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Tariff sucks. Tariff sucks. Tariff sucks.

In case, you didn’t get the point… tariff sucks.

Obama and the business Mafia labor unions managed to screw up once again:

As China and some American companies denounce President Obama’s decision to impose tariffs on Chinese tires, the Obama administration can take solace that at least one important Democratic constituency is enthusiastically applauding the move.

At the A.F.L.-C.I.O. convention in this city haunted by the ghosts of shuttered steel mills, Thea Lee, the labor federation’s chief economist, praised Mr. Obama’s decision, saying it would help preserve American manufacturing. She said a surge in Chinese tire exports had contributed to the shutdown of several American tire factories and the loss of thousands of jobs.

Yes, Mr. Obama. Please, tax the shit out of middle class. Maybe one day they’ll cheer and vote for you in upcoming elections.

Dude, WHY?

Who pays for the tariff? The MIIDDLE class. Who’s getting the benefit here? The aging US manufacturing business that cannot compete with China? The employees of these tire companies? Tax the rest so that the few, againg, industrial companies (that think innovation is changing a sticker on their product or changing an ad slogan) can live?

Why are you protecting these businesses that should close shop? They cannot compete globally for a reason: that they SUCK at innovating and keeping prices competitive. Let these companies die so that the Chinese (or whoever) can make them cheaper and faster, thereby HELPING US. The industrial era employees need to be trained and employed into the modern information world. Help them help themselves. Let market forces do their natural thing… and one of the things that things in nature do is COMPETE. Don’t punish the rest of the people to protect this dying tree.

Here’s the irony of all this: these US manufacturing industries died BECAUSE of gov’t intervention and unions that demand higher pay and blah blah for their workers. First give them the reason to die and to move away to overseass, then now give them the reason to barely maintain status quo by taxing the rest of  us consumers. US gov’t (in its meddling with the natural economy) and the labor union are like crack dealers: they get the innocent person addicted… then when the dude’s about to die, give them some temporary remedy so he can live longer and keep using the crack.

Unions suck.  Government telling you what do sucks. Laws messing with natural market forces suck.

…

Damn, this post is too filled with negative energy. Ok, here’s a positive note: gold is up. Yay.

A politically active man goes from door to door, explaining and promoting why socialism is good for everyone. He goes to a house in a rural area and knocks on the door, and nice good ol’ average Joe comes out and greets the man.

Man: Sir I am here to ask you to vote for socialism in the upcoming elections.

Joe: Hmm. You know, I’m just an average farmer. I don’t know what socialism is. So why don’t you explain to me what it is? I have a better idea. Instead, give me some examples of what socialists might do.

Man: Sure no problem. You see your neighbor’s cows over there?

Joe: I sure do.

Man: Well, in socialism, when that cow is milked, you get to have some of his milk.

Joe: Wow. Really? That’s nice. Tell me more.

Man: You see that sheep on the other side of that fence? When that guy harvests the fur from his sheep every winter, you get to have some of that too!

Joe: Fascinating. I’m liking this socialism thing. Tell me more.

Man: Well, … I don’t see any chickens… but if there were some chickens and when the owners of them chicken collect the eggs they lay, you get to have them chicken eggs too! Daily!

Joe:… what?? GET THE HELL AWAY FROM MY PORCH!

Man: Huh?

Joe: (Takes out shotgun) Now, I said GET THE HELL AWAY! Get off my property and never come back, ya hear?

Man: What? I don’t get it. Cow milk, sheep fur.. but no chicken eggs? Sir, do you realize these are just examples? The principal is the same! Why are you mad?

Joe: For one, I don’t know what principal means. And second, I own chickens!

Lesson? Socialism sounds nice and ideal… and most people agree with it, till they’re forced to pay up.

Note: I heard this on radio but couldn’t find a web version so I recalled to the best of my ability.

So I got a lot of shit for damning the California Proposition 13. Understandable. Most people would perceive this as a threat to their “home”.. or that I am proposing a bigger government.

Consider this. Local schools are funded by the property taxation revenue. If you live in a shitty neighborhood and thus cheap properties, tax revenue is gonna be small. Thus, decreased revenue for the schools. I am not advocating that more money solves the problem in the US, well California anyway, education system. (In fact, I think more money leads to more problems, even for schools. Instead we should raise standards for teachers and students.)

The current slide in the real estate market is a perfect example of how prop 13. is the dumbest taxation ever. Shrinking property value means shrinking property assessment, thus shrinking tax revenue. During the real estate boom, schools get more money. During bust, they get less.  BUT… do teachers and students need less things or resources b/c the real estate market is sliding? Of course not. Do they need MORE things when the market is going up? Nope.  (Do proponents of prop 13. even think that students even KNOW if there’s a real estate boom or bust?) Take a look at this article:

Declining assessed valuations will have several impacts.

In the 12 counties surveyed, the tax roll was down more than $68 billion combined, which translate into at least $680 million in lost tax revenue at the state’s basic 1% tax rate.

Since that basic rate can’t be adjusted, a declining tax roll will impact general fund revenues for cities and counties.

A declining roll has the potential to affect local school districts and governments that have issued or plan to issue general obligation bonds, which are backed by voter-approved property tax pledges above the 1% rate. It could lead to potentially unpopular decisions to increase the tax rates, or to the deferral of issuance that has been authorized by voters.

A tax roll drop would also roll up to the state budget. The state guarantees minimum per-student spending levels for K-12 education that for the vast majority of school districts is higher than their property tax receipts, meaning lower school district tax receipts could increase the state’s funding share.

Yeap, because of 13, the schools in those counties will get less AND the people there will have to pay more taxes because of idiot, financially illiterate bureaucrat dickwads who don’t understand how debt works… yet decide to put the burden on the people that voted those idiot fatcats into office.