Category: Economics

After All, It’s Not Their Money

September 1, 2017 / / 0 Comments

Across the bay, the city of St. Petersburg wants to force homeowners to add solar panels anytime they put on a new roof.

http://reason.com/blog/2017/08/31/st-petersburg-wants-to-force-you-to-put

They might make an exception for existing homes, but any new buildings, the city council at wants panels. And the homeowner or building owner gets to foot the bill. For another $10K. That’s about three times what I paid to put a new roof on my house last year. It’s about double what my mom paid for her roof.

All the council wants to focus on is all the energy they think this will generate. They refuse to think about:

  1. Solar isn’t as efficient as they expect.

  2. The cost to upgrade the grid to handle all that new energy generation.

  3. It will slow down development in St. Pete due to rising costs.

  4. People will have to take on more debt to do roof replacements. This will most likely lead to an uptick in foreclosures because some people will be unable to pay.

  5. Those who have to save up the cash will forgo necessary roof replacements, which will lead to even more problems, and more drains on people’s limited resources.

Of course, it’s not their money. So why should they give a damn if their brilliant idea hurts people.

Businesses Do Not Pay Taxes

February 23, 2017 / / 0 Comments

Philadelphia decided that to protect the public that it would levy a tax on “sugary drinks.” Predictable results followed. Well, predictable to everyone but the legislators.

For now, Kenney and other city officials seem unfazed – dismissive, even – the problems caused by the new tax. A city spokesman told Philly.com that no one knows whether low sales figures and predicted job losses are anything more than “fear-mongering to prevent this from happening in other cities.”
Kenney put an even finer point on it.
“I didn’t think it was possible for the soda industry to be any greedier,” Kenney said in an emailed statement to Philly.com reporter Julia Terruso. “They are so committed to stopping this tax from spreading to other cities, that they are not only passing the tax they should be paying onto their customer, they are actually willing to threaten working men and women’s jobs rather than marginally reduce their seven figure bonuses.”

(Emphasis mine)

The Philly council actually believed that the businesses wouldn’t pass on their increased costs by making the tax between the distributor and the retailer.

Except businesses don’t pay taxes. Businesses never pay taxes. Oh sure, taxes are levied against businesses all the time, and businesses send money to the government to satisfy those levies. Ultimately, all the money to pay those taxes come from individuals – almost always from the consumers. Do you know what they call a company that doesn’t pass their additional tax burdens onto the consumers? Bankrupt.

The other part of this debacle is that the city’s already spent what they estimated to raise from businesses with this tax. So, the customer is still getting stuck with the bill. Except this time it’s coming from the government. You know, the ones who send men with guns out if you don’t pay them.

Friday Quote- P. J. O’Rourke

March 25, 2016 / / 0 Comments

“It’s not an endlessly expanding list of rights – the ‘right’ to education, the ‘right’ to healthcare, the ‘right’ to food and housing. That’s not freedom. That’s dependency. Those aren’t rights, those are the rations of slavery – hay and barn for human cattle.”

P.J. O’Rourke

Uber Delivering Flu Shots

November 18, 2015 / / 0 Comments

As if I didn’t love this company already for its shattering of taxi cartels, they are now going to be delivering flu shots on November 19.

Customers who normally use the Uber smartphone app to call for a ride will be able to request a flu shot — and a nurse in an Uber car will show up at their home or office in about three dozen cities across the country.

The charge is $10, but the nurse can give up to 10 flu shots at each location for no additional charge. So work colleagues can split the cost among themselves.

Unfortunately, it’s only one day, but I hope this is an annual program by Uber.

Colt Defense Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

June 15, 2015 / / 0 Comments

Colt Defense, LLC, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

I’ll let more experienced minds talk about the ramifications and causes. What I will say is that this isn’t the gut punch for me than some of the other gunnies.

I came into guns well after Colt had decided that it was better for the bottom line to feed at the government trough. I never felt the need to own a gun just because it had the prancing pony. By the time I came into guns, there were dozens of companies that made better products. 

Do I respect Colt’s contributions to firearms technology? Yes, but I also respect a bunch of other now-defunct firms. 

Did they make some very pretty guns? Yes, but I’m not a collector. I’m just as happy with the pics on my iPhone.

In short, I’m kind of meh. I do hope someone strong buys the Colt name. My instincts tell me the stalking horse they have will not revitalize Colt and bring it back into the gunny world. I absolutely loved Grant Cunningham’s idea of FN purchasing Colt, but that’s pretty much a pipe dream at this point.