Texas

What a sad life? To have such a poor opinion of your neighbors and community...and yet stay around because the pay is right.

I guess I'm lucky in that I like most of the folks around here...and as so, don't have to lead such a grudging life. But I guess that explains a lot. Originally Posted by Rudyard K

I agree. We don't all have the flexibility to move, but if you do, why not live where you'll be happy? (even if it costs you a little in forgone income).

On another note, I've found through experience that a lot of quality of life and happiness as it relates to where you live has to do with attitude. Bitter and resentful isn't a winning one.

Have you been to Austin lately? Spent 6 months in Austin last year. My brother lives down there and I worked at Dell. The "silicon valley" is moving to Texas, because the laws in CA are are not business friendly.

Environmentalists have stopped oil drilling in CA. They have stopped controlled burns to get rid of "brush fuel" for wild fires. When that happened wild fires began reaching poplulated [sic] areas. When the wild fires destroy those areas they are now prone to mud slides with no brush or root systems to hold the soil. They have stopped watering farms to protect a minnow when CA was a huge ag producer. I'm sorry but those policies that have been enacted are things liberal voters are passionate about.

Unions lobby in MI to create Democratic policies that only protect union members, but who benifits [sic] the most; the union bosses. Have you seen MI lately? When people leave the state and the cities talk about bulldozing half their cities to control costs, something is seriously wrong.

There is nothing stopping those states from creating conditions within their states that promote growth. The policies currently in place stifle growth and punish success to the point that businesses, not just people, leave the state. Now our Federal government is doing the same thing, but on a national scale. And where will the businesses go when the fed has pushed them to the brink?

An unlimited power to tax involves, necessarily, a power to destroy; because there is a limit beyond which no institution and no property can bear taxation. - John Marshall, McCullough v. Maryland, 1819

If taxes are laid upon us without our having a legal representation where they are laid, we are reduced from the character of free subjects to the state of tributary slaves. - Samuel Adams


Based on the above quotes, I assume you are against ALL taxation. Originally Posted by DFW5Traveler

I'm glad you are a lawyer not a businessman...what makes you think that???California has a very diversified economy that as a standalone would be one of the largest in the world. It wasn't me that pointed to CA as a poor economy. But I think it is clear from the news that even if it is "diversified" as you say, the State is in severe debt and can't pay its bills.

But, hey I'm glad you threw in that reference to leadership in the 60's....Glad to reach your generation Originally Posted by atlcomedy

No, it really isn't.

The legislatures of the latter two states are clearly in the tank for public employee unions. The Texas legislature is not.

Here's a good short article on how California committed economic suicide:

http://city-journal.org/2010/20_2_ca...ia-unions.html

And regarding Michigan, check this:

http://jackmchughblog.wordpress.com/...ees-part-deux/

http://jackmchughblog.wordpress.com/...gan-taxpayers/

OK, stop WTFing this thread. And I don't really consider blogs to be good sources. All they are is opinions. Let's do real fact checking.

Yet another case of the metastasization of the entitlement culture. The political class is whistling merrily on while we hurtle toward a fiscal train wreck. So, stop writing/whining and do something about it. I suggest supporting the current administration. It's advancing the steps the Bush administration started. Originally Posted by CaptainMidnight

And I'll probably wind up needing protection on this board from the Ad Hoc Mods here. Originally Posted by charlestudor2005

Yep, it appears the Ad Hoc Mods have started their piling on.

Yep, it appears the Ad Hoc Mods have started their piling on.

Originally Posted by charlestudor2005

Come on Charles, no one has wronged you. It's too early in the week for this crap.:dir_ bye1:

I understand TTH's view but as one who has lived elsewhere and traveled extensively there is no nirvana. This means there are a lot of places that are worse off than TX.

So, stop writing/whining and do something about it. I suggest supporting the current administration. It's advancing the steps the Bush administration started. Originally Posted by charlestudor2005

Yeah, brilliant idea!

It was said that the Bush administration (along with congress) spent like drunken sailors. True enough.

But now Obama and this congress are spending like drunken SMU trust fund brats!

Free candy for everyone! The "rich" will pay for it. (Sure!)

Based on the above quotes, I assume you are against ALL taxation.

At what point should they stop taxing, to the point of forced liquidation of a company? There is nothing wrong with taxes, the problem is spending so much that they feel the need to tax more. LIVE WITHIN A BUDGET. It's really not that hard of a concept.

A wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government, and this is necessary to close the circle of our felicity. - Thomas Jefferson

Every step we take towards making the State our Caretaker of our lives, by that much we move toward making the State our Master. - Dwight D. Eisenhower

America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves. - Abraham Lincoln

If a republican government fails to secure public prosperity and happiness, it must be because the citizens neglect the divine commands, and elect bad men to make and administer the laws. - Noah Webster

We must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. We must make our selection between economy and liberty or profusion and servitude. If we run into such debts as that we must be taxed in our meat in our drink, in our necessities and comforts, in our labors and in our amusements, for our callings and our creeds...our people.. must come to labor sixteen hours in the twenty-four, give earnings of fifteen of these to the government for their debts and daily expenses; and the sixteenth being insufficient to afford us bread, we must live.. We have not time to think, no means of calling the mis-managers to account, but be glad to obtain subsistence by hiring ourselves to rivet their chains on the necks of our fellow suffers. Our landholders, too...retaining indeed the title and stewardship of estates called theirs, but held really in trust for the treasury, must...be contented with penury, obscurity and exile.. private fortunes are destroyed by public as well as by private extravagance. - Thomas Jefferson

So where is the nirvana to which you are moving/retiring? Originally Posted by pjorourke

Not sure at this point. Short term, I'll move to my second home in Texas to evaluate my options and travel to and live in the various candidates over the course of a year or two. But, blurring the choices a bit to preserve anonymity, Northern California, NYC, or central France. If I had to pick right now, it would probably be France. A home in the country and a pied-a-terre in Paris sounds like a good compromise.

I have a friend, an American lawyer ex-pat, who has retired to France and loves it. She says she wishes she had done it ten years earlier. I have another who hung it up and moved to New Zealand. He loves it and wishes he moved sooner, too. I may add New Zealand to my list, but I've never been there, so it's hard to say whether I'll like it. My friend who retired there is into sailing, so that probably skews his view.

Yep, it appears the Ad Hoc Mods have started their piling on.

Originally Posted by charlestudor2005

Geez CT. You opine about things like you have some knowledge, and then when others disagree, you cry foul. It is too bad you're not a minority...you could play the race card in defense.

If you can't stand the heat sonny, maybe you need to stick to things you know something about. You know...like jacking off...I don't think anyone was questioning your knowledge of that.

The key word there is democracy. Texas was founded as a representative republic just as the US was founded. You said your vote here doesn't matter, but let me ask you to take a look at states like Michigan or California where they would vote the same as you. How are those states doing in comparison to Texas? Can you see why the people of Texas vote the way we do now? We, in the majority, of TX do not want to end up like CA or MI. Is Texas faultering the same way those states are when we DON'T have a state income tax? The answer is no. The question is when are the people from the failing states going to realize that their votes did count and when are they going to realize their vote had a direct impact to the decline of their state?

Just read what the founding fathers said about democracy and learn the differences between a democracy and a republic.

Democracies have been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their death. - James Madison

Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. - John Adams

Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote! - Benjamin Franklin

The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government -- lest it come to dominate our lives and interests. - Patrick Henry Originally Posted by DFW5Traveler

Derailment imminent!

My home country, Switzerland was founded 1291.

as a ...cough cough .... DIRECT democracy.
it exists therefore for 719 years aproximately within the same borders. It is one of the richest countries in the world and the per capita income is far higher than in the us.
it is one of the safest places to life on the entire planet.
it also has rather strong laws to protect private property. as far as bank assets is concerned, FAR suoerior to the US situation.

I assume that you quoted wrong and out of context, because the beverage at your Tea party contained more than just 'tea', the other herb you know.

maybe you just like to fap to sarah palin pictures. it's ok...

where is the flush button again?

Ignore them, Buonas. Half of then have never been East of the County line. Never mind to Europe.

Derailment imminent!

My home country, Switzerland was founded 1291.

as a ...cough cough .... DIRECT democracy.
it exists therefore for 719 years aproximately within the same borders. It is one of the richest countries in the world and the per capita income is far higher than in the us.
it is one of the safest places to life on the entire planet.
it also has rather strong laws to protect private property. as far as bank assets is concerned, FAR suoerior to the US situation.

I assume that you quoted wrong and out of context, because the beverage at your Tea party contained more than just 'tea', the other herb you know.

maybe you just like to fap to sarah palin pictures. it's ok...

where is the flush button again? Originally Posted by Buonas

Let us first start with your location. If you are in this country and you make blanket statements about how good Switzerland is over the US, the question would be, why are you here? Secondly, if you are still living in Switzerland and it is a much better place, why isn't it a superpower also?

Now, tell the good people here why it's a safer country and what gun laws are enforced over there. Also, how did our govt force your govt to give up the names of people banking in Switzerland if the banking rules are that strict? I have to admit I like the gun, bank and property laws over there, but there is no reason why our representative republic can't adopt the same laws or ENFORCE the US Constitution and kick out all of our industrialist oligarchs from both sides of the aisle.

BTW a Direct Democracy as defined by the Swiss Confederation's constitution is below. Unlike a Democracy individual citizens of a Republic have direct representation where a majority doesn't overrun individual rights.

The 1848 federal constitution defines a system of direct democracy (sometimes called half-direct or representative direct democracy since it is aided by the more commonplace institutions of a parliamentary democracy). The instruments of Swiss direct democracy at the federal level, known as civic rights (Volksrechte, droits civiques), include the right to submit a constitutional initiative and a referendum, both of which may overturn parliamentary decisions.

I'm not a huge fan of wikipedia, but even they say, "Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons..."

Also, how did our govt force your govt to give up the names of people banking in Switzerland if the banking rules are that strict? Originally Posted by DFW5Traveler

But you'll notice that no names have been given up yet. My bet is that releasing the names will be tied up is various and sundry Swiss courts for a good 50 years -- or at least until the current Bozo's in Treasury are gone.

But you'll notice that no names have been given up yet. My bet is that releasing the names will be tied up is various and sundry Swiss courts for a good 50 years -- or at least until the current Bozo's in Treasury are gone. Originally Posted by pjorourke

Yep...as well as the possibly even more ridiculous bunch of bozos at Justice, including the Attorney General himself. You know, the guy who facilitated the pardon of Marc Rich. (Way to go, Eric!)

Secondly, if you are still living in Switzerland and it is a much better place, why isn't it a superpower also? Originally Posted by DFW5Traveler

It's probably a better place because it isn't a super power and hence not wasting tons of money on an military industrial complex and spending trillions of dollars fighting wars of choice for no good reason other than trying to (hopelessly) bend other countries to their will. Duh!!!

Let us first start with your location. If you are in this country and you make blanket statements about how good Switzerland is over the US, the question would be, why are you here? Originally Posted by DFW5Traveler

my post was about the ridiculous quotes regarding the chance of survival of a democracy vs. a republic.

Secondly, if you are still living in Switzerland and it is a much better place, why isn't it a superpower also? Originally Posted by DFW5Traveler

sure, you can make a superpower with 6 million inhabitants in a landlocked territory with only one strategic geographical asset: the alpine crossing. it takes a little more military staff to establish superpower status than the 300'000 uniforms over there. Have you heard of a swiss navy? That would be really fun to watch, a paddle steamer versus lets say a standard class destroyer of the US Navy. opps.

Now, tell the good people here why it's a safer country and what gun laws are enforced over there. Also, how did our govt force your govt to give up the names of people banking in Switzerland if the banking rules are that strict? I have to admit I like the gun, bank and property laws over there, but there is no reason why our representative republic can't adopt the same laws or ENFORCE the US Constitution and kick out all of our industrialist oligarchs from both sides of the aisle. Originally Posted by DFW5Traveler

afaik the gun laws in Switzerland are more liberal than here. I don't see your point. But I do not know how many of your 30'000 gun laws are actually enforced and which ones not. If owning a gun makes for safety, then the US probably should be extremely safe as the numbers suggest you are armed to the teeth. My perception is the opposite. perception, notabene.

…I'm not a huge fan of wikipedia, but even they say, "Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons..." Originally Posted by DFW5Traveler

your quote is wrong. as the entire english version of the articel can be flushed. "Die Bundesverfassung wurde seither zweimal, 1874 und 1999, total revidiert." total revision of the constitution in 1874 and 1999.
canton is the equivalent of a state here, but more indepence than a us member state. i don't like to use the word confederation because of its bad taste considering us history.
An important fact – the principle of subsidiarity – is not even mentioned. There is much more direct voting than here. It goes as far as the budget of a township, county and state having to be approved by popular vote annually. I find that a very effective measurement against ‘self entitled spending’ on an abundant credit line from china as seen here. Pun intended.
On the other hand a canton is about the size of bexar county. So you can imagine how efficient that would be on us scale. It is not even very efficient there, as far as the decision process is concerned. I think glaciers move faster.

Wikipedia is a whole other discussion - especially when you compare language versions - the german often having more political bias to the canonical lefty euroland paradise views.

as to the bank data: the swiss make an artificial distinction between tax fraud and tax evasion in their criminal law. neither their neighbors nor the us understand that distinction. there are under pressure by every neighboring country there and those just watched the us development. lichtenstein by the way has settled the issue and now has banking laws that deserve that name in the 21st entury. no big bruhaha and whining and no removal of foreign assets either. So the swiss govt. having crony-ism ties to the one bank actually involved shot themselves in the foot on this one.

in cases, where tax fraud occurs, they have always disclosed names and account data. the irs says there is massive tax fraud by wealthy us residents holding accounts there. they break us law and the irs dragged the us branches of these banks to court. standard procedure and all with due process.
(on the side, it is not against us law to hold accounts there, you just have to properly declare it in your us tax declaration).

then the swiss government steps in - in a criminal case that applies us law to us branches incorporated as us companies, this is an important 'detail' - and unilaterally declares the swiss laws would be broken because there is no tax fraud. international law forbids the home country to interfere in such legal proceedings of the host country. so wtf was the swiss govenrment doing anyway in this.
under us law, it as a crime for a bank or financial advisor to actively point at and support the transfer of assets off-shore to avoid us taxes. I know the IRS is actually right – I know this from prorjects I did with a competitor of said bank. They are also right that this was known, supported and implemented woth C-level managerial sponsors. Hence the relatively drastic house arrest order, usually not applied to cases like that. but we are talking 20% of the assets of that bamnk being at least grey or black market.

20%! And the government there poo poos over some subclause of a paragraph.

Germany by the way was much blunter on this and simply purchased internal data through shady channels. Same with the French. For a strange reason, such data is admissible in court there. I doubt that would be the case here. Can the IRS present evidence, that it obtained illegally? My guess is no.