Four Year Wonders Got Married: Ochka and ML

[2tallbill]

Meanwhile in Texas,
The tomatoes in our garden are not ready to eat yet, but we have green tomatoes on the vine.
When August rolls around, I won't be bragging as much.

Tomatoes are starting to grow again in Angel Eye's garden. They didn't produce any in August
because it was too hot.

[ML]

The Pros and Cons of Trump and Harris

Here is the gloomy version of the 2024 election.

The essence of the case against Donald Trump:
A democracy can’t be entrusted to an autocrat, especially one as unprincipled and unstable as he. He believes in the democratic process only when it affirms him and his sovereign ego.  He is uniquely uncouth—barbarian, vulgarian, choose your word—and addicted to telling lies. He heads the vast MAGA cult of personality, and in that he resembles, say, Hong Xiuquan, who led the Taiping rebellion that devastated Qing Dynasty China in the 19th century. Hong believed himself to be the son of God, younger brother of Jesus Christ. Mr. Trump seems to be laboring under a similar delusion. So his enemies say.

The argument against Kamala Harris:
Until the day before yesterday, almost everyone agreed she was a mediocre vice president. She was Joe Biden’s insurance policy. No one, the argument went, would want him to quit the presidency and leave it in the hands of such an empty suit. Now, incredibly, she is Wonder Woman, high priestess of the Politics of Joy, a daughter of Jamaica and India come to rescue 'reactionary white America from itself. The Democrats in a few short weeks have mustered their own cult of personality around Ms. Harris, transfiguring the erstwhile hack into a world-historical heroine.  Never has the power of spontaneous 21st-century image spinning been so gloriously demonstrated.

The negative version goes deeper.

If Mr. Trump is an autocrat, the entire Democratic program, as reposed in Ms. Harris, is also sinister and dictatorial.  It has profoundly autocratic tendencies. Despite the Norman Rockwell pageantry of the Democrats’ convention in Chicago, the party, especially with the old San Francisco lefty Ms. Harris in the Oval Office, could be expected to impose the intolerant, ideological coercions and absolutism of what might be called the horribly virtuous.

It would be 'cancel culture' times 10.

Her recent interview on CNN made clear that a President Harris would continue all Biden policies: on taxes, the border, Israel, Iran. Same policies, but much further to the left.
So say Ms. Harris’s enemies.

But let’s consider sunnier scenarios.
First, the optimistic argument in favor of Mr. Trump:
He is a genuine though obnoxious patriot, whose policies on immigration, the economy, Russia, China and the Middle East would be stronger, more decisive and more credible than the weak, ambivalent performance of the Biden-Harris team.

Mr. Trump, however much one might wonder at his bizarreness and bad manners, would be better for the country because his views are arguably more in sync with those of the American people.  Simple as that.

Now think of the most extravagant argument in favor of Ms. Harris:
She may, in truth, be an American miracle. The country has always been the story of a sequence of self transcendences—of breakthroughs and evolutions. Think of the Jacksonian populism that empowered the people beyond the mountains, introducing a newer and wider vision of America. Think of the Civil War, which at great cost transformed the country. Or of the stupendous flood of immigration in the second half of the 19th century and the early part of the 20th. Or of the New Deal. Or of the 1960s, which introduced such seismic changes.

Perhaps it is true that Ms. Harris represents a breakthrough, a new evolution, a new future. Maybe she has been sent by America’s special providence to rescue the country from a spent generation of leaders, to tell the world: This is no country for old men.

The undecided voter has sat for a long time now with a yellow legal pad in front of him, toting up the positives and negatives, trying to decide. Early voting starts soon. The days dwindle down to a precious few. Those with politically categorical minds—the MAGA people and those on the dedicated left—will vote according to their nature.

It’s the conscientiously undecided people—political depressives who think too much or may be a little too mugwump for their own good—who will determine the outcome.

In 2024 the positives and negatives on either side of the page are vivid and powerful. The election may be decided not so much by logic as by gut instinct, by what ever it is in human nature that decides whether one likes cats or dogs. Tertium non datur.

Either way, this is the strangest and most disturbing election of my long lifetime.

Mr. Morrow is a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and author of “The Noise of Typewriters: Remembering Journalism.”
   

[krimster2]

but...but....
I thought the TOS said...oh, I get it now....

as a
Dairy Psychiatrist, who delivers organic dairy products as well as outpatient psychiatric services to desperate Trump voters in a dire state of mental anguish
I'd recommend you make an appoitment for ADHD treatment, and try our low-fat yogurt

"Mr. Trump, however much one might wonder at his bizarreness and bad manners, would be better for the country because his views are arguably more in sync with those of the American people."

If you think that, it's becuz Trump first had to find out what midlle class white people want
and then Trump lies, and tells them that's what he's gonna do (and later "forgets")
and dumb asses fell for it

" could be expected to impose the intolerant, ideological coercions and absolutism of what might be called the horribly virtuous."

yeah, a lot of people who publish disinformation and make money off it, don't wanna lose this business
y'know the hacked election software, that stole the election from Trump, cost Fox a couple of hundred million and Colludy Rudy 150 million
would't it be better, if they could just lie and not have to account for it in court, darn those pesky liberal laws

Trump a phuqueing patriot?

why? cuz he "dry-humped" the flag
Trump family has been in the USA since 1870s, not one ever served his country
Trump's father bought a draft deferment for him, some kid from a poorer family went in Trump' place
Trump's photo-op at arlington, "troops are suckers and losers", heard by an American General
dissing Medal-of-Honor recipients, after giving "freedom medal" to largest donor
Phuque whoever calls Trump a Patriot, you's spitting on the graves of actual patriots, phuque you, and the scrawny-ass horse you rode in on

"Until the day before yesterday, almost everyone agreed she was a mediocre vice president"
compared, to the one who botched Covid, has 34 felonies, impeached twice, still has trials pending for elction subversion, hundreds of millions in lawsuits for fraud, and on-and-on
Mediocre seems pretty darned good compared to that

In other words, yur post is nothing but right-wing "apologetics"
to create a fake truth

Trump is nothin' but a freakin con-man who has NO political beliefs
Trump voters are his "marks"
cuz they're stoopid and uneducated
and can't tell the difference between what's real and what's not

Trump will see that he cannot win this election, so he's gonna cheat again....
This is why Laura Trump is in charge of fund-raising at the RNC

Trump will disrupt the vote counting on election day, using his minions
and if the vote counting is disrupted past inaugeration day
then the rules say, that a special senate election will be held to determine the winner
so 100 senators, will decide along party lines

this is Trump's plan
in order to implement this plan, it means thousands of his supporters will once more be off to prison whn it crashes and Trump leaves them "holding the bag" like he did before

meanwhile, regardless of who wins, interest on the debt, czused by lowering taxes on the 1% has zoomed past a $1 trillion/yr

take a look
http://www.visualcapitalist.com/u-s-debt-interest-payments-reach-1-trillion/

in 10 more years it will be more than double....
and will come close to excceding ALL FEDERAL INCOME TAXES COLLECTED....

when droughts boost food prices and interest rates
the dollar is in a "doom loop"
and the crash will be much, much bigger than the stockmarket crash of '29...much more
Trump's term helped speed it up....
when Trump left office, 1/4 of the total federal debt, was just his one term...
in other words...in one term Trump accumulated as much debt, as the first 200 years of our country, including all major wars...
Trump's last year in office, was the first time in history since Plymouth Rock in 1620, when the white population of America fell

and you dumb phuques think this was a success????

[olgac]

Unfortunately I don't like either of them. Might sit this election out

[krimster2]

we must always choose the lesser of evils...
you REALLY don't see Trump's EVIL???
I don't know how you can miss it....

what's yur basis of disliking Harris?
skin color? be honest...

[olgac]

we must always choose the lesser of evils...
you REALLY don't see Trump's EVIL???
I don't know how you can miss it....

I do I really dislike the guy.

what's yur basis of disliking Harris?
skin color? be honest...

I guess I am just more fiscally conservative so I don't usually like Democratic party
but last two elections I voted against Trump. plus I  freak out when I hear things like potentially taxing unrealized gain
and other taxation of rich ideas.

[krimster2]

what's wrong with taxing the wealthy?
or should only W-2 wage slaves pay taxes?

we've had what 6 major tax cuts over the years, mostly benefitting the wealthy
this drove up the deficit, so that the interest on that is now $1 trillion/yr,
we have this deficit because of the tax cuts on the wealthy over the last 40 years
instead of paying our bills, we put in on our credit card, and gave it to W-2 wage slaves to pay

this is called "The Debt Bomb"
and sometime in the next decade the debt bomb is gonna blow up the whole world

so you're an advocate for this to happen
because you don't wanna tax the rich

well I can tell ya, the rich sure as hell wanna tax you


the Russians are 100% convinced that Trump is gonna win in November
and that will be the end of Ukraine....

there will be gazillions of refugees if this happens
if elected, Trump will completely destroy the federal government
fullfilling his promise to Putin, who has granted him a Trump Tower in Moscow and some Rosneft stock in exchange

if you sit this out, you and every other American will get EXACTLY what you deserve for turning your back on your country
your actions have consequences
watch and learn

[olgac]

Aren’t rich already taxed? Her ideas are to tax them at higher rate to punish for being wealthy. And yes sometimes rich pay very small % because of all the tricks they use to reduce taxes and I would even agree with a policy reducing all the ways for the rich to cut the taxes they pay.

But taxes on unrealized gain?..

Also she is less strict on illegal immigration.
And the democratic party in general is much more pro woke culture.

But yes Trump is horrible for Ukraine and he is a self absorbed liar unable to finish the sentence when he speaks. And in our case he actually INCREASED our taxes while in power because we lived in California and could no longer deduct huge state tax we paid!

[krimster2]

how is running up a $30 trillion federal debt, "fiscally conservative"
by voting Republican this is what you agreed to
you didn't cut ANYTHING
instead of paying it's bills, the government put it on the credit card for W-2 wage slaves to pay instead of the billionaires and their tax lobbyists
and compound interest will amazxe you at how quickly it grows

doesn't ANYBODY in the Republican party know how to use a Spreadsheet?
I spent a few hours projecting the whole thing through the 2030s based on data I got from the Treasury Dept Web Site
the inescapable conclusion is that the deficit will devour the entire economy by the end of the 2030s
after it hits $100 trillion with $4 trillion per yr interest, which is greater than total federal income taxes collected

it will lead to a permanent trend of declining GDP coupled with high inflation and interest rates
until it implodes and dollar and investments and banking system all come down with it
rich will already have cashed out into precious metals
and can buy back everything for pennies

the Republican party became the party of "Big Business" in the 1890s
it's the party of low regulations (climate change legislation interferes with oil and gas profits) and low taxation
the wealthy are currently paying a SUBSTANTIALLY lower level of taxation, compared to any period of time since federal income taxes were introduced in 1916...
meanwhile INTEREST on the debt those tax cuts created is over $1 trillion/yr, but that's OK...
cuz w-2 wage slaves are paying it off

the rich use their money to BUY favorable treatment from congress
but the poor can't
income inequality means political inequality which leads to even more income inequality (as the rich get richer, it ALWAYS makes the poor get poorer)
WTF, do you think is going on in America today - if NOT THIS EXACT THING!!!!!!! 
BUT Republicans are brain-washing you into thinking the decline in the standard of living is cuz of "WOKE"

which party do you want to handle the social security shortfall that happens in 10 years ($150 billion/yr), and it can't pay out what it promised?
the one that cuts taxes? ok...can you guess what they'll cut...

so all the tax cuts to the wealthy that fueled the deficit
when that blows up (and it will), how much will your dollars be worth?
yup, you spared the rich, but you destroyed the whole system, including your piece
oops....

WOKE is a distraction from the class war between rich and poor (which has ALWAYS been the core struggle in western societys)
if you live in a free society, you have to be tolerant
and if you think that's bad
try living in a non-free society, and feel the difference
gays are pretty quiet in Russia and Iran, is this the kind of society you want to live in?

if you let the majority tyrannize a minority
what happens when it's your turn to be the target

one for all, and all for one

what don't you like about "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity"?
doesn't it sound a lot like "Do unto others"
why ya wanna diminish others different from you? i.e. mexiricans, female impersonators, and so on...

if you get rid of gay men, who's gonna cut yur hair and do the interior decorating?  straight perople? are you kiddin me?

 

big question?
why does a DEEPLY TRAUMATIZED AND COMPLETELY INSANE person like myself, sound more logical than all you "normal" people?

I don't get it, there seems like "an attack of lunacy" goin on this country
P T Barnum sayin there's "a sucker born every minute" and Donald Trump and MAGA, are the same thing
a big circus show to draw the crowds and fleece them

Trump is the one who shutdown any enhancements to border protection, to instead use it as an election issue
so...it looks like "race" is an issue for you afterall....

I've spent time in central America, I don't fear latinos at all...
this country has ALWAYS depended on them for labor
the people who do the necessary hard work, like picking our crops and building our houses and working in factories
immigrants have always played a necessary role in America, as I'm sure you're aware

the economic collapse of the 2030s will lead to the wars of the 2040s
after this, America is no longer a super power
instead, we are a regional power
and we're gonna need to have a economic and political union with the people south of our border as well as to the North
to counter China both miliarily and economically and politically

last thing we need to do is piss off the people are future depends on
we used to be smarter about this issue
see Bracero Program
http://guides.loc.gov/latinx-civil-rights/bracero-program

and we have Maquiladoras
see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maquiladora

by combining American technology and management with Latino labor, we could take on China and kick their ass

my idea was to dig a canal between mexico and the usa, and call it the canal economic zone
factories on both sides of the canal
lots of bridges and tunnels
canal can also replace the Panama Canal which is running out of water

put sharks in the water and giant pictures of Sara Hucklebee Sanders on USA side to discourage illegal immigration

instead of having random latinos hop the border
whatcha wanna do
is setup a gate and charge an entrance fee

the fee might be you speak English and have education or job skills and you go straight into the Bracero labor program
and ya make sure EVERBODY in Latin America knows this

and in parting...

phuque racism, it's stoopid


PS
I just WISH I knew why Russians are so damned confident that Trump is gonna win...
Those that know won't tell me
and those that tell me, don't really know

but, I got that same cold feelin I got, when I was in the basement in Lubayanka
imagine bein alone there...and ya hear Chikitilia's voice talkin to you from the drain...tellin ya the general principles of how to phuque with Russians...classne....

and they ask me, "why I don't take my meds"
and I say, "I'd lose my best counselors, who else can guide me if not them?

FSB Russians don't know about Salvia
best spot to do Salvia in Kyiv is Baba Yar in South West
but much better on a sunny day, overcast makes the visuals worse, much more gut wrenching and scary

[2tallbill]

I do I really dislike the guy.

It's not possible to have a rational conversation with krimster about politics.
You either agree with him 100% or you are a racist, homophobe, a Nazi, a
brainless clone and a killer of puppies. He can't help himself.

He has said all of that about me (except for the puppies)

I don't know why ML decided to wind him up.
I am a free speech guy. My exwife had/has schizophrenia.
so I will not engage in arguments with crazy people. 

I have been opening and commenting on old threads with the hope that lurkers
will engage here at the forum.

ML just wrecked my efforts.

[krimster2]

when ya can't shoot the message, you can always shoot the messanger

"BEEL" is suffering from "The Political Abuse of Psychatry Syndrome" by declaring all those in opposition to him as "crazy"
I confess to not being neurotypical, actually a very far divergence from that
so what...
I don't conceal it
and when people needed my abilities, they paid me HUGE money for it
but I don't do that anymore...

OTOH, BEEL is concealing the fact that he's a christian nationist
which does include elements of "racist, homophobe, a Nazi, a brainless clone" behavior
and I am very opposed to this behavior
this is the territory over which BEEL and I clash

BEEL fights for what he believes and thinks is true
as do I

but only one of us is right....
and it ain't BEEL


I am trying to warn ya'll
ahead of time about the depression and the wars that I see in the numbers for the future
so you can prepare

if that makes me "a bad person" so be it
i'm a bad person...
but I ain't wrong
ya'll are phuqued

UNLESS you invest now in Krim Crypto Tokens and NFTs for a Special Introductory Low Price only for esteemed RWD Readers


PS
BEEL is not a "Puppy Killer"
but he supports politicians who are

while I, OTOH am a Deep-sea troller of Rednecks
and a jaeger meister

and I am someone who likes the sound big men make, when they hit the ground....
and since "I'm crazy" ain't gonna be NO PRISON TIME for me after I'm done with ya
metaphorically speaking of course....

you wanna "Internet Fight Me" Bring It Homeboy!!!!!

[Trenchcoat]

Aren’t rich already taxed? Her ideas are to tax them at higher rate to punish for being wealthy. And yes sometimes rich pay very small % because of all the tricks they use to reduce taxes and I would even agree with a policy reducing all the ways for the rich to cut the taxes they pay.

But taxes on unrealized gain?..

Also she is less strict on illegal immigration.
And the democratic party in general is much more pro woke culture.

But yes Trump is horrible for Ukraine and he is a self absorbed liar unable to finish the sentence when he speaks. And in our case he actually INCREASED our taxes while in power because we lived in California and could no longer deduct huge state tax we paid!

I think that can be a problem sometimes, that those in the so called 'good' i.e high paying jobs can run the risk of getting taxed too much. Usually those high paying jobs are high paying as they are difficult, stressful jobs to do. A lot of people on the outside get envious because they are oblivious to that and just see the good pay side of things. They think they are being treated unfairly as they think they don't get taxed enough. They don't see though that if you tax those high earners too much that it takes away the incentive of doing that higher paid more stressful job that people may leave as a result for easier jobs where they pay less tax and end up earning similar money as a result of the higher paid jobs paying a lot more tax.

That said while higher paid jobs can be a lot more stressful most people often work hard in many a job so I don't discount anyone's job as easy.

At the moment it looks like the whole Trump, Harris thing is on a knife edge. Some news reports calling it one way, others the other way.

Harris pulls in the ethnic voting blocks where it's needed in many of the crucial swing states. Trump potentially though has a stronger leadership pull. Over time before the Elections in November Harris's problem may become that the initial bonus she gained from the sudden announcement that Biden was stepping down and she being placed in his stead dies down. That could potentially lead to less votes than people are saying at present will vote for her.

End of the day my take as an outsider to this US Presidential Election is that it could come down to the strength of voting blocks holding up Vs the strength of the personal qualities of the candidate. Like Trump or not the man does seem to project himself well, Harris hasn't done bad so far but she's never been in the spotlight like this before and I don't know if she has that much appeal to many voters out there.

[krimster2]

I can't speak for UK tax code...
but here in the USA, our tax code is heavily skewed to tax labor MUCH more than capital

for example, I can get almost $60,000 capital gain, and pay NO income tax on it + even more if I sell my primary residence

but if you work for this money....
A single filer earning $60,000 in 2022 will pay: 10% federal income tax on the first $11,000 of income (which comes to $1,100 in taxes) 12% on dollars $11,001 up to $44,725 ($4,046.88 in taxes) 22% on $44,726 up to $95,375 ($3,360.28 in taxes)
and it doesn't include social security and other taxes taken out of your pay check that w-2 wage slaves pay but isn't included with capital gains

tax law lobbyists wrote our tax code, it's so easy to buy congress, that some of our tax laws were written to benefit one particular wealthy person who paid for it

so the claim, that capital gains taxes are too high is nonsense
back when I used to design VLSI, as a business, if I was a "Professional corporation", I'd have a flat 30% federal income tax (to be paid quarterly)
this tax would be DOUBLE what the capital gains tax is, plus the other "payroll" taxes on top!!!

so the people who DO THE WORK, get taxed MORE
than the people they work for
cuz the people they work for, paid lobbyists to make it that way
and they don't want it changed
and this is why you have Fox News, to brainwash the masses, to make sure it doesn't

there's a reson why you have"social security" and will NEVER have "capitalist security"


my own economic liberation began when I stopped being a wage slave
and only worked for myself
and that allowed me to manipulate the tax code in my favor, cuz I was a corporation
so not only did I MAKE more not having a middleman working for somebody else
but I kept more
becuz our tax code was DESIGNED to be exploited this way
so WORKERS couldn't take advantage of it, only the business owners
so IMHO, every worker, needs to become a business owner, if they want to raise themselves up

the new generation is starting to think more along these lines, cuz they are VERY dis-satisfied with the white collar job market, and I don't blame them

[2tallbill]

I  freak out when I hear things like potentially taxing unrealized gain

Article One Section 8 of the US constitution says you can't

Quote
"but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States"
Unquote

The only exception is an Income tax which required the 16th Amendment.

The US Constitution does not allow for an unrealized gain or a Wealth Tax.

Source:
http://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/constitution-transcript


NOTE to leftist's who don't know history (like Harris), Trump came up with a wealth tax idea first. 
http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1999/11/09/trump.rich/index.html

[krimster2]

it's GREAT to know that EVERYONE here on RWD is terribly worried about legislation that effects ONLY THOSE with more than $100 million in unrealized capital gains that therefor doesn't apply to them....
but then doesn't give a fluyin phuque about the working class that they're ACTUALLY a part of...

and I'm "the crazy one"
maybe
but I'd rather be crazy than be brainwashed into supporting the staus quo like you folks are
I'd tell ya'll to "wake up" but you think being AWOKE is bad, cuz FOX NEWS said so

"workers for capitalism" is as big an oxymoron as "queers for palestine"
and ya'll are workin class....

so all you white people, PLEASE be REAL to who you REALLY are
instead of being Elon Musk groupies

all in all,
you're just another...
brick in the wall...

[ML]

I don't think that those who have proposed taxing unrealized gains have thought about how to handle when those unrealized gains later turn to unrealied losses.

[2tallbill]

I don't think that those who have proposed taxing unrealized gains have thought about
how to handle when those unrealized gains later turn to unrealied losses.

Congress is limited by the constitution what they can tax. They had to pass the
16th Amendment in order to tax income. They have to amend the constitution
in order to do it.

[ML]

Congress is limited by the constitution what they can tax. They had to pass the 16th Amendment in order to tax income. They have to amend the constitution in order to do it (tax unrealized gains).

Expert analysis:

Short:

Taxation of unrealized gains in the United States would not require a constitutional amendment but rather just a favorable ruling from the Supreme Court after lengthy challenges in lower courts.

The 16th Amendment key phrase is that Congress can tax "incomes, from whatever source derived,"

Supreme Court would ultimately rule if unrealized gains fell within the meaning of income.

Long:

    Constitutional Basis for Income Taxation: The U.S. Constitution, through the 16th Amendment (ratified in 1913), allows Congress to levy an income tax without apportioning it among the states or basing it on the U.S. Census. The key phrase is that Congress can tax "incomes, from whatever source derived," which has been interpreted to cover realized gains—such as profits from the sale of stocks, property, or other assets.

    Definition of "Income": The debate centers on whether unrealized gains constitute "income" under the 16th Amendment. The U.S. Supreme Court has historically defined income as "the gain derived from capital, from labor, or from both combined," which has typically been interpreted to mean income that is realized (i.e., money that is actually received or made available to a taxpayer).

    Legislative Possibility Without an Amendment: Congress could pass legislation to tax unrealized gains without a constitutional amendment. However, this would likely be challenged in court. The legal arguments would hinge on whether such a tax meets the definition of "income" under the 16th Amendment and whether it constitutes a "direct tax" that must be apportioned among the states according to their populations, as required by Article I of the Constitution.

    Legal and Judicial Challenges: If Congress were to pass a law taxing unrealized gains, it would likely face constitutional challenges, and the Supreme Court would ultimately decide its validity. The Court would need to interpret whether taxing unrealized gains falls within the existing constitutional framework or whether it fundamentally changes the nature of what can be considered "income."

    Previous Court Cases and Precedents:
        The Supreme Court case of Eisner v. Macomber (1920) held that a stock dividend was not "income" because the shareholder did not receive actual cash or property that could be realized. This decision reflects a strict interpretation of what constitutes income and could be used to argue against the taxation of unrealized gains.
        However, legal interpretations can evolve, and a future Supreme Court ruling could potentially reinterpret what constitutes "income."

Conclusion:

    While a constitutional amendment is not required to tax unrealized gains, Congress would need to craft a law that could withstand judicial scrutiny under current constitutional interpretations.
    The most likely scenario is that such a law would lead to extensive litigation, and the U.S. Supreme Court would be the ultimate arbiter of whether taxing unrealized gains is constitutionally permissible under the 16th Amendment.

[Trenchcoat]

I can't speak for UK tax code...
but here in the USA, our tax code is heavily skewed to tax labor MUCH more than capital

for example, I can get almost $60,000 capital gain, and pay NO income tax on it + even more if I sell my primary residence

but if you work for this money....
A single filer earning $60,000 in 2022 will pay: 10% federal income tax on the first $11,000 of income (which comes to $1,100 in taxes) 12% on dollars $11,001 up to $44,725 ($4,046.88 in taxes) 22% on $44,726 up to $95,375 ($3,360.28 in taxes)
and it doesn't include social security and other taxes taken out of your pay check that w-2 wage slaves pay but isn't included with capital gains

tax law lobbyists wrote our tax code, it's so easy to buy congress, that some of our tax laws were written to benefit one particular wealthy person who paid for it

so the claim, that capital gains taxes are too high is nonsense
back when I used to design VLSI, as a business, if I was a "Professional corporation", I'd have a flat 30% federal income tax (to be paid quarterly)
this tax would be DOUBLE what the capital gains tax is, plus the other "payroll" taxes on top!!!

so the people who DO THE WORK, get taxed MORE
than the people they work for
cuz the people they work for, paid lobbyists to make it that way
and they don't want it changed
and this is why you have Fox News, to brainwash the masses, to make sure it doesn't

there's a reson why you have"social security" and will NEVER have "capitalist security"


my own economic liberation began when I stopped being a wage slave
and only worked for myself
and that allowed me to manipulate the tax code in my favor, cuz I was a corporation
so not only did I MAKE more not having a middleman working for somebody else
but I kept more
becuz our tax code was DESIGNED to be exploited this way
so WORKERS couldn't take advantage of it, only the business owners
so IMHO, every worker, needs to become a business owner, if they want to raise themselves up

the new generation is starting to think more along these lines, cuz they are VERY dis-satisfied with the white collar job market, and I don't blame them

[/b]

For the first time on Linkedin a week or so ago I saw what I have predicted for a long time will likely happen a little way down the line. A woman was complaining of having been given the push by an Employer due to a downturn in business/job rationalisation something like that. She was complaining that it's not worth all the unpaid overtime, late evenings, working weekends, replying to emails out of office hours, etc, etc. Finally a change in the wind and something I think we could see a lot more of in future, women becoming dissatisfied with 'careers' especially as they get nearer retirement and get laid off for younger workers.

I think there has been a want for a time for people to go into business for themselves but often it doesn't work out. It takes someone who is a bit business savvy, might have particular skills such as selling, etc. They are also often up against big business that have deep pockets. Yes sometimes the bigger they are the harder they fall if there is a big movement away from favouring big business. In the main though I would say we're still a bit off the pace in terms of bringing many people into being their own boss. Even back in the day there was lots of small high street shops, many closed down due to big out of town shopping centres, superstores, internet shopping, etc. Potentially new firms of small business may arise over time but the old skool businesses that many could go into have died off a lot.

Here in the UK the first £12.5k of income is tax free, I think it's 20 percent after that and a higher percentage for higher salary. Corporation tax they keep changing. It needs going over whether to set up as a Corporation or register self employed before going into business here. Capital Gains varies a bit, if you live in a house a while then sell it then there may be no capital gains than if you sold it a few months after buying it. The whole lot including property has it's own fun & games methods for avoiding paying tax here in the UK. You don't want to be caught illegally avoiding/evading tax in the UK as they come down heavily on you if they catch you. Best way is to play the fun & games game of using whatever you legally can to avoid paying tax.

Often it's the more wealthy that can do that as they have money to play with. So as I am not that wealthy my methods are fairly meek in comparison. If I do up a property such as I am then the value of the property rises, I don't even have to sell but in theory have made a fair amount of money, minus costs of renovation of course.

Illegal tax evasion isn't something to embark on casually in the UK though, there is nothing more the Establishment like to do here than kick a working class guy back down the greasy pole. Finding out and hammering a working class guy in tax is the easy way to do that. A good Tax Accountant likely knows of legitimate ways about it but covering up stuff yourself is risky business. Tradespeople are almost forever in the crosshairs of the taxman as are working class guys they like to kick. Easier to work as a professional offering services and get away with it provided you are discreet. So likelihood of coming up on the taxman radar really needs to be taken into account.

[2tallbill]

Expert analysis:

    The most likely scenario is that such a law would lead to extensive litigation, and the U.S. Supreme Court would be the ultimate arbiter of whether taxing unrealized gains is constitutionally permissible under the 16th Amendment.

The Supremes are always the ultimate arbiter of any rule, law or regulation in the USA.
However I disagree with your expert. Unrealized gains are wealth and/or property.
Of course Congress can make an unconstitutional law, then it will be overturned by
some court.

Your house is an unrealized gain, your business is an unrealized gain. Your wife's
wedding ring is an unrealized gain, your life insurance is an unrealized gain, can
Kamila decide you are dead tomorrow and take the money? Shares of a public
company are an unrealized gain AND it's property.

There is no difference between any of your property, belongings or even a the unborn
puppies of your basset hound than unrealized gains.

[2tallbill]

Long:
(i.e., money that is actually received or made available to a taxpayer).

Unsold Shares or a contract or note or unsold property is not money. You have
to execute a trade in order to get money from property.

Couldn't the government simply cut the rate of returns on treasury notes after
the fact since some of it would be income to most treasury holders?

[ML]

Kamala was the winner in two respects.

1) Her performance answered the question that 'experts' have been asking ever since her ascendancy:  Could she stand up to a debate with Donald without having a meltdown.

2) She got Donald to take the bait several times which took him away from his strongest points on the economy, etc.  i.e. she 'got under his skin.'
Questioning his crowd size, whether people left early, etc.  Inherited 400 million.  Experts at his school Penn said he would be bad for economy, etc.  He talks about criminals entering country when he is a convicted criminal.

He should have not responded and instead continued to talk about inflation, etc.

Note:  I am not saying I support Kamala or Donald, nor am I saying she had the best answers.  Just that she won by doing 1 and 2 above.

[krimster2]

didja ever wonder WHY some vegetables have weird names?
for example, take "Zucchini", who came up with that name?

[2tallbill]

Kamala was the winner in two respects.

1) Her performance answered the question that 'experts' have been asking ever since her ascendancy:  Could she stand up to a debate with Donald without having a meltdown.

2) She got Donald to take the bait several times which took him away from his strongest points on the economy, etc.  i.e. she 'got under his skin.'
Questioning his crowd size, whether people left early, etc.  Inherited 400 million.  Experts at his school Penn said he would be bad for economy, etc.  He talks about criminals entering country when he is a convicted criminal.

Trump was mediocre at best. Kamala hit him with every liberal lie about him ever said.
I am surprised she didn't accuse him of the colluding with Russia hoax. Trump couldn't
focus after that. He could have easily won just by saying as much, then going after her
leftist wacko record and the track record of team Biden along with her role in covering
up and lying about dementia boy.

He could have talked about Kamala hiding in the basement just like Joe did and only
having one patty cake interview with along with her emotional support dogVP.

Trump had the opportunity but his brain misfired. He was like Jeb Bush in the 2016
primary.

[ML]

U.S. Shrugs as World War III Approaches              September 17, 2024

A devastating report on global threats and American weakness is met with indifference by American politicians and the American public.

Highlight points to the recently released report of the Commission on the National Defense Strategy. This panel of eight experts, named by the senior Republicans and Democrats on the House and Senate Armed Services committees, consulted widely across government, reviewing both public and classified information, and issued a unanimous report that, in a healthy political climate, would be the central topic in national conversation.

The bipartisan report details a devastating picture of political failure, strategic inadequacy and growing American weakness in a time of rapidly increasing danger. The U.S. faces the “most serious and most challenging” threats since 1945, including the real risk of “near-term major war.” The report warns: “The nation was last prepared for such a fight during the Cold War, which ended 35 years ago. It is not prepared today.”

Worse, “China and Russia’s ‘no-limits’ partnership, formed in February 2022 just days before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has only deepened and broadened to include a military and economic partnership with Iran and North Korea. . . . This new alignment of nations opposed to U.S. interests creates a real risk, if not likelihood, that conflict anywhere could become a multitheater or global war.”

Should such a conflict break out, “the Commission finds that the U.S. military lacks both the capabilities and the capacity required to be confident it can deter and prevail in combat.”

To summarize, World War III is becoming more likely in the near term, and the U.S. is too weak either to prevent it or, should war come, to be confident of victory.  A more devastating indictment of a failed generation of national leadership could scarcely be penned.

This is not, or should not be, a partisan issue. No recent president and no party escapes responsibility for our current plight. Red and blue America will suffer equally if the global slide toward war continues unchecked.

Even more appalling than the report is the general indifference with which it has been received. Aside from a few honorable exceptions (including a Wall Street Journal opinion piece by Shay Khatiri and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s clear-sighted advocacy), the commission’s report sank like a stone. There has been no uproar in the press, no speechifying by presidential candidates, no storm on social media, no sign that the American political class takes the slightest interest in the increasing fragility of the peace on which everything we cherish depends.

That isn’t new. Congress, much of the media and public opinion at large have ignored alerts from respected defense leaders at least since Robert Gates warned almost 12 years ago of the dangerous consequences of defense cutbacks. The commission’s report is now warning that the long-deferred bill is coming due.

If history teaches anything, it is that decadence this deep, carried on this long, entails enormous costs. Our adversaries’ conviction that the inattention of a flabby political class is bringing the Pax Americana to an inglorious end is a key reason why nations as suspicious of one another as China, Russia, Iran and North Korea have chosen this moment to make common cause against us.

The prophet Ezekiel spoke about the duty of the watchman on the city wall to sound the trumpet when enemies approach. The Commission on the National Defense Strategy has fulfilled its mission. But judging from the indifference with which its report has been greeted, more and louder trumpets need to sound. Not since the 1930s have Americans been this profoundly indifferent as a great war assembles in the world outside, and not since Paul Revere traversed the dark country lanes of Massachusetts have Americans more urgently needed to rouse themselves from sleep.

By Walter Russell Mead