Trump is the Perfect Sore Loser

Discussion in 'Political Discussions' started by Bill Huffman, Nov 7, 2020.

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  1. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    That's fair; I'm definitely not going to argue against simplification. The amount of talent and time that gets wasted on tax compliance is ridiculous. Doubly so in that it's not like the IRS doesn't know from employers and financial institutions what your finances look like, they could skip returns altogether and just send people either a bill or a check, depending.
     
  2. nosborne48

    nosborne48 Well-Known Member

    For wage earners IRS could absolutely present a draft return and if there's any changes the taxpayer could make them and approve the return. The tax preparation industry has thus far succeeded in preventing this attack of good sense.
     
    SteveFoerster likes this.
  3. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    The problem with the tax code is that it has been used, historically, to advance social causes. Thus, it favors some activities over others. For example, it favors home ownership, marriage, having children, religion, and investing (vs. savings)--not to mention the myriad tax breaks for certain kinds of corporations.

    None of this has anything to do with calculating the tax one should owe, if taxation was merely a way to spread the burden of running the government. But it is not.

    I would be in favor of a progressive tax scale with none (or very few) deductions/credits. And everybody would hate me for it.
     
  4. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    It's certainly not what I would come up with left to my own devices, true. But what we have is so convoluted and so wasteful of time and talent that, depending on the details, even I realize that what you describe might be an improvement.
     
    Rich Douglas likes this.
  5. nosborne48

    nosborne48 Well-Known Member

    That's the goal. I keep saying that a tax break is economically exactly the same thing as cutting a check on the Treasury payable to the taxpayer in question. The thing is, it doesn't LOOK the same so Congress uses this device to accomplish their social (or personal/political) agenda. This needs to stop.
     
    Rich Douglas likes this.
  6. Vonnegut

    Vonnegut Well-Known Member

  7. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    Prosecutors in Georgia and New York are closing in.

    On a side note, how many people would be alive today if the Kovid Kommander had promoted MAGA masks instead of MAGA hats?
     
  8. Vonnegut

    Vonnegut Well-Known Member

    [​IMG]

    (He very well may have won reelection with a landslide, if he could have simply checked his ego and stated we're following the experts and not having partisan politics... he possibly missed one of the greatest softball tosses in election history...)
     
    Rachel83az likes this.
  9. Bill Huffman

    Bill Huffman Well-Known Member

    Trump making masks and vaccines a political issue has cost many lives and is still responsible for many lives being lost today. If one assumed that we could do at least as well as Germany (which should be easy since we have far more vaccines available than Germany) then

    Germany has a total rate of 111 deaths per 100,000 population.
    USA has a total of 198 deaths per 100,000 population. If we did as good as Germany then it would be 364,000 deaths instead of 640,000 deaths in the USA so about 276,000 more deaths than the German rate.
     
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  10. Lerner

    Lerner Well-Known Member

     
  11. Lerner

    Lerner Well-Known Member

    How accurate the #s are are we reporting on the same criteria as Germans?

    Democrat ex NY gov Cuomo was manipulating coronavirus statistics to burnish his image.
    It turned out that his administration had minimized the death toll among nursing home residents by excluding several thousand who had succumbed after being transferred to hospitals.
    Cuomo used those lower numbers last year to erroneously claim that New York was seeing a much smaller percentage of nursing home residents dying of COVID-19 than other states.
     
  12. Bill Huffman

    Bill Huffman Well-Known Member

    So adjust 276,000 more death down by a few tens of thousands deaths? Still a very sad number.
     
  13. nosborne48

    nosborne48 Well-Known Member

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  14. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    Hope so.

    Of course, that would be an acknowledgement that he lost the 2020 election. It will be fun to watch his supporters twist like pretzels trying to put that all together.
     
  15. Bill Huffman

    Bill Huffman Well-Known Member

    I believe what he has made up his mind to do is to continue milking his base for donations and ego strokes. That means he has to make sure that his base thinks that he is going to run in 2024. If he does run he will probably lose. But, unlike Rich, I'm to afraid he might win to "hope" he runs.
     
  16. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    Oh, I'm convinced this country is dumb enough to elect that guy again. Nothing's really changed since 2016 except a willingness of one party to ditch democracy to retain power it can't win at the ballot box.

    But I also feel Trump is a highly divisive character in GOP politics. Many want to move past him. Others want to be like him. Others want to out-Trump Trump. His active presence should help make it an unmanageable melee.
     
  17. Lerner

    Lerner Well-Known Member

    I have no idea who will run in 2024 for the GOP.
    But among my friends who are Democrats, I sense unhappiness with current administration.
    In my immediate environment I'm outnumbered minority when it comes to whom I vote for. Among my conservative relatives and friends no one is talking about 2024, more are talking about 2022.
    Texas changes in abortion laws are discussed, the hate some have for our country , like in state of CA someone destroyed US flags.
    California police officers are searching for a vandal after 13 U.S. flags honoring the 13 service members killed in Afghanistan were deliberately torn.
    Some one hates our country- If I had to guess its some lefty supporter of Ilhan Abdullahi Omar.
    Just my speculation.
     
    Last edited: Sep 9, 2021
  18. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    No racism there! :rolleyes:
     
  19. Bill Huffman

    Bill Huffman Well-Known Member

    Ilhan Abdullahi Omar is a resident and representative of Minn. The flags were in Riverside not in Minnesota. If you are saying that Ilhan Abdullahi Omar hates the USA can you please provide a link to that information. I would be very surprised if it were true.
     
  20. Lerner

    Lerner Well-Known Member

    Non what so ever. I seen attacks on her in the media, some are racist. But this comment I made was not about her race.
    Even if she was Ukrainian descent I would still hold the same view.
    Omar made an achievement, as an immigrant, she earned degree and achieved political office, as a Congresswoman.
    This is all deserves acknowledgement, woman, black from Africa.
    Somalia is not a simple place to be from, and a place to become a Jew hater.
    Omar is compelled “to fight for an America where we all have access to our equal rights. An America where there aren't harsh economic injustices where folks are left to sleep on the side of the street."
    I support that.
    Now - how is she calling to fight for the rights of citizens of our country? This is what can prompt people to hate America.
    The approach is dangerous.
    House Democrats have asked Rep. Ilhan Omar to “clarify” her comments comparing Israel and the United States to Hamas and the Taliban.

    Is this OK by you? This incites hate.
    Hamas propaganda.
    She holds Israel to a different standard than countries that are clear human rights abusers, such as China, Iran, and Turkey.
    Fellow Democrats think Omar is an antisemite and hates America.




     

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