Why would old folks not rest on their laurels?
Either they’re not tired, or they have no laurels.
Last night’s Presidential Debate showed more than just the candidates.
It also showed the problem with the format.
What about a format that allows a master debater, a master shit talker, go unchecked?
As I’m watching and taking notes like any blogger would, I found myself glad to never spend any time with an unchecked master of the bullshit.
Did Joe Biden look old? Or stunned and old.
I felt a little shocky myself listening to revised history like no one had ever paid any attention.
Talk about a memory lapse.
How many voters don’t remember the events of the past eight years?
If that’s the turning point in the coming election, it’s a done deal.
If memory is not an issue, then Jan. 6 was just a group of tourists interested in knowing more about the US Capital, not insurrectionists acting on their man’s urging to ‘fight like hell or you won’t have a country.’
The Covid years were ‘just one of those things’ no one could have done anything about.
Portland had burned down according to one of the candidates.
The same candidate gave himself the ‘white wash’ on his four years in office from 2016-2020.
His administration had the best economy, the greatest support, and the highest ranking of any president.
Who said shit talk was dead? Not the CNN moderators.
Taxes and Government Regulations
One man gave credit to himself for giving tax breaks and eliminating government regulations, which is a nice piece of work.
Doesn’t everyone want lower taxes? Lower federal taxes, state taxes, city taxes?
Consider lowered taxes when you find out your kid isn’t learning on schedule, isn’t keeping up with their class because of a teacher shortage, or a lack of necessary resources.
Think of lowered taxes when you drive into a pothole and break your car’s suspension.
When your house is on fire but no fire truck shows up?
All the money saved goes into childcare, car repair and a motel room.
The big money guys see taxes as a threat to their empires of transportation, shipping, and software.
Besides, it’s hard to pound your chest and claim the title of ‘Greatest Self Made Man’ with the competition so tight.
It’s a close race with just under a hundred billion separating them.
Rank |
Name |
Net worth inbillion US$ |
Source of wealth |
Age |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
Elon Musk |
251 |
Tesla, SpaceX |
52 |
2 |
Jeff Bezos |
161 |
Amazon |
59 |
3 |
Larry Ellison |
158 |
Oracle |
79 |
4 |
Warren Buffett |
121 |
Berkshire Hathaway |
93 |
5 |
Larry Page |
114 |
Alphabet |
50 |
6 |
Bill Gates |
111 |
Microsoft |
67 |
7 |
Sergey Brin |
110 |
Alphabet |
50 |
8 |
Mark Zuckerberg |
106 |
Meta |
39 |
9 |
Steve Ballmer |
101 |
Microsoft |
67 |
10 |
Michael Bloomberg |
96.3 |
Bloomberg L.P. |
81 |
Where’s the backbone?
Big Guy’s have a rationale on paying taxes.
“We pay taxes and more taxes, taxes you’ve never heard of and wouldn’t understand. We pay Big Guy taxes, not like you.”
Is it such an incredible feat to take rich guys off the hook on taxes and open up industries regulated to avoid polluted air, water, and us?
It’s a nice piece of work for a man raised in the concrete jungle with a park his only regular connection to nature.
I’m not knocking Central Park, but it’s an edited version of nature for city-locked people to feel the great outdoors.
Not a beach, not a mountain, but a made-up environment where made-up men can live in a made-up world.
The same candidate gave himself a ‘white wash’ on his four years in office from 2016-2020.
His administration had the best economy, the greatest support, and the highest ranking of any president.
Who said shit talk was dead?
Why Are Taxes So Confusing
Oxfam says:
-
U.S. billionaires are 46 percent, or $1.6 trillion, richer than they were in 2020.
-
According to a 2021 White House study, the wealthiest 400 billionaire families in the U.S. paid an average federal individual tax rate of just 8.2 percent. For comparison, the average American taxpayer in the same year paid 13 percent.
-
According to leaked tax returns highlighted in a ProPublica investigation, the 25 richest Americans paid $13.6 billion in taxes from 2014-2018—a “true” tax rate of just 3.4 percent on $401 billion of income.
Cato says:
The tax rates are all federal taxes (income, payroll, excise, and other) divided by family income.
The top 1 percent will pay an average rate of 31.5 percent this year, compared with 10–12 percent in the middle and about 0 percent at the bottom.
Vox says:
Stocks aren’t taxed until they’re sold — and even then, what’s taxed is the profit on the sale, called a capital gains tax.
Billionaires (usually) don’t sell valuable stock. So how do they afford the daily expenses of life, whether it’s a new pleasure boat or a social media company?
They borrow against their stock. This revolving door of credit allows them to buy what they want without incurring a capital gains tax.
One candidate is on record with, “That makes me smart” when asked why he doesn’t pay taxes.
The other candidate said he will tax the Big Guys and their billions at a fair rate.
“No household making under $400,000 will pay more taxes.”
Why Are Presidential Debates So Confusing
Think of David and Goliath.
Goliath is the greater warrior; David is taking his shot.
One candidate is an experienced television reality show man, the other an experienced elected official.
The face I saw on Joe Biden last night said one thing to me:
‘Who the fuck turned this weasel loose on life TV?’
It was jaw-dropping to see a polished TV star try and grab us all by the pussy for ninety minutes.
Guess what? He missed.
The fact is, we’re too smart to let it happen again.
Besides, we’ve already seen one man’s work sample when he quit the Paris Agreement and disbanded the Directorate of Global Health Security and Biodefense
The Paris Agreement:
The Paris Agreement is a landmark in the multilateral climate change process because, for the first time, a binding agreement brings all nations together to combat climate change and adapt to its effects.
It doesn’t work when an important player who ‘does their own research’ doubts there is any climate change issues to address.
Directorate of Global Health Security and Biodefense
In May 2018, former national security adviser John Bolton restructured Trump’s National Security Council and disbanded the global health unit. Its former head, Rear Adm. Timothy Ziemer, resigned from the administration and was not replaced.
Bolton attributed the attack to partisan politics.
“The angry Left just can’t stop attacking, even in a crisis,” he wrote.
It doesn’t work when an important figure who does their own research hires hack politicians to run their departments into the ground.
This last bit came from USA Today Fact Checking article.
Hack Bolton takes the heat and what’s he hear from the boss during the Covid pandemic?
“It is what it is.”
About David Gillaspie
