Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

kyfdx

driver100 said:

ab348 said:

abacomike said:

Lows tomorrow morning are expected to be in the mid to low 40’s down in South Florida accompanied by strong NW winds (15-25 mph) which means wind factor temps in the 30’s.  Thank goodness for heated seats in the car.

Thoughts and prayers for the Floridians freezing in the 40 degree icebox.

Thanks, it is easy for you because you are used to those temps....we aren't.
btw....tax freedom day is now in July.

Aren't you from Canada?

driver100

oldfarmer50 said:

driver100 said:

It is about 60F this morning....but all that cold weather is coming down from nasty Canada and it is only going to be 52 by 4 p.m. I think you should build a Northern wall that keeps cold air from reaching us.

Back around Toronto they have about 6 inches of snow....Mrs D, Trixie and I are glad to be here even if it will be 52!.

Ha ha, funny to hear you complaining about that cold “Canadian” air trying to spoil paradise for you.

If it makes you feel better we have afoot of snow with more expected followed by 50 below F windchills tomorrow. When I’m chipping ice off rental cars watching my fingers turn blue I’ll find solace in the fact that you’re suffering in a 100 degree warmer environment.

Actually the freezing cold Arctic Air goes over Southern Ontario including Toronto and it can get cold, but, the worst part is it picks up moisture going over Lake Ontario and can dump 2 or 3 feet of snow on Buffalo and more is left over for Western New York State. I sympathize oldfarmer, I have had plenty of cold frozen blue and numb fingers over the years........hopefully I won't experience that again....it isn't civilized.

driver100

I basically agree with ab about our No Cost Health Care system. I can get a heart by-pass, a knee replacement, cataracts repaired....a free check up once a year and pay $0. But non emergency waits can be long, hospitals are at maximum capacity, and there is lots of waste.

I think our system would be better if we paid a small amount for services, just so people don't make visits unnecessarily.

It is nice to know a hospital visit that could cost $200 or $300k won't wipe you out.......you won't pay a cent (well 5 cents since we don't have cents), and that is the way it should be. The extra taxes we pay are like insurance....to pay for medical expenses. I prefer the Canadian model, even if it costs more.

driver100

ab348 said:

abacomike said:

Lows tomorrow morning are expected to be in the mid to low 40’s down in South Florida accompanied by strong NW winds (15-25 mph) which means wind factor temps in the 30’s.  Thank goodness for heated seats in the car.

Thoughts and prayers for the Floridians freezing in the 40 degree icebox.

Thanks, it is easy for you because you are used to those temps....we aren't.
btw....tax freedom day is now in July.

kyfdx said:

driver100 said:

ab348 said:

abacomike said:

Lows tomorrow morning are expected to be in the mid to low 40’s down in South Florida accompanied by strong NW winds (15-25 mph) which means wind factor temps in the 30’s.  Thank goodness for heated seats in the car.

Thoughts and prayers for the Floridians freezing in the 40 degree icebox.

Thanks, it is easy for you because you are used to those temps....we aren't.
btw....tax freedom day is now in July.

Aren't you from Canada?

I am from Canada but we have been here since late October......and I am not used to cold temperatures any more.
I used to go back in mid Dec with Mrs D. But the last time we did that 3 years ago there was about 3 feet of snow at Buffalo airport, cars were all over the side of the road.....they had spun out. When we were about a mile from our house my friend who picked us up couldn't get up the hill. Some guys came to push and I felt guilty so I got out and pushed the car with my light jacket on, no gloves, and summer shoes. All I could think of was "Why am I doing this.....this is insane".
Now Mrs D goes back for 5 days in Dec and Feb., and I stay in Florida........why would I do that when it is usually sunny and bright here?

Mr_Shiftright

driver100 said:

I basically agree with ab about our No Cost Health Care system. I can get a heart by-pass, a knee replacement, cataracts repaired....a free check up once a year and pay $0. But non emergency waits can be long, hospitals are at maximum capacity, and there is lots of waste.

I think our system would be better if we paid a small amount for services, just so people don't make visits unnecessarily.

It is nice to know a hospital visit that could cost $200 or $300k won't wipe you out.......you won't pay a cent (well 5 cents since we don't have cents), and that is the way it should be. The extra taxes we pay are like insurance....to pay for medical expenses. I prefer the Canadian model, even if it costs more.

"How can I trade my Canadian healthcare for the American system?".....asked no Canadian ever.

However, weather is another story.....

berri

I think a big problem in the US and Canada is not enough medical schools.

berri

Ballistic submarine missiles - they can pretty much hit anywhere on the North American continent. LA is in no greater danger from that than Omaha or Cincinnati.

snakeweasel

berri said:

I believe there will only be a 1040, no more -A or - EZ. The 1040 will be shorter, BUT will have more backup worksheets to fill out. Middle working class will get relatively small decrease in taxes, except those who had many dependents personal exemptions. Wealthy will do well. Same story as usual really.

Well there is a reason the rich get bigger tax decreases is because the rich pay a lot more in taxes. It's hard to give someone who pays little to nothing in taxes a tax break.

berri

I'm talking percentage wise, not just pure dollar amount.

ab348

Mr_Shiftright said:

"How can I trade my Canadian healthcare for the American system?".....asked no Canadian ever.

Actually Danny Williams, former Premier (think Governor) of Newfoundland, needed a heart bypass and went to the USA for it, paying for it himself. That is not too uncommon given our wait times for orthopaedics as well.

snakeweasel

abacomike said:

I know you northern folks kid us about our “cold” (35-45 degrees F) weather when it comes through as a cold front 8-10 times every winter.

No we usually kid you about people walking around in heavy winter coats in 60 degree weather.

snakeweasel

berri said:

I'm talking percentage wise, not just pure dollar amount.

So am I.

driver100

Mr_Shiftright said:

driver100 said:

I basically agree with ab about our No Cost Health Care system. I can get a heart by-pass, a knee replacement, cataracts repaired....a free check up once a year and pay $0. But non emergency waits can be long, hospitals are at maximum capacity, and there is lots of waste.

I think our system would be better if we paid a small amount for services, just so people don't make visits unnecessarily.

It is nice to know a hospital visit that could cost $200 or $300k won't wipe you out.......you won't pay a cent (well 5 cents since we don't have cents), and that is the way it should be. The extra taxes we pay are like insurance....to pay for medical expenses. I prefer the Canadian model, even if it costs more.

"How can I trade my Canadian healthcare for the American system?".....asked no Canadian ever.

However, weather is another story.....

#1 is true.
#2 is true too, but there Elon Musk should devise a transporter that takes people from Canada to Florida, and a Western one - Western Canada to AZ.

driver100

berri said:

I think a big problem in the US and Canada is not enough medical schools.

True. the problem could be the cost of training doctors, and they don't seem to want to graduate very many of them. Most new doctors we have come from other countries.

Mr_Shiftright

It depends on which taxes you're talking about. For state and local taxes of ALL kinds, the rich pay the least %. For Federal tax, no doubt they pay the highest %--but it's hard to find a study that combines the overall tax burden for all local, state and Fed. taxes on any particular income group.

Ultimately, I suspect the rational answer to taxation is to avoid at all costs an extreme disparity between wealthy and poor, which historically never turns out well for anyone. Most human beings are surprisingly content if basic needs are met, and if they feel safe and secure in their abodes.

bwia

The Patriots almost gave us heart palpitations. Sorry KC, we are going to the super bowl. 

jmonroe1

bwia said:

The Patriots almost gave us heart palpitations. Sorry KC, we are going to the super bowl. 

I never saw that movie before.

Congratulations

jmonroe

qbrozen

So sick of the Pats. Just sayin.

But my son’s team got past the Saints (although admittedly not exactly fair and square). Would have preferred a Rams/Chiefs battle, but it is what it is.

stickguy

yeah, it would be nice to see a new team in the SB. Everyone (well, maybe not Pats fans, but everyone else) is totally sick of seeing them there.

Go Rams!

driver100

ab348 said:

Mr_Shiftright said:

"How can I trade my Canadian healthcare for the American system?".....asked no Canadian ever.

Actually Danny Williams, former Premier (think Governor) of Newfoundland, needed a heart bypass and went to the USA for it, paying for it himself. That is not too uncommon given our wait times for orthopaedics as well.

We have TV ads that say you can go to Buffalo (one hour drive) and have MRI's done immediately, instead of waiting for months.

ab348

driver100 said:

We have TV ads that say you can go to Buffalo (one hour drive) and have MRI's done immediately, instead of waiting for months.

We have at least one, maybe more, private MRI clinics here where you can do that and pay for it yourself assuming you don't have supplemental insurance that would cover it. Popular with sports teams too. There was a controversy when they opened about "rich people jumping the queue". I would do it in a heartbeat if it was something important, though I'm not "rich". It's an odd reaction since there are many parts of the system that are private businesses already, family doctors among them - they just get a fee from the govt every time a patient visits, but have to run their own offices, pay staff, etc out of that revenue. I think that is the biggest weakness in our system, that there aren't more private options that would get the prescribed fee for service but might charge a premium for quicker response or the like. Having the gov run all the main facilities is not very good for service times.

stickguy

Probably government should just be acting as insurance and general oversightc(rules setting), notvactually running things. That sounds like Pennsylvania, with a liquor control board runningvall the liquor stores. Needless to say, not efficient.

In the US, Medicare (for seniors) actually works pretty well, and I believe is a lot more cost efficient than private insurance. Basically just extend that to everyone.

And if you have to wait for non-essentials, at least you aren’t paying for it (well, not extra). If you want to pay can always do that, but overall, people get what they need and don’t go broke doing it.

berri

The tax changes generally provide the wealthy a greater percentage reduction in tax than the middle class. It is not just about who pays what amount or their percent bracket, it is about who made out best under all the tax changes. There are more than a few charades in this new law that take place and it pits blue states against red states in regards to things like write offs. A lower income person gets more negative impact from the elimination of the personal exemptions making the expanded standard deduction less valuable to them. A family with more children gets less impact as well because of the elimination of personal exemptions. A younger family in a more expensive market will usually get hit worse with the limitation of interest and tax deductions than older people because they have less equity and much more of their mortgage payment is interest rather than principal. Then there are the expansion of wealthy benefits by increasing estate tax exemptions, trust benefits, etc. I'm not saying that overall it will not save most people some dollars, but rather that the impact is inequitable and the law changes are somewhat deceiving at times. For that matter, even professionals and some small business owners will get noticeably different net results. The tax law is a mess.

PF_Flyer

qbrozen said:

So sick of the Pats. Just sayin.

But my son’s team got past the Saints (although admittedly not exactly fair and square). Would have preferred a Rams/Chiefs battle, but it is what it is.

The zebras did not have a good weekend, but Don Denkinger still leads the pack in my book

oldfarmer50

driver100 said:

ab348 said:

abacomike said:

Lows tomorrow morning are expected to be in the mid to low 40’s down in South Florida accompanied by strong NW winds (15-25 mph) which means wind factor temps in the 30’s.  Thank goodness for heated seats in the car.

Thoughts and prayers for the Floridians freezing in the 40 degree icebox.

Thanks, it is easy for you because you are used to those temps....we aren't.
btw....tax freedom day is now in July.

kyfdx said:

driver100 said:

ab348 said:

abacomike said:

Lows tomorrow morning are expected to be in the mid to low 40’s down in South Florida accompanied by strong NW winds (15-25 mph) which means wind factor temps in the 30’s.  Thank goodness for heated seats in the car.

Thoughts and prayers for the Floridians freezing in the 40 degree icebox.

Thanks, it is easy for you because you are used to those temps....we aren't.
btw....tax freedom day is now in July.

Aren't you from Canada?

I am from Canada but we have been here since late October......and I am not used to cold temperatures any more.
I used to go back in mid Dec with Mrs D. But the last time we did that 3 years ago there was about 3 feet of snow at Buffalo airport, cars were all over the side of the road.....they had spun out. When we were about a mile from our house my friend who picked us up couldn't get up the hill. Some guys came to push and I felt guilty so I got out and pushed the car with my light jacket on, no gloves, and summer shoes. All I could think of was "Why am I doing this.....this is insane".
Now Mrs D goes back for 5 days in Dec and Feb., and I stay in Florida........why would I do that when it is usually sunny and bright here?

So you let your wife push cars through the snow in her shorts and flip flops? That’s cruel?

Went to work today and it was so bad that none of the bosses bothered to show up as they figured no one was crazy enough to come out. Boy, were they wrong to underestimate the group of retired workaholics they employ. It was standing room only in the driver’s room.

There was no work to do since none of the offices had made any requests for cars and the dealers wouldn’t accept any deliveries today. The boss said if we wanted a few hours work we could clean the 18” of snow off some cars but seeing that it was -8F with brisk wind we all fled out the door.

qbrozen

PF_Flyer said:

So sick of the Pats. Just sayin.

But my son’s team got past the Saints (although admittedly not exactly fair and square). Would have preferred a Rams/Chiefs battle, but it is what it is.

The zebras did not have a good weekend, but Don Denkinger still leads the pack in my book

That they did not. A number of missed calls. Really tough when it changes the game. 

ab348

Those who say they are sick of the Pats need to take a step back in order to appreciate what you are seeing. This is totally remarkable, utterly historic. I doubt we will ever see a run like this again.

While I didn't have the same sense at the start of OT that they were going to march down the field like they did against the Falcons in the SB overtime a couple of years ago, once they started rolling it felt inevitable. KC needs to find some guys that can play and coach on the defensive side of the ball.

imidazol97

driver100 said:

We have TV ads that say you can go to Buffalo (one hour drive) and have MRI's done immediately, instead of waiting for months.

My wife's orthopedic office branch north of the metro has one of the largest MRI's available that's a large enough tube that even claustrophic people can have MRI's done in it with a minimum of claustro strtess. Don't need the hamburger bun type "open" MRI which doesn't get resolution as good. AND they charge $550 if you don't have insurance per scan.

An office in Cincy had been advertising for a couple of years $295 IIRC. @graphicguy may know the ad and the number better than I recall it.

houdini2

snakeweasel said:

qbrozen said:

snakeweasel said:

qbrozen said:

snakeweasel said:

snakeweasel said:

To me anything built in this century is new.

I can't believe I missed this gem the first time through!

I agree! I find it a little shocking every time I remind myself that we're on the twentieth year of century already.

You might be in the 20th year of this century but the rest of us just started the 19th year. So how are things in the future?

Oh, I disagree. We are all in the 20th year. Think about it. The year 2000 was indeed part of this century.

You can disagree all you want but you would be wrong. The year 2000 was in the last century. Consider this, there was no year zero, 1 BC was followed by 1AD. Hence the 1st century was 1AD through 100AD, the second century started in the year 101 and so forth with each century ending in a year that ended in a double zero. For the year 2000 to be in the 21st century somewhere a century had to be only 99 years. So the current century started in 2001, we are in the 19th year of the current century.

There is a year zero by astronomical calendar. There are many people throughout history, smarter than you or me, who count a year 0. And, frankly, it makes sense to me that since we don’t jump from 99 to 101 nor from 999 to 1001, we also would not jump from -1 to 1.


But in the Gregorian calendar (the one we are using) there is no year zero. Year -1 and prior are denoted as BC or Before Christ and the year 1 and beyond as AD or Anno Domini (in the year of our Lord). So year 0 would not be before Christ nor in the dominion of Christ, yet any year must be on one or the other hence the year 0 cannot exist in the Gregorian calendar.

Neither of us is “wrong,” and we can certainly disagree. 

Since we disagree one or both of us has to be wrong. It's simple, the calendar we use has no year zero, therefore the century started in 2001.

You guys are both like my wife. She is never wrong, or if she obviously is, she is incapable of admitting it. How about if you just have differing opinions.

imidazol97

berri said:

A family with more children gets less impact as well because of the elimination of personal exemptions.

"Tax breaks for parents
"I mentioned earlier that the personal exemption is going away, which could disproportionally affect larger families.

"However, this loss and more should be made up for by the expanded Child Tax Credit, which is available for qualified children under age 17. Specifically, the bill doubles the credit from $1,000 to $2,000, and also increases the amount of the credit that is refundable to $1,400."

https://www.fool.com/taxes/2017/12/29/your-complete-guide-to-the-2018-tax-changes.aspx

This is a good comparison pointing out simplications that make the new tax law better. The increased standard deduction and elimination of the marriage penalty for the most part will help.

The political hacks have tried to twist the facts into negatives. I for one am looking forward to seeing how much I'll owe this year although mine varies from year-to-year quite a bit.

My thinking is just go to a flat tax, no deductions.

houdini2

There is a lot of different dynamics between the U.S. and Canada. California has more people than Canada.

imidazol97

berri said:

There are more than a few charades in this new law that take place and it pits blue states against red states in regards to things like write offs.

This isn't a matter of politics: it's a matter of why should folks in other states pay higher taxes to make up for income taxes folks in states that have high state taxes and high property taxes don't pay federal tax on? I don't see in the Fool's summary from 2017 but aren't they still able to deduct $10000 in those taxes?

I suggest starting a new discussion topic for taxes, although this topic is likely to turn out to be politically based rather than factual very quickly.

houdini2

qbrozen said:

So sick of the Pats. Just sayin.

But my son’s team got past the Saints (although admittedly not exactly fair and square). Would have preferred a Rams/Chiefs battle, but it is what it is.

qbrozen said:

So sick of the Pats. Just sayin.

But my son’s team got past the Saints (although admittedly not exactly fair and square). Would have preferred a Rams/Chiefs battle, but it is what it is.

Yep, the TV networks got what they wanted, the two big population areas for more viewers. NE vs California. In recent years, I have become very skeptical about NFL officiating. The ability to overturn rulings on the field need to include obvious bad penalty calls. It is insane not to have a way to remedy really bad calls other than apologizing after the game is over.

imidazol97

My thermometer on the sill of the storage barn showed -7.5 deg F as the low overnight. Currently the airport is at -2 which is what my Cobalt showed when I drove it to get coffee.

I'm posting this in case any of the Florida or California contingents want to send sympathy. And yes we do have winter coats. They don't help much.

BTW for the NEastern folks, we really lucked out and only got about 3 inches of snow instead of the prediction if there were no rain but all snow of 10-12 inches. I hope all of you did as well.

houdini2

houdini2 said:

qbrozen said:

So sick of the Pats. Just sayin.

But my son’s team got past the Saints (although admittedly not exactly fair and square). Would have preferred a Rams/Chiefs battle, but it is what it is.

qbrozen said:

So sick of the Pats. Just sayin.

But my son’s team got past the Saints (although admittedly not exactly fair and square). Would have preferred a Rams/Chiefs battle, but it is what it is.

Yep, the TV networks got what they wanted, the two big population areas for more viewers. NE vs California. In recent years, I have become very skeptical about NFL officiating. The ability to overturn rulings on the field need to include obvious bad penalty calls.

dino001

berri said:

The tax changes generally provide the wealthy a greater percentage reduction in tax than the middle class. It is not just about who pays what amount or their percent bracket, it is about who made out best under all the tax changes. There are more than a few charades in this new law that take place and it pits blue states against red states in regards to things like write offs. A lower income person gets more negative impact from the elimination of the personal exemptions making the expanded standard deduction less valuable to them. A family with more children gets less impact as well because of the elimination of personal exemptions. A younger family in a more expensive market will usually get hit worse with the limitation of interest and tax deductions than older people because they have less equity and much more of their mortgage payment is interest rather than principal. Then there are the expansion of wealthy benefits by increasing estate tax exemptions, trust benefits, etc. I'm not saying that overall it will not save most people some dollars, but rather that the impact is inequitable and the law changes are somewhat deceiving at times. For that matter, even professionals and some small business owners will get noticeably different net results. The tax law is a mess.

I think the biggest benefit from doing away with large deductions in favor of lower rates is we can finally as a society face up to the true costs of some things like home ownership, or local taxation. Previous tax structure (and possibly future, if this sunsets) created all kinds of wrong incentives and allowed people to delude themselves about their true cost or living. I wish it was done in less partisan way, several of those initiatives did look like an attempt to stick it to the "blue" side of the country just to spite them. I am, however, sympathetic to the argument that those former large local tax and real estate deductions were creating a hidden subsidy to the high tax states. It also allowed real estate machine to pull wool over peoples' eyes how much house really costs. People aren't great in math, so they see couple of thousand bucks saved on taxes and think they got a great gift, what they don't see are those tens of thousands leaking from their wallets to "earn" them those couple of grand. They usually make themselves believe they'd buy such a house anyway at same cost, which is unlikely to be true, as resistance points on the price would have likely been hit much sooner if not for that "but you save on taxes" mantra

graphicguy

ab348 said:

Those who say they are sick of the Pats need to take a step back in order to appreciate what you are seeing. This is totally remarkable, utterly historic. I doubt we will ever see a run like this again.

While I didn't have the same sense at the start of OT that they were going to march down the field like they did against the Falcons in the SB overtime a couple of years ago, once they started rolling it felt inevitable. KC needs to find some guys that can play and coach on the defensive side of the ball.

I agree. People who aren’t local to the NE area, usually hate the Pats. But, one thing you can’t debate, they have been consistently great, for a very long time. And, they are coached by one of the best HCs I’ve ever seen, with a QB who is the best I’ve ever seen play the game.

Can’t argue any of that.

I can see a time when the refs will be only used to review plays, with cameras, video and computers actually doing the officiating.

NFL refs keep getting worse and worse, not better.

imidazol97

dino001 said:

I think the biggest benefit from doing away with large deductions in favor of lower rates is we can finally as a society face up to the true costs of some things like home ownership, or local taxation. Previous tax structure (and possibly future, if this sunsets) created all kinds of wrong incentives and allowed people to delude themselves about their true cost or living. I wish it was done in less partisan way, several of those initiatives did look like an attempt to stick it to the "blue" side of the country just to spite them. I am, however, sympathetic to the argument that those former large local tax and real estate deductions were creating a hidden subsidy to the high tax states and it was actually another form. It also allowed real estate machine to pull wool over peoples' eyes how much house really costs. People aren't great in math, so they see couple of thousand buck saved on taxes and think they got a great gift, what they don't see are those tens thousands leaking from their wallets to "earn" them those couple of grand. They usually make themselves believe they'd buy such a house anyway at same cost, which is unlikely to be true, as resistance points on priced would have likely been hit much sooner if not for that "but you save on taxes" mantra.

Well said.

imidazol97

graphicguy said:

I can see a time when the refs will be only used to review plays, with cameras, video and computers actually doing the officiating.

NFL refs keep getting worse and worse, not better.

Agree. The computer gurus will eventually develop AI that will do the officiating and the refs
and reviewers in the booth will just double check on the AI.

Maybe the AI could replace the talkers who narrate the games. I mostly watch only OSU
football, and the ESPN guys, for the most part, are always against OSU. It's more obvious
when a game is carried on another network instead of ESPN.

dino001

houdini2 said:

You guys are both like my wife. She is never wrong, or if she obviously is, she is incapable of admitting it. How about if you just have differing opinions.

There is no year zero in the Gregorian calendar, period. There may be a year zero in Chinese calendar (I don't know, just saying it's possible), Mayan, or Houdini's calendar. We use Gregorian calendar and it does not have year zero. Similarly, there was no year zero in Julian calendar (one used by the Church prior Gregorian reforms). Year 1 BC was followed by year 1 AD. As Miss Mona Lisa Vito would say, it's not an opinion, it's a fact. If by edict of a new Pope or President we adopt a different calendar, there may be a year zero. For now, there isn't one.

And yes, new centuries start in years xxx1 and end on xxx0, but since zero is a nicer number and nothing is better than pulling all that commerce forward, the world "celebrated" "new century" and new "millennium" year too early.

oldfarmer50

Never heard of this. Anyone else?

https://youtu.be/EUdw4m3AR_k

qbrozen

ab348 said:

Those who say they are sick of the Pats need to take a step back in order to appreciate what you are seeing. This is totally remarkable, utterly historic. I doubt we will ever see a run like this again.

While I didn't have the same sense at the start of OT that they were going to march down the field like they did against the Falcons in the SB overtime a couple of years ago, once they started rolling it felt inevitable. KC needs to find some guys that can play and coach on the defensive side of the ball.

I think what bugs me, and I don't hold it against the Pats, persay, but against the "fans," is that the team didn't even exist when I was growing up. What I mean by that is I didn't know a SINGLE Pats fan. Not until the Brady dynasty did they get so popular [in my area]. Same thing has happened my whole life. Marino brought out dolphin "fans," Aikman the cowboys "fans," etc. So whenever a team/player is in vogue and folks are on the bandwagon, I root for them to lose.

abacomike

imidazol97 said:

My thermometer on the sill of the storage barn showed -7.5 deg F as the low overnight. Currently the airport is at -2 which is what my Cobalt showed when I drove it to get coffee.

I'm posting this in case any of the Florida or California contingents want to send sympathy. And yes we do have winter coats. They don't help much.

BTW for the NEastern folks, we really lucked out and only got about 3 inches of snow instead of the prediction if there were no rain but all snow of 10-12 inches. I hope all of you did as well.

Imid, I want to send you my deepest and sincerest sympathies for you as well as all the other Northerners here on Edmunds who are suffering from the extremely cold temperatures. I have been there, done that, when I lived in the suburban Chicago area. I remember many days and nights where the actual temperatures hit -27 degrees Fahrenheit without the wind chill. I also remember several mornings when ice formed on the inside walls of my staircase alcove which faced the northwest. When I left Chicago in 1990, I vowed I would never, ever return to that climate. After 9 years in Southern California, 8 of those years in the Desert (Palm Desert), I became spoiled by moderating winter temps (60's and 70's). On the flip side, summers were brutal with daily temps over 100. So when I was offered a job in Chicago at 6 large figures in 1999, I turned it down in favor of an eventual move to South Florida.

This morning at 8:00 AM when I got into my E300 loaner, the temperature shown in the car was 41 degrees F. To me, that was almost 30 degrees below our average daytime winter temps. I had on a pair of Levi's and a sweatshirt and immediately turned on the heated seats. Boy, it was cold, brrrr. But, admittedly, much better than what you guys are suffering now. I have tears in my eyes as I write this sympathetic post!

snakeweasel

Mr_Shiftright said:

It depends on which taxes you're talking about. For state and local taxes of ALL kinds, the rich pay the least %. For Federal tax, no doubt they pay the highest %--but it's hard to find a study that combines the overall tax burden for all local, state and Fed. taxes on any particular income group.

Ultimately, I suspect the rational answer to taxation is to avoid at all costs an extreme disparity between wealthy and poor, which historically never turns out well for anyone. Most human beings are surprisingly content if basic needs are met, and if they feel safe and secure in their abodes.

State taxes are either progressive (the more you make the higher the rate) or a flat rate. Most local tend to be flat but some are progressive. There is no real answer to taxation as no matter how you structure it there will be winners and losers and someone will find it unfair.

Now do you really want to go down the rabbit hole of income differences?

stickguy

And of course, the pats elevated cheating to an art form!

dino001

Patriots are Germans of American Football. For those not familiar, a famous former English striker Gary Lineker ones said football (he meant soccer, of course) is a game where twenty two guys chase a ball and Germans win.

Brazil has more titles, but Germany has been more consistent in terms of high level advancement in the FIFA World Cup tournaments. Post WWII (1950, 18 tournaments), which should be really when it counts (tournaments prior the aviation age should not really count, as teams from overseas would not participate) they they had 8 final appearance (4 wins) and 12 semifinals. Brazil has one more title, but only 7 final and 10 semifinal appearances). They (Germany) qualified to every tournament They did not advance out of the group stage only one, coincidentally last year. You can also see some other parallels, such as discipline, stability in the leadership.
That's what Pats are for me, Steelers may have more titles, but in last 20 years Pats are the team. And just like Germans in soccer, they are equally reviled by non-fans for all kinds of "reasons", some deserved, some totally phony and made up.

dino001

stickguy said:

And of course, the pats elevated cheating to an art form!

Sour grapes always sound the same. Not a Patriot fan, just an observer

snakeweasel

stickguy said:

Probably government should just be acting as insurance and general oversightc(rules setting), notvactually running things. That sounds like Pennsylvania, with a liquor control board runningvall the liquor stores. Needless to say, not efficient.

In the US, Medicare (for seniors) actually works pretty well, and I believe is a lot more cost efficient than private insurance. Basically just extend that to everyone.

And if you have to wait for non-essentials, at least you aren’t paying for it (well, not extra). If you want to pay can always do that, but overall, people get what they need and don’t go broke doing it.

My sister is a doctor and she is thinking of not a cepting Medicare patients simply because the government either pays very late or not at all. From what I hear many doctors don't accept it.

I also question the constitutionality of the government handling health care.

dino001

remove this - double post.

snakeweasel

berri said:

The tax changes generally provide the wealthy a greater percentage reduction in tax than the middle class. It is not just about who pays what amount or their percent bracket, it is about who made out best under all the tax changes. There are more than a few charades in this new law that take place and it pits blue states against red states in regards to things like write offs. A lower income person gets more negative impact from the elimination of the personal exemptions making the expanded standard deduction less valuable to them. A family with more children gets less impact as well because of the elimination of personal exemptions. A younger family in a more expensive market will usually get hit worse with the limitation of interest and tax deductions than older people because they have less equity and much more of their mortgage payment is interest rather than principal. Then there are the expansion of wealthy benefits by increasing estate tax exemptions, trust benefits, etc. I'm not saying that overall it will not save most people some dollars, but rather that the impact is inequitable and the law changes are somewhat deceiving at times. For that matter, even professionals and some small business owners will get noticeably different net results. The tax law is a mess.

Last year our system calculated our clients taxes both on the current (for that tax year) tax law and the new tax law. The vast majority of our clients the new tax law reduces their taxes. The few returns I did this year so far the client had a lower tax liability than last year even though they made more money.