Special Interest Group on CRAP » Politics

My proposal for tax reform

Kevin McCurley — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 18:56:35 +0000

My proposal for tax reform is very simple. Make every senator and congressman do their own taxes.

Only then would they understand the colossal mess they have created. In fact while we’re at it, give them pencil and paper and calculator and make them do it that way. We’d have tax reform so fast …

Would it be so bad?

Kevin McCurley — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 06:08:22 +0000

I saw a news story today saying that the price of UC tuition might go as high as $20,000 to $25,000 per year. As distressing as that sounds, I’d like to remind people that universities typically offer a lot of financial aid to students from needy families. While nobody likes the idea of paying more tuition, I think it could be helpful to charge tuition of $25,000 to families who can afford it, while maintaining a strong financial aid program for families who can’t. Why should I receive a subsidy for my daughter to attend UC when I could afford to pay the tuition?

Jobs in the USA

Kevin McCurley — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 05:41:58 +0000

I was thinking today about President Obama meeting with silicon valley leaders in order to talk about jobs. I heard a podcast today that mentioned Apple has 30,000 employees in silicon valley, but 1,000,000 employees in China as contractors for the manufacturing of iPads, iPhones, laptops, and iPods. It caused me to wonder what it would cost to buy an iPod if it had been manufactured in Stockton, CA. Is that so inconceivable that we might get manufacturing jobs back in the USA?

California initiatives

Kevin McCurley — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 01:51:48 +0000

I went through the election materials today for the upcoming election. The best strategy for all voter initiatives is to assume that you should vote no. The reason is pretty clear – they are almost always fronts for big money. The only one that appeals to me is the one to legalize marijuana in California.

Proposition 19

Legalizes Marijuana Under California but Not Federal Law. Permits Local Governments to Regulate and Tax Commercial Production, Distribution, and Sale of Marijuana. Initiative Statute.Smoke em if you got em.

Proposition 20

Redistricting of Congressional Districts. Initiative Constitutional Amendment. Let’s see how they do with the state districts first

Proposition 21

Establishes $18 Annual Vehicle License Surcharge to Help Fund State Parks and Wildlife Programs. Grants Surcharged Vehicles Free Admission to All State Parks. Initiative Statute.
This is a perfect example of the wrong-headed way we have budgeted things in California. I love parks, but I’m voting no.

Proposition 22

Prohibits the State from Borrowing or Taking Funds Used for Transportation, Redevelopment, or Local Government Projects and Services. Initiative Constitutional Amendment.
You must be kidding.

Proposition 23

Suspends Implementation of Air Pollution Control Law (AB 32) Requiring Major Sources of Emissions to Report and Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions That Cause Global Warming, Until Unemployment Drops to 5.5 Percent or Less for Full Year. Initiative Statute.
You must be kidding

Proposition 24

Repeals Recent Legislation That Would Allow Businesses to Lower Their Tax Liability. Initiative Statute.
I’m not a fan of the job done by the legislature, but I think they can do a better job of deciding which tax benefits to give in order to stimulate the economy.

Proposition 25

Changes Legislative Vote Requirement to Pass Budget and Budget-Related Legislation from Two-Thirds to a Simple Majority. Retains Two-Thirds Vote Requirement for Taxes. Initiative Constitutional Amendment.
I would rather force the legislature to compromise. That is now good law is made.

Proposition 26

Requires That Certain State and Local Fees Be Approved by Two-Thirds Vote. Fees Include Those That Address Adverse Impacts on Society or the Environment Caused by the Fee-Payer’s Business. Initiative Constitutional Amendment.You must be kidding

Proposition 27

Eliminates State Commission on Redistricting. Consolidates Authority for Redistricting with Elected Representatives. Initiative Constitutional Amendment and Statute.
Probably the worst of all.

Where is the leadership?

Kevin McCurley — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 05:52:46 +0000

I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish.

- John F. Kennedy

I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of reducing our petroleum and coal consumption in half and returning the Earth safely to our children. No single science and technology project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-term preservation of Earth, and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish.

- tell me which president will say this

An upcoming election

Kevin McCurley — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 03:46:11 +0000

I have to vote in an election coming up. This one is somehow more interesting than a lot of local elections, because it’s a california state senate seat. In case you don’t know, the California state legislature is fundamentally broken in the same way that the federal legislature is broken – they refuse to compromise. This election features two candidates who are caricatures of their party, and so is the district, which stretches over 220 miles long and was obviously gerrymandered by the parties at some point. The people at opposite ends of the district never heard of the towns in their district.

On the republican side, there is Sam Blakeslee. In the special election he got just short of 50%, which forced this regular election to be held. Since he found himself so far ahead, he has decided to make absolutely sure that he never answers a question from a reporter, and never appears in a public debate with his democratic opponent. As a former employee of Exxon who has supported offshore oil drilling in california, you couldn’t ask for a more obnoxious candidate.

The Democrat is a guy whose platform seems to be “we need to break the 2/3 rule and we need to raise taxes”. Great thinking you fuckwit – have you ever thought of why the California budget is always broken?

No wonder California is broken if this is what we end up with.

But I saved my biggest criticism for last. These candidates have met in a debate once, but somehow nobody thought to videotape it and upload it to youtube. There were a grand total of 200 people present at the debate, but none of the news outlets thought to do this, and neither party thought of doing it, and the organizers of the event never thought of it. Democracy FAIL.

Stock markets are a Ponzi scheme

Kevin McCurley — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 05:23:49 +0000

Like many small investors, I have recently started thinking of the stock market as nothing more than a Ponzi scheme in which companies and financial services companies conspire to print lottery tickets. Many of us have mostly sat on the sidelines while the DOW went from 7,000 to 11,000, while financial services companies who received a trillion dollars from the bailout have been investing their way to recovery. My hypothesis is that a trillion dollars can buy a lot of pumping up of the stock markets, but there is nothing to sustain it.

In reality, unless a company pays dividends to stockholders, the owner of a share of stock holds essentially nothing. It’s universally true that an asset is only worth what someone else is willing to pay for it. Some assets possess some intrinsic value (e.g., glittery stuff like diamonds or stuff that keeps you warm like oil or real estate that you can live on). By contrast, stock has no intrinsic value whatsoever. It’s like any other currency, and the people who create the currency have the power to devalue it at their own discretion.

All of my life I have heard the mantra that long term investments in the stock market will outperform other types of more conservative investments, but like many individual investors, I have recently come to regard such claims as untrustworthy and self-serving. By staying on the sidelines for the next ten years I may forego gains that flow to others who participate in the game, but I think I’m pretty much done with gambling. I have now seen two major collapses of stock markets in the last ten years, and I don’t care to participate in any more.

The annual tax torture

Kevin McCurley — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 07:13:28 +0000

Every year when I fill out my taxes, I am amazed at how screwed up our taxation system is. If you are an average wage earner, perhaps with a mortgage, then you end up with a really simple procedure for filing your taxes. If you have a business (sole proprietorship, partnership, etc) or if you have investment income, then taxes turn into a byzantine mystery as you struggle to figure out what is actually counted as income. My tax software, broker, and employer are of little help in this process – they tend to report things in language that is subtly different from what the IRS specifies things in. This is probably caused by various attempts to simplify things by using simpler language, but the end result is that things end up being obfuscated.

It’s not clear what all this mess and smell is supposed to accomplish other than to be a full employment act for tax professionals, accountants, and IRS employees. Whenever I hear calls for a “flat tax” I am baffled by why people think this will improve the situation, because it simply replaces one piecewise linear function with a second piecewise linear function. The problem is in figuring out what counts as income, and it seems like it should be a lot simpler than this.

Censorship goes both ways

Kevin McCurley — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 01:20:19 +0000

It’s odd that Facebook was blocking post of a link to this. For the humor impaired, this should be recognized as satire.

The California Budget Problem

Kevin McCurley — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 00:52:18 +0000

I find myself fascinated by the California budget process. Much of the stuff I have read about blame for the crisis makes no sense at all to me, and has made me even more cynical about the state legislature. The shortfall in revenue this year amounts to about 10% of revenue. That doesn’t seem so complicated – simply apply a fairly regular cut across all departments. Some departments are experiencing increased true demand for services (notably unemployment insurance), so you’ll have to cut some departments more than 10% – say 15%. Some departments are legally protected against cuts, such as proposition 98. The legislature can repeal it with a 2/3 vote, but they are of course completely incapable of compromise so that won’t happen. Cutting 10% will hurt like hell for all departments, but private industry goes through such cycles regularly, and they almost always result in a stronger organization.

Who can tell me that there is a state department that would not benefit from cutting lose the bottom 10% of performers among their employees?

Also, one thing that companies do in tight times is to offer incentives to reduce expenses in the short term, trading them for long term obligations. An obvious way to do that is to offer retirement incentives to people, offering them a larger pension paid in outyears based on their agreement to retire NOW.

I’m sure the process is complicated, but it has become a lot easier for me lately. I’m voting out any incumbents in the state legislature when the next election rolls around. Their inability to compromise leaves no choice.

Correction: today the governor gave a speech in which he says the revenue shortfall amounts to 27% decrease from last year. That makes the severity of the cuts much more severe, but doesn’t change anything else about the strategy to solve it.