US Presidential election

Quote by MorePleasin

There's something off when the richest guy makes $1000 for a fart's worth of time, and is not willing to pay a little extra via a reasonable progressive income tax. How many problems could be addressed if the ultra-rich would hand over at least 50% of their annual income as they once did (from about 1915 up to the early 80's). They would still be the richest, having many millions in after-tax income. That money might help everyone to be a little less grumpy, a little more comfortable, a little more invested in solving problems and learning new things ... .like the way it was, at a time most conservatives dream about returning to.

Totally agree that income inequality has become ridiculous for CEO's, athletes, etc. While "conservatives" might wish to return to a time when the income inequality gap was not quite so wide, in day to day reality Republicans typically legislate for lower corporate taxes (Trump), tax breaks for the rich (Trump again) and I would argue either protect the status quo or block attempts to fix it (e.g. student loan forgiveness.) I don't think the Dems are blameless either but what do you expect when US elections are bought and paid for by the excessively rich?

In Canada a luxury tax is being imposed on big ticket items (e.g. corporate jets) but the revenues are not huge given the volumes are low. It appalls me that G7 nations don't all have progressive tax regimes, as OP notes: the rich will still be rich.

I think this is a pretty clear message from Putin that he thinks Trump is a joke.

https://www.newsweek.com/russian-state-tv-airs-melania-trumps-nudes-primetime-1982683

Quote by Longtime_Firsttime

How?

Under Trumplicans women no longer have control over their own bodies. That clear enough?

As a sidenote, the current abortion decision by Supreme Court was made by a Republican stacked court that includes 3 right wing members who would be probably be disbarred if they were just regular lawyers.

Quote by Longtime_Firsttime

Or, the government could stop sending billions and billions to other nations helping them fight a war that didn't exist under the previous Republican administration. And lets not forget the billions and billions they have spent on housing millions of illegal immigrants because of the open border policy. Think of what they could have done with that money to help our own people in need. Charity always starts at home. Always. And do you think someone like Nancy Pelosi would like to pay her share in taxes? How did she become so rich anyway on her income? Something stinks about that woman.

The naivete in this is astounding. Modern nations all over the world give billions to other nations for trade, military and other reasons. Do you remember the Gulf War? I assume you are aware that it will take an estimated $88 billion to deport an average of 1 million illegal immigrants per year? Charity starts at home. Agree. And the US is the wealthiest nation on earth and since it appears they want to be a god-fearing nation surely that would suggest helping the less fortunate? Why do cons hate immigrants so much? Unless you're indigenous to the US you owe your existence in the US to an immigrant. Note: Elon Musk was an illegal immigrant. Is Trump going to deport him for breaking the law?

You're questioning Pelosi when Trump has 6 bankruptcies, has never disclosed his taxes (and likely pays very little) and speaking for myself I used to steal food I was so poor and now I'm rather wealthy. It isn't that difficult to do. Especially if you're white.

Are you going to ask Trump to investigate himself for charging higher rates to government employees/events held on Trump owned properties?

Quote by Longtime_Firsttime
Think of what they could have done with that money to help our own people in need. Charity always starts at home. Always. And do you think someone like Nancy Pelosi would like to pay her share in taxes? How did she become so rich anyway on her income? Something stinks about that woman.

When it comes to money, be sure your views cannot be seen as hypocritical. I'm sure I do not have to say much more than that, The devil is always in the details....like ... who was it again that spent charity funds supposedly for child cancer victims on his own business?? Oh yeah, here's the link to the article in Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/danalexander/2019/12/23/best-stories-of-the-decade-how-donald-trump-shifted-kids-cancer-charity-money-into-his-business/

I think there is a lot of money also in the hands of religious organizations that could be spread around more in line with their guiding principles to help the poor, instead of being used to buy big mansions and private jets, It's just a suggestion, if you do not want to look hypocritical..

With respect to spending on Ukraine, have you ever seen the movie "Red Dawn"? The simplified plot: aliens invade your homeland and want to take over, so you fight the bastards. You are so damn fixated on just your own American homeland that you cannot put yourselves into the shoes of the Ukranians, fighting for their existence against an invating tyrannical force that wants to wipe out Ukraine as a distinct nation? Russians and her allies are a force that could just keep going after winning Ukraine, into Latvia, Estonia, Poland... just like in the most recent World War. You have heard of it, I hope, The Fascists lost, did you hear? I learned about it in History class. Look at American history too. Ukrainians are fighting for their Independence. How more "America-like" can it get than that?

Think more outside your little private fiefdom of idealized purity... because its just not sustainable. Put yourself in other people's shoes, because amongst other things, there IS only one earth, and we better fucking learn how to get along together and treat it and each other with respect if we are going to survive.

Quote by Longtime_Firsttime

I used to be 100% pro choice. To a degree I still am, but the way this has been the focus of a campaign like every unwanted pregnancy is the result of a hideous crime has pushed me further away from supporting it. Anyone who is a true victim of such a thing should have access to termination and/or if there is a real threat to the life of the mother. Those percentages are very very low with those examples. In my opinion, most women are upset that they can no longer use abortion as a form of birth control. Having unprotected sex knowing the risks on more than a pregnancy level is just irresponsible. But you get people like that leftist crack pot racist Sunny Hostin who gets on national tv and tells the audience that her 13 year old daughter has less rights that she had at her age and that she is definitely going to be a victim of a crime and not have access.

a few facts, not opinions.

1) 10 US states have a total abortion ban in cases of R A P E and I N C E S T. one of them is yours, btw. 10 more have limited access to abortion in those cases - that's 20 states in total. 40% of US states.

2) Only 310 out of every 1,000 (1 out of 3) sexual assaults are reported to police - so it stands to reason that 1 of 3 pregnancies that are a result of sexual assault are also unreported. hardly a low example.

3) in your opinion most women are upset they can no longer use abortion as a form of birth control? what do you base your opinion on? do you have proof of this or know any women who do this?

4) one of the ways many lower-income people access birth control is through planned parenthood. many of those clinics have been shut down in the wake of Roe V Wade being overturned.

5) abortions are not fun physically or emotionally. it's not something we just waltz into the nearest clinic and have done because it's easier than buying condoms.

6) Sonny Hostins 13 yo daughter DOES have fewer rights than she had at her age and it's very possible that she WILL be a victim of crime and not have access. fact - in the US 1 in 5 women have been sexually assaulted. the statistics for sexual harassment of women is about 80%.

Quote by Longtime_Firsttime

I agree, they should all lay out their incomes and what they pay on taxes. Every single one of them. But they wont, because it will expose them all. Trump even admitted to the world he knows the tax codes and how to reduce paying it and when he put that to Hillary, all she did was smile because he was right. Im not against immigration. I am against illegal immigration and open borders. Do you think the migrant issue of the last 4 years has made our country better, safer than the previous 4 years? do you even think that 10 plus million illegal border crossings, that they know of, is ok? And how much do you think those 1 million immigrants has cost the government for being here in the first place to house and feed, the transport moving them around and the crime that's come with it. Come on, you have to agree that the removal of the Remain in Mexico deal Trump had has had a huge negative affect on this country. I know, its a very big, very dry pill to swallow.

In the 12 months after Title 42 ended, the Biden administration ramped up deportations under the standard U.S. immigration framework, Title 8, and removed or returned 775,000 unauthorized migrants—more than in any previous fiscal year since 2010.

Quote by Longtime_Firsttime
But you get people like that leftist crack pot racist Sunny Hostin ...

Dude has only been signed up for four days so far.

How long does a troll have to ferment before his presence is unmistakable?

Getting a little pungent already, I think. Best to disengage.

Quote by Longtime_Firsttime

How?

well, setting up SCOTUS so that they could repeal Roe v Wade and committing sexual harassment and abuse do come to mind.

Quote by Longtime_Firsttime

Or, the government could stop sending billions and billions to other nations helping them fight a war that didn't exist under the previous Republican administration. And lets not forget the billions and billions they have spent on housing millions of illegal immigrants because of the open border policy. Think of what they could have done with that money to help our own people in need. Charity always starts at home. Always. And do you think someone like Nancy Pelosi would like to pay her share in taxes? How did she become so rich anyway on her income? Something stinks about that woman.

some of us believe that everyone deserves charity and to be treated like human beings instead of political fodder or less than human. pretty sure Jesus would approve this message. FYI, Elon Musk is an "illegal immigrant" too. You knew that, right?

lol

Quote by Longtime_Firsttime

Musk at least entered the country legally but worked without a valid working visa at some point, something that millions have done. He is not currently an illegal immigrant. He gained Citizenship in 2002. Why is everyone going after him? I'm sure everyone loved him when he support the Dems.

For me its a sliding scale; the MAGA camp is talking about mass deportations of illegal immigrants and the dude rumoured to be Trump's guy in charge of deportations has been quoted talking about deporting illegal immigrants AND their birthright children with them. So Elon broke an immigration law (i.e. the terms under which he was allowed into the US) so why should he be treated any different? Musk is a polarizing guy and tends to elicit strong reactions. I personally don't give a crap what he's accomplished. He's a fucking terrible human being. His $200 million support of Trump is just the latest ugly thing he has done.

The mass deportation thing is just bullshit for the most ignorant base party supporters. The practical reality is it won't happen.

Logistically, how do to round up and deport millions of people, without spending billions in salaries for the people needed for rounding up the people being deported? How do you move and where do you put the people you rounded up while you arrange for their deportation? Who pays for their transportation and boarding.

Some to be deported have skills that will be missed, and hard to replace. Once you start removing people, who will pick your fruits and vegetables, work in your food processing plants, build your cars, clean your mansions, or make up for the lost tax revenue those that were deported once payed in income taxes? How will the economy withstand the sudden loss of such a high percentage of the population?

You should not need a degree in economics to see it's totally impractical. The only value it had was as a false promise for political gain.

Quote by MorePleasin

The mass deportation thing is just bullshit for the most ignorant base party supporters. The practical reality is it won't happen.

Logistically, how do to round up and deport millions of people, without spending billions in salaries for the people needed for rounding up the people being deported? How do you move and where do you put the people you rounded up while you arrange for their deportation? Who pays for their transportation and boarding.

Some to be deported have skills that will be missed, and hard to replace. Once you start removing people, who will pick your fruits and vegetables, work in your food processing plants, build your cars, clean your mansions, or make up for the lost tax revenue those that were deported once payed in income taxes? How will the economy withstand the sudden loss of such a high percentage of the population?

You should not need a degree in economics to see it's totally impractical. The only value it had was as a false promise for political gain.

I hope you're right. I agree the logistics are ridiculous. I just wonder how far things might go before it all ends. Trump will probably say he couldn't do it on the scale he wanted because he needed the money to repair the border wall Biden neglected.

Starting to feel like America has lost a new type of war where our enemies use propaganda to weaponize stupidity into voting for chaos agents to dismantle the US government and the US itself so we can then be actually conquered in the near future. Americans voted for a guy that placed an oligarch in a position to dismantle our institutions.

lol

Quote by Magical_felix

Starting to feel like America has lost a new type of war where our enemies use propaganda to weaponize stupidity into voting for chaos agents to dismantle the US government and the US itself so we can then be actually conquered in the near future. Americans voted for a guy that placed an oligarch in a position to dismantle our institutions.

lol

that can't be real..."DOGE" as in "Dogecoin'? Its like puppets on a string.

Quote by LYFBUZ

that can't be real..."DOGE" as in "Dogecoin'? Its like puppets on a string.

It’s been posted by a lot of accounts that don’t usually post jokes so as far as I can tell it’s real. Unless everyone’s been fooled. Musk posted it too. Which would also be just great, like joking around about this stuff.

Bit of a conflict of interest to have musk in charge of cutting government agents, officials etc.

“uhh something that would help the people would be to get rid of IRS agents auditing billionaires” -Elon musk probably

Quote by Longtime_Firsttime

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/?back=1

Looks like Harris somehow overspent her campaign budget and needs to find another $20M and she wanted to be in charge of spending our taxes? 🤣

Based on the scale of election spending ($14.4 billion in 2020) $20M is peanuts. Compare that to using criminal convictions to raise money and the $20 million pales in comparison to what Trump companies have gleaned from sucker investors, he doesn't pay his bills, monetized the Presidency and his companies have gone bankrupt 6 times. And that makes Trump a better choice? He also increased the US deficit by a record amount.

Quote by Longtime_Firsttime

You need to decide what side you are on. Immigration or not. On one hand you are saying that everyone deserves charity and we should allow illegal border crossings for those desperate for a better life (though not everyone has that agenda) or, applaud the government for sending people back because that figure or 775k, sounded like a flex.

And then you need to ask yourself (yourselves), why the need to ramp it up? I'll tell you why. They had a shit load of people here they could chose from, so they picked the low hanging fruit to send a message to us that they are getting tough on immigration because there was an election looming and they knew their open border policy would give swing voters a reason to vote for Trump. But then I have to ask, why are people so upset about Trump sending people back when Biden is already doing it? Well, not Biden himself. Last video I saw he was having trouble navigating the sand hills on some beach.

Actually, I don't need to do anything. I voted, and I have a clean conscience about my vote. simple as that.

Madness

Quote by Magical_felix

Madness

We're all doomed.

Quote by Longtime_Firsttime

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/?back=1

Looks like Harris somehow overspent her campaign budget and needs to find another $20M and she wanted to be in charge of spending our taxes? 🤣

Oh my God, she went TWO PERCENT over budget? The horror! Sure never saw that in my decades working in the private sector. /s

Quote by sprite

We're all doomed.

I’ve mostly been shrugging at Trump’s appointments as more or less what’s to be expected, but Gaetz?! Sheesh.

Quote by LYFBUZ

that can't be real..."DOGE" as in "Dogecoin'? Its like puppets on a string.

Oh, it’s real.

She was placed on a terror watchlist....

I just can't see how the wheels don't fall off in 6 months. Given the only qualification seems to be loyalty to Putin's bitch the incompetence and lack of insight in these appointments is horrifying. Did Tucker get anything yet? If the media does its job most of these appointees are going to get pilloried over the next 4 years. They're too stupid to avoid tripping over themselves.

The cabinet looks like an overstuffed clown car.

Is it just me or is each announcement more ludicrous than the last? Seems like Tucker, MTG and Beetlejuice Barbie will be next.

Should be hearing Cookie Monster for Secretary of the Treasury any minute. Henceforth the US dollar will be tied to chocolate chip cookies.

Quote by LYFBUZ

Should be hearing Cookie Monster for Secretary of the Treasury any minute. Henceforth the US dollar will be tied to chocolate chip cookies.

Ooh, did someone mention cookies?

From the other side of the world - you voted for him - now you have to put up with him for 4 years - if he doesn't die of lead poisoning first.