The Governments newest fronteir... your childs lunchbox.

[DoctorWho]

Obamacare sure dealt a blow towards little businesses like mine as well as some of my clients. Its 1099 city this year.

It seems that smart, well-meaning people differ on whether the stimulus was the right medicine, hurt more than it helped, etc. It seems a little like it was turned over to political cronies, but maybe that's par for the course. I have only the shallowest understanding of what a banking meltdown means, how bad it would be, etc, so somebody smart could convince me that TARP had to happen the way it did, even if cronies got paid off. And if the Obama administration looked at the intelligence and decided to keep Bush's war policies in place, I'm willing to trust that it's the best decision based on the info.

But I don't understand the class warfare, cramming Obamacare in its current form when something smaller and less clumsy could have been achieved pretty easily, letting the EPA threaten an aggressive stance toward greenhouse gas emissions, money to solar while punishing coal, and other economically destructive policies. The article attached above mentions health care as a means to promote entrepreneurship. The debate would have been completely different if obamacare was approached from the standpoint that smart working people need health care in order to be mobile and to help them take risks when starting a new company.

[DoctorWho]

You know that you can add me on Facebook, right?



I have errands to run, but just based on the URL this seems like it'll be interesting.

JM, what have you done with the real mstr? If you've tamed him, who will be the happy warrior policing ends & pieces? Or should Bronan get the credit/blame?

[Mark E. Hurling]

Since this thread has turned into a secret meeting place for libertarians and their sympathizers:
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/...ations/253211/

Interesting article. I liked this in particular:

"If you look at a list of US cities sorted by population, the number of successful startups per capita varies by orders of magnitude," the renowned inventor Paul Graham wrote. "Somehow it's as if most places were sprayed with startupicide."

Because it isn't just cities where I live it's the entire People's Rainbow Republick of Kalifornia. Although LA may be the worst. But I suspect San Francisco could be worse still. I just hear about LA all the time on this subject. The city council and county are killing their tax base.

While this idea put forward in the article sounds good, I wonder just how the safety net will be constructed. I have a feeling it will favor crony capitalists like Solyndra and such.

[DoctorWho]

Interesting article. I liked this in particular:



Because it isn't just cities where I live it's the entire People's Rainbow Republick of Kalifornia. Although LA may be the worst. But I suspect San Francisco could be worse still. I just hear about LA all the time on this subject. The city council and county are killing their tax base.

While this idea put forward in the article sounds good, I wonder just how the safety net will be constructed. I have a feeling it will favor crony capitalists like Solyndra and such.

It must be harder than it seems, otherwise we would have it. The entrepreneurial spirit is one of the things that makes the U.S. go, and I fear for it.

[JM3]

[QUOTE=mst[U][/U]rofbass;39351

JM, what have you done with the realstr? If you've tamed him, who will be the happy warrior policing ends & pieces? Or should Bronan get the credit/blame?

Shit I didnt see that. Im embarrased to admit that Im flattered....as soon as I disable my auto derision feature Im goimgto do that. I enjoy myself here but have a tendency to overspeak then get self concious. I like the semi anon nature of the forum. Whereas fb just creeps me out. Rippetoes vibe appeals to me because he is a frindly caustic ass and sells his stuff without being culty or pretentious.Thats pretty much why im comfortable here

[mstrofbass]

I like the semi anon nature of the forum. Whereas fb just creeps me out.

Stated immediately after hinting at stalking me on Facebook.

[mstrofbass]

While this idea put forward in the article sounds good, I wonder just how the safety net will be constructed. I have a feeling it will favor crony capitalists like Solyndra and such.

I still haven't read it, but I skimmed it, and it seems kind of similar. My recent thinking has been this:

Raise taxes on everyone a percent or two (people who already pay). We all got ourselves into this mess, we all have to pay for it. And anyone who thinks someone will miss an extra 1% or so is full of shit. But since Republicans are so dead set on keeping taxes on the rich low, give them an out, but force them to be useful. Let them deduct the full amount of the tax increase if they contribute to a startup or startup related fund. I think investing in the stock market is not remotely useful, but investing in new businesses is, so force them to do it if they want to make deductions.

[mstrofbass]

Because it isn't just cities where I live it's the entire People's Rainbow Republick of Kalifornia. Although LA may be the worst. But I suspect San Francisco could be worse still. I just hear about LA all the time on this subject. The city council and county are killing their tax base.

It should be pointed out that the Bay Area is actually still pretty hot for startups. The help of groups like this and the large number of VC firms and angel investors that are local to the area (thereby providing a big support base) helps overcome a lot of the problems you mention.

[mstrofbass]

Since this thread has turned into a secret meeting place for libertarians and their sympathizers:
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/...ations/253211/

There's probably enough fodder here to start a new thread, but here ya go:

http://blog.bstovall.com/2012/02/20/...entrepreneurs/

[Mark E. Hurling]

It should be pointed out that the Bay Area is actually still pretty hot for startups. The help of groups like this and the large number of VC firms and angel investors that are local to the area (thereby providing a big support base) helps overcome a lot of the problems you mention.

Glad to see the dot.com'ers. and the Silicon Valley types with venture capital (only guessing about the sources there but there's still a big residual pool of $ there to invest) are doing it. But the obstacles and barriers put up here in LA are enormous and very hostile to all kinds of business but especially the small start-ups. A big hunk comes out of Sacramento so there's no escaping South of the Oregon border, but I've heard it's no bed of roses in the Bay Area either. But I'm not as well informed on things up there. Given that Willie Brown and Gavin Newsome both hailed from there I find it hard to believe it is any better. But others who know better might chime in on that.