Trump Acquittal Thoughts?

Well you and I agree that in some sense taxation is legalized stealing. But then you seem to think that if the government doesn't grab more from some people, that it amount to a "give away". No, it merely means they are stealing less.

But your invective against "the rich" really doesn't hold water- you seem to look only at tax rates. I would refer you to the link below. It notes that the top 1% (I think measured by income) paid 37% of the income taxes Uncle Sam collected. That apparently isn't enough for you. You give no evidence of having given serious thought to the effect of a "progressive" income tax system- I would say a "flat tax" is worth serious consideration, perhaps coupled with getting more of the total tax burden from taxes on consumption, rather than income.

By the way, that 37% is quite a bit more than the one percent's share of total AGI.

Summary of the Latest Federal Income Tax Data, 2018 Update

 

Pretty much everybody else calls it that too, so I don't understand why you claim "Republicans are always ranting about" it.

In a free society, people would not be forced into an inter-generation Ponzi scheme- which is precisely what I think Social Security has become- if they bestir themselves to earn an income. But I am getting the sense that freedom is not a priority for you.

 

Where? Where are these straw people you keep creating? Who is "threatened" by anyone being treated equally? Do they have a clubhouse? Secret handshake? You repeat this trope all over the place, so you must have seen it somewhere? Old movies maybe? Mississippi Burning? In the Heat of the Night? Deliverance?

 

It's not precisely a Ponzi scheme because a genuine Ponzi scheme would actually work if you had more than 200 million people involved. Ponzi wasn't stupid, just greedy to a fault. Social Security is far worse since it never had the fabled "Lock Box" account for its holdings. Instead it has been the piggy bank for the wealthy elite for generations. My grandfather only lived long enough to get 1 check. I doubt I'll see a dime.

 

WP, you will see something from it, assuming you live so long. It will be a lousy return on investment, but unlike what fear mongers sometimes claim, it won't go to zero, unless we have a collapse of civilization.

My biggest complaints about it are its coercive nature and the deception that the government used in selling the idea to the American people. FDR may have intended it as an actuarily sound system, but politicians quickly realized that giving away money was a sure vote getter.

You also are correct that for millenials, SS is, in a financial sense, a disaster.

 

You kinda talk like a super villain.

 

Be sure to tell all your friends at the truck stop.

 

Nice try. It's not a club. They're individuals and also on here. If 6-eyed is serious in his arguments he fits the bill for one. They have a problem with the white protestant majority losing their privileged position in american society. It's not some kind of invention And i doubt you never took notice of them

 

You are literally the only one I know who makes this claim which parallels your other claim that "white people don't want to see anyone else treated equally", another antiquated gripe. I know it used to be a popular complaint in the past, sure. But like many of the old laments of the left, it has faded with time (like segregation and Jim Crow).

Those people you hate are dead. Other than petty jealousy, which afflicts anyone, you don't see any of this emulating some kind of mass movement. It's a long dead claim you're trying to bring back like flowered bell bottoms.

So, where is this "problem" that "they" have with this issue?

 

I see a relation between the two. And I don't think I'm the only one. A significant amount of the white protestant majority (which is already getting smaller because other american ethnicities grow faster) gets the heeby jeebies of this realisation. 6-eyed for one has expanded on it on here several times.

I don't hate any such dead person. And I don't think it is, or even hinted at the idea, its a mass movement. Thanks for playing

 

srgreene - You use the term "government giving away money." The idea behind Social Security was that individuals' money would be pooled and held in TRUST until they retired, while earning interest on the large pool of combined money. Each worker had something deducted from their paychecks each week, so all people were contributing to the system. All people are supposed to benefit from it when they retire. So the "giveaway" isn't from some nebulous entity called "the government" - it's supposed to be a return of our paycheck-derived money so we aren't destitute in our older years. This is NOT a HANDOUT - as some Repubs paint Social Security. It's what WE ALL EARNED through paycheck deductions. By WORKING. Not sucking the system dry as some politicians describe it.

I'm old enough to know that politicians from both sides of the political spectrum have "borrowed" $$$ billions from the SS trust fund. They need to re-pay the American workers the money they "borrowed" from that SS trust fund.

Incidentally - I've NEVER heard a Dem, Independent, Greene Party, or Libertarian call Social Security an "entitlement." Only Repubs, because they know some of the folks who actually benefit from getting their money back, think their taxes are being given away to people who never work. So those folks are convinced the whole system should be scrapped. Repubs. use that image to score political points from those who don't understand how SS works, or where the money comes from. Those who don't work or contribute to the SS system should NOT be able to draw from it. That's just simply the correct way to operate the system.

What I don't understand is this - Do all those who want to see SS done away with think their kids and grandkids are all going to be top executives and make enough money to be financially secure when they retire?? Politicians who push 401-k's make a very generous assumption when they tout the benefits of 401-k's …………. the assumption is that all people will make enough in their paychecks to have something left after paying their bills to actually save. Millions of hard-working Americans barely make enough to get by. They live paycheck to paycheck. Mathematics don't lie. How can anyone become financially secure for retirement if they can only put away $10, $20, $30 per week - if they can even save that much. I realize Social Security isn't going to shower them with riches, but if run correctly and honestly - SS can keep folks afloat in their senior years. It Is a guaranteed system - 401-k's are not at all, and are subject to market fluctuations. And if high-powered people in the financial system pull the same shit they did to cause the "Great Recession" that began in 2007 with the housing/mortgage collapse - more $$$billions of OUR retirement money invested in 401-k's will again be lost. And GUESS which party has rolled back the laws legislated after the financial meltdown to assure the safety of our investments??? President Donald J.Trump and the Republican Party. Fact. They don't even hide it. They brag about their "de-regulating" on TV. Because the financial services industry contributes millions and millions of dollars to their political campaigns. They don't WANT regulations to protect the consumers & investors they want to take advantage of. So they pour $$$$$ into the Repubs. campaigns to make sure those safety regulations get rolled back. And they get voted BACK IN!!!!!! Just how stupid are we as Americans?????? I want politicians who enact laws tp PROTECT and SAFEGUARD my retirement money ……. not make it easier to get at and swindle it away from me!!! Where's the common sense here????

Problem is ……………. millions of people who voted for those Republicans are going to be hurt by those very actions taken by the politicians they voted for. The screwing cuts across ALL political sides. People hear the words, "We're going to de-regulate and get rid of bothersome rules for businesses." It sounds great until you look at what they actually said. They clearly say, "bothersome, burdensome regulations for businesses." They DO NOT say, "We're going to get rid of regulations that are burdensome and problematic for individuals." So no one can claim they lied. Words are crafted very carefully.

The stone-cold truth is many good, hard-working, honest, everyday Republicans lost a ton of money in the financial meltdown / Great Recession because of the de-regulation of many safety laws during the George W. Bush / Dick Cheney administration. Why does it make sense to get rid of laws enacted to protect ALL of our investments - Republicans', Democrats', Independents', Libertarians', Greene Party's …….. whoever. Does eliminating the "financial police" by slashing the budgets of those agencies make sense??? Would any of us say that's SMART???

If we Americans are soooo trusting, with our HUNDREDS OF $$$$$ BILLIONS in retirement & college savings - why have security cams at banks?? Or security guards??? Hell - the big Wall Street banks and the insider schemers don't need a gun and mask to get at our money …………… they just use a pen and contribute to the Repubs' campaigns. Then it's the wild-wild west again. And here's the biggest joke / insult to ALL of us ……..…. They not only don't go to prison for their crimes …………. They get to KEEP THEIR JOBS - COMPLETE WITH BONUSES !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! No one went to jail. Not one.

 

And at $2 Trillion a year it's a bargain

 

Still sounds like old news. But who am I to complain about time travel stories?

 

What's the issue with it being old news? I already pointed out it stems from the past. They're remnants of a time when the white protestant majority's position was largely unquestioned. So?

 

Banal, meaningless insults are your stock in trade.

 

He gets triggered though. He's basically feeling justified because several others do it to him. Not an excuse, but plain simple the reason. It's basically what's ruining every political convo on here.

 

Then why do you support Trump?

 

What "privileges" do you mean?

Caucasian Protestants, and the ethos they brought with them to the New World, are what created the United States of America. That's reality.

Those same "white Protestants" created the legal structure that did away with legal privilege. Even, I should not need to point out, to the extent of a horrendous civil war to remove the scourge of slavery from these shores. Particularly if you, like me, are not "white", our liberty is guaranteed by the ideas so ably formulated by those "white Protestants". Perhaps you can show me a people, a tradition, a nation, that has done a better of job guaranteeing the blessings of liberty for all that those "white Protestants" you seems to so abhor.