I predict that we Laker fans will be a seeing a lot that next season now that Kobe has reupped for what constitutes an unbelievable fortune to everyone South of Teresa Heinz Kerry. How could it be otherwise, with Shaq gone and the likes of Brian Grant on their way? [Remember him?-ed. Sorta. Tallish guy with dredlocks. But about as much of a center as Derek Fisher. You got it.] But hope springs eternal for us fans of course… unless the Kobester ends up in stir after all. Then Clipper seats just went through the ceiling.
Apropos of Ms. Heinz and her fortune, btw, I haven’t had time to study the entire dust-up in the comments started by my late night (and not particularly thought through) post below. But what is most interesting to me regarding the subject is this link to an article by economist Kevin Hassett on corporate tax loopholes. But I don’t feel competent to evalute it. Some others who log in here are, no doubt.
Call me a pessimist. I’ll be happy if Lakers can put together some other guys around Kobe. Fisher, who’s looking for his payday sign with the worst team in West, the Warriors. So, the Lakers are now short of center, point guard, and they have two shooters in Butler and Kobe (and Kobe will get his shots).
Maybe we can get Lisa Leslie to train the Laker Girls?
Kevin Hasset’s article is the one Donald Luskin should have written and NRO should have published. Rather than drool over the prospect of getting a gander at Teresa’s investment portfolio and charitable giving, we should be looking at the specifics of her husband’s tax proposals and evaluating them on their overall merits. Its boring, but is also what will impact the economy, jobs and some of the other less than mundane items of daily life.
I would agree with Hasset that Kerry’s proposal would compound a felony as far as corporate taxation of foreign earnings, but I find it difficult to believe either he, his wife, or his advisors would be crass enough to try writing loopholes in tax proposals solely on the basis of favorable treatment for H.J. Heinz. I’d let that part of the story drop and would focus in on the rest of the proposal, but I know this is gonna be red meat for a lot of my fellow Republicans. Oh well.
You know, this is now the second time today I have defended the Kerrys and the Democratic Party…I’m taking two aspirin and going to bed. If I write another defense of either of those two tomorrow, I’m seeing my doctor.
As Hassett explains it, the only way a corporation could avoid double taxation of overseas facilities would be if that facility is producing for consumption in that country (and I think this is a correct interpretation of Kerry’s proposal).
So consider a case. Suppose that General Electric, which builds CAT scanners in Milwaukee, builds the motors for those scanners in China (as I believe they actually do). Under the Kerry proposal, the GE China operation will be double-taxed. So GE will logically close the China operation and buy the motors from a German company (for example) which is operating in China. This may well hurt employment prospects for GE engineers and production planning people back in the U.S.
What really scares me about people like Kerry is that they make no attempt to think more than one chess move in advance.
photon,
I totally agree. People like Kerry rely on magical slogan-thinking like “Internationalization” and “Get our Allies on Board”. I would not be surprised to see a shrine to the UN in Kerry’s campaign airplane — he genuflects in that direction so frequently. In the real world, the UN refuses common-sense security advice from the US Marines, gets bombed, then turns tail and runs.
Bush actually goes out there and gets folks like Musharref and Khadaffi to roll over. Bush goes out there and liberates 50 million arabs to start draining the swamp. The Kerry program is hopelessly naive, the Bush plan is adaptable and realistic, although visionary.
Previewing your Comment
Well, Jerry Buss only becomes Jerry Reinsdorf and the Lakers only become the Bulls if Kobe is convicted and immediately sent to prison. That isn’t going to happen so “total meltdown” isn’t what this is. Since I don’t think Kobe is Michael redux, my guess is that the Lakers will descend into an Alan Iverson’s Philadelphia 76ers type team. Hey, they were up 1-0 in the 2001 Finals. Unfortunately for the Lakers, they’re in the West. It’ll be interesting to see if Shaq gets himself into shape. If he does, I’d say the Heat have a better shot than the Lakers of getting to the finals in every year that Shaq plays.
Just to further mess with The Peasant, I agree with him all down the line today.
And as to McCain-Feingold, well I know the readers here like the lack of profanity so I’ll just say that I like the fact that thus far it’s been a big surprise to all the people who thought they knew what its effect would be. The Supreme Court didn’t find it unconstitutional, the Democrats aren’t at a huge disadvantage, and people, people, people are contributing, contributing, contributing at a record clip. Nothing wrong with any of that.
Joe Wilson should start a blog. He’d fit right in.
Now (a John Kerry word), I think I’ll go enjoy the Great Lakes and the closest thing there is to a perfect roller coaster (the Magnum XL-200 at Cedar Point, OH) for a week.
Best.
110 days to go.
“Joe Wilson should start a blog. He’d fit right in.”
LOL, but only one without comments. He couldn’t stand the heat. Not in a million years.
Goof:
Mccain-Feingold is the classic example of a over-hyped worthless beltway reform. What was the purpose of the bill. To reduce the amount of spending on Campaigns, to lessen the influence of the corporate moneybags, and to make it possible for non-millionaires to run for office. What has been the result?The amount of spending is higher then ever, the corporations are still giving and the influence of their money is as great as ever, and we have a Republican millionaire running against a Democratic Billionaire.
And which party pushed it the hardest.The democrats. Was John Kerry a supporter of that bill and has he always pushed for more public financing of campaigns. Of course!.Yet for his campaign he is opting out of the system so he can spend as much as he wants.I thought it was just republicans who spent all the money.Typical DC pol, he loves reform for everyone else but when it comes to his own campaign he finds the reforms a bit too restrictive.And other then Fred Werth no one is calling him on this charade.
Roger:
I am not a big NBA fan (I like real basketball) but I cannot help but gloat over the Lakers downfall. Shaq is the impact player in the NBA today. He may be getting old but he can still dominate the game like nobody else. Kobe without Shaq is little more then a flashy high scoring player who will not exert any positive leadership on the team. Unlike MJ, Kobe is a divider not a leader. The Lakers are headed for post MJ Bulls territory. I love it.
Let me posit that I am a lifelong KNICKS fan so I loved to hate Jordan, called him a gunner who got every touch foul in the playoffs and when he didn’t his whiney coach cried to the media.
BUT LET’S CALL SOME THINGS AS THEY ARE -
However, as of now comparing Kobe to Jordan just sounds good but is pretty removed from reality.
He’s a great player and a likely Hall of Famer but let’s get real.
mike:
I am guessing that your post was in reference to my comparison of Kobe and MJ. I was not comparing skills, but their role on the team. The Lakers are now Kobe’s team. He got Phil Jackson fired and Shaq traded. He had the Lakers make a play for Coach K but was smart enough to see this as a losing proposition. Kobe’s ego is out of touch with reality. He cannot lead and without Shaq to dominate the middle he won’t be able to dominate the offense. The opponents will just concentrate on stopping him. The Lakers are doomed. The best thing that could happen to the team is if Kobe is playing in the Colorado penal league next year. However, I think he is not guilty and the jury will acquit him.
I’m not in LA but I seriously doubt Jackson was fired or left due to Kobe’s doing.
I think Phil saw the writing on the wall.
That writing told him the winning days in LA were o-v-e-r. And he was outta there regardless.
Everyone knew Shaq and Kobe and co were not all coming back and Phil wasn’t sticking around, I don’t care what anybody reports.
As far as Coach K. He’s got the best job in the country, only an egomaniac like Larry Brown and others would leave that for the NBA. Coach K’s not an egomaniac, ain’t that stupid, and even if Shaq stayed there, he wasn’t going anywhere and certainly not to a sour grape past its time team.
I don’t know if I was responding to your post and/or previous ones with the general comparison or speaking in the same vein of Kobe and MJ.
The comparison in bogus thus far, but we’ll see.
Roger:
To tell the truth I am so tired of the Shaq-Kobe melodrama that I am almost glad that one of them is gone. I am not in the Kobe or Shaq camp. I see two giant ego’s that put their own interests ahead of the interests of the team. If Dr. Buss had to make a choice I can understand why he went with Kobe but the way the deal was stupid. By not hiding the fact that they had to trade Shaq they turned a sellers market to a buying market.Odom is a fine player but the team has no size and no depth. With the Byzantine salary cap structure that the NBA has now as far as I can tell the Lakers are very close to being capped out until 2007.They say they are going to run and Kobe will be exciting but to have a good fast break offense you need someone to reboundand the Laker front line is thin. I am a life long Laker fan and I always will be but much like the war in Iraq this is going to be a long struggle with many casualities.We must be realistic. I think a reasonable goal for next year would be to make the playoffs as a 7 or 8 seed and a first round elimination. GO Lakers! [said sincerly but meekly]
Buss & Kupchak pull a Chicago Jerries. Let go the best coach and the most dominant player to keep Kobe? Years from now, they’ll be saying, “What were we thinking?” Kobe is marvelously talented, but he just doesn’t “get it”. Shaq, ego and all, “gets it”. “It” is doing what it takes to make your team win. Bill Russell and MJ are the two most outstanding examples. Kobe can’t carry either of their jock straps. Oh well, neither can Shaq. Nor could the “most dominant” player of Russell’s time, Wilt Chamberlain, who got the worst of personal matchups with Russ nearly every time.