San Antonio "best performing city in US"

[CosmicCowboy]

It's a mysa article so you gotta go there and read it...

http://www.mysanantonio.com/business/article/San-Antonio-tops-Best-Cities-list-2405315.php

San Antonio is No. 1 — and this list has nothing to do with tacos or waistlines.
The Milken Institute has ranked San Antonio as the nation's best-performing city in its annual ranking of 200 metropolitan areas.

[z0sa]

Things are still ok in Texas.

[boutons_deux]

SA is floating in how many "socialist/govt-job-creating" military and civil service $Bs per year?

[ChumpDumper]

Well, Texas is becoming the last stop for jobs on the way out of the country. I guess we can enjoy it while we can.

[CosmicCowboy]

SA is floating in how many "socialist/govt-job-creating" military and civil service $Bs per year?

And don't forget demon oil...

[Nbadan]

I'm for changing school funding in Texas to a state income tax to make it more equitable or a state sales tax to hit all the 'underground economies' ....you get to deduct it on your federal return anyway and the money stays in Texas

San Antonio has some shitty schools

[DMX7]

And don't forget demon oil...

That's not even close to why San Antonio is #1.

Without Big Government MIC, San Antonio would be fucked.

[CosmicCowboy]

That's not even close to why San Antonio is #1.

Without Big Government MIC, San Antonio would be fucked.

And you are still stupid.

[hater]

all thanks to this guy

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JzLjSkH2Q4s/Tk7pVExHvTI/AAAAAAAABdQ/RG-Tum_ok18/s1600/rick-perry-corndog.jpg

[CosmicCowboy]

I'm for changing school funding in Texas to a state income tax to make it more equitable or a state sales tax to hit all the 'underground economies' ....you get to deduct it on your federal return anyway and the money stays in Texas

San Antonio has some shitty schools

You can deduct property tax too.

I admit that using a sales tax to fund state and local government fucks us on our fed income tax as compared to a simple line item of writing off state income tax paid, but at least EVERYONE has skin in the game with a sales tax.

[DMX7]

And you are still stupid.

Whatever helps you and Ricky Bobby sleep at night, dumbshit.

And thanks for agreeing! :toast

[CosmicCowboy]

Whatever helps you and Ricky Bobby sleep at night, dumbshit.

And thanks for agreeing! :toast

I don't deny that the military contributes significantly to the local economy but it is a declining factor as a percentage and has been for years...even before Kelly closed...

And what was your point again?

[Trainwreck2100]

i really hate articles and studies that say we are number 1 cause then assholes from other cities march themselves down here.

[Nbadan]

You can deduct property tax too.

I admit that using a sales tax to fund state and local government fucks us on our fed income tax as compared to a simple line item of writing off state income tax paid, but at least EVERYONE has skin in the game with a sales tax.

The govt does a pretty good job estimating how much everyone spends anyway...they set up a percentage of your net income to be deductible from your federal taxes and nobody has to save sales receipts.....but it has to be some mixture of sales tax and property tax....overall, if it raised the sales tax to ~10% but brought property taxes down ~25% that would be enticing to many blue hairs on fixed incomes and middle wage earners...assuming its tax deductible..

[Ginobilly]

That's not even close to why San Antonio is #1.

Without Big Government MIC, San Antonio would be fucked.

They don't even know what they are talking about:lmao:lmao

And there's a reason why Big Gov is here and not in other cities.

San Antonio has always been a good place to live in, going back to even Spanish colonial times. England and France have both tried to take over San Antonio from Spain and they failed. Even when Mexico briefly held control over San Antonio, Anglos couldn't stop from pouring in. I'm thinking it's the mild climate (good for agriculture) and the abundance of water ( we have a shit load rivers and the aquifer) that has attracted humans for Hundreds of years. And that's the reason for all the battles (of the past) and the protection that San Antonio currently has. Because of the natural resources that it has. One more thing: San Antonio is considered the most beautiful city in Texas, and the Spanish Governors palace/and the Alamo are considered the most beautiful buildings in Texas according to National Geographic. Take that Austin, Dallas, and Houston!

[johnsmith]

One more thing: San Antonio is considered the most beautiful city in Texas, and the Spanish Governors palace/and the Alamo are considered the most beautiful buildings in Texas according to National Geographic. Take that Austin, Dallas, and Houston!


:lmao

[CosmicCowboy]

The govt does a pretty good job estimating how much everyone spends anyway...they set up a percentage of your net income to be deductible from your federal taxes and nobody has to save sales receipts.....

??????

WTF are you talking about?

[Nbadan]

??????

WTF are you talking about?

...about being able to deduct a ratio of your state sale tax from your federal taxes liability....right now, you have to save your receipts and only certain items are tax deductible....why not let everyone claim a set percent of their net income as sales taxes paid instead...

reduce property taxes
raise the state sales tax
Texans deduct the sales tax on Federal returns (a ratio of net income)


(The government actually let Texas residents do this a couple of years under Dubya)

[CosmicCowboy]

...about being able to deduct a ratio of your state sale tax from your federal taxes liability....right now, you have to save your receipts and only certain items are tax deductible....why not let everyone claim a set percent of their net income as sales taxes paid instead...

reduce property taxes
raise the state sales tax
Texans deduct the sales tax on Federal returns (a ratio of net income)


(The government actually let Texas residents do this a couple of years under Dubya)
i thought you were saying we could do this now and was going to throw the bullshit flag.

[Nbadan]

Whatever the funding mechanism, funding schools and other community needs with just property taxes is stupid....if Texas really wants to be anything else than the low wage capital we've got to improve our resources...and our greatest resource.....kids...

[TeyshaBlue]

...about being able to deduct a ratio of your state sale tax from your federal taxes liability....right now, you have to save your receipts and only certain items are tax deductible....why not let everyone claim a set percent of their net income as sales taxes paid instead...

reduce property taxes
raise the state sales tax
Texans deduct the sales tax on Federal returns (a ratio of net income)


(The government actually let Texas residents do this a couple of years under Dubya)
I remember that. I wonder what the participation rate was.

[Nbadan]

I also support a flat tax...on businesses.

All businesses pay a minimum tax depending on some combination of factors, such as, environmental damage, a renewal and disposal tax, and average employee pay and benefits while conducting business....small, medium, large and Corpocracies would pay at a set rate..

[Nbadan]

I remember that. I wonder what the participation rate was.

I'm not sure...you can only raise the sales tax so high....at some point people are going to rebel...I would say 10% is a good threshold...not sure what percentage of a property tax cut that would cover for everyone though...we might not be able to avoid a higher tax on some businesses...for instance, businesses that use a lot of infrastructure and power...but supply few jobs..

[Wild Cobra]

I also support a flat tax...on businesses.

All businesses pay a minimum tax depending on some combination of factors, such as, environmental damage, a renewal and disposal tax, and average employee pay and benefits while conducting business....small, medium, large and Corpocracies would pay at a set rate..
Maybe apply that to people as well. Everyone pays between a minimum and maximum of the wages.

[mouse]

Is it really because San Antonio is so great or that other cities suck worse?

[CosmicCowboy]

I also support a flat tax...on businesses.

All businesses pay a minimum tax depending on some combination of factors, such as, environmental damage, a renewal and disposal tax, and average employee pay and benefits while conducting business....small, medium, large and Corpocracies would pay at a set rate..

You support regressive taxes? Business will pass the tax straight through to consumers as another cost of doing business.

[Nbadan]

You support regressive taxes? Business will pass the tax straight through to consumers as another cost of doing business.

That's a myth...while some costs will be passed on to customers, not all the costs will be passed on.....remember that if the price of said item gets too high, customers will just buy less of said item, so producers also have an incentive to keep prices as low as possible...or to improve their own economies of scale..

[Nbadan]

Maybe apply that to people as well. Everyone pays between a minimum and maximum of the wages.

You would have to exclude a huge chunk of wages so that a flat tax was not regressive, and the flat tax would actually have to be a tiered tax which would tax higher income earners at a higher rate than lower income earners...higher income earners presumably uses more natural resources than lower income earners both in the production and consumption of resources....like it or not, the taxes you pay will have a lot to do with the damage you cause to the earth....

[CosmicCowboy]

That's a myth...while some costs will be passed on to customers, not all the costs will be passed on.....remember that if the price of said item gets too high, customers will just buy less of said item, so producers also have an incentive to keep prices as low as possible...or to improve their own economies of scale..

:lmao

If all businesses are subject to the same tax then all businesses will pass the cost on, leaving no other "lower cost" options. Business taxes are just a disguised sales tax. Look at the Federal Fuel tax (on big bad oil companies) as an example. The poorest of the poor are still paying that tax.

[Nbadan]

No they won't... some businesses will always be lower than others...some products always lower quality than others and lower prices....it will be up to the free market system to decide the winners and losers..

[CosmicCowboy]

No they won't... some businesses will always be lower than others...some products always lower quality than others and lower prices....it will be up to the free market system to decide the winners and losers..

So you are really trying to convince us that when businesses cost of doing business rises they won't pass this cost on to consumers, both rich and poor?

I want some of what you are smoking.

[Nbadan]

No, they will simply create more specialty items to attract more discriminate buyers, but they will keep the prices of cheap goods cheap to keep the lower end buyers too...they will simply attach the higher taxes on lower goods to the higher-end products for customers who are not so price sensitive...

[greyforest]

:lmao

If all businesses are subject to the same tax then all businesses will pass the cost on, leaving no other "lower cost" options. Business taxes are just a disguised sales tax. Look at the Federal Fuel tax (on big bad oil companies) as an example. The poorest of the poor are still paying that tax.

All true. To give credit where it was due - originally there was some logic with the fuel tax, as the tax was exclusively used to pay for interstate/highway/road maintenance. A great idea; people who buy fuel use roads a roughly proportionate amount to the amount of fuel the buy.

A great idea until congressmen decided to take that fuel tax money and use it for whatever the fuck they wanted instead. Now our roads are all shit and it's just another sales tax.

[CosmicCowboy]

No, they will simply create more specialty items to attract more discriminate buyers, but they will keep the prices of cheap goods cheap to keep the lower end buyers too...they will simply attach the higher taxes on lower goods to the higher-end products for customers who are not so price sensitive...

oh bullshit...

The tortilla factory will add the cost in to the price of tortillas

The bean farmer will add the cost in to the price of beans.

The chicken and egg producers will add the cost in to the price of chickens, eggs, etc.

You are dreaming if you thing business taxes aren't ultimately regressive.

[Nbadan]

Then you exempt basic food products...,,,these are adjustments now...

[Nbadan]

The whole point is that funding schools with just property taxes, and the current system, giving from rich to poor, is just contributing to shittier overall schools in San Antonio...the schools are technologically still in the 1990, while the kids are in 2011...we've got to completely change the methods we use to teach our kids, not discriminate further by separating kids between good private schools and bad private schools...

[Nbadan]

And to launch my campaign I propose that all home loans be increased by one to two years, depending on the time is owed on the loan, and all home owners get a Christmas break in December of every year of their home loan...

[scott]

:lmao

If all businesses are subject to the same tax then all businesses will pass the cost on, leaving no other "lower cost" options. Business taxes are just a disguised sales tax. Look at the Federal Fuel tax (on big bad oil companies) as an example. The poorest of the poor are still paying that tax.

Not entirely true. While those business "pass" the cost of a tax on, the fact we have downward sloping demand curves and upward sloping supply curves dictates that some of that cost gets absorbed by the business. The elasticity of demand and supply dictate how much of the tax each "side" pays. When you have inelastic supply, and elastic demand, then the business actually would bare the brunt of the tax increase.

Here is the best illustration I could find, but the resolution isn't so great:

http://www.hypothetical-bias.net/photos/uncategorized/2008/04/10/burden_with_elasticities.jpg

It is true to say "the business passes it on" - but the burden is in fact shared by both parties, the degree to which just depends on other factors.

[scott]

Here is a PowerPoint presentation from a lecture on the subject.

http://faculty.riohondo.edu/mjavanmard/govch7/Burden%20of%20Tax.pdf

This professor does a good job of pointing that the tax burden is independent of who "pays the tax" (which is the point you are making - that you can tax businesses, but some of the burden still falls on consumers. You just didn't consider that the burden is actually shared)

[Blake]

They don't even know what they are talking about:lmao:lmao

And there's a reason why Big Gov is here and not in other cities.

San Antonio has always been a good place to live in, going back to even Spanish colonial times. England and France have both tried to take over San Antonio from Spain and they failed. Even when Mexico briefly held control over San Antonio, Anglos couldn't stop from pouring in. I'm thinking it's the mild climate (good for agriculture) and the abundance of water ( we have a shit load rivers and the aquifer) that has attracted humans for Hundreds of years. And that's the reason for all the battles (of the past) and the protection that San Antonio currently has. Because of the natural resources that it has. One more thing: San Antonio is considered the most beautiful city in Texas, and the Spanish Governors palace/and the Alamo are considered the most beautiful buildings in Texas according to National Geographic. Take that Austin, Dallas, and Houston!

and yet we still don't have an NFL team.

:depressed

[boutons_deux]

"it's the mild climate (good for agriculture) and the abundance of water ( we have a shit load rivers and the aquifer)"

this must be a be@ner shilling for Hispanic CoC

Mild climate? :lol

abundance of water? (not enough to cool coal-plants and sell it cheap to coastal rice farmers. WTF is arid S. TX doing in the rice business?)

The untravelled be@ner seems to think the SA river, Guadaloupe, Comal, etc creeks are rivers. :lol

[Ginobilly]

"it's the mild climate (good for agriculture) and the abundance of water ( we have a shit load rivers and the aquifer)"

this must be a be@ner shilling for Hispanic CoC

Mild climate? :lol

abundance of water? (not enough to cool coal-plants and sell it cheap to coastal rice farmers. WTF is arid S. TX doing in the rice business?)

The untravelled be@ner seems to think the SA river, Guadaloupe, Comal, etc creeks are rivers. :lol

Talk all the shit you want, yet people still move to San Antonio for reasons unknown. I have all the free water I need here. I fill up my swimming pool and my plants/animals get all the water they need. Food and cost of living is abundant and cheap here. Even poor people on food stamps here are driving Dodge chargers, have cable and internet, and smoke some of the best kill in the US. Europe might be better off on some things, but people aren't really suffering here. Yeah, they might be dumber than your average socialist-liberal European, but we are all right. I don't even like people moving here to tell you the truth.(stay in your dirty ass crowded cities) Talking all this shit about San Anto, yet hipster, faggety pricks like you move here and gay it up.

[Ginobilly]

and yet we still don't have an NFL team.

:depressed

It's only a matter of time

[Ginobilly]

That's not even close to why San Antonio is #1.

Without Big Government MIC, San Antonio would be fucked.

If San Antonio is so "bad"? Why don't they give the state back to Spain or Mexico, or better yet; let Texas be it's own nation again. There's a reason why big brother wants to be here and doesn't want to leave.

[Ginobilly]

"it's the mild climate (good for agriculture) and the abundance of water ( we have a shit load rivers and the aquifer)"

this must be a be@ner shilling for Hispanic CoC

Mild climate? :lol
(bad ass weather for outdoor recreation) I only wear a t-shirt all year round.

abundance of water? (not enough to cool coal-plants and sell it cheap to coastal rice farmers. WTF is arid S. TX doing in the rice business?)

The untravelled be@ner seems to think the SA river, Guadaloupe, Comal, etc creeks are rivers. :lol

Lol at people still thinking that the battle of the Alamo was because of "Freedom" :lmao. They were really fighting for land/mineral and water rights.