Offside Chat Archives (2014-2021)

urbanhawk17 said:Did I read this right? So an employer just transfers $833 and there's zero tax taken out, and that's the end of it?

The government isn't offering any kind of incentive to actually pay this in?

Do you think Grubnic, Severina, and the rest of that crew are actually going to pull this off?

Give that article another good read 🤣

Is anyone else having issues with Tapatalk lately? It seems like my unread threads aren't even being flagged properly, and whenever I actually try to post something, it just tells me I don't have permission. 🤷

I find myself constantly installing all these various applications... perhaps I should suggest one to you as well 🙂

bluebison47 said:Is anyone else having issues with Tapatalk lately? It seems like my unread threads aren't even being flagged properly, and whenever I actually try to post something, it just tells me I don't have permission. 🤷

Nah, everything's working fine for me

Just use a toothpick in the splitter and you should be good to go

Does anyone else get the feeling that Ribić and those other self-important pharaohs have been acting way too hysterical over the last year or so? It’s honestly not just me thinking this.

Quick poll for everyone here: it feels like people are overwhelmingly calling for massive cuts to the federal bureaucracy, taxes, and all those bloated local government offices and counties.

restlesssurfer97 said:Does anyone else get the feeling that Ribić and those other self-important pharaohs have been acting way too hysterical over the last year or so? It’s honestly not just me thinking this.

Quick poll for everyone here: it feels like people are overwhelmingly calling for massive cuts to the federal bureaucracy, taxes, and all those bloated local government offices and counties.

And there you have it—proof of that old cliché where they dodge reforms just so they don't tank their numbers at the next election.

restlesssurfer97 said:Does anyone else get the feeling that Ribić and those other self-important pharaohs have been acting way too hysterical over the last year or so? It’s honestly not just me thinking this.

Quick poll for everyone here: it feels like people are overwhelmingly calling for massive cuts to the federal bureaucracy, taxes, and all those bloated local government offices and counties.

I suspect it won't be that easy to actually get rid of them. So far, any cuts have just been superficial, or maybe a "2-for-1" reduction that eventually turns into a "2-for-3" situation anyway. I guess it might actually help him right now, since he can drum up support by backing healthcare workers and then just tuck everyone else under that same umbrella.

Look, this whole thing is a marathon, not a sprint, and if you ran a poll on this even a decade ago, the numbers would look completely different, no question about it. People are finally waking up to what's happening, a critical mass is starting to form, and honestly, change is going to happen simply because the pressure is becoming too much to ignore. Nothing is ever going to be fixed overnight, we all know that, and we shouldn't be sitting here expecting some kind of miracle to solve everything by tomorrow morning.

restlesssurfer97 said:Look, this whole thing is a marathon, not a sprint, and if you ran a poll on this even a decade ago, the numbers would look completely different, no question about it. People are finally waking up to what's happening, a critical mass is starting to form, and honestly, change is going to happen simply because the pressure is becoming too much to ignore. Nothing is ever going to be fixed overnight, we all know that, and we shouldn't be sitting here expecting some kind of miracle to solve everything by tomorrow morning.

I see what you mean, but I feel like the employment structure hasn't really changed much. So many people are still working for the government, and by default, those types of roles tend to resist major shifts. They often blame the state for everything, though it's mainly because their pay is so low. I suppose we really need more foreign investment in the private sector to increase the number of actual private-sector jobs; that's pretty much my main take on the domestic economy. Once political appointees become a relatively small minority, maybe then things can truly change. Until then, they just have too much influence over who gets elected.

Everyone claims to be against cronyism and wants to trim down the bloated administrative overhead, yet the moment you suggest consolidating a single town or county, you’re met with a full-blown populist revolt from the locals.
Good grief, the US has thousands of municipalities, while Germany has around 79 and the United Kingdom has 69. We certainly aren't being efficient here at 3PM.

Matthew Young35 said:Everyone claims to be against cronyism and wants to trim down the bloated administrative overhead, yet the moment you suggest consolidating a single town or county, you’re met with a full-blown populist revolt from the locals.
Good grief, the US has thousands of municipalities, while Germany has around 79 and the United Kingdom has 69. We certainly aren't being efficient here at 3PM.

The people at the start of that sentence would be absolutely losing their minds.

Elizabeth Mendoza said:The people at the start of that sentence would be absolutely losing their minds.

I disagree.
Personally, I wouldn't be raising any objections—far from it. But make no mistake, there would be plenty of people who would.

It's a mess. These political appointees are organized into unions, making them one of the most powerful groups out there.
Imagine announcing a reduction in the number of bureaucrats in the education system. And I don't mean actual teachers; I mean the administrative bloat. Take some tiny school in the middle of nowhere: you might have two teachers, but then you've got a principal, two secretaries, an accountant, a PR rep, two janitors, and two security guards. If you cut those positions, you'd have 100,000 people protesting in Times Square instantly.
The same logic applies to various utility companies, the railroads, and everything else.

The numbers are never going to go down because there’s always going to be someone complaining about why they have to fill out some extra paperwork now, 31 miles when they used to have everything handed to them on a silver platter.

Matthew Young35 said:I disagree.
Personally, I wouldn't be raising any objections—far from it. But make no mistake, there would be plenty of people who would.

It's a mess. These political appointees are organized into unions, making them one of the most powerful groups out there.
Imagine announcing a reduction in the number of bureaucrats in the education system. And I don't mean actual teachers; I mean the administrative bloat. Take some tiny school in the middle of nowhere: you might have two teachers, but then you've got a principal, two secretaries, an accountant, a PR rep, two janitors, and two security guards. If you cut those positions, you'd have 100,000 people protesting in Times Square instantly.
The same logic applies to various utility companies, the railroads, and everything else.

You're totally exaggerating, kid. Honestly, if someone actually started dropping names—listing all the cousins, godfathers, and party loyalists like Ribić and his crew—the whole establishment would just crumble like a house of cards. It wouldn't even be a fight; it'd just be pebbles hitting a windshield.

Matthew Young35 said:I disagree.
Personally, I wouldn't be raising any objections—far from it. But make no mistake, there would be plenty of people who would.

It's a mess. These political appointees are organized into unions, making them one of the most powerful groups out there.
Imagine announcing a reduction in the number of bureaucrats in the education system. And I don't mean actual teachers; I mean the administrative bloat. Take some tiny school in the middle of nowhere: you might have two teachers, but then you've got a principal, two secretaries, an accountant, a PR rep, two janitors, and two security guards. If you cut those positions, you'd have 100,000 people protesting in Times Square instantly.
The same logic applies to various utility companies, the railroads, and everything else.

"we won't hand over our highways" 🙏 🙏 🤣

Anthony Jackson2 said:"we won't hand over our highways" 🙏 🙏 🤣

Look, we shouldn't even be giving away our highways in the first place

Matthew Young35 said:I disagree.
Personally, I wouldn't be raising any objections—far from it. But make no mistake, there would be plenty of people who would.

It's a mess. These political appointees are organized into unions, making them one of the most powerful groups out there.
Imagine announcing a reduction in the number of bureaucrats in the education system. And I don't mean actual teachers; I mean the administrative bloat. Take some tiny school in the middle of nowhere: you might have two teachers, but then you've got a principal, two secretaries, an accountant, a PR rep, two janitors, and two security guards. If you cut those positions, you'd have 100,000 people protesting in Times Square instantly.
The same logic applies to various utility companies, the railroads, and everything else.

That's exactly it. There are just too many of them, and by using their unions, they can basically suffocate any attempt at reform. Plus, there isn't really a single meaningful political party actually willing to take them on. That's why I told restlesssurfer97 that poll numbers don't really matter much; a poll would only be relevant if there were a candidate actually playing that hand. Neither the Democratic Party nor Škoro are touching that issue. In fact, they seem to go against it. I guess Škoro is mostly just a player for foreign interests who can only stay afloat locally by providing jobs to the people he's managed to gather around him.

Jessica Gonzalez said:That's exactly it. There are just too many of them, and by using their unions, they can basically suffocate any attempt at reform. Plus, there isn't really a single meaningful political party actually willing to take them on. That's why I told restlesssurfer97 that poll numbers don't really matter much; a poll would only be relevant if there were a candidate actually playing that hand. Neither the Democratic Party nor Škoro are touching that issue. In fact, they seem to go against it. I guess Škoro is mostly just a player for foreign interests who can only stay afloat locally by providing jobs to the people he's managed to gather around him.

What foreign interests is Škoro a puppet for?