I know replying to myself so tacky. In addition if SSI benefits were halved at in this example $30k instead of $60k at 7.7 million recipients that would mean $231 Billion in tax breaks that could be sent to the rich folk. Who doesnt think they aren't salivating at that. That would be $313 Million dollars in free money on average per billionaire.
I know replying to myself so tacky. In addition if SSI benefits were halved at in this example $30k instead of $60k at 7.7 million recipients that would mean $231 Billion in tax breaks that could be sent to the rich folk. Who doesnt think they aren't salivating at that. That would be $313 Million dollars in free money on average per billionaire.
Since you bring up saving money on SS and entitlements, I suspect that the lowering of life expectancy is also in part related to saving money. For each year of less life of an average person it must be way over $20,000 saved. Does this explain GOP policies from being against school lunches to being against health care? I only ask because i still donтАЩt want to believe they actually want people to die younger. In my heart I donтАЩt think so, but my gut and head says this is so.
I've looked into public assistance. The bars to enter are so high that the children who would qualify for food stamps or school breakfast/lunch programs are in impoverished house holds. When a persons stomach is full and everyone around them is full, why would a person think another person could be hungry. On cuts to education I think that is a direct attack education. On attacks on school lunch, food stamps, health care that to me seems to be a money grab. For congressmen/women and senators the big donors keep them fed. Not the poor voter so they have little reason to fight for such programs and would rather send that money to corporations or billionaire donors. And thus a kid gets sent to school starving, because feeding a child is an entitlement. Giving rich people more money that they didnt earn is supporting the economy....right.
I would argue that they want access to all public institutions- post office, education, social safety net, etc. For one, they want control of that Revenue. But number two, they also get more power over the lives of those employees! salaries, job security (employment at will), benefits (anti-union efforts), etc. You become dependent upon their will for you, and if you decide to strike or buck their system you and your family are screwed, because with no safety net, "if you don't work, you don't eat", and every aspect of your life, and quality there of, is controlled by them!
Keep in mind also the stated tRump and Republican plans to destroy the Civil Service system in U.S. government. Only the ignorant or craven crime syndicate would think that a good idea; it is another tentacle of the plans to utterly destroy America as we have known it, until recent years.
Same as post office, education, social safety net, etc. But more nefarious! For one, they want control of that Revenue. But number two, they also get more power over the lives of those employees! salaries, job security (employment at will), benefits (anti-union efforts), etc. You become dependent upon their will for you, and if you decide to strike or buck their system you and your family are screwed, because with no safety net, "if you don't work, you don't eat", and every aspect of your life, and quality there of, is controlled by them! Number 3, to infiltrate destroy Democracy- the power of the people! To eliminate our already weakened ability to decide who our representatives are and to cripple our limited ability to influence the policies that directly impact our lives. To replace democracy with an autocracy... fascism- a political philosophy, movement, or regime (such as that of the Fascists) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition.
fyiurban. Art 12 of the 1936 Soviet Constitution and the foundation of libertarianism, Ayn Rand,
ARTICLE 12. In the U.S.S.R. work is a duty and a matter of honour for every able-bodied citizen, in accordance with the principle: "He who does not work, neither shall he eat."
Do you think Republican politicians want people who read and comprehend what they read. None of the powerful people do. they want him just smart enough to take the crummy jobs and run the machines and barely keep the economy going and paying the taxes so they can continue getting richer. itтАЩs really that simple. And just to prove it look how easy Trump has controlled the uneducated class in America.
Cutting education is intentional on two fronts: 1. A dumb society doesn't realize what's happening and will continue to vote against their own self interest. 2. Pushing people away from public schools into charters and private and home options gives the government even more control over education in a backhanded way, no standards at all!
charter schools puts the money and power associated with education into the hands of corporate interests and billionaires. It allows them to bypass the job security, pay structure and other benefits of unionized employees, giving them power over those employees, because they dictate employee security (or lack there of), pay and benefits. Usually in a way that makes the corporation/billionaire more wealthy, at the expense of the worker. It also allows them to bend curriculum to their will.
I remember a runners club for disabled and disadvantaged kids (usually both). It started out benefitting the poor kids greatly. The group helped those kids with training the cost of entering races or to get transportation to track events. Then the middle classers came in. These folks had state paid aids watching there kids and had enough money to pay for their kids races and transport. During one meeting the middle classers demanded equal monetary benefits for lodging transportation and race fees. They got it. Then the money got dilluted and the poor folks couldnt afford to go to events anymore. But the middle classers did. So a group of folks who could afford the expenses got an entitlement and the ones who needed it got too little and thus only half the group (the more wealthy) benefited. This inequality is vouchering in a nutshell.
True. Those that have been paying to segregate themselves into private schools, including religious schools, are now demanding the same benefits given to lower income people that can't afford private schools. While corporate interests and religious organizations get access to revenue they haven't had access to.
Well, I don't think it takes a lot for a parent to home school their children from what is happening in the schools. With depraved policies for example on transgender women showing their penises in the women's locker room; books assumed suitable for children depicting a boy inserting his penis into another boy's rectum. Are we insane thinking these abominations are acceptable? What standards are there in government-controlled education. One of the worst education systems in the world of wealthy nations.
De Nada. Lies like this and the ones that foster antisemitism, pollute the universe, and are eaten up by small minds that see in them confirmation bias.
I would pity the ignorant phucks, like Rhonda Santis who claimed that slaves benefited from slavery.
Trained or not they still lost family were beaten and some rapped by their masters. I'm sure there was a good owner once in awhile but most people are bullies when it comes to power over others.
Are you responding to me? Then you wasted your time, you are preaching to the choir. Maybe you didn't read my comment, but stumbled upon a word or phrase that triggered you.
The locker room incident did happen. Here's a link to local press coverage on the US incident, in case you want to know about it. I am sorry that you find the idea upsetting, but it did occur.
You forget or or willfully overlooked one word. Trans student exposed girls to male genitalia in school locker room, legal group CLAIMS
Key word claims. I also looked up The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, who made this claim, which they did not follow up with a civil suit or criminal complaint, and it turns out that is an ultraconservative organization working to promote Bigotry throughout Wisconsin and the United States.
I have a friend who lives in Wisconsin and has told me all about them, they keep going and they will wind up on the SPLC list of hate groups.
Anyone who sees Law and Liberty in any organizations name, should have the hairs on the nape of the neck stand up. These Theocratic Bigots will lie and do lie. fpr the sake of their authoritarian agenda.
The words Law, Justice and Liberty are just the opposite of what people think, you have to read them by reverse, just like the infamous Mom's For Liberty
You got sucked in, assuming good faith on your part, because this played right into your own fears and concerns. I don't know what kind of life experience you had, but it must have been traumatic, just like any other TERF.
Well, here we go again William. Clearly there was no post op in this case. And for a trans woman to be naked in the biological women's locker room showed no trepidation at all.
If this viewpoint is against democrat progressive ideology then for sure I am not a progressive,
Cognitive dissonance?
Cognitive dissonance is a mental discomfort that arises when a person holds two or more contradictory beliefs, values, or attitudes. This can lead to a state of tension and anxiety, as the person tries to reconcile their conflicting thoughts.
In this case I do not see this condition in myself. Unless I am violating democratic progressive group think.
A post op transwoman is not a voyeur, she is doing her business like any other woman. And she probably has trepidation about undressing in public, she certainly isn't there for puerile purposes, but if you think she is, then that tells me more about you, than her.
You Phil are projecting. Projecting why you would be in a women's dressing room
First it was a bath room Phil now it is a dressing room, care to move the goal posts some more.
You are totally ignorant and all you can do is project.
No Phil you are not a progressive, you sound like a pervert, projecting.
As regards cognitive dissonance, I know what it is, thank you. And I was talking about cognitive dissonance by the transwoman. That you took it to apply to yourself is a huge tell Phil.
You have serious sexual hangups Phil, so no, not a progressive. That you are threatened by trans, informs me that "thou doth protest too much", and I have a nephew who wears women's underwear because it is sexually arousing.
You didn't see my post about homophobes, Their was a Stanford Study, and using electrodes wire to penis and heart rate, and showing pictures of male porn. They discovered that the more homophobic the subject, the more he was aroused by gay porn.
That is the propaganda litany of the cult that is taking over what was once a progressive, well-educated, prosperous country. Of course what you are describing is unacceptable as part of our system of education and, in FACT, it is NOT part of our public education system in America! What IS an abomination is the "home schooling" movement that is NOT educating kids, but is either neglecting them, abusing them or brainwashing them. Authorities at all levels - education, law enforcement - have cited horrific cases of child abuse and neglect occurring out of sight and intervention to protect children because they are being "home schooled" and at the mercy and control of whoever is claiming to do the "home schooling."
As for charter schools: Betsy DeVos has been a huge money-bags supporter and mover for charter schools. She never ever attended any public school and in her home state of Michigan has done everything in her big-bucks power to undermine public schools. Charter schools in Michigan have been a huge money-maker for private interests. Those who endorse home-schooling, charter schools or any other form of schooling that will sabotage PUBLIC education also love transferring public tax dollars into religious schools. It is a big con game implemented by the crime syndicate that is the "Republican Party" who despise anything PUBLIC and anything that might benefit anyone that is not them.
CNN aired a report from a town in Louisiana that began with a report on their "red-neck parade" that was a parody of traditional Christmas parades. The reporter was on-site interviewing numerous people from this small town. The town was described as - and looked it - as being very impoverished in every way. And yet.....and yet.....every single person interviewed said they would vote for tRump, said how he cared about them, blamed Biden for their worsening problems, etc. etc. etc.
Anybody doubt we have serious problems, whether from the disingenuous badgering by U.S. Representatives of university presidents or university presidents forgetting the difference between simple matters of right and wrong or "impoverished red necks" in Louisiana thinking tRump (or Mike Johnson) likes them and cares about them??
Although I agree with Professor Reich's point in this essay, my question is this: Stefanik's questions were disingenous, as are all of the questions put by "Republicans" in these "inquisition" hearings of all kinds of people. So the question is: IF Stefanik had gotten the answer she was demanding, her next question would have been: and how will you deal with those who are protesting and chanting anti-Israel, anti-Semitic, hate-filled calls for violence against Jews (or any other group)? And what would the "correct" answer from those presidents to that question be?
I think part of the deeper problem is that Trump has now validated the open expression of resentment and racist hatred (against "vermin" who will "poison the bloodline" of America) and has celebrated violence as political speech (Jan.6).
He has unleashed Fear and Intimidation to the point where civil discourse, and those who should be championing it, are left spinning in circles.
And sadly, (big) money triumphs over civil discourse (I don't like what you said, so take my name off the library).
The great experiment in freedom and democracy is running into very turbulent waters.
My wife home-schooled our daughter. She finished one year early. She gained a BA in music business, and later an MA in Entertainment business. She is now the Marketing Manager for a Hi-Tech company. We purchased a curriculum from a school specializing in home schooling, and they sent the exam each year and graded it. If one decides to home school, there is an investment side to this approach.
There is a danger in making generalizations. Not all home-schooled children are left to "teach" themselves and suffer a poor education...
Anecdotal accounts of individual "home school" experiences can always be shown to support one point or another. There is a good article in today's (December 12, 2023) Washington Post about research on home schooling. It's very interesting. There are also news reports from all over the country over the years of the "home school" trend of children being dropped right through all of the cracks and gaps in all systems, most horrifically through any system that might protect them from monstrous "care takers" who are ostensibly doing "home schooling."
I'm sure you are not the exception but neither are you the rule.
As for me, I think PUBLIC elements of our society are a key part of what has set this country apart from all other countries in all other eras of human endeavor; it's been a beautiful thing, an enlightened thing: public education for all; public libraries, public parks, public swimming pools & swimming lessons, public hospitals, public HEALTH services of all kinds, public mail services, and on and on; and all of these facets of American life (and more) have been under relentless attack by "Republican" so-called "conservative" groups forever; they seem to have that schadenfreude view of life that anything that benefits all must surely take away from THEIR own entitlements! and "conservative" is in quotes because there is nothing conservative about those groups, except when it comes to "conserving" what THEY deem necessary to conserve, and that brand of "conservatism" will invariably mean that everyone will pay to conserve the "conservatives" demands: pay through the nose while losing what benefits ALL in order to provide for what benefits the "conservatives."
The "gummit is the enemy" crowd, the "get gummit out of our business" crowd, is currently slimey-alive in Texas (and similar knuckle-dragging locales) where enslaving women as vessels to carry embryos and produce fetuses is their m.o.
Seeing huge swaths of streets in other countries FILLED with people - men and women - who will NOT allow government to enslave women, to make health and family decisions for women/men/families is poignant because in AMERICA ("land of the free. home of the brave") it is becoming a secret underground railroad situation to help women get the health/reproductive/family planning care they need!
And finally, who in the HELL does that vile, abomination of a so-called human, Texas AG Ken Paxton - ugly, disgusting, contemptible crook - think he is?!!! And WHERE are the WOMEN of the United States of America??!!
I taught in NYC intermediate schools for over 30 years . I was a dean for over six years and I never heard of or knew of any trans person showing their penis. I can recall several occasions where kids considered straight exposed themselves.I do recall an occasional gay student being harassed into harming themselves and cutting class to avoid their tormentors.
I agree what makes the top 20% think they are entitled to double the wealth of the bottom 80%? The bottom 60% make $1 of income for every $99 of what the top 1% make. Thats an incredible amount of inequality that causes power to be concentrated in the hands of 737 billionaires and 22 million millionaires. That thry only got due to absurdly low tax rates and exclusions on wealth income as taxable income.
The GenZ kids think they are entitled to something because they are living out of their cars instead of apartments or houses. Those with college degrees are living with their parents and debt coming out of their asses.
Gen Z realizes that Corporate interests and the Billionaire class, have had no loyalty to the generations before them and therefore understand the same will have no loyalty to them. They choose not to be subservient to those corporations and billionaires. And in fact, choose to push back against them.
It is about an elevated level of humanity... one where we act like the beings that we were created to be, rather than the animals of limited intelligence that continue to act on instinct and self preservation. We have the ability to rise above selfish desires and instinct, to serve the interest of the common good of mankind... that would be considered 'grown up'.
The word "fascist" is becoming meaningless. In "The Tyranny of Words" Stuart Chase did a word-experiment where he asked 100 people in a range of professions to define "fascist". The answers were all over the place, but mainly referred to right wing activities and activities.
Today, Don Jr. calls Biden a fascist MTG calls Zelenski a fascist. It's becoming a meaningless word that people throw at their enemies.
And this abuse of language allows Trump's "neo-fascism" (same old poison in new clothes) to ascend to power under the flag-waving banner of "America First."
In 1935 Sinclair Lewis wrote тАЬwhen fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross.тАЭ
тАЬThe villain in reality is those who 1. think they are entitled to the earnings and services of others. тАЬ do you mean the owners of businesses who benefit disproportionately from the work of others? If so we agree.
You have great company, not only the billionaire "libertarians" and Trump Humpers, but
The 1936 constitution of the USSR
ARTICLE 12. In the U.S.S.R. work is a duty and a matter of honour for every able-bodied citizen, in accordance with the principle: "He who does not work, neither shall he eat."
We've seen greed in the last century for the Fortune 500. At least those rich were philanthropists. Not a penny for COVID but profit for them. Never such a greedy generation in our history. They care little for anyone.
Anand Ghirahadas "Winner's Take All The Elite Charade of Changing The World" shows the issue with philanthropy. It hasnt changed since the time of Andrew Carnegie and the Gospel of wealth. Where any and all bad labor abusing or bad business practices are permissible as long as you "give it back" before you die, also another fallacy. The short and skinny of it is people will give back via philanthropy or engineer a philanthropy that benefits them and their company but has no intention of fixing the root cause of the problem. Billion dollar problem, Million dollar bandaid. We cant rely on companies and the wealthy to determine what is best to do with the wealth they earned from overly generous government tax regulation and poor worker representation. The way I see it without all the wealthy benefits most of they money they have they never should have had in the first place. That is to say that whatever they decide to do with the money that they shouldnt have "earned" in the first place is not their decision to make but the peoples in a democratic manor.
You are so right. The rich alone have no idea where money is needed. There is a point where no way can they spend all that money but pass it down to their children, etc. That creates bad people since they never have a desire to work or share...be a good person period. No one is an island is never learned.
I definitely agree. I look at the US this way. You have a 100 people in a room and 1 of those people thinks they're ideas are better than the other 99. So using their money and power they do whatever they want regardless of its affect on the other 99. If the 100 were properly represented that 1 person can still have their opinion fairly represented and the majority ideas of the 100 would prevail. Its the same with slices of pizza at a meeting. You've got that one guy who goes up to the table and takes 3 slices, the other folks take one a time and some get none. All because of that person who is entitled to think their greed is more important than other peoples needs. Needs over Greed.
DK, it is hard to begin to know what Republicans want beyond power. They love the idea of power and wielding it wherever they can. They have gotten abortion, for example made mostly illegal in their "red" states, but life has not gotten better for anyone in those states. They preach hate for trans youth and, trans people in general but life has not improved in the "red" states for the people there. They have blamed Democrats for all the people's woes while the people keep electing the fools who are often responsible for being sure nothing for the people improves. There is something really depressing about that. How can anyone reach people who are so deep in the impacts of the Republican addiction to power and the addiction to money of the celebrities they love learning about through our media and thinking they want to emulate?
Ruth, it's the Master's Mentality: when a master's authority is challenged s/he respond with moral outrage, vitriol, and, quite often, violence. The White ruling elites of the South feel challenged today as never before. Some of them are heavily invested in the fossil fuels industry. The old John C. Calhoun strategy of dividing poor Whites from Blacks is no longer sufficient. This is why they appeal to tribalism, sexism, racism, religion even.
Because they are told as the lyrics go in an old Bob Dylan songтАЭ youтАЩre better than them you were born with white skinтАЭ. from the song тАЬonly a pawn in their gameтАЭ.тАЭ today, Medgar, Evers was buried from the bullet he caught, they lowered him down as a king, but when the shadowy sun ,sets on the one ,that fired the gun, youтАЩll see by his grave on the stone that remains carved next to his name his epitaph claims ,heтАЩs only a pawn in their gameтАЭ. One of BobтАЩs best.
Not to stray too far from Dr. ReichтАЩs angle in this piece, IтАЩve often wondered a similar thing about climate change denial.
After all, what groups suffer the most from cities sinking into the ocean and daytime temperatures too hot for the human body to withstand? Which demographic tends to be the ones working outside in un-air-conditioned spaces?
Black, brown, undereducated, immigrants and other poverty populations. Off with their heads.
I just read a horrifying piece on USPS deaths from heat exhaustion being covered up.
The megabillionaires want to rule the world.
So climate change is a convenient D&C (dusting and cleaning) for them. They have their underground bunkers, private fire fighters, yachts, etc. How they must laugh at us peons.
I wont follow the billionaires in their path of headonistic self destruction. They will toss aside minorities and the poor first, then the world will become to uninhabital for them too. Their rockets wont save them. Earth is the biggest mothership there is. We cant move somewhere else without earth as a giant supply station for that off world colony. Elon can have all the kids he wants they too will die if dont stop his and all the other billionaires pursuit of death.
Computer billionaire Larry Ellison once pitched a big project to Steve Jobs, who at that time was slowly dying of pancreatic cancer. Jobs asked him how many billions he had, and Ellison said somewhere between 10 and 15. Then Jobs asked, why do you need more?
Billionaires seem to be insatiable in their quest for more, more, more.
Dogmother, when you abandon hope, you stop looking for a savior, look in the mirror for your savior. Abandon hope and take up the sword, metaphorically of course, but literally later if the theocratic fascists take over the country.
The saddest pictures I have ever seen is of Jews marching into a mass grave to be shot, or streams of people debarking from freight cars to be marched into camps with gates marked with Arbeit Macht Frei.
They did so because they had hope.
The ones who lost hope, and took the threat seriously, fled Germany, or as in the Warsaw ghetto did not march into the cold dark night., but fought back and did not die like sheep, but took a few of the bastards with them.
It would explain the RepugnaF**KS' letting the Medicare (DIS)Advantage plan insurance company mega donors to themselves get away with literally killing their policyholders by delaying, and putting off paying for care until they die, or give up fighting them, and then die.
I would rather not think that they WANT it, but their actions and inactions certainly do nothing to prevent it (the "it" being what you described as wanting "people to die younger." The rampant death-march of Covid that ran through nursing homes/and other elderly group congregate housing, as well as Covid's disproportionate effect on Black Americans, is powerful testimony to the neglect, hatred, disregard - take your pick - for certain segments of our population. The relentless assault against Social Security and the lies they tell about it, the hostile propaganda they promote, are vile.
I always say that they would promote the Ice Floe Final Solution for Elders if they hadn't so arduously denied climate change and thus fueled (no pun) the disappearance of Earth's ice and its ice floes.
America's elders had the temerity to work, save, and enjoy even slightly improved health and longevity and the life-long contributions to Social Security. Republican administrations were successful at moving elders' savings and pensions over to Republican Wall Street paramours several decades ago, requiring that elders become individual investors. That has never been enough to satisfy that greedy, craven beast though, not until all the money is in the hands of Wall Street managers. Elders are increasingly painted as selfish leeches, when, in fact, it is the do-nothing but steal from tax-payers their - true use of the word - entitlements who are the selfish leeches, i.e. the "electeds" who are not public servants but are servants to the sources of wealth.
The malignant narcissist I dealt with that ran a pyramid scheme strongly believed he deserved every penny of what he stole. It was a mantra. "These people owe me. I deserve it."
That is what the toothless, bib overall redneck, said as he stood on the steps of his single wide, with trash littered yard, when he responded to documentartian Alexandra Pelosoi, when she asked "Why do you opposed to food stamps?" He responde, because them "lazy niques don't deserve them". She replied, but you get food stamps, his response was "That's OK because I earned them" (how selling bottles and cans for recycling?
I certainly donтАЩt know anyone on SSI who gets $60K per year. In my generous state (MN), the average SSI payment is less that $600/month. Annual comparisons of rent for one-bedroom apartments vs SSI show that there is not one county in the US where a person whose sole income is SSI can find an affordable apartment. What is this jerk talking about???
Anyone who pays the maximum allowable tax rate for SSI, I think its taxes on $400,000? Can then get the max SSI benefit. Its not something you or will ever see. The main problem is SSI itself uses about $55 Billion a year. The GOP would love to get rid of all $55 billion and send that money in the form of tax breaks to the already filthy rich.
Its who the government doesnt take the money from that is a problem. We are getting taxed between 26% and 38%. Billionaires are taxed at an average effective tax rate of 8%. Through manipulation of the laws corporations and billionaires have made things this way. Only the government can ever claw that back. Even if it pissed it all away. Less money in the hands of the gilded few is better means more influence for we the 300 million non gilded age voters.
Yeap quote your funny facts. Warren buffet pays a effective tax of 0.26% That seems pretty close to 26%. You can play your rich peoples harp all day long. I am done talking to you.
B.S. Lonny. The wealthy do not pay 26%, most do not pay taxes at all, Bezo's doesn't, Musk doesn't. They have enough money to take advantage of exemptions, deductions, and tax credits, to not pay a thing. They deduct their airplanes and cars as a business expense, either amortized or deducted lump sum, when deducted lump sum, they then go out and buy another, and cliam that as an expense.
A Yacht and it's maintance are business expenses, they use them at least once for a business meeting.
Trump paid no taxes for the last five years, save one in which he paid $750
You have been fed a bunch of poison, and gladly swallowed it, because of confirmation bias.
Lenny you are a beneficiary of socialism. From the roads you drive on, to the air corridors you fly through, from your education, to the education of your health providers, to the funding of drugs by the government, from the water you drink, to the electricity you use.
How do you think billionaires became billionaires, they have done it with your taxes.
So why do you defend the 10%, do you think you believe that one day you will be one too.
Or is it your hatred and resentment of people of color, and those "less worthy than you"
You have done a very good job of exposing your self as a sociopath Lenny.
I checked ReichтАЩs LinkedIn page where he also posts the same newsletter which sends the reader to Substack. TodayтАЩs newsletter hasnтАЩt posted on LinkedIn yet. Hopefully it doesnтАЩt until this gets fixed. Robert gets a lot more negative comments over on LinkedIn since the subscriber base is more business oriented and more conservative.
Sorry, folks, it appears I've been hacked. (I'm working with substack at the moment to eliminate the hacker. It's really me only when there's a purple check mark after my name.)
That should give you warm fuzzy feelings and cause you to rejoice when elderly and disabled people lose their homes and end up homeless, living on the streets till they conveniently die from hunger and cold weather. Think of all the real estate you can gobble up.
Steve Mnuchin, Trump's Secretary of the Treasury, made billions off (some say he invented) the fake-mortgage-asset schemes that almost caused a depression, was called the "foreclosure king." Trump loved him, called him a financial genius.
And what will you do when it runs out? Depend on the pension your employer set aside, don't bank on it. ENRON employees had a nice retirement program, as did Sears and other corporations, until they went bankrupt and/or bought up by another corporation.
Maybe you hire someone to steal your money, or invest it yourself, lots of luck when the next Jerome Powell/DJT depression hits.
You had best be an old fart like me, because if you are younger, the chances of you retiring or living to retiring are pretty damn bad, and those billionaire em effers that you love so much, will not escape the speeding train roaring down the tracks, and neither will you.
Folk like you are like the mother stuck on RR tracks, dialing a cell phone for help, telling the kids in the back seat, that not to worry, they will hear the train coming in time.
I know replying to myself so tacky. In addition if SSI benefits were halved at in this example $30k instead of $60k at 7.7 million recipients that would mean $231 Billion in tax breaks that could be sent to the rich folk. Who doesnt think they aren't salivating at that. That would be $313 Million dollars in free money on average per billionaire.
Since you bring up saving money on SS and entitlements, I suspect that the lowering of life expectancy is also in part related to saving money. For each year of less life of an average person it must be way over $20,000 saved. Does this explain GOP policies from being against school lunches to being against health care? I only ask because i still donтАЩt want to believe they actually want people to die younger. In my heart I donтАЩt think so, but my gut and head says this is so.
I've looked into public assistance. The bars to enter are so high that the children who would qualify for food stamps or school breakfast/lunch programs are in impoverished house holds. When a persons stomach is full and everyone around them is full, why would a person think another person could be hungry. On cuts to education I think that is a direct attack education. On attacks on school lunch, food stamps, health care that to me seems to be a money grab. For congressmen/women and senators the big donors keep them fed. Not the poor voter so they have little reason to fight for such programs and would rather send that money to corporations or billionaire donors. And thus a kid gets sent to school starving, because feeding a child is an entitlement. Giving rich people more money that they didnt earn is supporting the economy....right.
I would argue that they want access to all public institutions- post office, education, social safety net, etc. For one, they want control of that Revenue. But number two, they also get more power over the lives of those employees! salaries, job security (employment at will), benefits (anti-union efforts), etc. You become dependent upon their will for you, and if you decide to strike or buck their system you and your family are screwed, because with no safety net, "if you don't work, you don't eat", and every aspect of your life, and quality there of, is controlled by them!
Keep in mind also the stated tRump and Republican plans to destroy the Civil Service system in U.S. government. Only the ignorant or craven crime syndicate would think that a good idea; it is another tentacle of the plans to utterly destroy America as we have known it, until recent years.
Same as post office, education, social safety net, etc. But more nefarious! For one, they want control of that Revenue. But number two, they also get more power over the lives of those employees! salaries, job security (employment at will), benefits (anti-union efforts), etc. You become dependent upon their will for you, and if you decide to strike or buck their system you and your family are screwed, because with no safety net, "if you don't work, you don't eat", and every aspect of your life, and quality there of, is controlled by them! Number 3, to infiltrate destroy Democracy- the power of the people! To eliminate our already weakened ability to decide who our representatives are and to cripple our limited ability to influence the policies that directly impact our lives. To replace democracy with an autocracy... fascism- a political philosophy, movement, or regime (such as that of the Fascists) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition.
Why is PM DeJoy still there selling public owned post offices, etc. Stopping mail delivery, etc.
D_mn good question!!!
fyiurban. Art 12 of the 1936 Soviet Constitution and the foundation of libertarianism, Ayn Rand,
ARTICLE 12. In the U.S.S.R. work is a duty and a matter of honour for every able-bodied citizen, in accordance with the principle: "He who does not work, neither shall he eat."
Can't stand Ayn Rand.
Government by Vivek Ramaswamy. Aka, for the people with enough money to survive with no services.
Do you think Republican politicians want people who read and comprehend what they read. None of the powerful people do. they want him just smart enough to take the crummy jobs and run the machines and barely keep the economy going and paying the taxes so they can continue getting richer. itтАЩs really that simple. And just to prove it look how easy Trump has controlled the uneducated class in America.
I believe he once said, on camera, "I love the uneducated."
Cutting education is intentional on two fronts: 1. A dumb society doesn't realize what's happening and will continue to vote against their own self interest. 2. Pushing people away from public schools into charters and private and home options gives the government even more control over education in a backhanded way, no standards at all!
charter schools puts the money and power associated with education into the hands of corporate interests and billionaires. It allows them to bypass the job security, pay structure and other benefits of unionized employees, giving them power over those employees, because they dictate employee security (or lack there of), pay and benefits. Usually in a way that makes the corporation/billionaire more wealthy, at the expense of the worker. It also allows them to bend curriculum to their will.
I remember a runners club for disabled and disadvantaged kids (usually both). It started out benefitting the poor kids greatly. The group helped those kids with training the cost of entering races or to get transportation to track events. Then the middle classers came in. These folks had state paid aids watching there kids and had enough money to pay for their kids races and transport. During one meeting the middle classers demanded equal monetary benefits for lodging transportation and race fees. They got it. Then the money got dilluted and the poor folks couldnt afford to go to events anymore. But the middle classers did. So a group of folks who could afford the expenses got an entitlement and the ones who needed it got too little and thus only half the group (the more wealthy) benefited. This inequality is vouchering in a nutshell.
Very good example
True. Those that have been paying to segregate themselves into private schools, including religious schools, are now demanding the same benefits given to lower income people that can't afford private schools. While corporate interests and religious organizations get access to revenue they haven't had access to.
Kings only wanted the few educated and wealthy. It is about control.
Exactly, an ignorant citizenry is much more malleable
Well, I don't think it takes a lot for a parent to home school their children from what is happening in the schools. With depraved policies for example on transgender women showing their penises in the women's locker room; books assumed suitable for children depicting a boy inserting his penis into another boy's rectum. Are we insane thinking these abominations are acceptable? What standards are there in government-controlled education. One of the worst education systems in the world of wealthy nations.
Come on Phil. Tramsgender women showing their penis is a woman's room?
Have you ever heard of cognitive dissonance.
The transgender woman, pre or post op is naturally trepeditious
about having to go to a woman's restroom, A post op doesn't have a penis, they have a vagina
A cross dresser (transvestite) is too nervous to even go out in public (cognitive dissonance)
You are so full of shit, I wonder if you can see. All you are doing is spouting the b.s. of Desantis, and the idiot Trump Humpers
Thank you!
De Nada. Lies like this and the ones that foster antisemitism, pollute the universe, and are eaten up by small minds that see in them confirmation bias.
I would pity the ignorant phucks, like Rhonda Santis who claimed that slaves benefited from slavery.
But they are way too dangerous, to be pitied.
Wayyyyyy
Trained or not they still lost family were beaten and some rapped by their masters. I'm sure there was a good owner once in awhile but most people are bullies when it comes to power over others.
Are you responding to me? Then you wasted your time, you are preaching to the choir. Maybe you didn't read my comment, but stumbled upon a word or phrase that triggered you.
The locker room incident did happen. Here's a link to local press coverage on the US incident, in case you want to know about it. I am sorry that you find the idea upsetting, but it did occur.
https://wpde.com/news/nation-world/after-trans-woman-exposed-genitalia-to-freshman-girls-in-locker-room-shower-school-district-faces-legal-scrutiny
You forget or or willfully overlooked one word. Trans student exposed girls to male genitalia in school locker room, legal group CLAIMS
Key word claims. I also looked up The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, who made this claim, which they did not follow up with a civil suit or criminal complaint, and it turns out that is an ultraconservative organization working to promote Bigotry throughout Wisconsin and the United States.
I have a friend who lives in Wisconsin and has told me all about them, they keep going and they will wind up on the SPLC list of hate groups.
Anyone who sees Law and Liberty in any organizations name, should have the hairs on the nape of the neck stand up. These Theocratic Bigots will lie and do lie. fpr the sake of their authoritarian agenda.
The words Law, Justice and Liberty are just the opposite of what people think, you have to read them by reverse, just like the infamous Mom's For Liberty
You got sucked in, assuming good faith on your part, because this played right into your own fears and concerns. I don't know what kind of life experience you had, but it must have been traumatic, just like any other TERF.
Well, here we go again William. Clearly there was no post op in this case. And for a trans woman to be naked in the biological women's locker room showed no trepidation at all.
If this viewpoint is against democrat progressive ideology then for sure I am not a progressive,
Cognitive dissonance?
Cognitive dissonance is a mental discomfort that arises when a person holds two or more contradictory beliefs, values, or attitudes. This can lead to a state of tension and anxiety, as the person tries to reconcile their conflicting thoughts.
In this case I do not see this condition in myself. Unless I am violating democratic progressive group think.
A post op transwoman is not a voyeur, she is doing her business like any other woman. And she probably has trepidation about undressing in public, she certainly isn't there for puerile purposes, but if you think she is, then that tells me more about you, than her.
You Phil are projecting. Projecting why you would be in a women's dressing room
First it was a bath room Phil now it is a dressing room, care to move the goal posts some more.
You are totally ignorant and all you can do is project.
No Phil you are not a progressive, you sound like a pervert, projecting.
As regards cognitive dissonance, I know what it is, thank you. And I was talking about cognitive dissonance by the transwoman. That you took it to apply to yourself is a huge tell Phil.
You have serious sexual hangups Phil, so no, not a progressive. That you are threatened by trans, informs me that "thou doth protest too much", and I have a nephew who wears women's underwear because it is sexually arousing.
You didn't see my post about homophobes, Their was a Stanford Study, and using electrodes wire to penis and heart rate, and showing pictures of male porn. They discovered that the more homophobic the subject, the more he was aroused by gay porn.
As they said in Avatar. "I see you".
Hah!!!
That is the propaganda litany of the cult that is taking over what was once a progressive, well-educated, prosperous country. Of course what you are describing is unacceptable as part of our system of education and, in FACT, it is NOT part of our public education system in America! What IS an abomination is the "home schooling" movement that is NOT educating kids, but is either neglecting them, abusing them or brainwashing them. Authorities at all levels - education, law enforcement - have cited horrific cases of child abuse and neglect occurring out of sight and intervention to protect children because they are being "home schooled" and at the mercy and control of whoever is claiming to do the "home schooling."
As for charter schools: Betsy DeVos has been a huge money-bags supporter and mover for charter schools. She never ever attended any public school and in her home state of Michigan has done everything in her big-bucks power to undermine public schools. Charter schools in Michigan have been a huge money-maker for private interests. Those who endorse home-schooling, charter schools or any other form of schooling that will sabotage PUBLIC education also love transferring public tax dollars into religious schools. It is a big con game implemented by the crime syndicate that is the "Republican Party" who despise anything PUBLIC and anything that might benefit anyone that is not them.
CNN aired a report from a town in Louisiana that began with a report on their "red-neck parade" that was a parody of traditional Christmas parades. The reporter was on-site interviewing numerous people from this small town. The town was described as - and looked it - as being very impoverished in every way. And yet.....and yet.....every single person interviewed said they would vote for tRump, said how he cared about them, blamed Biden for their worsening problems, etc. etc. etc.
Anybody doubt we have serious problems, whether from the disingenuous badgering by U.S. Representatives of university presidents or university presidents forgetting the difference between simple matters of right and wrong or "impoverished red necks" in Louisiana thinking tRump (or Mike Johnson) likes them and cares about them??
Although I agree with Professor Reich's point in this essay, my question is this: Stefanik's questions were disingenous, as are all of the questions put by "Republicans" in these "inquisition" hearings of all kinds of people. So the question is: IF Stefanik had gotten the answer she was demanding, her next question would have been: and how will you deal with those who are protesting and chanting anti-Israel, anti-Semitic, hate-filled calls for violence against Jews (or any other group)? And what would the "correct" answer from those presidents to that question be?
I think part of the deeper problem is that Trump has now validated the open expression of resentment and racist hatred (against "vermin" who will "poison the bloodline" of America) and has celebrated violence as political speech (Jan.6).
He has unleashed Fear and Intimidation to the point where civil discourse, and those who should be championing it, are left spinning in circles.
And sadly, (big) money triumphs over civil discourse (I don't like what you said, so take my name off the library).
The great experiment in freedom and democracy is running into very turbulent waters.
My wife home-schooled our daughter. She finished one year early. She gained a BA in music business, and later an MA in Entertainment business. She is now the Marketing Manager for a Hi-Tech company. We purchased a curriculum from a school specializing in home schooling, and they sent the exam each year and graded it. If one decides to home school, there is an investment side to this approach.
There is a danger in making generalizations. Not all home-schooled children are left to "teach" themselves and suffer a poor education...
Anecdotal accounts of individual "home school" experiences can always be shown to support one point or another. There is a good article in today's (December 12, 2023) Washington Post about research on home schooling. It's very interesting. There are also news reports from all over the country over the years of the "home school" trend of children being dropped right through all of the cracks and gaps in all systems, most horrifically through any system that might protect them from monstrous "care takers" who are ostensibly doing "home schooling."
I'm sure you are not the exception but neither are you the rule.
As for me, I think PUBLIC elements of our society are a key part of what has set this country apart from all other countries in all other eras of human endeavor; it's been a beautiful thing, an enlightened thing: public education for all; public libraries, public parks, public swimming pools & swimming lessons, public hospitals, public HEALTH services of all kinds, public mail services, and on and on; and all of these facets of American life (and more) have been under relentless attack by "Republican" so-called "conservative" groups forever; they seem to have that schadenfreude view of life that anything that benefits all must surely take away from THEIR own entitlements! and "conservative" is in quotes because there is nothing conservative about those groups, except when it comes to "conserving" what THEY deem necessary to conserve, and that brand of "conservatism" will invariably mean that everyone will pay to conserve the "conservatives" demands: pay through the nose while losing what benefits ALL in order to provide for what benefits the "conservatives."
The "gummit is the enemy" crowd, the "get gummit out of our business" crowd, is currently slimey-alive in Texas (and similar knuckle-dragging locales) where enslaving women as vessels to carry embryos and produce fetuses is their m.o.
Seeing huge swaths of streets in other countries FILLED with people - men and women - who will NOT allow government to enslave women, to make health and family decisions for women/men/families is poignant because in AMERICA ("land of the free. home of the brave") it is becoming a secret underground railroad situation to help women get the health/reproductive/family planning care they need!
And finally, who in the HELL does that vile, abomination of a so-called human, Texas AG Ken Paxton - ugly, disgusting, contemptible crook - think he is?!!! And WHERE are the WOMEN of the United States of America??!!
I taught in NYC intermediate schools for over 30 years . I was a dean for over six years and I never heard of or knew of any trans person showing their penis. I can recall several occasions where kids considered straight exposed themselves.I do recall an occasional gay student being harassed into harming themselves and cutting class to avoid their tormentors.
Thats the past. All is new now.
BS.
And yet the poor voting masses give hard-earned meager bux to orange clown T, the supreme grifter. Go figure.
he said he loved the uneducated/stupid
I agree what makes the top 20% think they are entitled to double the wealth of the bottom 80%? The bottom 60% make $1 of income for every $99 of what the top 1% make. Thats an incredible amount of inequality that causes power to be concentrated in the hands of 737 billionaires and 22 million millionaires. That thry only got due to absurdly low tax rates and exclusions on wealth income as taxable income.
The GenZ kids think they are entitled to something because they are living out of their cars instead of apartments or houses. Those with college degrees are living with their parents and debt coming out of their asses.
Gen Z realizes that Corporate interests and the Billionaire class, have had no loyalty to the generations before them and therefore understand the same will have no loyalty to them. They choose not to be subservient to those corporations and billionaires. And in fact, choose to push back against them.
It is about an elevated level of humanity... one where we act like the beings that we were created to be, rather than the animals of limited intelligence that continue to act on instinct and self preservation. We have the ability to rise above selfish desires and instinct, to serve the interest of the common good of mankind... that would be considered 'grown up'.
I think a billionaire has more power than a poor worker.
Thou speaketh like an idiot. A know nothing a swallower of bull manure.
Your rant is a copy and paste of the crap that shows up on fascists "channels"
The word "fascist" is becoming meaningless. In "The Tyranny of Words" Stuart Chase did a word-experiment where he asked 100 people in a range of professions to define "fascist". The answers were all over the place, but mainly referred to right wing activities and activities.
https://neofascism.substack.com/p/the-tyranny-of-words-by-stuart-chase
Today, Don Jr. calls Biden a fascist MTG calls Zelenski a fascist. It's becoming a meaningless word that people throw at their enemies.
And this abuse of language allows Trump's "neo-fascism" (same old poison in new clothes) to ascend to power under the flag-waving banner of "America First."
In 1935 Sinclair Lewis wrote тАЬwhen fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross.тАЭ
https://neofascism.substack.com/p/it-cant-happen-here
I wonder what would be 2023's responses to Stuart Chase's 1938 word-experiment (What does "fascism" mean to you?)
The IRS went after Hunter.
Lonny what do you mean by "woke"? We cannot have moral clarity unless we also have mental clarity.
Lenny is having an orgasm triggering the libs.
тАЬThe villain in reality is those who 1. think they are entitled to the earnings and services of others. тАЬ do you mean the owners of businesses who benefit disproportionately from the work of others? If so we agree.
Says a Libertarian, or is it a Trump Humper.
You have great company, not only the billionaire "libertarians" and Trump Humpers, but
The 1936 constitution of the USSR
ARTICLE 12. In the U.S.S.R. work is a duty and a matter of honour for every able-bodied citizen, in accordance with the principle: "He who does not work, neither shall he eat."
@ Bill Reitz. Most red states do not have general assistance. That ended in 1996. Some have temporary assistance that lasts a couple of months.
We've seen greed in the last century for the Fortune 500. At least those rich were philanthropists. Not a penny for COVID but profit for them. Never such a greedy generation in our history. They care little for anyone.
Anand Ghirahadas "Winner's Take All The Elite Charade of Changing The World" shows the issue with philanthropy. It hasnt changed since the time of Andrew Carnegie and the Gospel of wealth. Where any and all bad labor abusing or bad business practices are permissible as long as you "give it back" before you die, also another fallacy. The short and skinny of it is people will give back via philanthropy or engineer a philanthropy that benefits them and their company but has no intention of fixing the root cause of the problem. Billion dollar problem, Million dollar bandaid. We cant rely on companies and the wealthy to determine what is best to do with the wealth they earned from overly generous government tax regulation and poor worker representation. The way I see it without all the wealthy benefits most of they money they have they never should have had in the first place. That is to say that whatever they decide to do with the money that they shouldnt have "earned" in the first place is not their decision to make but the peoples in a democratic manor.
You are so right. The rich alone have no idea where money is needed. There is a point where no way can they spend all that money but pass it down to their children, etc. That creates bad people since they never have a desire to work or share...be a good person period. No one is an island is never learned.
I definitely agree. I look at the US this way. You have a 100 people in a room and 1 of those people thinks they're ideas are better than the other 99. So using their money and power they do whatever they want regardless of its affect on the other 99. If the 100 were properly represented that 1 person can still have their opinion fairly represented and the majority ideas of the 100 would prevail. Its the same with slices of pizza at a meeting. You've got that one guy who goes up to the table and takes 3 slices, the other folks take one a time and some get none. All because of that person who is entitled to think their greed is more important than other peoples needs. Needs over Greed.
DK, it is hard to begin to know what Republicans want beyond power. They love the idea of power and wielding it wherever they can. They have gotten abortion, for example made mostly illegal in their "red" states, but life has not gotten better for anyone in those states. They preach hate for trans youth and, trans people in general but life has not improved in the "red" states for the people there. They have blamed Democrats for all the people's woes while the people keep electing the fools who are often responsible for being sure nothing for the people improves. There is something really depressing about that. How can anyone reach people who are so deep in the impacts of the Republican addiction to power and the addiction to money of the celebrities they love learning about through our media and thinking they want to emulate?
Ruth, it's the Master's Mentality: when a master's authority is challenged s/he respond with moral outrage, vitriol, and, quite often, violence. The White ruling elites of the South feel challenged today as never before. Some of them are heavily invested in the fossil fuels industry. The old John C. Calhoun strategy of dividing poor Whites from Blacks is no longer sufficient. This is why they appeal to tribalism, sexism, racism, religion even.
Because they are told as the lyrics go in an old Bob Dylan songтАЭ youтАЩre better than them you were born with white skinтАЭ. from the song тАЬonly a pawn in their gameтАЭ.тАЭ today, Medgar, Evers was buried from the bullet he caught, they lowered him down as a king, but when the shadowy sun ,sets on the one ,that fired the gun, youтАЩll see by his grave on the stone that remains carved next to his name his epitaph claims ,heтАЩs only a pawn in their gameтАЭ. One of BobтАЩs best.
I think Bob needs to write a new theme song for our times.
Not to stray too far from Dr. ReichтАЩs angle in this piece, IтАЩve often wondered a similar thing about climate change denial.
After all, what groups suffer the most from cities sinking into the ocean and daytime temperatures too hot for the human body to withstand? Which demographic tends to be the ones working outside in un-air-conditioned spaces?
Black, brown, undereducated, immigrants and other poverty populations. Off with their heads.
I just read a horrifying piece on USPS deaths from heat exhaustion being covered up.
The megabillionaires want to rule the world.
So climate change is a convenient D&C (dusting and cleaning) for them. They have their underground bunkers, private fire fighters, yachts, etc. How they must laugh at us peons.
I used to be a person with hope. No more.
I wont follow the billionaires in their path of headonistic self destruction. They will toss aside minorities and the poor first, then the world will become to uninhabital for them too. Their rockets wont save them. Earth is the biggest mothership there is. We cant move somewhere else without earth as a giant supply station for that off world colony. Elon can have all the kids he wants they too will die if dont stop his and all the other billionaires pursuit of death.
Computer billionaire Larry Ellison once pitched a big project to Steve Jobs, who at that time was slowly dying of pancreatic cancer. Jobs asked him how many billions he had, and Ellison said somewhere between 10 and 15. Then Jobs asked, why do you need more?
Billionaires seem to be insatiable in their quest for more, more, more.
Dogmother, when you abandon hope, you stop looking for a savior, look in the mirror for your savior. Abandon hope and take up the sword, metaphorically of course, but literally later if the theocratic fascists take over the country.
The saddest pictures I have ever seen is of Jews marching into a mass grave to be shot, or streams of people debarking from freight cars to be marched into camps with gates marked with Arbeit Macht Frei.
They did so because they had hope.
The ones who lost hope, and took the threat seriously, fled Germany, or as in the Warsaw ghetto did not march into the cold dark night., but fought back and did not die like sheep, but took a few of the bastards with them.
It would explain the RepugnaF**KS' letting the Medicare (DIS)Advantage plan insurance company mega donors to themselves get away with literally killing their policyholders by delaying, and putting off paying for care until they die, or give up fighting them, and then die.
I would rather not think that they WANT it, but their actions and inactions certainly do nothing to prevent it (the "it" being what you described as wanting "people to die younger." The rampant death-march of Covid that ran through nursing homes/and other elderly group congregate housing, as well as Covid's disproportionate effect on Black Americans, is powerful testimony to the neglect, hatred, disregard - take your pick - for certain segments of our population. The relentless assault against Social Security and the lies they tell about it, the hostile propaganda they promote, are vile.
I always say that they would promote the Ice Floe Final Solution for Elders if they hadn't so arduously denied climate change and thus fueled (no pun) the disappearance of Earth's ice and its ice floes.
America's elders had the temerity to work, save, and enjoy even slightly improved health and longevity and the life-long contributions to Social Security. Republican administrations were successful at moving elders' savings and pensions over to Republican Wall Street paramours several decades ago, requiring that elders become individual investors. That has never been enough to satisfy that greedy, craven beast though, not until all the money is in the hands of Wall Street managers. Elders are increasingly painted as selfish leeches, when, in fact, it is the do-nothing but steal from tax-payers their - true use of the word - entitlements who are the selfish leeches, i.e. the "electeds" who are not public servants but are servants to the sources of wealth.
The truth is they don't care about people, especially, the non-wealthy. They just as soon see them fall off the face of this planet.
After they clean the house and cut the grass of course.
...and more money to donate to further corrupt the government. Trump's army of idiots thinks these people earn what they take in.
The malignant narcissist I dealt with that ran a pyramid scheme strongly believed he deserved every penny of what he stole. It was a mantra. "These people owe me. I deserve it."
That is what the toothless, bib overall redneck, said as he stood on the steps of his single wide, with trash littered yard, when he responded to documentartian Alexandra Pelosoi, when she asked "Why do you opposed to food stamps?" He responde, because them "lazy niques don't deserve them". She replied, but you get food stamps, his response was "That's OK because I earned them" (how selling bottles and cans for recycling?
I certainly donтАЩt know anyone on SSI who gets $60K per year. In my generous state (MN), the average SSI payment is less that $600/month. Annual comparisons of rent for one-bedroom apartments vs SSI show that there is not one county in the US where a person whose sole income is SSI can find an affordable apartment. What is this jerk talking about???
Anyone who pays the maximum allowable tax rate for SSI, I think its taxes on $400,000? Can then get the max SSI benefit. Its not something you or will ever see. The main problem is SSI itself uses about $55 Billion a year. The GOP would love to get rid of all $55 billion and send that money in the form of tax breaks to the already filthy rich.
Its who the government doesnt take the money from that is a problem. We are getting taxed between 26% and 38%. Billionaires are taxed at an average effective tax rate of 8%. Through manipulation of the laws corporations and billionaires have made things this way. Only the government can ever claw that back. Even if it pissed it all away. Less money in the hands of the gilded few is better means more influence for we the 300 million non gilded age voters.
Yeap quote your funny facts. Warren buffet pays a effective tax of 0.26% That seems pretty close to 26%. You can play your rich peoples harp all day long. I am done talking to you.
Nothing to defend. Your tactics are typical of your ilk, you sort and sift to find that which confirms your bias.
You do know that you are a tool, of your betters?
Do you get an orgasm every time you type "leftie"
What these stats mean however is a matter of judgement and additional facts.
B.S. Lonny. The wealthy do not pay 26%, most do not pay taxes at all, Bezo's doesn't, Musk doesn't. They have enough money to take advantage of exemptions, deductions, and tax credits, to not pay a thing. They deduct their airplanes and cars as a business expense, either amortized or deducted lump sum, when deducted lump sum, they then go out and buy another, and cliam that as an expense.
A Yacht and it's maintance are business expenses, they use them at least once for a business meeting.
Trump paid no taxes for the last five years, save one in which he paid $750
You have been fed a bunch of poison, and gladly swallowed it, because of confirmation bias.
He is rich on our government tax dollars. Even his children are rich for generations...yet ours aren't. 90% tax rate is need for him.
Do you know what percent of income or wealth the top 1% have ?
I mean, if 1% owned 80% of everything then 26% would seem a very low amount they are paying. So you have to know something about those numbers.
Lenny you are a beneficiary of socialism. From the roads you drive on, to the air corridors you fly through, from your education, to the education of your health providers, to the funding of drugs by the government, from the water you drink, to the electricity you use.
How do you think billionaires became billionaires, they have done it with your taxes.
So why do you defend the 10%, do you think you believe that one day you will be one too.
Or is it your hatred and resentment of people of color, and those "less worthy than you"
You have done a very good job of exposing your self as a sociopath Lenny.
Hard to proper in the middle of no where. Jobs aren't there.
It's a hacker. I'm trying right now to get rid of it.
I checked ReichтАЩs LinkedIn page where he also posts the same newsletter which sends the reader to Substack. TodayтАЩs newsletter hasnтАЩt posted on LinkedIn yet. Hopefully it doesnтАЩt until this gets fixed. Robert gets a lot more negative comments over on LinkedIn since the subscriber base is more business oriented and more conservative.
The REAL Robert Reich!
Sorry, folks, it appears I've been hacked. (I'm working with substack at the moment to eliminate the hacker. It's really me only when there's a purple check mark after my name.)
Hack, schmack! Wait till AI takes over. Then we're all in trouble.
If it was REALLY Robert Reich, his comment would have "Author" by his name!
I feel like youтАЩve been hacked.
You've been hacked.
Ignore that Reich guy. I'll sell you the George Washington Bridge for 10 million dollars and you can keep the tolls collected forever!
This sure sounds like a scam! Robert
That should give you warm fuzzy feelings and cause you to rejoice when elderly and disabled people lose their homes and end up homeless, living on the streets till they conveniently die from hunger and cold weather. Think of all the real estate you can gobble up.
Steve Mnuchin, Trump's Secretary of the Treasury, made billions off (some say he invented) the fake-mortgage-asset schemes that almost caused a depression, was called the "foreclosure king." Trump loved him, called him a financial genius.
If it is fake, how can it run out?
ЁЯдгЁЯдгЁЯдгЁЯдг
And what will you do when it runs out? Depend on the pension your employer set aside, don't bank on it. ENRON employees had a nice retirement program, as did Sears and other corporations, until they went bankrupt and/or bought up by another corporation.
Maybe you hire someone to steal your money, or invest it yourself, lots of luck when the next Jerome Powell/DJT depression hits.
You had best be an old fart like me, because if you are younger, the chances of you retiring or living to retiring are pretty damn bad, and those billionaire em effers that you love so much, will not escape the speeding train roaring down the tracks, and neither will you.
Folk like you are like the mother stuck on RR tracks, dialing a cell phone for help, telling the kids in the back seat, that not to worry, they will hear the train coming in time.
WOW тАФ Merry Christmas to you ЁЯМ▓ЁЯМ▓