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This one sums in up in a nutshell. Note that insurance rates must be approved by the state and there are barriers to exit the market. So, the state can not allow rate increases and then make it a long expensive process to stop selling your product at a loss.
The main solution of the FL government was to expand Citizens insurance company. You WILL hear about them the next time a major hurricane hits Florida they will approach the US govt. for a bailout because they (admittedly) won't charge the needed rates to people. Congratulations, you are likely right now subsidizing beach front mansions in Miami with your tax dolalrs.
Or maybe you're helping out a middle class family who was dumped by State Farm after paying their premiums loyally for years. Trust me, nobody in Florida wants to rely on Citizens for insurance, but when companies collect premiums for YEARS and then bail at the first sign of trouble, it's either Citizens or "Yippitty Insurance Company" or nothing, and we all know how understanding mortgage companies are about not having insurance. This problem- not taxes,not the housing bubble, not unemployment- is what will be Florida's death knell.
Selling at a loss? Insurance companies? Give me a break. I say if they bolt, take away their licenses to sell ANY kind of insurance in the state.
money already dominates politics, and it looks to do only moreso in the future. How corporations and other organizations came to have the same "rights" as people (eg free speech) is ridiculous. In addition, they hardly have the same responsibilities.
I see it as no different than what occurred in the November 2008 election with one candidate:
Timmerman disclosed that the FEC compiled a database of potentially questionable overseas donations totaling $3.38 million. The funds came from such places as Abu Dhabi, Beijing, and Ethiopia.
In June, Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi gave a speech in which he claimed foreign nationals were contributing to Obama’s campaign.
Timmerman also reported that donors from the Gaza Strip had contributed $33,000 to the Obama campaign through the purchase of Obama T-shirts they had shipped to Gaza.
Timmerman published a new report on Oct. 8, disclosing that an investigation of Obama’s campaign finance reports turned up more than 2,000 cases in which individuals made donations far above the legal limit of $2,300 per election.
For example, in August the campaign filed a report listing a single donation from a Debra Myers in “Rancho Palos Verde, Calif.,” for $28,500, and a $28,500 contribution from a donor identified as Woodrow Myers Jr.
Timmerman followed up with a new report on Oct. 19, disclosing that more than 37,000 Obama donations appeared to be conversions of foreign currency, totaling as much as $63 million.
I wish people would follow the rules and put meaningful titles on their threads, so I wouldn't have to open this thread to see what it is about every time somebody responds to it. If I were a moderator, I'd delete all threads that lack descriptive titles. I guess that's why I'm not a moderator.
short of poll taxes, I don't see what we can do about that.
Ultimately, they tend not to have a lot of political sway in most places anyway, so I don't really see it as a problem. Not to mention the income tax isn't the only federal, state, or local tax.
-----"they do not have a lot of political sway"--
Not true !
In 08, a city of 65,000 near me had a property tax referendum on the ballot that would increase property taxes.
The proponents campaigned heavily on the college campuses.
The referendum passed by a very narrow margin. It got defeated in all the other precints, but the college vote was so heavily in favor it made up for it.
AMAZING !-------college students living in state dorms that pay no property tax are able to vote and raise the taxes on the people who do pay them .
college students living in state dorms that pay no property tax are able to vote and raise the taxes on the people who do pay them .
Well, that's democracy. You could probably lobby to get residency standards changed for voting in municipal elections in your state - though most of your fellow citizens probably won't get very excited about such an arcane topic.
But I think there is a wider issue. All voters have "skin in the game" simply by virtue of being a citizen of the US.
If fewer and fewer of them are taxpayers, then this reflects on society as a whole. Perhaps the upper classes would find it in their interest to find ways to create decent-paying jobs that enfranchise more people, and ease their populist anger.
I see where you going with this idea, and yeah, I do agree that corporate-backed PAC's and lobbyists are far too prevalent on Capitol Hill, but as far as you thinking they don't deserve 1st Amendment free speech rights, you're forgetting something: corporations are comprised of people. Citizens! I realize it's sometimes convenient and helpful to think of a hugr corporations as a big, bad, monolithic sort of entity, but we must remember that they create jobs and contribute to society, as they are merely groups of people, with as many rights as you or I.
I dont disagree with the rulling, but to your point I will say this; Although corporations are comprised of citizens...those citizens dont get to vote on how their corporation backs an issue within the company. The board has the company's, hence the worker's, intrest in mind, but trumping everyone is the bottom line.
I guess the concern many folk have is that the corporation/ group can invest large amounts of money to back an issue, where the regular guy cant compete to get his message out.
There's also the nationality issue. Many corporations - though incorporated in the US, or with substantial footprints in the US - are composed largely of foreign citizens.
What political interests does a Swiss or Chinese multinational conglomerate have?
I guess we'll find out...
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