Commentary: Should the US be like France & Germany?

[t-rex]

So many of you are so completely clueless...

my sides are hurting from laughing at the idiocy.

My wife and I playing the "how many times ksr/member12/restoftheGlennBeckfanclub cry about having to pay tax" game...

[wescoent]

Originally Posted by t-rex

So many of you are so completely clueless...

my sides are hurting from laughing at the idiocy.

My wife and I playing the "how many times ksr/member12/restoftheGlennBeckfanclub cry about having to pay tax" game...

Taxes?

Gas taxes are unconstitutional, because they infringe on Americans' right to drive as needlessly large and wasteful vehicles as they want.

Similarly, income taxes are unconstitutional. The fact that I have to pay income tax means I cannot retire early, buy a Ferrari 355 Spyder, and spend all day doing donuts and burning my Pirellis into smokey oblivion. Therefore, income taxes infringe on my God-given Ferrari Donut Rights.

[ksr]

Originally Posted by t-rex

So many of you are so completely clueless...

my sides are hurting from laughing at the idiocy.

My wife and I playing the "how many times ksr/member12/restoftheGlennBeckfanclub cry about having to pay tax" game...

Atta boy! Try to belittle others because you don't understand an issue.

[t-rex]

Originally Posted by ksr

Atta boy! Try to belittle others because you don't understand an issue.

You're right. I'm totally clueless. I have NO IDEA what's going around me. Just a schmegegge wandering around the French Quarter with my underwear outside my pants...

Lighten up.

Ya know some of you spoiled bitchbabies should spend less time moaning and complaining, and more time doing something substantive, something to actually make this country a better place.

Better yet, spend some time on a Kibbutz. Take time off to go help victims of a natural disaster somewhere. Volunteer to teach the illiterate to read (it ain't hard). Work with community groups (and I don't mean the bitchbox suburbanites complaining about school districts being redrawn). Or even better, you can spend some time in a poverty-stricken third-world village, helping bring them clean drinking water, or helping them build a clinic so their babies don't die of diseases that we spoiled Americans don't have to worry about. It'll help you realize how good you've really got it.

So keep on thinking you've "got a bead on things" ksr...

I'm not suggesting your position is wrong... just that your perspective is.


.

[MonaroSS]

Originally Posted by CUtiger08

I was comparing the EU and USA more as demographic entities (number of people and net GDP/trade) than political. Obviously the EU is a less federally controlled group than the US states... though how federally controlled our states should be has long been a matter of debate (and at least one outright war) and my ideal setup would have more in common with the EU than the current USA. That being said, including Canada and Mexico in with the US probably would be a better comparison even on purely demographic terms, as well as making a more direct political comparison.

My bigger point is that there are alot more people to trade with the US than in any European nation, and that if our inter-state trade was combined with each state's indivdual international trade, several states would likely have similar numbers, especially per person, as Germany or France without requiring universal health care or any other economic "reforms". If this is true, then the claim that the whole nation needs to change its policies to match these nations is not valid.

As for taxes: I think simpler is better. Instead of having a dozen tax classes with thousands of deductions... have a simple tax code that anyone can understand, and one that applies to everyone. I really think a sales tax would be best, as it taxes consumption instead of income, and is far more progressive if done right. And I would much rather have my tax dollars used for education than just about any other domestic use, including health care, industry subsidies, or company bailouts/loans.

I'm sure intra-national trade within the US borders does go a long way towards aiding the vitality of the US economy. I'm not sure where to find such, or how reliable any figures for it are.

Perhaps your idea of more separation of US states in economic self determination would indeed have a vitalising effect. Competition is a good thing, and if states had more freedom to determine their own top to bottom trade and tax policy etc then the winners would attract more people and business. And the losers would see what did and didn't work and be more likely to adopt the best practice and raise the bar.

Certainly a simpler tax code would be good, and I am a big supporter of not taxing income or capital gains but rather consumption. It promotes both investment and savings, two things that help fuel long term economic growth and stability.

[vcs2600]

Germany has a high-wage, high-cost structure society, so they respond by building high quality, high technology products that can be sold with high margins. This goes way beyond the automotive business, Germany takes German Engineering seriously.

Meanwhile, our friends in Detroit also have a high-wage and high-cost structure, except they chose to build low-cost, low-tech, low-style products that could be sold as cheaply and in as much volume as possible.

This is something I have never really "got" about the American auto industry. They seem have intentionally put themselves into direct competition with lower-cost competitors.

[davidlane]

Originally Posted by vcs2600

Germany has a high-wage, high-cost structure society, so they respond by building high quality, high technology products that can be sold with high margins. This goes way beyond the automotive business, Germany takes German Engineering seriously.

Meanwhile, our friends in Detroit also have a high-wage and high-cost structure, except they chose to build low-cost, low-tech, low-style products that could be sold as cheaply and in as much volume as possible.

This is something I have never really "got" about the American auto industry. They seem have intentionally put themselves into direct competition with lower-cost competitors.

Germans and high quality are like the old comment about Howard Cossell "a legend in his own mind" check M-B, BMW, VW and Porsche repair records. Speaking of high tech how's that IDrive doing in the "buff" magazine reviews. Or for that matter any review. Ford's Sync gets consistently better reviews.

Style is subjective however, if I had to list all the VW's that were less than attractive, to be charitable, I'd have a list longer than anyone wants to read. Is there anyone with 20/20 vision that thinks the "Bangle butt" is attractive?

To sum up, another post by a US bashing Europhile. They do some good things. So does the US. However, comments like this make me wonder about Marshall's rebuilding plan. Given the US taxpayer has paid to keep them safe for 60+ plus years some of the money they didn't have to spend on defense should have gone into better product.

[t-rex]

Originally Posted by vcs2600

Germany has a high-wage, high-cost structure society, so they respond by building high quality, high technology products that can be sold with high margins. This goes way beyond the automotive business, Germany takes German Engineering seriously.

Meanwhile, our friends in Detroit also have a high-wage and high-cost structure, except they chose to build low-cost, low-tech, low-style products that could be sold as cheaply and in as much volume as possible.

This is something I have never really "got" about the American auto industry. They seem have intentionally put themselves into direct competition with lower-cost competitors.

That's because the American mentality is that of Crazy Rick's Stereo World...

VOLUME

VOLUME

VOLUME


America's never cared about being the best at anything... as long as it was the biggest.

[davidlane]

Originally Posted by t-rex

That's because the American mentality is that of Crazy Rick's Stereo World...

VOLUME

VOLUME

VOLUME


America's never cared about being the best at anything... as long as it was the biggest.

And that's why occasionally I get to watch the Shuttle shortly after launch.

[sigma]

Behave and keep irrelevant political discourse out of this thread or IT WILL BE LOCKED.

[RamJet502]

Originally Posted by vcs2600

Germany has a high-wage, high-cost structure society, so they respond by building high quality, high technology products that can be sold with high margins. This goes way beyond the automotive business, Germany takes German Engineering seriously.

German car engineering can't be that great, their longterm reliability is terrible.

[davidlane]

Originally Posted by Xenon

So if that's the case, couldn't the UAW be used as a too to promote higher education, as well as promoting higher wages and quality.

And one thing you are forgetting is that outside of China and the US, the government does do some subsidizing for healthcare. So something needs to be done about the healthcare dilemma here in the US

Yes, get the "government out of health care! They are the largest buyer of heath care in the US. They pay significantly less than market rates and everyone else pays the difference. This is why there are doctors that refuse to see Medicare patients. the longer the "government" has been involved the more screwed up the health care system has become.

[sigma]

Originally Posted by wescoent

Taxes?

Gas taxes are unconstitutional, because they infringe on Americans' right to drive as needlessly large and wasteful vehicles as they want.

Similarly, income taxes are unconstitutional. The fact that I have to pay income tax means I cannot retire early, buy a Ferrari 355 Spyder, and spend all day doing donuts and burning my Pirellis into smokey oblivion. Therefore, income taxes infringe on my God-given Ferrari Donut Rights.

Yes. Property taxes are also un-american and thus unconstitutional because they limit how much property you can own buy mandating you generate sufficient revenue to cover the bill. Not to mention they are used to fund hotbeds of Communist Islamic Democrat Socialist Extremism like public schools and libraries.

Did Rush and Cheney kick you out of the party as well?

[t-rex]

Property taxes exist solely to fund racist all-white school districts.

[RamJet502]

Originally Posted by sigma

Yes. Property taxes are also un-American and thus unconstitutional because they limit how much property you can own buy mandating you generate sufficient revenue to cover the bill. Not to mention they are used to fund hotbeds of Communist Islamic Democrat Socialist Extremism like public schools and libraries.

Exactly, your common sense is finally kicking in.