patrick.net

More like 50 years of the left's "Great Society", socialist policies failed and left a giant fucking debt hole for gen-x and later generations where a real economy used to exist.

thomasdong1776 says

the gap between the richest and the poorest U.S. households is now the largest it has been in the 52 years

At least they have smartphones and aren't starving.

The "war on poverty" (welfare, subsidized housing, etc.) started over 50 years ago. The poverty rate has changed very little.

The meaning of poverty has changed a lot.

Go to a high school where the majority of students are impoverished. You'll see they are well shod and pocketing iPhones.

I agree that it's crazy that Warren Buffet pays a lower percentage in taxes than his secretary.

The 15% capital gains tax is too low when the tax on income from real work gets up near 40%.

The real solution is Georgism, meaning zero income tax on work and zero tax on commerce, ie no sales tax either.

Taxes should be on non-productive rent seeking alone.

Prior to LBJ, never married mothers couldn't qualify for AFDC (Or it's antecedent program).

We should bring that back.

jazz_music says

Unsustainable debt trickled down. We are now a house of cards waiting for a black swan to come blow us down.

Yup.

jazz_music says

thomasdong1776 says

Since the Reagan administration, Republicans have fervently claimed lower taxes will unleash the "makers"

and the money went into offshore vaults instead.

Greater inequality trickled down.

Unsustainable debt trickled down. We are now a house of cards waiting for a black swan to come blow us down.

Mergers and acquisitions trickled down making less choices available.

We turned our backs for too long and got sabotaged by rich crooks with offshore vaults and havens to run to when it matters the most.

THIS is why no one should be shut down. All opinions need consideration.

It also reminded me; the fight is not between Democrats and Republicans but between globalists and constitutionalists.

@thomasdong1776
Your premise is partisan and I think to effectively debate we have to remove that component.

Record debt and inequality by what measure?

The standard of living in USA for the last 100 years is at an all time high ( depending whats your metric, but one could argue it's been superior to most countries over the same period of time ).
The debt figure does not mean much, especially that the US is the #1 Superpower and has reserve currency status, which means it can "thug" itself out of debt( like plundering Lybian gold or seizing Citgo refineries ) or print itself out of debt. USA is still the least dirty shirt in the pile, Japan, Europe are in stagflation and China is in turmoil. My personal opinion is that politicians are irrelevant, entertainement for the masses, its purely a show to distract people from whats really going on.

Remember when the John Birch society swore that perverts were coming for the kids?





John Birch has a better prediction record than global warming alarmists

jazz_music says

Inspirational to some, sure -- but not to the John Birch Society, who had posted an article about the new Matt Damon movie on their Web site, which declares that, quote, "Mandela is nothing more than a communist terrorist thug."

He was a member of the South African Communist Party.

That's what I hate about corporate media, is that it literally takes about 1 minute to find out if they are telling the truth or not.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson_Mandela

Patrick says

Trump's actions are giving more money to poor US citizens by bringing back manufacturing from China and slowing the influx of illegals from Mexico who drive down wages.

Yes this is one way (probably the best way) of raising wages for the poor. It’s also a good idea to raise minimum wage. Right now in California the minimum wage is $12, and I see Help Wanted signs fucking EVERYWHERE!!! I also see people who look like they’ve just crawled out of the hood working at the lower end service jobs. These people aren’t great employees, not yet anyway, but the higher wages and more hiring pressure have allowed them to join the workforce. With a job comes advancement opportunities and self respect. If this economy keeps up, we will steadily drain the ghettos, getting people back to work, which will reduce crime and increase the economy further in a virtuous cycle.
I truly believe that lower income people have to get paid more to make our economy great. A combination of a Trumpian policies and rising minimum wages is really working in California!!

jazz_music says

Speculators used to get beheaded in 17th century for good reasons. They are destroying the real economy by extracting money for nothing.

Oh, let's get back to 17th century standards, sure. I mean, who wouldn't want to get back to all that equality and virtually non-existent wealth gap.

Let's fucking do it!

jazz_music says

Besides real jobs, the cure will involve fixing access to health services, drugs, and disempowering Wall Street crooks, let some spend time in prison and that would send a message to the rest.

Retirement without speculating on equities and such must return to America too. Then maybe we could afford to be a decent people once again.

Yes! Because countries without financial markets do so much better than USA in every measure possible.

APOCALYPSEFUCKisShostikovitch says

I am still shocked that local versions of Uber that include taxi and real professional limo services hadn't popped up to displace the savage valley cunts' and their trashy apps.

Flywheel app is exactly that: real cabs summoned via an app. The problem is: cabbies are not stupid and will not accept the kind of money-losing rides the amateurs are taking eagerly.Which means their availability sucks.

Just for shits and giggles I tried to summon a car to my not-so-deep suburbs via Flywheel and Uber: the former said "Sorry, all drivers are currently busy" after 3 minutes of searching, the latter has shown that the car will arrive in 6 min.

So I can't even compare the fare estimate between the two.

PS. The "schedule a ride" option in the Flywheel app said "airports only". Uber lets you to schedule for any destination you want.

Patrick says

Trump's actions are giving more money to poor US citizens by bringing back manufacturing from China and slowing the influx of illegals from Mexico who drive down wages.

You keep repeating this, but it's not true.

Border crossings are at record highs: https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/most-illegal-crossings-in-12-years-border-patrol-took-851-000-into-custody-during-fiscal-2019

US manufacturing is in recession: https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2019-10-09/despite-trump-vow-manufacturing-in-recession

Patrick says

But when the poor get more money, they do spend it, helping to boost the overall economy.

The problem is that when the poor are handed money, they fritter it away on useless trinkets that don't meaningfully help their immediate situation or improve their long-term future prospects. Thus, handing money to the poor, doesn't help the poor become not poor. For the most part, the poor are poor because of bad choices or because they are amazingly lazy.

One of my pet peeves is people at the checkout counter using SNAP cards and then standing around looking like morons while the cashier bags the food for them. I'm a multimillionaire (only slightly short of 8 digits) and I still feel embarrassed standing around at the checkout doing nothing. Seriously, how lazy are you that you can't bag your own groceries while the checker is running up the items; it gets you through the line that much sooner and is greatly appreciated by everyone behind you.

I remember when President Johnson declared "a war on poverty"; after trillions spent, the poor have won.

Importing millions of poor who have poor children who underachieve academically isn't helping of course.

Poor being paid $ per child is an incentive to produce more poor; I know a female who 1. never worked 2. have several children from several fathers 3. scrape by with various programs 4. have sex with men in the neighborhood, then ask for some money to pay bills, etc.

I know another who is a little bit smarter; because she works a bullshit McJob she can qualify for the "earned income credit"=free money for having children. Last year she got about $10,000 in free money for having 3 children.

Lower taxes positively cause me to have more money to invest; tax advantages of Roth IRA, SEP-IRA and the Health Savings Account definitely influenced my behavior regarding my money.

The one many guys ignore is the Health Savings Account (HSA). If you have a high deductible health insurance plan, you can have an HSA.

Any HSA contribution is deductible from income; it's before your calculated AGI, it always reduces your taxes and you can put up to $4400 in it depending on your age.

You can invest the HSA in stock mutual funds for capital appreciation; you can leave it untouched until age 65. After age 65, you can spend it on anything or let it keep growing like an IRA.

clambo says

After age 65, you can spend it on anything

Wait a sec: on anything? So it's "on medical expenses only until 65" and "on anything - after"? This is a detail I overlooked. Makes HSA even better deal than I thought.

The notorious Corn Pop.

SunnyvaleCA says

The problem is that when the poor are handed money, they fritter it away

And they will breed.

While a wealthy person will plan a pregnancy, making sure they can afford the childcare and education expenses before going off of birth control, the poor person will just fuck and say oops, then depend on the system to care for them and their kinder. The system creates a downward spiral of more depenDance.

We should have soup kitchens and dormitories with hot showers for the transient and then make them transition into some kind of productive job, picking up trash and bagging groceries if nothing else. If they refuse work they should not be allowed to eat and sleep in the cities but bused out to "lazy camps" in the country.

I know the solution above has some serious issues, but giving the "underclass" (never permanent, some rise out and some are always falling into) money and a place to live just perpetuates a bad situation that will end in idiocracy.

clambo says

have sex with men in the neighborhood, then ask for some money to pay bills

Is it prostitution only if you ask for the money up front?

APOCALYPSEFUCKisShostikovitch says

Is Trump a Little Bit Like Jim Jones - or Exactly Like Jim Jones And Is Going Guyana Any Day Now?

Only if you drink the Kool-Aid.

It's a puppet show. enjoy the entertainment.

jazz_music says

Patrick says

Trump's actions are giving more money to poor US citizens by bringing back manufacturing from China and slowing the influx of illegals from Mexico who drive down wages.

I agree with your economic analysis but I do not see real growth of jobs to the poor.

Too many Walmart and temp jobs and gig economy jobs enriching only Silicon Valley headquartered operations. The economy is a fairy tale to promote status quo of optimal extraction. Murdock bought the WSJ for a reason.

Starbucks and Costco are two bright spot exceptions, good for them, but they do not represent the economy.

In other words I am not at all convinced that these jobs you say are happening are really truly happening.

If one isn’t hustling and making money in the current economy, they never will.

Unemployment rate and average wage say you are wrong.

I think your tune will never change. I think you are mediocre at best and satisfied with the low level life that SS disability provides you. Worse yet, you project that lifestyle into others.

Meh to be you. Cheers to anyone taking advantage of the best economy of our lifetime.

APOCALYPSEFUCKisShostikovitch says

We have a president who regularly disparages and blames the media, calling it “fake,” “false,” and “phony,”

I kinda agree with him on most media, most of which are corporate shills without a single brain cell. I do get though that his reasoning for coming to this conclusion might be different from mine, but that is probably OK.

You mean CA liberal policies have failed where biggest poverty exists and streets lined with bums?

But don’t worry, NPR is still under impression that gays being lonely is a worst problem and their loneliness can be fixed with tax dollars... priorities of the faggot left.

You were saying something about a cult?

Have you already forgotten the Obama years?

www.youtube.com/embed/TW9b0xr06qA

This wasn't about foreign connections or working for foreign companies. Can you rephrase the question please?

Also the biggest story is Creepy Joe lied and said his son wasn't working for the Chicoms, how can he quit if he wasn't?

Jim Jones was a small time piker. Trump is HITLER SQUARED! No demon from hell, no pathologically demented, murderous leader in history, can even touch the manifest, mindless and committed evil of TRUMP! IMPEACH TRUMP!

How nice of Hunter. "I'll stop engaging in politically motivated bribery, influence, corruption and collusion for a while if you elect my Dad!" Now there's a mensch.

Ceffer says

I'll stop engaging in politically motivated bribery, influence, corruption and collusion for a while if you elect my Dad!

are you sure it is not in reverse: I will engage in corruption again only if my dad is elected because then I will have "get out of jail free" card?

The Trumps had business expertise long before Donald Trump ran for office. The ONLY expertise Hunter Biden has is influence with his dad.

6rdB says

are you sure it is not in reverse: I will engage in corruption again only if my dad is elected because then I will have "get out of jail free" card?

You are correct. It should be 'suspend' until Dad gets my "get out of jail free" card when he is elected. Precision politics.

Exactly.

@ arm hk now

After age 65 you can use the HSA money for anything you wish. It is taxed like a regular IRA.

After age 65 you can no longer contribute to the HSA. At age 65 you go onto Medicare.

HSA is a fantastic investment; I ran into a Fidelity store and put the max in last April ($4450) I think it was. Fidelity allows you to invest the HSA in anything so I bought Fidelity Contrafund.

The reason I bought the HSA was primarily for tax avoidance; if you are on Obamacare and you have just a bit too much income, you pay your premiums back 100%.

The trigger for this is having an AGI that is 401% of the poverty level.

The HSA reduces you AGI no matter what your situation is; my primary goal was to get my AGI down so I owed less for my Obamacare (I still got screwed=$8000+)

Luckily in 2019 you are 1. not required to have health insurance 2. there is no penalty for not having health insurance.

You may decide to drop your health insurance if the premiums are high; mine were $924/month in 2019 so I dropped it after 4 months.

So, I can only contribute $1500 in 2019 to my HSA (since I didn't have insurance for the entire year)

Tim Aurora says

That is very much debateable. Let us have the same ethics rules for everyone.

Please show me the video where Trump bragged to a think tank that he got a prosecutor looking into Jared or Eric's business dealings fired in another country, or he'd withhold US Aid.

Also, isn't it time Obama weighed in on his VP, who he put in charge of Ukraine policy?

Tim Aurora says

That is very much debateable.

"That is very much fake-able."

There, fixed it for you.

clambo says

@ arm hk now

After age 65 you can use the HSA money for anything you wish. It is taxed like a regular IRA.

After age 65 you can no longer contribute to the HSA. At age 65 you go onto Medicare.

HSA is a fantastic investment; I ran into a Fidelity store and put the max in last April ($4450) I think it was. Fidelity allows you to invest the HSA in anything so I bought Fidelity Contrafund.

The reason I bought the HSA was primarily for tax avoidance; if you are on Obamacare and you have just a bit too much income, you pay your premiums back 100%.

The trigger for this is having an AGI that is 401% of the poverty level.

The HSA reduces you AGI no matter what your situation is; my primary goal was to get my AGI down so I owed less for my Obamacare (I still got screwed=$8000+)

Luckily in 2019 you are 1. not required to have health insurance 2. there is no penalty for not having health insurance.

You may decide to drop your health insur...

It basically sounds like IRA for people who don't get any tax advantage from IRA because their income is too high. With added benefits of being able to spend the money tax-free on healthcare if the need arises before 65. Awesome vehicle, totally agree.

Tim Aurora says

Next thing you will complain about "no Trump kids have the name Hunter" Crap argument. Straw man

Tim Aurora says

No video is needed for the same ethics. You are after Biden because Hunter had a job which gave the impression that he was using his father's influence. Let be the same rule for Trump kids.

Eric, Don Jr., Ivanka, and Jared were all involved in various businesses long before Trump ran.

There is no proof (not even a firm allegation) that any of Trump's relations profited from his presidency.

Where as we have Biden bragging about getting a prosecutor fired who was looking into the company his completely inexperienced son was a Board Member of. This is confirmed by Shonkin, the former prosecutor, who unlike his successor, doesn't drive a Bentley and is by all accounts not well off. Additionally, Biden lied claiming he never discussed Burisma with his son; there is a pic of him, Hunter, and Devon Archer (another Burisma Board Member) golfing together in the Hamptons. Finally, Hunter literally has no plausible reason for either being appointed to the board of a foreign energy company OR how he managed to get over a billion in investments from China in a week. That's a deal most superpowered Wall Street veterans with massive international connections and a great track record of decades, would have a hard time getting.

OccasionalCortex says

No, he is after Biden because we have HARD PROOF that is what was going on, no 'impression' necessary. You are just trying to frame it otherwise in order to nullify the video and it is impact as said HARD PROOF.

Exactly. Democrats are comparing a non-actually existent hypothetical with something that happened and is public record.

Tim Aurora says

There is no proof that Hunter Biden did anything wrong either. It is just an ethics question. Do not deal with any foreign entity.

Nope. If JOE Biden threatened to withhold Congressional-approved Aid to Ukraine to prevent an investigation into his son, it's definitely misconduct at the least. It's something the public should know BEFORE electing him President.

Joe Biden has a history of character issues, including misrepresenting his education and plagarism.

www.youtube.com/embed/QBlahhX0e4Y