• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

US PoliGAF 2012 | The Romney VeepStakes: Waiting for Chris Christie to Sing…

Status
Not open for further replies.
the amount of money "taken out of your paycheck" has literally no meaning, other than the wrong-headed psychological defensive reaction most people feel.

as long as there is horizontal equity in the tax rates then the amount of money taken out makes no difference. if less money is taken out you would get paid less to compensate for the difference. the economy evens itself out in the end. this is why people paying over 50% in taxes in some countries don't see a drastic dip in their standard of living. it literally makes no difference in the long run.

most people get offended when they see the taxes on their pay stub, and i guess i can forgive them for not thinking of the long term economic consequences, but they are still really complaining about nothing in the end. as long as everyone in the same situation pays the same amount, no harm is done to any individual's economic fortunes.
 
the amount of money taken out of your paycheck has literally no meaning, other than the wrong-headed psychological defensive reaction most people feel.

as long as there is horizontal equity in the tax rates then the amount of money taken out makes no difference. if less money is taken out you would get paid less to compensate for the difference. the economy evens itself out in the end. this is why people paying over 50% in taxes in some countries don't see a drastic dip in their standard of living. it literally makes no difference in the long run.

Literally no meaning? I mean, I know I am still making more money than I would making les money at a lower tax rate, but it still feels kind of like you are getting gyped. I guess that is where greed and corporate America gets it, the more money I make, the more I feel like Gollum trying to squirrel it away and protect it.
 
Just saw this on Nate Silvers blog

Based on a linear extrapolation from the precincts counted so far, the turnout would be about about 225,000 voters. About 240,000 voters turned out for the Republican primary in 2008.

So only 1.6-2% more showed up in Iowa compared to 2008 and it was down ~6-7% in NH compared to 2008....look at that GOP voter enthusiasm. Mitts got them all locked up, he better pray he can captain the Nobama train since the diehards who vote in these primaries don't even want him that much
 
Literally no meaning? I mean, I know I am still making more money than I would making les money at a lower tax rate, but it still feels kind of like you are getting gyped. I guess that is where greed and corporate America gets it, the more money I make, the more I feel like Gollum trying to squirrel it away and protect it.

i know you feel like you are getting screwed, but that is not my point. my point is that if the top tax rate was to actually go lower, it still wouldn't do anything in the long run for you. since the value of your labor would stay the same after the rate change, your bargaining power in the labor market would decrease in proportion to the decrease in the rate. your employer would, over time, adjust your salary so that your take-home pay is essentially the same as it was before.

your salary is what the market determines is fair value for your services. the amount taken out for taxes is taken into consideration when the market makes this determination. any change in the proportion of taxes taken out of your salary would not change the underlying fair value of your services, it would only change the amount your employer would need to pay out in order to meet that amount.

this is why horizontal equity is really important. the above scenario only happens if everyone in the same position is taxed at the same rates, so the market can properly adjust itself.
 

The Onion nails it.

"I have a pen and some paper right here," Obama said Wednesday morning at a town hall meeting in Ohio. "Let's list the pros and cons of being president. Con: There are people out there who literally want to shoot you dead. Con: We live in a country seriously considering a Newt Gingrich White House. Con: You can help 40 million Americans receive health care, sign legislation that regulates a financial system run amok, give the order to kill Osama bin Laden, help topple Muammar Qaddafi's tyrannical regime without losing the life of one American soldier, end the war in Iraq, repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell, stave off a second Great Depression, take out more than 30 top al- Qaeda leaders, and somehow everyone still calls you the next Jimmy Carter."
I totally lost it.
KuGsj.gif
 
i know you feel like you are getting screwed, but that is not my point. my point is that if the top tax rate was to actually go lower, it still wouldn't do anything in the long run for you. since the value of your labor would stay the same after the rate change, your bargaining power in the labor market would decrease in proportion to the decrease in the rate. your employer would, over time, adjust your salary so that your take-home pay is essentially the same as it was before.

your salary is what the market determines is fair value for your services. the amount taken out for taxes is taken into consideration when the market makes this determination. any change in the proportion of taxes taken out of your salary would not change the underlying fair value of your services, it would only change the amount your employer would need to pay out in order to meet that amount.

this is why horizontal equity is really important. the above scenario only happens if everyone in the same position is taxed at the same rates, so the market can properly adjust itself.

Not literally me, since I was hired for a set amount, on the contrary, in my job, I will never get a pay-raise. Cost of living goes up? I better work harder. Luckily, the company i work for is incredibly fair as far as paying commission goes. But, since most of my pay is commission, my tax rate is much higher than my actual income would reflect. I get the meaning of what you are saying, but at least I am in a position to where I can work harder than expected and make more money, if I so desire.
 
I believe 3rd place was the worst Huntsman was willing to do and still stay in it, so by that measure I expect him to stick around a little longer.
 
Serious question: Does Newt's wife's hair MOVE?

I was watching his speech and at the end, she turned around a couple of times and that shit didn't move a millimeter. It was eerie.
 
Serious question: Does Newt's wife's hair MOVE?

I was watching his speech and at the end, she turned around a couple of times and that shit didn't move a millimeter. It was eerie.

To be fair, her face doesn't move a whole lot either. I think it is the only hair/face combo that has a PETE rating for recyclability.
 
So Huntsman is maybe the only Repub that I have any real respect for, meaning that I'm fairly sad that he's not doing well. Maybe in a few years? He'd certainly appeal to moderates in the general elections more than the rest of the crazies.
 
So Huntsman is maybe the only Repub that I have any real respect for, meaning that I'm fairly sad that he's not doing well. Maybe in a few years? He'd certainly appeal to moderates in the general elections more than the rest of the crazies.

Doesn't he support Ryan's plan though? I'd like to respect him based on a lot of things he says, but supporting that plan is lunacy.

Also, I'm betting on Chris Christie running in 2016 anyway, and he seems like a more charismatic moderate than Huntsman.
 
Delegates:
Romney
23
Paul
10

Its a two horse race, which is pretty fucking impressive considering how much the media, on both sides, have done their hardest to downplay ron paul.



Also, WTF does cnn not give the results for buddy? I fucking hate when the media picks and chooses who gets reported on. News my ass.
 
Delegates:
Romney
23
Paul
10

Its a two horse race, which is pretty fucking impressive considering how much the media, on both sides, have done their hardest to downplay ron paul.



Also, WTF does cnn not give the results for buddy? I fucking hate when the media picks and chooses who gets reported on. News my ass.

Ehhh, Bachmann and Cain almost got as many votes as Roemer. You don't deserve to be reported on if you can only barely beat people who aren't even running.

Paul isn't going to do very well in SC or Florida. His hot streak will end last, but Romney has got the wrapped up.
 
Delegates:
Romney
23
Paul
10

Its a two horse race, which is pretty fucking impressive considering how much the media, on both sides, have done their hardest to downplay ron paul.

It's pretty disingenuous to claim a two horse race when third place is Santorum only 2 delegates back from Paul, particularly when he's liable to gain the most from Gingrich/Perry when they drop out. It's either a 3 horse race, or a 1 horse race.
 
I'd be actually surprised if Romney wins SC. You'd figure that the state being religious, they'd have problems with voting for a Mormon?
Repeat after me:

"Anyone but Obama."

They are putting their grudges to the side and picking the person they think is most able to beat Obama in the GE. They are picking wisely.

Not to mention I'm sure pretty much every goddamn GOPer in the state thinks Obama is a Muslim, so OF COURSE they'd vote for a Mormon over him.
 
Delegates:
Romney
23
Paul
10

Its a two horse race, which is pretty fucking impressive considering how much the media, on both sides, have done their hardest to downplay ron paul.



Also, WTF does cnn not give the results for buddy? I fucking hate when the media picks and chooses who gets reported on. News my ass.

Is that all delegates? Because if so, you should note this: Romney had 8 delegates pledged before Iowa. Paul had zero.
 
Ehhh, Bachmann and Cain almost got as many votes as Roemer. You don't deserve to be reported on if you can only barely beat people who aren't even running.

Paul isn't going to do very well in SC or Florida. His hot streak will end last, but Romney has got the wrapped up.

Thats the thing, most websites list michelle, some list cain, almost none list buddy. He beat them both.

It's pretty disingenuous to claim a two horse race when third place is Santorum only 2 delegates back from Paul, particularly when he's liable to gain the most from Gingrich/Perry when they drop out. It's either a 3 horse race, or a 1 horse race.

It was a two-horse race back in june or whenver perry came in, remember that?

YES WE CAN!


He didnt win in Iowa :/
 
Delegates:
Romney
23
Paul
10

Its a two horse race, which is pretty fucking impressive considering how much the media, on both sides, have done their hardest to downplay ron paul.



Also, WTF does cnn not give the results for buddy? I fucking hate when the media picks and chooses who gets reported on. News my ass.

Santorum has nearly as many delegates as Paul, and should have more after SC.

I think it's safe to assume Perry will drop out if he flops in SC. But if Gingrich stays in the race that will further hand it to Romney. Someone needs to fall on the sword and allow one conservative challenger to take on Romney. At which point it'll become a three man race amongst Romney, Paul, and the conservative white hope (Santorum?)
 
Santorum has nearly as many delegates as Paul, and should have more after SC.

I think it's safe to assume Perry will drop out if he flops in SC. But if Gingrich stays in the race that will further hand it to Romney. Someone needs to fall on the sword and allow one conservative challenger to take on Romney. At which point it'll become a three man race amongst Romney, Paul, and the conservative white hope (Santorum?)

No. If romney does over 50% of a state, he gets 100% of delegates in it.

Splitting the vote helps all the non-romneys.

If Gringich runs out, his 15% wont all run to crazy old gay rick. Many will just vote for romney.
 
No. If romney does over 50% of a state, he gets 100% of delegates in it.

Splitting the vote helps all the non-romneys.

If Gringich runs out, his 15% wont all run to crazy old gay rick. Many will just vote for romney.

Wikipedia said:
Based on a temporary committee's proposal, the Republican National Committee (RNC) adopted new rules for the timing of elections on August 6, 2010, with 103 votes in favor out of 144.[65] Under this plan, elections for delegates to the national convention were to be divided into three periods:[66]
January 3 – February 4, 2012: Contests of traditional early states Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina,
February 7 – March 24, 2012: Contests that proportionally allocate delegates,
April 3, 2012, and onward: All other contests including winner-take-all elections.

By the fall of 2011, several states scheduled contests contravening this plan, pushing the primary calendar into January. These contests are in violation of RNC rules, with New Hampshire, South Carolina, Florida, Arizona and Michigan set to be penalized with a loss of half of their delegates: New Hampshire will be penalized from 23 delegates to 12, South Carolina from 50 to 25, Florida from 99 to 50, Arizona from 58 to 29 and Michigan from 59 to 30. As they are holding non-binding caucuses, Iowa, Colorado, Maine and Minnesota will not be automatically penalized; their contests to bind national delegates will be held later.[67][68]

It's a long time until April. It's all proportional until then.
 
Iowa is a caucus. The delegates won't be decided until March, so these delegate counts don't mean a lot right now. They aren't directly tied to the popular vote.
 
By "low" I mean people who actually pay federal income taxes. Not the bottom 50% who pay nothing. Pass me what you're smoking.

God dammit. There is no "bottom 50% who pay nothing." They pay SS tax, Medicare tax, several state and local taxes...

You've been told this MANY TIMES BEFORE. Yet you keep ignoring it.

You're so dense.
 
Just saw this on Nate Silvers blog
So only 1.6-2% more showed up in Iowa compared to 2008 and it was down ~6-7% in NH compared to 2008....look at that GOP voter enthusiasm. Mitts got them all locked up, he better pray he can captain the Nobama train since the diehards who vote in these primaries don't even want him that much
Isn't there a general rule that uncertain races will always have a greater turnout than ones that are decided? I don't have any specific evidence to back that up, but it seems like it should be unquestionably true.

In 2008, NH was very much up for grabs:
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/president/nh/new_hampshire_republican_primary-193.html

As far as this go around, Romney has held a commanding lead since last march:
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/ep...ire_republican_presidential_primary-1581.html
 
Glad somebody else pointed out the other, equally dumb implication of Romney's "firing insurance companies" remark:

The real issue, unfortunately, is that very, very few people have the luxury that Gov. Romney is endorsing. Let’s say that you are self-employed, and lucky enough to have found a company to provide you with health insurance. Then, let’s say you develop cancer. You suddenly find out that your insurance company stinks. So you fire them, right?

Of course not. You’re screwed. Now you have a pre-existing condition. There’s not an insurance company out there that wants to cover you. So you don’t fire them. You scream, and curse, and cry, but you’re stuck. Only healthy people have the luxury of picking and choosing.

Let’s also not forget that most people don’t find out that they’re not getting “good service” until they’re sick. Healthy people don’t make much use of their insurance, so they don’t know how bad it is. They only find out after they’re ill, and then it’s too late. It’s only fun to fire the insurance company if you’re sure you can go to another company to get what you need. Almost no one can.
 
Can we get a source please? I didn't see anyone post that.


I think it's Ygelsias .. I remember reading it yesterday.


Did you know, you can copy-paste the first line into Google and find the answer? It's an amazing new technology.


edit: Wasn't Ygelsias, I forgot he has a new job. It was some other TP blogger.
 
Huntsman's polling shows he's got a current polling range of 0-14% in SC and 0-8% in Florida.

I guess he must be putting his chances of being the last one to surge, or maybe picking up Gingrich/Perry votes when they leave.
 
CNN: Obama could break even on jobs

ZowOn.jpg


NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The job market is getting better, but it's far from healed. Will President Obama be able to turn things around in time to save his own job?

From the labor market's height in January 2008 to its bottom in February 2010, 8.8 million jobs were cut, and the unemployment rate soared as high as 10% in October 2009.

Obama has taken a lot of heat for that.

But only about half of those job losses -- or 4.3 million -- happened under his watch.

And by measuring his record against that benchmark, it looks like Obama could actually break even, and maybe even come out ahead on jobs.

As of December, roughly two thirds of the jobs lost during Obama's presidency have been recovered.

How much will the improvement help Obama's chances? History is a dubious measure.

George W. Bush ended his first term with a loss of 152,000 jobs and a higher unemployment rate than when he began, and he still won re-election.

But unemployment is a bigger issue today than it was then. (Check the unemployment rate in your state.)

And no president since Franklin D. Roosevelt has been elected for a second term with an unemployment rate over 7.2%.

As of December, 13 million people remain unemployed. Try convincing them that Obama has solved the country's economic woes.

"Having a high level at 8% unemployment -- that's going to be hard for him to overcome," said Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research. "If I'm President Obama, I don't want to be in the position of telling people this is a good economy -- that strategy is going to fall flat."
 
Question for the group at large: What (if any) is the difference between Bain Capital and Berkshire Hathaway?

Berkshire Hathaway is mainly interested in value investments. Buffett usually only purchases companies that he plans to hold for a long, long time. Assuming that people are complaining about Bain Capital being an "asset stripper" or "cigar-butt cutting" as far as I'm aware Buffett did that many decades ago but during the 60s and 70s he began to dislike the ethical consequences of asset stripping. I don't know much about Bain, it sounds like they partook in asset stripping but I doubt they did it exclusively.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom