Current Events Thread

[thebigabd]

Why? Who decides it?

In some democracies (like Switzerland), tax policy can be voted on. In this case, the numbers were generated by a group of economists.. But your question is not relevant.

Did you question your tax bracket when Trump rolled out tax reform?

Trumps plan calls for 37% on income over $518,000.... Bernie's calls for 40% in that same bracket... Bernie simply added more brackets. In the Trump plan, 37% is the top bracket. Bernie has a 40%, 45%, 50%, and 52% bracket.

Who made the Trump tax brackets? And why? Who decided it? Republicans wrote it down, but it was decided for them by their political donors. Those said donors gave a total of $31 million in a two month stretch of time to Republicans to get tax reform done. It was bought and paid for.

I watched a debate (and the clip is out there), where Ted Cruz literally admitted on national television in a debate that he was meeting with the Koch brothers on capitol hill on tax reform.... and threats to pull their campaign funding for GOP members if they don't get it done.

That's how you got your numbers that you don't seem to question.

But on top of all that.... I still find it fascinating that you guys are so fervently trying to defend a tax bracket you will never be in. You couldn't reach some of these tax brackets even if you won the lottery. I still think there is a fundamental misunderstanding of the amount of money we are talking about here. What a great thing these guys at the top have.... An entire army of middle class people (at best) out there fighting hard not for their own interest, but for the interest of a relatively tiny group of the population that has totally screwed you over.

 

[coolm]

LOL. Is your head in the sand or up your ass?

so if I dont share you extremely skewed view then I am subject to your little dilemma?

priceless. you're like the epitome of dumbass.

 

[SoonerBounce13]

L. O. L.

The “noose” was a very small loop to pull down a garage door that has been in place for awhile.

Sensitive nannies

 

[thebigabd]

L. O. L.

The “noose” was a very small loop to pull down a garage door that has been in place for awhile.

Sensitive nannies

Saw that... not a good look.

 

[SoonerBounce13]

I mean I know I laughed but I’m glad it was t anything more

 

[WaymanFan]

You can call it whatever you want, but we absolutely have a glaring tax problem in this country... It causes all sorts of systemic problems. It's an attack on competition in the market, it's an attack on democracy itself, too much wealth and power is concentrated into too few, it creates social unrest, just to name a few.

And, tax revenue is clearly a problem... $22 trillion in debt. The economy will NEVER grow at a rate fast enough to overcome that. It's too volatile. We had crashes in 1989, 2001, 2008, and 2020... There will be recessions, there will be global disasters, etc. You can't grow your way out of this. It's completely illogical, but its pretty much ALL the GOP is selling. It makes no sense whatsoever.

We have serious tax revenue problems. Serious wealth distribution problems. Serious spending problems.

No argument there. While I have no problems with the rich paying their fair share of taxes, I don't know how much of a dent it would put into the $22 trillion. Being in the I.T. profession for many years, I do know one major problem that has contributed to reduced tax revenue --> OFFSHORING and H1B visas. The biggest problem with that is those who are victims of offshoring and H1B visas often settle for much lower-paying jobs. I am currently on a team of 25 people. 18 of them live in India, 5 more live in the US on H1B visas, one is from Mexico (legally), and there is me...the token American. Anyone who thinks this unusual, I can safely say is in another profession.

The corruption associated with H1B through the years is unspeakable...a disgrace in every sense of the word. Congress and several US Presidents have allowed it to metastasize. The two biggest detractors of H1B through the years is made up of one Democrat (Dick Durban, Illinois) and one Republican (Charles Grassley, Iowa). I know nothing about those two politicians except to publicly say THANK YOU for their efforts through the years in at least TRYING to do something constructive to minimize the enormous damage...they got very little help from either party. It's another in a long line of reasons why I have no use for either Democrats or Republicans. Furthermore, I can’t think of two politicians I despise more than Nancy Pelosi and Mitch McConnell.

 

[mict085]

so if I dont share you extremely skewed view then I am subject to your little dilemma?

priceless. you're like the epitome of dumbass.

You don’t have to share the view. What dilemma?

The dems are using a Marxist movement to further their agenda.

You’re so full of spite and ignorance. Sad.

 

[SoonerBounce13]

Can you explain what H1b is?

 

[WaymanFan]

Can you explain what H1b is?

It is a work visa which allows foreign workers to come to America and live here as long as they are working for the company which hired them. The intended purpose was to hire foreigners (majority in I.T.) to complement the shortage of qualified Americans. Instead, Congress allowed greedy executives to circumvent and corrupt the entire process resulting in these people displacing those American workers. They work for less money (because most are far less qualified), and they have to take it when they get pushed around because they are stuck at that company if they want to stay in America. That combo is very attractive to employers...but it’s a major contribution to decreased tax revenue in this country.

 

[coolm]

You don’t have to share the view. What dilemma?

The dems are using a Marxist movement to further their agenda.

You’re so full of spite and ignorance. Sad.

and you're supporting fascism ... your point being? you're an idiot.

 

[mict085]

and you're supporting fascism ... your point being? you're an idiot.

LOL. What a dumb dumb.

 

[coolm]

LOL. What a dumb dumb.

crawl back into your hole in Bugtussle or whatever redneck haven you infest. you're uncovered.

 

[paboomersooner]

Do I really have to explain polls to you again? You seem to have a learning disability.

My disability is the inability to let some of your inane drivel pass without commenting. But I'm trying. Patience.

 

[steverocks35]

My disability is the inability to let some of your inane drivel pass without commenting. But I'm trying. Patience.

Your disability is your complete lack of understanding of science and math

 

[paboomersooner]

Your disability is your complete lack of understanding of science and math

Nope.

 

[steverocks35]

Nope.

Yep, you’ve demonstrated it repeatedly

 

[mict085]

crawl back into your hole in Bugtussle or whatever redneck haven you infest. you're uncovered.

Haha. I’m the furthest thing from a redneck. That may be your life, but it’s not mine. You’re a sad pathetic little man.

 

[WTSooner]

Trumps plan calls for 37% on income over $518,000.... Bernie's calls for 40% in that same bracket... Bernie simply added more brackets. In the Trump plan, 37% is the top bracket. Bernie has a 40%, 45%, 50%, and 52% bracket.

I'm against any tax policy that brackets reaching 50% and over. That is utter nonsense. And downright theft, IMO.

 

[WTSooner]

We need to do the following:

• Raise taxes on wealth
• Grow the economy
• Cut Wasteful Spending
• Cut spending on some things not deemed wasteful, like military

Two out of 4 ain't bad. Agree with you on growing the economy and cutting wasteful spending. In line with that, I'd add possibly privatizing some things the government currently does. Postal service comes to mind.

Cutting waste would go a long way. There are policies in place (getting quotes, etc), but the government wastes SO MUCH money it's not even funny. I honestly believe we could make up any revenue short-falls just by cleaning up the expenditures.

 

[WTSooner]

I guess I need to clarify. I see hypocrisy is railing on the rich while being rich yourself. The Left has villified wealth and those "1%ers". Their solution to the country's economic woes is to tax the rich more. I do not believe that a lack of revenue is the issue. Taxing the rich more will just add to the misuse of revenue. I believe it is immoral to tax people more than what is needed...and I think that grossly happens here. I think America is too big to succeed. A republic is great for a small country. But for a country our size, waste is abundant. I know this got really off track.

What they don't understand is that that has an effect on other things as well. You start taxing the wealthy and corporations like that, and their employee benefits and charitable giving is going to take a massive hit. The wealthy and the large corporations aren't going to just stop realizing income and profits that they are used to, they are going to cut expenses (HEY!, see my previous post about the US Government doing this) to regain those margins.

Which means that we go from private citizens and corps supporting some of these social programs, to relying in the government to do it. I'm against just about anything that takes something out of the private sector and puts it in the governmental arena, b/c the government has shown they can't be as good or efficient in almost all cases.