Greeks invented logic?

Fun! Just think of all the pay cuts for public employees :-) ...Jim Thompson

-- | James E.Thompson, CTO | mens | | Analog Innovations, Inc. | et | | Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus | | Phoenix, Arizona 85048 Skype: Contacts Only | | | Voice:(480)460-2350 Fax: Available upon request | Brass Rat | | E-mail Icon at

| 1962 | The only thing bipartisan in this country is hypocrisy

Why, the rich of course -- they're thinking that if they have to endure pay or benefit reductions, gosh golly, if they strike they can similarly reduce the income of business owners and other "rich Greeks" and get them to feel the sting as well.

It's based on the usual assumption that those running businesses are raking in huge profits and could "easily" afford to pay their workers more or at least not cut their pay when the economy goes sour, but (as the article mentions) instead choose to take "the easy route" of cutting pay and benefits.

How often that's really true is anyone's guess, of course. Although logic would indicate that it's a lot less true when the economy is in rotten shape than when it's booming...

They just want what the rest of the EU has, wealth, with out working hard for it. Having the Germans bail them out, really burns them up.

Cheers

Public employees have been Greeking us long enough.

Those people are either too stupid or too arrogant to realize that they are most likely going to cause the complete collapse of their state in which they will have much worse problems...

Of course America is heading down the same path...

I agree, there's certainly a non-negligible chance of that.

Once people have obtained a certain standard of living, it's an unusual individual who will take the long view of what's best for their country as well as their own best interests and accept a reduction; most people are pretty short-sighted in that regard. (This is likely heightened by people seeing the behavior the likes of AIG executives -- if those guys made huge incomes and even when they utterly failed were bailed out by the government so as to be able to continue living their oppulent lifestyles, why should I, the little guy, have to make any sacrifice either?)

---Joel

What? You didn't contribute to Obama's campaign ?:-) ...Jim Thompson

--
| James E.Thompson, CTO                            |    mens     |
| Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems  |    manus    |
| Phoenix, Arizona  85048    Skype: Contacts Only  |             |
| Voice:(480)460-2350  Fax: Available upon request |  Brass Rat  |
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com |    1962     |
             
      The only thing bipartisan in this country is hypocrisy

Is George Papandreou still alive? he was my Econ teacher at UC Berzerkly ages ago! They do not like having pay for a measly 52 weeks a year; they were "guaranteed" 54 weeks of pay (or was that 56 weeks?).

There are other crazienesses as well..

AYUP! That just about nails it on the head!

so

Maybe he is one of the 47% that does not pay taxes?

so

the

Is he in Obummer's cabinet?

And this is the problem with big government. Big government enables this type of behavior. Once the government reaches a certain size it is impossible for it to be idle because too many people will do whatever it takes to keep their standard of living up... including those in the government.

Jim Thompson wrote: : On Tue, 4 May 2010 17:23:47 -0700, "Joel Koltner" : >individual who will take the long view of what's best for their country as : >well as their own best interests and accept a reduction; most people are : >pretty short-sighted in that regard. (This is likely heightened by people : >seeing the behavior the likes of AIG executives -- if those guys made huge : >incomes and even when they utterly failed were bailed out by the government so : >as to be able to continue living their oppulent lifestyles, why should I, the : >little guy, have to make any sacrifice either?) : : What? You didn't contribute to Obama's campaign ?:-) : : ...Jim Thompson

You think McCain would not have bailed out the AIG ? No insult intended - I'm just curious what you think the alternative scenario would have been.

Regards, Mikko

so

the

I'm not certain, but probably.

Like any other business failure... it'd resolve itself. ...Jim Thompson

--
| James E.Thompson, CTO                            |    mens     |
| Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems  |    manus    |
| Phoenix, Arizona  85048    Skype: Contacts Only  |             |
| Voice:(480)460-2350  Fax: Available upon request |  Brass Rat  |
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com |    1962     |
             
      The only thing bipartisan in this country is hypocrisy

so

the

AIG's liability was mostly credit default swaps, insurance policies that let speculators go short on real estate bonds that they didn't even own. If AIG had been allowed to fail, the speculators would have lost their bets. Instead, the Feds (namely you and me) paid them off.

Jack Cashill argues that government intervention after the 1929 crash extended the crash for a decade. He's probably right.

John

Oh, I wish...

That 47% figure, while significant, is a bit misleading in that it's *federal income taxes* that 47% don't pay; if you include ALL federal taxes the percentage who don't pay is more like 10%. ...and of course it's pretty much impossible to pay absolutely *no* taxes, even when your 1040A shows you're liable for nothing or getting a refund -- you've still paid in payroll taxes, sales taxes, state taxes, etc. Granted, when you add it all up, it can still be a very low rate -- e.g., a single digital percentage -- but given that most of the people we're talking about here are poor, this shouldn't be surprising.

In general no single statistic is going to tell the full story about anything, although that particular statistic (47%) seems as though it's been promoted in a purposely misleading fashion. A similarly misleading statistic from a liberal point of view would be that that 65% of U.S. corporations paid no federal income tax either...

---Joel

(1) Did you figure in EITC... where the "working" poor get their FICA refunded? (2) WHY should corporations pay taxes at all? They just pass that thru to cost of product. ...Jim Thompson

--
| James E.Thompson, CTO                            |    mens     |
| Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems  |    manus    |
| Phoenix, Arizona  85048    Skype: Contacts Only  |             |
| Voice:(480)460-2350  Fax: Available upon request |  Brass Rat  |
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com |    1962     |
             
      The only thing bipartisan in this country is hypocrisy

"Jim Thompson" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com...

Personally, no, I'm just repeating what I've read that could be of very dubious sources. :-)

I dunno, why should you have to pay inheritance tax when (generally speaking) the inheritance has already been taxed at the point it was earned?

---Joel

Agreed! ...Jim Thompson

--
| James E.Thompson, CTO                            |    mens     |
| Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems  |    manus    |
| Phoenix, Arizona  85048    Skype: Contacts Only  |             |
| Voice:(480)460-2350  Fax: Available upon request |  Brass Rat  |
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com |    1962     |
             
      The only thing bipartisan in this country is hypocrisy