another realist

Eureka Times Standard

Schwarzenegger declares fiscal emergency

There you go again. The only "flip flop" was when I in error typed income instead of sales. Anyone who actually knew anything about the definition of a regressive tax would have immediately called me on that, since the classic example of a regressive tax (as anyone who does any research into the matter would know) is sales tax, not income tax. In fact, income tax is regularly cited as an example of a progressive tax (where the rich pay more as a percentage of their income than the poor do, or at least they would if it weren't for tax shelters and other bookkeeping tricks). Yet, when you first responded, it was to agree with my erroneous statement that income taxes were regressive, and post a lengthy text on why this was so. Then, when I caught my error and corrected it, you started in with the condescending insults. And you're still doing it. I made an error, I corrected it, and you've been going on about it ever since. I am not "flip flopping" or endorsing chaos or in an emotionally distraught mindset. I am, however, tired of you talking down to me as if I was some schoolboy and you some kind of expert on the subject. Just let it go, Jeff. Further discourse on this is not worth either of our time.  (Dec 4, 2008 | post #58)

Eureka Times Standard

Schwarzenegger declares fiscal emergency

Chaos and schemes? Just because I don't agree with you, doesn't mean I support chaos or am scheming. So, you can take your "kudos" and shove them (at least your head would have company). Stop being a condescending jackass.  (Dec 3, 2008 | post #52)

Eureka Times Standard

Schwarzenegger declares fiscal emergency

I have no reason to lie here. Unlike you I have no agenda here. As to the blather? I calls em like I sees em. Apology? I think not. Go crawl back in your hole, you condescending jackass.  (Dec 3, 2008 | post #51)

Eureka Times Standard

Schwarzenegger declares fiscal emergency

Mistyped. I know exactly what I was saying, it was just late and I needed sleep, you condescending jackass. I wasn't expressing a viewpoint, I was expressing economic fact. Look it up.  (Dec 2, 2008 | post #48)

Eureka Times Standard

Schwarzenegger declares fiscal emergency

Whoops... I mis-typed in my previous post. I meant to write that SALES tax was a regressive tax. The problem is that on a percentage-of-inco me basis, the rich pay less of their income to sales tax than the poor do. This means that in an all-sales tax environment, more of the tax burden on a percentage-of-inco me basis would be shouldered by the poor than by the rich. From this viewpoint, sales tax is not a fair tax. Only a tax that impacts everyone equally on a percentage of income basis, without allowing for financial trickery to hide income, would be fair to all.  (Dec 1, 2008 | post #26)

Eureka Times Standard

It's official: US is in recession

D.L.: I know you think you're being funny or something, but when you write like that I don't even bother trying to read it. Get a clue and grow up.  (Dec 1, 2008 | post #6)

Eureka Times Standard

Schwarzenegger declares fiscal emergency

Income tax is a regressive tax. This means that on a percentage of income basis, income tax impacts the poor more than it does the rich. What is needed is a tax that is balanced across the board, as a percentage of total income, without allowing any fancy financial tricks to hide income. Unfortunately, the chances of getting that are pretty slim.  (Dec 1, 2008 | post #23)

Eureka Times Standard

Seeds for this year's merry Wal-Mart Christmas were sown years ago

Most fast food restaurants hire from the same pool of potential employees as WalMart, pay absolute minimum wage, offer no benefits, change schedules from week to week, send people home early when it is slow, etc. etc. Why does nobody complain about them? At least WalMart is paying its employees a couple bucks an hour above the minimum. At McD's you're lucky to get $0.25/hr above minimum. WalMart's business practices are terrible, but they are by no means the only guilty party.  (Nov 30, 2008 | post #11)

Eureka Times Standard

Why do folks hate this Arkley guy?

My understanding of it (no personal experience, just what I have heard and some research I have done) is that the hatred mainly comes from four things: 1) Much of the money the Arkley family has came from aggressive real-estate investment, especially targeting "at-risk " property, then foreclosing. Apparently a number of people lost their homes so that the Arkleys could make more money. 2) There is a long history of hatred of the left (especially anyone perceived as a "hippie" ) from the Arkeleys. Some of the things that have been said by the Arkleys on record about them have been pretty vile. 3) The Arkleys like to throw their monetary weight around, and have a long history of effectively trying to buy elections. 4) The Arkelys consistently ignore the real needs of the community as a whole when doing their well-publicized charitable work. How much of this is accurate, I do not know. However, this is the general consensus that I have found through talking to people, and through research on the web. Draw your own conclusions.  (Nov 30, 2008 | post #6)

Eureka Times Standard

Ex-atheist challenges people to believe in God

Servants, forever and ever amen. Sounds lovely. Question: God is all-knowing and all-powerful. Why does he need servants? Question: If heaven is paradise, why aren't you allowed to do what you enjoy doing? Why are you required to be a servant "day and night"? Can't someone be a gardener in heaven? Or knit? Or hang out with friends?  (Nov 28, 2008 | post #154)

Eureka Times Standard

Stop the Breeders! Stop the Hate!

Ok, so your mom wasn't bright enough or caring enough to give you up for adoption, instead choosing to get repeatedly drunk and blame you for all of her problems. We get it. Instead of spewing your problems all over this forum, perhaps you should see a therapist. Oh, and nice choice of "stop the hate" in the title when your entire series of posts drips with hate.  (Nov 28, 2008 | post #12)

Eureka Times Standard

Cuts have consequences

Back this up with facts. Who is the "average Californian"? How much on average does he/she earn annually? How much does the average Los Angeles area teacher get paid annuallyI am neither a union member nor a teacher, and the pay statistics I listed were for where I live, and the state average. How about you? Care to post any verifiable numbers to back up your claimsIncorrect. Areas with low costs of living are usually that because the rents are low, since everything else is usually higher (reflective of the cost to cart stuff in to more remote areas). Many of these localities are in financial trouble, usually because the State has taken money that was supposed to go to local projects, and has not paid it back. In addition, places like LA continue to take water from other parts of the state, which causes additional problems, especially with farming and fisheries. There are many factors contributing to the economic well-being of different parts of the stateI listed entry, mid-range, and max. I could swear your response was directed at me, but you don't seem to be actually addressing anything I posted. It's just your same old rant. If you are going to put my name at the top, please actually respond to my postYou keep complaining about teachers, and promoting the "trades" , yet those jobs are also highly unionized. Have you seen what an entry-level carpenter can make? And I assure you, they have benefits as well. Care to post some numbers to show that benefits put the total compensation for entry-level teachers "far in excess of $100kI think if you actually did research you would find that overcrowding, lack of materials, peer-group advancement, grade inflation, and all the other things that have been forced on teachers over the last few decades are what have resulted in our less-than-stellar performance of late. Heaven forbid we actually FUND schools the way we used to, have the proper amount of supplies available (including books and pencils), allow teachers to fail a child who is failing, allow teachers to make a C the average grade again, reduce the class size to a level where students can actually get individual attention to address their needs and shortcomings, etcRubbish. Teachers aren't responsible for that.  (Nov 26, 2008 | post #67)

Eureka Times Standard

Cuts have consequences

A few points: Garbage collectors generally are not Environmental Science majors. Environmental Science majors generally do not become trash collectors. Trash collector is a union job, and pays quite a bit of money. More than many teachers get. There is not currently a shortage of trash collectors. No matter how many dollar signs you add on, the actual numbers still show that most teachers make very little compared to other fields. It's administration where all the money is wasted.  (Nov 25, 2008 | post #60)

Eureka Times Standard

Cuts have consequences

Not in Eureka, CA. At the highest end of the pay scale in the highest paying counties you might get a teacher making $75k, but not here. For 2006-2007 (Eureka City Schools, followed by statewide average) Lowest Offered $34,000/$38,891 BA + 60 (Step 10) Offered $47,932/$60,720 Highest Offered $63,500/$78,167 Average Paid $54,552/$63,323  (Nov 25, 2008 | post #55)

Eureka Times Standard

Healthy Families program may stop taking new clients

Not true. If a report is made, the SIU (investigations unit) sends the report to the active worker, who then reviews it to see if there needs to be an investigation. This, by the way, is where details, dates, names, etc are very useful. An anonymous tip that "so-and-so is a cheat and a fraud" with no other details is usually discarded. However, if there are sufficient details and the actions described are actually against the regulations, then a request for a full investigation is sent to the SIU, who have quite a bit of authority when conducting investigations. Now, the regular workers aren't allowed to investigate. They aren't cops, or investigators, they are case managers. Only the SIU investigators can actually go to a person's residence to see if they are lying about their situation. Again, this is why details are so important. It tells the investigator what to look for. They can't go out on a general "so-and-so is up to no good". However, "so-and-so has been hiding income from [job name] located at [job location] where they've been working since March, and hasn't had [child name] in the home for 7 months, the child is staying with his grandmother [her name] at [her address]" can get some pretty good results.  (Nov 23, 2008 | post #33)