San Francisco is a ****hole.

markodaly

There is a clear correlation between the blue states having worse homeless issues than red states.



Good blog read here on the factors.
http://www.willisms.com/archives/2014/03/homelessness_in.html

Grayson

MayoSalmon wrote: »

Why should it be? 400 million+ people and you expect wealth somehow to be spread evenly. What utopian paradise you must have living in your mind

No-one is saying it should all be equal. That's communism. And even that wasn't equal. However it shouldn't be as unbalanced.
å
The USA is one of the most, if not the most, unbalanced society ever.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/aracheology-wealth-inequality-180968072/

As for utopian paradise? How about 50 years ago. Or 60 years ago? The fact is that to see a bore equal society we only have to look back a few decades.

maninasia

NSAman wrote: »

Listen.. this isn't about Obama or Trump, this is about years of mismanagement of resources.

I am sick to death of politicians spouting crap and doing NOTHING to assist people (not just in America but worldwide) Hell, Ireland has a major homelessness issue also.

Until people start to think of homelessness in terms of people, instead of a statistic, then nothing will be achieved.

The money is there, the will is not and neither is the help required for millions of people who suffer mental issues, addiction issues and have just fallen on hard times.

One man I met in LA left a lasting impression. I was having a smoke and finished it. He was sitting beside me and despite having NOTHING (which was obvious) offered me a smoke. We chatted for about an hour... obviously it could have been BS but I doubt it. We shared some smokes (ciggies not the weed) and when I was being picked up by my colleague I left him a pack and wished him well. The man was obviously intelligent, articulate and extremely lonely. He was invisible. No one should be invisible.

Look.up invisible people on YouTube.

maninasia

markodaly wrote: »

There is a clear correlation between the blue states having worse homeless issues than red states.



Good blog read here on the factors.
http://www.willisms.com/archives/2014/03/homelessness_in.html

You know what I see?
A national homelessness problem.

rossie1977

Ultros wrote: »

Should those successful people making a lot of money be taxed 100% or something? The top 1% in the US pay more in taxes than the bottom 90% combined. The bottom 50% pay 3 percent.

What part of that is unfair to you, unless you're a communist of course.

Everyone should pay their fair share. Amazon paid zero tax last year and got nearly $130 million in tax back despite making over $11 billion in revenue. The guy making minimum wage flipping burgers in McDonald's paid more in tax last year than Amazon. Maybe you think that's fair, I don't.

Per capita the bottom 90% pay far more in taxes than the top 1%. That's why the richest in us society keep getting richer while wages for everyone else have flatlined since the 80's. The Republicans trickle down economics has been a complete disaster

Grueller

Sonics2k wrote: »

Little bit anecdotal but I know a good few people who live and work in SF. A really good mate of mine from school got a job a few years ago with a massive Tech firm, and ended up moving to Seoul about 5 years ago with them.

Sometime last year they offered him a promotion, a huge pay rise and an offer to move to the SF office and work with the key developer team. They gave him a few weeks to think about it.

Long story short, he spoke to colleagues working in the SF office, spent a week out there and ended up turning the job down. Even with the pay rise he'd end up losing cash, largely due to the sheer cost of rent in the city. He'd have to pay for a 2bed apartment for himself, his wife and kid and was looking at thousands per month for a place smaller than he had, in a crappy neighbourhood.

SF has been overtaken by these massive tech companies that can afford to pay their staff massive wages which lead to mass homelessness and housing issues.

Like what seems to be happening in Dublin at the moment?

Cabaal

rob316 wrote: »

I was there once after coming from Vegas and I flew back to Vegas early, couldn't wait to get out of there. So expensive, filthy, unacceptable levels of homelessness, windy and I found the people in general fairly unfriendly.

It's got some cool, interesting parts but you really see the poverty divide there.

But yet you enjoyed Vegas?
I suppose they do a much better job of hiding poverty in Vegas at the end of the day, don't want it upsetting a tourist after all.

fryup

and what do they? they vote in a corrupt multi billionaire ego-maniac

will they ever learn

Wanderer78

fryup wrote:

and what do they? they vote in a corrupt multi billionaire ego-maniac

We vote in questionable characters as well, it's also important to note, as Joe Stiglitz would say, their voting system resembles a 'one dollar, one vote' approach

Mr. teddywinkles

brendanwalsh wrote: »

The American dream has long died in certain specialties parts of the US. Hartford, Detroit, East St louis. These are sh1t holes akin to third world countries, where crime drugs poverty are the way of life. More people killed in Chicago than in Iraq.
The US is f ucked.

And yet were aspiring to be just like them

Wanderer78

Mr. teddywinkles wrote:

And yet were aspiring to be just like them

We're not really, just aspects of our society is, thankfully some people are waking up to the fact the neoliberal/neoclassical model is dying a death

Calltocall

Travelled there years ago as part of a 6 month trip I did to the states, the level of poverty was staggering, emaciated people eating food from bins etc, It’s always stayed with me, Memphis was actually the most impoverished place I’d visited, almost third world like just around the corner from a very famous hotel. I know we have our problems here with homelessness etc but it’s in a different stratosphere over there, I loved my time there but the gulf between the have and have nots is enormous

rossie1977

fryup wrote: »

and what do they? they vote in a corrupt multi billionaire ego-maniac

will they ever learn

Well Clinton got 3 million more votes. A Republican has only won popular vote once since 92 but they will do everything in their power to stay in power at all costs. Problem in the states is there has been no left and really no centre since the Dems starting acting like Republicans in the early 1990s...that in turn moved the Republicans even further to the right

20Cent

Saw lots of homelessness in SF. What was also unusual was well dressed people begging. A guy on an iphone and a leather tommy hilfinger jacket asked me for change to buy a coffee.

KevinCavan

ThomasFlynn wrote: »

Aww this thread really upsets me.

I've never been to the US before and finally heading there for the very first time this summer and decided to pick San Francisco as my first American city. Been saving up for it for a few months now.

People bad mouth SF but I look into considering LA instead people moan about that saying its souless, has no real city centre. I look at Vegas and people call that fake, overrated, tacky etc.

It seems like every city in the US is hated one way or another.

I can vouch for New York, an amazing city for any tourist.

Das Reich

I have two Brazilians friends that shared house with me in Ireland that are in USA, one in San Francisco working as uber driver and making 5.000 U$ by month, living in a good area and sharing house only 1 other person. The other living in Atlanta and making 350 U$ a day doing tilling. Both illegals. I know many others that used to live there but were deported, and did come here because was easier to enter. I think the problem with homeless is more to do with drugs than with economy.

Franz Von Peppercorn

markodaly wrote: »

Yes, because before Neo-Liberalism there was zero homeless in the US and the world....

There was less. And of course that’s a straw man argument since I never claimed homelessness never existed before neo liberalism - just that these policies in the rest of the US manifested in SF because homeless people migrated there. However read on....

How can people honestly state such ideologically motivated white lies?

As an ideologue yourself every factual statement that’s upsets your cult enrages you. I remember factually saying workers had it better in terms of wage increases in the 70s and got an amazing number of goal post moving mouth frothing replies, none of which invalidated my claim. As a scientist myself I find this inability to be swayed by the evidence extremely disturbing.

SF is arguably the most liberal and progressive city in the US, the city and its residents could just tax themselves more to help sort out the issues at hand?

LOL, everyone is a socialist until they are asked to front up and pay their dues.

You are confusing liberalism with socialism. Had the red mist not descended because your religion of neoliberalism was criticised, however mildly, and you had read my next post then you would I criticised the natives of SF for their extreme Nimbyism.

And I am not going to do something you will never do, but I am an empiricist not a ideologue. Some guy earlier pointed out that many or most of the SF homeless are now locals, people from SF turfed out because of higher rents. I know this wasn’t the case before, when I lived there, but the number of homeless has increased, most of it endogenous. The responsibility for that lies with the SF supervisors and council members, as well as the well heeled (and indeed liberal) locals who oppose buildings that increase the density of their neighbourhood, or harm their view (as they necessarily must).

This might be US style liberalism but it isn’t socialism - socialism would be building lots of housing, compulsory purchases or buying of tracts of land for private builders, opposing nimbyism etc but San Francisco isn’t socialist.

Franz Von Peppercorn

Calltocall wrote: »

Travelled there years ago as part of a 6 month trip I did to the states, the level of poverty was staggering, emaciated people eating food from bins etc, It’s always stayed with me, Memphis was actually the most impoverished place I’d visited, almost third world like just around the corner from a very famous hotel. I know we have our problems here with homelessness etc but it’s in a different stratosphere over there, I loved my time there but the gulf between the have and have nots is enormous

One of the amazing things for me when I lived there was how this all faded into the background. Left wing locals never noticed it but did support whatever was left wing fashion at the time. Upper middle class women were oppressed by the patriarchy as they walked every day over the homeless on their way to work, mostly these homeless were male.

Franz Von Peppercorn

Interesting wiki article on San Francisco’s homeless problem here.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homelessness_in_the_San_Francisco_Bay_Area

Turns out the problem did in fact start in the late 70s and early 80s, which does in fact implicate the new economic system at the time.

Also San Francisco has alternated between helping the homeless and trying to harass them - at one stage there was a military operation to clear the golden gate park of a 1000 person encampment.

Interesting fact in there: In San Francisco, a minimum wage worker would have to work approximately 4.7 full-time jobs to be able to rent a two-bedroom apartment..

Manic Moran

There are no two ways about the fact that San Francisco (in particular) or the surrounding area (in general) is not the same as it used to be. After living in the Bay Area (SF City, San Jose, Danville and Dublin) for 18 years, I finally upped stakes and joined the Great California Exodus. When a full 40%+ of a region are actively considering leaving, there's obviously something amiss. https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/06/03/nearly-half-of-bay-area-residents-say-they-want-to-leave/ My parents lived there in the 1970s, they were absolutely stunned when they went back in the mid 2000s.

Perhaps it's partially a matter of age. What's important to you when you're 25 isn't what's important to you when you're 45. When you're young, free with hope and ambition, you'll be happy enough to pay ridiculous money to live with other folks and walk around human feces and needles. When you're looking to raise a couple of kids, suddenly the San Francisco environment is utterly unacceptable. Four months into Texas, and I miss two things. The variety of scenery which was within driving distance of the Bay Area, and it must be said that the locals here have no idea what good Asian food tastes like. (On the other hand, European countries are better represented). That's it. My quality of life here has shot up, I should have moved ages ago.

What the poster said above about BART is absolutely correct. Nothing says welcome to San Francisco as accurately as getting onto the BART train at SFO, and realising that the reason that part of the car is empty is due to the malodorous homeless man sleeping on the bench seat. It is starting to affect the city's tourism and convention scenes, people and conventions are staying away. Democrats want to host the 2020 national convention in SF, Republicans also want them to host it in SF, but as an example of what happens if you vote Democrat. At the State line here in TX, there are billboards: "Welcome to Texas. Don't vote for what you just fled". And, as mentioned, the BART cars are ancient. They are, finally, starting to replace them, but it's symptomatic of a larger problem facing California: It's a house of cards, they're willing to let the good times roll without paying the upkeep, and eventually something is going to break. I was listening to the local news station last time I was in town (I go frequently), and they observed that when Governor Pat Brown was in charge in the 1960s, some 40% of the State's budget went into infrastructure. When his son, Jerry Brown left office this year, 3% of the State's budget was going on infrastructure.

I'm sorry, but hoping for a good snow pack year, and then issueing water rationing restrictions if the snow doesn't come in the volume needed is not a viable sustainment plan in a State where the water infrastructure was designed for 25 million people in the 1960s, and the State population is approaching 50 million. At this time, the State needs so much money that if the State put 100% of its budget into road maintenance for one year, it still wouldn't fix the roads and bridges, let alone everything else which needs fixing. It's all very well to look at the GDP of Santa Clara County and say that all is well with the Bay Area, but if they're not spending it in places that SCC needs to survive, like reservoirs, food production in the Central Valley, roads to get product to SCC etc, all the GDP in the world isn't going to help them.

You have teachers and policemen living in RVs in the parking lots of the schools and police stations because their official homes are too far to commute. There is absolutely no expansion planning in the SF Bay Area. For years, new housing wasn't permitted in SF, they didn't want to change the skyline. Finally they relented, and a bunch of new apartment high-rises are going up in South of Market. So, if they couldn't build up, they built out, and the surrounding nine-county region has become far more urbanised. People travel further from their new homes. Further, because of the combination of Prop 13 and rent control, folks who have places to live sure as hell aren't moving home, so they are instead choosing to commute longer distances as well, further overstraining the transport infrastructure which, also, has not really changed since the 1980s. My 28 mile commute from home to work took over 90 minutes routinely. I have more important things to do with my life.

At least here in San Antonio, they are planning for expansion. There is construction all over the place.

Thats worrying all right for those of us living here in gun free Dublin.

The second amendment can be read in any number of different ways, depending on what you think a well regulated militia means

Regardless of your position on 2A (And California is one of the very few States silent on the matter of firearms in the State constitution), an anti-gun position could perhaps be supported if the laws in California actually made any sort of practical sense. "I live in San Francisco, I am not permitted to carry a gun anywhere in the State but if I live in Wine Country (Just north of SF), I can carry a gun anywhere in the State including in San Francisco". "This pistol is too old, and must be banned. This pistol is too new, and must be banned. This pistol is the wrong color, and must be banned." "This rifle has cosmetic features we don't like, and if you don't spend 30 seconds with a screwdriver, we ban it". What is this actually achieving?

Franz Von Peppercorn

rossie1977 wrote: »

Everyone should pay their fair share. Amazon paid zero tax last year and got nearly $130 million in tax back despite making over $11 billion in revenue.

The rest of your post is correct but its possible to make lots of revenue and no profit.

Grayson

Franz Von Peppercorn wrote: »

You are confusing liberalism with socialism. Had the red mist not descended because your religion of neoliberalism was criticised, however mildly, and you had read my next post then you would I criticised the natives of SF for their extreme Nimbyism.

See, that's part of the problem with US politics. Everything gets conflated into one side or the other. So although part of the problem with SF is the large disparity in wages, people assume it's a socialist state. It's not. their financial policies really reward the rich, especially the tech workers. Sure it's liberal in regards to sexuality, weed and stuff like that, but financially it's quite conservative, especially by european standards.

Grayson

Franz Von Peppercorn wrote: »

The rest of your post is correct but its possible to make lots of revenue and no profit.

But amazon made profit. the 11bn was actually profit

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/feb/15/amazon-tax-bill-2018-no-taxes-despite-billions-profit

Franz Von Peppercorn

Grayson wrote: »

But amazon made profit. the 11bn was actually profit

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/feb/15/amazon-tax-bill-2018-no-taxes-despite-billions-profit

I see. I know that some countries allow businesses to offset losses against future profits, that is you pay tax on profits but you get tax credits on losses which can be carried forward. That’s not a bad idea but a limit is perhaps required.

MayoSalmon

Grayson wrote: »

See, that's part of the problem with US politics. Everything gets conflated into one side or the other. So although part of the problem with SF is the large disparity in wages, people assume it's a socialist state. It's not. their financial policies really reward the rich, especially the tech workers. Sure it's liberal in regards to sexuality, weed and stuff like that, but financially it's quite conservative, especially by european standards.

Except its not and taxes in California are among the highest in the US.

10% sales tax highest in US

4th highest tax burden of all the fifty states

Highest petrol taxes in the states.

Apparently the richest 5% of CA state taxpayers paid approximately 70% of income taxes in 2018

Nothing conservative about CA it resembles a Socialist West European nation is regards to it taxation structure.

The Satanist

Who'da thunk a mayor named "London" would be such a cool cat?!

San Francisco honours McGuinness for ‘courageous service in the military’
City administration issues posthumous certificate of honour for former IRA man

Martin McGuinness has been posthumously awarded by the City of San Francisco for his “courageous service in the military”.

The certificate of honour was issued by San Francisco on Friday and is the American equivalent of the freedom of the city.

The certificate is signed by the Democratic mayor of San Francisco London Breed.

Ms Breed signed the parchment “on the national day of Ireland” though St Patrick’s Day is a week away.

It praises Mr McGuinness’s role in the Northern Ireland peace process and in the Good Friday Agreement.

Mr McGuinness was deputy first minister in the now defunct Stormont executive from 2007 to 2017.

It states: “Martin’s courageous service in the military and as a negotiator helped cement and shape the Northern Ireland peace process and construct the Good Friday Agreement.

“His sacrifice and dedication to secure peace for his people is not only an inspiration to us all, but represents San Francisco values at their best. He leaves a legacy that embodies and celebrates the diverse history and strength of San Francisco and Ireland.”

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/san-francisco-honours-mcguinness-for-courageous-service-in-the-military-1.3821096?mode=amp

kneemos

The Satanist wrote: »

Who'da thunk a mayor named "London" would be such a cool cat?!



https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/san-francisco-honours-mcguinness-for-courageous-service-in-the-military-1.3821096?mode=amp

Irish American.

Manic Moran

Courageous role in the military!? I note that the article does not mention that this award in any way was endorsed by the Irish consul general in San Francisco, I can’t imagine he would have let that slide. Peace process, sure, but military?

I note the mayor is now issuing apologies.

As I look back over the local all-news station podcasts, there are now more drug addicts on SF’s streets than there are children enrolled in the city’s schools. [edit. High schools]

SF also has its own political issues. The SF police are pretty much the only major department in the US not to issue tasers, there is great opposition from those who believe it will lead to overuse, or who believe that they are more lethal than advertised. On the other hand, .40 caliber Smith and Wesson rounds which the police are allowed to use are seemingly quite lethal, and any shooting, even justified, results in uproar. Similarly, BART last year finally started a fare evasion crackdown. You know, like on Luas. Inspector gets on the train and asks everyone for their proof of fare. Came under immediate fire once the results were out, because most of the citations went to black people, so the fare evasion process must be inherently racist..

NSAman

The Satanist wrote: »

Who'da thunk a mayor named "London" would be such a cool cat?!



https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/san-francisco-honours-mcguinness-for-courageous-service-in-the-military-1.3821096?mode=amp

See this is what happens when uneducated people get into places of influence.... silly cow

Grayson

MayoSalmon wrote: »

Except its not and taxes in California are among the highest in the US.

10% sales tax highest in US

4th highest tax burden of all the fifty states

Highest petrol taxes in the states.

Apparently the richest 5% of CA state taxpayers paid approximately 70% of income taxes in 2018

Nothing conservative about CA it resembles a Socialist West European nation is regards to it taxation structure.

They pay a lot less than europe. And 10% VAT? get out of it would ya.

Chuck 100k into a tax calculator for california and for Ireland. You'll see how different the tax rates are.

https://smartasset.com/taxes/california-tax-calculator#XDOIqQwcQw

https://www.pwc.ie/budget-2019-ireland/income-tax-calculator.html

The fact that it's 4th highest in the US is nothing to compare it to since the US is a low taxation country.

DS86DS

Anywhere full to the brim with Leftists is bound to be a sh!thole. Give Liberals control over a safe and prosperous community, and within the space of a year it will turn into a dump.

Seanachai

I don't think we're in a position to shame anybody about shyte on the streets, North Dublin city is covered in dog s**t. It's actually formed a mosaic in some areas.

Manic Moran

Manic Moran wrote: »

.......... there are now more drug addicts on SF’s streets than there are children enrolled in the city’s schools..............

:eek:

Wow, frightening.
Does that number not include suburban schools. As in is it a misleading/literal one or an actual real life stat.
Like, Dublin City probably has few enough schools relative to the Co Dublin which is suburbia

metaoblivia

Augeo wrote: »

:eek:

Wow, frightening.
Does that number not include suburban schools. As in is it a misleading/literal one or an actual real life stat.
Like, Dublin City probably has few enough schools relative to the Co Dublin which is suburbia

I'm also interested to see if it includes private schools because every person I know who has kids and lives in SF sends them to private schools. I can't think of a single colleague who sends their kids to public schools in SF (which is its own issue, in fairness).

Franz Von Peppercorn

Grayson wrote: »

They pay a lot less than europe. And 10% VAT? get out of it would ya.

Chuck 100k into a tax calculator for california and for Ireland. You'll see how different the tax rates are.

https://smartasset.com/taxes/california-tax-calculator#XDOIqQwcQw

https://www.pwc.ie/budget-2019-ireland/income-tax-calculator.html

The fact that it's 4th highest in the US is nothing to compare it to since the US is a low taxation country.

It adds up with federal tax though.

Manic Moran

SF is both a city and county, the borders are the same. (i.e. San Francisco City covers 100% of San Francisco County.). Thus it constitutes both the financial district as well as housing districts. The population of SF is just shy of 900,000. However, now I look in depth, the figure is actually high school students. That population of just under a million is served by 15 public high schools with a student body of just under 16,000 children. The drug addict population of the city is some 25,000.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/philmatier/article/San-Francisco-where-street-addicts-outnumber-13571702.php

Some quick googling indicates 34 private high schools in SF with a total student population of just over 9,000. So it seems that the drug addict and high school populations are about equal.

MayoSalmon

Grayson wrote: »

They pay a lot less than europe. And 10% VAT? get out of it would ya.

Chuck 100k into a tax calculator for california and for Ireland. You'll see how different the tax rates are.

https://smartasset.com/taxes/california-tax-calculator#XDOIqQwcQw

https://www.pwc.ie/budget-2019-ireland/income-tax-calculator.html

The fact that it's 4th highest in the US is nothing to compare it to since the US is a low taxation country.

Of course they do...Western European countries are HUGE welfare states but in comparision to the rest of the states California is most similar.

MarkY91

ThomasFlynn wrote: »

Aww this thread really upsets me.

I've never been to the US before and finally heading there for the very first time this summer and decided to pick San Francisco as my first American city. Been saving up for it for a few months now.

People bad mouth SF but I look into considering LA instead people moan about that saying its souless, has no real city centre. I look at Vegas and people call that fake, overrated, tacky etc.

It seems like every city in the US is hated one way or another.

I've only been to Last Vegas and knew of the homeless issue before going. I never think of Vegas as a real city, I think of it as a giant resort that isn't based on reality. So with that frame of mind, it was impossible to think of it as a ****hole like I likely would with SF. My brother and I loved Vegas, walk-in down the strip, seeing all the lights were amazing.

Does it have a lot of homelessness?..yes. they hang around at the bridges over the highway. My brother and I had drunken conversations with them at stupid o clock when stumbling to our hotel from the club's. They actually left me with fond memories.

Seanachai

https://unavitavagabonda.wordpress.com/2013/02/07/myep/

Franz Von Peppercorn

Seanachai wrote: »

https://unavitavagabonda.wordpress.com/2013/02/07/myep/

But what if the yuppies are immigrants.

Grayson

Franz Von Peppercorn wrote: »

It adds up with federal tax though.

That tax calculator includes federal taxes.

Deise Vu

In the five days I was in SF a while back I witnessed two crimes being committed as I walked out of my hotel and spent my days dodging the homeless beggars. The best thing I can say about it is that it gave me an enormous appreciation of overtaxed, nanny state Ireland. A glimpse of a world where billionaires and beggars share what was probably once a beautiful city was an absolute shock. For the life of me I cannot understand how wealthy Americans cannot see it is actually in their interests to pay taxes to support infrastructure, education and social supports. Even simple stuff that you just assume Americans take for granted such as their cars: on our last day we had to get up at about 5AM to catch our flight. The freeway was chock a block with people going to work trying to avoid the rush hour!!! What kind of life is that?

No thanks, and all this was Before Trump. I wouldn't take a present of a weekend there now, it must be reaching meltdown point.

TheIrishGrover

Sonics2k wrote: »

Quick, blame the Liberals and Feminists!

Don't forget the gays!!!! (Or are all liberals and feminists gay and the other way around?)

Anyway, YEAH. Damn liberals and feminists with their gay bikes and foreign cars!

Straight 'Murica First!

DEFTLEFTHAND

TheIrishGrover wrote: »

Don't forget the gays!!!! (Or are all liberals and feminists gay and the other way around?)

Anyway, YEAH. Damn liberals and feminists with their gay bikes and foreign cars!

Straight 'Murica First!

Yep, They don't call it Gay Bay for nothing.

Manic Moran

Grayson wrote: »

They pay a lot less than europe. And 10% VAT? get out of it would ya.

Chuck 100k into a tax calculator for california and for Ireland. You'll see how different the tax rates are.

https://smartasset.com/taxes/california-tax-calculator#XDOIqQwcQw

https://www.pwc.ie/budget-2019-ireland/income-tax-calculator.html

The fact that it's 4th highest in the US is nothing to compare it to since the US is a low taxation country.

It's a little difficult to make a direct comparison like that. States and cities get their revenue sources from different streams than Ireland. For example, in Dublin, California, I was paying over $9,000 a year on property tax for my (very small) house, at a valuation of some $660,000. Convert that to Euro, and myh ouse is in the 550-600k tax band for Dublin City Council: 879 euro, almost exactly $1,000. Suddenly my California tax bill is higher than my Irish one, on the basis of a $100k income with no modifiers on those calculators above.

Now I'm in Texas, I don't pay State income tax at all. The theory is, Texas doesn't think you should be penalised for working. The Feds still take $23,000, so on that $100,000 income, I get an extra $6,000 take-home pay. However, Texas does think that if you own a stake in Texas, you should be contributing. So, on a similar-valued (granted, much larger) house here in Bexar County, the tax bill is about $19,000, bringing my tax bill up to $42,000.... higher than in California, and also higher than in Ireland by those calculators. On the other hand, it's a flat rate: Once I'm paying my homestead, any other income from family members such as the wife (or tenants) is not taxed.

But wait, there's more.
Car tax in California... DMV were looking to get over $1000 from me for my cars, but in Texas... $150. On the other hand, I drive V8 engines, so I believe my Irish motor tax per year would probably be higher than that. Sales/VAT, higher in Ireland. There are so many variables.

As you can see, it is incorrect to give a blanket statement that we pay less tax in the US, even in 'low tax states' like Texas.

DEFTLEFTHAND

Sounds like a dream of a State MM. They actually reward hard work and personal responsibility.

Grayson

Manic Moran wrote: »

It's a little difficult to make a direct comparison like that. States and cities get their revenue sources from different streams than Ireland. For example, in Dublin, California, I was paying over $9,000 a year on property tax for my (very small) house, at a valuation of some $660,000. Convert that to Euro, and myh ouse is in the 550-600k tax band for Dublin City Council: 879 euro, almost exactly $1,000. Suddenly my California tax bill is higher than my Irish one, on the basis of a $100k income with no modifiers on those calculators above.

Now I'm in Texas, I don't pay State income tax at all. The theory is, Texas doesn't think you should be penalised for working. The Feds still take $23,000, so on that $100,000 income, I get an extra $6,000 take-home pay. However, Texas does think that if you own a stake in Texas, you should be contributing. So, on a similar-valued (granted, much larger) house here in Bexar County, the tax bill is about $19,000, bringing my tax bill up to $42,000.... higher than in California, and also higher than in Ireland by those calculators. On the other hand, it's a flat rate: Once I'm paying my homestead, any other income from family members such as the wife (or tenants) is not taxed.

But wait, there's more.
Car tax in California... DMV were looking to get over $1000 from me for my cars, but in Texas... $150. On the other hand, I drive V8 engines, so I believe my Irish motor tax per year would probably be higher than that. Sales/VAT, higher in Ireland. There are so many variables.

As you can see, it is incorrect to give a blanket statement that we pay less tax in the US, even in 'low tax states' like Texas.

I understand that, I mentioned earlier in the thread that a lot of taxes over there are local taxes and the problem with that is that it's used locally. It means that in a poor neighbourhood theres less money for basic services than there is in a rich neighbourhood.

Also, how the hell did you find a place that cheap in Dublin/Pleasanton.

James Brown

Leighton Ashy Patio wrote: »

And there's me thinking the decline of the automobile industry is what led to Detroit being in such a bad way.

And by decline we're talking the SJW liberal board at Ford motors not making enough profit, so closing it. Typical Trots.

Like the lilly livers at Walmart who pay their staff so little many are on state aid payed for by the tax payer.

Manic Moran

Grayson wrote: »

Also, how the hell did you find a place that cheap in Dublin/Pleasanton.

It was four years ago, during the low season (October/November). People tend not to buy houses at the beginning of the school year. It's currently valued at shy of $900k. However, due to Prop 13, I still pay the taxes based on close to the original purchase price.

donaghs

The founder of the "Cash App" was stabbed to death a few days ago in the streets of San Francisco (Rincon Hill). He had moved to Florida but was in SF for a tech summit.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/apr/07/bob-lee-cash-app-stabbing-details-public-safety-san-francisco

The following day a former city official was badly beaten with a metal pole by homeless men outside his mother's house

https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/marina-sf-crime-attack-fire-commissioner-17883532.php

These are high profile stories, but there seems to be a general tolerance of "low level crime".

https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/restaurants/article/oakland-restaurant-crime-17853932.php

https://sfstandard.com/criminal-justice/cnn-crews-car-broken-into-while-filming-about-sfs-crime-woes