The inevitable end result of our last 56 years

[W. Niederhut]

Speaking of Trump, I have a question for legal experts.

In the NY AG's civil tax fraud case, Trump is currently being fined $10,000 per day until he produces the subpoenaed documents.

Question.  If Trump ate and/or flushed the documents down his golden toilet, is he up sh*t creek without a paddle on a permanent $10,000 per day canoe trip?  🤥

In other words, what happens if he can't produce the documents?

 

 

[Benjamin Cole]

It is interesting that the Donk Party, owned by the billionaire class and multinationals, forever and aggressively wants ID politics to be the narrative, and not class politics. 

Indeed, a favorite meme of Donks is "stupid rednecks." 

Think how offensive that last meme is. A guy working outdoors in the sun---ergo, not a professional working behind a desk---is worthy of condescension, if not contempt. 

The Donks lionized the latest addition to the Supreme Court on her ID...but aside from AOC and Sanders, are far, far less interested in unionization drives at Starbucks and Amazon. I credit AOC and Sanders for at least making a few appearances at Amazon (I am not sure about Starbucks). Sanders may be the lone honest man in the Donk conclave. 

The Donks have taken to calling everyone a racist misogynist homophobe, and demanding government censorship of those they disagree with. 

The Donks should be asking themselves why they are unpopular with their base. 

BTW, the most ardent immigrationists in US history were...the slavers. 

And why did twitter ban conversations about the Wuhan lab leak? 

Edited May 5, 2022 by Benjamin Cole

[Ron Bulman]

After now near 59 years this is what it's led to.  My personal, state related pet peeve.  The realistic possibility of taxing people on fixed incomes out of their homes.  A 41% increase in assessed value in one year in my case.

What the Bleep Is Going On With Texas Property Taxes? – Texas Monthly 

[Benjamin Cole]

Biden warns LGBTQ+ children could be next target of Republican ‘Maga crowd’--Guardian

 

[Benjamin Cole]

9 hours ago, Ron Bulman said:

After now near 59 years this is what it's led to.  My personal, state related pet peeve.  The realistic possibility of taxing people on fixed incomes out of their homes.  A 41% increase in assessed value in one year in my case.

What the Bleep Is Going On With Texas Property Taxes? – Texas Monthly 

You must live in Austin. 

[Steve Thomas]

As far as I know, the right to freely travel between States is not guaranteed in the Constitution.

According to Alito, because that right is not in the Constitution, it can be taken away.

If I live in Colorado and want to travel to Wyoming, can the Wyoming State Police stop me at the border and tell me I can't?

The Commerce Clause guarantees the free flow of goods, but what about private individuals?

Steve Thomas

[Douglas Caddy]

13 hours ago, Ron Bulman said:

After now near 59 years this is what it's led to.  My personal, state related pet peeve.  The realistic possibility of taxing people on fixed incomes out of their homes.  A 41% increase in assessed value in one year in my case.

What the Bleep Is Going On With Texas Property Taxes? – Texas Monthly 

I voted to approve these in the recent Democratic Party primary. They will be on the May 7 runoff  ballot.

 

Texas 2022 ballot measures - Ballotpedia

 

Edited May 5, 2022 by Douglas Caddy

[Paul Brancato]

In general I think ‘they’, no matter what state you live in, are coming to get your money one way or another. So are all the wonderful corporations who pass on their increased costs to the consumer.

[Ron Bulman]

4 hours ago, Paul Brancato said:

In general I think ‘they’, no matter what state you live in, are coming to get your money one way or another. So are all the wonderful corporations who pass on their increased costs to the consumer.

Man, you've got that right Paul.  My taxes go up another $1100 they will take 1/6 of my disposable income to pay without dipping into savings/retirement accounts.  Combined with record electric bills in January/February $450/350 it gets me down.  It's all about the billionaires and millionaires wanting more, more, more. 

[Benjamin Cole]

12 hours ago, Steve Thomas said:

As far as I know, the right to freely travel between States is not guaranteed in the Constitution.

According to Alito, because that right is not in the Constitution, it can be taken away.

If I live in Colorado and want to travel to Wyoming, can the Wyoming State Police stop me at the border and tell me I can't?

The Commerce Clause guarantees the free flow of goods, but what about private individuals?

Steve Thomas

In fact, during the early C19 days, traffic was halted between some states. 

[Benjamin Cole]

Karine Jean-Pierre, a Black lesbian and longtime LGBTQ+ activist, is going to be the new (Biden) White House press secretary.--The Advocate

 

[Guest]

5 hours ago, Paul Brancato said:

In general I think ‘they’, no matter what state you live in, are coming to get your money one way or another. So are all the wonderful corporations who pass on their increased costs to the consumer.

At what stage do Democrats and Republican's recognise that taxing the populous to almost the very point of revolt is a sub-optimal solution? The same thing is happening in Europe. It is enabled because the public are apathetic and unwilling to protest it. The most that happens is a muffled complaint about uncle Sam taking a bite out of your ass in a saloon. 

"Sir, I am, a self employed, higher-rate tax payer. 
If I charge a client £100, about £16 immediately goes in VAT, another £33 goes income tax, plus another £9 in National Insurance. This leaves me with £42. If I spend that on fuel to drive to work, about £14.50 goes toward fuel tax, and another £7 toward VAT. So, of the original £100, the government gets £79 or so. 
And suppose, instead of buying fuel, I spend money on whisky to drown my sorrows. As tax on spirits is 70%, the government share would go up to £88. The shop who sold the bottle to me would also be paying tax on its profits, as would the distillery. 
I almost forgot, the client who paid me the £100 would have done so out of their post tax income.
If our chancellor wants us to work a bit harder, one incentive would be to leave us with a slightly bigger share of the proceeds of our labour. 
Robert Sawyer, Surrey."

Tax payers money is being passed ever increasingly into the hands of private corporations and misspent, and your politicians will do it as much as they can, because it isn't about serving you or I. Does anyone know how much tax payers money was passed to pharma during the pandemic? How much was passed to oil companies and munitions manufacturers during the war on terror? How much is being passed to such companies during this Ukraine/Russia conflict? I saw Shell Oil announced yesterday that they had tripled their profits between the end of quarter 1 in 2021 and quarter 1 in 2022. A friend working for an oil company in Scotland said to me that the director via web call had said to all employees that what we need is a good war (to increase profits). 

How do you stop this? You protest it. However, some of you seem to be against protests or naive to the importance of such an act. Does it state in your constitution that you may be taxed to this level? Wasn't it a tea tax that made you seek revolution? 

PS
Paul, this post certainly isn't at you. Isn't the writing on the wall? 

I'll reiterate the line from the Brain De Palma film; "Scarface" which I mentioned the other week.Tony Montana (Pacino) has just arrived from Cuba, seeking refuge and he describes like in Cuba under Castro. He says; you work 10 hours per day and earn nothing, they tell you what to do, what to think, what to feel, do you wanna be like a sheep? 

2mins 44 secs

 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Ron Bulman said:

Man, you've got that right Paul.  My taxes go up another $1100 they will take 1/6 of my disposable income to pay without dipping into savings/retirement accounts.  Combined with record electric bills in January/February $450/350 it gets me down.  It's all about the billionaires and millionaires wanting more, more, more. 

Also, I'd look at inflation as a tax, too. We all need to earn around 15% more, just to stand still. This inflation isn't some accidental or chance happening, just like the fuel costs rises, they are the result of politicians making decisions supposedly in the best interests of the voters that they serve. You're right, it's the oligarchs pulling the strings and a political class betraying the people they are elected to serve. Yet, we're all more outraged about anything other than this. 

[Benjamin Cole]

Liberal group calls for protests at conservative Supreme Court justices' homes

Should such groups be banned from twitter and elsewhere for promoting potential violence? 

Can the justices "feel safe"? 

I understand the SC is erecting barriers around the courthouse.

The Donks don't seem to care about wages anymore, but any divisive social issue means bonkers headlines and "No justice, no peace." 

Is the threat of "no peace" a threat of violence? Why or why not?

 

 

[Ron Bulman]

17 hours ago, Benjamin Cole said:

You must live in Austin. 

No, I live about 75 miles southwest of Fort Worth outside the largest town in the county with a population of 20,000 (30,000 including the college in the spring and fall), 40,000 for the whole county.  Inflated property values are a statewide problem.  My daughter thinks it portends another housing bubble crash.  The only way she might be able to afford purchasing a home.