Mother, mother, mother - there's too many of you crying.

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally Posted by sebastian_dangerfield

I see some analogues, but who's playing the modern day Hitler? Taking out Kim Jong Un would be Churchill invading Liechtenstein.

ETA: Churchill's corpse just turned in its casket. Revere him or think him overrated, he had a brilliant drunken wit. Comparing him to our current word salad artist in chief is the highest form of disrespect.

FYI, The comparison was of the Dems to Churchill. If you're looking for a hyper-nationalist plutocrat using demagoguery and brazen disregard for the life or liberty of his political opponents as tools to consolidate power and have trouble figuring out who that is... well, might I suggest you tune in to the History Channel a bit more often?

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally Posted by sebastian_dangerfield

You're right. People do not want the mud. They want solutions to complex problems which our politicians cannot provide, and which moneyed interests that own our politicians do not want them to attempt to provide.

Politicians have tool boxes that can't be used to fix all things but can make some difference. It may be that the process of moving from the world's only super-power and a country with vast influence over the entire world economy to a simple major play in a mutli-lateral world where we're the second or third largest economy is a tough transition to manage, but let us hope we do it as well in this century as England did it in the last century, despite the many problems England had and still has.

[sebastian_dangerfield]

Originally Posted by Greedy,Greedy,Greedy

Politicians have tool boxes that can't be used to fix all things but can make some difference. It may be that the process of moving from the world's only super-power and a country with vast influence over the entire world economy to a simple major play in a mutli-lateral world where we're the second or third largest economy is a tough transition to manage, but let us hope we do it as well in this century as England did it in the last century, despite the many problems England had and still has.

That would be the hope... But you and I both know that overcoming the myth of American Exceptionalism is not going to be easy.

"The sun never sets on the English Empire" is boastful. "We're inherently good, and have God on our side, and all who challenge us are bad" is more delusional.

In this regard, I saw a silver lining in some of Trump's isolationist rhetoric, and his admissions that "we do bad stuff, too." Addressing the domestic rot, and dropping this notion we're special and pure would go a long way toward curing some of the angry white entitlement that's polluting the country.

That you were born here does not make you exceptional, or due and owed anything.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by sebastian_dangerfield

The Weimar thing's a bit Freudian, economically speaking.

You're right. People do not want the mud. They want solutions to complex problems which our politicians cannot provide, and which moneyed interests that own our politicians do not want them to attempt to provide.

I've read that tax bill's highlights a dozen times now. I'm still struggling to wrap my head around the pass through stuff, but one thing is absolutely certain. That bill was written to provide a very select group of people (in terms of geography, industry, and income) with tools by which to legally game the code for windfalls. It's not blunt redistribution upward in the traditional sense. It's much more sinister than that. These people have crafted a bill that benefits the affluent who are assumed to be Trump voters, or possible future Trump voters (passive r/e investors, developers, manufacturers, etc.), while excluding the more educated professional classes who were likely Hillary voters (docs, lawyers, accountants).

That guy you knew in high school who inherited his grandfather's and then dad's asphalt plant? He just got a break. The one who studied hard and became an orthopedic surgeon? Not so lucky.

I guess the defense of this is, the goods and manufacturing sectors need a hand, while the service industries do not? As pretexts go, that's weak sauce. Worldwide, the economy is shifting toward services. You can't fight that with the tax code. And Trump's people know that. This leaves one inescapable conclusion: the GOP just raided the Treasury on behalf of its friends, while punishing its enemies. The former's expected. The latter is a new low.

David Frum agrees.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski

Kevin Spacey might lead sexual harassment training as part of his plea bargain. Doesn't mean he wasn't wrong in the first place.

If Kevin Spacey leads training that does an awful lot of good, then he will have a more complicated legacy, just as I said about Chamberlain.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally Posted by Greedy,Greedy,Greedy

Hank, just a thought, I don't want to go suggesting books like other folks, since, I mean, I know that's not your thing, but have you considered occasionally tuning in to the History Channel?

I read Remains of the Day. I’m comfortable with my position.

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop

David Frum agrees.

That's a pretty good article. Who would have thought?

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally Posted by sebastian_dangerfield

In this regard, I saw a silver lining in some of Trump's isolationist rhetoric, and his admissions that "we do bad stuff, too." Addressing the domestic rot, and dropping this notion we're special and pure would go a long way toward curing some of the angry white entitlement that's polluting the country.

You do realize that when he said things along the lines of "we do bad stuff" he was proud of that bad stuff, don't you? That he thinks we drop some of the best bombs on people?

The isolationism is the problem. It's just a fact that we live in a multilateral world where we have deep and complex relationships with other countries, with trade, immigration, education, arts, and everything else going both way. If you decide to try to isolate yourself from that, you lose on all sides.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by Greedy,Greedy,Greedy

You do realize that when he said things along the lines of "we do bad stuff" he was proud of that bad stuff, don't you? That he thinks we drop some of the best bombs on people?

The isolationism is the problem. It's just a fact that we live in a multilateral world where we have deep and complex relationships with other countries, with trade, immigration, education, arts, and everything else going both way. If you decide to try to isolate yourself from that, you lose on all sides.

Trump is curing angry white entitlement, like you cure anemia with leeches.

eta: An update from the battle to cure the country.

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop

Trump is curing angry white entitlement, like you cure anemia with leeches.

eta: An update from the battle to cure the country.

I'm still just trying to figure out how you get cattle and corn past the wall but not people. It's going to be a magical wall.

[sebastian_dangerfield]

There’s a huge hole in this pass thru thing for med practice owners. All it seems owner has to do is set up an LLC to sell medical supplies to itself. Have it buy all supplies for practice, mark them up and sell them to practice. Drop owner salary by amount corresponding with amount of mark up at years’ end. Voila. You’ve turned a fat pile of high bracket income into 20% deductible pass-through income.

This bill is really retarded.

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally Posted by sebastian_dangerfield

There’s a huge hole in this pass thru thing for med practice owners. All it seems owner has to do is set up an LLC to sell medical supplies to itself. Have it buy all supplies for practice, mark them up and sell them to practice. Drop owner salary by amount corresponding with amount of mark up at years’ end. Voila. You’ve turned a fat pile of high bracket income into 20% deductible pass-through income.

This bill is really retarded.

We're all going to be finding ancillary businesses to qualify passthroughs. Given the season, I'm calling this the "stocking stuffer structure". As long as you stick a widget in the stocking all the other goodies in it are taxed lower.

You also get different rules if you split off the first bunch of income - I think it's something like 300K. So every lawyer is going to have 300K come through as passthrough income while what's north of there will come through differently, maybe through a different entity.

Remember all the Republicans who have said they want to "simplify" taxes. Yeah, right, don't listen to anything those bozos tell you again.

[Icky Thump]

Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop

If Kevin Spacey leads training that does an awful lot of good, then he will have a more complicated legacy, just as I said about Chamberlain.

I was at a House of Cards slot machine yesterday. I swear, every time I heard his voice the seat vibrated and I got a jingle in my dingle.

On that note, on the plane to Vegas I watched Baby Driver and couldn't help but wonder how many times Ansel Elgort got baby fingered. Or maybe the fact that he's 6 '4" put a damper on that parade.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Heh.

[Icky Thump]

Originally Posted by Greedy,Greedy,Greedy

We're all going to be finding ancillary businesses to qualify passthroughs. Given the season, I'm calling this the "stocking stuffer structure". As long as you stick a widget in the stocking all the other goodies in it are taxed lower.

You also get different rules if you split off the first bunch of income - I think it's something like 300K. So every lawyer is going to have 300K come through as passthrough income while what's north of there will come through differently, maybe through a different entity.

Remember all the Republicans who have said they want to "simplify" taxes. Yeah, right, don't listen to anything those bozos tell you again.

IF the dems get in power, to enact revenge they should (but don't have the fucking balls to) enact a $10 a gallon gas tax to pay for National Health. While realistically, that's the way the rest of the world does it.

Add to that mandatory $1 million liability insurance for every gun and you have to register every one at the DMV.