Precision

NY Democrats propose 4% tax on Netflix, Uber to fund MTA "The plan would hit streamers with the 4% surcharge" "The MTA needs $600 million this year and at least $1.2 billion next year to balance its books in large part because of the ridership drop-off following the COVID-19 pandemic." No word on if Kathy will support this bill. Sounds like funding "public transportation" is all about bailing out the MTA. Sorry up-staters, you will be paying the tax but likely won't see a penny of this.

I have, it's really informative how the pie charts are broken up into "probably", "very", "very very", "very very very" and "maybe not". These lazy statements like "if you live in a small town you probably voted for Trump" are BS. Is 99% to 1% or 51% to 49%? The numbers tell the story and demographics are about the numbers.

If an argument is going to be made regarding demographics it is useless without some kind of numbers. "Probably", "very" and "very very" are broad BS descriptions. Did you know that "people of Mexican descent probably own a sombrero". You tell me what percentage of people that is.

I guess I'm a poor uneducated republican, ha ha ha! People who paint with a broad brush tend not to be very good painters. People who make broad assumptions about demographics groups tend not to be very smart.

The FBI has a 10 billion dollar budget and 35K employees. Not seeing the value for a nation over 30 trillion dollars in debt.

The deficit and national debt are going to need to be addressed soon and the solution is going to need to come from all Americans. The 40% of Americans that pay no federal income tax are disengaged from the federal budgetary process. Tax hikes, cuts and spending bills have almost no impact on this large percentage of the population. These people need to start paying taxes, so they have some skin in the game. It's easy for representatives to spend like a drunken sailor when higher taxes/spending do not affect their constituents. The top 0.5% need to have loopholes closed so they are paying their fair share. Having said this, relying on the top 10% of earners to fund most of the government is a risk. CA and NYC have experienced an exodus of high earners which have caused budgetary issues. I could see that trend occurring on a national scale should the tax burden continue to be shifted to this demographic.

Ha ha ha, hopefully your friend has given up the gummies! When we were there, they had yet to open all the dispensaries to the north of the strip. Construction on most of them was completed, they had lit working signs, but they were not open yet. I can't imagine how bad it's going to be once all the new dispensaries are open. We were waiting for an Uber outside our hotel and there was a couple smoking next to us with people all around. By far the worst part of the trip and I'll have a hard time convincing my wife to visit again. The shows were cool. We did a helicopter tour of the Grand Canyon and seeing that was on my bucket list. Saw the Hoover dam which was very cool as well. Did almost no gambling. Not sure if or when we'll return but honestly it was more fun than I expected.

Which one? The wife and I were in LV back in October and we couldn't get reservations to the one on the strip. Ended up eating at a "Ramsey Pub" or something like that in Caesars. We did one of the bus tours and they said his shows are recorded in the warehouses/tents on the far side of the high roller/ferris wheel. Amazed by all the pot smoke on the strip when we were there!

I have to wonder how the transgender community impacts the gender pay gap argument. I don't see businesses promoting or demoting anyone if they transition from male to female or female to male. Assuming transitioned salaries do not change dramatically, wouldn't this indicate that the gender pay gap argument has no merit?

It's really surprising how many dwellings have 30 Amp service especially among cottages and camps. For sure there are large areas in WNY where the grid could not support a rapid changeover.

Preparing food is a way of life. Homes built prior to 1950 had only 30 Amp service at 120V. Most stoves are wired to a dedicated 240V 50 Amp breaker. There is no way any of these older homes can accommodate an electric stove. Even homes built up to the late 60's with 60 Amp service will struggle running an electric stove in conjunction with A/C, refrigerator, TV, dryer, computer, etc.

I have no idea if Covid came from a lab, market or the wild. What pisses me off is that the US government was actively providing funding for biological research to China, an adversary of the United States. In the good old days people would have been strung up by a rope for treason. What additional funding is the US government providing to other nations? Are we paying Russians for nuclear research or providing on-line courses to North Koreans so they can learn to code? Where's the transparency so taxpayers can monitor what's going on? I don't believe anyone on this board would think providing research funding to enemies is a good idea.

The ludicrous part is, they allow these children to change genders because "they're old enough to make these important decisions", but if they commit a crime they need to be treated as a minor because they aren't old enough to understand the consequences for their actions.

Douglas Diamond gives a good summary of what went wrong. The economist who won the Nobel for his work on bank runs breaks down SVB’s collapse—and his fears over what’s next

Apologies for the late response! I think a lot of the problems are dealing with permitting, regulations, taxes and paying off NYS officials. Some quotes from Kevin O'Leary since he has been in the news recently.... "I don't put companies here in New York anymore, or in Massachusetts, or in New Jersey, or in California. Those states are uninvestable. The policy here is insane, the taxes are too high." “I had a project in upstate New York behind the grid in Niagara Falls for electricity — a global data center we were building. Eventually it got so bad with the politicians in the local region and the state policy, we moved it to Norway and all the jobs,” O'Leary said. “That's New York." On a personal note, Canisteo Wind started in 2003 (highlight from the web site below). I'm not a fan of the project and it's just another example of NY pooping on the Southern Tier (who wants to live among 100+ turbines, someone who has never been around them). Having said that, it's unbelievable that the project is 20 years old without a single turbine erected. About Canisteo Wind Invenergy began development of the Canisteo Wind Farm in 2003 and has monitored wind speeds in the area since this date. It is now developing the project with the goal to begin construction in 2019.

People tried to make it out as homophobic, but students were disappointed about having a crappy local politician as a commencement speaker for what is supposed to be a nationally recognized private school. I did not answer your question regarding how I would invest were I a German in WWI. Really it would be no different than now by investing in assets that protect against taxes and inflation. I have money in the market, real estate, commodities, foreign investments, very few bonds, very little cash. In the past I put as much as possible into my 401K over the course of 30+ years and invested in Roth's aggressively. I am not a financial expert but by most account am "rich", 56 and retired in January this year. Both our children's higher education has been paid in full by my wife and myself.

Good stuff! My daughter, wife and I toured UVM, tried to get a grilled cheese outside the library afterwards but everyone had closed up shop. I guess the grilled cheese is a thing there?

What memories, I was an undergrad at Northeastern University when old Barney spoke at commencement (in 1987). The campus newspaper had an insert that said, "Barney Who?" that students brought to the ceremony and waved around. It was a huge embarrassment for the school! Good times, good times!

I agree that there is malpractice at SVB but they had expectations of the Fed/market/economy that other banks do as well. That's why there will be more defaults in the near future. I have never viewed cash as a safe investment, cash is a medium of exchange. It's a tough read but try "When Money Dies" by Adam Ferguson. In 1915 the dollar and German mark were roughly on par in value. An excerpt from the book..... "In 1923, with its currency effectively worthless (the exchange rate in December of that year was one dollar to 4,200,000,000,000 marks), the German republic was all but reduced to a barter economy. Expensive cigars, artworks, and jewels were routinely exchanged for staples such as bread; a cinema ticket could be bought for a lump of coal; and a bottle of paraffin for a silk shirt. People watched helplessly as their life savings disappeared and their loved ones starved. Germany's finances descended into chaos, with severe social unrest in its wake."

The bank deserves the blame, but individuals have a responsibility to manage their money. Many have made the argument that $250K is too low of an amount but if that is the rule then individuals should be smart enough to live by it. I am far from an expert, but I typically move money around and time multiplex the movement in smaller amounts. We also have accounts at a couple of institutions and only pool large amounts of equity on a very short-term basis for transactions requiring it (real estate purchases/etc). Similarly, we have a few annuities that we had to divide into smaller chucks ($175K) to make sure they are insured (I know, annuities are not FDIC insured for those about to flame me) even though I would have preferred a single annuity at one institution.

Agreed, many are businesses. I don't have a problem with insuring businesses as it would be impossible for any company to operate with assets spread across different institutions. There will be individuals though that are over the $250K threshold and I don't have as much sympathy for them.

Not sure how I feel about the FDIC protecting all depositors. Certainly, those under $250K in assets must be insured and I have a hard time seeing viable companies having to close down because they are unable to make payroll. I'm feeling that individuals with more than $250K of assets in a single institution should be responsible for their poor choices. Moving money around in separate institutions/investments to ensure that they are in amounts that are insurable is a PITA. That is part and parcel of having/managing that much money. If individuals are unable to manage that, they need to have a financial advisor take care of it for them.

SVB is just the start, there will be other bank failures soon. It's all just the early inning of the looming recession. Don't tell me about the unemployment rate or jobs, they are lagging indicators.

SVB was the 16th largest US bank, Burry seems to think another bank will fail soon...... 'Big Short' Michael Burry Warns of Another Major Bank Collapse You can always tell when an economy is on the precipice of faltering as banks start failing first. In 2007 banks were failing and the unemployment rate was still under 5% (reached 5% in December of 2007). A year later in December 2008 unemployment was 7.3%, December 2009 was 9.9%. The government spending fueled "Biden Boom" is an irresponsible flash in the pan that will be forgotten a year from now once unemployment shoots over 5%.

Unemployment is going north of 7%. Transcripts of Powell/Kennedy exchange 2 days ago linked, highlight below. https://www.mediaite.com/politics/youre-trying-to-put-people-out-of-work-senator-kennedy-corners-fed-chair-who-says-hes-trying-to-cool-the-economy/ Kennedy cited data suggesting that “if history is right,” the unemployment rate would have to rise to seven percent in order to get inflation down to 4.4%. “That’s what the record would say,” agreed Powell. The senator further posited that for the Fed to get to its target rate of 2.2% inflation, unemployment would have to rise to north of 10%. However, Powell disputed this.