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AND THE ENTIRE
TRI-STATE AREA
ANTIQUES & ESTATE BUYERS
Military
Collections
Wanted
Swords,
Knives,
Helmets, etc.
ANTIQUE & ESTATE BUYERS
We buy anything old. One piece or house full.
WILL TRAVEL. HOUSE CALLS.
WILL TRAVEL
ENTIRE
TRI-STATE!
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, J 48 ULY 19-25, 2019 BTR
FREE
Estimates!
We Pay $CASH$ For
Paintings, Clocks, Watches,
Estate Jewelry & Fine China,
From Single Items
to Entire Estates!
Coin & Stamp Collections
Costume Jewelry
Antique Furniture Lamps
Bronzes Paintings Prints
Chinese & Japanese
Artwork & Porcelain
Sports Collectibles
Comic Books Old Toys Records
Cameras Sterling Flatware Sets
HUMMELS & LLADROS
TOP $ PAID
FOR JUDAICA
COLLECTIBLES
HOUSE
CALLS
MOVING or
DOWNSIZING?
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for Antique
Sterling!
SEE OUR AD EVERY SUNDAY IN THE POST
516-974-6528
WILL TRAVEL. WE MAKE HOUSE CALLS.
1029 WEST JERICHO TURNPIKE, SMITHTOWN, L.I.
HOUSE
CALLS
ASK FOR CHRISTOPHER
TRIBORO’S EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH
(Right) Roberta Powell,
Nursing Department certifi
ed nursing assistant,
was named as Triboro
Center’s June 2019 Employee
of the Month. As
an addition to the Nursing
Department, Powell works
on the Memory Care Unit.
She has been working
at Triboro Center for ten
years and Roberta can be
referred to as a resident
advocate.
Photo courtesy of Centers
Health Care/Triboro Center
Short column this
week. Summer is here
and many on vacation,
enjoy your time.
Save these dates:
man and friend, more
details to follow; and
Saturday, August 10,
1 to 5 p.m., the Marine
Corps League will be holding their
BBQ, $20 bucks a head for the usual
BBQ fare, burgers, dogs, salads and a
50 /50, come and support the Corps.
I am pleased to report that we have
completed the new roof on the building,
we will now be able to make repairs
to the interior.
This would not have happened if it
weren’t for Councilman Mark Gjonaj,
a friend of the post and a friend to the
veterans community,
thank you again sir.
Meetings will resume
in September for both
the Post and the Marine
Corps League,
make sure your dues
are in order for the
coming year.
There are quite a few American Legion
Posts, Amvets and beach clubs
around the neighborhood, stop in and
spend some time getting to know your
neighbors and fellow vets.
If we don’t support each other we
will all fail to exist. That is all for
now.
We are stronger as one. Let’s work
together.
God bless America.
BY FRANK VERNUCCIO
Another Major League Baseball All
Star Game was played this week. Once
again, fans were regaled with an avalanche
of statistics. Every aspect of the
game has been given a distinct analytical
breakdown, with experts minutely
breaking down every throw, swing
and catch.
The sport’s leadership has been less
precise in reviewing the fi nancial aspects
of what is, indisputably, the reason
it exists: the making of money.
Since 1996, baseball has operated under
a “luxury tax,” otherwise known
as a competitive balance tax. The
idea behind it seemed logical, at fi rst.
Teams with smaller markets needed
assistance to fi eld players who would
be competitive with larger markets.
Therefore, teams with salaries over
a given fi gure (the 2019 fi gure is $206
million) would have to provide funds
that would be used for teams spending
less. Some funds go for other MLB purposes.
Major League Baseball explains
how it works: “ Each year, clubs
that exceed a predetermined payroll
threshold are subject to a Competitive
Balance Tax -- which is commonly referred
to as a “luxury tax.” Those who
carry payrolls above that threshold are
taxed on each dollar above the threshold,
with the tax rate increasing based
on the number of consecutive years a
club has exceeded the threshold.”
The idea, like most quasi-socialist
concepts, sounded appealing but was
based on fl awed logic and a misreading
of human instincts. The fact that is
hasn’t work hasn’t led to its removal,
an unfortunately similar result seen
in socialist governments. Venezuela’s
tragedy, the comparison of North and
South Korea, and more are all examples
of socialist experiments that have
clearly failed, but the religious-like adherence
of its devotees prevents acting
on the glaringly bad results. Far too
consistently, lesser spending teams
have simply pocketed the handout.
Fangraphs describes the system
as a ‘punishment’ levied against owners
that do all they can to put the best
product on the fi eld.
William Ryan Colby, in a paper presented
to the Department of Economics
at Amherst College found that “the
marginal tax rates created by MLB’s
revenue sharing systems have actually
worsened balance in the league.
Although the most recent sharing system
begins to realign incentives, it
still risks “turning a ‘good’ imbalance
into a ‘bad one” by subsidizing poorly
managed teams at the expense of well
run teams… the incentive structures
created by MLB revenue sharing had
the anticipated negative effects on
competitive balance.”
A logical suggestion was provided
by Hal Steinbrenner, a co-owner of the
the NY Yankees. The National Review
quotes him as stating “At some point,
if you don’t want to worry about teams
in minor markets, don’t put teams in
minor markets, or don’t leave teams in
minor markets if they’re truly minor…
Socialism, communism, whatever you
want to call it, is never the answer.”
Russ Roberts, writing for Cafe-
Hayek explains: “Even if the Yankees
a big-market, big spending team
share their revenue equally with other
teams, the benefi ciaries of that subsidy
may decide to simply pocket it
rather than making their teams more
competitive. Revenue sharing does
reward mediocrity and punish excellence
and as the amount of sharing
grows, the potential harm from that
perverse incentive gets worse.”
Just as socialist ideas, consistently
advertised as a way of helping workers,
inevitably leads to decreased economic
conditions, so too has been the
result of Major League Baseball’s revenue
sharing.
Jared Diamond, writing in the Wall
Street Journal. blames the system for
the recent spate of surprisingly lower
salary offers. “… at least some owners
say the tax is a strong disincentive to
overspending. “A lot of teams realize
the penalty is pretty severe if you go
over…”
Baseball is often seen as a refl ection
of American society as a whole.
The recent growth in popularity of socialist
ideas, a concept that has consistently
led to economic, social, and
political disaster, is unfortunately the
latest manifestation of that.