It might not be a cultural fit for you, but it is a good fit for over 300m citizens (less amnestied illegals).

Unlike other countries, US property is respected enough to not need legions of gated communities. Other countries have them in quantities large enough to suggest that property is not respected(SE Asia) or to show mass contempt for their citizenry(e.g. Russia).

In addition, citizens enjoy more personal freedoms (despite what some thinktanks would claim) than nearly any other country in the world. For example, self-defense with a firearm is encouraged in many parts of the country(not just Texas), when many parts of the world wish to restrict it. In addition, speaking up against politicians is not followed by a disappearance, house arrest, or defamation charge.

As for the complaints about non-citizens not being treated properly, that comes with any civilized country. Guest workers and illegals are just the next tiers below temporary/contingent/casual employment.

The talent is already here, just that it resides with citizens (full and naturalized) of the United States of America. Where it does not exactly exist, citizens are more likely to start from a competent, trainable background - unlike the majority of guest workers. The only problem is that employers see freedom as a cost when someone else has it as opposed to a benefit when held by an employer.

More good would be done by repealing the 1965 Immigration Act and removing the regulations it enabled. Then if someone is really worth it, they will pursue citizenship. If we're lucky, pass a federal version of Arizona's SB1070 to put some fear into illegals and those who aid/abet/hire/contract them.

Air is 5 ppm helium and 15 ppm neon. Neon lifts balloons too, but we don't use it because it's too expensive to recover from the air, and recovering helium is even more inefficient.

NOTHING is a concern over geological time periods! The Sun will eventually swallow the Earth- but nobody seems to care too much. Helium depletion on Earth will be a blip on a geological time scale, but during that blip helium will be just a memory to several thousand generations.

Helium is for sissies anyway. I don't care if Donald Trump commutes to work in a blimp refilled with freshly scented helium-3 every morning. MY airship has a pedal-powered generator to pump current through a electrolysis chamber. Hydrogen works so much better than helium anyway... it really gets you high.

N/T.

The problem is that the usage limits do not enhance innovation, but serve to squelch it. Remove that avenue and things would be ifne.

It's kind of hard to regain something you didn't truly lose to China.

First option:
Turn up the heat on the countries that aid and abet such evasion, such that they end up quitting the practice voluntarily. Offer to exchange information on theirs to gain wider cooperation.

Second option:
If cooperation cannot be attained, then take governmental action within the IRS to penalize such activity (as far as they can go). That doesn't mean taking a page out of Nixon or Obama, but to use any legal and Constitutionally approved means to stop the evasion.

Third option:
Start playing hardball through other legal means in other governmental entities. Their tax structure and obstinacy is enough justification. Offer large tax cuts that have a condition of taking a visible penalty or reward for tax structures.

Final (if nothing else at all works and something must be done) option:
The DoD does something outside of the US and K Street won't know the full implications until the public has a need to know.

Creative accounting and structuring implies an actively hostile posture towards the IRS as opposed to getting the last dollar out of your 1040.

You're doing it for the extra dollar, with negligible free-rider problems
Apple's doing it with the intent of having its cake and eating it, which creates a large free-rider problem.

Only with such structured evasion.

Yes, evasion in a manner that the IRS would do well to re-evaluate. No, it's not on the same level as what one might do with a regular tax return.

The problem occurs when US operations are made to look like non-US operations, creating a very harmful free-rider situation. They are getting US protections and services without the requisite revenue paid to the US.

In addition, it is the only effective way to pursue structured revenue, especially when the US has a few world-leading departments under the DoD to help.

Would Verizon really get in trouble for a DMCA violation? I think the the users with compromised emails have more to fear from the DMCA.

I don't think Obama needs to worry about the veto hurting the Democrats in 2016. His veto count so far is 2, a lower count than any president since James Garfield in 1881. (In comparison GWB vetoed 12 bills, Clinton 39, GHWB 29, Reagan 39.) This is mostly a consequence of the filibuster used to cut off the flow of legislation that reaches him- which effectively raised the required vote count from 50 to 60 during his term. But now, more stuff is now going to percolate through Congress and reach his desk, including some unpopular, corrupt shit that will scare the public. Before, he simply hadn't been given many bills to veto; now he's going to be tested. Even if he only vetoes one bill in the next Congress, that's going to be enough to elicit nuclear head explosions on Fox, so he might as well add a few dozen without having to worry about any additional meaningful repercussions. Hopefully he won't cave as usual.

Just four fucking million public comments sent by American citizens to the FCC- but they're not corrupt politicians, so screw 'em.

Does this include shaming individuals that fake their own threats, such as Anita Sarkeesian and silence any attempts to call them out?

Does that include the kinds of harassment performed by Chelsea "Zoe Quinn" van Valkenberg, Sarkeesian, and the like? Or is it OK if they do it, but not if anyone else calls them on it?

FTFY.

See my title - China has been proven to do it while Snowden hasn't even gone to a US court. The only people that think that the US has lost any moral ground are those that oppose the US, and/or additionally support Snowden's allegations.

Why is it flamebait? (It got modded as flamebait but went back up to a 5). This video is two years old, but that's the new guy who's now going to head the Environment and Public Works Committee in 2015. He's already bragging that his staff is been poring over NSF studies to compile a list of "wasteful studies" to be targeted in 2015, and says that one of his "top three priorities" for that committee is going to be âoeshining a lightâ on wasteful funding of climate scientists.