Yes, let's get rid of the laws we don't like. For instance, I should be able to cancel my debts to anyone at any time. Rules suck. Probably isn't the number of laws, it's who is writing the laws and whom they are being applied to.
Guess what, government will always write the laws and there's always a risk that special interests will capture politicians.
Special interests writing the law is the norm. Law is no longer created for the benefit of Americans, it's for the benefit of corporations. We are a Corporatocracy,. TDR warned against having mega powerful companies that could be too influential in gov't. That day has come and come big time. Spoiler http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/04/U.S._Compensation_as_Percent_of_GDP_-_v1.png That is the share of income labor is getting. It's declining. Companies are making more but that is not going back to people. 91% of corporate profits are going to buy-backs or dividends. This is not sustainable. It will collapse. It's just a matter of when.
While I understand your larger point, this stat is misleading. Corporate profits can only go 3 places: buy-backs, dividends, retained in the company. (It can also go to growth, but that's then backed out in depreciation expense over time). If the profits are paid out as increased wages, they are no longer considered profits so it wouldn't change that stat. That 91% doesn't really mean anything at all unless you're saying more should sit as cash on the balance sheet.
So you're saying what these police departments are doing is ok because it's given back...? Corporate fascism... Politicians campaign to the public about what they intend on doing but do a complete turn around once they are in office.
He presents his view because it is a persuasive argument. Not objective reporting. He isn't hiding this. He is also giving the otherside some representation in his argument along the way, and even conceding some things. Overall he has a persuasive thesis so I don't what the complaint is. Often he even has recommendations.
If a company realizes a huge net earnings and subsequently decides to raise employee wages, it still counts as profits for the previous quarter as far as I understand. It's not like all the money instantly goes to employees. Anyway - here's the source: https://hbr.org/resources/pdfs/comm/fmglobal/profits_without_prosperity.pdf
What is the point of a fine anyway? It should be a deterrent and not a revenue generating event. Most fines today are only revenue generating and no deterrent at all and that is exactly the point. They don't want you to stop breaking the law because that would end their income. IF Speeding = $2500 fine, or public service credited at minimum wage toward your bad citizen account or jail time equal to 5 times the service to pay off your debt. Guess what, I'll be slowing down. They don't want that.... $250 will be fine thank you.
Sure - it would reduce profits in the following quarter. But it wouldn't change the 91% statistic you provided, because that's just a breakdown of what they are doing with whatever profits they do have. Whether they have less or more profits, they still only have 3 options of how to distribute it - buybacks, dividends, or retained earnings. Those three things are going to total 100% no matter what (ignoring the investment caveat from earlier).
Because the IRS is a watch dog group for the privately run federal reserve... And the federal reserve has the world buy the nuts which means they have far more power to step all over the constitution. You can make this same statement in reference to the legalization of drugs also. They want to keep it illegal because it generates money and jobs at the expense of everyone. Police departments and prisons are the last people who want to see drugs like mar1juana legalized. $250 may be nothing to you but there was a woman in the video who couldn't even pay a $41 fine and the grandmother who went to jail because she couldn't pay off a small fine. But the taxpayers are getting screwed as well because more tax dollars are being spent hounding those two women than the actual fines they owe, so the police department is making money on both sides. Meanwhile real criminals are walking the streets... But I guess grandmothers are easier to catch.
They put a bunch of signs up with the speed limit on them, so I think they want to deter it but understand people's inclination towards non-compliance.
