Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Absolutely!
Obamacare- tax under the guise that more folks will remain healthy. Penalize and make moola!
Regulations on utilities- corporates get fined. Uncle Sam wins!
You choose to slander- pay court fees and the plaintiff
The system requires greasing the wheel.
We have civil laws, conservation laws, roadway/transport,international,business law, zoning, employment, criminal. Can't think of anyone of these laws that do not generate revenue.
The gun industry... Yeah no one wants to touch that one. It generates money.. Which supercedes lives.
Very poor example that makes me suspicious of an agenda. Even if it were accepted as accurate, it certainly doesn't support the conclusion about most laws as revenue generators. In fact, where is the evidence that many departments have budget surpluses?
I will give one example where a safety law probably, truly has become primarily about revenue and deserves public scrutiny: speeding tickets. Vehicles have become safer over the decades, so that moderate speeding in and of itself on not particularly crowded, non-residential roads is unlikely to harm anyone or anything. Significant punishment for it creates hostility between citizens and cops, is de facto regressive toward poor people, and occasionally leads to tragic outcomes during traffic stops. (No, I've never been stopped for speeding .)
Location: When you take flak it means you are on target
7,646 posts, read 9,944,809 times
Reputation: 16466
Yes we have too many unnecessary laws. We need law to protect people from criminals. I don't want to die by a drunk driver and sadly many people are not responsible enough to exercise good judgement.
But like we have a road here in AZ that is perfectly straight, in the middle of the desert, with no buildings in sight - and the speed limit is 45 mph. Good grief. And in AZ if you go more than twenty miles over the speed limit - i.e. 66 mph on this road that you have committed a misdemeanor ("criminal speed") and will be arrested, your car impounded and go to jail - for going 66 miles an hour on a road where 85 would be safe!
And on this road a gun toting cop will be found at least once a day hiding somewhere, like the highwaymen of olde, just waiting to pounce on some road weary traveler to steal their money. That's how I see it anyway.
First of all, I'm sorry to hear about what happened to your former co-worker. This is what DUI laws were meant to stop. However, i still stand by the belief that many police departments and sheriffs are harnessing a noble safety measure for raising revenue. I was told that Bahamas, for example, doesn't have DUI laws. If you get pulled over and you're simply drunk, nothing will happen. But if you hurt someone or damage property while DUI'ing, then they will really throw the book at you. As they should. And because Bahamas isn't as lawyer-happy as the US, the offender gets their just desserts.
Another thing: the Jewish religion focuses more on a person's actions than on thoughts. So if you find your neighbor's wife attractive and want to have sex with her, but don't act on it and treat her strictly as a platonic friend, then you're still a righteous person. Of course, it's best to rechannel your feelings toward her from lust to friendship, but you don't become a real sinner until your actions make you one.
1. Sooooo.... You "heard" this or you KNOW this? Using your terminology, "big difference" right here.
Also, let me ask you this. You somehow got upset with DUI laws, what sort of points towards you having previous encounter of that nature and now driving a vengeance wagon on police, but it's Ok. So my question is - you do realize, that a drunk driver is driving a deadly weapon and it takes only ONE time to MURDER someone or, even worse, leave that patient in misery of suffering in damaged body for the rest of his life? THEN law can "throw the book" all it wants to - damage is already done and is IRREVERSIBLE.
2. Now I see why Jesus didn't make it with them. He dared to say that even if you sin in your thoughts, you already sinned. I get it.
hey, did you really like absolutely a must had to mix Judaism into this? Is it a safety precaution, a shield? Just in case?
I read an article this week stating that civil asset forfeitures last year were greater than all thefts from crime in the United States combined. Authorities don't have to prove anything. If you took $5,000 out of the bank to buy a used car for cash and you are stopped by the police who believe that the cash may be drug related, they take it. It will cost more in legal fees to get it back.
Most definitely...and the biggest problem is that they disproportionately affect those with lower income.
I was reading that in some Scandinavian country they at least have a sliding scale so that those with the dough pay a lot more - that at least helps even out the deterrent effect that most fines were originally supposed to have.
DUI's are among the biggest revenue sources for any city or county, thus the witch-hunt. Why try and solve a house burglary, as there's no money to be gained from it. And, as you well know, you can get a DUI riding a bicycle today as well, as I met someone at a bar who suffered that fate.
I'm sure the police departments are dreaming of the day when a device can be created to register sleep levels of drivers, as sleep deprived drivers are as dangerous on the roads as drunk drivers. Then, there will not only be Sobriety checkpoints but Sleep checkpoints as well, and similar fines.
Chicago hauled in $1 billion in traffic fine revenue last year and when someone asked the Police Chief what will happen to that revenue if we all turn to self-driving cars, his response: we'll just have to go after bicyclists and pedestrians. Yup! Raise that fine for jay-walking to $1000!
There's something positive to be said for 3rd world police corruption, as we had that system in place in this country for many a decade. Back in the 1890's in NYC, some of the wealthier people in New York were police officers and police captains. One Police captain retired with $1.5 million in assets, and in today's money?
I love the Mexican police corruption. 2X driving in Mexico I was stopped for speeding. You hand the police officer $20, say Adios, smile, and you're on your way!
Small wonder they rioted in Ferguson, MO, as a big portion of their revenue came on the backs of the poor blacks.
1. Sooooo.... You "heard" this or you KNOW this? Using your terminology, "big difference" right here.
...
hey, did you really like absolutely a must had to mix Judaism into this? Is it a safety precaution, a shield? Just in case?
I took a culture excursion while visiting the Bahamas a few years ago. The tour guide decided to talk about local laws, to contrast them with American laws. That's how I know. Maybe he made it up, I don't know. I doubt it, since he had nothing to gain from lying to a tour group. And yes, I'm Jewish . I was simply referencing the point of view I agree with. After all, thinking about illegal acts does not make you a criminal. Can you imagine how much money the police would rake in if they could arrest people for thinking about DUI'ing? Or smoking marijuana. Or speeding. Or... Crimethink is doubleplusungood, you know.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tijlover
I love the Mexican police corruption. 2X driving in Mexico I was stopped for speeding. You hand the police officer $20, say Adios, smile, and you're on your way!
That was definitely true in the 90's. There was even a code phrase: "Quiero dar una donación para su departamento." (I want to give a donation for your department.) Or simply "Donación." All while handing the cop $20 or something. I'm not sure if that's true today, though. I remember reading that they cracked down on that. But if you had recent personal experiences, I'll take your word for it. I suppose a more "modern" way to do it would be to ask: "¿Puedo pagar la multa aquà ahora?" ("Can I pay the fine right here right now?")
Last edited by MillennialUrbanist; 08-19-2016 at 12:40 AM..
This happened during my Mexican car trips in the mid 80's, early 90's, and the travel guide books stated: if pulled over by the police, just offer no more than $20.
Given the salaries they pay the police, I'm sure those practices are still alive in many areas of Mexico.
I recall, when in Tijuana, in the late 90's, they were only paying the officers $700 a month, and subsidized housing, but if you've ever ventured into a grocery store in Tijuana, like Gigante or Cali-Mex, and looked at the grocery prices (as high if not higher than in the U.S. which is why so many Tijuanese, with passports, shop at the Wal-Mart on Dairy Mart Road in San Diego for cheaper prices) you know that $700 a month isn't going to afford you a comfortable life there, by any means.
The police in Tijuana like to target Mexican Americans. They like to show off, driving their expensive chrome-wheeled SUV's, with their California license plates, down Revolution Avenue, and the police? Ah-ha! Let's teach them a lesson! My word against theirs!
I took my Mexican roommate along with me on a trip to Tijuana, and one night, heading for the Zona Norte district, I looked behind me and there he was detained by 2 female police officers, and I knew what was coming, they were going to plant some drugs on him, and score some money from him. I know enough Spanish where I confronted the police officers, shamed them, and completely dis-armed them. They just could look at my roommate and sense he was living in the U.S.
And it's not that that doesn't happen in the U.S. Living in MN, the Wisconsin police had a reputation of targeting cars with MN license plates, and I knew that for a fact. I was heading south from Superior one day and a WI patrol officer followed me for over 40 miles just waiting for me to go over the speed limit. To help keep me safe?
And it's not that that doesn't happen in the U.S. Living in MN, the Wisconsin police had a reputation of targeting cars with MN license plates, and I knew that for a fact. I was heading south from Superior one day and a WI patrol officer followed me for over 40 miles just waiting for me to go over the speed limit. To help keep me safe?
Interesting. I would have thought Wisconsin would target Illinois cars; just the idea I had. I was once driving on a rural road, heading to a Jewish camping-type event. It was already dark, and the street did not have a single streetlight for miles. I must have been straddling two lanes, because a local cop pulled me over. I looked at the car the rearview mirror, and was mildly relieved to see it having town, rather than county markings. (Town cops tend to be slightly less strict than county sheriffs, but maybe that's just in Illinois.)
I braced myself for her (the cop was a woman, not that it really matters) writing me a ticket. After all, I had an Illinois plate, and my car was a working-class one. It's not like I had the free time to go back and fight it. But after I explained why I was straddling and where I was going, I was floored by her reaction. Not only did she let me off with a warning, she took the time to describe what landmarks look for around that street, and she stepped into the middle of the road to stop traffic, so I could make a safe U-turn. (Turned out, I was going the wrong way.)
I'm guessing I ran into an actual decent cop, which are endangered nowadays. Or maybe because Illinois tourists like me are enough of a revenue source, that losing out on one ticket is less than the money I spent in Wisconsin. Either way, I was really lucky.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
. I was simply referencing the point of view I agree with. After all, thinking about illegal acts does not make you a criminal. Can you imagine how much money the police would rake in if they could arrest people for thinking about DUI'ing? Or smoking marijuana. Or speeding. Or... Crimethink is doubleplusungood, you know.
