Can't make this (stuff) up

Generally an unmoderated forum for discussion of pretty much any topic. The focus however, is usually politics.
Post Reply
User avatar
Leo Lyons
Ensign
Posts: 1787
Joined: Wed Oct 10, 2012 8:14 am

Re: Can't make this (stuff) up

Unread post by Leo Lyons »

O Really wrote:
Mon Aug 13, 2018 11:24 am
Maybe if you offer a couple of examples of citizenry misery I'd get the point.
You're kidding, right? I wouldn't know where exactly to start, but I'll begin with taxes. NYC piles city taxes on top of county and state taxes. I don't smoke, but an example of that particular tax, is that the tax on a pack of cigarettes is more than what some people pay for the pack itself in some states.
Generally speaking, NYC has basically the same taxes as other cities; the difference being in the amount of the tax. Don't even ask about automobile or property tax!

User avatar
billy.pilgrim
Admiral
Posts: 15618
Joined: Wed Oct 10, 2012 1:44 pm

Re: Can't make this (stuff) up

Unread post by billy.pilgrim »

Leo Lyons wrote:
Mon Aug 13, 2018 11:41 am
O Really wrote:
Mon Aug 13, 2018 11:24 am
Maybe if you offer a couple of examples of citizenry misery I'd get the point.
You're kidding, right? I wouldn't know where exactly to start, but I'll begin with taxes. NYC piles city taxes on top of county and state taxes. I don't smoke, but an example of that particular tax, is that the tax on a pack of cigarettes is more than what some people pay for the pack itself in some states.
Generally speaking, NYC has basically the same taxes as other cities; the difference being in the amount of the tax. Don't even ask about automobile or property tax!

Last time I visited there were millions of people living there - on purpose.
Trump: “We had the safest border in the history of our country - or at least recorded history. I guess maybe a thousand years ago it was even better.”

User avatar
O Really
Admiral
Posts: 21328
Joined: Tue Sep 18, 2012 3:37 pm

Re: Can't make this (stuff) up

Unread post by O Really »

Taxes? That's your "citizen misery"?
Everything in big cities is more expensive than most other places. Food, housing, parking (if you can find it), restaurants, entertainment, yada. You would expect the city to be able to provide services cheap?

And besides, why would a non-smoker even care what the tax on cigarettes is? If the state/city can make money making it more difficult for people to smoke, I'm all for it.

User avatar
Leo Lyons
Ensign
Posts: 1787
Joined: Wed Oct 10, 2012 8:14 am

Re: Can't make this (stuff) up

Unread post by Leo Lyons »

O Really wrote:
Mon Aug 13, 2018 4:19 pm
Taxes? That's your "citizen misery"?
What part of "but I'll begin with taxes" did you miss?

Everything in big cities is more expensive than most other places. Food, housing, parking (if you can find it), restaurants, entertainment, yada. You would expect the city to be able to provide services cheap?
Oh yeah, that's another "citizen misery": services. NYC has some of the rudest overpaid assholes working in city offices; most of their asses covered by some obscure union which means if you complain, it falls on deaf ears.

And besides, why would a non-smoker even care what the tax on cigarettes is? If the state/city can make money making it more difficult for people to smoke, I'm all for it.
I don't care. I was citing an example. :shock:

User avatar
Leo Lyons
Ensign
Posts: 1787
Joined: Wed Oct 10, 2012 8:14 am

Re: Can't make this (stuff) up

Unread post by Leo Lyons »

billy.pilgrim wrote:
Mon Aug 13, 2018 2:05 pm
Last time I visited there were millions of people living there - on purpose.
You're very observant. :clap:

User avatar
O Really
Admiral
Posts: 21328
Joined: Tue Sep 18, 2012 3:37 pm

Re: Can't make this (stuff) up

Unread post by O Really »

Leo Lyons wrote:
Mon Aug 13, 2018 7:00 pm
O Really wrote:
Mon Aug 13, 2018 4:19 pm
Taxes? That's your "citizen misery"?
What part of "but I'll begin with taxes" did you miss?

Everything in big cities is more expensive than most other places. Food, housing, parking (if you can find it), restaurants, entertainment, yada. You would expect the city to be able to provide services cheap?
Oh yeah, that's another "citizen misery": services. NYC has some of the rudest overpaid assholes working in city offices; most of their asses covered by some obscure union which means if you complain, it falls on deaf ears.

And besides, why would a non-smoker even care what the tax on cigarettes is? If the state/city can make money making it more difficult for people to smoke, I'm all for it.
I don't care. I was citing an example. :shock:
Pick a city - large, small or anywhere in between and you'll find people that have run into rude assholes at the DMV or public utilities or wherever. And certainly, in many ways life in NYC can be more difficult than in smaller places. Just dealing with the crowds and noise can increase stress. Living in a closet for $3k a month doesn't help, either. But your original premise was that the government of NY specifically makes life miserable for its citizens. I don't think you've really supported that view. But if you're miserable, maybe you should move to the 'burbs.

User avatar
Leo Lyons
Ensign
Posts: 1787
Joined: Wed Oct 10, 2012 8:14 am

Re: Can't make this (stuff) up

Unread post by Leo Lyons »

O Really wrote:
Sun Aug 12, 2018 2:41 pm
Well gee, you sure don't have to go far to see why this list ought to be relegated to "bumper sticker bullshit."
Oliver wrote: I was relegated to this limited permissions forum
Aha! My detective work paid off! O Really used the word "relegated"!! Just like Oliver! O Really is really Oliver!
Wait, though. Oliver is supposedly Mr.B. , Jerri is supposedly Mr.B , Seth Millner is supposedly Mr.B., Mr.B is supposedly Seth Millner, Oliver, and Jerri.. Oliver acted liked Mr. B...O Really, just who in hell are you??

User avatar
Leo Lyons
Ensign
Posts: 1787
Joined: Wed Oct 10, 2012 8:14 am

Re: Can't make this (stuff) up

Unread post by Leo Lyons »

O Really wrote:
Mon Aug 13, 2018 7:15 pm
Pick a city - large, small or anywhere in between and you'll find people that have run into rude assholes at the DMV or public utilities or wherever. And certainly, in many ways life in NYC can be more difficult than in smaller places. Just dealing with the crowds and noise can increase stress. Living in a closet for $3k a month doesn't help, either. But your original premise was that the government of NY specifically makes life miserable for its citizens. I don't think you've really supported that view. But if you're miserable, maybe you should move to the 'burbs.
Just living in NYC is apparently misery for many people. I learned to adapt to my environs years ago; so, no, I'm not miserable despite my love for wide open places. I'm not complaining so much for myself as I am for how I've seen people treated, on the streets, in stores, offices, and numerous other venues.People in NYC just have pissy attitudes, and as you say "pick a city - large, small or anywhere".

Don't worry, be happy. I am.

User avatar
O Really
Admiral
Posts: 21328
Joined: Tue Sep 18, 2012 3:37 pm

Re: Can't make this (stuff) up

Unread post by O Really »

In a list of high combined state/local tax burden, NY is toward the top, but not necessarily at the top. The top three, according to TurboTax are:
Connecticut: $7,869
New York: $6,993
New Jersey: $6,926

And NY isn't even close to the top in combined state/local sales tax:
Chicago, Illinois and Long Beach, California: 10.25 percent
Birmingham and Montgomery, Alabama and Baton Rouge and New Orleans, Louisiana: 10 percent
Seattle and Tacoma, Washington: 9.6 percent

User avatar
billy.pilgrim
Admiral
Posts: 15618
Joined: Wed Oct 10, 2012 1:44 pm

Re: Can't make this (stuff) up

Unread post by billy.pilgrim »

O Really wrote:
Mon Aug 13, 2018 9:22 pm
In a list of high combined state/local tax burden, NY is toward the top, but not necessarily at the top. The top three, according to TurboTax are:
Connecticut: $7,869
New York: $6,993
New Jersey: $6,926

And NY isn't even close to the top in combined state/local sales tax:
Chicago, Illinois and Long Beach, California: 10.25 percent
Birmingham and Montgomery, Alabama and Baton Rouge and New Orleans, Louisiana: 10 percent
Seattle and Tacoma, Washington: 9.6 percent

Mobile is 10.5% and somewhere around Cullman is 13.5%
Plus Alabama taxes everything except prescription drugs
Trump: “We had the safest border in the history of our country - or at least recorded history. I guess maybe a thousand years ago it was even better.”

User avatar
O Really
Admiral
Posts: 21328
Joined: Tue Sep 18, 2012 3:37 pm

Re: Can't make this (stuff) up

Unread post by O Really »

Leo's original comment was, "Come live here in NY for a while. NYC leaders make citizens miserable without any help whatsoever from state or federal influences."

I should have recognized that - and Leo should have acknowledged - it was just a quick game of "Ain't the Damgummint Awful"** and not particularly real. Thus demonstrating that yes, in fact, you can make this (stuff) up.

** Thanks to Eric Berne, Games People Play.

User avatar
Vrede too
Superstar Cultmaster
Posts: 50656
Joined: Fri Apr 03, 2015 11:46 am
Location: Hendersonville, NC

Re: Can't make this (stuff) up

Unread post by Vrede too »

I wonder how much of that tax money goes to drug law enforcement, the broader prison-industrial complex, pensioners from those, and welfare caused exclusively by drug law enforcement.
Always be yourself! Unless you can be a goat, then always be a goat.
-- the interweb, paraphrased
1312. ETTD.

User avatar
billy.pilgrim
Admiral
Posts: 15618
Joined: Wed Oct 10, 2012 1:44 pm

Re: Can't make this (stuff) up

Unread post by billy.pilgrim »

Vrede too wrote:
Tue Aug 14, 2018 8:59 am
I wonder how much of that tax money goes to drug law enforcement, the broader prison-industrial complex, pensioners from those, and welfare caused exclusively by drug law enforcement.

Here in Florida we used taxpayer money to close interstate bridges and create traffic jams so friends of jeb could widen the bridges by 12 inches.

These days our Medicare defrauder governor is planting palm trees and building real pretty 20 ft high concrete walls with cast embossing type scenes of wind blown tropical plants along our interstates.
Trump: “We had the safest border in the history of our country - or at least recorded history. I guess maybe a thousand years ago it was even better.”

User avatar
Vrede too
Superstar Cultmaster
Posts: 50656
Joined: Fri Apr 03, 2015 11:46 am
Location: Hendersonville, NC

Re: Can't make this (stuff) up

Unread post by Vrede too »

billy.pilgrim wrote:
Tue Aug 14, 2018 9:45 am
Here in Florida we used taxpayer money to close interstate bridges and create traffic jams so friends of jeb could widen the bridges by 12 inches.

Really, just 12 inches? What's the justification?

These days our Medicare defrauder governor is planting palm trees and building real pretty 20 ft high concrete walls with cast embossing type scenes of wind blown tropical plants along our interstates.

Aren't sound barriers and dust catchers good things?
Always be yourself! Unless you can be a goat, then always be a goat.
-- the interweb, paraphrased
1312. ETTD.

User avatar
O Really
Admiral
Posts: 21328
Joined: Tue Sep 18, 2012 3:37 pm

Re: Can't make this (stuff) up

Unread post by O Really »

The noise barriers seem to be mostly federal funds, but they aren't without controversy...
https://undark.org/article/highway-nois ... r-science/

User avatar
Leo Lyons
Ensign
Posts: 1787
Joined: Wed Oct 10, 2012 8:14 am

Re: Can't make this (stuff) up

Unread post by Leo Lyons »

billy.pilgrim wrote:
Tue Aug 14, 2018 9:45 am
Here in Florida we used taxpayer money to close interstate bridges and create traffic jams so friends of jeb could widen the bridges by 12 inches.
I heard there was a similar incident in New Jersey a couple of years ago. Got downright nasty about it, they did!

These days our Medicare defrauder governor is planting palm trees and building real pretty 20 ft high concrete walls with cast embossing type scenes of wind blown tropical plants along our interstates.
A picture is worth a thousand words.

User avatar
Leo Lyons
Ensign
Posts: 1787
Joined: Wed Oct 10, 2012 8:14 am

Re: Can't make this (stuff) up

Unread post by Leo Lyons »

O Really wrote:
Tue Aug 14, 2018 10:19 am
The noise barriers seem to be mostly federal funds, but they aren't without controversy...
https://undark.org/article/highway-nois ... r-science/
But they are effective in realtors duping potential home buyers and sellers into believing noise barriers enhance their property values.

User avatar
Leo Lyons
Ensign
Posts: 1787
Joined: Wed Oct 10, 2012 8:14 am

Re: Can't make this (stuff) up

Unread post by Leo Lyons »

O Really wrote:
Tue Aug 14, 2018 8:55 am
Leo's original comment was, "Come live here in NY for a while. NYC leaders make citizens miserable without any help whatsoever from state or federal influences."

I should have recognized that - and Leo should have acknowledged - it was just a quick game of "Ain't the Damgummint Awful"** and not particularly real. Thus demonstrating that yes, in fact, you can make this (stuff) up.

** Thanks to Eric Berne, Games People Play.
People in big cities are a miserable lot period--generally, no help required. :toothy:

User avatar
billy.pilgrim
Admiral
Posts: 15618
Joined: Wed Oct 10, 2012 1:44 pm

Re: Can't make this (stuff) up

Unread post by billy.pilgrim »

Vrede too wrote:
Tue Aug 14, 2018 10:17 am
billy.pilgrim wrote:
Tue Aug 14, 2018 9:45 am
Here in Florida we used taxpayer money to close interstate bridges and create traffic jams so friends of jeb could widen the bridges by 12 inches.

Really, just 12 inches? What's the justification?

These days our Medicare defrauder governor is planting palm trees and building real pretty 20 ft high concrete walls with cast embossing type scenes of wind blown tropical plants along our interstates.

Aren't sound barriers and dust catchers good things?

Lot-o-dollars - gotta protect them donors.

But seriously, I think it has more to do with the nd claim about 6,000 bridges needing repairs. As best as I have been able to tell, any and all bridges that do not meet current standards for new construction, really, really needed widening. Same reason we leveled all residential housing built before 1994 - it no longer met our standards.

An employee of mine died (drunk) after driving off the side of an overpass that was being widened.

I also like sound barriers, but $5,000/foot? Not so much, especially when trees and shrubs work better - no echo and a nice soft landing when color to driving into a concrete wall.
Trump: “We had the safest border in the history of our country - or at least recorded history. I guess maybe a thousand years ago it was even better.”

User avatar
Leo Lyons
Ensign
Posts: 1787
Joined: Wed Oct 10, 2012 8:14 am

Re: Can't make this (stuff) up

Unread post by Leo Lyons »

Vrede too wrote:
Tue Aug 14, 2018 8:59 am
I wonder how much of that tax money goes to drug law enforcement, the broader prison-industrial complex, pensioners from those, and welfare caused exclusively by drug law enforcement.
:lol: :lol: :lol: :---P

Post Reply