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I saw an advert for it where a woman pulls a US flag out of the bear's Aris.
Because nothing says freedom like sodomy.
America - The Official Thread
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I saw an advert for it where a woman pulls a US flag out of the bear's Aris.
Because nothing says freedom like sodomy.
Joey D
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You need a permit if you want to close off a road though. If they would have just protested on the sidewalks, not having a permit really wouldn't have been an issue.
Protesting while massive inconveniencing others isn't the way to get your message across. People will hate whatever cause because you threw a wrench into whatever they were doing.
Danoff
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There's absolutely nothing wrong with income inequality. Your chart makes it look like wealth is being redistributed from the poor to the rich, but of course that's not the case. The totals are expanding throughout that time period. The poor aren't handing their wealth over to the rich, the rich are creating it faster. The only reason to concern yourself with income inequality is out of jealousy. Someone else making money is not taking it away from anyone else, unless they're literally stealing it, which is criminal.
I know that you can make a better case than you have. By the way, I pay many times my share in taxes, and as best I can tell both the house and senate plans increase my taxes and almost nobody below me gets a tax hike.
I know that you don't want to actually acknowledge what's going on, but the US has had a massive corporate tax rate that has created an incentive to outsource and relocate overseas. Our corporate tax rates have been hurting people in the US. There's nothing wrong with cutting those rates in order to rectify that.
Also, keep in mind, that when the US poor effectively pay zero federal income tax (bottom like... 45% I think?) you can't do anything but benefit the people above them when you cut taxes unless you just want to start handing out (more) free money to people who didn't earn it.
What transfer of wealth are you talking about? I see none. You're misreading your charts.
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Ah, state-authorised protest
A protest is a protest and it takes what it takes. As long as it was non-violent then it's okay. In the circumstances I'm astonished that more people didn't go out onto the street and join in.
No.
They're profiting from work done, as a good example that's how a factory employing manual labourers works.
That transfer is from work done in life time turned into profits for large corporations. Surely that's a basic of economics?
In the case of Trump's new tax laws it's hard to ignore that he'll be better off while people on average ages will be worse off. Isn't there a modicum of wealth transfer in cash kept?
Danoff
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That's a mutually beneficial voluntary contract between two individuals. Each individual is transferring value to the other in an exchange that both parties agree is beneficial to them. There is no philosophical difference between the parties.
No? Taxing less the money that someone earned is not transferring wealth from poor people to the person paying taxes. First of all, I'll pay more under the proposed plans. But if someone above me (in earnings) pays less (because they're incorporated or whatever), let's say it takes them from paying 200 times their fair share to 190 times their fair share. That is not a transfer of wealth from poor people to them, that is seizing less of what they created. Second of all, a huge portion of americans pay net zero federal income tax. How is this stealing from them?
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Joey D
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Ah, state-authorised protest
State authorized road closure. You can protest all you want, but you can't close down a road without a permit. The State owns the roads so they get to say what happens on them. If they were private roads then the private entity could call the shots.
I'm guessing most people had no idea what they were protesting. For whatever reason people seem to think the land is going to private once the monument is shrunk, when in reality it's just going to go back to the National Forest Service instead of the National Park Service. Something like 70% of it is still going to be sort of protected land (which the feds can allow the extraction of natural resources from). The other 30% will be private land, primarily used for growing cows.
And a protest can be effective and not cause major disruption. If the protesters would have lined the sidewalk all the way down the major road, people would still see their message and not be irritated by a closed road. Nothing makes me hate your cause more then when you go about making a hassle. I don't care if I support it or not, the fact those people choose that medium to protest just makes me think they're inconsiderate asshats.
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If you don't respect the law and my time, I won't respect you or your right to protest. There are plenty of places to protest legally and you can get roads closed if you get the proper permits, in which case I can drive around you because notice is available to me too. Start blocking roads preventing me from getting to a service call or where I want to be and you've just decided that your time and your cause is more important than me. That's for me to decide, not you.
Danoff
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The real interesting thing going on with the tax proposals is not redistribution of wealth (because it really does look like the wealthy are being taxed MORE under the new tax plans), it's the demographics of which wealthy people are getting taxed more.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/12/05/us/politics/tax-bill-salt.html
Blue states.
The republicans are aiming specifically at taxes changes that will harm rich people in blue states disproportionately, and create an incentive to actually leave those states. They're jacking up taxes on non-republicans specifically according to state boundaries, and will create some pressure to relocate to republican states, further boosting the republican favoritism in the electoral college.
It is absolutely fascinating.
It's also a way to pass a tax bill that comes closer to revenue neutral than would otherwise be possible while offering a tax cut to their base.... but their base only.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/12/05/us/politics/tax-bill-salt.html
Blue states.
The republicans are aiming specifically at taxes changes that will harm rich people in blue states disproportionately, and create an incentive to actually leave those states. They're jacking up taxes on non-republicans specifically according to state boundaries, and will create some pressure to relocate to republican states, further boosting the republican favoritism in the electoral college.
It is absolutely fascinating.
It's also a way to pass a tax bill that comes closer to revenue neutral than would otherwise be possible while offering a tax cut to their base.... but their base only.
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Joey D
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I really does seem like the Republicans are just being spiteful this time around. Passing bills out of spite is the wrong way to do it, they should be passed if they're for the good of the country and actually make a meaningful change. Never mind nothing in the tax bill seems to address the out of control spending. You can't have tax cuts without a reduction in spending, otherwise you just get massive debt.
This just furthers my belief we need a flat tax.
This just furthers my belief we need a flat tax.
Danoff
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Agreed, which this bill actually moves us closer to. According to that article, only 10% of the population would even file a long form. That's a total step in the right direction. Imagine how much of the tax code we could just light ablaze if we eliminated the long form altogether after that.
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To lighten things up a little.........
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It's the movement of the embassy to Jerusalem that's the "issue". It's an open admission on the part of the U.S. that it's the capital of Israel. I think some in the Middle East will not take it well. Hamas, the terrorist organization, has already called for a "day of rage". It's a bold move of support for Israel on the part of Trump, but it's not going to come at the cost of many lives I fear.
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Its long overdue, but the fact that Israel has no recognized capital is a bit silly 69 years after its creation and 50 years after Jerusalem was captured.
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Trump's move is, I suspect, destined to divert attention from other issues that displease him. That he is throwing fuel into a fire, as @Dennisch wrote, and that such a move might cause more death and pain in and around Israel, isn't important.
I don't care much about Trump or indeed if the American political system is capable of dealing with the "stress test" that is his presidency. America's problem, of their own creation, therefore theirs to solve. But it annoys me that this move is perfect for extremists from all sides. And it annoys me to see Turkey drifting further and further away from its alliances with the western democracies. That summit about Syria between Putin, Erdogan and Rouhani is probably only a sign of what's happening behind curtains in international diplomacy. But only clever diplomacy will stop this from growing into something that will recreate the "us" and the "them" that existed until the fall of the Soviet Union.
International diplomacy is facing great challenges now. Turkey and Iran concerting their agendas in the Middle East is something completely new. And to make maters even more complex, one is a NATO member and the other is constantly being menaced by the USA. Regarding Europe, Iran is less seen as a foe, but diplomatic relations with Turkey are at an all time low due to the loss of democracy this latest version of Erdogan means.
Amidst all this (and I'm not even mentioning Korea and China, another chessboard entirely) Trump announces the USA accepts Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Great move.
I don't care much about Trump or indeed if the American political system is capable of dealing with the "stress test" that is his presidency. America's problem, of their own creation, therefore theirs to solve. But it annoys me that this move is perfect for extremists from all sides. And it annoys me to see Turkey drifting further and further away from its alliances with the western democracies. That summit about Syria between Putin, Erdogan and Rouhani is probably only a sign of what's happening behind curtains in international diplomacy. But only clever diplomacy will stop this from growing into something that will recreate the "us" and the "them" that existed until the fall of the Soviet Union.
International diplomacy is facing great challenges now. Turkey and Iran concerting their agendas in the Middle East is something completely new. And to make maters even more complex, one is a NATO member and the other is constantly being menaced by the USA. Regarding Europe, Iran is less seen as a foe, but diplomatic relations with Turkey are at an all time low due to the loss of democracy this latest version of Erdogan means.
Amidst all this (and I'm not even mentioning Korea and China, another chessboard entirely) Trump announces the USA accepts Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Great move.
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Danoff
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Keep in mind that these aren't Trump's bills. There's a house bill and a senate bill.
You're kinda locked and loaded to throw stones either way aren't you. I mean, imagine that they created a special carve out in response to this complaint in order to help out coal? Would that be good? No of course that would be an example of lobbying for favorable tax treatment for your industry. That would be the worst kind of government. On the otherhand, if they don't do that, now they're not paying enough attention to presidential campaign promises to favor those special interests. Catch 22.
Of course, the republicans shouldn't put themselves in this position to begin with. But one of these is more favorable than the other from a philosophical perspective... and it's the one where we don't continue to carve out the tax code to favor special interests... which is the current road.
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Trump pissed off the entire Muslim world with his brilliant action, and yet he is convinced that the US embassy will become a sign of peace.
After that, a bit to think about:
2 decades of talks haven't solved anything and didn't bring peace any closer.
He might have a point there. Perhaps this will spark a different mindset in that religious cesspool we call the Middle East.
But a bit more realistic, less hopeful, thinking tells us that the only things that will probably spark are the fuses on the bombs.
After that, a bit to think about:
2 decades of talks haven't solved anything and didn't bring peace any closer.
He might have a point there. Perhaps this will spark a different mindset in that religious cesspool we call the Middle East.
But a bit more realistic, less hopeful, thinking tells us that the only things that will probably spark are the fuses on the bombs.
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IMO there's only one thing that will bring an end to this Israeli/Palestinian/Middle Eastern conflict and animosity and that's a broad leadership consensus in the rest of the Middle East, including the border states and a couple of other big players in the region. The Americans can't do it and nor can any other outside agency and nor can the Israelis without giving up the farm in the process.
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Before I gave up about how to deal with Middle East I always had the same idea about how it could be fixed and it isn't pretty.
Everyone looks away for a couple of months, in that time Israel removes the Palestinians. The bearded neighbourhoods go bananas over this and completely remove Israel.
Solved.
But that will never happen because it will probably mean the end of the world as we know it.
Everyone looks away for a couple of months, in that time Israel removes the Palestinians. The bearded neighbourhoods go bananas over this and completely remove Israel.
Solved.
But that will never happen because it will probably mean the end of the world as we know it.
