tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7806136543904112143.post6138285358787852757..comments2023-10-30T09:23:42.803-05:00Comments on Some Assembly Required: SAR #13201Charles Kingsley Michaelson, IIIhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04364694465614330540noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7806136543904112143.post-29821528859830073812013-07-21T16:52:27.428-05:002013-07-21T16:52:27.428-05:00«Sure they had to pay the coders and such, but $5 ...«Sure they had to pay the coders and such, but $5 billion a quarter in profits?»<br /><br />In many profitable software companies developing, testing and documenting the software costs less than the expense account of marketing and sales, that is around 5-10% of sales.<br /><br />Another 5-10% goes in general administration overheads, sales and marketing cost several times that, usually around 40-50% and about as much goes to shareholder profit and bonuses and stock options for management.<br /><br />That's why venture capitalists have been extraordinary keen for decades to invest in software companies.<br />Blissexnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7806136543904112143.post-58576739605534219552013-07-21T11:09:44.429-05:002013-07-21T11:09:44.429-05:00No objection.No objection.OkieLawyerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03835804433027036043noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7806136543904112143.post-53655349753931395262013-07-21T08:06:21.658-05:002013-07-21T08:06:21.658-05:00okielawyer - any objection to most of your comment...okielawyer - any objection to most of your comment being an item come Monday's SAR? <br />ckmCharles Kingsley Michaelson, IIIhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04364694465614330540noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7806136543904112143.post-83724211006292812092013-07-21T07:09:04.886-05:002013-07-21T07:09:04.886-05:00Re: Not so fast
As a former bankruptcy attorney, ...Re: Not so fast<br /><br />As a former bankruptcy attorney, I can tell you that the "automatic stay" trumps everything as to the city of Detroit. However, I was reading that the actual lawsuit is not against the city of Detroit, but some other party that is not covered by the automatic stay, so apparently the lawsuit can move forward despite the stay.<br /><br />Having said that, bankruptcy law, being federal law, will trump state law because of the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution.<br /><br />What I find interesting is the question of who, then, will have to cover the worker's pension benefits, given the Michigan constitution's provision that no pension can be reduced? The overwhelming number of comments on the websites that are covering the story are appalling in that they are virtually unanimously calling for all of these retired and soon-to-be retired workers to receive nothing, ever. There is a cabal that is calling for all worker benefits (particularly all government worker benefits) to be completely eradicated. The seeming chorus of voices all saying in unison (and saying it in almost identical ways) that workers (all workers) should receive no benefits whatsoever (because, it is argued, such benefits are never affordable) strikes me as some sort of PsyOps operation. The responses advocating the elimination of all worker benefits in the United States (which are already pretty scant) with a seeming groundswell of support that drowns out other voices (the number of comments stating that all retirement benefits should be completely eliminated appears to be about 99:1 of the comments made in response to these stories). Almost no one is responding to say that the Detroit retirees should receive what they were promised.<br /><br />What is really alarming about this are the responses that state "these workers should have known better than to contribute to what they knew was an unsustainable retirement program, and thus they should not receive anything." These same comments continually also seek to blame these workers for "having voted for the Democrat [sic] policies."<br /><br />The use of the bankruptcy code to deprive workers of the retirement benefits they were promised is an outrage. And, no, it isn't just happening to municipal workers. Private companies have been creating these "crises" for years, mostly unnoticed due to the anecdotal nature of the cases.<br /><br />Furthermore, I doubt that these workers will end up with a resolution to their deprived benefits. One hallmark of the Republicans in national office is a hatred of workers, especially <i>government</i> workers, and even more particularly <i>unionized</i> government workers. There is most likely no upside for them to provide some relief for these workers. Therefore, I doubt there will be a favorable resolution for these disenfranchised municipal workers.OkieLawyerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03835804433027036043noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7806136543904112143.post-67807701290626683602013-07-20T14:48:51.186-05:002013-07-20T14:48:51.186-05:00Not So Fast: A Circuit judge has ruled that Detroi...Not So Fast: A Circuit judge has ruled that Detroit's bankruptcy... Wanna bet how this plays out?<br /><br />With the Robbers' Court as the final backstop, there's a bet?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com