BigSqwert Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 ^Change we can believe in! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrangeSox Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 Rand Paul, who made an effort last week to hold up the Patriot Act passage, calls for arrest and deportation of people who attend radical political rallies. Libertarianism! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigSqwert Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jun 1, 2011 -> 11:11 AM) Rand Paul, who made an effort last week to hold up the Patriot Act passage, calls for arrest and deportation of people who attend radical political rallies. Libertarianism! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrangeSox Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 18% of GOP primary voters believe the Rapture will happen within their lifetimes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve9347 Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jun 2, 2011 -> 03:06 PM) 18% of GOP primary voters believe the Rapture will happen within their lifetimes. I'm sure just as many believe in the Easter Bunny, that's not an astounding figure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balta1701 Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jun 2, 2011 -> 04:06 PM) 18% of GOP primary voters believe the Rapture will happen within their lifetimes. I would have thought a $100 million ad campaign 2 weeks ago would have pushed that higher. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balta1701 Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 This brought a smile to my face. If a key provision of the new health care reform law had been in effect last year, Hoosiers buying individual health insurance would have been refunded $30 million. Indiana Insurance Commissioner Stephen Robertson worried that amount of revenue loss could chase insurers from the Indiana market, leaving consumers fewer options. So he asked for a waiver that would delay implementation of the new rule. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is considering Indiana’s request. The estimated refund amounts were calculated for Robertson’s agency this month, based on health insurers' most recent annual filings, to see how close insurers were to meeting new guidelines that require them to spend at least 80 percent of premium revenue on medical bills. Only 19 of the 63 companies writing individual health insurance policies in Indiana have been meeting the 80-percent standard. The other 44 companies in the state would have to give rebate checks to their consumers to make up the difference between what they actually spent on medical care and the 80-percent threshold. Those 44 companies cover 94 percent of the nearly 200,000 Hoosiers covered by individual health insurance. The state’s behemoth, Indianapolis-based Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, is fairly close to the mark, spending 76.6 percent of premiums on medical bills. At that rate, it would have to refund a total of $9.3 million to the nearly 115,000 people it covers under individual policies. Those refunds would amount to about $81.50 per person. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrangeSox Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 2, 2011 -> 03:12 PM) I would have thought a $100 million ad campaign 2 weeks ago would have pushed that higher. I'm sure a higher percentage believe in the Rapture in general, but that's millions of people who believe the world will literally end within a few decades. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balta1701 Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jun 2, 2011 -> 04:22 PM) I'm sure a higher percentage believe in the Rapture in general, but that's millions of people who believe the world will literally end within a few decades. What percentage thought it was going to end 2 weekends ago? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve9347 Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 http://www.someecards.com/2011/06/02/sarah...ely-insults-her Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostfan Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/06/02/9...ere?via=siderec LOL LOL LOL What the f*** is she talking about? I'm having a hard time wading through that rambling to figure out which parts are wrong (the whole Paul Revere story is just a myth/legend anyway but that's another story) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balta1701 Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 A new working paper from the IMF shows that the rest of the developed world receives a much higher share of their tax revenue from "Pollution taxes" than the U.S. does. Effectively, its cheaper to pollute in the U.S. than it is anywhere else in the OECD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 3, 2011 -> 09:16 AM) A new working paper from the IMF shows that the rest of the developed world receives a much higher share of their tax revenue from "Pollution taxes" than the U.S. does. Effectively, its cheaper to pollute in the U.S. than it is anywhere else in the OECD. That is pretty misleading to include only taxes, and not fines and fees paid for the exact same thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balta1701 Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 3, 2011 -> 10:19 AM) That is pretty misleading to include only taxes, and not fines and fees paid for the exact same thing. Do you really think those are large enough to even show up on that graph? 3% of revenue in the U.S. is mostly reflecting things like the gasoline tax. An extra 1% of total revenue would require ~$20 billion a year to be raised in fines and fees. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 3, 2011 -> 09:22 AM) Do you really think those are large enough to even show up on that graph? 3% of revenue in the U.S. is mostly reflecting things like the gasoline tax. An extra 1% of total revenue would require ~$20 billion a year to be raised in fines and fees. I would guess they are actually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balta1701 Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 3, 2011 -> 10:28 AM) I would guess they are actually. In 2010, the EPA assessed a total of $41 million in fines, down from $96 million in 2009. Where else should I be looking for this money? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 3, 2011 -> 09:33 AM) In 2010, the EPA assessed a total of $41 million in fines, down from $96 million in 2009. Where else should I be looking for this money? I forget the EPA is the only one passing fines and assessing fees Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balta1701 Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 3, 2011 -> 10:34 AM) I forget the EPA is the only one passing fines and assessing fees For pollution? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balta1701 Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 Seriously, where else should I look? You're claiming that there are tens of billions of dollars in fines for pollution out there that I have no idea where they're at. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrangeSox Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 State EPA's? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthSideSox72 Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jun 3, 2011 -> 09:38 AM) State EPA's? Yes, plus US EPA... not sure of any others that would be significant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrangeSox Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jun 3, 2011 -> 09:44 AM) Yes, plus US EPA... not sure of any others that would be significant. Balta already cited that negligible figure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balta1701 Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jun 3, 2011 -> 10:45 AM) Balta already cited that negligible figure. After wasting more of my time than I want to admit tallying them up myself from legal settlement reports, the California EPA has collected ~$450,000 in fines for air pollution in 2011 so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrangeSox Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 (edited) QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 3, 2011 -> 09:53 AM) After wasting more of my time than I want to admit tallying them up myself from legal settlement reports, the California EPA has collected ~$450,000 in fines for air pollution in 2011 so far. No wonder businesses are fleeing Fascifornia More funny/sad when you combine this with the negative effective tax rate in the uber-repressive, highest-rate-in-the-developed-world US! Edited June 3, 2011 by StrangeSox Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balta1701 Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jun 3, 2011 -> 10:56 AM) No wonder businesses are fleeing Fascifornia More funny/sad when you combine this with the negative effective tax rate in the uber-repressive, highest-rate-in-the-developed-world US! The game with "fines" has always been to use your connections/lobbyists to make sure that the fine is smaller than the amount you saved by breaking the law in the first place. That way, your business still comes out ahead by paying the $20k fine for polluting whatever, someone else picks up the tab in the healthcare or cleanup costs, and the local DA/EPA/whatever gets good press by having the local papers run the "company X will pay a $20k fine" article in the local paper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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