The First 100 days

Discussion in 'West Mall' started by theiioftx, Nov 10, 2016.

  1. Joe Fan

    Joe Fan 10,000+ Posts

    Agree. This was always my #1 issue (and should have been everyone's)

    I guess we would have to say not letting the Clintons back in the White House was overall single biggest accomplishment. I liked Ted Cruz but I dont think he could have done this. And just think of the effect Hillary would have already had on the federal judiciary in general and the regulatory environment. It's staggering to consider.
     
  2. Joe Fan

    Joe Fan 10,000+ Posts

  3. Seattle Husker

    Seattle Husker 10,000+ Posts

    Should a POTUS and Ann Coulter be held to the same standard? We typically hold the POTUS to a higher standard than a political commentator.

    With that said, based on that article it appears that her financial backers disappeared. The groups that were paying for the meeting hall, likely her plane trip, hotel and speaking fee all decided it wasn't worth the drama.

    Does this speak more to the point that Ann Coulter's rhetoric is driven more by profit motive than ideology?
     
    Last edited: Apr 26, 2017
  4. Joe Fan

    Joe Fan 10,000+ Posts

    Big move here
    State and local income taxes no longer deductible, wow. If youve ever been an employee outside Texas, you know what this would mean
    Ive read elsewhere mortgage and charitable deductions remain (although perhaps not at the same rate)

     
  5. Garmel

    Garmel 5,000+ Posts

    How about for businesses? As someone who owns a lot of land in my line of business I need those deductions.
     
  6. Joe Fan

    Joe Fan 10,000+ Posts

    Trump’s tax plan also repeals the Alternative Minimum Tax, the death tax and the 3.8% Obamacare tax.
     
  7. Seattle Husker

    Seattle Husker 10,000+ Posts

    If the "breakthrough" is what NPR stated then pre-existing conditions remains in effect at the Federal level but they'll allow states the option to move the high risk individuals to a separate high risk pool

    The net effect? The only reason healthcare is affordable for those with pre-existing conditions is that the healthy subsidize them. Put them into their own high risk pool and we'll be right back where we started by claiming they have healthcare options but it being too expensive for anyone with a pre-existing condition to afford it.

    If the Republicans agree this shell game then they should be rightfully crucified for claiming the "pre-existing condition" mandate is important to them. It's a lie.
     
  8. Musburger1

    Musburger1 2,500+ Posts

    If it looks like the Republicans are going to stick together on the health care changes, all the democrats need to do is come up with another issue in the budget that some Republicans also won't go for. There's bound to be something.

    Munchen stated in the event of a shutdown, the Congress could keep this thing going for another three or four months until funds dry up from raiding intergovernment sources (Thrift retirement accounts etc.). Oh the games we play.
     
  9. Joe Fan

    Joe Fan 10,000+ Posts

  10. Joe Fan

    Joe Fan 10,000+ Posts


    Associated Press: What about NAFTA? What’s the plan on NAFTA?

    TRUMP: What would you like to know?

    AP: I would like to know what your plan is in terms of renegotiating.

    TRUMP: I am very upset with NAFTA. I think NAFTA has been a catastrophic trade deal for the United States, trading agreement for the United States. It hurts us with Canada, and it hurts us with Mexico. Most people don’t even think of NAFTA in terms of Canada. You saw what happened yesterday in my statements, because if you look at the dairy farmers in Wisconsin and upstate New York, they are getting killed by NAFTA.

    AP: Is your plan still, though, to renegotiate the whole deal?

    TRUMP: I am going to either renegotiate it or I am going to terminate it.

    AP: Termination is still on the table.

    TRUMP: Absolutely. If they don’t treat fairly, I am terminating NAFTA.

    AP: What’s a timeline for that decision?

    TRUMP: It’s a six-month termination clause, I have the right to do it, it’s a six-month clause.

    https://apnews.com/c810d7de280a47e88848b0ac74690c83
     
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  11. Joe Fan

    Joe Fan 10,000+ Posts

  12. Joe Fan

    Joe Fan 10,000+ Posts

    Trump Administration Day #97 --

    Presented massive Tax Cut Plan
    Confronted North Korea (see below)
    Discussed leaving NAFTA (in response to a question)
    Publicly criticized the 9th Circuit again, and discussed the need to break it up

    [​IMG]
     
  13. Joe Fan

    Joe Fan 10,000+ Posts

    It has happened before, even during my lifetime --- Jimah Carhtah split the Fifth Circuit in 1980.
     
  14. Joe Fan

    Joe Fan 10,000+ Posts

  15. ProdigalHorn

    ProdigalHorn 10,000+ Posts

    Well that settles it. If state tax isn't deductible anymore, I'd better get out of Jersey ASAP.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  16. mchammer

    mchammer 10,000+ Posts

    It's likely the tax tables are changed such that you pay about the same. Note Texas will lose it's sales tax deduction.
     
  17. Mr. Deez

    Mr. Deez Beer Prophet

    Perhaps that's true, but it would be nice to know where the brackets are. It's tough to figure out what tax cut you'll get if you don't know that. Personally, I know I'm going to lose the student loan interest deduction. It wasn't that much, but it still sucks.

    Also, with the standard deduction doubling and state tax deductions being eliminated, it wouldn't surprise me if many middle to upper middle class families stop itemizing altogether.
     
  18. Mr. Deez

    Mr. Deez Beer Prophet

    And go where? New York? lol
     
  19. Crockett

    Crockett 5,000+ Posts

    An anti Trumper is suggesting we let Trump learn on the job:
    https://www.yahoo.com/news/willing-let-trump-evolve-090022380.html
     
  20. Musburger1

    Musburger1 2,500+ Posts

    The Trump tax plan is DOA. It would eliminate refundable credits including EITC and also the refundable child tax credit. People with children who earn 40,000 or less, typically receive anywhere from a few thousand to over $7000 of free money because of these credits. There would be riots and looting in the streets if these are taken away.

    A secondary effect might be a labor shortage in low income jobs because without the tax credits, the low wages would make it useless for many people to continue working. If you are going to be homeless even if you work, why work?

    In response, businesses that depend on low wages would be forced to raise wages to attract workers. This hurts the bottom line and would result in some businesses closing.

    The tax plan as presented has zero chance.
     
  21. Seattle Husker

    Seattle Husker 10,000+ Posts

    It also would blow up a $20 trillion federal deficit. Trump's tax plan assumes 9% growth. When was the last time that occurred, WWII? Fortunately, there are still some fiscal conservatives left in the Republican party.
     
  22. Musburger1

    Musburger1 2,500+ Posts

    So the Democrats and the few fiscal conservatives will reject it. But even if it miraculously passed, it would trigger social unrest.
     
  23. Mr. Deez

    Mr. Deez Beer Prophet

    At least according to this, the EITC isn't going away. In fact, it's being expanded. No chance in hell the EITC goes away. Walmart and McDonald's would lose their minds.
     
  24. Mr. Deez

    Mr. Deez Beer Prophet

    At least he's honest and basically admits that his real hostility for Trump isn't driven by policy anywhere near as much as it's driven by worldview and cultural differences. Probably 90 percent of journalists fit into that category. However, I will say this. If Trump succeeds, the real crisis for his most vitriolic critics won't be the validation of xenophobia and misogyny. It'll be that they might one day be forced to rethink what those terms mean and what acts, omissions, and commentary constitute evidence of xenophobia and misogyny.

    It's easy to say "xenophobia and misogyny won," because you can always use that to bash middle Americans, whom you think are beneath you. Urban elite leftists love doing that, as it makes them feel very good about themselves, and it's a very easy diversion. However, if you have to acknowledge, "perhaps we've been wrong for twenty years about calling everybody we disagree with "xenophobes" and 'misogynists,'" that's self-convicting and invites introspection. That creates a far bigger internal conflict. Of course, it also makes one a better person in the end, but most of these people already think they're damn near perfect, so they're not looking for that.

    And to be clear, I'm a Trump critic and at times a harsh and always unapologetic critic, but basic patriotism warrants that I want him to have a successful presidency. That's good for the country. Furthermore, my own sense of values warrants that I treat him and his efforts fairly and with consistency. That's the difference between people like me and media critics. Also, I can find fault with Trump and still not like his critics. His faults don't validate his critics' unprincipled vitriol.
     
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  25. Seattle Husker

    Seattle Husker 10,000+ Posts

    Yep, the EITC is a federal wage subsidy to the minimum wage employers.
     
    • Like Like x 2
  26. ProdigalHorn

    ProdigalHorn 10,000+ Posts

    Most or all of those are needed because of the convoluted nature of the progressive tax code. Without knowing what the new tiers are and what the rates are, I don't know how you can make those judgments other than that people can't do math and even if the new tier saves them money without a subsidy, they might view it as money being taken away. OK, there may be something to that...

    Lowering the rate takes away the need for a lot of those subsidies and deductions. At least it should, if they're set properly. That's what no one knows at this point.

    I read an article by someone talking about the fact that if liberals would just shut up, Trump is basically stocking his inner circle with east coast liberals like his son-in-law. Anyone who believed that Trump was a conservative didn't know what they were talking about. He may have some general principles regarding business that aligned with conservatives, but the fact is liberals are going to end up getting a lot of things they want - just without the name-calling and accusations and identity politics.

    Of course, if you take those away, Progressives don't have a reason to live anymore, so they're not going to be happy regardless.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  27. Musburger1

    Musburger1 2,500+ Posts

    "Lowering the rate takes away the need for a lot of those subsidies and deductions. At least it should, if they're set properly. That's what no one knows at this point."

    No. Refundable credits are typically paid to people who already have ZERO tax liability. Tax rates mean nothing to this portion of the population because they can't earn enough to pay taxes anyway. The single female with two kids who earns $20,000 (basically $10/hour for a full time worker) has zero taxable income. She receives $2,000 in the additional child tax credit and another $5,500 in EITC. She receives a $7,500 refund. There are Millions of citizens who are now dependent on this system for survival. In other words, it's too big to fail (or end).

    This $7,500 is essential for rent payments to go along with the SNAP subsidies required to feed the kids.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  28. Mr. Deez

    Mr. Deez Beer Prophet

    You're right, but it begs the question of what liberals actually want. If they only want to avoid cuts to the social safety net, want protectionist trade policy, and want to spend money on infrastructure, then they will get what they want. However, for an increasing number of liberals, that's not what motivates them. What motivates them now is extreme globalism and diminishing the authority and influence of traditional Western institutions, part of which is offending and pissing off Bible-believing Christians.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  29. Musburger1

    Musburger1 2,500+ Posts

    "However, for an increasing number of liberals, that's not what motivates them. What motivates them now is extreme globalism and diminishing the authority and influence of traditional Western institutions, part of which is offending and pissing off Bible-believing Christians."

    Liberals fall into the globalist camp as described in Deez quote above. But conservatives are unwilling to annunciate that they are anti-globalist, or heaven forbid, nationalist. To say you are a nationalist automatically defines you as a racist and/or a fascist. The corporate world will not support a candidate who is anti-globalist. The media vilifies any candidate that dare say he or she is anti-globalist. Many people such as myself preferred Trump because he came across as anti-globalist. One of the reasons I have respect for Putin is that he is anti-globalist.

    Terminology goes a long way toward defining what a person represents. If you are defined (accurately or inaccurately) by a label which signifies you are a racist or fascist, your political career is over. Virtually no one in the Republican Party running against Trump had the balls to say they were opposed to globalism or American hegemony.
     
  30. mchammer

    mchammer 10,000+ Posts

    Which is why a chart of minimum wage since the 70's is bogus. Apples and oranges. They didn't have EITC back then.
     

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