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John Providenza's comments:
on Were you in the audience?
I was not at the taping, but watched the show Friday night.
The program was OK, but not great. Please do NOT have the talking heads of the for/against sides on these programs - it's a waste of time. We've already heard their arguments for months AND we've seen the propaganda from each side.
Try to get neutral parties to discuss the topics to present an unbiased view so we can judge the facts, not the hype. Try to expose the major distortions. It's hard to find accurate information on these topics - please help find experts that can present correct information.
Thanks, I'm happy OPB is doing projects like this and putting on the TOL program. Keep it up!
posted 3 years, 3 months ago
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on Suggest a Show
OPB is running a teaser right now where a person says Oregon used to be a great state, but now it's only a good state. I agree, but why is this true & what can be done.
I suggest a series of shows where people make concrete sugesstions about where they see weaknesses. Maybe these screening shows would not allow solutions to be discussed, the goal would be to pull together a comprehensive list of what keeps us from being great.
The moderator would need to be ruthless in squelching vague suggestions like "taxes are too high" or "politicians are corrupt". The goal is to identify specific problems that could be topics for future discussions and to get people thinking. Maybe each caller has a time limit of 1 minute to encourage conciseness & clarity?
So, instead of running a teaser on how we used to be great, lets try to work to becoming great again.
Thanks for the good program.... if only it was great :)
John Providenza
posted 3 years, 6 months ago
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on End of the Legislative Session
I run a small business. Since my corporation is an S-Corp, we pay the $10 AND AND AND all the corporate profits are paid to the owners and are taxed at their tax rate. So, in Oregon, our profits get taxed at the about 10% personal rate.
I hate this myth that corporations don't pay taxes. My S-Corp pays a lot of tax.
John P.
posted 3 years, 10 months ago
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on March Show Suggestions
Here's a suggestion for tax time....
In preparing our taxes, we found a mistake from a charitable organisation that said we gave twice the ammount we actually gave, ie, we could claim 2x the deduction.
We'll claim the proper amount and not take advantage of their mistake, but the temptation is there.
How about a show on the corrosive impact on morals by our government? The corruption in our tax laws (read loopholes and targeted tax exemptions) leads us to think "the Congress is cheating us, why not cheat on our taxes?"
I think the larger topic could be explored from several angles:
- tax law encourages cheating
- Congressmen that spout family values and then are caught with a mistress
- etc.
John Providenza
posted 4 years, 2 months ago
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on Raising Revenue: Corps and Brews
Although your overview of the topic mentions C-Corp, many people lump all corporation types together. I work for an S-Corp and although the company pays the silly $10 tax, all profits from the company are passed out to the owners and taxed at our normal tax rate. So the S-Corp pays BOTH the $10 tax and also taxes on all profits.
So, unless the owners of an S-Corp are playing games by having the company pay personal expenses, the S-Corp does pay a fair tax on its profits.
posted 4 years, 2 months ago
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on February Show Suggestions
a) I suggest you have an obvious link on the main TOL page to suggest new topics. I had to search to find this corner of the site.
b) I listened to the show on nuclear energy and would like to sugest you split the topic into multiple mini-programs that address the different topics/concerns seperately. There is simply too much to cover in a one hour period. Possible topics would be:
- what is new in the technology that makes it better than the Trojan era reactors
- what prevents incidents like Chernobyl (disaster) or 3 Mile Island (major screw up)
- what can be done about nuclear waste - storage, reprocessing, etc.
- what are the long term environmental impacts, ie lifetime carbon footprint, waste issues, etc.
An alternate idea is to start a series of energy programs that form a longer term conversation. Maybe week 1 discusses what are the possible energy source for our future - not a in depth discussion but a list of today's options and tomorrows possibilities. Week 2 might focus more on near term and what benefits each tehnology would offer. Week three might discuss limitations of each technology and what cures for the weaknesses may be on the horizon. At the very end, maybe have a survey/vote to see what people think or how they rate the various technologies and which pros/cons led them to their opinion.
Great programs - keep up the good work!
John Providenza
posted 4 years, 3 months ago
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on Nuclear Northwest
I welcome this discussion on nuclear energy. Why is it the anti-nuclear rhetoric includes "those guys" and "welfare kings" as I believe Greg said a couple of minutes ago.
The pro-nuclear people present a thoughtful discussion while the anti-nuclear seem like attack dogs.
I'd think a more interesting area of nuclear discussion is how do the new designs avoid the potential of nuclear accidents. Another interesting topic is what have been the advances in nuclear waste disposal that the NRC is ignoring, for example, waste recycling and actinide burners.
posted 4 years, 3 months ago
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on Age Old Question
a) the majesty of an old-growth forest has a large value in and of itself.
b) global warming - is it better to harvest and re-plant with new trees for carbon sink?
c) global warming - forest management practices vs. massive forest fires.
d) sustainable harvest for industry
e) watershed quality
f) wildlife habitat preservation
I suspect a conservative sustainable harvest approach may provide the long term answer.
My family has a small parcel of 2nd growth Redwood trees and proper management is an ongoing debate. Should we thin the trees? How much? What will provide the best fire protection for the tall trees? How do we preserve our beloved mini-forest?
No easy answers for this topic!
posted 4 years, 6 months ago
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on October Ideas
Would it be legal to change the constitution to prevent a ballet measure that is substantially the same as one that has been proposed in the last four years?
posted 4 years, 7 months ago
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on What's an Uncut Forest Worth?
posted 4 years, 9 months ago
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on What's Slipping Through the Cracks?
My sister was addicted to pain killers (thank you Oxycontin!) and she was able to buy bags of stuff from "pharmacies" in Mexico, etc. Her doctors were clueless and trying to sort though the Federal bureaucracy was hopeless. Whoever you called, it was someone else's problem. She couldn't be committed by family because of the strict laws. She eventually died because of the pain killer addiction. Ironically, it was liver failure caused by Tylenol that killed her. Many people don't realize that Tylenol/Acetaminophen is in a lot of pain killers.
So - how about a conversation about pain-killer addiction, internet drug availability, no Federal enforcement, clueless doctors?
John P.
posted 5 years, 2 months ago
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on What's Slipping Through the Cracks?
posted 5 years, 3 months ago
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on What's Slipping Through the Cracks?
posted 5 years, 3 months ago
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