Yes, and outside of a short 3 years in the 80’s, it is the lowest tax rates since before World War II. Every single person who voted for those tax rates falls in the top 10% of income earners, with most much closer to the 1%. Yet we have 20 trillion in national debt, and are running almost trillion dollar annual deficit spending during one of the greatest economic expansions in modern history. We are going to have to raise taxes or cut services (probably both) to avoid major economic/political consequences.
“Children and dogs are as necessary to the welfare of the country as Wall Street and the railroads.” -- Harry S. Truman
"You never soar so high as when you stoop down to help a child or an animal." -- Jewish Proverb
"Three-time Pro Bowler Eric Weddle the most versatile, and maybe most intelligent, safety in the game." -- SI, 9/7/15, p. 107.
I listened to her try to explain capitalism in a forum at SXSW,I believe, and literally laughed out loud in a crowd of people in an airport a few days ago. I couldn't believe nobody called her out about it because she had it so very very wrong. I wish I could find the video of the discussion.
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"Be a philosopher. A man can compromise to gain a point. It has become apparent that a man can, within limits, follow his inclinations within the arms of the Church if he does so discreetly." - The Walking Drum
"And here’s what life comes down to—not how many years you live, but how many of those years are filled with bullshit that doesn’t amount to anything to satisfy the requirements of some dickhead you’ll never get the pleasure of punching in the face." – Adam Carolla
John Kasich with a thoughtful piece about why republican senators should oppose the president's emergency declaration: https://www-m.cnn.com/2019/03/12/opi...www.cnn.com%2F
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That's the one. She doesn't understand capitalism and she also doesn't really seem to understand democratic socialism.
It almost reminded me of grade school when a kid would get up to give a book report on a book they clearly hadn't read: "A Tale of Two Cities is a tale about two cities that, um..." (looks at the cover) "...had people who um, were mad at each other..."
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This college admissions scandal is delicious. To summarize:
1. U$c appears to be the most corrupt place on earth. Assistant ADs taking bribes? This could be the end of Lynn swann, unfortunately.
2. These celebraties paying hundreds of thousands to kid there kids into usc need to check themselves.
3. LA (the city, not the poster) is so weird. In what universe does it make sense to bribe an athletic director TO GET INTO USC? Only in Los Angeles.
4. I love that coaches of sports no one cares about can take kids that have no skill in the sport that no one cares about and nobody notices.
5. Again, U$C ftw.
You can't make this stuff up. Maybe there should be a reality TV show called "U$C Stories:"
Actress Lori Loughlin’s daughter Olivia Jade Giannulli was spending her spring break on a yacht of a top University of Southern California official Tuesday evening, the same day Loughlin was charged in a college admissions bribery scandal.
According to TMZ, Giannulli was on the chairman of USC's Board of Trustees’ yacht in the Bahamas for spring break on Tuesday night, but has since departed in light of the investigation. The chairman, Rick Caruso, said Giannulli was on the yacht with his daughter Gianna and several other friends.
"My daughter and a group of students left for spring break prior to the government's announcement yesterday,” Caruso told TMZ. “Once we became aware of the investigation, the young woman decided it would be in her best interests to return home."
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/actress-lori-loughlins-daughter-was-on-yacht-owned-by-university-official-the-same-day-she-was-charged-in-college-admissions-scandal
Not surprisingly, Olivia Jade Gianulli is no ordinary college coed:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/...sc/3158278002/
I feel kind of bad for the daughter. I'm sure she had no idea.
As for U$C, locals here don't want their kids to go there for the education. It's the networking they want -- for their child to be part of the Trojan family. Which, in my experience, is a real thing, at least in SoCal. Fight on!
Last edited by LA Ute; 03-14-2019 at 12:11 PM.
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats
“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”
--John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell
Both Utah senators break party lines and vote for the resolution against Trump's use of National Emergency for the border wall.
“To me there is no dishonor in being wrong and learning. There is dishonor in willful ignorance and there is dishonor in disrespect.” James Hatch, former Navy Seal and current Yale student.
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats
“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”
--John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats
“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”
--John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell
I think she got caught up on trying to use the word capitalism in her description. When she got right down to it, she said that capitalism has as its priority the accumulation of profit and wealth above everything else and it is sought at the expense of any human or environmental cost. In all honesty, I believe that to be fairly accurate description of a capitalist economy.
I actually give her a pass of sorts, because I know it is hard to compose thoughts while up on stage. It mainly just cracked me up, and had that been a conservative politician bumbling around like that many news sources would have jumped all over it, instead of cleaning it up for print.
However, even with that pass of sorts, the actual and accurate definition of capitalism is "an economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state." That means that we aren't unwilling participants, nor the victims of the system. In fact, at the expense of any human or environmental cost is a silly explanation because if a business costs humans they vote by not giving their money to that business.
And I should note I'm not a hardcore capitalist. And I think you can argue at how effective that actually is. But last I checked, nobody was holding a gun to my head to shop at Walmart, nor requiring me to get coffee at Starbucks. And people vote with their dollars frequently against business that harm the environment.
For example, nobody has compelled a company like Apple to make nearly 100% recyclable laptops or to build a business center that is near carbon neutral. Yet they obviously either did this as a free enterprise because the people powering it believed in it, or they believe that the market demands it.
Is it a perfect system that requires no regulation? No, but we've gone beyond that point since our country's inception.
So, not only is it not an accurate description, it displays a fundamental misunderstanding of what it is. Her description of democratic socialism was equally humorous.
While some Americans do as you say when making purchases, I would say that the majority do not. We buy clothes made by children. We purchase food grown and harvested by people who are treated as slaves. While some companies are responsible citizens who do have an actual concern for human wellbeing and the environment, I believe that the most are motivated almost solely by profit. A prime example is what corporations have done with the Trump tax cuts. While some have added jobs and increased wages, much of that gain has been spent on stock buy-backs and executive compensation. The next time you read about top management taking a pay cut so that they can keep some additional employees on board or increase the wages of the lowest paid, you let me know.
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats
“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”
--John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell
That's my point.
And uteopia, as an employer I've frequently sacrificed personally to keep people employed through hard times, allowed extra time off for illness of themselves or family members, done what is best for the customer at a cost to myself, etc.
The truth is while there are always going to be bad actors, the vast majority of the economy is powered by small and medium-sized businesses who do just that and that is powered by capitalism too. In short, what I do is done by executives big and small all the time.
And whether your like it or not, you and AOC are benefactors of capitalism. There is something strange about the most prosperous nation on earth at any time having people complain about what go them there on devices most people in the world don't have (globally we are the 1%).
Meanwhile this prosperity forces corporations to be competitive with their employees with enhanced benefits like unlimited time off, meals, in house exercise facilities and daycare, paid maternity leave for both mothers and fathers, stock options, and even allotted time to do whatever they want.
That is the reality of employment for many people today.
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I don’t give Trump the credit for this decision but I think it was a good one.
https://nypost.com/2019/03/14/the-un...d-trump-right/Remember the liberal freak-out over President Trump’s decision last year to withdraw the United States from the UN Human Rights Council? Human Rights Watch decried the move as “a sad reflection” of Trump’s “one-dimensional human-rights policy.” It was little more than “childish petulance” on the president’s part, a law professor told The Atlantic.
Well, in the months since, the UN human rights system has only vindicated Trump’s wisdom. The latest evidence: The UN announced on Wednesday that Iran had been appointed to its Working Group on Communications on the Status of Women. As Guy Benson pointed out on Twitter, that would be the same Iranian regime that on Monday sentenced Nasrin Sotoudeh, a female lawyer and leading campaigner for the rule of law, to 38 years in prison and 148 lashes.
The council and the women’s rights committee both are part of the same morally bankrupt rights apparatus — a dictators’ mutual-praise society that permits some of the world’s most brutal regimes to demonize the US and Israel while whitewashing their own records.
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats
“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”
--John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell
There's always been tension within capitalist economy nations, explained by the GINI index, the CIA's economic measure of inequality within economies. From a material standpoint, most of the poor have little to complain about, especially compared to the hardship the pioneers went through. But there's increasing levels of dissatisfaction, manifested by the rise of Sanders/Trump/AOC, a plummeting birthrate, increases in mental health issues, suicide rate, opioids, etc. It tracks with widening inequalities.
Human beings are social creatures, subconsciously deriving their self-worth from comparing/ranking themselves to others in society. It's not some Democratic plot, it's not AOC preying on lazy Millennials. It's just human nature. People in poor nations often feel more connected to each other, their happiness is measurably higher, even though their material plight is tougher.
When a lot of people in the US see overt evidence of immense inequality, they sense injustice, feel like failures, etc. Their kids sense it, too. The GINI index predicts the distrust Americans experience.
Epidemiologist Richard Wilkinson has been able to accurately predict rates of preventable diseases - diabetes, heart disease, some cancers - *between* US states, based on data on economic inequality. The same measures the CIA uses to assess social stability in other nations.
(I'm not pushing socialism or soaking the rich. I'm just explaining an economic epidemiological perspective.)
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats
“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”
--John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell
Rage against the elites! (Elites = anyone you perceive as richer than you, better "connected" than you, smarter than you, more educated, healthier, nicer clothes, more famous, the liberal/conservative enemies, etc.)
A reaction I sense will be more common - "I'm surprised anyone is surprised". (Ie, "besides the fireworks, why do we really care about the 4th of July?")
From the right, focus will be on the hypocrisy of the Hollywood liberals. From the left, reinforcement of AOC's simple sincerity that "the system" is fundamentally broken and needs to be thrown out.
How that gets manifested politically will be different from the different tribes, but it will also cause more general disengagement, waiting to "throw them all out", and for some: "F-it, hand me another beer".
America will never have equality of outcome. But poor liberals support "elite" liberals who speak their language, just like poor conservatives cherish Trump. (Each tribe accuses the commoners of the other tribe as being - or supporting - hypocrites, or of being dupes.)
What we need is greater sense of equity, of common ground. Like "my brother went to college with that Astronaut Mark Kelly. Smart dude. We need people like him to lead us, inspire us, fight for the common man, prod us to strive for better".
Last edited by LA Ute; 03-15-2019 at 09:15 AM.
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats
“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”
--John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell
I think everyone who has unsuccessfully applied to any of the colleges swept up in this scandal should demand the return of their application fee.
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
--Yeats
“True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”
--John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell
Then there is this kid who manipulates his power and influence to get into college.
https://www.northjersey.com/story/ne...ss/3160765002/
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As somebody pointed out last night, these kids all come from very wealthy families. They already had all the advantages in the world. Whether they go to USC or some place else isn't going to make an iota of difference in their lives