File under "You Can't Make This Stuff Up." Somehow, it actually seems like a farcical April Fools…
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April Fools' Day Four Days Late? Google Objects to OpenAI Using YouTube to Train Its Own Generator

File under "You Can't Make This Stuff Up."

Somehow, it actually seems like a farcical April Fools' Day headline, in fact.  Google, with its deep history of scraping and scanning other sources' substantive content for its own uses, now objects to OpenAI using YouTube content to train its text-to-video generator:

The use of YouTube videos to train OpenAI’s text-to-video generator would be an infraction of the platform's terms of service, YouTube Chief Executive Officer Neal Mohan said."

Optimists might hope that Google is finally recognizing and preparing to correct its wayward course, while realists and cynics will roll their eyes at what they'll label naivete.  As the old adage goes, however, "every saint has a past, every sinner has a future," so we'll maintain hope.…[more]

April 05, 2024 • 05:09 PM

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What’s in the Health Care Bill? Print
By Sam Batkins
Thursday, August 06 2009
If you are a large employer unable to provide health insurance for your employees, then the bill imposes a ten percent tax, up to $500,000, hardly an expropriation that will drive job creation.

According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the myriad of new taxes scattered throughout the 1,000-plus-page House health care bill will do little to lessen our $9 trillion national debt. In fact, the CBO projects that H.R. 3200, which will cost taxpayers well over $1 trillion, is set to increase the national debt by $239 billion over the next ten years. What’s worse, the cost-savings that taxpayers have been promised by President Obama are not in the bill. There are, however, plenty of other goodies hidden deep in its text.

Taxes. Taxes. Mandates. And then some more taxes. That’s the so-called health care reform President Obama and Congressional Democrats are pushing in Congress. Is that the change you believe in?

According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the myriad of new taxes scattered throughout the 1,000-plus-page House health care bill will do little to lessen our $9 trillion national debt. In fact, the CBO projects that H.R. 3200, which will cost taxpayers well over $1 trillion, is set to increase the national debt by $239 billion over the next ten years. What’s worse, the cost-savings that taxpayers have been promised by President Obama are not in the bill. There are, however, plenty of other goodies hidden deep in its text.

For example, if you are a large employer unable to provide health insurance for your employees, then the bill imposes a ten percent tax, up to $500,000, hardly an expropriation that will drive job creation.

For small employers who fail to provide health care, H.R. 3200 imposes a $100 a-day penalty “for each day in the period beginning on the date such failure first occurs and ending on that date such failure is corrected.” If an employer failed to cover two employers for three months, the total cost would be $18,200. So much for only soaking the rich in our era of hope, change and new politics.

Congress does not stop with employers alone; the bill also provides mandates for employees and individuals. If you fail to get government-approved health care, then you are taxed. If you fail to get health care at all due to any reason, then the government imposes a penalty. This will specifically hit many young, healthy individuals who have heretofore chosen to postpone insurance in favor of other personal budget priorities.

The bill imposes a tax equal to 2.5 percent of a taxpayer’s modified adjusted gross income. A middle-class taxpayer with a modified adjusted gross income of $60,000 would pay Uncle Sam $1,500. This amount is not enough to purchase private health insurance, but it is enough to break a family budget.

New taxes on employers, employees and individuals who fail to find government-approved health care should be more than enough to put a grin on the faces of even the most ardent liberal. But the worst part of the bill, if passed, will raise top marginal tax rates well above 50 percent.

While H.R. 3200 contains many “revenue enhancers” (tax hikes), Congress had to at least pretend it could conjure the money necessary to pay for the bill’s $1 trillion price tag. So, Congress chose the “soak the rich” approach to health care reform.

The bill imposes surcharges (new taxes) on high-tax-bracket individuals, who, more often than not, are actually small businesses. For those making $350,000 or more, the bill imposes a 1 percent tax on adjusted gross income. If your income exceeds $500,000, the bill tacks on 1.5 percent to your tax bill, and for those who make more than $1 million, the bill imposes a surtax of 5.4 percent.

And now Congress is currently debating a budgetary circuit breaker that would double those surtaxes if cost-savings are not realized. Since neither the Congressional Budget Office nor Congress’ Joint Economic Committee expects costs savings to be realized, then some earners could see a 10.8 percent surtax. The total tab for some taxpayers: an income tax bill over 60 percent, the highest in the world.

Taxpayers rich and poor can expect to take a hit to the quality of their care, in addition to their paychecks. As Representative Tom Price (R-GA) noted, “[A] government-run plan would result in 119 million Americans being crowded out of their current personal plans and enrolled in a bureaucratic, government-run program. After all, when the government enters the ring as both competitor and referee, the other guy gets knocked out.”

If H.R. 3200 passes, look for taxpayers to receive both a shock to quality health care and a shot to their wallets.

In sum, for taxpayers hoping that the new administration would leave their tax bill alone and only go after high-earners, the health care bill is a sober reminder that Washington is an equal opportunity wealth-destroyer.

Notable Quote   
 
"Battleground state swing voters overwhelmingly believe stopping President Biden's border invasion is more important than bankrolling Ukraine's forever war with Russia, a newly released poll found.Conducted for the Heritage Foundation by RMG Research Inc., the survey of 1,000 likely swing-state voters found strong support for stopping the invasion at the U.S. southern border and little appetite for…[more]
 
 
— Shawn Fleetwood, The Federalist
 
Liberty Poll   

Given dramatically escalating premiums for homeowner and vehicle insurance, do you believe that your state insurance officials are conscientiously regulating those inescapable costs?