October 12, 2007
FOUR FOR FRIDAY
Q1 - Death and Taxes: When a successful business or corporation shows an interest in relocating to a new city, town or municipality, if the business in question employs a fair amount of people or generates a significant amount of business or prestige for the local area, city officials will often woo or entice the company by offering significant tax breaks. Similarly, when a successful company indicates that it may move its headquarters or manufacturing facilities to another locale, officials offer the same--tax abatements (a reduction of taxes or an exemption from taxes granted by a local government on a piece of real property for a specified length of time). They say there are two things in life that are certain: Death and Taxes. Do you think businesses should be granted tax breaks by local governments or should they have to pay their property taxes just like everyone else?
Q2 - Politics and Religion: After speaking to an evangelical church last Sunday in a traditionally conservative South Carolina town, U.S. Senator and Democratic Presidential hopeful Barack Obama said that Republicans no longer have a firm grip on religion in political discourse. "I think its important particularly for those of us in the Democratic Party to not cede values and faith to any one party," Obama told reporters outside the Redemption World Outreach Center where he attended church services. As everyone knows, separation of church and state is a political and legal doctrine that basically states that government and religious institutions are to be kept separate and independent of one another. Some would say that the two principles--secularity of government and freedom of religious exercise--are what make the United States the greatest place to live on Earth, while others would argue that secularity is our greatest downfall. What do you think? Should religion play a part in which candidate we elect as the next President of the United States?
Q3 - Home Ownership: Foreclosure filings across the United States nearly doubled last month (compared with those from September of 2006), as financially strapped homeowners already behind on mortgage payments defaulted on their loans or came closer to losing their homes to foreclosure. Without naming names, do you know anyone impacted by or who is facing foreclosure?
Q4 - X-Ray Vision: Earlier this week, at an airport in Phoenix, Arizona, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) launched a pilot program to test a new airline passenger screening system capable of spotting threats hidden underneath clothing. For now, passengers selected for 'secondary screening' can opt to forgo a typical pat-down and instead walk through a device that allows security screeners to view the person without their clothing getting in the way. (In other words, whoever is watching the security scanner gets to see you in the buff.) The TSA insists the machines cannot store images, but some privacy watchdogs are not buying it. Moreover, the TSA says that the people watching the scanner sit in a remote location and are not able to tell the actual identities of the thousands of bodies they'll be look at all day. How do you feel about this? If this screening process became a mandatory condition of boarding an airplane or entering a building, would your protest the process by simply refusing, or, is this just another reasonable measure to protect everyone from those who wish to cause us the greatest amount of harm?
Posted by Mikal at October 12, 2007 7:08 AM
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Death and Taxes: I don't have a problem with those sweetheart deals if it's for the greater good of the community. As for the death part, if they got to live longer - I don't think that would be fair.
Politics and Religion: I don't think religion should play a part in the election. In fact it sounds downright childish for candidates on either side to point at the other and say, 'We're more religious that you people are!' Which is basically all they're doing.
Home Ownership: I do know someone who is being impacted. A friend is trying to sell a home and five people on his street are planning on walking away from their's in the next couple of months because they cannot afford them. This will probably not improve his chances of selling.
X-Ray Vision: I fly quite a bit. If someone wants to see me naked, I think that is their problem. I don't even like to see that.
1. If the average citizen has to pay property taxes, then so should the big businesses. I understand why local governments would do this for the business, but they should pay like everyone else.
2. No, keep them separate.
3. Thankfully, I do not know anyone who is facing foreclosure.
4. I wouldn't want to be X-rayed like that, but if it helps I guess you can never be too cautious. On the other hand, where do you draw the line at invasion of privacy?
Q1 - Death and Taxes: If the primary reason for taxes is to generate revenue for governments, then the close second reason is to influence behavior. Deductions for charitable giving? Encourage charitable giving. So if local governments can influence behavior of businesses that end up being good for the communities, then I'm all for it. It's the way the system works anyway.
Q2 - Politics and Religion: It will. Our country was founded on a set of religiously inspired morals and ideals. Separation of church and state should be construed to keep the government from officially sanctioning any one religion over another. It is take too far many times, like when they tried to remove 'Under God' from the pledge of allegiance. To ignore religion is to ignore the very foundations of the U.S. and to not be true to our history. That's why religion will be an important issue in the election. It's ingrained in the DNA of America.
Q3 - Home Ownership: I do not know anyone affected by this.
Q4 - X-Ray Vision: If it became mandatory, I'd just show up for the security checkpoint in the buff. Why not show everyone around me I have nothing to hide, and that I'm not packing anything dangerous? Let's all show up naked at the airports. That would be fun. The real issue is that security is a joke, it's completely reactionary, and most of it is completely unnecessary (shoes off, 3-1-1, etc.). Scanning people so you can see them naked isn't going to make things actually more secure. They're in the business of making people feel secure, and maybe this one will accomplish that. Maybe it will just piss people off.
1. Read my lips.
2. Separation of church and state. ...and a comment on a comment: read Jefferson's Notes on Virginia. After more than a decade of teaching United States literature I can assure you that the founders were not as committed to religous ideals, nor were many of the first colonists. Jamestown (anniversary this year!) was a commercial venture, and the entire Mid-Atlantic was a far cry from the New Englanders Puritanical ideals.
3. Nope, but I live in Laguna Beach, a perpetual housing bubble.
4. I just wish we would address real security concerns instead of these high visibility measures that make it appear as if we are addressing security concerns.
1. I think it makes sense, after all don't most individuals take the time and effort to maximize the taxes they don't have to pay?
2. Steve's statement about finger pointing is right on, this is mostly about posturing. On the other hand, I think that a lot of people in America believe that leaders should have some moral or religious foundation, meaning that this will be a factor. For me personally, I care less about religion and more about whether a cantidate has moral integrity, not that they share my morals, but that they are up front about them and that they behave accordingly.
3. I don't know anyone in this spot.
4. I'm basically fed up with most of the 'security' we have, because I honestly don't feel like most of the minutiae is really making a big difference. Show me that the X-Ray vision catches people more than 1 in 100,000 of the screened people bringing something actually dangerous and intended to do harm, and then maybe I'd rethink it, but only maybe.
1. I don't mind the government offering tax breaks. Business is good for the ecomony. And, if we need tax breaks to entice businesses, who cares? I don't. I am never against positive motivation. We all benefit from it.
2. I think one of the greatest things about being an American is having the freedom to worship as we please. I believe that there should continue to be separation of politics and religion, but this don't not mean that we forget basic American values. Also, I would like to see America focus less on the religion of the candidate and more on their qualifications. Politics are not part of my religion. I am not told who to vote for because I belong to a certain faith. So, the religion of the candidate should make no difference to me or to any other person.
3. I know and have heard of a good amount of people who are struggling with this right now. Sometimes, I wonder, though, if their situations are a result of lack of education and poor planning. If they had planned/budgeted properly, they might not be in their current situation.
4. I am all for anything that will prevent another September 11th. I really don't think this is that big of a deal. It would probably speed up lines. And, I would actually appreciate avoiding the tap down by airport security. That is probably one of the worst parts about flying.
P.S. Until the show ends, I will continue to hope that Sarah will return. Maybe next season. The show is not the same without her and I hate the producers right now and the fact that she has to be a mom. Where are her priorities?
Alright, let's do this thing!
1. Death and Taxes: That's the way business is done. Whenever there is money or power involved, gifts and various bribes abound. Generally, I don't mind seeing big business get tax breaks.
2. Politics and Religion: Okay, two-part question... I believe in separation of church and state, and it's part of what makes this nation great. History has shown that theocracies simply result in a whole lot of misery.
Should religion play a part in who you vote for? If that's important to you, then yes. Part of the beauty of this great nation is that you get to decide who you're voting for, regardless of the reason.
3. Home Ownership: I'm not aware of anybody I know being impacted. I know of one friend that has (or had) an ARM, and I remember being worried for him, but that was a year ago and last I checked, he was okay.
4. X-Ray Vision: I think that's awesome! Uh... if it means I can just walk through some high-tech hallway like they have in the movie Total Recall, and not have to wait in line for an hour just to have some guy pat me down.
No joke, the last time I flew I got pat down (as I always do thanks to metal body parts of mine) and the guy asked me if I wanted to be checked in private. Having been pat down several times before, I said, "No, I'm fine." Little did I know he was going to pat down my wiener!!!
The only thing I could think to say at the time was, "Oh yeah, that's all me baby!" Luckily, my mouth was smarter than my brain that day and disallowed it. I'd much rather some random person in another room see me nekkid and speed up the process -- and I doubt the resolution is as good as people are afraid it is.
1. It sounds like companies are just extorting money out of government officials. If they want to leave, let them leave; everyone should pay taxes.
2. Religion always plays a part in elections since many morals and ideas are founded on religious principles. However, I would definitely like a candidate better if they didn't slam it in my face, like letting the press know that they're going to church. Religion should not be used as a campaigning technique.
3. No
4. If the X-rays see under my skin, and looks at my bones and stuff, I'm OK with it; maybe they'll find out I have cancer or something. That would be sweet--a routine medical check of the x-rays... Anyway, if they just see under my clothes I will definitely make a fuss. That's just so..... ugh, sickening. Especially since a lot of those security guards look creepy, especially the women. Plus, aren't the airlines going bankrupt as it is? Spending more money on equipment that a few perverts/scared people like, and spending money on training people how to work them and installing security devices and everything else is just plain dumb. Since the government is helping out the airlines with funding, that means that our taxes are going into stuff like this. I don't really want a thousand dollar picture of myself naked--I can get my husband to do that for free.
1. I have a couple problems with abatements. The first is that the missing tax revenue has to be paid by someone else-either another business or individuals. Second is that it's unevenly applied. If abatements are going to be granted to encourage new businesses, they should be given to all new businesses and not just the ones that can force such concessions. Third- somebody is having to make up that missing revenue; most likely existing businesses or private citizens. Last, but certainly not least, is the whole "is it worth it" factor. I've read about many tax abatements that cost tens of thousands of dollars per job created. Not exactly a stellar use of funds.
2. It shouldn't but it will. Unfortunately there are too many who will happily ignore things like a candidates stand on real issues and vote against their best interests as long as he or she pays sufficient lip service to some flavor of christianity.
3. Not that I know of.
4. As long as it can be proven that there is no way to store the images in the machine or offload them, It doesn't bother me. The cost of these things does, however.
My responses are posted on my site! I'm late. (Sorry!)
Once again, I am unable to post a link to my site and my e-mail address does not take people there, either.
Death & Taxes: I do believe the big companies should get some kind of tax discount only if they are big enough to keep a large amount of revenue coming into the city, giving people jobs, etc.
Politics and Religion: I don't believe that religion should be a factor in who we elect as President. We need to consider their principles. Principles and religion get very mixed up with many people.
Home Ownership: I do know of a couple of people who jumped into home ownership hoping they could sell their house in a year or two and make thousands of dollars. They got stuck with a flooded market and are not regretting their decision.
X-Ray Vision: I believe that airport officials being able to see through your clothes is a huge violation of your rights, HOWEVER, the truth is we have to forfeit some of our rights to be safe. I would be fine with it only because I know it would help prevent terrorist acts. I'm mean who knows, your wife or kids could be on a plane that is taken down by terrorist. Maybe it could have been prevented if we were willing to forfeit this little thing.
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