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Amicus brief on behalf of 97 tech companies

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Re: Amicus brief on behalf of 97 tech companies

#151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another way is to estimate the net present value of America's GDP by multiplying it by 20 or so, which implies that it's roughly 1% of American wealth. Alternatively, percentage of rents at office and industrial zoned land would be a good measure. That'd separate out national vs international activity, at the cost of being significantly more difficult to estimate and calculate. I actually don't know how well rents an…

Out of curiosity, why ~20?

P/E ratios are around 20 on average I suppose. Meaning earnings are 5% of the market cap of a stock.

GDP doesn't directly correlate to earnings though.

Re: Amicus brief on behalf of 97 tech companies

#152
post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The terminal is pretty. But it was 10 years behind schedule. It costs $3.75 BILLION dollars to build, making it the world's most expensive transportation hub. And it runs about 46,000 passengers a day. (Compare and note that Grand Central does five and a half times that many). It was not worth it. Even the director of the Port Authority (the one in 2015, not the one when it was approved) declined to hold an opening c…

Not that I disagree with you at all about cost overruns and schedule delays being an issue, or poor incentive structures all around being an even bigger issue, but going by your numbers: > The terminal is pretty. But it was 10 years behind schedule. It costs $3.75 BILLION dollars to build, making it the world's most expensive transportation hub. And it runs about 46,000 passengers a day. (Compare and note that Grand…

Many passengers are the same from one day to the next. (They might even be counted twice a day, coming and going.) So it's more like $220 every time a traveler goes through the terminal, which could be tens of thousands per year for some people.

Re: Amicus brief on behalf of 97 tech companies

#153
post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But didn't Hillary know it isn't the popular vote that gets her to presidency. The is no trophy for winning the popular vote! Why didn't she campaign in the Rust Belt states but went to California instead. It is really baffling...

> Why didn't she campaign in the Rust Belt states but went to California instead. It is really baffling... Because, ironically, her campaign was convinced she had the election in the bag, and they didn't want to risk her losing the popular vote while winning the electoral college, because that could undermine her perceived "mandate".

She made a strategic mistake. But the "popular vote" keeps getting mentioned in the context which is validating her somehow. I see it more as another reminder of a big blunder she made not something positive to promote about her campaign.

Re: Amicus brief on behalf of 97 tech companies

#154
post #47

> If this approach were upheld, future orders might apply to any nation, and suddenly and unexpectedly bar its nationals from entering or returning to the United States. Aye, this is the crux of the matter, isn't it? I have a plane ticket from Canada to Europe in August, transiting in the USA and I have already contemplated changing my routing because who knows whether I will be admitted? Yes, the chances are heavily…

The entire "unreasonableness" is based on the idea that this was Trump randomly banning countries.

Obama's administration (not Trump's) compiled the list of countries. It wasn't racial or "because they're Muslim" (most Muslims aren't banned).

What was the common thread between the countries? 6 out of the 7 countries have been on and off the US "State Sponsors of Terror" list for the past 40 years. Somalia (the one that hasn't been on the list) has spent most of the last 25 years in anarchy.

The law also explicitly gives the president the right to make the decision (see section f https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/8/1182).

In 1993, SCOTUS ruled that a much longer ban against the poor, non-terrorist, mostly black Haitian immigrants by Bush Sr. and Clinton was legal in an 8-1 ruling (http://www.nytimes.com/1993/06/22/us/the-supreme-court-high-...).

The constitutional claim doesn't hold water (foreign nationals have no right to travel in the US and the countries were selected for terrorist connections). That leaves only interpretation of the law, but the law clearly states POTUS has the authority. A 3 month break to find out what policies to put in place against 7 problematic and terrorist sponsoring countries is hardly something SCOTUS will find unreasonable.

EDIT: for the record, I think the bans are ineffective at stopping terrorists and are just Trump following through on his populist promises. That's different from the legality of the decision. This isn't the only thing Trump is doing While everyone has eyeballs here, they miss everything else that's happening in DC, and he still gets to look good when SCOTUS agrees with him.

Re: Amicus brief on behalf of 97 tech companies

#155
post #154
post #47

> If this approach were upheld, future orders might apply to any nation, and suddenly and unexpectedly bar its nationals from entering or returning to the United States. Aye, this is the crux of the matter, isn't it? I have a plane ticket from Canada to Europe in August, transiting in the USA and I have already contemplated changing my routing because who knows whether I will be admitted? Yes, the chances are heavily…

The entire "unreasonableness" is based on the idea that this was Trump randomly banning countries. Obama's administration (not Trump's) compiled the list of countries. It wasn't racial or "because they're Muslim" (most Muslims aren't banned). What was the common thread between the countries? 6 out of the 7 countries have been on and off the US "State Sponsors of Terror" list for the past 40 years. Somalia (the one th…

This doesn't appear to be at all responsive to the concern expressed in the comment you're responding to.

Re: Amicus brief on behalf of 97 tech companies

#156
post #117

Contrary to my jubilation at this progress, a cynical friend of mine does not take any reassurance from the power checks the judicial branch has brought against the administration. He believes the administration will just find subtler and less obviously illegal ways to slowly move things in the direction they want. I hope this is not so. It is true that you only seem to see this kind of massive reaction to huge, broa…

I'm not a US citizen so I'm just commenting as an observer. I'm a lot less worried about legislation overall because it does get scrutinized by the wider elected legislature. At the end of the day if the US as a nation decides to restrict immigration more then that's your prerogative as a nation. The American people voted in Trump and the current largely Republican legislature fair and square and they do have a right…

US immigration law gives the president explicit right to do exactly what he did (and that has been upheld by the supreme court in the past). See section f

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/8/1182

Re: Amicus brief on behalf of 97 tech companies

#157
post #154
post #47

> If this approach were upheld, future orders might apply to any nation, and suddenly and unexpectedly bar its nationals from entering or returning to the United States. Aye, this is the crux of the matter, isn't it? I have a plane ticket from Canada to Europe in August, transiting in the USA and I have already contemplated changing my routing because who knows whether I will be admitted? Yes, the chances are heavily…

The entire "unreasonableness" is based on the idea that this was Trump randomly banning countries. Obama's administration (not Trump's) compiled the list of countries. It wasn't racial or "because they're Muslim" (most Muslims aren't banned). What was the common thread between the countries? 6 out of the 7 countries have been on and off the US "State Sponsors of Terror" list for the past 40 years. Somalia (the one th…

These are all common arguments brought up to argue against those who oppose the EO, but not a single point made seems to be related to the comment you have replied to. Could you clarify what you are trying to say?

Re: Amicus brief on behalf of 97 tech companies

#158

Contrary to my jubilation at this progress, a cynical friend of mine does not take any reassurance from the power checks the judicial branch has brought against the administration. He believes the administration will just find subtler and less obviously illegal ways to slowly move things in the direction they want. I hope this is not so. It is true that you only seem to see this kind of massive reaction to huge, broa…

The last president asked us if it would be okay to bomb Syria. We said no. Then he did it anyways. He bombed them so much that we literally ran out of bombs. This guy screws up some travel plans and suddenly it's a problem. Bombing these people for 8 years, totes cool. Temporarily not letting them come here!?!?! Monster!!!! I mean, I don't support Trump, nor do I agree with this dumb temporary travel ban, but all thi…

> We said no. Then he did it anyways. ... Bombing these people for 8 years, totes cool.

That's some quite revisionist history there... The Syrian conflict isnt even that old.

It started in 2011.

In 2013, US starting supplying arms to syrian rebels. This was our first intervention in the conflict.

In Sept 2014, Obama gave his syria speech and Congress authorized action in Syria. Bombing started shortly after w/ other countries participation.

How does 2 years suddenly turn into 8? And doesn't Congressional approval for the action, conflict with this idea that Obama was acting in Syria alone?

Re: Amicus brief on behalf of 97 tech companies

#159
post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The entire "unreasonableness" is based on the idea that this was Trump randomly banning countries. Obama's administration (not Trump's) compiled the list of countries. It wasn't racial or "because they're Muslim" (most Muslims aren't banned). What was the common thread between the countries? 6 out of the 7 countries have been on and off the US "State Sponsors of Terror" list for the past 40 years. Somalia (the one th…

These are all common arguments brought up to argue against those who oppose the EO, but not a single point made seems to be related to the comment you have replied to. Could you clarify what you are trying to say?

Possibly since the OP expressed concern that their travel plans could be interrupted without notice, but that doesn't appear to be a warranted concern since the exact same temporary bans were put in place by previous presidents including President Obama and are therefore nothing new.

Re: Amicus brief on behalf of 97 tech companies

#160
post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really really wish the U.S. would implement some sort of transit facilities and regulations for airports. Needing a visa just to pass through without ever needing to leave a secure section of an airport is ridiculous and anachronistic.

Also ridiculous in many countries is the requirement that your passport is valid for X months in the future, where X is usually at least 6.

That does strike me as odd too, so do they at least let you renew them 6 months prior to the passport's expiration?
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