Re: Tobacco health tax...

On Thu, 02 Aug 2007 18:06:57 GMT, met00 <met00cigar@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Ken Dixon wrote:
Assuming we are discussing "economic" class, and not the english class
system, the dollar figure would vary from region to region. Influenced
by the costs of living in said regions. $83 g's may be struggling middle
class in L.A. or Manhattan but in Graham, NC you'd be livin in the big
house.
As I understand it middle class in general is anyone with an income
falling between 30k and 150k, a wide and flexible window to say the least.

This is actually an interesting economist debate. Do we look at income
for class or income value as defined by local?

The latter....IMO :)

For instance, as was
pointed out here in another sub-thread, the net income of $83,000/yr in
someplace like the Ozarks would be of far different value than that same
income in say, Manhattan.

We have been talking gross income, not net :)

While some things don't change, say the cost
of an ear of corn, others have far different valuations, say the cost of
housing.

Food prices are more locale-dependent than you think. Fuel is another.

Recently a friend of mine was attempting to talk another friend of mine
into moving from CA to TX.......

I think he succeeded :))

and one of the key argument that was put
forward was that the income they had in CA would be worth much more in
TX. While on the face of it this looked persuasive, the fact was that
the items in Costco in CA were at the same costs as the items at Costco
in TX

I believe that you are mistaken.

And while they could get a home that was 2000 sq ft in TX for the
same price as an apartment in CA that was 1000 sq ft, the costs of
operation would have been much higher than those in CA......

On this you are DEFINITELY mistaken. Electricity, fuel oil, natural
gas, etc are all much lower here. As are phone, cable, DSL, etc. I'd
bet that there is actually a net SAVINGS going from 1000sqft in CA to
2000sqft in, say, Rockwall, TX....for instance. Additionally, no state
income tax and lower property taxes and no road use fees and.......
But we'll have hard data in a couple of months :)

<snipping gobbledegook>

Thus any savings attributed to say the decrease in costs of home
ownership would be offset by the expenses associated with gaining the
same quality of heath care.

Beeeeeeeeep...wrong again. Your friends who are moving to Texas will
find equal or superior health care as close, and more affordable here
as well. BTW, one of them found and leased a shop at 1/4 the expense
he would have had to lay out out there...and Rockwall, TX ain't the
Ozarks :)

Like I said, economists love this shit and discuss it endlessly when
attempting to take apples and oranges and make them apples to apples
comparisons. While I don't think that the methodology used by breaking
the country into 20% groups is the best, it does provide a method that
allows for a greater apples to apples comparison than any other.

Then again, which is better....5 groups of 20% by population...or 5
groups of 20% by income delineation ? Methinks there are quite a few
varieties of apples :)


--

"I really think cigar smoking does make you smarter."
P.J. O'Rourke
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Tobacco health tax...
    ... $83 g's may be struggling middle ... As I understand it middle class in general is anyone with an income ... the items in Costco in CA were at the same costs as the items at Costco ... attempting to take apples and oranges and make them apples to apples ...
    (alt.smokers.cigars)
  • Re: Tobacco health tax...
    ... As I understand it middle class in general is anyone with an income falling between 30k and 150k, a wide and flexible window to say the least. ... While on the face of it this looked persuasive, the fact was that the items in Costco in CA were at the same costs as the items at Costco in TX ... attempting to take apples and oranges and make them apples to apples comparisons. ...
    (alt.smokers.cigars)
  • Re: Tobacco health tax...
    ... As I understand it middle class in general is anyone with an income falling between 30k and 150k, a wide and flexible window to say the least. ... For instance, as was pointed out here in another sub-thread, the net income of $83,000/yr in someplace like the Ozarks would be of far different value than that same income in say, Manhattan. ... While on the face of it this looked persuasive, the fact was that the items in Costco in CA were at the same costs as the items at Costco in TX. ... economists love this shit and discuss it endlessly when attempting to take apples and oranges and make them apples to apples comparisons. ...
    (alt.smokers.cigars)
  • Re: My take on the flawed "Fair Tax" (repost)
    ... > the current income tax system reversed so that it could reenter the tax system ... the rebate requires the consumer to submit for the ... It costs $1000. ...
    (misc.taxes)
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