onyangomakagutu

Republicans, currently embodied in the extralegal “department” called DOGE seem to have the idea that when it comes to government efficiency, less is more. Fire 15% of workers here and 33% there while closing government offices and suddenly telphone wait times become shorter and the freeloaders will self-eliminate (not the homebound or…[Read more]

Argumentum ad populum or baldfaced fact?

_Robert_ wrote:
When my brokerage portfolio first hit the $2M mark, it was like some sort of trigger. I had all these financial tax advisors calling/emailing me about having consultations to reduce my future taxes.

TheEncogitationer wrote:
Argument From Popularity Fallacy. The fact that people might want government largess doesn’t make it good them or for an economy.

We embed this fallacy in our national, state, and local government’s various constitutions. I have taught logic. Verbal fallacies, unlike formal fallacies, do not imply false conclusions with n…[Read more]

Descent into madness or Trump’s America?

It is surreal. I think Bannon described it as a strategy in which there is literally an enfilade of shit from Trump that is so constant that we the people are inured to it and so it is normalized. The bar is so low you can’t see a bar. Think back not too distant to Watergate. Politicians on both sides put…[Read more]

Trump only understands who is kissing his ass at the moment. The man knows nothing about geopolitics, economics, science or history. He will instantly turn on you. The fact that so many Americans fell for his vile bullshit heartbreaking.

When I look around, many boomers are on board the MAGA train, but surprisingly it is the mid-life crisis set.…[Read more]

Reg,

That was one of my first thoughts today when I heard the rambling speech he made. I also thought about what the family of the WaPo journalist Jamal Khashoggi must be thinking. Of course Trump would not mention that. He does not care about what happened him. Or maybe he really does like MBS too much to mention it.

The Saudis are brutal…[Read more]

When my brokerage portfolio first hit the $2M mark, it was like some sort of trigger. I had all these financial tax advisors calling/emailing me about having consultations to reduce my future taxes. I ignored all that. Then I got hit with an IRS audit, LOL. I think they are satisfied with paperwork, but who knows, DOGE was firing a bunch of them,…[Read more]

Unseen,

But I don’t think the people want the government to spend less, since that would likely mean abandoning or severly adulterating some very popular programs which benefit not only individuals but society at large.

Argument From Popularity Fallacy. The fact that people might want government largess doesn’t make it good them or for an e…[Read more]

Unseen wrote:
@ Enco I asked an AI how much does the average middle-class person pay in Federal Income Tax as a percentage and received this answer: A middle-class married couple filing jointly might fall into the 12% bracket (taxable income between $23,851 and $96,950) or the 22% bracket (taxable income between $96,951 and $206,700). Now what…

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@ Enco

I asked an AI how much does the average middle-class person pay in Federal Income Tax as a percentage and received this answer:

A middle-class married couple filing jointly might fall into the 12% bracket (taxable income between $23,851 and $96,950) or the 22% bracket (taxable income between $96,951 and $206,700).

Now what would be…[Read more]

TheEncogitationer wrote:
Unseen, If government spent less and every Citizen, regardless of income, were taxed less, Citizens would have more money to both spend on foreign goods or to invest in domestic companies producing goods and services. And Citizens would gain either way. Again, not Trickle-Down, not Trickle-Up, but Big Splash.

But I don’t…[Read more]

I wonder what survivors of 9/11 have to say about all this?

That was one of my first thoughts today when I heard the rambling speech he made.  I also thought about what the family of the WaPo journalist Jamal Khashoggi must be thinking. Of course Trump would not mention that. He does not care about what happened him. Or maybe he really does…[Read more]

Robert,

Someone older than the young’uns obviously taught them well or they are still in the blank slate phase.

That picture would make the young Woke Ivy Leaguers and their Professors go MAGA, as would Trump’s cozying up to the Saudis. I wonder what survivors of 9/11 have to say about all this?

Unseen,

If government spent less and every Citizen, regardless of income, were taxed less, Citizens would have more money to both spend on foreign goods or to invest in domestic companies producing goods and services. And Citizens would gain either way.

Again, not Trickle-Down, not Trickle-Up, but Big Splash.

TheEncogitationer wrote:
Robert,

I do have hope that when slimy gen z and boomers die off, they will take most of the racism and religious- inspired hatred with them.

That’s just a step away from Antifa wanting to accelerate the process. I believe you once said you were 45, clearly within the Gen-X timeline. Are you sure you want to add i…

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Robert,

I do have hope that when slimy gen z and boomers die off, they will take most of the racism and religious- inspired hatred with them.

That’s just a step away from Antifa wanting to accelerate the process. I believe you once said you were 45, clearly within the Gen-X timeline.

Are you sure you want to add intergenerational conflict to…[Read more]

Enco, i am searching, looking under rocks and in caves for someone who is not that way!

So i had the Silver part right. Weird how the recesses of our mind we can’t always access or only fragments from the depths of our consciousness.

I am hearing more and more recently about the woke right. And i would have bet my life against a dollar that if…[Read more]

Jake,

If you looking for an Antisemitic Lefty to cite in defending your thesis, you could cite none better than Karl Marx.

Marx didn’t simply denounce the religion aspect of Jewishness (his Father was baptized Lutheran,) but Marx espoused Antisemitic tropes and denounced his own ethnicity in his essay “On the Jewish Question” where he said…[Read more]

Minnesota runs a serious trade deficit on Mangos with Mexico. They should put a tariff on Mexican mangos.