patrick.net

The_Deplorable says

What is there to understand given that most beaches in the USA are contaminated with raw sewage?
You are arguing from ignorance, give it a rest.

Because you don't understand the systems. You live in a shit area likely, with shitty infrastructure, that literally puts shit in the water. At no point have I said shit isn't getting in the water. The_Deplorable says

No, we do not have separate storm sewers. That is why the entire East Coast of the
United States (for the most part) has Flesh-Eating Bacteria that can kill in less than
24 hours. Stay away.

This is what you said. Headset pointed out septic. Gave examples. I'm sure there are zero drainage ditches or drains in your area. And if there are, everyone is dumping their shit in there....? You DON'T understand that people illegally hook up their rainwater collection, GUTTERS OR SUMP PUMP to the sewer itself. That is supposed to go into the STORM sewer, not the SHIT sewer. Hence why waste sewers have to dump the overflow because of idiots and your beaches get shit. You live around morons.

Waste treatment plants are based off the number of plumbing fixtures for public utilities. When you add water that should go into the ground you fuck the whole system up and they have to release sewage or it causes damage and a fuck ton of flack from the EPA. Again. You're out of you element on this.

As I commented on with Headset I basically said I don't know how the leech field effects water ways with septic. It's not a public entity. That's not my realm. Public for sure isn't your realm with sewers and storm sewers/drainage are public.

First I am on a septic. Second, so long as it's matained, it's rarely an issue. Third all tanks (and corresponding plumbing) have a finite life. That's when problems arise, particularly if the system was grandfathered in.

If your on a septic tank and it's near a water source, if the tank fails, you have issues and a costly cleanup

This is why there are minimum setbacks and clearances between water supply lines and wastewater discharge lines. It's the old saying, don't shit where you eat.

As I recall that's why Mass has Title V or whatever it is. When a house changes hands one needs to show the septic system is in working order. A dye test would show if there are any leaks.

Civil engineering isn't my forte, (it's been a LONG time since my Intro to Wastewater technology class) but surface run off is different than grey water which is different than sewage.

The issue is that we haven't invested in infrastructure significantly in 50 years and many municipal treatment systems are undersized for peak demand.

The article about 50% of beaches having one or more days of elevated fecal levels says as much.

“from sources such as urban runoff, sewage overflows and factory farms can contain pathogens that threaten the health of swimmers."

Urban runoff.. people (and animals) crap in the streets and it finds its way to the ocean. (Used to be) Rare but it happens

Farms.. Animal poop and / or natural fertilizer finds it's way to the rivers and streams.

Sewage overflows... Municipal treatment system is overwhelmed (think halftime during the Superbowl) and the system can't keep up with demand.

Dilution is still the solution to pollution, but microbes love warm water. Biogrowth is exponential. Under the wrong conditions water quality can go from good to crap fairly quickly.

If my taxes were going to public works projects and infrastructure I wouldn't mind paying them as much.

"Over Half of U.S. Beaches Had 'Potentially Unsafe' Levels of Poop Contamination Last Year."
See https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/over-half-u-beaches-had-204747164.html

WookieMan says "You don't understand the systems."

What is there to understand given that most beaches in the U.S.A. are contaminated with raw sewage?

WookieMan says "You live in a shit area likely, with shitty infrastructure, that literally puts shit in the water."

The entire U.S.A. lives is a "shit area with shitty infrastructure, that literally puts shit in the water."

WookieMan says "You DON'T understand that people illegally hook up their rainwater collection, GUTTERS OR SUMP PUMP to the sewer itself."

It is not the people. It is by design because in the U.S.A. we do not have the infrastructure.

Hence the following headlines...

"Over Half of U.S. Beaches Had 'Potentially Unsafe' Levels of Poop Contamination Last Year."
See https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/over-half-u-beaches-had-204747164.html

That is why today, in the U.S.A., we have people getting killed from Flesh Eating bacteria.

WookieMan says

I don't know how the leech field effects water ways with septic.

They are safe. In fact, Lake Gaston supplies drinking water to the Virginia Beach area via pipeline, and Lake Gaston has hundreds of houses on its shores. Perk testing is very tight and will be denied if the soil allows either runoff or permeating to ground water.

The_Deplorable says

It is not the people. It is by design because in the U.S.A. we do not have the infrastructure.

Again. Out of your element. Didn't watch the video. You live in legit shitty areas if your beaches are shut down. This is a tax discussion. People bitch about it but then bitch about shitty beach water. What would you rather have? A clean beach? Or shit in your water? It's called accountability or you might have to pay more not to have shit in your water. It's clear your choice....

The fix is really not much and easy in most cases. The fact beaches are shitty is on your community. You live in a shit community if you have shitty water. So sick of the hyper focus on federal government. It has its place, but not going door to door checking if you hooked your sump pump up to the sewer. Your local government has to deal with that with a heavy rain. You literally live in a shitty place. I can't stand Chicago but would swim in Lake Michigan any summer day. We don't put shit in the lake with a metropolitan area with 10M+ people.

WookieMan says

So sick of the hyper focus on federal government. It has its place,

It's the most expensive government, that does the least, and creates money at will. That's the problem.

richwicks says

WookieMan says

So sick of the hyper focus on federal government. It has its place,

It's the most expensive government, that does the least, and creates money at will. That's the problem.

The key is how much debt payment or service is as a percentage of total expenditures as well examine further as far as percentage of total tax receipts

It was 8% of total expenditures in 2022. I wonder what it was in 2023 and what it will be in 2024.

If it gets to 15% then I can see the Trump Tax cuts expiring and no effect compromise or negotiations as the plan is to increase tax receipts as much as they can to reduce the ratio of debt service to total expenditures.

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AD says

The key is how much debt payment or service is as a percentage of total expenditures as well examine further as far as percentage of total tax receipts

The national debt goes up a trillion dollars in less than 100 days.

This is the national debt graphed on a logarithmic scale, since 1971 - when the US abandoned the gold standard:



That's our debt on a log scale. The country is fucked. People just ignore it and think it's no big deal. The next generation will be a generation of slaves.

richwicks says

AD says

The key is how much debt payment or service is as a percentage of total expenditures as well examine further as far as percentage of total tax receipts

The national debt goes up a trillion dollars in less than 100 days.

This is the national debt graphed on a logarithmic scale, since 1971 - when the US abandoned the gold standard:



That's our debt on a log scale. The country is fucked. People just ignore it and think it's no big deal. The next generation will be a generation of slaves.

But I remember them saying this in the 80s... How their kids (in other words anyone Gen X or younger) would be debt slaves to Japan (this was before the rise of China).

Who is going to for close on the US? The only way it falls apart if the dollar is no longer the currency of preference for the international community... But what are you going to replace the dollar with?

In the late 1990s and early 2000 everyone thought it would be the Euro... How'd that work out?

Millions still come to this contry for a chance at a better life, legally or otherwise.

Yes taxes suck, and the system in many ways is broken, but we're still the "least bad" option. We're that not the case, people would be leaving America in droves for opportunities elsewhere.

Taxes in Europe make the US (almost) look reasonable. The disconnect is that unless you know how to play the game, have a solid business and a good account, you can't take full advantage of the system which admittedly is rigged to help corporations and special interests at the expense of the 9 to 5 middle class wage slave.

Are you all aware that the USA operated with no income tax for about a century? There were 1. tariffs on imported goods 2. tax on spirit alcohol.

WWI cost a bundle. Then, women got the vote, then Prohibition. Here came 1. taxes 2. ATF, FBI, IRS, etc.

George Washington warned about the USA avoiding "foreign entanglements." WWI was not our fight.

We don't need most Federal departments; the Dept. of Defense today is needed, but it's overly large and expensive.

I was talking to a deluded liberal MD friend of mine who resides in San Diego; he thinks he's gonna owe $100,000 in taxes for 2023.
He doesn't mind, maybe he likes the reverse bragging rights?

But, he's retirement age and he's busting his ass working; he doesn't know how to get off the hamster wheel of debt, spending, and making money.

My actual effective Federal tax rate was around 10% last year; maybe I posted that already somewhere.

clambo says

I was talking to a deluded liberal MD friend of mine who resides in San Diego; he thinks he's gonna owe $100,000 in taxes for 2023.
He doesn't mind, maybe he likes the reverse bragging rights?

Don't conflate bragging with being pissed off and venting about it when 50% of the country pays nothing. I paid my $40k and am pissed about it. It's not attention seeking. I'm legit pissed. Don't care about people being jealous of income. That's always going to exist. If anything I'm jealous of NOT paying $100k in taxes because I know that number. 80% at least of the population doesn't.

I don't think earners really understand how financially illiterate most the population is. A person that gets a return on $60k income with a family of 2 kids, likely paid $0 in federal taxes. Yet they think they paid taxes because they filed. Yes, you did your taxes, it doesn't mean you paid a dime at the end of the day.

WookieMan says

A person that gets a return on $60k income with a family of 2 kids, likely paid $0 in federal taxes.

In the original intent of the income tax when they passed a Constitutional Amendment to allow it, income tax was supposed to apply to only the wealthy. Therefore, keeping with that spirit, the $60k guy should not have to pay it.

WookieMan says

Yet they think they paid taxes because they filed. Yes, you did your taxes, it doesn't mean you paid a dime at the end of the day.

Yes as far as standard deduction, earned income credit (EIC), Affordable Care Act subsidies, etc whereas they pay 0% of their total income and wages to federal income tax (and state income tax) or maybe at most 5% of that (i.e., effective rate for income tax).

They pay "tax" the other ways like Social Security, Medicare, state and local sales tax, property tax, gas tax, etc. For us in Florida which there is a ~80% chance you live in an HOA, you pay a HOA "tax" since the HOA takes on a lot of responsibility that a municipal government would normally take on up North in a non HOA neighborhood.

Income tax comes predominantly from the socioeconomic range of middle class single filers to billionaire class.

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richwicks says

That's our debt on a log scale. The country is fucked. People just ignore it and think it's no big deal. The next generation will be a generation of slaves.

Yes, but notice China owns a lot less US federal debt compared to what they owned in 2015 ? IRA and 401k owners hold a lot of "investment grade debt" in the form of US Treasuries. Also pension funds like CALPERS and the Federal Reserve balance sheet hold US Treasuries, though the Fed is quantitative tightening (QT).

I suspect they'll start turning the curve and the debt to GDP ratio will drop from currently 121% to 90% (i.e., around 2011 levels) when the Trump tax cuts are expired for about 2 years. It peaked around 132% in early 2020.

They just got to hope the US Treasury 10 Yr steadies below 4%, which historically is around 1.5% greater than annual inflation (and the 30 Year mortgage is historically around 1.5% greater than the 10 Yr Treasury).

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GreaterNYCDude says

But I remember them saying this in the 80s... How their kids (in other words anyone Gen X or younger) would be debt slaves to Japan (this was before the rise of China).

Name anything in the world that can have exponential growth that doesn't end in a collapse.

Anything

The time of fixing this is over. We're going to become a feudal system where our leaders just use the state to finance whatever they won't and stick the rest of the population with debt.

richwicks says

The time of fixing this is over.

I already see improvement with debt to GDP ratio and I think it will get better when the Trump tax cuts expire and then they are re negotiated into a bipartisan compromise a couple years later.

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AD says

I already see improvement with debt to GDP ratio and I think it will get better when the Trump tax cuts expire

When the Trump tax cuts were first implemented, did tax revenue increase? If so, then the increased taxation when the cuts expire may curtain enough economic activity that collections actually decrease.

HeadSet says

In the original intent of the income tax when they passed a Constitutional Amendment to allow it, income tax was supposed to apply to only the wealthy. Therefore, keeping with that spirit, the $60k guy should not have to pay it.

I don't think I'm rich. Why should I be pissing away about 18% of our income? At some point it is better to pay 0% and make less. That's where we're at. Is it really worth the effort?

Everyone should have some skin in the game. A good chunk don't, but they still get to vote. Fuck them. That's my beef. Weighted voting by taxes paid. A wealthy person with high income, but skates taxes and pays zero gets one vote. A poor person that pays zero gets one vote. You pay $500 in taxes you get 3 votes. I'd get 5 votes. You pay $100k you get 6. That way the middle class controls voting. Sick of it being about blacks, hispanics, etc. with voting. It would take race out overnight and put the control in the middle classes hands. Any race.

HeadSet says

When the Trump tax cuts were first implemented, did tax revenue increase? If so, then the increased taxation when the cuts expire may curtain enough economic activity that collections actually decrease.

That is a difficult call or forecast, as it relates to the concept of Laffer Curve.

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clambo says

the Dept. of Defense today is needed

Wasn't needed in the late 1700's when we handed the greatest Army in the world their asses.

NuttBoxer says

clambo says

the Dept. of Defense today is needed

Wasn't needed in the late 1700's when we handed the greatest Army in the world their asses.

not a good example to compare to present day

the technology of war has changed and the chicoms are our main adversary

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It hasn't though. They need people to man their side, and we have WAY more. They've already stated quite publicly that it's easier to kill than control million people today. If they could round up a million of us and exterminate us using military they would(see Gaza).

The only thing that's changed between now and back then, central banks have warped most people's minds to make us think fantasy is reality. It's not, they are losing, and if they try to take us militarily, they will be slaughtered.

NuttBoxer says

It's not, they are losing

I don’t see any front on which the globalists are losing. They are literally one or two moves from check mate. Get ready for the Antichrist people.

NuttBoxer says

They need people to man their side,

You don't need a 2 million standing army (i..e, active duty , not reserve and national guard). You don't need that with the technology of war today. Look even what the Marines are saying about "FORCE MULTIPLIERS" (I figured I throw that lexicon in there for the Head Set crowd here, and that one Patnet poster who I think is a Naval Academy alum). The drones with sensors are what a lot of the Marine Corp is talking about.

Its about about the Pentagon wisely spending taxpayer dollars to ensure the adequate readiness level. I realize pensions and disability payments (comes from an unofficial "branch of the Pentagon" called Veteran Affairs) are a major factor as far as driving this.

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NuttBoxer says

clambo says

the Dept. of Defense today is needed

Wasn't needed in the late 1700's when we handed the greatest Army in the world their asses.

With quite a spot of help from the French. I 1812 we could not stop the British from landing near Yorktown and marching around 100 miles to sack Washinton.

AD says

that one Patnet poster who I think is a Naval Academy alum

We have a Canoe U poster here?

HeadSet says

AD says

that one Patnet poster who I think is a Naval Academy alum

We have a Canoe U poster here?

I think there is one as they identified themselves as a USNA alum. It was about 4 years ago at least when they did identify themselves.

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AD says

You don't need a 2 million standing army (i..e, active duty , not reserve and national guard). You don't need that with the technology of war today.

I agree with the first part, kind of my whole point. But not with the second. We had better tech in Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos. How did that work out? We sent better tech to Ukraine, how are they doing? No one conquers a people without a ground invasion. Which is why they push so hard to disarm us, inject us with poison, etc.
So my question, if they don't believe their tech is enough, why should you?

AD says

Its about about the Pentagon wisely spending taxpayer dollars to ensure the adequate readiness level.

WAAHHH HAHAHAHAHA!!! You mean like when they announced 1.8 trillion missing on 9/10? Until you understand money laundering, NASA, and the significance of that press conference, you're just gonna continue to make hilarious statements like the above.
Let me go back to my time tested question. Tell me when government involvement has EVER made ANYTHING better?

HeadSet says

With quite a spot of help from the French. I 1812 we could not stop the British from landing near Yorktown and marching around 100 miles to sack Washinton.

If we're putting qualifiers what about England's army being mostly mercenaries? What about a majority of Americans being Loyalists? Does it really matter? Whether England or the US had help, the outcome is still largest empire in the world lost to a volunteer army where the soldiers literally left during the war to harvest their crops.

Submarines, not Carriers, are the wave of the future.

Only submarines have the survivability and resilience. It's the ultimate asymetric response to raw-materials import dependent CHYna.

Dozens of shallow water optimized D/E boats with harpoons sending every Liberian tanker and bulk carrier loaded with MENA Oil and Aussie Iron to Davey Jones' Locker in the Java and South China sea. Better yet, the Indian Ocean where Chinese assets and bases are more limited and India may very well act if Chinese presence was to intensify.

The Chinese have spent two decades on Carrier busting missiles and conventional MIRV-like vehicles. POOF!

I just used HR Block and did my 2023 1040 in an hour and a half.

My tax rate was pretty low.
Adjusted Gross Income=$103,712
Actual Tax Due=$9724

As you can see, this is not a bad rate at all. The secret is probably the large dividend distributions from my mutual funds are "qualified dividends".

I'm not actually spending my retirement accounts, taxable accounts and variable annuity; this is from a couple of bond funds, a balanced fund, and annual dividend distributions from other funds which do that every December (e.g. Vanguard Total Stock Market Fund, etc.)

I have an inherited IRA worth about $200K and I take about $10K out which is going up each year (RMD is based on my age).

I filed electronically so maybe if there's an error I will hear about it pretty soon.
Edit: My Medicare and drug benefit called Part D (deducted from my social security payments) were $4334 in 2023.

clambo says

I have an inherited IRA worth about $200K and I take about $10K out which is going up each year (RMD is based on my age).

I though inherited IRAs had to be spent down in 10 years regardless of inheritor's age, whether Roth or Traditional, unless you got it from a spouse. Another exception for chronically ill, but I do not think that would apply to you.

Headset, I believe the RMD rules that applied when I inherited in 2017 still apply.
Those who recently inherited an IRA will have different rules.

I think the new RMD rules suck; of course we all want to delay taking money out of an inherited IRA.

clambo says

Headset, I believe the RMD rules that applied when I inherited in 2017 it still apply.

Correct, you are grandfathered if you inherited the IRA before 2020.

AmericanKulak says

Submarines, not Carriers, are the wave of the future.

Yes, I read now Lockheed's hypersonic missiles are being deployed on Navy ships this year. It looks like the Virginia Class submarine is fitted to deploy both the Tomahawk cruise missile and the hypersonic missile. I can see where the Virginia class can conduct land attack missions such as with the Lockheed hypersonic missiles.

NuttBoxer says

No one conquers a people without a ground invasion.

yes i agree, but you can ramp up over 1 year for a ground invasion such as train national guard and reserves and recruit a lot more

that is why you do not need a major standing army as you achieve or gain one by that 1 year period , hence this is a way to wisely spend money for national security and not put as much demand on tax dollars

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National security is the guise they used to pass the Patriot Act. It's the excuse they made for jailing Manning, Assange, and Snowden(if they had caught him).

Standing armies/national defense/national security is only possible with a central bank. These efforts are all prohibitively expensive, and contrary to the concepts this country was founded on. Mainly our freedom. Look at everything done in the name of any of these, especially around OKC, Waco, Ruby Ridge, 9/11, and everything that's happened since then. I don't think you've stepped back to understand the reality of what they are doing versus the newspeak of what they claim.

And similar to US war planes article that recently stated 70% aren't working, US drones sucks ass as well(re-think your paradigm):
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/us-drones-are-expensive-and-error-prone-so-ukraine-turns-china