American Politics

[SubCmdr]

Germans make cars for drivers. Japanese makes cars for those who just need to get from here to there. I have even owned great cars made in the USA.

I switched to Japanese vehicles as well. As to Sirioja's preference for buying European, I think the Germans make good cars, although I've ever owned one. I can attest that you need to be a masochist to own a French or Italian vehicle.

I wonder if the Marquesa believes we're evil for owning Japanese vehicles.

If MarQ has as anything to say about it tell him to check this link:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o..._United_States

[Tiny 12]

You would vote for me only because you know I have as little chance of winning (since I would not be running) as Chase Oliver but that wasted vote for him / me would help Trump or any other Repub win.

Just as the votes for Oliver rather than for Harris in PA, MI and WI constituted roughly half the number of votes she needed to swing her way to defeat Trump. The remaining "winning" votes for Trump rather than Harris in those three decisive states could then easily have been generated by Bill Maher's weekly televised anti-Dem, pro Trump / Repub Campaign Rally over the previous four years.

That is, if the highly motivated and mobilized angry Muslim Community demo single-issue votes for Trump having nothing to do with the economy, inflation, immigration, trannies, pronouns or crime hadn't sailed into those polling places as the surprise Joker in the deck to save the day for Trump in those three decisive states. Which did all the lifting in the country to "give the presidency to Trump" without relying on those Chase Oliver and Bill Maher Weekly Trump / Repub Campaign Rally votes.

If you thought for 1 second a vote for me or MDS might have inadvertantly helped Harris or any other Dem get elected over Trump or any other Repub there is no way you would have done it.

You're a smart guy but somewhat weak in math. If I wanted to help Trump or any other Republican win, I'd vote for the Republican. As long as the Republicans control the House and / or Senate, I honestly didn't care who won the presidential election. I'd go for Trump on policy, although I really don't like his tariffs. He's less likely to get us into a war than Harris, and his emphasis on deregulation is a big plus. Both of them were set to run big budget deficits, although maybe the Musk / Ramaswamy team will alleviate that somewhat. I can't however vote for someone who tried to steal an election.

Anyway, if there were only two choices, I'd definitely vote for you over Sanders, the Marquesa, Warren, Harris or Biden. I'd probably vote for you over Obama. I don't have to make that choice though. There are always Republicans, Libertarians, or the occasional sane Democrat like Bill Clinton who I can vote for instead. That's not to say you're not sane. You probably are, you're just extremely partisan and unduly influenced by the media.

[Tiny 12]

I know what you mean. I felt the same way about GM cars back in the 90's and yet I persevered. I lost my mechanic's phone number after I switched to Japanese vehicles. I wonder how he's doing nowadays.

I switched to Japanese vehicles as well. As to Sirioja's preference for buying European, I think the Germans make good cars, although I've ever owned one. I can attest that you need to be a masochist to own a French or Italian vehicle.

I wonder if the Marquesa believes we're evil for owning Japanese vehicles.

[SubCmdr]

I don't disagree with anything Trump said. He has a valid point about Hillary Clinton and carried interest, which is the biggest loophole out there.

I respect him for that.

Back in 2016, Trump said you should vote for me, because I know how the swamp works, and I can drain it. He was referring to his dealings through the years with politicians. And with respect to the tax code, he had a point. The corporate tax cut engineered by Trump, Ryan and McConnell eliminated certain loopholes and lowered the tax rate. American companies for the first time were taxed on unrepatriated foreign income. Yes, initially the Treasury received less income. But counting additional employment taxes from higher wages and new jobs, long term the corporate cut will be a big winner for the Treasury.

I do not consider myself informed in corporate tax law so I will take your word for it my man. I have mad respect for you. You are one of the few people posting in this thread that understands Crypto.

SubComdr, Most penthouse dwelling Bernie Bros have figured out loopholes like Trump did to avoid paying high tax. However, instead of wanting to drain the swamp, they want to double down on it, presumably because they're getting some kind of government pork they want to preserve.

I have a One dick policy. The only dick I worry about in my life is my own. I apply the same principles to tax policy. The only part of the tax code I concern myself with is the part that affects me.

I want to live in Penthouse too I am just too cheap to pay for it. LOL! Even at 200,000 USD+ 40th floor on up with direct ocean views, on a relative scale they are inexpensive here in Pattaya.

[MarquisdeSade1]

Ramaswamy is right. Or at least Americans should encourage their kids to develop the skills in math and other areas that will enable some to become top notch engineers and scientists. Musk's correct to the extent that the Republican Party should not brook politicians who are hateful, unrepentant racists, although there aren't many of those around in percentage terms.

There many positions of Republicans that you'd agree with if they'd been proposed by Democrats.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2...reign-workers/

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/03/o...h1b-visas.html

Musk's Misinformation About Tech Visas.

Jan. 3, 2025.

Credit. Kena Betancur / Agence France-Presse — Getty Images.

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Farah Stockman.

By Farah Stockman.

Editorial Board Member.

Elon Musk and the other tech moguls fluttering around Donald Trump claim that Silicon Valley needs more H-1 B visas to bring in foreign workers because there aren't enough Americans studying science and tech. American innovation requires "critical people" from abroad like Musk himself, they say, because Americans just don't want to learn that stuff.

There's some truth to that. But what they don't tell you is that for more than a decade, Americans working in the tech industry have been systematically laid off and replaced by cheaper H-1 B visa holders.

I discovered this in 2013 when I reported an investigative project for The Boston Globe about widespread fraud in and abuse of the H-1 B visa program. At the time, three companies got the largest number of visas in the H-1 B lottery: Infosys, Tata and Cognizant. All three used a business model that cut costs by bringing over temporary workers from India and leasing them out to American firms like indentured servants. Prominent companies were jettisoning their locally hired I. T. Departments and outsourcing those jobs.

Not much has changed. Today, those three companies are still among the top five recipients of the visas. When Americans realize they can't make a living as software engineers, they leave the industry. The H-1 B program worsens the very shortages it was supposed to address.

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Most H-1 B visa holders are lower-paid labor, not top talent. In May, Musk laid off more than 14,000 Tesla workers, including many H-1 B visa holders. Reddit threads filled with laments by workers who had moved to the United States from India only to be let go with no warning. They were desperate to remain in the country, but because H-1 B visas are owned by the employer, they had few options for doing so.

That's why these workers stay compliant and cheap: They can't leave the companies that control the visas. If they were really top talent, they should be getting green cards, not enduring six years of underpaid servitude.

Such mass layoffs in the tech industry should make us question the premise that more H-1 B visas are needed.

"How do they get away with mass layoffs — then claim shortages?" Ron Hira, a Howard University professor who has written about this issue for two decades, asked me.

Confronted on X with evidence of relatively low pay for H-1 B positions, Musk admitted what many of us already knew: The "program is broken and needs major reform. ".

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Does that mean he's going to push for it to be fixed by raising the wages for temporary workers and making it based more on unique skills than on a lottery? Don't hold your breath.

Farah Stockman joined the Times editorial board in 2020. For four.

[MarquisdeSade1]

The Jacobin, hahahaha! That socialist rag's a mouthpiece for Venezuela and Cuba. Have you been to either one of those countries Marquesa? I have. You wouldn't want to live there. I'd vote for Tooms for president before I'd vote for you. You're welcome Tooms.

The horseshoe club at its worst!!

I represent the likes of the sane moderates the sane middle class the SANE MAJORITY voters that Voted for DJT in 2016 2020 and 2024.

I would love to put Bernie up against Chase "The Gun" anyday in a general election!

[Spidy]

First of all, if as in Carter's hand off to Reagan, had a Repub president ever in the history of the Repub Party finished his term handing an incoming Dem president No Great Depression, No Great Recession, No Recession, not even a mini one, One of the 2-3 Best Average Annual Jobs Creation records in 100 years, a months and months-long Declining Inflation Rate, a months and months-long Declining Unemployment Rate that had only spiked up to 7. 8% for a single month before making its months and months' long Decline, having established a rule providing American Workers with one of the easiest no-brainer means to save and invest tax-deferred to a more secure retirement, No Quagmire and Counterproductive Wars, a perfectly reasonable and manageable National Debt and Deficit and a Peaceful Transfer of Power, even the Democratic Party would be joining the typically pro Repub Mainstream Media in demanding that his likeness be chiseled into Mount Rushmore as The Greatest Republican President of All Time.

Of course, him being a Dem, MSM looks at that Carter record and says, "Meh. Nothing to see here, folks. Move along. Well, at least he spent the next 40 years building affordable housing for low income Americans. But, damn, he didn't even create one They're Eating the Cats, They're Eating the Dogs headline for us to sell"!

To your point, the author, Bill Adair, wrote the book, "Beyond the Big Lie - The Epidemic of Political Lying, Why Republicans do it more, and how it could burn down our democracy", was just lamenting the fact that with the death of former President Carter, also marks the death of a bygone era of honesty, decency and telling the truth.

• "Lying matters because it cripples our discourse. With such an imbalance of falsehoods, our political parties and elected officials are unable to have adult conversations about the critical issues of our time. Then can't agree on facts because one side denies the truth."

'Beyond the Big Lie' explores why Republicans lie more and the consequences lying has
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5A--SEelY0

Trump and MAGA are the poster child, for the rise and erosion of truth and value it plays in politics and holding our leaders accountable. (*ie. "The Big Lie"). This is something the U.S. President Jimmy Carter understood and held dear, that truth and that honesty matters.

[EihTooms]

EihTooms for President
The Jacobin, hahahaha! That socialist rag's a mouthpiece for Venezuela and Cuba. Have you been to either one of those countries Marquesa? I have. You wouldn't want to live there. I'd vote for Tooms for president before I'd vote for you. You're welcome Tooms.

You would vote for me only because you know I have as little chance of winning (since I would not be running) as Chase Oliver but that wasted vote for him / me would help Trump or any other Repub win.

Just as the votes for Oliver rather than for Harris in PA, MI and WI constituted roughly half the number of votes she needed to swing her way to defeat Trump. The remaining "winning" votes for Trump rather than Harris in those three decisive states could then easily have been generated by Bill Maher's weekly televised anti-Dem, pro Trump / Repub Campaign Rally over the previous four years.

That is, if the highly motivated and mobilized angry Muslim Community demo single-issue votes for Trump having nothing to do with the economy, inflation, immigration, trannies, pronouns or crime hadn't sailed into those polling places as the surprise Joker in the deck to save the day for Trump in those three decisive states. Which did all the lifting in the country to "give the presidency to Trump" without relying on those Chase Oliver and Bill Maher Weekly Trump / Repub Campaign Rally votes.

If you thought for 1 second a vote for me or MDS might have inadvertantly helped Harris or any other Dem get elected over Trump or any other Repub there is no way you would have done it.

[EihTooms]

Ramaswamy is right. Or at least Americans should encourage their kids to develop the skills in math and other areas that will enable some to become top notch engineers and scientists. Musk's correct to the extent that the Republican Party should not brook politicians who are hateful, unrepentant racists, although there aren't many of those around in percentage terms.

There many positions of Republicans that you'd agree with if they'd been proposed by Democrats.

I always vote for Dems and never for Repubs precisely because I much prefer the results of the Dems' Get Government Off Your Back, Cut Taxes, Create Jobs, Make America Great Again "positions" over the Great Repub Depressions, Great Repub Recessions, Massive Repub Jobs Destruction, Repubs Crawling Into Your Bed and Your Life results of those same pitched but never accomplished "positions".

[Xpartan]

French automobiles are pieces of crap. I owned a Peugeot once upon a time. My mechanic became my best friend.

I know what you mean. I felt the same way about GM cars back in the 90's and yet I persevered. I lost my mechanic's phone number after I switched to Japanese vehicles. I wonder how he's doing nowadays.

[Tiny 12]

https://www.breitbart.com/economy/20...s-outsourcing/

https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2024/...fiery-defense/

Why won't the Oligarchy let Bernie near the nomination.

The same reason they Impeached Trump 2 x 93 felonies 2 attempted murders and he still is BACK.

https://jacobin.com/2020/02/bernie-s...mocratic-party

https://jacobin.com/2020/02/bernie-s...ential-primary

https://www.vox.com/2020/2/6/2112670...-iowa-caucuses

I'm guessing he may have beaten Trump honestly in 2020.

The Jacobin, hahahaha! That socialist rag's a mouthpiece for Venezuela and Cuba. Have you been to either one of those countries Marquesa? I have. You wouldn't want to live there. I'd vote for Tooms for president before I'd vote for you. You're welcome Tooms.

[Tiny 12]

Such symbols: a Texan killer and a Tesla exploding in front of Trump hotel, both cars rent on same rental, chaos for Trump, even before entering White House. USA may receive from who they elected. From me, just not buying low quality products.

Chaos for the Socialist Hollande: one hundred and thirty Parisians killed and another 416 people injured, by French and Belgian citizens.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novemb...20 in%20 Syria.

French automobiles are pieces of crap. I owned a Peugeot once upon a time. My mechanic became my best friend.

[MarquisdeSade1]

I don't disagree with anything Trump said. He has a valid point about Hillary Clinton and carried interest, which is the biggest loophole out there. She and Chuck Schumer were big defenders of carried interest, which greatly benefits New York fund managers. She only came around when she ran for president. And Schumer, while saying he wants to end carried interest, works behind the scenes to preserve it.

Back in 2016, Trump said you should vote for me, because I know how the swamp works, and I can drain it. He was referring to his dealings through the years with politicians. And with respect to the tax code, he had a point. The corporate tax cut engineered by Trump, Ryan and McConnell eliminated certain loopholes and lowered the tax rate. American companies for the first time were taxed on unrepatriated foreign income. Yes, initially the Treasury received less income. But counting additional employment taxes from higher wages and new jobs, long term the corporate cut will be a big winner for the Treasury.

Now that didn't really matter for Trump, because he has indeed been able to take advantage of loopholes like the $960 million carried forward tax loss that Anderson Cooper mentions at the start of the segment, that I explained below. However, Trump realizes a flatter tax with fewer loopholes is best for all. Which leads into the Marquesa's post.

SubComdr, Most penthouse dwelling Bernie Bros have figured out loopholes like Trump did to avoid paying high tax. However, instead of wanting to drain the swamp, they want to double down on it, presumably because they're getting some kind of government pork they want to preserve.

Bernie's tax plan, the brainchild of French socialists at the University of California at Berkeley, would jack the maximum individual federal rate up to 60+%. Capital gains would be taxed at 60%, even though the revenue-maximizing tax rate for capital gains is about 28%. In addition Sanders would impose an 8% PER YEAR wealth tax on multi billionaires. Please note that after 12 years, if not for reverse compound interest, Bernie would take away everything they own. If by chance they do end up with anything, their estates would pay a 65% death tax..

https://www.breitbart.com/economy/20...s-outsourcing/

https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2024/...fiery-defense/

Why won't the Oligarchy let Bernie near the nomination.

The same reason they Impeached Trump 2 x 93 felonies 2 attempted murders and he still is BACK.

https://jacobin.com/2020/02/bernie-s...mocratic-party

https://jacobin.com/2020/02/bernie-s...ential-primary

https://www.vox.com/2020/2/6/2112670...-iowa-caucuses

I'm guessing he may have beaten Trump honestly in 2020.

[Tiny 12]

"Our American culture has venerated mediocrity over excellence," Ramaswamy wrote in a long X post that argued that foreign workers improve the US economy.

"A culture that celebrates the prom queen over the math olympiad champ, or the jock over the valedictorian the top student in a class, will not produce the best engineers," he wrote.
.............
Musk then shot back at "contemptible fools", saying he was referring to "those in the Republican Party who are hateful, unrepentant racists".

"They will absolutely be the downfall of the Republican Party if they are not removed," he wrote.

Ramaswamy is right. Or at least Americans should encourage their kids to develop the skills in math and other areas that will enable some to become top notch engineers and scientists. Musk's correct to the extent that the Republican Party should not brook politicians who are hateful, unrepentant racists, although there aren't many of those around in percentage terms.

There many positions of Republicans that you'd agree with if they'd been proposed by Democrats.

[Tiny 12]

https://youtu.be/T2z8App14bs?si=s3RvOtXf6N9zv41y

Watch this. The tax code is the tax code. Anybody has the right to use the provisions of the tax code to pay the least amount of tax possible. That is the law of the land. There is NOTHING wrong with doing that.

I don't disagree with anything Trump said. He has a valid point about Hillary Clinton and carried interest, which is the biggest loophole out there. She and Chuck Schumer were big defenders of carried interest, which greatly benefits New York fund managers. She only came around when she ran for president. And Schumer, while saying he wants to end carried interest, works behind the scenes to preserve it.

Back in 2016, Trump said you should vote for me, because I know how the swamp works, and I can drain it. He was referring to his dealings through the years with politicians. And with respect to the tax code, he had a point. The corporate tax cut engineered by Trump, Ryan and McConnell eliminated certain loopholes and lowered the tax rate. American companies for the first time were taxed on unrepatriated foreign income. Yes, initially the Treasury received less income. But counting additional employment taxes from higher wages and new jobs, long term the corporate cut will be a big winner for the Treasury.

Now that didn't really matter for Trump, because he has indeed been able to take advantage of loopholes like the $960 million carried forward tax loss that Anderson Cooper mentions at the start of the segment, that I explained below. However, Trump realizes a flatter tax with fewer loopholes is best for all. Which leads into the Marquesa's post.

Chas Koch is worth 66 bn he isn't paying enough taxes nor is this turd.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/world...200304001.html

He didn't earn 213 BILLION this year, he's not paying the proper amount of taxes or wages.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2...red-americans/

Nor is Bozo or Zuckerturd Or that POS Gaggot Bill Gates.

And the only reason you won't admit that they cheated in 2020 because you approved of it.

He ran in 2016 2020 and 2024 and won every time.

How many times did you vote for him.

You are like ET the cheaters could come out and confess on live TV and you would still say he wasn't cheated.

SubComdr, Most penthouse dwelling Bernie Bros have figured out loopholes like Trump did to avoid paying high tax. However, instead of wanting to drain the swamp, they want to double down on it, presumably because they're getting some kind of government pork they want to preserve.

Bernie's tax plan, the brainchild of French socialists at the University of California at Berkeley, would jack the maximum individual federal rate up to 60+%. Capital gains would be taxed at 60%, even though the revenue-maximizing tax rate for capital gains is about 28%. In addition Sanders would impose an 8% PER YEAR wealth tax on multi billionaires. Please note that after 12 years, if not for reverse compound interest, Bernie would take away everything they own. If by chance they do end up with anything, their estates would pay a 65% death tax.

Yeah, if you want to kneecap people like Zuckerberg, Gates and Koch, and deprive the USA of world beating corporations like Microsoft, Facebook and Koch Industries, the Sanders / Marquesa tax plan is a great way to do it. It would certainly give China a great opportunity to provide the world beaters going forward instead of the USA. And put the USA in the position of France under Hollande. The Marquesa and Sanders, with their plans to tax away the capital of the billionaire entrepreneur class, would put the USA in the position of France under Hollande -- on the road to mediocrity. And that's downright Unamerican.

Now while Charles Koch individually "only" paid $213 million in federal income tax from 2013 to 2018, his company, Koch Industries, paid a lot more on his behalf. Koch's 42% share of the company would probably amount to over $1 billion a year in corporate tax, based on the company's $125 billion per year revenues.

The reason Koch doesn't pay a lot individually is because Koch Industries doesn't pay much in the way of dividends. Instead it reinvests most of its free cash flow in growth. That provides more jobs in America, more goods for consumption by American consumers, and, in the long run, more money for the USA Treasury. The money goes to better use than if it were sent to the federal government to squander.