Occupy Wall Street - So what would you want?

[Logue 1st MRB]

Listen to Warren Buffet. He says rich should pay ass more taxes and that high tax levels and stuff have never stopped investors from making a safe bet for near assured profits.

In fact, just vote for Buffet already, his name's making me hungry.

[Pangilinan 1st MRB]

Listen to Warren Buffet. He says rich should pay ass more taxes and that high tax levels and stuff have never stopped investors from making a safe bet for near assured profits.

In fact, just vote for Buffet already, his name's making me hungry.

I'll listen to Buffet when he puts his checkbook where his mouth is. A contribution to the US Government, or an increased amount of philanthropic monies would let me see it. But for now he's all talk. I also don't mean political contributions to the Obama 2012 campaign either.

I support the Occupy Protesters, provided they are not being complete idiots. A true protester has a plan of action, as well as the support of the people they represent; if they lose it, they become a disturbance. One fundamental right of a democracy is to be allowed to congregate in opposition of injustice. When we begin to trim this right "we the people" have nothing left, subjugated to part of the proletariate.

I'm all for peaceful assembly. But like I've been hinting along the past few posts, the Occupy movement has overstayed their welcome and as the Instapundit has said, has not organized enough to get their own views and solutions into the public. The reason may be because it's backed by completely different and sometimes fundamentally opposed groups (seriously, Communist Party of America and the Nazi party of America supports the Occupy movement?!) as well as the commune-like and highly dysfunctional organization is a factor in it as well.

They need to shift from protest to organize in the same manner we conservatives had done in late 2009 and early 2010.

[Dillon 1st MRB]

3) Detail. But let's see on the oil companies then. Transportation, refining, shipment, research and development, government fees. These are also going to have to be paid by these profits. Last I heard, barely a dollar is profit for companies, the rest goes to other fees ranging from transporting costs to environmental impact fees.

http://money.cnn.com/2011/04/29/news/compa...ponse/index.htm

The 6 largest oil companies made $38 Billion in profit. Not revenue, profit. And that is not for the year. That's 1st Quarter of 2011. This when gas prices are enormously high, which affects the poor far more than the rich. A tripling of my gas budget nearly broke my wife and I.

Remember, this isn't R&D or exploration or tax. Its pure profit.

Tell me, if there are this many suppliers making this much money, why aren't prices lower? Sounds a bit like collusion to me.

[Pangilinan 1st MRB]

http://money.cnn.com/2011/04/29/news/compa...ponse/index.htm

The 6 largest oil companies made $38 Billion in profit. Not revenue, profit. And that is not for the year. That's 1st Quarter of 2011. This when gas prices are enormously high, which affects the poor far more than the rich. A tripling of my gas budget nearly broke my wife and I.

Remember, this isn't R&D or exploration or tax. Its pure profit.

Tell me, if there are this many suppliers making this much money, why aren't prices lower? Sounds a bit like collusion to me.

Sounds alot like price rigging and controls. Gee, I wonder what organization has that in mind. Oh right, OPEC.

[Dillon 1st MRB]

I'll listen to Buffet when he puts his checkbook where his mouth is. A contribution to the US Government, or an increased amount of philanthropic monies would let me see it. But for now he's all talk. I also don't mean political contributions to the Obama 2012 campaign either.

Buffett has. Look at what he did to restore confidence in the stock market back in 2007. He bought Goldman Sachs when everyone was selling on it. He single-handedly turned that stock around so the company did not collapse. It was one of the first defenses to against market skitteshness. Buffett even lost money on the deal, but he saved one of the biggest under-writers out there.

[Pangilinan 1st MRB]

Then by all means, he should continue doing so. He can contribute every dollar profit to worthy causes then, if he should so desire. Or the Government can make him do it, right?

And yet I still won't listen to him. His call for higher taxes is just going to be money spent without a tit for tat. If there are higher taxes, I'd call for reduced or better yet, smarter spending.

[Dillon 1st MRB]

Sounds alot like price rigging and controls. Gee, I wonder what organization has that in mind. Oh right, OPEC.

OPEC has zero influence on what our oil companies make. Except for one thing: the big oil companies develop their price formulas based upon the price of crude oil. Now, is it engineered that they make 30 cents on the gallon or 30 cents on the dollar? When called before a Senate special committee, they simply replied that their formulas gave them the price.

So why didn't they change the formulas to settle for less profit? Why hasn't even 1 of the companies that are enjoying record profits (in a recession, no less) lowered their price of gas to garner more market share? Were it truly a free market, you would see competition in prices. As it is now, because of a combination of corporate greed, collusion, and speculators, the price of oil and gas is astronomically high.

[Dillon 1st MRB]

And yet I still won't listen to him. His call for higher taxes is just going to be money spent without a tit for tat. If there are higher taxes, I'd call for reduced or better yet, smarter spending.

But that's the point. Until stock options are taxed just like income, it will continue to be a moot point. So, if Buffett gets $1,000,000 in stock options rather than in just straight income, he won't have to pay his taxes on it. Until he sells. But he won't pay the 35% tax that his tax bracket will merit. He'll pay the 15% I do. Rather than paying the $35,000 he should, he'd only pay $15,000, right? Wrong. Let's say the price he got his $1,000,000 in stock options is at $50 / share. So, he has 20,0000 shares. Well, if he waits till it is $49 7/8ths, he would lose $0.125 (12 1/2 cents) per share. He would lose $2,500. That makes it a loss. He pays $0 tax at all on the $1,000,000. Now, if he sells at higher than $50 / share. Say he sells at $54/share. He pays only 15% of the profit. So, at the end of the day, he has 20,000 shares * $4 profit = $80,000. He would pay tax only on the $80,000. So, 15% * $80,000 in profit = $12,000 in taxes paid.

$12,000 in taxes for $1,000,000 in pay. That's only 1.2% of the $1,000,000. Its just not fair at all.

[Pangilinan 1st MRB]

I can see where you're going. Then let's tax it then. I can only imagine the bureaucratic nightmare in taxing micro-transactions and the slowing down of the stock market, but sure. Now what. We have this money, we can dump it into the necessities. Defense, Education, and Medical/SS. We've increased our GDP in the hopes we didn't create a regulatory nightmare and a quick buck kind of deal. Something that hopefully won't be precedence for even greater taxes and regulation that threaten to destabilize the market faster than the market can adjust for the new regulations. I can understand your want for new taxes. Although my want for smarter and/or reduced spending probably doesn't heed much.

Bah I concede. I guess it's something I don't learn. But hey, I figured something from all this. I'm a naive soul who don't know enough or something. That all corporations are greedy lying sonnovabitches and all politicians are backstabbing demons. That the only equality is by taxing the rich to oblivion and spreading that wealth into a Government that honestly knows better. But hey, if this comes off as an adhom, it isn't really. Just a migraine-esque realization that I'm a dumbass who is better off sticking to his preferred study of Foreign Policy and International Relations.

Although frankly, my view still stands.

#OWS and its similar movements is nothing but a feel-happy contemporary Woodstock which has no plans beyond roughing it for the winter months. Nothing in the form of coordinating and centralizing a national message while fitting local and state issues to that message. If it can't do that, than nothing will happen.

[Magoo]

[Dawson 1st MRB]

5. End corneism with politicians and big business.

At least my views on it.

I can't help it.