My right to bear arms is under fire right now.

What do your other forums think about the subject, Nova?
http://forums.penny-arcade.com/discu...stifies-itself

? Are you seriously stalking my posts in other forums?

Wow, that's really creepy.

Okay, well, here's the right to work thread:

http://forums.penny-arcade.com/discu...rolls-labor/p1

starevol is a business owner

Oh, whoops. My last post was confused with the other thread. Nanci is probably thinking I've gone mad. :P

Anyway, I guess I should ask, which subject are you referring to, Airenlow?

There's been a few in this thread.

The original topic and subject of the linked thread...

Oh. Okay. Well, you can ask them what they think, then. Lots of varying opinions. That's an old thread, though. That forum has so many members that if a thread isn't posted to at least every couple hours, it disappears from the first page of whatever subforum you're on. Some threads get several posts per minute. It's nuts.

Originally Posted by Nova_C

So you are claiming that every time a company charges a 'fee' it is because the government is taxing them in a new way? Prove it, because that's absolutely ridiculous.

Most of the time, yes, I believe that is true. It's commonly known as a "pass through tax" in that a company is levied a fee, tax, license, permit, or some sort of regulation demanding compliance that some government action causes an increase in operating expenses of the company. So they pass that additional cost of doing business through to the consumer. It can either be overtly itemized, such as a "911 fee", or covertly done via a cost increase of the merchandise or service. Heck, just simple corporate income taxes have to be figured into overhead expenses, which goes into the cost of merchandise or services. I believe that at the bottom of all increases in costs you will usually find government as being the cause of the increase via the vehicles mentioned above. Of course, then there is inflation which raises prices across the board. And who, pray tell, do you believe is behind that?

Ridiculous? How many businesses have you run? In America? If any, did you pay any attention to your accountant's reports of expenditures?

Prove it? Sorry, not our job.

Originally Posted by Rich Z

Most of the time, yes, I believe that is true. It's commonly known as a "pass through tax" in that a company is levied a fee, tax, license, permit, or some sort of regulation demanding compliance that some government action causes an increase in operating expenses of the company. So they pass that additional cost of doing business through to the consumer. It can either be overtly itemized, such as a "911 fee", or covertly done via a cost increase of the merchandise or service. Heck, just simple corporate income taxes have to be figured into overhead expenses, which goes into the cost of merchandise or services. I believe that at the bottom of all increases in costs you will usually find government as being the cause of the increase via the vehicles mentioned above. Of course, then there is inflation which raises prices across the board. And who, pray tell, do you believe is behind that?

Ridiculous? How many businesses have you run? In America? If any, did you pay any attention to your accountant's reports of expenditures?

Prove it? Sorry, not our job.

Thanks Rich, Survivor was coming on, I had dishes to do, and I was distracted. That pretty much sums it up though.
I have run a retail business for 25 years. The last 4 years have been devestating and most likely we will be closing our doors sometime this year.

My husband and I TOGETHER earn between 20-30k a year, depending on the year. In property tax alone we pay $7200.00.

Originally Posted by Nova_C

It's nuts.

Once I saw a squirrel stashing some nuts in its mouth. It was so cute! But the thing I liked best about a squirrel with a mouth full of nuts was that it did not make any annoying sounds. Which kind of nuts do you prefer?

Not sure if this side-topic has since died off, but here's my .02 on Nova "not getting it" because he's Canadian.. and yes, I'm still surprised this is relevant to keep bringing up.

Some of you do the same thing in every thread, that you're accusing Nova of. Look at your "handout with a cellphone" videos. To you (figuratively), the environment of a person in those videos are probably as foreign as Baghdad (and Canada), and yet you feel obliged to impose your experience on theirs, by saying that they lack the understanding of their own experience/environment that's needed to succeed. Some of you feel that you have the insight to tell others how to take advantage of what YOU feel they should take advantage of, regardless of whether it was a personal experience for you or not. And I don't ever see anyone defending their political/cultural beliefs, simply because of their (assumed) geographic and social differences. So why is this now fair game to bring up about Nova?

Also, look at our country's "foreign affairs".. is it not an unfair intrusion of another culture/society to dictate "American" principles for those in other countries? Again, I don't/haven't seen anyone protesting our involvement when it comes to speaking on issues of other countries, when it comes to Americans doing the speaking. So, I would think, for people so concerned with Nova speaking on the politics of other countries, that you all might be a fan of our president's approach to foreign policy, which is exactly what you guys are recommending for Nova. Which is basically "mind your own business". If it's fair for that conversation, it should be fair for this one too. Otherwise, it's hypocritical to attack his views based on him residing in Canada, when you yourselves feel free to openly discuss/critique/attack issues that affect other countries, when you have also never lived there.

Bottom line, we are all a product of our circumstance/environment. Our location, culture, etc.., these are all factors in our lives that make us who we are, that are completely outside of our control. And in more than one way, we will all be a victim of that circumstance. Especially if we restrict ourselves to only learning from what that specific environment offers. So as a part of human growth/development, it's really necessary that we learn about other environments/politics/cultures/etc.. in order to apply what works with others into our own lives to be successful. Being a part of one environment doesn't negate our responsibility to grow beyond that environment. It's a stepping stone to learn and and grow. That's why we have people in America who dedicate their lives fighting for the rights of people that may not ever live in America. Are they wrong for that? Because under the guidelines that we won't speak on issues outside of our own environment, we'd limit most of the conversations that come up on this site.

I tend to believe as I always have with these discussions. It's not about objectivity, it's about outnumbering someone with an opinion, and using every attack in the book to discredit them. Which is just how it would be of some of you were on other sites. There are (many) people in America who would agree with Nova, that would find some of the "American" postings in here ridiculous. A majority of the voting public, in fact. So would they be challenged for their nationality in the same way that Nova is, or would you guys listen to them because they're US citizens?.. I'm thinking that a new form of attack would take place, and Nova being Canadian would take a backseat. So when I think about that perspective, I think it's obvious that Nova challenging another persons beliefs is what irritates 'some'. Not at all that he's Canadian. That's just the crutch in case the debate goes south.