The Insanity of Concessions in 2014
07-21-2014, 08:59 AM
#242
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Mar 2007
Position: Capt
Posts: 3,215
Taxes:
If we don't switch to VAT or sales tax or flat tax:
The 1% have about 45% of the wealth I the US. I think to be "fair"they should pay about 45% of the taxes.
Loopholes in the tax code are NOT available to all...not even close. The richer you are the more loopholes there are..and many of these "legal"loopholes used to be illegal.
One example is the AMT. AMT starts at around $65K, depending on a host of factors, and ends at $400K. I typically pay a lot of AMT, while the richest pay nothing. That is crap. Why do I legally have to pay an extra tax that the wealthiest avoid? Another one is Social Security tax....the ceiling is about $100K...above that you pay no SS tax on your income...while at the same time, if we don't change our SS system out will bankrupt the country.
Our whole system is rigged so that the top 1%, and even moreso the top 0.1%, get special rules so they can increase their wealth by taking more from the rest of us. THAT is our WELFARE system....keep the wealth flowing from the bottom to the top. We (the rest of us) are stupid and don't deserve wealth...we should be happy to give more to the top. I don't agree, but I am stupid, as evidenced by my lack of wealth, so my opinion is invalid.
If we don't switch to VAT or sales tax or flat tax:
The 1% have about 45% of the wealth I the US. I think to be "fair"they should pay about 45% of the taxes.
Loopholes in the tax code are NOT available to all...not even close. The richer you are the more loopholes there are..and many of these "legal"loopholes used to be illegal.
One example is the AMT. AMT starts at around $65K, depending on a host of factors, and ends at $400K. I typically pay a lot of AMT, while the richest pay nothing. That is crap. Why do I legally have to pay an extra tax that the wealthiest avoid? Another one is Social Security tax....the ceiling is about $100K...above that you pay no SS tax on your income...while at the same time, if we don't change our SS system out will bankrupt the country.
Our whole system is rigged so that the top 1%, and even moreso the top 0.1%, get special rules so they can increase their wealth by taking more from the rest of us. THAT is our WELFARE system....keep the wealth flowing from the bottom to the top. We (the rest of us) are stupid and don't deserve wealth...we should be happy to give more to the top. I don't agree, but I am stupid, as evidenced by my lack of wealth, so my opinion is invalid.
07-21-2014, 10:24 AM
#243
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Jul 2010
Position: window seat
Posts: 12,522
The system is rigged so special interests at all levels can milk the system dry. On one end we have fake "capitalists" which by definition are really fascists (despite that word being overused in debate, its accurate here) and on the other end we have "professional voters" who line up to vote themselves other people's money.
SS was a ponzi scheme based on insane snapshot actuarials and they're running out of exponential growth at the bottom of the AmWay pyramid. But the answer is not to keep confiscating "revenue" to fund the beast. It needs to be reformed in a major way. The 100K tax limit is completely fair, because why should you be taxed "for SS" on money that isn't going to increase your SS payments? That's not right first of all, and second it single handedly proves the model is corrupt and unsustainable and based on lies.
BTW a VAT/sales tax, while potentially workable, is ripe for abuse and will be run by the same moron Keynesians that got us into this mess in the first place. Plus I suspect if we tried to go down that road, we'd end up with both that and the current system and it would be even more confusing, convoluted, full of loopholes for the privileged and politically preferred (top and bottom alike) and nothing would be fixed.
A flat tax, which in most iterations is still HIGHLY progressive due to the politically unavoidable nature of the standard deduction, is a much more workable solution. But even that is a hard sell, because while its very progressive, the left cries bloody murder about the applicable rate being the same (despite that the effective rate is MUCH lower for the poor and middle class) and the rest of us has a helmet fire over stupid things like losing the mortgage deduction or tuition carve outs. Even when you show someone proof they will keep more of their own money under a flat tax system without their deductions, they would rather pay more than lose those deductions because those deductions make them feel emotionally in control while validating their personal financial choices.
Meanwhile, we have the highest corporate tax system in the world, which no one pays and will never pay under any circumstance because it would kill any business that ever tried, but because of it we see forced off shoring, which we then blame on evil corporations. Many companies are begging the US to reduce the rate so they can bring the money back home, and we say no because of "fairness" then point the finger at them for being unfair. While we have somewhat reasonable cap gains taxes (they do need to be lowered a lot) they are always under attack by progressive statists like the current admin, who admitted raising the rate to raise revenue from that source ends up reducing revenue from that source, but they want to do it anyway…for "fairness" as stupid as that is. But that's the populist left wing mentality we're dealing with.
Either way though, no matter what system we have for revenue collection, the problem is NOT the lack of revenue. The problem is insane out of control spending that needs a massive reduction in the size and scope of government to fix. At this point, that is going to hurt at least in the short term. Which is why no one has the populist gravitas to do (or even seriously propose) it. We all choose much greater future pain so we can stay on the comfort of a radically unsustainable path for every possible second longer.
Like Seinfeld used to say, that's "tomorrow guy's" problem.
SS was a ponzi scheme based on insane snapshot actuarials and they're running out of exponential growth at the bottom of the AmWay pyramid. But the answer is not to keep confiscating "revenue" to fund the beast. It needs to be reformed in a major way. The 100K tax limit is completely fair, because why should you be taxed "for SS" on money that isn't going to increase your SS payments? That's not right first of all, and second it single handedly proves the model is corrupt and unsustainable and based on lies.
BTW a VAT/sales tax, while potentially workable, is ripe for abuse and will be run by the same moron Keynesians that got us into this mess in the first place. Plus I suspect if we tried to go down that road, we'd end up with both that and the current system and it would be even more confusing, convoluted, full of loopholes for the privileged and politically preferred (top and bottom alike) and nothing would be fixed.
A flat tax, which in most iterations is still HIGHLY progressive due to the politically unavoidable nature of the standard deduction, is a much more workable solution. But even that is a hard sell, because while its very progressive, the left cries bloody murder about the applicable rate being the same (despite that the effective rate is MUCH lower for the poor and middle class) and the rest of us has a helmet fire over stupid things like losing the mortgage deduction or tuition carve outs. Even when you show someone proof they will keep more of their own money under a flat tax system without their deductions, they would rather pay more than lose those deductions because those deductions make them feel emotionally in control while validating their personal financial choices.
Meanwhile, we have the highest corporate tax system in the world, which no one pays and will never pay under any circumstance because it would kill any business that ever tried, but because of it we see forced off shoring, which we then blame on evil corporations. Many companies are begging the US to reduce the rate so they can bring the money back home, and we say no because of "fairness" then point the finger at them for being unfair. While we have somewhat reasonable cap gains taxes (they do need to be lowered a lot) they are always under attack by progressive statists like the current admin, who admitted raising the rate to raise revenue from that source ends up reducing revenue from that source, but they want to do it anyway…for "fairness" as stupid as that is. But that's the populist left wing mentality we're dealing with.
Either way though, no matter what system we have for revenue collection, the problem is NOT the lack of revenue. The problem is insane out of control spending that needs a massive reduction in the size and scope of government to fix. At this point, that is going to hurt at least in the short term. Which is why no one has the populist gravitas to do (or even seriously propose) it. We all choose much greater future pain so we can stay on the comfort of a radically unsustainable path for every possible second longer.
Like Seinfeld used to say, that's "tomorrow guy's" problem.
07-25-2014, 01:05 PM
#244
Flies With The Hat On
Joined APC: Aug 2006
Position: Right of the Left Seat
Posts: 1,339
08-08-2014, 01:36 PM
#245
Line Holder
Joined APC: Feb 2014
Posts: 31
Richard Anderson, Delta CEO is on CNN Money today and stated, "Well we're going through a massive transformation right now at Delta and we're turning Delta back into a mainline airline, what that means is we're upgaging the fleet, and we're growing the mainline airline, which is airplanes flown and operated by Delta employees, and dramatically reducing the connection operation, rather than what has happened in this industry in the last 25 years which is we've put too many people on 50 seat jets for 1000 miles." Why - Economics of the airplane, customer expectations, and market we would have served with 10 50 seats replace with 6 of a larger airplane.
With fewest canceled flights, Delta wins best title - Aug. 8, 2014
The DOT transportation statistics bear this out. Mainlines are moving their operation BACK to mainline and away from regional. They know they can't get enough pilots, they know they can't keep paying these rates, they know they can't control the regionals as they begin to fail and they recognize that there is more efficiency and dependability (less moving parts so to speak) in a mainline only operation...
Listen for yourself. That's why I posted the link.
Also, I think ALPA knows and wants the exact same thing!!! and so should you. UNTIL this happens, we will not be in the type of paid profession we all spent a lot of money and sweat to get to. The sooner this happens, in my humble opinion, the better!
Why Delta and why now...Anderson's the best CEO an airline has seen in decades...Most Delta pilots will tell you that. They are making money hand over fist, he's monetized almost everything... Delta is leading the pack...watch what they are doing (and their related feed) --- (wonder why SkyWest is getting rid of 155 CRJ-200 airplanes in the next 18 months....now you know.
With fewest canceled flights, Delta wins best title - Aug. 8, 2014
The DOT transportation statistics bear this out. Mainlines are moving their operation BACK to mainline and away from regional. They know they can't get enough pilots, they know they can't keep paying these rates, they know they can't control the regionals as they begin to fail and they recognize that there is more efficiency and dependability (less moving parts so to speak) in a mainline only operation...
Listen for yourself. That's why I posted the link.
Also, I think ALPA knows and wants the exact same thing!!! and so should you. UNTIL this happens, we will not be in the type of paid profession we all spent a lot of money and sweat to get to. The sooner this happens, in my humble opinion, the better!
Why Delta and why now...Anderson's the best CEO an airline has seen in decades...Most Delta pilots will tell you that. They are making money hand over fist, he's monetized almost everything... Delta is leading the pack...watch what they are doing (and their related feed) --- (wonder why SkyWest is getting rid of 155 CRJ-200 airplanes in the next 18 months....now you know.
12-12-2014, 09:17 AM
#249
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Aug 2008
Position: 787 Captain
Posts: 1,512
Originally Posted by ckelley
Dear md11,
When you say "economic equilibrium is TRUTH," maybe you could explain how work is going to be shifted from a relatively underpaid workforce to a group being compensated FAR above the market clearing price of labor. Also, your response is on a regional thread celebrating the demise of the regionals. Are you just flame baiting, or have you no manners?
When you say "economic equilibrium is TRUTH," maybe you could explain how work is going to be shifted from a relatively underpaid workforce to a group being compensated FAR above the market clearing price of labor. Also, your response is on a regional thread celebrating the demise of the regionals. Are you just flame baiting, or have you no manners?
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