Hi there. My name is Steve Thiel. I am a managing partner of HotPress Web, a Denver web design company.
Please enjoy the ramblings and miscellaneous clips of my professional and social life.
Address: 1490 S Jersey Way Denver CO 80224
Phone: (720) 989-7012
Email: steve at hotpressweb dot com
“While Mr. Obama also proposes an alternative minimum tax (AMT) patch, he could instead wind up with the permanent abolition plan for the AMT proposed by the Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charlie Rangel (D., N.Y.) — a 4.6% additional hike in the marginal rate with no deductibility of state income taxes. Marginal tax rates would then approach 70%, levels not seen since the 1970s and among the highest in the world.”
I am a small business owner
The “rich” are typically business owners with the majority running small businesses.
The vast majority of people in the U.S. are employed by small businesses.
If you raise taxes on the “rich” you are raising taxes on small businesses the single biggest employer in the country.
Small businesses like any business are out to make money from their products and services (not to employ people).
Threaten those profits with higher taxes the first thing a business will do is look for ways to reduce expenses.
The single biggest expense for many businesses are their employees.
So the first thing to go are jobs, people are laid off, unemployment goes up, there it less money being spent in the marketplace and the economy gets worse.
Is this not common sense?
“Understanding that in a market economy a person can only get rich by enriching others torpedoes claims to the moral high ground of those who propose that government redistribution of wealth is a means to alleviate poverty.”
This is a great picture which also has an nice story behind it about Edith Macefield (1921-2008) who would not give in to progress - even for one million dollars.
LOL, you have to be kidding me?!? Note, the link goes to a Time.com article, so don’t worry about seeing any naked wrinkly privates…
Vehicle fuel efficiency in “gallons per mile” rather than “miles per gallon” makes it easier to understand the environmental impact of your vehicle.
Miles per gallon (MPG), leads you to believe that fuel consumption is reduced at an even rate - which it is not.
For example, most people would think an improvement from 34 to 50 MPG as saving more gas over 10,000 miles than an improvement from 18 to 28 MPG, even though the latter saves twice as much gas. Going from 34 to 50 MPG saves 94 gallons; but from 18 to 28 MPG saves 198 gallons.
These mistaken impressions can be corrected when presented with fuel efficiency expressed in gallons used per 100 miles rather than MPG. Viewed this way, 18 MPG becomes 5.5 gallons per 100 miles, and 28 MPG is 3.6 gallons per 100 miles - an $8 difference today.
So, a large vehicle that gets 10 MPG with one that gets 20 MPG reduces gas use per 100 miles from 10 gallons to five, a 5-gallon savings. Replacing a small vehicle that gets 25 MPG with one that gets 50 MPG reduces gas use per 100 miles from 4 gallons to 2, a saving of only 2 gallons.
Bottom line - miles per gallon is misleading and can play tricks on your intuitions.
Some of the major findings from the Research International USA’s ‘Fast Food Nation 2008’ report confirms that I eat a lot of fast food…
Over half of the population eats fast food once a week with 20% eating fast food at least every other day.
Fourteen percent of the population accounts for almost half of all fast food sales. These high frequency users tend to be male, below middle-age and employed with high incomes.
High frequency users have an average income of $67,575 which is 15% higher than the sample group’s average household income of $58,875.
Despite their above-average incomes, high frequency users are more likely to increase fast food consumption because of economic pressure and are attracted to “value” dining options.
Subway earned the highest Brand Energy score which measures how strong a brand is the minds of consumers
“While the stereotype of a typical fast food customer may be that of a couch potato, our research found the opposite to be true as high frequency fast food users are more involved and more active than the average consumer”
“While the United States has always worked to keep church separate from our government, there has always been a kind of civil religion in America which speaks to our values and mission in the world. The president of the United States is the high priest of that religion and it is up to him to give it voice and apply it to the challenges that pop up in our path. [A candidate] must make it clear to his countrymen that he subscribes to that faith and can pick up his duties as high priest. He needs to articulate the national narrative.”
- Dick Morris
