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Politics : Impeach George W. Bush -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lazarus_Long who wrote (7802)	11/21/2001 1:44:20 AM
From: jttmab	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 93284

tourist revenue? Royal Family? What's the connection? Except that the Royal Family seems to own part of everything in Britain? I wouldn't say everything, but they've got a good bit of real estate. I don't recall the exact numbers that the tourist industry attributed to the Royal Family in tourism, but it was big. They seem to be perfectly happy to be Americans. Germans were happy being Germans also, they just thought everyone should be German. People in Ohio, seem to like Ohio; no taste. My wife is short as well <LOL>. Easy to do if you get to pick taxpayer's pockets. I'm not sure this sentence even applies. The money comes out one pocket or another. Does it really make any difference? Just out of curiousity, I'll see if the Royal Post is one of those [sort of] private operations, unless you happen to know. Hmmm, your post implies that you do know. Do you? Not so easy if you're (sort of) private and have to make a living. It's reasonable to speculate that it's more cost effective to not print and distribute all those 1 cent stamps. But your comment reminds me of another position I have. The USPS is supposed to be [sort of] private, I'd like to have Congress butt out of micro-managing the post office. If the post office needs to raise postage rates to be "profitable", leave them be. Let the USPS raise postage rates to cover the costs of anti-terrorism; don't take it out of general revenue. Which reminds me of another position....<s>. Interstate highways. The Feds have done a fabulous job in putting a Interstate Highway infrastructure in place over the last 50 years. Starting with nothing the Eisenhower Defense Highway threads through every part of the country. It would be appropriate for each of the States to send a thank you note and a box of chocolates [preferably dark] to the appropriate Fed project manager associated with the specific Interstate project. After that, it's about time that the States take over the responsibility and costs of maintaining the Federal Highways and building any new ones that the States desire. Take it out of the Federal Budget and let the States tax their own people. Which leads me nicely to my next position. The category of Federal Funding referred to as "Federal Grants to State and Local Governments"; Subtitle: Stick your earmarks here. In the FY-2000 Budget this category was approaching $300 Billion. Unless the States can show that there is a direct National benefit, screw'em, the States have their own people that they can tax for their own projects. If the citizens of that State don't want to pay for their own projects, don't ask for handouts from the US general revenue. [Note: A museum in Nevada that shows how the people of Nevada survived nuclear testing is NOT of direct National Benefit; funding that provides for interoperability of communications between state and local law enforcement and the FBI is of National benefit.] jttmab

To: Lazarus_Long who wrote (7802)	11/21/2001 6:13:20 AM
From: jttmab	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 93284

On the Royal Mail... I had to pick up some stamps... It's a mail system that's completely self-funded, no additional funds are funnelled from the general operating funds, sic taxes. Similar to the USPS, Royal Mail rates must be approved by Parliament. [The consensus of the 3 Brits and 1 Irish persons standing on my side of the counter was that it was stupid for Parliament to have to approve postal rates, but Parliament has to get their fingers into everything. <LOL>] Interesting difference though is that it's a hybrid government and private system. Major Post Offices are owned and operated by the government and the staff are Royal Mail [government] employees. But the vast number of "Post Offices" are operated by Royal Mail "Agents". An agent being a private person[s]that provides all the services of the Royal Mail and is paid commission based on the revenue generated by that point of operation. Agents provide all the facilities and equipment at their own expense. The Agent buys the stamp that is used for post marking at £90, but the Royal Mail, retains ownership of the stamp head. The particular agent that I went to this morning has a separate business selling some food products, bread, eggs, sausage rolls, a few canned products and some fresh veg; a bit of wine and liquor. The Agent down the road has a separate business from the Royal Mail...something close to a stationary store. But all the agents are private businesses providing Royal Mail Services on a commission basis. As far as this Agent knows there is no other postal system in the world that is such a hybrid. When I got my little pack of stamps, seasonal Christmas scene of course, it included a lottery ticket to win up to £1M. Typical lottery odds of slim to none. Total payout on the lottery is £1.5M. I think all lottery winnings in the UK are tax free. Cheers, jttmab