A critical look at Harris

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Cameron143

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Mar 1, 2022
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What's the effective difference?

Trump's supporters stormed the US Capitol, attacked law enforcement officers, beat them, tased them, sprayed them with bear spray, chanted that they wanted to hang Mike Pence (a good Christian man), stole things, pooped on the floors, etc.

Trump now calls those people "patriots" and "hostages", and says he will set them free if elected.

It was Trump's name on their flags. It was Trump's name on their shirts. When they went to court many said they were acting on what they thought was Trump's behalf. The group who Trump previously told to "stand by"--the Proud Boys--were convicted of seditious conspiracy against the United States for their role in it.

So whatever one wants to call it is irrelevant in my view. It's what actually happened and Trump's response to it that matters. When it was going on, all he had to do was tell his supporters to stop immediately and condemn them. Instead, he just watched it all unfold without doing anything.

The Republican Party has to reject and move on from this unAmerican, dangerous insanity.
And yet, Trump, despite having nearly 100 charges brought against him, was never charged with insurrection. Why do you suppose that is?
 

JayBird

Active member
Aug 15, 2024
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And yet, Trump, despite having nearly 100 charges brought against him, was never charged with insurrection. Why do you suppose that is?
What does that matter?

It doesn't erase the fact that he did absolutely nothing to stop it. All he had to do was send out a tweet telling them to stop and condemn the violence, and stick up for his Vice President.

Instead he did the exact opposite and sent out a tweet against Pence.

It doesn't erase the fact that he told the Proud Boys to "stand by" and on Jan 6 they helped lead the storming of the Capitol, for which they were convicted of seditious conspiracy against the United States.

It doesn't erase the fact that Trump refers to people who assaulted police officers as "patriots" and "hostages", and is promising to set them free.
 

Cameron143

Well-known member
Mar 1, 2022
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What does that matter?

It doesn't erase the fact that he did absolutely nothing to stop it. All he had to do was send out a tweet telling them to stop and condemn the violence, and stick up for his Vice President.

Instead he did the exact opposite and sent out a tweet against Pence.

It doesn't erase the fact that he told the Proud Boys to "stand by" and on Jan 6 they helped lead the storming of the Capitol, for which they were convicted of seditious conspiracy against the United States.

It doesn't erase the fact that Trump refers to people who assaulted police officers as "patriots" and "hostages", and is promising to set them free.
More blather. None of this is true. If it were Trump would have been charged and convicted.
Also, Trump offered 10,000 National Guard troops to Pelosi and the mayor of DC. Both turned them away. You have an agenda. You dismiss truth. Pelosi is on film saying she is responsible. Wonder why this hasn't been widely heralded.
 

JayBird

Active member
Aug 15, 2024
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More blather. None of this is true.
You can't be serious. You're actually denying that law enforcement officers were assaulted on Jan 6? That they were beaten, tased, pinned in doorways, crushed, and sprayed with bear spray? That they waved Trump flags and wore Trump merch? That many said in court that they were acting on Trump's behalf? That Trump told the Proud Boys to "stand by"? That the Proud Boys were convicted of seditious conspiracy against the United States of America? That on that day Trump tweeted out that Pence "failed to do the right thing"? That the mob chanted "hang Mike Pence"?

Just how much documented reality are you willing to deny? And why? Why deny all of that?

Also, Trump offered 10,000 National Guard troops to Pelosi and the mayor of DC. Both turned them away. You have an agenda. You dismiss truth. Pelosi is on film saying she is responsible. Wonder why this hasn't been widely heralded.
This is bizarre.

If you're upset with Pelosi, then you should be even more upset at the mob and Trump! All Trump had to do was tweet out an order for them to stop and condemn the violence, but he did the opposite. And the only reason anyone would have needed the NG was because of the Trump mob in the first place!

Good grief.
 

HeIsHere

Well-known member
May 21, 2022
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Would you agree or disagree that favorable tax cuts for the top is a tenet of Trickel Down economics?

This graph is interesting.

My main point is it never really existed as a theory within the broader economic theories.

Everything is so distorted now, because of crony capitalism and wealth has become very concentrated at the top, and things have shifted which we can see from your graph, a lot of the money gained by tax breaks to top tiers % is sitting in overseas bank accounts.

If we had an economy populated by independent small and medium businesses whose owner-operators had their own capital and their family's livelihood on the line, I think it is reasonable to provide tax cuts to spur reinvestment.

However, presently, the corporate economy is an oligopoly with few players who do not compete with each other on price but rather compete for market share, so Trumps tax breaks probably did little to move money to the middle 20%.

A tax break to people who have helped create a non-competitive market seems wrong to me, its like rewarding bad behaviors.
 

Nehemiah6

Senior Member
Jul 18, 2017
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If we had an economy populated by independent small and medium businesses whose owner-operators had their own capital and their family's livelihood on the line, I think it is reasonable to provide tax cuts to spur reinvestment.
How about a simple, straightforward 10% tax on gross income for small businesses and 15% for corporations?. No tax breaks, no exemptions, no deductions, no tax credits, no calculations of capital gains.

Why are the simple and honest solutions not being applied? Why is a one-page tax return so bad? If small businesses paid only 10% (which would also apply to individuals) that would probably garner more revenue than the present system. A strict monitoring of income would be simple. Audited financial statements could be attached. Then businesses could reinvest without fear of being taxed to death.

But the key is to make a firm commitment to budget only within the tax revenue, with ABSOLUTELY NO DEFICITS. Someone has to pay for those deficits sooner or later. But both RINOs and Democrats keep on putting forward obscene spending bills. And they add huge amounts to the national debt. But do the politicians and the Federal Reserve care about any of this? Now the Federal Reserve is playing political games to help Harris with her bogus campaign by cutting interest rates.
 

HeIsHere

Well-known member
May 21, 2022
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How about a simple, straightforward 10% tax on gross income for small businesses and 15% for corporations?. No tax breaks, no exemptions, no deductions, no tax credits, no calculations of capital gains.

Why are the simple and honest solutions not being applied? Why is a one-page tax return so bad? If small businesses paid only 10% (which would also apply to individuals) that would probably garner more revenue than the present system. A strict monitoring of income would be simple. Audited financial statements could be attached. Then businesses could reinvest without fear of being taxed to death.

But the key is to make a firm commitment to budget only within the tax revenue, with ABSOLUTELY NO DEFICITS. Someone has to pay for those deficits sooner or later. But both RINOs and Democrats keep on putting forward obscene spending bills. And they add huge amounts to the national debt. But do the politicians and the Federal Reserve care about any of this? Now the Federal Reserve is playing political games to help Harris with her bogus campaign by cutting interest rates.
Yup and so very frustrating this scam, so called, "economy."
 

Nehemiah6

Senior Member
Jul 18, 2017
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Yup and so very frustrating this scam, so called, "economy."
Small businesses in the USA are paying around 20% income tax. If that is not a scam, then we do not understand government scams and defrauding of hardworking people. 10% would give business owners leeway to reinvest, expand, or do whatever they wish with their own profits. "Profit" is not a dirty word and there would be no businesses without profits.
 

JohnDB

Well-known member
Jan 16, 2021
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Harris still does not have a platform published anywhere.

She has people regurgitating things she has said....but that's still not viable. During the 2016 Democrats debate during their primary she said Biden was a racist.
Yeah, we know how that turned out.
 

cv5

Well-known member
Nov 20, 2018
23,034
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In other news, Walz threatens to bind and gag the 1st Amendment. Then castrate it. Then give it a lobotomy. And then do the same with the rest.
 

HeIsHere

Well-known member
May 21, 2022
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Small businesses in the USA are paying around 20% income tax. If that is not a scam, then we do not understand government scams and defrauding of hardworking people. 10% would give business owners leeway to reinvest, expand, or do whatever they wish with their own profits. "Profit" is not a dirty word and there would be no businesses without profits.
Well I never stated profit was a dirty word, but yes there are some who think so.
 

Smoke

Senior Member
Oct 27, 2016
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Small businesses in the USA are paying around 20% income tax. If that is not a scam, then we do not understand government scams and defrauding of hardworking people. 10% would give business owners leeway to reinvest, expand, or do whatever they wish with their own profits. "Profit" is not a dirty word and there would be no businesses without profits.
I'm not arguing your point that perhaps commercial taxes are [relatively] high. However, there was a time when "conservatives" were "fiscally conservative". Today's conservatives, including Trump, are absolutely NOT fiscally conservative.

How is this related to this specific topic? Because the expansion of the IRS along with high tax rates will be here to stay IF we don't reconcile entitlements and CORPORATE welfare. The reason conservatives aren't fiscally conservative anymore is because the country needs revenue to maintain the status quo AND to achieve their agenda. They will also likely be dead by the time the US has to pay the piper so they are pushing this burden on future generations to reconcile. The national debt is no longer a key point of emphasis for this lost Republican party.

Imagine if we ran our household the same way the government/politicians did. How irresponsible would we be? But let's keep funding Ukraine and Israel, implementing corporate welfare, enabling illegal immigration, permanent welfare for people who are capable of working but choose not to, etc... am I right?
 

HeIsHere

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May 21, 2022
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Today's conservatives, including Trump, are absolutely NOT fiscally conservative.
No they are not and neither are they true conservatives in the sense of being more isolationist.
 

JohnDB

Well-known member
Jan 16, 2021
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Small businesses pay the majority of all tax receipts while employing half the workforce.

But lately Democrats have supported Big Business while claiming otherwise. (Tax loopholes you can drive a truck through)

Used to be Republicans guilty of those shenanigans....but not as much lately.
 

JayBird

Active member
Aug 15, 2024
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Small businesses pay the majority of all tax receipts while employing half the workforce.

But lately Democrats have supported Big Business while claiming otherwise. (Tax loopholes you can drive a truck through)

Used to be Republicans guilty of those shenanigans....but not as much lately.
Trump told a room of oil and gas CEOs that if they give him a billion dollars, he'll shape government policy to what they want.

He gave mega corporations and billionaires the biggest tax break in history, and he's now campaigning to give them even more.

I hardly think that that main issue in the US right now is that billionaires and giant corporations don't have enough money.
 

Nehemiah6

Senior Member
Jul 18, 2017
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Today's conservatives, including Trump, are absolutely NOT fiscally conservative.
You are absolutely right. And if Trump has promised to Make America Affordable Again, he had better sit down and see what you are saying and then act quickly. Milton Friedman was right many years ago. It is federal budget deficits which cause inflation.

That would mean (1) cancellation of all government allocations for anything that is not an essential federal responsibility (only ten such items), (2) shutting down every dollar of foreign aid, (3) stopping every dollar going to Ukraine, (3) shutting several government agencies including the CIA and FBI (which have been weaponized against law-abiding citizens), (4) taking a very close look at what is being spent by the department of defense and slashing billions (5) cancelling hundreds of unproductive and wasteful bureaucratic jobs in all remaining departments, (6) drastically reducing the salaries of all government employees, and (7) putting all law-makers on notice that no budget which has a deficit will be approved by the president, and all budget bills should be no more than 50 pages. (No one reads thousands of pages which are presented only hours before voting).

The federal budget should only include (1) streamlined national security/defense, infrastructure, (2) federal law enforcement, (3)border, ports, and airports security, (4) the justice system, (5) government salaries, (6) national parks, (7) Social Security, (8) welfare (properly managed), (9) upkeep of government buildings, and (10) an effective border wall. All this must be made to fit into the actual tax revenue.
 

Nehemiah6

Senior Member
Jul 18, 2017
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Well I never stated profit was a dirty word, but yes there are some who think so.
You did not. But the Left calls it "gouging" because they know nothing about business and also want a scapegoat for their sins. In a free market, there cannot be any gouging because of competition. And prices will be set according to supply and demand, which is to be expected. But the margins for gorceries are extremely thin.
 

JayBird

Active member
Aug 15, 2024
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You did not. But the Left calls it "gouging" because they know nothing about business and also want a scapegoat for their sins. In a free market, there cannot be any gouging because of competition. And prices will be set according to supply and demand, which is to be expected. But the margins for gorceries are extremely thin.
Amazing that you've never heard of price gouging during natural disasters, pandemics, etc.

And apparently you're also not aware that states have had laws against price gouging for some time now.

https://www.findlaw.com/consumer/consumer-transactions/price-gouging-laws-by-state.html