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Private firefighters go to work for California's wealthy

foxbusiness.com

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Re: Private firefighters go to work for California's wealthy

#111

Post by patentatt »

palisade wrote: post #98
loceng wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

POTUS candidate Andrew Yang's foundation for his #1 policy/solution is a 10% VAT tax. Edit: Curious why facts are downvoted? Does HN not like discussing solutions and people actively working on solutions?

I almost never weigh in on political stuff. But, F * that. Do you want to be able to never afford anything? Because, that's a good start. What we really need to do is balance the budget by cutting back on the quantity and expensiveness of existing programs. The government needs to optimize. We are spending too much. Which are dirty words no one wants to hear or perform.

You’re right that VAT is regressive and the middle class would bear the brunt of it, but I encourage you to consider other ways to address the issue. “Cutting spending“ is almost always code for “cutting spending on stuff the middle class and poor need,” which only pits workers against workers. Rather than die in a circular firing squad, how else could the shortfall be explained? Look into stagnant wages, wealth inequality, and ask where all the productivity gains of the computing revolution have gone.

Re: Private firefighters go to work for California's wealthy

#112

Post by School-Cotton »

robohoe wrote: post #101
Symbiote wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the relevant difference is that VAT is paid even if you are in a different EU country. I'm in Denmark, where the rate is 25%. I pay 25% on something I order from a Danish online shop. I pay 25% on something I order from a large German online shop, even though the VAT rate in Germany is lower. I pay 19% (the German rate) on something I order from a small German shop, to reduce the administrative burden on that…

You're supposed to report your online shopping when you do your taxes here every year.

Which no one does, so it’s irrelevant.

Re: Private firefighters go to work for California's wealthy

#113

Post by patentatt »

rayiner wrote: post #102
erfderd wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not against sales tax; there are many benefits to it. However A 10% sales tax is a 10% tax on poor people's disposable income since they have almost no savings. How do we square that regressive circle?

In Europe they largely don’t try to square the circle, aside from maybe exempting necessities like food. They offer efficient, high quality welfare services to low income people in return for those taxes. (Of course, low income people get much more in services than they pay in VAT.)

But they do, in a way, by using those increased revenues to fund a comprehensive social safety net. If you just add VAT in the US, yeah it would be a disaster.

Re: Private firefighters go to work for California's wealthy

#114

Post by jahaja »

rayiner wrote: post #64
mothsonasloth wrote: post #49

A: "You have selected Amazon's Prime Fire service" A: "A fire-engine will be dispatched within 20 minutes" --- In another part of the country --- A: "We're sorry we don't provide Prime fire service for your location, please direct your query to the local authorities" Local fire department: "We will try and answer your call as soon as possible, but due to budget cuts from a reduced corporate tax income we have had to…

Corporate tax is a red herring. Across the OECD, it makes up just 9% of tax revenue (just 6% in Sweden and Denmark). The US is about the same (8%). If you want to complain about tax revenue, point to the fact that Americans don’t pay VAT (like everyone in Europe does) on all the cheap crap they buy on Amazon. Or in the case of California, complain about Prop 13 limiting the property taxes people pay on McMansions. (W…

I think it's important to note that most western countries have gone through a neoliberal regime of tax cuts since ~1970. For example the corporate tax in Sweden was 52% in 1980 (albeit with generous deductions for various kinds of investments).

Re: Private firefighters go to work for California's wealthy

#116

Post by adrianN »

bogartmyjoint wrote: post #32
ianai wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could also upgrade some infrastructure in the process, like running fiber. Might not be free but worthwhile.

And perhaps even begin building a superconducting grid ad for once in PG&E's history, doing something that was pro-active rather than reactive.

We don't have the technology for a superconducting grid. It also doesn't really make sense, as grid losses are not that big. On very long connections we might want to switch to HVDC, but keeping superconductors cool would most likely require more energy than you save.

Re: Private firefighters go to work for California's wealthy

#117

Post by sailfast »

Symbiote wrote: post #96
erfderd wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We pay sales tax. What's so special about VAT vs. sales tax? Unless you are arguing for a federal sales tax, which OK sure federal tax is great, except it doesn't pay for local services. Also, now you also have to argue about the regressive nature of sales tax in general.

I think the relevant difference is that VAT is paid even if you are in a different EU country. I'm in Denmark, where the rate is 25%. I pay 25% on something I order from a Danish online shop. I pay 25% on something I order from a large German online shop, even though the VAT rate in Germany is lower. I pay 19% (the German rate) on something I order from a small German shop, to reduce the administrative burden on that…

I pay 0% VAT if I order from a country with VAT and ship to the US.

The key here is that when something is classified as "interstate commerce" different laws apply than if you're buying something in-state. Enforcement varies, and can be expensive, and the laws are catching up sometimes, and purposefully not present in others, depending on the state and their approach to interestate commerce.

As an American, I'm quite happy there is no Federal sales tax. There is no reason to capture value at that level and allocate at the Federal level. States already have these taxes, and are much better equipped (in terms of need / proximity - not in terms of functioning government at times) to allocate the money toward local services.

Re: Private firefighters go to work for California's wealthy

#118

Post by patentatt »

xadhominemx wrote: post #75
ossworkerrights wrote: post #6

Amusing how anyone suggesting burying powerlines underground is immediately pushed back by "it's expensive" know it alls. Wondering if power-cuts like 3rd world countries enjoy are preferable over a slight increase in power supply costs, and wether impotence is more desirable over action bEcAuSe iT's eXpEnSivE.

There’s a big difference between burying distribution lines and transmission lines. It’s transmission lines that have caused the most destructive fires in California and those are indeed too expensive to bury.

Does anyone know if transmission lines can be buried? Some high voltage DC can be in the hundreds of kV, is there a limit to what can be buried in moist ground even remotely efficiently? You’d need a good amount of electrical insulation, but also thermal conductivity (I assume these lines heat up?). Any experts here?

Re: Private firefighters go to work for California's wealthy

#119

Post by jasonlotito »

erfderd wrote: post #109
MayorMonty wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Yang's case, the 10% VAT is accompanied by a $1000/month Universal Basic Income.

That should eliminate all the income from the VAT and then some, so the firefighters are still dropping your calls. $ 1000/adult month = $ 12 000 / adult year. -> requires $120 000 of disposable income spent per adult . Very few people spend $120 000 of VATable (A family making $300 000, a good income, doesn't spend anywhere near $120 000)

This assume everything is taxed under VAT. As Yang has discussed, necessities don't need to be taxed. Luxury items can have a higher tax.

Re: Private firefighters go to work for California's wealthy

#120

Post by michaelt »

inanutshellus wrote: post #84
abathur wrote: post #33

I've seen similar variants of this headline floating around, so I don't want to over-blame this Fox outlet for something that's just in the water by this point (I don't recall if they were all on Fox-family outlets, but probably not). That said, the headline seems pretty manipulative... > However, private firefighters are more likely to contract with insurance companies like USAA to offer mitigation services to custo…

Another suggestion for a non-clickbaity title: Insurance Companies do Preventative Maintenance on High-Value Assets But yes, this feels like ... class-baiting or something. This headline is everywhere, made to rile up folk for.... what?

Some people consider that, when the rich are hiring a duplicate of a public service, it proves the public service is not fit for purpose.
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