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Qualcomm pays half the tax it should owe
So speaking of the laws, I think this issue gets quite complicated for multi-national corporations. It seems to me that maybe the ideal solution is that companies should pay US taxes based on their presence in the US, not where their headquarters technically is. But I'm not sure how that gets defined. Perhaps the presence should be defined by where the majority of senior executives live. If the senior executives live in the U.S. then it's a U.S. company and should pay U.S. taxes. That's just an idea. Clearly many of these companies have ridiculous definitions of where they are located but I'm not sure what the best rule should be to define where a company is located. What do you guys think?— April 17, 2016 10:28 a.m.
Qualcomm pays half the tax it should owe
There are clearly (at least) 2 big problems here 1. Tax AVOIDANCE Legally avoiding paying taxes through loopholes. Solving 1 means updating the laws to close loopholes. 2. Tax EVASION Illegally avoiding paying taxes by hiding money. Solving 2 means better investigative teams but also means updating laws. As Don suggests, there HAS to be a significant risk of prison for tax evaders. The risks of fines, audits, and lawsuits are merely a cost of doing business for people used to weighing calculated risks / benefits.— April 17, 2016 10:21 a.m.
Qualcomm pays half the tax it should owe
Ern I think the tax rates Sanders is proposing are too high. But I think the tax rates now (especially at the higher income brackets are too low). There are plenty in congress who will push to keep tax rates for the wealthy low. If Sanders were elected I think realistically we might see a few percent increase in the upper tax rates once his proposals were negotiated down by congress. I don't think that would be that unreasonable.— April 17, 2016 10:13 a.m.
Qualcomm pays half the tax it should owe
The $15 minimum wage is a band-aid (probably a necessary band-aid) to help the lower class. What's really needed are jobs for less highly skilled workers. Which pretty much means manufacturing. Trump and Sanders have both pointed this out.— April 17, 2016 8:51 a.m.
Qualcomm pays half the tax it should owe
Personally I think both primary and final election should be simple popular votes. That would require constitutional amendment(s?) but I think it would be worthwhile. I don't trust systems which are unnecessarily complicated.— April 16, 2016 10:26 p.m.
Yeah, whatever you say, Jerry Sanders
All true Don. And our consolation for potentially hundreds of millions of tax money on an NFL stadium will be that at least we didn't spend billions on olympic stadiums and facilities.— April 16, 2016 7:15 a.m.
Yeah, whatever you say, Jerry Sanders
I think there are some difficult decisions to be made regarding immigration and some easy decisions. The hard decision is the fate of reported 10M - 15M undocumented immigrants in the US right now. There is NO fair and practical solution to that question. If we let the undocumented immigrants stay that is grossly unfair to prospective immigrants who follow our rules. There are 10's of millions of people worldwide who want to emigrate to the US and are following the application procedures legally. It's not fair to give priority to those who came in illegally. On the other hand, in a way there's been a tacit off-the-books agreement to not enforce the laws. The US has been intentionally ignoring immigration enforcement (led by GOP business leaders who want cheap labor) for so long that in a way the unofficial policy has been to let any immigrant who comes into the US through the southern border and stays out of trouble gets to stay. It's almost a squatter's rights situation - if you let someone stay on your property long enough and don't ask them to leave then you almost have to let them stay. It's not fair to break up families and kick people out after we've allowed them to stay so long. So it's unfair to let the illegal immigrants stay but it's unfair to kick them out. Moreover, physically deporting all of the illegal immigrants would certainly be difficult (at the minimum) to do and would raise many legal and ethical questions. So I think some compromise solution allowing the illegal immigrants now in the country to stay but with some penalties and requirements would seem to be the least unfair compromise between 2 unfair choices. The easy part of the decision is whether or not we should enforce immigration laws. We have immigration laws, they should be enforced. Building a wall would be an easy and inexpensive way to help enforce laws which are not being enforced. I don't really care who pays for it - the cost would be fairly trivial. I don't like law enforcement. I don't really like having highly armed police, IRS audits, FBI. But they are necessary to enforce laws. I don't like the idea of a wall at our southern border. But it may be necessary to enforce immigration laws. A better way to enforce the laws, BTW would have been the "self-deportation" (suggested by Mitt Romney) which would occur if we actually enforced hiring laws for employers. Most illegal immigrants are here for jobs - take the jobs away and most of them would leave voluntarily. But recent presidents haven't want those laws enforced. It's harder to tear down a wall once it's built. In summary, my thoughts are - What should we do with illegal immigrants in the country now? Hard decision. Should we enforce immigration laws? Easy decision.— April 15, 2016 8:54 a.m.
Yeah, whatever you say, Jerry Sanders
Trump's comments about Mexico sending over "murderers and rapists" were offensive. But many of his proposals are common sense. Building a wall is a complete no-brainer. Low cost and would help enforce the laws. Are you opposed to the idea of building a wall Don? I haven't heard any good reasons not to; I'm wondering if you have any.— April 14, 2016 8:01 p.m.
Two teams demand millions for stadium upgrades
BTW at noted architect Dan Meis claims QCOM stadium could be renovated to Super Bowl standards for $500M. "Judson: Dan, hypothetically speaking, if I cut you a check for $500 million…could you make the Q something the NFL would say ‘okay, we would host a Super Bowl here?’ Meis: “No doubt, no doubt. It could definitely be done.” http://www.insidesocal.com/nfl/2016/01/28/world-r…— April 5, 2016 10:46 a.m.
Two teams demand millions for stadium upgrades
I'm biassed as a Bruin but I think the Rose Bowl is an awesome place to watch a football game - and it was so even before the recent renovation. The recently added seat backs and modern scoreboards are nice but frankly not really necessary to enjoy a good football game.— April 5, 2016 10:43 a.m.