lostfan

Anyone else here played the Operation Anchorage expansion pack for Fallout 3?

Cutting from the budget is really tricky. Where are you going to do it exactly? And here is the revenue chart to match:

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Feb 24, 2009 -> 03:17 PM) Of course. Why do you think, by the way, that they are starting the reversal of the visa programs now? They are sending our people over there. Why is that? (slightly off topic but in the same general point I'm making). I'm not sure what you're getting at, are you saying the salaries there are competitive enough now that American workers would want to go there the way they come over here?

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Feb 24, 2009 -> 03:16 PM) You can't sit there and say that "2nd biggest tax rate" doesn't mean anything... you cannot diminish that fact. If they cut corporate tax rates, it would stimulate the s*** out of this economy. It's a fact. Tax cuts on individuals doesn't have the stimuls effect that corporate taxes do. But there is no way they will adjust that. They need to money too bad and companies will continue "tax avoidance". Hello, Company XYZ SA. (SA being Switzerland). I'm not diminishing that fact, only making a point.

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Feb 24, 2009 -> 03:14 PM) I guess I'm coming at it from a less manual intensive type of company. For manufacturing, that's true. But that's about the only industry that's true. It's ended up costing companies more in service industry to outsource. Well, give an Indian engineer 85k a year and see how he lives in India... he probably would live like a prince off of that.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Feb 24, 2009 -> 03:10 PM) Sort of. Tax rates, and breaks, WILL have an effect locally, for attracting businesses. But companies move production overseas for one or more of these reasons: --Lower labor costs (pay, benefits) --Tax situations (but its more about "special" tax shelters for profits overseas, not because of high rates here) --Proximity to, or lower cost of, production-necessary hard resources --As part of marketing/agreements on products to be sold in a new region or country --General growth strategies for global businesses --Certain financial concerns outside of taxes (related to FX, trade agreements, or other stuff) And there may be others I am not thinking of. I oversimplified it in that post yes, but I think for all the screaming that's done about US corporate tax rates, my point was that there are other factors that are just as big if not bigger.

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Feb 24, 2009 -> 03:05 PM) That's not entirely true. Partly (a very small part), but not entirely. There are so many MNE's set up for tax purposes only it's crazy. Compensation levels are NOT a part of it. Healthcare costs are a small consideration because they get a write off for that. By compensation levels I mean the fact that you can pay someone in India or China considerably less to do the same work at the same level of quality since their standard of living is nowhere near what it is in the US. Plus, aren't there a bunch of loopholes for US corporations that reduce the amount of tax they actually pay to begin with? So the phrase "2nd highest corporate taxes in the world" is misleading.

Corporate tax rates are not what drives them out of the US. That is and always has been a red herring. What drives them out is either (take your pick, or take both) compensation levels for American workers or healthcare costs.

www.heylarryhughespleasestoptakingsomanybadshots.com

Warren G - Regulator

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 24, 2009 -> 12:33 PM) Cause Viciedo's going for 50. Touche

Plus why would we want to trade him if he hits 45 homers?

But Obama's pathetic attempts at bipartisanship were a failure!

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 23, 2009 -> 10:04 AM) This problem started long before the layoffs did. Also the value of a house going down has nothing to do with the payment you agreed to make being out of your budget. Plus if a person is unemployed, what housepayment are they going to be able to afford? That isn't really why I brought that up, though. I was just making a point.

QUOTE (DukeNukeEm @ Feb 23, 2009 -> 04:23 PM) Show of hands though, who here actually rides Amtrak on a regular basis? When I go to NYC I take Amtrak, later this summer I plan to go to Boston and I'll be taking the Amtrak there too.

QUOTE (Cknolls @ Feb 23, 2009 -> 11:22 AM) $787 billion + $300+ billion in debt service on the $787 = 1+ trillion. That wasn't too hard to do. he was talking about the homeowners bailout which is 75 billion from the TARP funds.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 23, 2009 -> 10:50 AM) You would have to convince an entire culture to shift how they move. This country is 100% about the car. Unless you can change that, you are going to have a really tough time pitching anything that isn't automotive related. People want to be able to jump into their cars and go. I think market conditions will gradually start pushing Americans in that direction though, like bmags said. Once the economy recovers and gas goes back up above 3, it's there for good.

Eh, nevermind the blunt and borderline crass bit of reality there, but why on earth would he think Obama would nominate a conservative judge?

lol, best post in this thread by far

Lindsey Graham also said the gov't might have to nationalize the banks FWIW

Have any of these guys ever gone to Google and typed "obama birth certificate"?

QUOTE (shipps @ Feb 22, 2009 -> 02:57 PM) yeah me neither...shipps is lost...shipps dont like being lost...shipps gets lost alot. I don't like being you either.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Feb 22, 2009 -> 02:11 PM) This Bulls team isn't a top-tier team by any means, but they are MUCH more versatile than they were a week ago. Let's see if they can close this Pacers game out. lol, looks like not so much.

This Bulls team isn't a top-tier team by any means, but they are MUCH more versatile than they were a week ago. Let's see if they can close this Pacers game out.

I thought that's always been inevitable regardless of who took office since about 2005. Frankly, not taking care of the deficit at this point is irresponsible.