***Official Political Discussion Thread***

[Rootin4EverybodyBlack]

Despite whether or not the media has an agenda, at the most basic level, you can't justify the **** Trump says just because racism and sexism have been around forever. We should hold the leader of the Free world to a higher standard.

You can devalue it to "just tweets", but they're a pretty good look into how his mind functions and clearly his elevator doesn't go to the top floor.

 

[RustyShackleford]

Thanks for not RustyShackleford me.

 

[whywesteppin]

I think there should be less tweet coverage too tbh. Majority of us Americans and the rest of the world already know dude is a ******* moron. I feel like they should be covering his massive failures and missteps as a businessman and now president instead of tweets and goofy stuff, like that damn misspelling. I could not believe that was newsworthy, for multiple days of coverage at that.

That's that microwave news.

True. Half the time, an entire news story is based on a single tweet from trump. I find myself reading some long 2-page article that is solely based on 140 characters. Given that trump's tweets are usually just rattling off whatever comes to his head while in the toilet, I don't think they are deserving of the deep analysis that news outlets give them.

They should be covered by EW or something, not by CNN.

If anything, twitter has done a masterful job in making tweets newsworthy.

 

[EddieDoyers]

My news sources are pretty much WaPost and NPR now
They don't cover the tweets often like Fox News or CNN

 

[iamdef]

There should be some quick acknowledgement of the tweets but name the segment something like "The Distraction" to drive home the point that we see it but there's more important things to discuss

 

[RIP sleazyy]

I think there should be less tweet coverage too tbh. Majority of us Americans and the rest of the world already know dude is a ******* moron. I feel like they should be covering his massive failures and missteps as a businessman and now president instead of tweets and goofy stuff, like that damn misspelling. I could not believe that was newsworthy, for multiple days of coverage at that.

That's that microwave news.

True. Half the time, an entire news story is based on a single tweet from trump. I find myself reading some long 2-page article that is solely based on 140 characters. Given that trump's tweets are usually just rattling off whatever comes to his head while in the toilet, I don't think they are deserving of the deep analysis that news outlets give them.

They should be covered by EW or something, not by CNN.

If anything, twitter has done a masterful job in making tweets newsworthy.

Years ago people were saying social media would ruin society.

Here we are now in 2017, a president addicted to it and foreign and domestic governments using it to sway public opinion, track and manipulate behavior, and interfere in elections

My news sources are pretty much WaPost and NPR now
They don't cover the tweets often like Fox News or CNN

Problem is majority of adults in America get their news from TV, and Fox and CNN are the most popular. It's catering to an entertainment aspect to attract and hold viewers. Plus again it's the microwave thing, it's easy to point out the flaws in a concise statement from Twitter.

There should be some quick acknowledgement of the tweets but name the segment something like "The Distraction" to drive home the point that we see it but there's more important things to discuss

Bruh this is a really good idea.

 

[IATT]

Could only imagine if that was obama and fox

 

[RustyShackleford]

In other news, Trump still hates poor people......

https://apnews.com/7ccd3eb307dd4a45...n=SocialFlow&utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=AP

 

[kingkoopa]

In other news, Trump still hates poor people......

https://apnews.com/7ccd3eb307dd4a45...n=SocialFlow&utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=AP

I'm so torn.

Trump and Republicans want to kill government aid.

I do too.

But it'll those who really need it instead of people abusing the system.

I'm pro less government yet the system and people aren't set up for it.

We're in a lose lose battle and it's disheartening.

I just got put on to the death tax.

Like wtf

 

[EddieDoyers]

 

[RustyShackleford]

In other news, Trump still hates poor people......

https://apnews.com/7ccd3eb307dd4a45...n=SocialFlow&utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=AP

I'm so torn.

Trump and Republicans want to kill government aid.

I do too.

But it'll those who really need it instead of people abusing the system.

I'm pro less government yet the system and people aren't set up for it.

We're in a lose lose battle and it's disheartening.

I just got put on to the death tax.

Like wtf

And you wonder why I have little patience for your antics

Trump talking about letting poor folk freeze, and you are torn. Just say you want lower taxes and keep it #1HUNNA

 

[Armada]

There are way more people who need the system than people who abuse it. The few instances of those that abuse it ain't enough for me to say scrap the whole thing.

 

[EddieDoyers]

The irony is that people who get the most federal government aid are from the South
And yet they want to cut off the lifeline for the livelihood of some folks that live within those republican states

All I got to say is "you gon learn big boy"

 

[EddieDoyers]

 

[RustyShackleford]

The biggest users and abusers of the welfare system are not poor people, it is the upper classes and rich. Just look at how much we subsidize their lives compared to the poor.

Also, it has been been looked into, the overwhelming majority of poor people that get assistance are not abusers, they actually do the right thing. Secondly a lot of the abuse stems from the fraud committed by the servicers.

Yes their are some free riders, there is fraud, and their is abuse. But most of the people on these programs do the right thing.

America keeps making stupid economic decisions because they can't let go of the welfare queen myth (on the right mainly), want to discipline the poor (bipartisan), or forever chase the few free riders even when they want to do do (mainly the left).

-BTW, estate taxes are a good thing. Your death shouldn't entitle your children to a tax break. You want to give poor and lower middle class people a break, ok we can have that discussion, but I have little sympathy for the filthy rich.

 

[RustyShackleford]

One of the BEST thing Obama did during his presidency is pull back on the responsibility politics he was pitching at the beginning of his presidency.

At the beginning, dude sounded too much like Bill Clinton even when his policies were not like Clinton.

While I had the suspicion it was simply to win in 2012, he rhetoric of being emphatic to the poor and trying to help them continued into his later years (still indulged in the responsibility politics though, but not nearly as much as he used too).

 

[EddieDoyers]

Not disagreeing with you Rusty, but there are many loopholes in the estate tax law that very little rich people pay it.
Obviously the loopholes won't be closed.

 

[RustyShackleford]

What people have to remember about this too, is that liberal states often times use more federal aid because their welfare packages are more robust that conservative states.

So if every state offered the same benefits, the picture would look worst for red states.

 

[RustyShackleford]

Not disagreeing with you Rusty, but there are many loopholes in the estate tax law that very little rich people pay it.
Obviously the loopholes won't be closed.

The comment was not directed at you famb, it was just in general.

 

[EddieDoyers]

Not disagreeing with you Rusty, but there are many loopholes in the estate tax law that very little rich people pay it.
Obviously the loopholes won't be closed.

The comment was not directed at you famb, it was just in general.

Nah I know
Just wanted to add on to it

 

[rexanglorum]

The biggest users and abusers of the welfare system are not poor people, it is the upper classes and rich. Just look at how much we subsidize their lives compared to the poor.

Also, it has been been looked into, the overwhelming majority of poor people that get assistance are not abusers, they actually do the right thing. Secondly a lot of the abuse stems from the fraud committed by the servicers.

Yes their are some free riders, there is fraud, and their is abuse. But most of the people on these programs do the right thing.

America keeps making stupid economic decisions because they can't let go of the welfare queen myth (on the right mainly), want to discipline the poor (bipartisan), or forever chase the few free riders even when they want to do do (mainly the left).

-BTW, estate taxes are a good thing. Your death shouldn't entitle your children to a tax break. You want to give poor and lower middle class people a break, ok we can have that discussion, but I have little sympathy for the filthy rich.

I disagree a bit about the estate tax. If you want to prevent and/or turn back oligarchy, you got to raise capital gains and personal income taxes. Make them more progressive and make them both go very high after a certain point.

I am all for high taxes on large incomes, especially unearned income. However, wealth taxes, taxes that take away capital and do so at a high rate can create some bad outcomes. High estate and/or wealth taxes would bring together wealthy conservatives and liberals politically. Less visibly, there would be even more attempts to block any form of upward mobility. The logic would be that if you take 100% of my wealth when I die, I still want to help my children so I'm going to get my alma mater, law firm, investment group etc. to be even more heavy handed in selected my kids and barring anyone else.

 

[RustyShackleford]

Another thing I want dudes to consider, especially those that champion free market solutions is that capitalism is a system that needs to be constantly maintained for it to spit out some sort of equitable results.

So that gives the rich in this country two, not one, but two ways to finesse the system. You can either buy off right wing politicians to roll back regulations and taxes, so you can plunder the middle class however you would like; or Option B) pay off right wingers, moderate Dems, and state politicians to block progress/ new regulations and taxes from going in place.

So with option B all you have to do is hold the line, and if some good progressive policy get proposed, just make sure you have enough people in place to water it down.

Then you hire a **** load of lawyers, economists, and lobbyists to find legal ways for you to beat the new watered down regulations, or to take advantage of old laws that never changed for decades.

And it gives the right wing a nice talking point of "Why didn't liberals fix things when they had the chance" .

 

[RustyShackleford]

The biggest users and abusers of the welfare system are not poor people, it is the upper classes and rich. Just look at how much we subsidize their lives compared to the poor.

Also, it has been been looked into, the overwhelming majority of poor people that get assistance are not abusers, they actually do the right thing. Secondly a lot of the abuse stems from the fraud committed by the servicers.

Yes their are some free riders, there is fraud, and their is abuse. But most of the people on these programs do the right thing.

America keeps making stupid economic decisions because they can't let go of the welfare queen myth (on the right mainly), want to discipline the poor (bipartisan), or forever chase the few free riders even when they want to do do (mainly the left).

-BTW, estate taxes are a good thing. Your death shouldn't entitle your children to a tax break. You want to give poor and lower middle class people a break, ok we can have that discussion, but I have little sympathy for the filthy rich.

I disagree a bit about the estate tax. If you want to prevent and/or turn back oligarchy, you got to raise capital gains and personal income taxes. Make them more progressive and make them both go very high after a certain point.

I am all for high taxes on large incomes, especially unearned income. However, wealth taxes, taxes that take away capital and do so at a high rate can create some bad outcomes. High estate and/or wealth taxes would bring together wealthy conservatives and liberals politically. Less visibly, there would be even more attempts to block any form of upward mobility. The logic would be that if you take 100% of my wealth when I die, I still want to help my children so I'm going to get my alma mater, law firm, investment group etc. to be even more heavy handed in selected my kids and barring anyone else.

I'm not asking for the pendulum swing in one direction. I mean, I'm not saying the federal government should seize all of someone asset's upon death but I don't have an issue with the idea of having "an estate tax". My comment about the rich was referring to their constant complaining that even if the federal government basically says "We want you to keep your family fortune, but we would like to take a small portion because it is still a transfer of wealth" it is some sort of tyranny.

Anyway, I don't think there is a political will to pass the sufficient income and capital gains taxes that would make an estate tax obsolete. Rich liberals hate the idea of their capital gains taxes increasing, or their tax deduction going away too. Even if it is proposed that the savings be used to fund something like an EIC expansion.

 

[Mark Antony]

In other news, Trump still hates poor people......

https://apnews.com/7ccd3eb307dd4a45...n=SocialFlow&utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=AP

I'm so torn.

Trump and Republicans want to kill government aid.

I do too.

But it'll those who really need it instead of people abusing the system.

I'm pro less government yet the system and people aren't set up for it.

We're in a lose lose battle and it's disheartening.

I just got put on to the death tax.

Like wtf

Why do people always want to focus on the few that maybe take advantage of the system but not the overwhelming majority that benefit? It's always someone who isn't necessarily well off themselves either, like some bizarre level or jealousy.

Again blame the poor for the nation's ills and ignore the welfare that large corporations etc recieve. This conditioning is sad.

 

[aepps20]

Mindset is EVERYTHING