LUX.ET.UMBRA

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“Seriously. What the hell, Mr. President?” , is the question I want to ask.

It’s funny how in several years, the United States will take all the progress its done and piss it all away. Truthfully, I don’t think the Republican Party could have asked for a better screw up as the health care reform, but even the consideration of VAT tax is the nail on the coffin.

Here’s the key. In living in one of the states with the highest unemployment rates, I’ve found that the government really doesn’t care about me. Or you. Or anyone else. It’s not really that crazy, all in all I believe that GOP has solidified November and will continue to grow stronger as long as they don’t open their mouths and say something stupid. That’s still a possibility, but overall the Democrats have really shot themselves in the foot with this one.

First, you don’t pass something that you know you can’t pay for. Especially in times like this. If we could pay for it, then why are we considering the VAT tax option? And second, the point of VAT is to replace the antiquated sales tax. It’s not an additional tax. I’ve been working in financial markets for long enough to know that the value-added tax is just a multi-tiered system that allows the percentage of tax to be collected at multiple levels throughout the product cycle. This ensures that the government gets more of the percentage in case someone skimps on paying sales tax instead of a all or nothing scenario which is what we have in the United States currently.

The state of government seems to be screwed up by politicians that don’t take the time to understand basic concepts before they start pushing them. Which is not only frightening but also very sad. The fact that I read last night where there was an amendment to the Whistleblower Act in 2009 from the Senate that capped compensatory damages as opposed to punitive damages just made me extremely annoyed. I mean, seriously? You don’t know which word means what and for what logic? Whistleblowers serve a purpose and capping the loss compensation basically would remove any reason to blow the whistle on bad behavior. I thought the point was to protect the little guy when the big guy is doing something inherently wrong. Guess not.

I suppose I should have known better when I myself got sick of the financial market ruin created by bad laws passed by the GOP majority. Which means this stupidity problem falls on both sides of the aisle. Politicians need to start removing their heads from wherever they are and start realizing that you actually need to know what the hell you’re talking about instead of being the salesperson. Looking good for the camera doesn’t help you when you can’t understand basic concepts that even “I” can understand. And I don’t claim to be a graduate of any Ivy League or an expert in anything legal or political. If Joe the Plumber understands that you’re screwing up somewhere, doesn’t this mean that you need to stop to think before you pass something stupid instead of gunking up the toilet? It’s time to wake up.

Tags: Observation, Opinion, Politics by darkmoon
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Apparently, the online tax for North Carolina hasn’t been bringing in the money that it was supposed to and the thinktank, Tax Foundation, has published a report that says that not only does it hurt the state in the short term, but it also hurts the state in the long term too.

Noooo kidddding.

Amusingly, this is basically the “I told you so” parts where the legislation made decisions on things they knew nothing about and spent budget money that they didn’t have. Again. Nothing new here, folks. Politicians that don’t understand technology and business? Like we’ve never heard that one before.

Interestingly enough, although to no avail, I had spoken about this issue time and again during the time when the “Amazon Tax” during the time period when it was passed and how our legislation thought how wonder it would be to gain some figure in the sky millions in some sort of pot of gold wish.

I mean, seriously. They still continued to budget and spend for this year as if there is this money coming in although there is nary a word from the North Carolina Department of Revenue on whether or not there actually is significant tax revenues coming in due to this tax. I suspect that there is little to nothing, considering they had targeted Amazon, and Amazon cut their ties with North Carolina affiliates and hurt the state in the process. Amusingly, the bad guy that Amazon was made out to be wasn’t so bad and in the end the politicians seemed to have stuck their own foots in their mouth if this study from Tax Foundation has anything to say about it.

From my perspective? Well, one of my businesses just didn’t carry as much revenue this year. Instead of having to pay taxes on the income, it seemed that it was more of a write off this last year. Oh well. Tough cookies for the North Carolina bare coffers.

Tags: Amazon, Law, Local, Observation, Opinion, Politics by darkmoon
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I have to say that overall with national politicians, there’s a pretty easy litmus test to find out if your particular representation is actually listening and serving your needs.

E-mail them.

In the past, I have had responses to emails from former Senator Edwards, and Senator Burr, but never anything from former Senator Dole. I also have received responses recently from Representative Mel Watts and Senator Burr (kudos here for always generating conversation) but nothing from Senator Hagan’s office.

Call it strange, but Hagan replaced Dole so I wonder what that’s about. In any case, in regards to my email, Senator Burr’s office contacted me directly and had a short but very responsive contact. Representative Watts though sent me a letter that basically said that he’d love to support my needs, but since no legislation was brought up in Congress about it, he’ll keep a look out for it. For the most part, it was a generic form mailer. Which, while I appreciate feedback, it’s one of those… ehh… what? It was almost answering a question like: “Is the sky blue?” with… “I’m sure your color has merit, and when the general consensus talks about a sky color, I’ll support yours.”

You sort of have to laugh at it and wonder exactly what politicians do. You’re either for, or against a certain ideal. Perhaps there is merit to either side and you could be swayed to one end. But without actual conversation, the generic stop letter is just not the way to go. Maybe that’s just me from a personal perspective, but it’s only slightly better than the total constituent ignore only because you’re getting it on Congressional letterhead.

Today, this issue really isn’t about Representative Watts’ letter and I apologize to him for using his letter as an example. But from a state where the general populace has been beaten down to a bloody pulp when it comes to employment and trade, the cynicism starts to grow when you don’t see conversations being started by even the aides of the representation. Call it strange but you would hope those are the individuals that are fighting for you in the big city of politics.

Tags: Government, Observation, Opinion, Personal, Politics by darkmoon
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Show me a world without politics, and I’ll show you a world where pigs fly.

Sometimes, I have to smile when I get frustrated that everyone seems to live in this ideal world where everything is supposedly dandy and we’ll have all of our problems fixed because in “today’s society”, we shouldn’t have to deal with these problems. Call me a cynic, but it’s been a long time since I have felt that way, and a long time before I ever will feel again like that.

Let’s be frank. You have to deal with certain unfair scenarios in life. It’s just like for some, they have all the luck. It’s not that people cannot achieve their dreams, but for every single person that does succeed in making their dream a reality, there are countless thousands that do not make it. That’s just a cycle of life. But the sooner you realize this cycle, the better your odds become at beating the cycle.

And that’s where the idealism comes in. I can’t stand it when people want to cry at every single turn about discrimination in the work place. Apparently, this happens to the Asian American community too and I’m sure it does. But to even have a term called the “bamboo ceiling”? I mean seriously, this just bugs me. Of all the stereotypes in the world, I was lucky enough to end up with the one that really doesn’t have too much of a negative connotation, and stereotypes exist just as everything else does. And now people want to play the fact that racism plays a factor in promotions of Asians? Come on. If you want anything that plays a factor, it’s politics. The political play is more eventful, more powerful, and when it comes right down to it, way more legal.

Seriously, who the heck plays the race card anymore? If you are, you’re not too bright considering all of the alternatives in the work place. In a dog eat dog world, the entire corporate structure relies on strategy and tactics that not only pits external competition against each other, it also creates internal conflicts where the strongest rules. It’s always been this way, and it’ll always continue to be this way. If you don’t like it, then join the ranks of the upper crust and you won’t have to deal with it.

Otherwise, there are many that believe that today is entirely black and white and have gone beyond politics where there are sweets and rainbows. The day that politics ceases to play in the corporate environment is the day there ceases to be corporations. And at the rate capitalism is going at right now, I’ll have to bet against the odds of that happening.

Tags: Business, Observation, Opinion, Politics by darkmoon
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Still think that the economy is improving? If the shutdown of the Dell plant around here isn’t enough to scoff at that mindset, let’s look at an even larger one. Sun Microsystems is looking to layoff three thousand more employees. Now, while layoffs are inevitable during mergers and acquisitions (in this case with Oracle), this also represents something a little bit larger.

It says that until corporations or the government gives a nice jab in the arm on hiring, the overall percentage of buying power has been reduced. This hurt can and will be felt through both retail and financial markets since people without jobs cannot pay loans and mortgages. And let’s face it. Saving the financial institutions do not amount to squat if the people that the money is being loaned to can’t get work to actually pay it back. This is not only brings financial players to a grinding halt, but it shows that politicians do not understand the basics of economics. Everything starts with the beginning of the food chain, not the end.

What’s worse is that until someone does actually gain this bright idea, all of the injection of federal funding is for naught. That means that the taxpayers bear the burden of a costly mistake, of which becomes more and more weight per each individual as more and more people cannot find work. And you wonder how Congress can sleep at night with a twenty or so percent approval rating.

Tags: Business, Government, Life, Observation, Opinion, Politics, Society, World by darkmoon
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So I was thinking about the word definitions of conservative and liberal. And I had a crazy thought. Would it even be possible for society to dictate these two words as the opposite of what they currently mean? I mean, why not? Conservative basically means that people wish to have the status quo, and liberal means that they wish to have change.

conservative – disposed to preserve existing conditions, institutions, etc., or to restore traditional ones, and to limit change.
liberal – favorable to progress or reform, as in political or religious affairs.

So I was sitting here thinking about how the values of conservatives have actually changed throughout history and how there is more acceptance towards being flexible than it used to be. Even by a historical sense, the right in politics have strayed more towards the middle ground as has the left. So is there a point where this could change?

Well, if by chance there were enough people that deemed that change was the status quo, then the definitions would flip. Mainly because if you’re always promoting change, then to reform “change” is to stay in its own place. And thus while the definitions of the words remain the same, how it is viewed in society today would be the exact opposite of what it would be in the future. Crazy thought, isn’t it.

Tags: Observation, Opinion, Politics by darkmoon
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I really don’t understand North Carolina state. At all.

The entire legislation is made up of some people that have no idea about technology or how it works. The fact that the final tax bill going to the floor has the “Amazon tax” tells me that not a single one of the incumbents that have pushed this or voted this in is either in the twenty first century, nor know a thing about business law. Mainly, the idea that affiliates are the physical presence for a major online retailer is so ludicrous that it’s laughable by anyone that has done consulting work. I’ll give you an example in the consultation analogy:

According to North Carolina state legislation, if I am an out-of-state corporation, but I have sub-contractors that I have agreements to do work with me, then I am to be taxed as if I operated my business in North Carolina.

Sound good to you? Well, that’s the same agreement that affiliates have with any sort of online retailer that pays them to sell advertisement. I also will be curious as far as when others such as the newspapers (News & Record, Business Journal), magazines, online radio stations, and so on feel this bite since I have heard nary a word from them even though they will technically be hurt by this. I’m surprised that actually no one has even thrown a red flag out there. Oh well, time to bite the bullet with stupid taxing that won’t bring in any money.

Here’s why it’s a stupid idea and totally the wrong way to go about taxing Internet purchases. If you want to chase Internet purchasing taxation, you’ll have to do some sort of an agreement through a payment service. Going after affiliates just allows the retailer to continue with their business and cut their ties to the affiliates (aka small business that do pay local taxes). What you miss out on is all of the taxation that the small businesses were putting into your coffers, and on top of it, you’re not making anything from the online retailer(s). This is expected to $150 million in the next two years?

Who the hell are they joking? With the way it’s written and the ties cut from affiliates, the State will be in the hole more than $150 million. Mainly with all the retailers refusing to pay and cutting their ties, and indirectly jeopardizing any real tax money that would have come into play. I can tell you that one of my businesses will be hurt by this and unfortunately for the state, unless something changes this company will probably be in the red instead of black this year and thus won’t be giving up anything to state coffers. Sucks to be you, eh?

If you want to tax internet retail, you have to move from smaller battles to the bigger picture. But if you can’t understand how to walk, I’m not exactly sure when you’ll achieve dreams of running a marathon.

Tags: Amazon, Business, Internet, Law, Local, Observation, Opinion, Politics by darkmoon
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So apparently insurance providers have been bailing on North Carolina because insuring coastal homes gets expensive and so businesses and homes participate in a state plan called the Beach Plan. Apparently though, if the plan’s money runs out then insurance companies are forced to pay a percentage of the losses due to how much business they do in the state. Which in turn raises your insurance premiums regardless of if you have a beach house or not.

And guess what? We didn’t even know about this insanely stupid plan. The fact that it even was created sounded like it was by those with actual beach homes rather than the living with the rest of the state inland. In any case, this was only brought to our attention because our homeowner’s insurer basically sent us a polite letter to support HB-1305, and to go look at Fix the Beach Plan.

What’s scary is the fact that while there is a push to get the fixes on this Beach Plan, there are insurers that are leaving this state regardless of the outcome. In fact, when I asked my trusty pal from the News & Record about it, he sent me to an article he wrote earlier on the very subject. And there it was, where a couple of insurers had already pulled out of the running.

There has been a lot of back and forth about who’s paying for whom as far as Beach Plan insured versus private insurers. But from my perspective, I don’t think we should be paying any more if we live in the middle of the state if the coast does get hit by a natural disaster. Amusingly many people claim that those inland are buying into the insurance rhetoric and such. But here’s some food for thought. If insurance companies were apparently taking a share of the pie when there wasn’t any disasters, then why would some of them back out completely and not do business in the state at all? Wouldn’t that mean that they wouldn’t get a cut then?

Of course, in the end, it really comes down to the fact that I don’t want to be paying for someone else’s beach house. Ever.

Tags: Business, Local, Observation, Opinion, Politics by darkmoon
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North Carolina is still pushing that digital tax.

But fortunately, there is another win for Amazon, and another state that doesn’t have legislators that have never fought for small businesses or know how Internet businesses work. Apparently the governor of the State of Hawaii has vetoed HB 1405 and the time has passed for the overturning to occur. So Amazon is re-inviting those affiliates back from that state.

Will North Carolina also break free from those luddites that know no bounds to how much they hurt small business? Perhaps. My guess is that we’re actually not reaching through the thick skulls of the state legislation but I could be entirely wrong. So far, I must say that as an independent voter and business owner, I haven’t been impressed with either the state legislation or our governor in several decisions that are NOT in the best interest in the constituents. Perhaps they will surprise me yet and overturn this one. Call me crazy but I actually like to pay income taxes if they didn’t take a portion of the income from my business.

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• NCGA Unconstitutionally Taxing Scheme Will Hurt Small Businesses (life.firelace.com)
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Tags: Amazon, Business, Local, Observation, Opinion, Politics by darkmoon
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Call me crazy, but I just don’t get it.

Why is it that every single state has these huge deficits that didn’t show up last year? Or the year before? I mean, I’m absolutely dumbfounded by why suddenly everyone has a budget shortage and they claim that it has to do with the recession and such. The obvious only reasoning for it is that they come up with silly ideas of budgeting such as taxing digital transactions, alcohol and such and think that what the potential “bring in” is what they can spend.

Like I said, I don’t know anything about politics and state governments but that’s the only reason I can think of where you can suddenly have a huge dropping out of funds. When you spend more than you have because you think you’re collecting revenue on something instead of actually waiting to spend it after you’ve collected it. One of the biggest mistakes of fiscal responsibility that I’ve ever seen if this is the case. And before people start pointing fingers saying that it’s because we have Democrats, or Republicans or whatever XYZ political party, I find that this is the case across the board. Maybe everyone wants a piece of the stimulus bill. Who knows. But anyone that tries to achieve power eventually abuses it in the same fashion.

In the end, I just want someone explain to me where these huge holes are coming from. I mean, as a citizen that doesn’t have time to do the research because I’m too busy trying to put food on the table, the things from the media usually just talk about the doom and gloom instead of seeing where the issues lie and propose fixes. I’m okay with taxes as long as they serve a legitimate purpose and are not paying for someone’s pet project like building another bridge in a place that already has one. Anyone want to take a stab?

Tags: Government, Observation, Opinion, Politics by darkmoon
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