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Sunday, October 2, 2016
Tax exemption
Locals insist that tax dollars continue to flow from next contractor
This was predictable and you can not turn off the spigot once the money is running.
Predictable BS. Has anyone noticed any improvements to the roads or other infrastructure? This money was "desperately" needed to pay for the wear and tear caused by the LANL commuters. The roads haven't improved, LA county has hardly repaired them. The only differences are another round of business-destroying work on Central and a round-about to make lots of accidents. Have all of the new palaces LA county has built helped LANL with recruitment or a more pleasant commute? I sure am glad the county staff have nice new offices! ;-)
All the gross receipts tax has done is start a building spree that has burdened the taxpayers with maintenance on lots of new facilities for small interest groups. I guess the Bechtel people really need the new stable facilities so they can show off their lack of English riding skills.
So it turns out that having lots of people in town everyday contributes significantly to local businesses (when the roads allow people to get to them), and the gross-receipts from the Laboratories tax is a windfall that lets the county build and build and every group get its own special facility.
When the National Labs were privatized hundreds of people lost their jobs but not one of the politicians at any level who constantly tell us that they want good jobs for local people complained. Those jobs were just collateral damage that was necessary to get the big gross-receipts windfall they wanted. Now we hear that all these new facilities are to make the town attractive to prospective LANL employees, not roads and other infrastructure.
So if you are one of the clubby LANL people that hangs out at the golf course or other facility I guess you got something for the loss of all those jobs but as to the benefit to the Nation of the National Labs, the taxpayers got screwed. Far from private industry doing things better, the cost, size, and frequency of accidents has gone up. Innovation is way down. Science is fleeing the corporate demands for ever more overhead to feed ever more management and bureaucracy. Corporations know they should focus on the money-making business so only nuclear weapons related work is wanted. The ideology that corporations do everything better has turned a jewel of innovation and science into a dangerous hole, but what is more important: feeding our local governments more money to squander and give tax breaks to rich people or getting something for the money spent at these laboratories?
What's wrong with the roads? They seem fine to me. The current project on Central really isn't that bad, just use Iris or the alley by Viola's. If you require a list of improvements over the past several years here's a start:
- the entirety of Diamond Drive - Canyon/Central - Oppenheimer - 20th - Knecht - Rt. 4 in White Rock - all of the Western area streets/sidewalks - West Road bypass - eastern end of Trinity in 2017
I'm sure there are others but there are some parts of town I don't get to that often. Trinity is a state highway and is more complicated than just the county.
Idiot local politicians that have no clue about the impact moving to for profit had on the Lab. No clue they are alienating their constituents as they shamelessly try to benefit at the entire countries loss. Who at the Lab thinks the for-profit experience has been good? Nobody I have ever talked to.
It was free money, the courthouse in Los Alamos is huge it must be larger than the one in Santa Fe. The cops have all these new cars, and god knows what kind of kickbacks went God knows where. To be honest the the town seemed better 15 years ago than now. The for profit model has been a total failure.
The trade made was $200M+ in jobs for $200M+ in Gross Receipts Tax. That trade was detrimental to science, facilities, staff. Everybody at LANL and LLNL knows the problems with the arrival of the for-profit model.
It is the fault of nobody at the Labs. The Government wanted it. And it has been a failure, so much so that the Government wants to change it back to a non-profit.
Greedy politicians want more free money, and they do not care about the well-being of the Lab or the Lab workers (actually the same thing). Think about that as you vote in the various elections with relevance to this issue.
Demonizing your political opponents, as opposed to refuting their arguments with facts, has become the norm in this country. I refuse to participate, and I refuse to vote for anyone who engages in that kind of garbage politics. I will not be voting for either presidential candidate, but I will surely vote for down-ballot candidates who have likewise refused to descend into the gutter and who actually want to accomplish something. Call me old-fashioned.
And it has been a failure, so much so that the Government wants to change it back to a non-profit. October 3, 2016 at 5:27 PM
Who exactly is "the Government"? It is not Congress, the current administration, or any plausible incoming administration. It might be some elements in DOE, but they have no say. Elected representatives don't care about "science", they care about whatever will get them re-elected, and more federal money and more jobs in the region will help them do that. For-profit contractors are here to stay, politicians will make sure of that.
Who exactly is "the Government"? It is not Congress, the current administration, or any plausible incoming administration. It might be some elements in DOE, but they have no say. October 3, 2016 at 10:28 PM
No, the congress, current administration and DOE all want it changed back. Epic failure it has been. DOE/NNSA wanted to buy better performance, and it has not worked. Nobody wants for-profit except local pols.
No, the congress, current administration and DOE all want it changed back.
October 4, 2016 at 7:12 PM
If that were true, it would already have been "changed back." More accurate to say that there are probably a few in each of those groups who want that, but nowhere near enough to accomplish it, and the rest are unconcerned, or believe they have much more important things to worry about, as in fact they do. Anyone who still harbors the silly notion that our government has the capability and the competence to accomplish anything important without screwing it up needs to get a reality check.
The government does lots of things well and people really like them, like Social Security. They don't have anything more important to do than see that the nuclear stockpile is well maintained. This would be a lot easier if they didn't have people like the current contractors trying to suck every last billion bucks out of the government. The for-profit jerks spent something like a $Billion trying to design a CMR replacement building. They couldn't keep the cost under $6B and now they don't have a new facility to work in so lots of things don't happen with the stockpile. Having the labs run by an honest contractor might really help.
Why were the labs ever not for-profit, he asked rhetorically. It goes back to the Manhatten Project and the widespread understanding that civilization itself was at risk--the Allies had to win the war. That overwhelming sense of urgency and conviction led to a then-unique contracting and governance arrangement among the federal government, academia and industry which launched the weapons labs. That model--rooted in a culture of public service--had tremendous inertia and held sway until around the mid-1980s (depending on how you count). It thereafter passed the tipping point of decay and, absent conviction and urgency, inexorably yielded to the sad situation that is LANS/LLNS and DOE/NNSA. The federal decision processes that got us from there to here were thoughtless, short-sighted and uninformed. To be sure, the labs provided ammunition to those decision makers on many occasions, but the cure is far worse than the disease, whose root causes were not of the labs' making.
I fear that only the threat of another global cataclysm could ever overcome the selfish, profit- and polically-driven motives underlying today's sad status quo. I certainly can't see any entity involved that has the intelligence and the drive and the wherewithal to understand the root issues and address them meaningfully. Least of all the ever growing nanny-state mentality imbued throughout the federal government.
I fear that only the threat of another global cataclysm could ever overcome the selfish, profit- and polically-driven motives underlying today's sad status quo.
October 5, 2016 at 4:08 PM
Wake up. The "threat" will not be seen or acknowledged publicly before it is too late. The US will be defeated and occupied before the government admits anything is happening. The Congress will then meet and agree that the new order is better than continued fighting. You blindered folks who still think the nuclear deterrent means something will be so surprised - how did Russian troops show up in Alaska, and Chinese troops in San Fransisco, with no warning or response? Answer: Hillary and Obama are ballless.
Oh, please Obama and Hillary are not to blame, we are the ones to blame, all of us, the extreme left, the extreme right, and those that never cared. We gave in to terrorists thanks to the right, we gave into political correctness thanks to the left, we turned on science thanks to the right, we turned on rationality thanks to the left, and both sides turned on honor and pride. The only common ground is greed, hatred, brutality, winning, and vanity. There is plenty of blame to go around so take some responsibility for your participation in this mess before you blame others.
Great explanation of who is to blame. How to prevent the complete destruction of our country you appear to agree is forthcoming? You either don't care or don't have a clue. Are you willing to face the results October 5, 2016 at 7:18 PM predicts?
October 5, 2016 at 4:08 PM I concur with most of your statements.
Least of all the ever growing nanny-state mentality imbued throughout the federal government.
I agree with the nanny state mentality, however again we have to blame ourselves. Every time there is a problem/accident , the party which is not in power uses this for grandstanding and beating up DOE. So DOE's reaction naturally is to circle the wagons and mete out new regulations, to prevent being beaten up again.
Who in the government wants to go back to non-profit? Haven't met one yet. Furthermore, read the "tea leaves". What is the structure of the RFP for the EM work... For profit....
No problem just consolidate to one NM lab and relocate programs that need it
“Because the function of the laboratory never changes, the tax status shouldn’t change as well,” RCLC Director Andrea Romeo said. “We’re just trying to keep the status quo"
“Because the function of the laboratory never changes, the tax status shouldn’t change as well,” RCLC Director Andrea Romeo said. “We’re just trying to keep the status quo"
In 2006 the function of the laboratory changed from serving the nation to being a for profit corporation serving the few. Very different function and a very different outcome.
In 2006 the function of the laboratory changed from serving the nation to being a for profit corporation serving the few. Very different function and a very different outcome.
October 11, 2016 at 6:55 PM
Total BS. The mission of the NW laboratories did not change (see NNSA Mission Statement). Only your warped opinion of the contractor changed. Anyone who stuck to his/her job and career still knew what the goal was. Only those looking for an excuse to slack off found one.
The mission assigned to the labs did not change. But did the labs execute the mission? NNSA believes the answer is no, as evidenced by their actions. This begs the question of what the labs did, and whether the demonstrated functions align with the desired functions. Within this context, what does status quo mean?
"Total BS. The mission of the NW laboratories did not change (see NNSA Mission Statement). Only your warped opinion of the contractor changed. Anyone who stuck to his/her job and career still knew what the goal was. Only those looking for an excuse to slack off found one.
October 11, 2016 at 8:36 PM"
I agree with your overall view of things however we where told over and over again by upper management that the lab had changed and that we where corporate now, that we live in a new reality, follow the money...and so on. The mission has not changed since 2006 but the lab has indeed changed and if you work at LANL you will understand this.
Pot, meet kettle. LOL. Are you embarrassed yet? (Most Millennials are immune.)
Do you know that you have reposted the same line over and over again? Or are your senior moments running into each other so much that all your experiences are registering as new? You're a sad soul.
Calling someone out when he complains about bad grammar and spelling, when his own post contains bad grammar and spelling, never gets old. And neither do I. The fun never stops with the ever-accelerating dumbing-down of America. You will not appreciate the arthritis in your thumbs at 40 years old.
Calling someone out when he complains about bad grammar and spelling, when his own post contains bad grammar and spelling, never gets old. And neither do I. The fun never stops with the ever-accelerating dumbing-down of America. You will not appreciate the arthritis in your thumbs at 40 years old.
Not the same guy, nor am I calling you out on your lack of good grammar. just lack of imagination. Also I'm already past forty and have never felt better.
Not the same guy, nor am I calling you out on your lack of good grammar. just lack of imagination.
October 18, 2016 at 3:59 PM
I imagine a country where spelling and grammar matter, as do education, hard work, self-reliance, watching out for your neighbors, protecting your family, and oh, by the way, only ever thinking about the federal government when you have to file taxes. There are still places like that. Hint: not on either coast.
The people in those "fly over states" need either coast a lot less than the inverse. Just saying
Oh really, then by all means make this world better and drown in your own cynicism, hypocrisy, lack of humanity and humility. Make America great forever, go back to the old country and give the land back to the natives. Maybe then Jesus will take your Christianity seriously.
37 comments:
Predictable BS. Has anyone noticed any improvements to the roads or other infrastructure? This money was "desperately" needed to pay for the wear and tear caused by the LANL commuters. The roads haven't improved, LA county has hardly repaired them. The only differences are another round of business-destroying work on Central and a round-about to make lots of accidents. Have all of the new palaces LA county has built helped LANL with recruitment or a more pleasant commute? I sure am glad the county staff have nice new offices! ;-)
All the gross receipts tax has done is start a building spree that has burdened the taxpayers with maintenance on lots of new facilities for small interest groups. I guess the Bechtel people really need the new stable facilities so they can show off their lack of English riding skills.
So it turns out that having lots of people in town everyday contributes significantly to local businesses (when the roads allow people to get to them), and the gross-receipts from the Laboratories tax is a windfall that lets the county build and build and every group get its own special facility.
When the National Labs were privatized hundreds of people lost their jobs but not one of the politicians at any level who constantly tell us that they want good jobs for local people complained. Those jobs were just collateral damage that was necessary to get the big gross-receipts windfall they wanted. Now we hear that all these new facilities are to make the town attractive to prospective LANL employees, not roads and other infrastructure.
So if you are one of the clubby LANL people that hangs out at the golf course or other facility I guess you got something for the loss of all those jobs but as to the benefit to the Nation of the National Labs, the taxpayers got screwed. Far from private industry doing things better, the cost, size, and frequency of accidents has gone up. Innovation is way down. Science is fleeing the corporate demands for ever more overhead to feed ever more management and bureaucracy. Corporations know they should focus on the money-making business so only nuclear weapons related work is wanted. The ideology that corporations do everything better has turned a jewel of innovation and science into a dangerous hole, but what is more important: feeding our local governments more money to squander and give tax breaks to rich people or getting something for the money spent at these laboratories?
What's wrong with the roads? They seem fine to me. The current project on Central really isn't that bad, just use Iris or the alley by Viola's. If you require a list of improvements over the past several years here's a start:
- the entirety of Diamond Drive
- Canyon/Central
- Oppenheimer
- 20th
- Knecht
- Rt. 4 in White Rock
- all of the Western area streets/sidewalks
- West Road bypass
- eastern end of Trinity in 2017
I'm sure there are others but there are some parts of town I don't get to that often. Trinity is a state highway and is more complicated than just the county.
Well said October 2, 2016 at 11:08 AM.
Idiot local politicians that have no clue about the impact moving to for profit had on the Lab. No clue they are alienating their constituents as they shamelessly try to benefit at the entire countries loss. Who at the Lab thinks the for-profit experience has been good? Nobody I have ever talked to.
Vote for non-incumbents that work at the Lab.
October 2, 2016 at 9:48 PM
It was free money, the courthouse in Los Alamos is huge it must be larger than the one in Santa Fe. The cops have all these new cars, and god knows what kind of kickbacks went God knows where. To be honest the the town seemed better 15 years ago than now. The for profit model has been a total failure.
The trade made was $200M+ in jobs for $200M+ in Gross Receipts Tax. That trade was detrimental to science, facilities, staff. Everybody at LANL and LLNL knows the problems with the arrival of the for-profit model.
It is the fault of nobody at the Labs. The Government wanted it. And it has been a failure, so much so that the Government wants to change it back to a non-profit.
Greedy politicians want more free money, and they do not care about the well-being of the Lab or the Lab workers (actually the same thing). Think about that as you vote in the various elections with relevance to this issue.
Demonizing your political opponents, as opposed to refuting their arguments with facts, has become the norm in this country. I refuse to participate, and I refuse to vote for anyone who engages in that kind of garbage politics. I will not be voting for either presidential candidate, but I will surely vote for down-ballot candidates who have likewise refused to descend into the gutter and who actually want to accomplish something. Call me old-fashioned.
Liberal waste. Gimme some.
And it has been a failure, so much so that the Government wants to change it back to a non-profit.
October 3, 2016 at 5:27 PM
Who exactly is "the Government"? It is not Congress, the current administration, or any plausible incoming administration. It might be some elements in DOE, but they have no say. Elected representatives don't care about "science", they care about whatever will get them re-elected, and more federal money and more jobs in the region will help them do that. For-profit contractors are here to stay, politicians will make sure of that.
Who exactly is "the Government"? It is not Congress, the current administration, or any plausible incoming administration. It might be some elements in DOE, but they have no say.
October 3, 2016 at 10:28 PM
No, the congress, current administration and DOE all want it changed back. Epic failure it has been. DOE/NNSA wanted to buy better performance, and it has not worked. Nobody wants for-profit except local pols.
No, the congress, current administration and DOE all want it changed back.
October 4, 2016 at 7:12 PM
If that were true, it would already have been "changed back." More accurate to say that there are probably a few in each of those groups who want that, but nowhere near enough to accomplish it, and the rest are unconcerned, or believe they have much more important things to worry about, as in fact they do. Anyone who still harbors the silly notion that our government has the capability and the competence to accomplish anything important without screwing it up needs to get a reality check.
Robbing Peter to Feed Paul will always have the support of Paul.
The government does lots of things well and people really like them, like Social Security. They don't have anything more important to do than see that the nuclear stockpile is well maintained. This would be a lot easier if they didn't have people like the current contractors trying to suck every last billion bucks out of the government. The for-profit jerks spent something like a $Billion trying to design a CMR replacement building. They couldn't keep the cost under $6B and now they don't have a new facility to work in so lots of things don't happen with the stockpile. Having the labs run by an honest contractor might really help.
Why were the labs ever not for-profit, he asked rhetorically. It goes back to the Manhatten Project and the widespread understanding that civilization itself was at risk--the Allies had to win the war. That overwhelming sense of urgency and conviction led to a then-unique contracting and governance arrangement among the federal government, academia and industry which launched the weapons labs. That model--rooted in a culture of public service--had tremendous inertia and held sway until around the mid-1980s (depending on how you count). It thereafter passed the tipping point of decay and, absent conviction and urgency, inexorably yielded to the sad situation that is LANS/LLNS and DOE/NNSA. The federal decision processes that got us from there to here were thoughtless, short-sighted and uninformed. To be sure, the labs provided ammunition to those decision makers on many occasions, but the cure is far worse than the disease, whose root causes were not of the labs' making.
I fear that only the threat of another global cataclysm could ever overcome the selfish, profit- and polically-driven motives underlying today's sad status quo. I certainly can't see any entity involved that has the intelligence and the drive and the wherewithal to understand the root issues and address them meaningfully. Least of all the ever growing nanny-state mentality imbued throughout the federal government.
I fear that only the threat of another global cataclysm could ever overcome the selfish, profit- and polically-driven motives underlying today's sad status quo.
October 5, 2016 at 4:08 PM
Wake up. The "threat" will not be seen or acknowledged publicly before it is too late. The US will be defeated and occupied before the government admits anything is happening. The Congress will then meet and agree that the new order is better than continued fighting. You blindered folks who still think the nuclear deterrent means something will be so surprised - how did Russian troops show up in Alaska, and Chinese troops in San Fransisco, with no warning or response? Answer: Hillary and Obama are ballless.
October 5, 2016 at 7:18 PM
Oh, please Obama and Hillary are not to blame, we are the ones to blame, all of us, the extreme left, the extreme right, and those that never cared. We gave in to terrorists thanks to the right, we gave into political correctness thanks to the left, we turned on science thanks to the right, we turned on rationality thanks to the left, and both sides turned on honor and pride. The only common ground is greed, hatred, brutality, winning, and vanity. There is plenty of blame to go around so take some responsibility for your participation in this mess before you blame others.
Great explanation of who is to blame. How to prevent the complete destruction of our country you appear to agree is forthcoming? You either don't care or don't have a clue. Are you willing to face the results October 5, 2016 at 7:18 PM predicts?
October 5, 2016 at 4:08 PM
I concur with most of your statements.
Least of all the ever growing nanny-state mentality imbued throughout the federal government.
I agree with the nanny state mentality, however again we have to blame ourselves. Every time there is a problem/accident , the party which is not in power uses this for grandstanding and beating up DOE. So DOE's reaction naturally is to circle the wagons and mete out new regulations, to prevent being beaten up again.
Who in the government wants to go back to non-profit? Haven't met one yet. Furthermore, read the "tea leaves". What is the structure of the RFP for the EM work... For profit....
Mic Drop.
No problem just consolidate to one NM lab and relocate programs that need it
“Because the function of the laboratory never changes, the tax status shouldn’t change as well,” RCLC Director Andrea Romeo said. “We’re just trying to keep the status quo"
Chortled at that one...
“Because the function of the laboratory never changes, the tax status shouldn’t change as well,” RCLC Director Andrea Romeo said. “We’re just trying to keep the status quo"
In 2006 the function of the laboratory changed from serving the nation to being a for profit corporation serving the few. Very different function and a very different outcome.
In 2006 the function of the laboratory changed from serving the nation to being a for profit corporation serving the few. Very different function and a very different outcome.
October 11, 2016 at 6:55 PM
Total BS. The mission of the NW laboratories did not change (see NNSA Mission Statement). Only your warped opinion of the contractor changed. Anyone who stuck to his/her job and career still knew what the goal was. Only those looking for an excuse to slack off found one.
The mission assigned to the labs did not change. But did the labs execute the mission? NNSA believes the answer is no, as evidenced by their actions. This begs the question of what the labs did, and whether the demonstrated functions align with the desired functions. Within this context, what does status quo mean?
"Total BS. The mission of the NW laboratories did not change (see NNSA Mission Statement). Only your warped opinion of the contractor changed. Anyone who stuck to his/her job and career still knew what the goal was. Only those looking for an excuse to slack off found one.
October 11, 2016 at 8:36 PM"
I agree with your overall view of things however we where told over and over again by upper management that the lab had changed and that we where corporate now, that we live in a new reality, follow the money...and so on. The mission has not changed since 2006 but the lab has indeed changed and if you work at LANL you will understand this.
were, where, then, than... This getting tiring. Get out of the basement and buy a grammar book.
were, where, then, than... This getting tiring. Get out of the basement and buy a grammar book.
October 12, 2016 at 5:14 PM
Pot, meet kettle. LOL. Are you embarrassed yet? (Most Millennials are immune.)
Pot, meet kettle. LOL. Are you embarrassed yet? (Most Millennials are immune.)
Do you know that you have reposted the same line over and over again? Or are your senior moments running into each other so much that all your experiences are registering as new? You're a sad soul.
Calling someone out when he complains about bad grammar and spelling, when his own post contains bad grammar and spelling, never gets old. And neither do I. The fun never stops with the ever-accelerating dumbing-down of America. You will not appreciate the arthritis in your thumbs at 40 years old.
Calling someone out when he complains about bad grammar and spelling, when his own post contains bad grammar and spelling, never gets old. And neither do I. The fun never stops with the ever-accelerating dumbing-down of America. You will not appreciate the arthritis in your thumbs at 40 years old.
Not the same guy, nor am I calling you out on your lack of good grammar. just lack of imagination. Also I'm already past forty and have never felt better.
Punks
Not the same guy, nor am I calling you out on your lack of good grammar. just lack of imagination.
October 18, 2016 at 3:59 PM
I imagine a country where spelling and grammar matter, as do education, hard work, self-reliance, watching out for your neighbors, protecting your family, and oh, by the way, only ever thinking about the federal government when you have to file taxes. There are still places like that. Hint: not on either coast.
Hint: not on either coast.
October 18, 2016 at 10:14 PM
The term "fly over state" is said with derision for a meaning.
The people in those "fly over states" need either coast a lot less than the inverse. Just saying
The people in those "fly over states" need either coast a lot less than the inverse. Just saying
Oh really, then by all means make this world better and drown in your own cynicism, hypocrisy, lack of humanity and humility. Make America great forever, go back to the old country and give the land back to the natives. Maybe then Jesus will take your Christianity seriously.
only ever thinking about the federal government when you have to file taxes.
You almost made sense, its okay keep trying maybe someday you won't have to ride the short bus anymore.
October 24, 2016 at 5:21 PM
A left-coaster out of touch with the real world. Why should anyone have to spend time thinking about the federal government?
Requiring the GRT either way (profit or non-profit) levels the playing field. It does not force one above the other. It was a good move....
Guess those fly over states heard your derision. Oops.
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