Fury
Silver Knight of the Realm
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California trying GPS-tracking mileage tax for 2016
- Thread starter mkopec
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Guest, it's time once again for the massively important and exciting FoH Asshat Tournament!
Go here and give us your nominations!Who's been the biggest Asshat in the last year? Give us your worst ones!
And even if it was state and federal finances are distinct, unlike Germany's federal system where each state depends upon the federal government for its allotment of tax revenue.
Tuco
I got Tuco'd!
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BrutulTM
Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
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Even local governments are notoriously horrible with money. I have a good friend who works for Montana Department of Transportation and he told me the other day about a project along the highway that the state contracted out. We had a ton of rain in 2011 and there was a small landslide along a cut that the highway ran through. They had to have some heavy equipment come in and flatten out the hill, cover it with some sort of burlap stuff, and plant grass on it. The cost was 1.4 million dollars. I hire people to do dirt work from time to time and I feel confident that I could have found someone to do that for 10 grand. For 140,000 you could get a guy with a small dozer to work steady for a year even though that job probably wouldn't take him more than a couple weeks. Of course the site has to be actively monitored for 10 years now to make sure that the environment is diverse and all that shit. There is a whole industry dedicated to figuring out how to wade through the red tape nonsense to bid government jobs and then overcharging said government by an order of magnitude vs. what a private citizen would pay for the same work.
Big Phoenix
Pronouns: zie/zhem/zer
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Fuck government contracting. Take your proudly woman and disabled owned business and shove it up your ass.
A friend of mine works for a partnership that does a lot of government contracting. There are about a dozen partners, and the partnership advertises itself as "100% women and minority owned." My friend is a white male and has been passed up several times for partner. He constantly complains about it, and one day after a few drinks I told him, "Bro, you will never make partner, because if you do so they can no longer advertise themselves as 100% minority and women owned." He didn't, and still doesn't, believe me, because "that would be racist."
Yeah, bro, no shit.
U.S. Total Gasoline Retail Sales by Refiners (Thousand Gallons per Day)
2008 retail daily gasoline sales 54 million gallons
2014 retail daily gasoline sales 17.5 million
but but people are buying new cars
UNSOLD CARS
so far up shits creek even the devil himself has pity for the mouthbreathing jesus soaked fuck weasels who are clueless about the real state of the world economy LOL
2008 retail daily gasoline sales 54 million gallons
2014 retail daily gasoline sales 17.5 million
but but people are buying new cars
UNSOLD CARS
so far up shits creek even the devil himself has pity for the mouthbreathing jesus soaked fuck weasels who are clueless about the real state of the world economy LOL
Quineloe
Ahn'Qiraj Raider
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I'm really somewhat creeped out by this. This can't possibly be sustained. Is this the next bubble after subprimes?
There was an article which I read a bit back that made a strong case for that. Let me see if I can find it.
This isn't the article which I remember reading, but it makes the same essential points:The Next Subprime 'Time Bomb' Is Ticking (Here's How You Could Profit from It) - DailyFinance
Borzak
Bronze Baron of the Realm
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I dunno, haven't looked at the numbers but I work right next to a parking lot almost exactly like that one. They bring the cars in via rail and the port and park them in a large lot like that and itstays full and has for the last 20 years. Some times it's fuller than others but it stays pretty full and many of them are domestic cars I assume they ship in via rail because I see rail car after rail car pass the office with cars that I know are made in the US.
Fifey
Trakanon Raider
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Those huge lots are just staging areas before a dealership buys them. Cars aren't made special ordered in just cases. Last I remember new car sales were decent so I don't buy that it's some bubble about to burst. I know Ontario, CA is a huge storage area for BMWs for the west coast.
America's car fleet hits new old age record
average car fleet age in america article.
Plan on being a major contributor to this statistic , both cars in the driveway will go another 400,000 miles before needing to be replaced. See ya at the dealership in 2060
average car fleet age in america article.
Plan on being a major contributor to this statistic , both cars in the driveway will go another 400,000 miles before needing to be replaced. See ya at the dealership in 2060
iannis
Musty Nester
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I dunno about a bubble bursting. It's just overproduction.
Cars will probably get real cheap again in about 5 years, and Michigan will go back to Congress asking for another bailout to stave off anarchy. But this time there will be no unions to reorganize and no pensions to renegotiate.
But that's not a bubble bursting. That's just State government being predictably awesome.
Cars will probably get real cheap again in about 5 years, and Michigan will go back to Congress asking for another bailout to stave off anarchy. But this time there will be no unions to reorganize and no pensions to renegotiate.
But that's not a bubble bursting. That's just State government being predictably awesome.
Palum
what Suineg set it to
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Yea, I know the 'they don't make them like they used to' is true in many ways, but you would have to be daft to claim that about cars. Many modern automobiles (late 80s onwards maybe?) can last 'forever'. When you see a shitty ass economy Saturn sedan still on the road 20 years and 400K miles later because it had a well built engine built to ridiculously tight tolerances... you just won't find that in a lot of older cars. Engine rebuilds at 80K, crate motor replacements, etc. Don't get me wrong, there are still cars released today that do or will have reliability problems, but still.America's car fleet hits new old age record
average car fleet age in america article.
Plan on being a major contributor to this statistic , both cars in the driveway will go another 400,000 miles before needing to be replaced. See ya at the dealership in 2060
You could get ticketed for Operating a Vehicle with Unsafe Equipment (depends on your state).
Subprime car loans is what sank GMAC in the first place, and they are up to it again. Specifically, Ally Financial (formerly GMAC) and GM Financial. They don't give two shits, because Uncle Sam will bail them out again when shit hits the fan.
BrutulTM
Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
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Everything about cars is way better. Adam Carolla claims that a stock Toyota Camry can beat a 70s Lamborghini in the quarter mile. The only disappointment to me is that gas mileage hasn't really improved that much in the last couple decades.
iannis
Musty Nester
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The problem I have is loading shit down with gadgets that you don't need.
The older engines were less reliable, but they also had room to work on them. Christ, you almost have to pull the side of the car off to change a serp belt with a lot of these designs. They're designed to be worked on with lifts.
It's a good thing they are more reliable because when it breaks it tends to be buried so deep that you have no option BUT to pull the entire fucking engine apart to get to it.
The older engines were less reliable, but they also had room to work on them. Christ, you almost have to pull the side of the car off to change a serp belt with a lot of these designs. They're designed to be worked on with lifts.
It's a good thing they are more reliable because when it breaks it tends to be buried so deep that you have no option BUT to pull the entire fucking engine apart to get to it.
Gas mileage hasn't been doing too badly, especially considering that a modern car weighs more, has vastly better safety and standard equipment, and lower emissions. Not to mention, lots more horsepower. Carolla's claim is true. A V6 Camry will hang with a late 70's (almost) anything, and virtually anything Italian. Hell, a new STI will hang with an early 90's Diablo...up to about 140 and in the quarter.