tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956838.post997318271784843873..comments2023-11-22T01:14:54.298-08:00Comments on amor mundi: Only Libertechbrotarians Are Real People to Libertechbrotarians, And Only Unreal Libertechbrotarian Aspirations Are Worthy To LibertechbrotariansDale Carricohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02811055279887722298noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956838.post-58484988608462072862014-03-23T10:41:42.753-07:002014-03-23T10:41:42.753-07:00I think industry capture of regulators (not just i...I think industry capture of regulators (not just in the finance sectors, obviously, but especially the extractive and energy sectors) is more injurious to the proposal, implementation and effective enforcement of regulation than it is a bar to tax increases. There have been several times in American history when taxes has been levied or increased or made more progressive, some of them as or nearly as dire as our own. Even in the face of the unprecedented obstruction of the Republicans income taxes have resumed marginally more progressivity than in the W. years and there are taxes in the ACA. The idea of a financial transaction tax is widely advocated, including among plutocrats more worried about volatility and fraud than about wealth concentration. One of the most fiscally responsible budget proposals in both social democratic but also, frankly, capitalist terms is the Progressive Caucus proposal, with reams of data about return on investment and so on -- and it is absolutely wrong to pretend that none of its provisions would be passed were both chambers controlled by Democrats. My point isn't to offer you a roseate unicorn pinata to bat at -- nobody has to tell me how catastrophically reactionary the plutocrat/neo-confederate alliance of Movement Republicans is nor how far from democratic socialism Democrats are at their best, but the expert knowledge, policy proposals, organized constituencies, legislative factions, agitational energies, historical forces are more congenial to progressive change than they may look. Things change even when they haven't done for a long time. Good effort not good luck is what it will take to get a considerably more progressive tax on income, including capital gains, property and transactions -- and with every advance toward that progressivity the knot of wealth concentration, regulatory capture, dearth of public investment in renewable infrastructure and social support becomes easier and easier and easier to untangle in a virtuous circle. People who know better have a responsibility not to give up.Dale Carricohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02811055279887722298noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956838.post-4634883947425483322014-03-23T07:54:32.865-07:002014-03-23T07:54:32.865-07:00As long as plutocrats of all ilks have captured th...As long as plutocrats of all ilks have captured the regulatory systems of the entire Western world, good luck with tightening the tax screws on them.Esebianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17352289295517890623noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956838.post-82570139409969188632014-03-23T06:52:22.852-07:002014-03-23T06:52:22.852-07:00> [L]et's tax celebrity tech ceo narcissist...> [L]et's tax celebrity tech ceo narcissist blowhard billionaires<br />> back to the stone age and use the money to fund universal healthcare,<br />> education, renewable infrastructure, and medical and scientific research. . .<br /><br />From yesterday's New York Times:<br /><br />http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/22/business/lawmakers-attack-cost-of-new-hepatitis-drug.html<br />-----------------<br />Lawmakers Attack Cost of New Hepatitis Drug<br />By ANDREW POLLACK<br />MARCH 21, 2014<br /><br />A new drug to treat hepatitis C that costs $1,000 a pill<br />has caused rising concern among insurers and state Medicaid<br />programs. It has now also spurred interest from Democratic<br />congressmen whose queries about the drug prompted a<br />sell-off in biotechnology stocks on Friday.<br /><br />Three Democratic members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee<br />have demanded that Gilead Sciences, the developer, justify<br />the price of its drug, which is called Sovaldi. . .<br /><br />Gilead’s stock fell. . . on Friday. Nervous investors took down<br />the shares of some other big biotechnology companies as well. . .<br /><br />“The fear that Congress may begin a program of meddling, one<br />drug at a time, doesn’t affect just one drug,” said<br />Andrew A. Bogan of Bogan Associates, which invests in<br />science and technology stocks. “It kind of scares everyone.”<br /><br />Still, many analysts who follow Gilead predicted that the<br />storm would soon pass. They noted that the letter writers<br />were in the minority party in the Republican-controlled House.<br /><br />“We just look at this letter as a little bit of noise,”<br />said Robyn Karnauskas, a biotechnology analyst at Deutsche Bank. . .<br />====<br /><br /><br />Thank God for Republicans. Those Democrats are always<br />making so much noise. They'll scare the horses!<br />jimfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04975754342950063440noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956838.post-11860467533104107482014-03-22T13:14:54.968-07:002014-03-22T13:14:54.968-07:00But, but, but...Musk needs the money to continue i...But, but, but...Musk <i>needs</i> the money to continue inventing such revolutionary new products as electric cars (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Thomas_Parker_Electric_car.jpg) and liquid fuel rockets (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Goddard_and_Rocket.jpg)erickingsleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15782878667594739997noreply@blogger.com