now" is 3 year old history for him. That is why he writes "is broke" while we would say "might become broke", or "will be broke".

[Jim Pascoe]

California is broke.  I'm not lying and it's tiring you calling me that.  That Trump game you play is getting old.  California had a one-time input from billions in capital appreciation of stock sold by rich Californians.  This was not expected by anyone.   They were expecting billions of dollars deficit which will continue in the future.  Half of California's income comes from rich people.    What are they going to do next year? 

Why do you think rich Californians like Elon Musk are moving out taking a Tesla plant with him to Texas?

State Expects to Receive Surplus Revenue, But Sees Deficits on the Horizon
"Despite enjoying a record $34 billion budget surplus and prudent reserves from burgeoning but one-time tax revenues, California budget officials expect to see fiscal deficits in the next three years, state Finance Director Keely Martin Bosler told business leaders during a California Chamber of Commerce webinar yesterday."
https://advocacy.calchamber.com/2021/01/13/state-expects-to-receive-surplus-revenue-but-sees-deficits-on-the-horizon/

Do fiscal deficits really mean a state is broke?  Surely that would mean most of the Western World is broke. The US is broke - but of course plenty of wealthy people will ensure it survives.  Big business cannot sell stuff to people who are permanently 'broke' can they?

[Alan Klein]

Alan is a man of the future. What for us is "now" is 3 year old history for him. That is why he writes "is broke" while we would say "might become broke", or "will be broke".

So a $34 billion surplus means "broke". Thanks for clearing that up

Read the article.  That was a one-shot deal. The State Finance Director expects deficits for the next three years. 

[Alan Klein]

Do fiscal deficits really mean a state is broke?  Surely that would mean most of the Western World is broke. The US is broke - but of course plenty of wealthy people will ensure it survives.  Big business cannot sell stuff to people who are permanently 'broke' can they?

The way it works in America is that only the Federal government can print money,  None of the 50 US States can print.  Most states require themselves to have a balanced budget.  They have to receive taxes to offset their budgets every year.  They can't borrow money to pay for expenses. And they can't print money. However, they're very clever in getting around that somehow by issuing bonds and other accounting methods to cover shortfalls.  Now that the Democrats have taken over the Federal government, states are figuring the Congress and President Biden will bail them out.  That probably will happen at least to some degree.  States were in big trouble before the COvid.  Pensions and other ongoing expenses are outstripping taxes collected.  Covid has made it worse.  With less business and people working, the states collect fewer taxes while their expenses remain the same.  So there are even bigger shortfalls. 

[Alan Klein]

Do fiscal deficits really mean a state is broke?  Surely that would mean most of the Western World is broke. The US is broke - but of course plenty of wealthy people will ensure it survives.  Big business cannot sell stuff to people who are permanently 'broke' can they?

Most of the Western world is broke too or under a lot of pressure at least. You're right about the rich people.  However, what's happening is they're getting richer at the expense of everyone else.  That windfall of money in California came from people who sold stocks.  California taxes 10% of the profit made when you sell stock.  So the very rich in Silicon Valley and elsewhere there sold stock that went up a lot last year.  it went up because the Federal Reserve central bank printed a lot of money and bailed out the corporations and stock market.  Meanwhile, poor people or those who can't afford to own assets got nothing comparably.  And inflation will kick in at some point reducing the purchasing power of the currency making it hard for poorer people to eat and pay rent.  So the rich got richer and the poor got poorer.  The same thing is happening with the Euro and other currencies as other central banks print and inflate their money too.

[jeremyrh]

Most of the Western world is broke too or under a lot of pressure at least. You're right about the rich people.  However, what's happening is they're getting richer at the expense of everyone else.  That windfall of money in California came from people who sold stocks.  California taxes 10% of the profit made when you sell stock.  So the very rich in Silicon Valley and elsewhere there sold stock that went up a lot last year.  it went up because the Federal Reserve central bank printed a lot of money and bailed out the corporations and stock market.  Meanwhile, poor people or those who can't afford to own assets got nothing comparably.  And inflation will kick in at some point reducing the purchasing power of the currency making it hard for poorer people to eat and pay rent.  So the rich got richer and the poor got poorer.  The same thing is happening with the Euro and other currencies as other central banks print and inflate their money too.

Alan - the 80's are calling and want their economic theory back!

[Alan Klein]

Alan - the 80's are calling and want their economic theory back!

Explain.

[Alan Klein]

Biden just screwed up the whole vaccine schedule by opening it up to more people.  At 75, I'm in group 1B which now means little because half the people living in NJ now are eligible to get the vaccine.  As long as they have certain issues like overweight, etc, they can be 16 years old and up and get the shot. 

I called to get an appointment and was 10,281st in line.  Then the site shut down from overuse.  It's a clusterf##k.  My wife and I have been on the web and telephone and you can't get through or info from anyone.  So now, the very old people who are most vulnerable are in the same group as everyone else.  After all that we learn who's dying from this disease, they changed the game plan.  If Trump rather than Biden did this, everyone would be screaming he's killing people.

Now, I bet there won't be enough shots for the second one you have to get in three weeks even assuming you're lucky enough to get the first shot. 

[LesPalenik]

Most of the Western world is broke too or under a lot of pressure at least. You're right about the rich people.  However, what's happening is they're getting richer at the expense of everyone else.  That windfall of money in California came from people who sold stocks.  California taxes 10% of the profit made when you sell stock.  So the very rich in Silicon Valley and elsewhere there sold stock that went up a lot last year.  it went up because the Federal Reserve central bank printed a lot of money and bailed out the corporations and stock market.  Meanwhile, poor people or those who can't afford to own assets got nothing comparably.  And inflation will kick in at some point reducing the purchasing power of the currency making it hard for poorer people to eat and pay rent.  So the rich got richer and the poor got poorer.  The same thing is happening with the Euro and other currencies as other central banks print and inflate their money too.

10% tax on stock sale is an unbelievably good deal. In Canada, we pay the marginal tax rate which for most investors comes to 53% on 50% of the capital gain, so the effective tax rate is 26.7%.

Investors pay Canadian capital gains tax on 50% of the capital gain amount. This means that if you earn $1,000 in capital gains, and you are in the highest tax bracket in, say, Ontario (53.53%), you will pay $267.60 in Canadian capital gains tax on the $1,000 in gains.

[LesPalenik]

Biden just screwed up the whole vaccine schedule by opening it up to more people.  At 75, I'm in group 1B which now means little because half the people living in NJ now are eligible to get the vaccine. As long as they have certain issues like overweight, etc, they can be 16 years old and up and get the shot. 

I called to get an appointment and was 10,281st in line.  Then the site shut down from overuse.  It's a clusterf##k.  My wife and I have been on the web and telephone and you can't get through or info from anyone.  So now, the very old people who are most vulnerable are in the same group as everyone else.  After all that we learn who's dying from this disease, they changed the game plan.  If Trump rather than Biden did this, everyone would be screaming he's killing people.

Now, I bet there won't be enough shots for the second one you have to get in three weeks even assuming you're lucky enough to get the first shot.

Strange! Last night I was listening to Jim Cramer, who is 65 and lives in New Jersey and he just got his shot.

[Robert Roaldi]

Looks like Trump may have drained too much swamp, https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/01/14/gutted-unnerving-agencies-keep-us-safe-459156. But Michael Lewis and others have been writing about this since 2016.

In case you haven't noticed, the EPA is now the agency in charge of repealing environmental regulations. Doesn't this remind you of Orwell's Ministry of Truth?

[Alan Klein]

10% tax on stock sale is an unbelievably good deal. In Canada, we pay the marginal tax rate which for most investors comes to 53% on 50% of the capital gain, so the effective tax rate is 26.7%.
 

That 10% is just Calfornia tax.  The Federal capital gains tax is additional.  It's either 0% (if your earnings including salary etc. are under $53K, 15% if earnings are between 53K and $469K,  or 20% over $469K.  That's on the full 100% capital gains profit you made.  These are long term percentages if you held the stock for more than one year.  If held for less than one year, then any profits from capital gains is treated as regular income and taxed at the higher regular income tax rates.  They do that to encourage long term investments.   

[Alan Klein]

Strange! Last night I was listening to Jim Cramer, who is 65 and lives in New Jersey and he just got his shot.

Well, he's worth millions and knows a lot of people.  He wasn;t suppose to get it.  He should have kept his mouth shut.  I guess he wasn't afraid of the Trump vaccine-like Biden, Harris and their spouses weren't either.    Meanwhile, the Chinese vaccine has been panned as more worth less than before now down to 50% effective from 70%.  Brasil thinks it's crap.  I hope their military equipment is as reliable.  That's what happens when you steal stuff rather than inventing stuff yourself.   I see they also are keeping out or delaying W.H.O investigators checking on the Covid spread in China.
https://apnews.com/article/pandemics-animals-coronavirus-pandemic-wuhan-china-fb791cfdbad2f7db643f790ae4cccc8c