The Wine Commonsewer™

Add Twelve Zeroes

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

 

 

Except that as of right now, you'll need to add TWELVE ZEROS. This represents the Federals™, state and local spending/debt not included. Debt clock here. 

• Your vote in November will ensure that this gets exponentially worse.
• If you don't vote it will also get exponentially worse.
• If you vote third-party, it will also get exponentially worse.

A billion here, a billion there; Pretty soon you're talkin' about real money.~~Senator Everett Dirksen (probably) 

 

Heads they win. Tails you lose.™

As Always,

National Coffee Day

Good Morning Gentle Readers, 

Starbucks customers, whether in Zurich or Beirut, are drinking an American version of an Italian evolution of a beverage invented by Arabs brewed from a bean discovered by Africans.

~~Jackson Kuhl

The progressive lefties quite often will call something like this an example of cultural appropriation. It really is a concise example of how innovation, specialization, and relatively free trade make all of our lives better.

 

Note: National Coffee Day for me is every day. But just one gigantron™ cup of sissified dark roast in the morning. After that the theory of diminishing marginal utility kicks in and the satisfaction drops exponentially.

 

As Always,

General Motors Has Never Paid A Dime Of Taxes

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

Economic illiteracy abounds but it ought to be obvious on its face that taxes are a cost of doing business and all costs of doing business are incorporated into the price you pay for anything you buy. Don't matter if it's an iPhone or a bag of carrots, every cost of doing business is passed on to the consumer. That means me and you, Charlie.

This is basic economics and intuitive common sense. If a business cannot recover its costs of doing busines, and a little extra something called net profit, it will fail. 

The above chart appeared at PuffPo and purports to illustrate how the tax burden has shifted from corporations to individuals. That's a deliberate distortion to paint a picture that the tax and spend crowd is comfortable with. The implication that payroll taxes represent a shift of tax burden to individuals is false and you should note that individual income taxes represent roughly the same share to the treasury as they did in 1950.

The original post, which has been updated, also left out several critical things.

• Payroll taxes are social security and medicare taxes not personal income taxes
• Half of the payroll tax is paid by the employer 
• The US has the highest corporate income tax rates in the civilized world

While it is true that the social security tax burden has grown exponentially, that isn't a shift of the tax burden from corporate to personal, it's a new and growing tax burden on all working Americans. In 1950 the social security tax was 3% and was capped at 2012 inflation adjusted wages of $28,000.00. Today social security tax is almost 15% and is levied on $113,000.00 of wages and self-employment income.

The wage base is nearly four times what it was and the actual percentage of tax is five times the 1950 rate. And that STILL isn't enough to cover the cost of the Ponzi scheme we call social security. That problem is on the heads of the political classes and their supporters. They created it by making false promises that can't be kept.

Keeping business taxes low is important because it allows American business to remain competitive worldwide. Keep in mind that every time you buy a Big Mac, you're helping McDonalds pay their corporate income tax.

BONUS: Rand Paul skewers CONgress about the tax code and the harassment of Apple:

As Always,

TWC 

Nick Gives Her Something To Cry About

TWC's California Ballot Proposal Voter Guide

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

30) NO. It replaces money in the general fund that Moonbeam moved elsewhere. There is NO NEW MONEY FOR SCHOOLS in this proposal. 

31) I Don't Care if the state budget is a two year or one year budget, those boneheads will screw it up.

2) YES. Public employee unions have pretty much destroyed this state. Get them out of politics.

33) YES Allows good driver discounts to apply when you change car insurance providers.

34) YES Gets rid of the death penalty. We spend billions of dollars on unending appeals and never execute anyone. Waste of money. Let's stop the charade.

35) NO. Human trafficking is awful. It is also already illegal. This is a basket of worms and won't help.

36) YES. Modifies Three Strikes to apply to violent felonies not shoplifting.

37) NO. Another basket of worms. Pragmatically, the GMO labeling will end up having the same effect as these Prop 65 signs do:

38) NO. We spend over $300,000.00 per classroom each year on education, yet teachers and parents are buying crayons and copy paper at Staples so the kids can have classroom supplies. Half the money spent on education goes to administrative costs. The schools don't need more money, they need to stop flushing money down the toilet.

SIDEBAR: Munger's ballot measure (38) would raise more money than Moonbeam's Prop 30 and put it ALL in the classroom. Ask yourselves why the teacher unions support Prop 30. Hint: It ain't about the kids.  

39. NO. Always vote no on tax increases. If enacted, the higher taxes will be used to fund new, Solyndra type alternative energy projects and NOT to reduce the deficit or to cover regular state spending.

40. YES. Not that redistricting will help much. But maybe.

Vote Early. Vote Often. 

As Ever,

TWC

Do You People Have A Calendar?

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

Raise your hands if you are sick of seeing Christmas stuff on the shelves beginning with Labor Day weekend.

Much as I detest seeing stuff like this at Lowe's in September.....

.....it's merely a market response to aggregate consumer demand. If enough people didn't buy Christmas stuff in October, merchants would stop putting it out on the shelves. I realize that there many compelling reasons why we may choose to shop early. Despite my curmudgeoning, none of these are lost on moi.

Some years back, on a hot, sultry evening in July, I saw a unique and rather perfect gift that I knew Mrs TWC would love to unwrap Christmas morning. Feeling ever-so-clever (that rhymes) I hid it well and promptly forgot it existed. Doesn't do much good to shop early and give late.

TWC's Rule # 38: Good Gravy, Man, Christmas Season doesn't start until Black Friday, which, for the record, is the day after Thanksgiving.

Like eating shellfish with red wine, it's just not done.

Except when it is. 

As Always,

TWC

Milton Friedman's Centennial

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

The godfather of school choice was born a century ago today, which is why Mrs TWC is having a leisurely breakfast on Waikiki Beach this morning. Nope, we didn't get to tag along. No way to scrounge up the cash for spendy airline tickets after the fuel bill came in from the Lake Powell outing last week ($5.48 per gallon at Dangling Rope Marina).

Later tonight, the missus will be speaking at a Grassroot Institute dinner in honor of Milton Friedman. As many long-time readers know, Mrs TWC is one of the leading school choice advocates in the country. 

TWC isn't especially overwhelmed by celebrity status. You might say that having my picture snapped with a rock star or politician isn't on my bucket list. Yet, it was kind of intriguing to actually meet Milton Friedman in person. No, I didn't spend much time in deep, philosophical conversation with the man. I mean, what, exactly, do you say to this dimunitive guy in the Aloha shirt? Good Job, Man(?) I guess I could have mentioned how much I enjoyed his book, Free to Choose. 

Milton with our friends Shikha and Arthur (May 2006)

As Always,

TWC

Mencken on Political Campaigns

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

Mencken's observation is spot on and clearly apparent in my county, where my incumbent supervisor earns a cool $175,000.00 a year, plus perks, with an estimated $139,000.00 retirement benefit for life, after holding office for a mere 20 years.

That's a sweet deal for presiding over a 1.8 billion dollar redevelopment debt and a 23 million dollar deficit that was underestimated by 10 million. WTH?

Right. I'm not being fair. I know that county supervisor is an important job and ours ain't. So, what's your retirement benefit? Mine will be about $1,300.00 a month plus whatever I have put aside out of my own pocket. How much did you earn last year? Or did you lose your business or your job? I can tell you one thing, the median household income in this county is less than one third of the county supervisor's pay check. He don't need no second income to make ends meet. 

Ain't no wonder he's scrappin' hard to keep that gravy train. We'll see what happens come November. 

As Ever,

TWC

Tip of the glass to Vonnie, who is putting another candle on her birthday cake today

Rage Against the Changing of the Light

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

The Los Angeles Times asked: Daylight saving time: What if it's all a big fat waste of time?

There isn't any question that DST *is* absolutely a big fat waste of time. Americans do not use electricity in the same way they did when I was a kid. Flat screen TV's have replaced low energy AM radios, and televisions never rest, blaring day and night, often competing for our attention from several different rooms in the house.

In 1950, windows were kept open, or closed, as a hedge against the oppressive summer heat and humidity. Today, air conditioning use is connected to temperature and controlled by thermostat, and it doesn't shut off because it's still daylight at 8:00 at night. Incandescent bulbs, radio tubes, and electric fans are orders of magnitude less energy intensive than a/c and plasma screens. Whatever time the sun sets on modern America is only nominally related to energy consumption.

 

 

SIDEBAR: This is TWC's favorite antique clock. In the days of my vagrant yoot there was one just like this hanging on the wall of the Yucca Cafe (incorporated December 2, 1954), just east of the railroad tracks, in Lungcancer, Ca. Though it served a lot of cheeseburgers (dill pickle on the side with a bag of chips), the last I looked it was a dirt bike shop specializing in Kawasakis.

Seven years ago, GWB and the GOP CONgress inflicted DST upon us for several additional weeks, which begins this morning and stretches until early November. Come Monday morning, it will be pitch black when I drag my kids off to school at 6:45 AM. If one needs a flashlight to find the truck, will the sun ever come up in Seattle?

Like everything else about DC, the illusion of doing *something* about any given problem is the entire point. Whether the problem is resolved, or not, is immaterial. And so it is that we are stuck with a dinosaur, the albatross of DST, which outlived its usefulness many decades ago, yet it affects a greater portion of our lives than it ever has. That is how politcos think, my friends. 

As Ever,

TWC

Tip of the glass to Steve V

Wine Cheaper Than Gas? Not Yet, But Milk Is

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

And now, a public service message.....

TWC paid $4.11 a couple of days ago. It hurt to part with a C Note to fill the tank of the Politically Incorrect Foreign Pickup Truck That's Made In America.

After adjusting for the Fed's continuing assault on the value of the dollar, it turns out that $4.11 per gallon is about the same price as gas was in 1979, when we were sitting in unending lines to buy five gallons of the stuff.

The difference? We can buy any amount of gas we can afford. No lines. Thankee.

Bonus: Audio Only, but you'll love this. If not, you can get a refund at the door. 

Cheers.

As Always,

TWC