Darwin Award

[Doug]

If this isn't in the top two or three, there is no justice.

[Choada_Boy]

"No signs of foul play" except for the three empty Listerine bottles.

[j_b]

No way. There are a few people clearly much more worthy of the Darwin award:

 

 

[klenke]

j_b, please explain to me how people who don't want (or would want, for that matter) tax cuts qualify as Darwin Award nominees.

 

Don't be such a liberal wank.

[j_b]

The populist anti-tax demagoguery of the last 30+ years has led to a precipitous decrease in taxation of the wealthy and corporations (especially when taking into account the extensive use of tax heavens) while effective taxation increased for everybody else (due to increases in regressive taxes such as sales tax, user fees, etc ..). Overall loss of tax revenues has led to slashing essential services needed by average Americans and their children, and led to the general bankruptcy of the state as planned by right wing anti-government zealots. Reaganites made no mystery about bankrupting the state to justify the elimination of "entitlement" programs that economic elites didn't want to contribute to.

 

In other words, the very same people who benefit most from the developmental and social safety net have campaigned against taxes because they have been told by conservatives that taxes were a bad thing and that government wasted their money (of course, no mention of the role of war expenditures in this calculus). It is the perfect example of the people working against their own interests, which you'll agree is worthy of a Darwin award.

 

Very good read on this topic: Taxes are good.

[Choada_Boy]

"I don't want to pay taxes but I expect my roads to be well maintained."

 

or

 

"I don't want to pay taxes. Why do our schools suck?"

[billcoe]

The populist anti-tax demagoguery of the last 30+ years has led to a precipitous decrease in taxation of the wealthy and corporations (especially when taking into account the extensive use of tax heavens) while effective taxation increased for everybody else (due to increases in regressive taxes such as sales tax, user fees, etc ..). Overall loss of tax revenues has led to slashing essential services needed by average Americans and their children, and led to the general bankruptcy of the state as planned by right wing anti-government zealots. Reaganites made no mystery about bankrupting the state to justify the elimination of "entitlement" programs that economic elites didn't want to contribute to.

 

In other words, the very same people who benefit most from the developmental and social safety net have campaigned against taxes because they have been told by conservatives that taxes were a bad thing and that government wasted their money (of course, no mention of the role of war expenditures in this calculus). It is the perfect example of the people working against their own interests, which you'll agree is worthy of a Darwin award.

 

I don't agree.

[j_b]

"I don't want to pay taxes but I expect my roads to be well maintained."

 

or

 

"I don't want to pay taxes. Why do our schools suck?"

 

Indeed, that's the "taxes are good" part. Then there is the bit about cutting the progressive income tax, followed by an increase in regressive tax to offset the resulting budget shortfall. End result: Joe Average who paid little taxes due to his small income and benefited from services, infrastructure, safety net, etc .. now pays more taxes and has to pay for services the collectivity cannot afford anymore due to lack of revenue.

[j_b]

 

I don't agree.

 

That's nice. Am I supposed to make both your argument and the response to it?

[Doug]

jeezus, way to hijack an important thread.

[G-spotter]

and those signs are shooped anyway

[Choada_Boy]

 

 

"The 12 inch pizza pie is densely packed with an assortment of some of the world’s most expensive food ingredients, such as lobster marinated in cognac, caviar soaked in champagne, sunblush tomato sauce, Scottish smoked salmon, venison medallions, prosciutto, and vintage balsamic vinegar. In addition to all these fine ingredients, it’s topped with a significant amount of edible 24-carat gold flakes."

 

 

[olyclimber]

eating gold is a less common cure for rheumatism.

[j_b]

Never had caviar soaked in champagne. I prefer mine with wodka anyway.

[j_b]

jeezus, way to hijack an important thread.

 

sorry about that, although I am not very fond of "darwin awards" (i find it mean) so it probably wasn't entirely innocent.

[G-spotter]

i prefer my gold soaked in goldschlager

[j_b]

"Goldschläger is a strong, clear cinnamon schnapps liqueur with 24k gold leaf flakes." ewwww!

[KaskadskyjKozak]

i prefer my gold soaked in goldschlager

 

will gold flakes help your shit not to stink?

[j_b]

"Conservatives are also wrong about the effects of tax cuts on investment and savings. The boost to investment predicted by conservatives after the tax cuts during the Reagan administration never took place. Between 1979 and 1989, the average rate of investment was 2.5%. From 1989 to 2000, it rose significantly to an average of 5.9%. But this was after George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton both raised federal taxes. There is also little evidence that the Reagan tax cuts boosted savings either. Savings rates fell from 8.8% of personal disposable income in 1981 to 6.0 percent in 1986.11 Moreover, two economists who did a comprehensive survey in 1996 of the economic literature on the effects of tax cuts on savings concluded: “Virtually no empirical study suggests a large saving response by households to changes in after-tax return.”12 Strike two for tax cutters.

 

But what about the over-all beneficial effects of tax cuts on economic growth? Again, history is a good guide. From 1981 to 1985, after the tax cuts of the Reagan administration, the economy did grow at a good rate – averaging 2.6% a year. But between 1976 and 1980, when the tax rates were higher, it grew even faster – averaging 3.2%. Similarly, after taxes were raised by Bush and Clinton, economic growth actually picked up and averaged 3.2% between 1989 and 2000.13 So there is clearly not a strong relationship between tax rates and growth in this country. Strike three – they’re out.

 

Comparing the U.S. to other countries brings little solace to tax cutters either. They like to think that our growing economy outpaces those of other advanced democracies in large part because of our lower tax burden. But the research doesn’t bear any of this out. Consider the results of a study that compared tax levels and economic growth rates between 1970 and 2000 for a large number of countries.14 It did find that Denmark and Sweden, which had much higher taxes than the U.S., also did worse in terms of average growth – about 1.6% versus about 2.3% for the U.S. But how do anti-tax advocates explain Finland and Norway, which had taxes almost 50% greater than we did, but actually enjoyed higher rates of growth? In fact, the overall results of the study indicated very little correlation between taxes and economic growth – with the U.S., Italy, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, France and the Netherlands having relatively similar rates of growth, but widely varying tax levels – from 27% to 42% of GDP. International comparisons, then, contradict rather than support the conservative contentions that we need to cut taxes to ensure economic growth or that high taxes hurt the economy. Clearly a country can have high taxes and strong economic growth as well. Strike four.

 

One economic analyst, Anna Bernasek of The New York Times, examined a wide variety of academic studies on the relationships between tax rates on productivity, savings, and growth. She concluded that the “notion that taxes are bad for the economy is just that: a notion not backed by strong evidence. And the costs of ignoring experience in favor of hope can be high: mounting deficits, decaying infrastructure, inadequate investment in public education and research. So the next time some proponent of tax reform promises king-size economic benefits, there is reason to be skeptical."15"

shattering the myths about lowering taxes

[billcoe]

From this years Darwin tryouts

 

...and...

[Hugh Conway]

i prefer my gold soaked in goldschlager

 

will gold flakes help your shit not to stink?

 

Maple Leafs make your shit not stink.