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DaysOff

Certifiably Surly
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Posts posted by DaysOff

  1. I’m a genius for the next 15 hrs.
    Took some substantial(for me) bites just before 11.  Timed it perfect by chance. 
    I normally lurk this thread. More of a Bogglehead when it comes to investment strategy. I really only invest for retirement/long timelines.

    But there's those words that make guys like me turn their heads sideways. 'Timed it perfect'. How often can you do that to stay in the black?
  2. It's not a popular opinion, but we really need to just scrap the entire property tax scheme and implement an income tax.  People freak out at that, but most people would likely benefit from it.  As an example of how screwed our system is:
    My best year in NYC, I made about 50% more than my best year I've had since moving back.  I paid less in combined state income taxes, city income taxes and property taxes that year than I have paid in property taxes each of the three years I've been back.  And New York is considered a 'high' income tax state.
    Just look at how fucked up it is.  Live in something like Circle C, and you have a house in the half million dollar range and pay about $10k in property taxes per year, even if you only make $100k.  That's literally a 10% tax rate.  Conversely, someone who lives in a different part of the state, where property values are lower and harder to get accurate estimate due to lower turnover and you may have a property on the tax rolls at $150k and only pay $3k in property taxes, even if you make $250k, $500k, etc.  
    Obviously most people aren't making $250k, $500k, etc., but it illustrates how the system is upside down.  The middle class basically gets screwed in our system. 
    I've actually come around to this point even as I approach my highest earning years. Our property tax scheme in Texas is unsustainable.
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  3. They hassled me in the summer of '86 running undercover stings at the 7/11 carding youths coming out of the store with 6 packs. Pulled us over in an unmarked car. Didn't have my license on me but had the number memorized and they ran it through SCMODS or whatever the fuck and let us go. I was 19 and legal at the time. "See you in September boys", was his quote walking away. Fucking asshole civil servant wanna be cop.

  4. My 12 yo daughter, born 12/25/05, is hanging on to her belief in Santa for dear life.  And I encourage her innocence to continue forever.  Fuck all the grinch-ass bitches.
    Uh no. She, like all kids, fears her gift haul will be cut in half if she lets the cat out of the bag.
  5. I graduated in '90 and throughout 41's speech at Memorial Stadium Hugo, Dennison and the rest of their crew did everything they could to disrupt it by blowing whistles and banging drums outside the stadium. Fucking assholes.

  6. I know there was a thread about this on TOS, but TABC fails to put Spec's out of business and is now being sued by Spec's and claiming sovereign immunity.

    https://www.ksat.com/news/texas/texas-liquor-giant-spec-s-sues-texas-alcoholic-beverage-commission-for-abusive-enforcement-attempt?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=snd&utm_content=ksat12

     

    The state’s largest liquor chain — Spec’s Wine, Spirits and Finer Foods — is suing the Texas Alcohol Beverage Commission for “abusive regulatory overreach” over an enforcement action that dragged on for almost two years before falling apart in administrative proceedings last year, court documents show.

    The federal lawsuit, filed in Houston in late August but only recently unsealed, alleges that the TABC “wrongfully and maliciously” attempted to “extort” money from Spec’s by threatening to effectively shut the company down or by making the family-owned business fork over more than $700 million in civil penalties.

    The TABC, citing the pending litigation, declined to comment.

    In a stinging rebuke of the TABC last year, a pair of administrative law judges said the agency failed to prove dozens of allegations and chastised the agency for failing to disclose evidence to their own witness (and the court). The judges also called out the agency for “stacking” charges, a tactic commonly used to pressure defendants into a settlement. In the end, the judges recommended no fines be assessed against the liquor chain.

    Now Spec’s is seeking an unspecified amount of money for damages that include lost profits, more than $1 million in attorneys fees and harm to its reputation. The lawsuit includes a request to impose exemplary, or punitive, damages — which are three times the amount of actual damages.

    “Acting under color of law, [the TABC] threatened and pursued groundless allegations and enforcement actions,” the lawsuit says. “[The TABC] intentionally trumped up false claims in knowing violation of the law.”

    The lawsuit also alleges the agency provided false testimony during the spring proceedings, which were the administrative equivalent of a trial.

    “This plan culminated in an attempt to perpetrate fraud on the court at the trial, which was ultimately unsuccessful,” said Spec’s lawyer Al Van Huff. “This is the type of deceitful and abusive conduct that should never be tolerated by agents of the state of Texas, and the TABC will now be required to answer for its conduct.”

    In seeking to have the lawsuit dismissed, state lawyers argued in court filings that the company can’t sue because the agency is a governmental entity that enjoys “sovereign immunity” and court precedent won’t allow Spec’s to get around that.

    The state argues that Spec’s already fought for and received relief from the enforcement action when the administrative law judges ruled in its favor.

    “Spec’s cannot plausibly allege facts converting its administrative win into a federal claim for attorneys fees and purported lost profits,” the state argues. “Spec’s lawsuit does not assert any viable federal claim from which defendants are not wholly immune, and defendants respectfully request that this court dismiss this case in its entirety.”

    Liquor chains like Spec’s must adhere to the state’s antique alcohol laws, which control virtually every aspect of the industry — from how beverages can be marketed to where they can be sold (hint: not at Walmart and Costco).

    The TABC’s case against Spec’s began with an audit of the retailer’s operations in February 2013. Three years later, the agency formally alleged that Spec’s ran afoul of various technical provisions of the alcoholic beverage code, including marketing rules and restrictions on dealings with wholesalers.

    Spec’s rejected a settlement offer in 2015 and fought back at the State Office of Administrative Hearings, or SOAH. By the time the case went before the SOAH judges, the TABC had threatened to yank all of Spec’s permits or impose fines of up to $713 million, according to calculations made by SOAH.

    Then, during an administrative trial in early 2017, one allegation after another crumbled before the judges. And just as the enforcement case was falling apart at SOAH, the TABC found itself in the hot seat in the Texas Legislature after The Texas Tribune reported on spending controversies and abusive treatment of companies it regulates. Those scandals prompted a wave of retirements and forced departures of top agency honchos.

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