Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 2, 2019 1:44:40 GMT
CBO
BarronsFrom Barrons... “Why a Financial Transaction Tax Is Doomed to Fail”From the article. ”An analysis by the Congressional Budget Office of a 0.1% tax on stock, bond, and derivative transactions reckons it would raise $777 billion between 2019-2028. But the CBO added there were a number of negative side effects, notably reduced market liquidity and higher capital costs for companies as a result of reduced asset prices. Household wealth would be reduced, while the cost of financing Uncle Sam’s debt would be increased.”I asked my friend google about the tax. At best it gets a 50% chance of being a viable stable revenue stream for the aggressive program proposed by those on the left running for president. Again, I want programs put in place that can be successfully implemented and paid for. I truly believe the reason so many don’t vote is because of promises made by politicians and nothing happens no matter how well intentioned they were when they were made. People are tired of empty promises. I'm fine w/those negative side effects vs. the negative side effects of homelessness, incarceration, lack of law enforcement etc. Cry me a freaking river Barrons. PS - .5% to 1% (not the bs .1% on only certain instruments).
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Post by Deleted on Jun 2, 2019 2:04:30 GMT
CBO
BarronsFrom Barrons... “Why a Financial Transaction Tax Is Doomed to Fail”From the article. ”An analysis by the Congressional Budget Office of a 0.1% tax on stock, bond, and derivative transactions reckons it would raise $777 billion between 2019-2028. But the CBO added there were a number of negative side effects, notably reduced market liquidity and higher capital costs for companies as a result of reduced asset prices. Household wealth would be reduced, while the cost of financing Uncle Sam’s debt would be increased.”I asked my friend google about the tax. At best it gets a 50% chance of being a viable stable revenue stream for the aggressive program proposed by those on the left running for president. Again, I want programs put in place that can be successfully implemented and paid for. I truly believe the reason so many don’t vote is because of promises made by politicians and nothing happens no matter how well intentioned they were when they were made. People are tired of empty promises. I'm fine w/those negative side effects vs. the negative side effects of homelessness, incarceration, lack of law enforcement etc. Cry me a freaking river Barrons. PS - .5% to 1% (not the bs .1% on only certain instruments). You should not have used homelessness as an example. Millions and millions and millions of dollars have been spent on homelessness over the decades and we are no closer solving the problem today then we were decades ago. In fact an argument could be made it’s actually worse. That is my other gripe, the lack of coming up with plans and programs that actually do work. Its clear just throwing money at the problem of homelessness hasn’t solved it. I guess some people are ok with throwing money at problems and hope it works. It makes them feel like they are doing something is the only thing I can think of why they keep doing it. Again the people that need the help and are promised the help, should, you know, actually get the help promised. I think its becoming lear I’m one of the those that are tired of empty promises by politicians.
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Post by lucyg on Jun 2, 2019 2:16:21 GMT
I'm fine w/those negative side effects vs. the negative side effects of homelessness, incarceration, lack of law enforcement etc. Cry me a freaking river Barrons. PS - .5% to 1% (not the bs .1% on only certain instruments). You should not have used homelessness as an example. Millions and millions and millions of dollars have been spent on homelessness over the decades and we are no closer solving the problem today then we were decades ago. In fact an argument could be made it’s actually worse. That is my other gripe, the lack of coming up with plans and programs that actually do work. Its clear just throwing money at the problem of homelessness hasn’t solved it. I guess some people are ok with throwing money at problems and hope it works. It makes them feel like they are doing something is the only thing I can think of why they keep doing it. Again the people that need the help and are promised the help, should, you know, actually get the help promised. I think its becoming lear I’m one of the those that are tired of empty promises by politicians. Homelessness is hard to solve. Meanwhile, I’m okay with spending money on feeding the homeless and providing shelter in winter. It may not solve the problem, but at least it’s more humane than having them freeze to death or die of malnutrition. ETA far preferable way to spend money than cutting taxes for people so rich they won’t even notice!
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Post by hop2 on Jun 2, 2019 2:30:49 GMT
You should not have used homelessness as an example. Millions and millions and millions of dollars have been spent on homelessness over the decades and we are no closer solving the problem today then we were decades ago. In fact an argument could be made it’s actually worse. That is my other gripe, the lack of coming up with plans and programs that actually do work. Its clear just throwing money at the problem of homelessness hasn’t solved it. I guess some people are ok with throwing money at problems and hope it works. It makes them feel like they are doing something is the only thing I can think of why they keep doing it. Again the people that need the help and are promised the help, should, you know, actually get the help promised. I think its becoming lear I’m one of the those that are tired of empty promises by politicians. Homelessness is hard to solve. Meanwhile, I’m okay with spending money on feeding the homeless and providing shelter in winter. It may not solve the problem, but at least it’s more humane than having them freeze to death or die of malnutrition. ETA far preferable way to spend money than cutting taxes for people so rich they won’t even notice! That’s just it, I’d rather waste money TRYING to provide shelter for the homeless- I’d rather waste money providing at least basic healthcare, than on giving corporations & the 1% super rich tax breaks. IT did not trickle down last time & it won’t trickle down this time. AND don’t give consumerism as ‘proof’ that trickle down economics works it’s NOT the same thing.
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lizacreates
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,856
Aug 29, 2015 2:39:19 GMT
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Post by lizacreates on Jun 2, 2019 3:19:29 GMT
I agree that a wealth tax will bring out the cheaters in the wealthy who will try to avoid it. Two things. 1. Hire TONS more people in the IRS using part of the revenue. This does two things, gets more money into the system AND gives people who are being outsourced, off-shored, automated, and downsized a good job. 2. I agree that a wealth tax is not the best way forward. That's why I prefer a FINANCIAL TRANSACTION TAX of .5% to 1% on ALL FINANCIAL TRADES. There is $1TRILLION traded in the US DAILY!!!!! Taxing that like other people pay sales tax is only fair. And it bring in HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS to ONE TRILLION PER YEAR!!!!!! I'm good with these. We had FTT in the early 20th century up until the mid-‘60s. Just like everything else there are pros and cons. This is one of those things that we won’t know if it’ll succeed in our present-day economy unless we try. This will, of course, add costs to our pension plans, 401ks and portfolios, but I’m okay with that. If we can make some of our progressive dreams a reality, I don’t mind paying more. I also like the fact that it’s a progressive tax because 40% of the stock market value is currently held by the top 1% in this country. Because of Trump’s tax cuts, we’ve shorted revenues to the tune of $1.3 – 1.7 trillion depending on what you read so, once again, it falls on the Dems to figure out how to fill up the huge gaping hole without causing a revolution. Let me tell you, I’m excited about some of these policy proposals Dems are talking about. Historically, that’s how Dems made their signature achievements – by thinking big, being bold and being creative. Nothing will ever be perfection, and if we wait for perfection, we’ll never achieve the good we’re striving for.
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Post by dewryce on Jun 2, 2019 3:29:14 GMT
What is that quote? Don’t let perfect become the enemy of good? Something like that. Reminds me of when GOP was railing against Obamacare. I am a perfectionist and when that mindset is strongest, when doing most projects I have to tell mself to get it done and then perfect it as much as possible. Otherwise I’d never start.
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lizacreates
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,856
Aug 29, 2015 2:39:19 GMT
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Post by lizacreates on Jun 2, 2019 3:35:35 GMT
What is that quote? Don’t let perfect become the enemy of good? Something like that. Reminds me of when GOP was railing against Obamacare. I am a perfectionist and when that mindset is strongest, when doing most projects I have to tell mself to get it done and then perfect it as much as possible. Otherwise I’d never start. That's the exact quote. I have one by JFK that I find particularly inspiring: “But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.”
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Post by dewryce on Jun 2, 2019 3:54:41 GMT
What is that quote? Don’t let perfect become the enemy of good? Something like that. Reminds me of when GOP was railing against Obamacare. I am a perfectionist and when that mindset is strongest, when doing most projects I have to tell mself to get it done and then perfect it as much as possible. Otherwise I’d never start. That's the exact quote. I have one by JFK that I find particularly inspiring: “But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.” I love that, and it is very timely for me right now. Thank you for sharing it!
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lizacreates
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,856
Aug 29, 2015 2:39:19 GMT
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Post by lizacreates on Jun 2, 2019 3:58:57 GMT
I love that, and it is very timely for me right now. Thank you for sharing it! I’ve always liked it. It “speaks to me,” I guess. Lol. I have it in a frame on my desk. Have a peaceful evening, sister.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 2, 2019 4:56:29 GMT
Homelessness is hard to solve. Meanwhile, I’m okay with spending money on feeding the homeless and providing shelter in winter. It may not solve the problem, but at least it’s more humane than having them freeze to death or die of malnutrition. ETA far preferable way to spend money than cutting taxes for people so rich they won’t even notice! That’s just it, I’d rather waste money TRYING to provide shelter for the homeless- I’d rather waste money providing at least basic healthcare, than on giving corporations & the 1% super rich tax breaks. IT did not trickle down last time & it won’t trickle down this time. AND don’t give consumerism as ‘proof’ that trickle down economics works it’s NOT the same thing. This is where I am too. I'd rather "waste" that money trying to solve the problem and giving other people jobs IN THIS COUNTRY as social workers, educators, health care wokers, etc. And ps - re spending "millions and millions" the answer is likely going to need BILLIONS to make up for the decades and centuries of holding people down economically, nutritionally, emotionally, environmentally, etc. It's like if a construction crew comes to hook up your new house to a city sewer and says, "that's going to cost $75,000" and you go "What!??!?!? No way, I'll only give you $20,000" and he goes "that's not going to do it, I can start digging for $20,000, but I will only make it 1/5 of the way to the sewer" and you go "well get started!!" and then we he's done, you lose your shit at go "WTF, man, I spent thousands and thousands and I don't have a house that's connected to the fu#($ing sewer!!!!" and he goes "yeah, that's what I said, it will take much more than $20,000 to get to the sewer" and you go "what a rip-off, no one can ever get this house connected to the sewer!!!!"
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Post by revirdsuba99 on Jun 2, 2019 5:01:54 GMT
You should not have used homelessness as an example. Millions and millions and millions of dollars have been spent on homelessness over the decades and we are no closer solving the problem today then we were decades ago. In fact an argument could be made it’s actually worse. Basic food and shelter. A priority, long term mental services for them and their families as needed, too many are veterans.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 2, 2019 6:00:10 GMT
Should “just doing something” be good enough? Is just treating the symptoms acceptable instead of removing the cause of the symptoms? How many years is it acceptable to “just do something” as opposed to solving the problem.
For 40 years I would get off my bus in San Francisco’s Financial District and walk to my office. For the majority of those walks to and from my office I would pass the same homeless folks every day for months or even years. Always in the same place. One homeless man was so well known that when he died there was a blurb about it in the newspaper.
During that 40 year period SF was trying all kind of things to solve the problem. To get people off the streets permanently. They spent millions and millions of dollars. When Gavin Newsom was mayor he had all these big plans on solving the problem. Now he is governor and SF still has a homeless population. The new mayor has her plans that involves some center on the Embarcadero. But the people in the neighborhood are fighting it. You know the old NIMBY syndrome.
The homeless problem is a very complex one. A fair number of those choosing to live on the streets are suffering from sort of mental illness. You hear about the large number of veterans on the street, I bet you anything they are suffering from PTSD. And unless these folks are a danger to themselves or others or have family members that have some sort of power of attorney and can make decisions for these folks, there is very little officials can do because these folks have rights and you can’t just come in and sweep them off the streets and put them in facilities that can give the they need. They have to make the decision on their own.
There is a complexity to all the problems facing way too many Americans. Problems we have been trying to solve for generations like poverty, gangs, quality educations for all instead of some, affordable health care for all, address mental illness. Moving or creating job opportunities in areas that need it the most. New problems like affordable housing and the opioids epidemic.
There are government programs and charities working on all these problems but they are dealing with the symptoms and not the causes. Because dealing with the actual causes and eliminating them is really really hard so it’s just easier to deal with the symptoms.
But there comes a time that just dealing with the symptoms is just not good enough. And the attitude of “ it’s better to do something instead of doing nothing” is no longer acceptable.
And I for one think we are at that point where “just doing something is better than nothing” is just not good enough anymore. We need to solve these problems.
Do I have the answers? Nope. I use to tell myself on my walks to my office that if. I could figure out how to solve the homeless problem I would run for public office. Never ran for public office so..
I believe the solutions are out there being used in small towns and communities. The politicians just need to find them and refine them to be used in the entire country. So maybe instead of these vague promises, more time should be spent finding the solutions being successfully used and presenting them to the American People.
At least that is the way I see it.
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Post by hop2 on Jun 2, 2019 13:31:17 GMT
@fred
It’s past the point where ‘just doing something is better than nothing’ right now in our country we are at the point of do I vote to worsen the problems or do I vote just do something for the symptoms thats better than nothing.
Because pumping money into the %1 is making the problem worse. The percentage of those 1# who do something with that money other than buying mansions is too small.
We are past bandaid stage. We either fail trying to tackle the problems or we just choose to make them worse.
But hey, guess what? If we choose to become a plutocracy you won’t have to worry about homeless people, because one way or the other they will dissapear. Problem won’t be fixed but you won’t see it.
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Post by hop2 on Jun 2, 2019 13:34:37 GMT
That’s just it, I’d rather waste money TRYING to provide shelter for the homeless- I’d rather waste money providing at least basic healthcare, than on giving corporations & the 1% super rich tax breaks. IT did not trickle down last time & it won’t trickle down this time. AND don’t give consumerism as ‘proof’ that trickle down economics works it’s NOT the same thing. This is where I am too. I'd rather "waste" that money trying to solve the problem and giving other people jobs IN THIS COUNTRY as social workers, educators, health care wokers, etc. And ps - re spending "millions and millions" the answer is likely going to need BILLIONS to make up for the decades and centuries of holding people down economically, nutritionally, emotionally, environmentally, etc. It's like if a construction crew comes to hook up your new house to a city sewer and says, "that's going to cost $75,000" and you go "What!??!?!? No way, I'll only give you $20,000" and he goes "that's not going to do it, I can start digging for $20,000, but I will only make it 1/5 of the way to the sewer" and you go "well get started!!" and then we he's done, you lose your shit at go "WTF, man, I spent thousands and thousands and I don't have a house that's connected to the fu#($ing sewer!!!!" and he goes "yeah, that's what I said, it will take much more than $20,000 to get to the sewer" and you go "what a rip-off, no one can ever get this house connected to the sewer!!!!" THIS is EXCTLY how the federal government built Route 287, we waited decades for the next installment. The highway literally just ended where they left off until they came up with more money. Now you’d never know they hadn’t finished it all at once.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 2, 2019 13:55:40 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jun 2, 2019 14:06:43 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jun 2, 2019 14:11:06 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jun 2, 2019 16:40:17 GMT
This is where I am too. I'd rather "waste" that money trying to solve the problem and giving other people jobs IN THIS COUNTRY as social workers, educators, health care wokers, etc. And ps - re spending "millions and millions" the answer is likely going to need BILLIONS to make up for the decades and centuries of holding people down economically, nutritionally, emotionally, environmentally, etc. It's like if a construction crew comes to hook up your new house to a city sewer and says, "that's going to cost $75,000" and you go "What!??!?!? No way, I'll only give you $20,000" and he goes "that's not going to do it, I can start digging for $20,000, but I will only make it 1/5 of the way to the sewer" and you go "well get started!!" and then we he's done, you lose your shit at go "WTF, man, I spent thousands and thousands and I don't have a house that's connected to the fu#($ing sewer!!!!" and he goes "yeah, that's what I said, it will take much more than $20,000 to get to the sewer" and you go "what a rip-off, no one can ever get this house connected to the sewer!!!!" THIS is EXCTLY how the federal government built Route 287, we waited decades for the next installment. The highway literally just ended where they left off until they came up with more money. Now you’d never know they hadn’t finished it all at once. You do understand that coming up the money to complete the freeway and connect a house to the sewer is not the same thing as solving the homelessness problem and poverty and eliminating gangs and the culture it breeds and so on don’t you? If it was as simple as completing a construction project these problems would have been solved decades ago. But what we are talking about is altering how individuals live their lives, hopefully for the better, not some construction project. What I’m seeing is this belief if you find ways of taking money from the rich and throwing it at the problems they will magically disappear. I’m also seeing its ok with the status quo. What I’m saying is throwing money at a problem is not going to solve it unless there is a plan that will actually work. We have had decades of trying different things. Now it’s time to find one that will , you know, actually work because we are dealing with people’s lives not some sewer system or freeway. So instead patting Warren on the back for her “plans” and her latest way to tax the rich, what we should be saying “Ok Liz , how is this going to work? Let’s see the details.” We owe that to the people her plans and all the other candidates plans are going to help. And since the “people” these plans being presented by the candidates could affect a lot if not all of us, I for one want details. I’m tired of taking politicians/candidates at their word on vague promises. I’m tired of seeing homeless encampments and folks chanting NIMBY when temporary solutions are presented for these folks. I’m tired of reading about gang related shootings. I’m tired of readings stories about how poor people are treated for no other reason then they are poor. I’m tired of this “status quo” mentality that seems to have settled on the social issues that affect so many Americans. As a country we can and should solve these problems that affect so many folks. And until you have concrete plans that will actually work, all the money in the world is not going to solve these problems. History has shown us that.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 2, 2019 17:10:06 GMT
THIS is EXCTLY how the federal government built Route 287, we waited decades for the next installment. The highway literally just ended where they left off until they came up with more money. Now you’d never know they hadn’t finished it all at once. You do understand that coming up the money to complete the freeway and connect a house to the sewer is not the same thing as solving the homelessness problem and poverty and eliminating gangs and the culture it breeds and so on don’t you? If it was as simple as completing a construction project these problems would have been solved decades ago. But what we are talking about is altering how individuals live their lives, hopefully for the better, not some construction project. What I’m seeing is this belief if you find ways of taking money from the rich and throwing it at the problems they will magically disappear. I’m also seeing its ok with the status quo. What I’m saying is throwing money at a problem is not going to solve it unless there is a plan that will actually work. We have had decades of trying different things. Now it’s time to find one that will , you know, actually work because we are dealing with people’s lives not some sewer system or freeway. So instead patting Warren on the back for her “plans” and her latest way to tax the rich, what we should be saying “Ok Liz , how is this going to work? Let’s see the details.” We owe that to the people her plans and all the other candidates plans are going to help. And since the “people” these plans being presented by the candidates could affect a lot if not all of us, I for one want details. I’m tired of taking politicians/candidates at their word on vague promises. I’m tired of seeing homeless encampments and folks chanting NIMBY when temporary solutions are presented for these folks. I’m tired of reading about gang related shootings. I’m tired of readings stories about how poor people are treated for no other reason then they are poor. I’m tired of this “status quo” mentality that seems to have settled on the social issues that affect so many Americans. As a country we can and should solve these problems that affect so many folks. And until you have concrete plans that will actually work, all the money in the world is not going to solve these problems. History has shown us that. It is an ANALOGY in not spending enough to address root causes, but spending just enough to whine about having spent "too much money" already. I'm tired of people not getting that taxing billionaires keeps that money IN THE US ECONOMY vs. having that money chase all over the globe in search of the best returns. I'm tired of people not getting that paying social workers, law enforcement, water scientists, food scientists, mental health professionals and hundreds of other professions is better than letting billionaires keep it and move it overseas. I'm tired of people not investing in children then wondering why adults end up homeless and/or criminals and/or being kept by the state (middle class tax payers) in prisons and jails for decades. I'm tired of people worrying more about the 50-million and first dollar of a billionaire's wealth (or in my solution, worrying about their billions in financial transactions being taxed at .5% when I get taxed and 4-9% in sales tax ALL THE TIME) over the pain and misery of hundreds of thousands.
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Post by hop2 on Jun 2, 2019 17:21:55 GMT
Yes I know it’s different than solving homelessness, hunger, poverty, etc.
HOWEVER,
1 you won’t know if a plan works until you ( or someone ) implements it. There is no way to predict it perfectly.
2 Trying a plan is better than making the situation worse. The current set of politicians in power are making it worse. Anyone who studied the real effects of the last ‘trickle down economics” can tell you what it did to the poor & middle class over time. I’m not willing to go down that road again because we still haven’t recovered from the first go round.
You can argue all day that you want things that will work. But no one knows what will actually work, unless someone else has done it successfully. I’m not willing to continue on towards a complete plutocracy. You might prefer that. Because those problems you want ‘solved’ will disappear from view. They won’t be solved, they’ll just be removed. More so than they are separated now.
We are on track right now to decimate the last of the family held small farms in our country. Trump isn’t that smart but those who egg him on in their direction know exactly what they are doing. I grew up in middle NY state and I know 1st hand what happened to the family held small farms the first go round with these policies. We lost more than half of them. Bought up either by corporate farms or developers. If you don’t think the current policies are SUPPOSED to finish the job then your fooling yourself. Who do you think will have the money to buy all these farms when they go bankrupt?
I fully admit that young naive me fell for it with Reagan. But I’m not stupid, I watched what happened, I see the direction the current policies are sending us & it’s not pretty. 4 more years of this crap and I’ll be surprised if there’s any independent farms left.
And that’s just one area of the economy, it does the same thing in the housing industry. It slowly squeezes out the small independent investment property owners in favor of the corporations & Partnerships of the rich. It takes longer than the farm industry but it’s the same result. Smaller businesses loose to foreclosure so the big guys all buy it up.
Right now I will vote for ANYONE who wants to try to reverse this crap. I prefer to not live in a feudal society. I prefer to not have a plutocracy.
You know, Trump isn’t even the most dangerous right now. He’s just an easily led idiot that they are using.
Yeah yeah the sky is falling blah blah blah that’s what you’ll dismiss what I’m saying as.
What ever, don’t listen to me, don’t go research it for yourself. Don’t look at honestly at what’s happening. I can’t care anymore. The people who will be most affected the fastest seem to insist on not looking at the truth of what’s happening.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 2, 2019 19:45:13 GMT
Ah hop2 and @zingermack... Years ago my cat Clyde got sick. It was on the weekend and my regular vet’s Office was closed. So I took him to the 24 hour emergency vet. They took an x-ray and stabilized him, kept him overnight. Monday I picked him up from the emergency vet and took him to my regular vet, because at that point they still didn’t know what was wrong with him. That vet did more tests and decided Clyde was reacting to fiber in his intestines. It seemed he like to lick a small area rug. Problem solved and I removed the rug. Nope, he had another episode, on the weekend, so back to the 24 hr emergency vet, and back to my regular vet. It became clear this wasn’t going to be resolved quickly, I changed vets to the one my sister was using because they were open on Saturdays and it would make it easier for me to take Clyde in. The new vet wanted to try this and try that. Meanwhile Clyde was getting weaker. He was camped out on my sofa so I moved a little box right across from the sofa so he wouldn’t have to go far to use it. One day, about 6 weeks after this all started, I was sitting in the living room when Clyde climbed down and walked over to the litter box. The little guy just stood there outside the box and peed and went back to the sofa. That is when I really understood this “trying this and trying that” was taking a toll on the little guy. He was there but not there. So I called the vet and got her boss and voiced my displeasure and frustration and told them no more tests and they needed to tell me what was wrong with Clyde. She said ok but suggested that while they figured out what was wrong, he should get a steroid shot which would make him feel better. So I said fine and made an appointment to take him in. When I got there, they had figured out what was wrong, he had cancer in his kidneys. It seems the head vet that I talked to took a look at his file and the very first x-ray taken all those weeks earlier told her what she needed to know to make the diagnosis. My vet agreed. The good news he should have at least another 2 months of life. Thinking of him walking to the litter box and peeing outside it, the fight I had to get him to take pills and even to eat I realized there would be no quality of life for his final weeks. So Clyde didn’t come home with me that day. And no I wasn’t upset because Clyde didn’t pee in the litter box. What I saw was the little guy knew what he was suppose to do, but he couldn’t quite get it done anymore. There is no doubt in my mind if they had “seen” the cause of his illness in the first x-ray taken 6 weeks earlier instead of putting him through all those tests that were taking a toll on him, he could of had a decent quality of life until the end. After that I became a first class bitch when it came to how my cats were treated. No more of this “well let’s try this or let’s try that” crap. They were professionals which means they have the expertise to figure these things out without trying this or that. Now take this analogy of Clyde and apply it to the problems facing so many Americans. It’s not like different things haven’t been tried. They have, we’ve been trying for decades to solve them. But at some point trying this and that has to stop. Because the inability to solve these problems, after trying for decades, is taking a real toll on the very people we want to help. A lot of The ACA was based on a plan Massachusetts has. Colorado has come up with a way to cut teen pregnancy. Maybe it’s time for the experts and candidates to step back and look around at what is already being done in some areas of the country that is working or had some success and seeing if it can be adapted or the cornerstone of a plan that will actually work in the entire country. I don’t care that billionaires have billions. I really don’t. What I care about is solving these problems that have been around for decades. What I want from the candidates and experts are specific plans, with details, to solve these problems. I don’t think that is unreasonable since we have been “trying this and that” for decades with very little results. And just like the answer was in Clyde’s first x-ray, the answer to solving a lot of these problems could already exist but are being overlooked in the rush to come up with something new or “let’s try this or that “ instead of looking at what was done in the past or what someone else is doing on a smaller scale. Sometimes when you give an ultimatum you get results. Unlike accepting vague promises. So I’m disagreeing with you two on this.
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Deleted
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Apr 28, 2024 22:05:31 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jun 2, 2019 22:25:44 GMT
Ah, @fred. To solve the problems you cannot have billionaires having billions while the bottom 50% have 1% of the wealth. You can't seem to get this into your calculus. "Most dramatically, it found that t he country’s three richest individuals—Bill Gates, Warren Buffett and Jeff Bezos—collectively hold more wealth than the bottom 50% of the domestic population, “a total of 160 million people or 63 million American households.” Roughly a fifth of Americans “have zero or negative net worth,” the authors wrote." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wealth_inequality_in_the_United_StatesYou can't get blood from a stone.
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Deleted
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Apr 28, 2024 22:05:31 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jun 2, 2019 23:13:43 GMT
Ah, @fred . To solve the problems you cannot have billionaires having billions while the bottom 50% have 1% of the wealth. You can't seem to get this into your calculus. "Most dramatically, it found that t he country’s three richest individuals—Bill Gates, Warren Buffett and Jeff Bezos—collectively hold more wealth than the bottom 50% of the domestic population, “a total of 160 million people or 63 million American households.” Roughly a fifth of Americans “have zero or negative net worth,” the authors wrote." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wealth_inequality_in_the_United_StatesYou can't get blood from a stone. And you can’t throw money at problems and hope it solves them. Come up with a solution with details that works, figure out the cost. And once you have the cost, come up with a realistic way to pay for it. For the record, I don’t care how much wealth Gates, Buffett & Bezos have. To me that is not important. What is important is coming up with solutions that work. We are going to have to agree to disagree on this. The good news is I think we want the same outcome, it’s just how we get there that we see things differently.
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Deleted
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Apr 28, 2024 22:05:31 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jun 3, 2019 3:26:17 GMT
Here's what we have tried before and has failed miserably: Trickle-down economics.
Here's what we haven't tried before: a .5% to 1% financial transaction tax raking in Hundreds of Billions per year to hire people to help other people.
Here's what billionaires do w/the money they keep from taxes: Move it all over the world in search of fun and/or highest returns.
Here's what billionaires money does when it's taxed appropriately: Hires people to help other people.
Even if the people aren't helped completely, the people who get hired to do the helping do VASTLY more for our economy than the money taken out of the economy to casinos in Macao, penthouses in Tokyo, ski chalets in Switzerland, etc.
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Post by crimsoncat05 on Jun 3, 2019 18:45:16 GMT
Ah, @fred . To solve the problems you cannot have billionaires having billions while the bottom 50% have 1% of the wealth. You can't seem to get this into your calculus. "Most dramatically, it found that t he country’s three richest individuals—Bill Gates, Warren Buffett and Jeff Bezos—collectively hold more wealth than the bottom 50% of the domestic population, “a total of 160 million people or 63 million American households.” Roughly a fifth of Americans “have zero or negative net worth,” the authors wrote." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wealth_inequality_in_the_United_StatesYou can't get blood from a stone. And you can’t throw money at problems and hope it solves them. Come up with a solution with details that works, figure out the cost. And once you have the cost, come up with a realistic way to pay for it. For the record, I don’t care how much wealth Gates, Buffett & Bezos have. To me that is not important. What is important is coming up with solutions that work. We are going to have to agree to disagree on this. The good news is I think we want the same outcome, it’s just how we get there that we see things differently. and some of these billionaires DO put their money into fixing things... the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, working to find cures and eradicate diseases, etc. I'll be wishy washy and say that in SOME cases, it does depend on where the billions and billions of $$$ are going, and who has it-- whether those people are working only to acquire more wealth for them and their family to the detriment of the economy / society the $$ is coming from, or working to do positive things with (at least some part of) their wealth. ven if the people aren't helped completely, the people who get hired to do the helping do VASTLY more for our economy than the money taken out of the economy to casinos in Macao, penthouses in Tokyo, ski chalets in Switzerland, etc. YES (or sitting in some hidden bank account in Switzerland, or some offshore account in the Cayman Islands, etc.)
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