Remote workers are flocking to Hawaii. But is that good for the islands? (minimum wage, live in)

[Nyfinestbxtf]

Originally Posted by grantw

It is called virtue signaling...we have seen it for a while now. Troops aren't sent in for actual emergencies or we would have seen them during the riots of the past summer.

Hey, those were peaceful protests. How do I know that? CNN told me so.

[tyCable]

They can always move in with someone else. Affordable housing for these workers means getting it for free and they only paying electric or water. And also parking. Nothing else. Rent free. Because it is called affordable housing. Really. Since we are in the pandemic, they'll be staying home. Collecting unemployment or stimulus check. If it works out, they could be collecting until the pandemic ends. I don't see why not. It's affordable housing.

[Nyfinestbxtf]

The truth is, Amerika is anti-business, not just Hawaii. Amerika is a corporatist economy that only caters to big corporations. Corporations and big business through lawyers and lobbyists use the iron fist of government to stamp out their competition (who are usually small and start up businesses). These companies sit high at top of the food chain. Covid especially has been wonderful to these companies and corporations. I mean, while mom and pop shops were forced to shut down, the Walmart’s of the nation profited big time. So we get these paltry stimulus checks and can’t even spend them on local mom and pop shops because they went out of business and the consultation prize for losing your job was a $1200 and $600 check. Where are you going to spend it? Walmart! A major box store filled with Chinese crap.

Like Hawaii, Amerika is not a free market economy. It’s a corporatist economy where the government picks the winners and losers and their prize is donations into their campaigns. Not a bad gig. It’s just going to get worse for the little guy.

[whtviper1]

Originally Posted by Nyfinestbxtf

I mean, while mom and pop shops were forced to shut down, the Walmart’s of the nation profited big time.

I suppose you don't realize just about every business at some point started as a mom and pop or a startup - even Walmart started as a small 5&10 in a small town in Arkansas - the difference was the vision to expand.

[Nyfinestbxtf]

Originally Posted by whtviper1

I suppose you don't realize just about every business at some point started as a mom and pop or a startup - even Walmart started as a small 5&10 in a small town in Arkansas - the difference was the vision to expand.

Don’t be so naive. We are much more removed from a free market system today. Anyone who believes we are a free market system is deluding themselves. The bluer the state, the worse it is. Forget about becoming a big company. It’s hard enough to fight through the red tape becoming a small mom and pop shop.

[terracore]

Originally Posted by GoldKona

What makes you think this?

GET, regulations, worker / tenant laws, permitting, inspections, insurance, fees, tax laws, just to name a few. Most people don't even know that merchants have to pay a GET tax on the GET tax they collected.

"Because the state considers the tax you collected to be income too, so you will pay a tax on that tax you collect (confusing right?). Paying 4.5% tax on the 4.5% tax actually equals 4.7025%, but the state allows you to round up a bit and you end up with a GET rate of 4.712% of the sale amount. Most businesses force customers to pay the excise tax and then the excise tax on the excise tax, so you’ll see 4.712% on your bill, not 4.5%. On outer islands (no .5% Oahu surcharge), this means a GET rate of 4.166%. Most businesses do this because it’s common and it means that they won’t have to pay GET out of their pocket, as the customers paid it already."

http://www.ronswebsite.com/blog/hawa...al-excise-tax/

Only Hawaii can find a way to tax a tax payment that is required to pay rent, see a doctor, or purchase life-saving medicine.

A GET tax isn't a sales tax, it's more like a VAT (the business collecting a GET paid a GET to somebody else to stock the item).

I recently had to pay out of pocket for part of surgery costs and the GET tax alone was about $700. Including the "paradise tax" of simply getting treated in Hawaii it would have been substantially cheaper for me to fly to the mainland to get it. The only reason I didn't was I like my surgeon and don't like COVID. When the state makes business so onerous that it's cheaper to buy somewhere else, the state has failed.

Try opening a legal lemonade stand. Your kids will have to charge $7 for a dixie cup full of lemonade just to break even.

We're in the AG business. In Hawaii, it's illegal for a small farm to sell or even give away goat or cow's milk, even if the intended consumer is a baby goat or cow. ILLEGAL. The state has created a situation where the option is for the nursing animal to forgo colostrum and be force-fed fake milk made from adding water to a chemical powder sold by a large out-of-state corporation.

The state had some pointless "summit" where they were asking what they could do to facilitate agriculture in the state. My answer was simple: GET OUT OF THE WAY. No can. But tax breaks for big corps or whatever, they are willing.

[Nyfinestbxtf]

Originally Posted by terracore

GET, regulations, worker / tenant laws, permitting, inspections, insurance, fees, tax laws, just to name a few. Most people don't even know that merchants have to pay a GET tax on the GET tax they collected.

"Because the state considers the tax you collected to be income too, so you will pay a tax on that tax you collect (confusing right?). Paying 4.5% tax on the 4.5% tax actually equals 4.7025%, but the state allows you to round up a bit and you end up with a GET rate of 4.712% of the sale amount. Most businesses force customers to pay the excise tax and then the excise tax on the excise tax, so you’ll see 4.712% on your bill, not 4.5%. On outer islands (no .5% Oahu surcharge), this means a GET rate of 4.166%. Most businesses do this because it’s common and it means that they won’t have to pay GET out of their pocket, as the customers paid it already."

http://www.ronswebsite.com/blog/hawa...al-excise-tax/

Only Hawaii can find a way to tax a tax payment that is required to pay rent, see a doctor, or purchase life-saving medicine.

A GET tax isn't a sales tax, it's more like a VAT (the business collecting a GET paid a GET to somebody else to stock the item).

I recently had to pay out of pocket for part of surgery costs and the GET tax alone was about $700. Including the "paradise tax" of simply getting treated in Hawaii it would have been substantially cheaper for me to fly to the mainland to get it. The only reason I didn't was I like my surgeon and don't like COVID. When the state makes business so onerous that it's cheaper to buy somewhere else, the state has failed.

Try opening a legal lemonade stand. Your kids will have to charge $7 for a dixie cup full of lemonade just to break even.

We're in the AG business. In Hawaii, it's illegal for a small farm to sell or even give away goat or cow's milk, even if the intended consumer is a baby goat or cow. ILLEGAL. The state has created a situation where the option is for the nursing animal to forgo colostrum and be force-fed fake milk made from adding water to a chemical powder sold by a large out-of-state corporation.

The state had some pointless "summit" where they were asking what they could do to facilitate agriculture in the state. My answer was simple: GET OUT OF THE WAY. No can. But tax breaks for big corps or whatever, they are willing.

How a small business is able to navigate through all the hurdles here is impressive. The more blue the state the more obstacles and hurdles there are. Soon enough the final nail will be hammered when minimum wage increases to $15 an hour. That will be the ultimate job killer.

[whtviper1]

Originally Posted by terracore

GET, regulations, worker / tenant laws, permitting, inspections, insurance, fees, tax laws, just to name a few. Most people don't even know that merchants have to pay a GET tax on the GET tax they collected.

"Because the state considers the tax you collected to be income too, so you will pay a tax on that tax you collect (confusing right?). Paying 4.5% tax on the 4.5% tax actually equals 4.7025%, but the state allows you to round up a bit and you end up with a GET rate of 4.712% of the sale amount. Most businesses force customers to pay the excise tax and then the excise tax on the excise tax, so you’ll see 4.712% on your bill, not 4.5%. On outer islands (no .5% Oahu surcharge), this means a GET rate of 4.166%. Most businesses do this because it’s common and it means that they won’t have to pay GET out of their pocket, as the customers paid it already."

http://www.ronswebsite.com/blog/hawa...al-excise-tax/

Only Hawaii can find a way to tax a tax payment that is required to pay rent, see a doctor, or purchase life-saving medicine.

A GET tax isn't a sales tax, it's more like a VAT (the business collecting a GET paid a GET to somebody else to stock the item).

Well, let us start with GET. GET produces just shy 50% of the annual state revenue. How do you make up the tax revenue as an alternative? Or, what programs do you want to cut? Medicaid? I'm actually all for that - the Medicaid burden on the population is out of control. Public Assistance? Well, the freeloaders won't exactly enjoy that. When you cut GET you either have to make it up with something or cut something.

On another note - this is an even if, even if Hawaii suddenly became more business friendly, I'm hard pressed to think of any business that all of a sudden would want to set up shop in Hawaii.

Let's pretend some wacky business case justifies Amazon setting up a large distribution site in Hawaii. You know protesters will appear - probably a lot - who wants to deal with that? You know the local population will say big bad mainland Amazon is bad for Hawaii - driving locals out of the housing market, etc etc. The people of Hawaii are just as business unfriendly as state policies.

[KohalaTransplant]

Originally Posted by terracore

"Unfortunately they are fleeing to red states destroying them by voting for the same ideology they have fled from."

Those people are called "socialists". Communists call them "useful idiots".

To which:

Originally Posted by Nyfinestbxtf

They truly are and they are significantly multiplying.

I always find it humorous when someone who spent their entire life on the government payroll, and is retired on a tax-payer funded pension, complains about socialism.

[GoldKona]

Originally Posted by Nyfinestbxtf

Any conservative thought is an attack on our republic and all conservative thought must be silenced for Amerika utopia to exist. Conservatives must conform to leftist ideology for the new Amerika to flourish.

It’s funny how I thought the left hates walls. I guess not after all.

That simply is not true. Quit whipping yourself up into a frenzy. Nobody gonna make you eat tofu.