President Trump

Discussion in 'Politics, Religion and Philosophy -(FORUM CLOSED)-' started by TIME, Jan 20, 2017.

  1. BangBoomPow

    BangBoomPow - Lakers Starter -

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    Trump called it again...



    They were blaming Trump for not sending any supplies or aid but the entire time, that corrupt PR government was hiding it... Sad situation.
     
  2. Bryant

    Bryant - Lakers 6th Man -

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    Ah yes, I remember that.



    Gotta love AOC, she thinks NY is giving them $3 billion dollars, but it was a future tax credit on the tax Amazon was going to pay over 10 years (which would've been about $30 billion in taxes).

    :Laugh:
     
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  3. sirronstuff

    sirronstuff - Lakers Legend -

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    if that's true, and the leaders opposing things are so clueless, that's pretty disturbing. But NY has always had organized crime involved wherever there is big money involved. If other pockets were going to lose money, that may have played just as big of a role depending on who they were.
     
  4. Sentient Meat

    Sentient Meat - Rookie -

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    If you were drawing up a blueprint for a world, what would be better?

    One where one person owned all retail businesses and they had 100,000 employees working for minimum wage for that one person...

    OR, one where 100,000 small businesses shared or owned a piece of the retail sector.

    A world where medical executives and insurance executives made record profits marking up products like insulin from a wholesale cost of 3 dollars to 750 dollars, or one designed to help all people instead of engineering a social Darwinist version of the Hunger Games where only the wealthy get the best medical service.

    Those of you who don't give a f*ck about your fellow humans and think we should live like animals where only the strong survive... carry on, because at least you aren't hypocrites who actually think you make the world a better place. But those who think they are helping the world improve need to wake up and stop drinking the corporate Kool aid.

    AOC might not be perfect... as all of us, I'm sure she has her own agendas and ambitions... but at least she's trying to make the world more tolerable instead of having a strip mine the world for everything we can get now because who gives a f*ck about future generations as long as I make money mentality.

    The only thing I agree about is that raising minimum wage won't do anything because all the rich CEOs will simply pass the costs on to the consumers making things more expensive for those on fixed incomes.

    We rank 35th in life expectancy...

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_expectancy

    We rank 38th in math and 24th in science in spite of our wealth

    https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/02/15/u-s-students-internationally-math-science/

    This means we care more about making money for the military than developing minds who will make the next generation of weapons or the next generation of medicine. What do you think will happen if we consistently rank 24th or 38th for decades? Do you think we will continue to be the dominant nation? Eventually we will be surpassed if we fall behind in those categories.

    AOC and Bernie want to spend more money on healthcare and education instead of endless war.

    How do you get people to vote against this seemingly logical plan?

    Spend billions buying media companies and telling stupid people it's better for them to vote against their own interests by creating a narrative that those who advocate for them are crazy socialists... or Communists... or greedy Jews... whatever the scapegoat flavor of the decade might be.

    Worked for Hitler, worked for McCarthy... and it will probably work for corporate Democrats or Republicans.

    Those of you who understand this and simply don't care and rather make money... carry on being selfish... at least you aren't full of sh*t

    Those of you who think you are making the world a better place... wake the f*ck up.
     
    Last edited: Jan 22, 2020
  5. sirronstuff

    sirronstuff - Lakers Legend -

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    Buying patterns are changing whether we want it too or not.its technology. You can choose to have those new jobs in your back yard, or you can watch your existing jobs slowly go away because change is coming regardless.

    people will adjust and learn new skills besides low skill jobs of handling material inefficiently.

    Thanks for sharing your perspective, but I don’t agree the us vs them mentality in this example. The specialization of society is an evolving process outside of politics.

    if you ever find yourself thinking Americans have life bad, all you have to do is travel abroad to find it’s not true. Even our poor are blessed, but as a very materialistic society, we have a bad habit of comparing our circumstances in life to whatever we consider the ideal we see on TV or online.

    anyone living in this country has an opportunity to change their circumstances. Anyone who hopes for socialism has never researched the devastating effects it has on a society.
     
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  6. Sentient Meat

    Sentient Meat - Rookie -

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    Didn't say our life was bad. Said the distribution of wealth was unequal and the gap was growing. CEOs make way more money than they did fifty years ago while the worker salary has remained stagnant.

    Socialism can be devastating but it can also work... look at the Scandinavian countries which consistently rate among the highest in terms of quality of life. You are referring to corrupt versions which would fail under any label.

    Retail is changing due to the tech industry and laws are unable to keep up with the trends in technology.

    Take Amazon for example who didn't pay sales tax for years until they drove most of their competition out of business.

    I have no problem with upgrading technology... I have problem with an antiquated legal system that will never catch up with modern times.

    Income inequality is a reality, Ron. As I said, if you don't care then carry on.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_inequality_in_the_United_States
     
  7. sirronstuff

    sirronstuff - Lakers Legend -

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    Well this is a Trump thread, so I guess he's doing good for the current conditions if the overall economy is doing well and unemployment is down across the board.

    If this is a legal situation, it always catches up. Governments don't pass up the opportunity to get their money. If Amazon was smart enough to pioneer an industry and worked with an existing loophole, then they did no wrong. They don't make the laws. Like any business, they must find a way to succeed with the existing set of laws in place.

    I certainly don't blame them for their success and demand they give their earnings for being better at what they do than anyone else away because someone isn't as good at what they do. I don't understand that thinking.

    Corporations are required at the end of the year to disburse all earnings or face double taxation. They MUST distribute the earnings, or they pay tax on the money sitting in their account, and then again when it's actually paid out. It's a system that has crappy side effects.

    • There is no money for a rainy day. When the economy tanks after the first of the year, HUGE companies can be left with no financial cushion. Literally massive companies can be left sucking wind, and the US steps in to bail out some of these because failure is also a disaster, but it's also a byproduct of our system. I'm not a fan of bailouts by the way, but I can see how it happens.
    • Since the money must be disbursed, what do you do with it? There are tax laws in place that drive growth behavior the government wants, so some do those things. Some do internal improvements. Some take advantage of loopholes, incentives, and behavior the government wants like Amazon did.
    • States have given incentives to large corporations for eons to help create jobs. Having a Walmart distribution center in your state means tons of jobs. Walmart requires their major partners to have a distribution center within a particular mileage range from them in order to do business. It literally can change an economy overnight, cause construction, and a mini boom in the market. After you take advantage of incentives the government wants, do internal improvements, then what?
    • Decisions made at the top of organizations make or break companies. You see time after time when a great CEO takes over that they can reverse the fortunes of a company. Apple anyone? With the money left over, there are basically two choices. Award the best leaders driving the profits, or disburse among your entire employee base.
    • Kudos to those who choose disbursement, but do you know the downside of that? Employees now expect it every year and will be very unhappy when they don't get it. Ever been in a company that had nice Christmas bonuses and then had a down year. it's ugly. Employees will plan their lives and budgets around getting that big bonus like back in 20**, and when it doesn't come, now they are up a creek because of the decisions they made.
      • Corporations have discovered it's a very poor method of distribution, so they award the leaders most responsible for the decisions that created the favorable outcome. They have a lot to risk, and a lot to gain. They work 100 hour weeks, and the employees don't. They have massive education and experience, and the employees don't. They have paid a price the employee hasn't. Employees don't lose sleep at night over the big picture. They put in their 8 hours and go home and don't give a crap for the most part. They like to complain about local conditions they would improve if they were in charge though, and they like to be heard.
      • They avoid the fallout of "false bonus expectations" from the work force that is never based upon reality. Even then, how do you disburse fairly? Not all employees are equal in ability or impact or responsibility, so even making those calculations opens up a whole can of worms that can be full of favoritism, favors, side deals, seedy behavior, etc.
      • They pay their major C-Level executives and pay shareholders bonuses and payouts in line with profits. it's what works. With record results come record bonuses. Just like the highest paid athletes, they get paid in line with the market rate. We can probably all agree that those are overpriced, but that's the system we live in. If Lebron can make 40 million for a single 1 billion dollar team in a year, what if you change the fortunes of a 500B corporation and have massive profits? You deserve to get paid. Does the minimum wage level skill person deserve a $20k bonus for being in the right place at the right time? That expectation may never be fulfilled again.
    Always good to see different perspectives, so I appreciate you sharing yours. I don't think it's as simple and give to your fellow man or you suck though. Much bigger picture in play in a system in place over hundreds of years. Change takes time, but maybe you are on the forefront of this change and it will gain momentum to happen. Luckily we live in a country where laws can be changed, but I personally hope socialism is never on the table. Our government has shown to be way too inefficient to take on what the private sector can simply do better.
     
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  8. Sentient Meat

    Sentient Meat - Rookie -

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    I have no problem with the CEOs getting paid double or even ten times a regular employee for their knowledge and expertise... but we were talking about magnitudes of hundreds of times greater in some cases.

    If I saw the charts moving up for everyone I'd have no problem with it, but as you can see it's almost all in the upper 1%.

    You can tout the improvement of the macro economy all you want but if only 1 tenth of 1% gains the majority of the benefits then it is meaningless to me.
     
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  9. sirronstuff

    sirronstuff - Lakers Legend -

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    I guess I choose to spend time and energy on what I can impact, and I'm content with what I have and can do. I choose to be generous when I can. If I don't like something, I try to change it. I'm responsible for how valuable I am in the marketplace, and I'm the only one who can change it. I like that vs a government telling me what I'll do and how I'll never be worth more than "x".

    Some have a burden for the masses and their fortune or lot in life, and feels it impacts them deeply. I admire that, but I don't feel the same. The world needs all types. I've spent a couple of months homeless before because of choices I made, and I've experienced great success (My definition). I don't come to the conclusion that because I disagree with you that it means I don't give a f***. I just come to different conclusions with the same data.

    It's why there are different political parties. People disagree on how to get the country to prosper best. As long as we keep the main thing the main thing, we should be ok. Our perspectives are all influenced by our life experiences.
     
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  10. Sentient Meat

    Sentient Meat - Rookie -

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    Most Japanese and Germans are good, decent people... yet this type of attitude is how their corrupt governments were allowed to flourish.

    Most people don't realize the harm their passivity causes until it's too late.

    We are killing people all the time through our wars and embargos yet we don't think about this because our news hides this.

    All powerful nations or empires do this, so I'm not saying we are any different but personally I'd aspire to a better standard.
     
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  11. KareemtheGreat33

    KareemtheGreat33 - Lakers MVP -

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    This happens everywhere when politicians are the ones allowed to distribute aid during disasters, it happens here in my country all the time. I find no better reason to impose the death penalty on people who prey on the misery of others.
     
  12. LTLakerFan

    LTLakerFan - Lakers Legend -

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    Well that ..... or whoever caught a sentencing from you Tuesday this week after Boston massacred us again. :giggle: :clap:

    [​IMG]
     
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  13. KareemtheGreat33

    KareemtheGreat33 - Lakers MVP -

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    We don't have the death penalty here, only extra judicial killing...:ADeyeshift:
     
  14. sirronstuff

    sirronstuff - Lakers Legend -

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    so much less red tape

    kudos?

    Of course the downside is that there will always people that pay the price when they should not have. Wrong place, wrong time, etc.

    Trump would never allow that.

    :Kuzmawhoknew:

    #MAGA

    :Kobe Snickering:
     
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  15. BangBoomPow

    BangBoomPow - Lakers Starter -

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    Income inequality can largely be attributed to the booming tech/financial industry and globalism.

    The days of Americans being able to work a retail, factory, and fast-food job to purchase a home is over. With the massive influx and growing population in large cities, you're seeing a lower and lower demand for many of these jobs while those who work in tech and financial industries see a growing income. Globalism meant instead of paying factory workers a higher rate, they went to China (and now Vietnam, Mexico, Bangladesh) and pay 1/10th without worrying about regulations, taxes, etc., It's no secret that China's poorest are now turning into middle-class with the expansion of globalism. No country has benefitted more than China. The economy has changed in America. We are primarily a service economy and that is why unless you work in booming industries relying on tech and financial industries, the income disparity will continue to grow. I'm sure I am missing other industries but it's the reality of the situation. Construction work such as roofing, mortar, framing, etc., is not as profitable for AMERICAN workers because what you're seeing are illegal immigrants being employed to handle such tasks. I paid $4,500 for a roofing job one year ago. Nice polish owner who sent five Hispanics. None of them spoke English fluently. You could tell they weren't born in America. I can see why the polish owner was so nice: $4,500 for a roofing job that would take 4-5 hours. How much do you think will be going towards paying the five Hispanic workers? They would be lucky to get $100, each. That meant a profit of $3,500 to the owner after expenses. Taxes? Healthcare benefits for his employees? Medicare and SS tax? You can forget about it. This owner will be paid in cash and his tax return will be heavily underreported. More illegal workers/globalism has caused American inequality. CEO's running their company are focused on profits. When the law allows them to hire cheaper, they will do so. It's important to understand the changing economy and how people need to move into growing industries rather than the belief that retail, manufacturing, and fast-food work will lead them to the good ole' American dream. The average CEO salary for the top S&P 500 companies is $14 million with the average amount of employees at 10,000. If you paid the CEO $0 in salary and distributed that $14 million to each employee, every employee will see a $1,400 increase in their salary. That's not going to change your life drastically. It's the wealth that is generated that sees the most inequality and that's due to capital investments. A capital gains tax needs to increase in America. The wealthiest individuals in America are not earning billions every year in salary. No one does. For Christ's sake, Chandler Parsons earns more in salary than 99% of CEO's. The difference is how they invest their money and the lower capital gains tax is just an outdated formula. It should be as high as 40% - not 20%. Have you noticed that no one complains about the income inequality in NBA? No one ever says LeBron earns so much more than Troy Daniels, it's unfair. That is a lesson to everyone: Most CEO's who earn that income are LeBron James. The average worker is Troy Daniels... Scratch that, the average worker is more like an NCAA Division II basketball player. You can't earn LeBron James money when you're not LeBron James. That's just a fact. Yet, Troy Daniels is doing amazing for himself regardless of what LeBron earns. Why? Because the NBA is a growing industry. WNBA is not a growing industry and that is why you see WNBA players earn less than myself despite being far more relevant to the masses than I will ever be.

    I won't go deep into Amazon sales tax. I do agree that the laws were outdated but that law was in effect in 1992 - way before Amazon ever became a giant company. It's not Amazon's fault that they took advantage of the laws. If people are upset about lobbyists taking over the laws of the country, they should look towards their state legislators - those are the ones who allow themselves to be corrupted = CRONY CAPITALISM.

    Lastly, I take issue with your identification of socialism. Denmark's prime minister came out and said that Denmark is not a socialist country. These Nordic countries are market economies with a high emphasis on social welfare. The issue with this is it works for THEIR country because they are homogenous, have a an abundance of natural resources relative to their population (In particular, Norway's oil fund has been used as a investment and the gains are used to fund their social programs), have insanely high taxes (VAT and income tax), there are more people contributing into the system, and they aren't corrupt. Those Nordic countries, in totality, have a fewer population count than the state of California. Nearly 45% of income earners in America do not pay Federal Income taxes. In Denmark, there is a 25% VAT tax and the lowest income earners (100K Danish Krones = $14,500 USD) pay a 22% tax rate. That can mean as high of a tax rate of 47%. So you end up with $8,000. Now, consider the fact that living expenses are far higher in these Nordic countries precisely due to the heavy emphasis on taxation. In many cases, you actually end up earning more money in America.

    Now I know what you will say: "But they have free healthcare, public education, and great benefits."
    Let's take a look at their free healthcare... When you have a massive population that pays federal income taxes and a 25% VAT tax, of course you can afford it. The USA spends more on public education (K-12) than almost every country. When you talk about college, Americans are simply going after degrees that aren't worth the investment. When you're paying $45k per year expecting to earn $100,000 a year with your transgender studies and end up graduating with $200k in debt, don't blame anyone but yourself! Only in America do you find this type of nonsense. Why should I fund education for morons who choose a degree that doesn't provide an economic benefit to anyone? Denmark is actually facing an issue where students are purposely staying in colleges because they earn money for staying in school. We shouldn't be talking about free college. We should be talking about AFFORDABLE college. To that, we can agree. College should be affordable but I don't think in any way it should be the responsibility of taxpayers to pay for a college education of someone who will likely end up with a useless degree and further burden the economy. If you want a transgender degree, pay for it yourself. If you want a computer science degree, I have no issue with my tax dollars going towards that because I know for a fact that the computer science student will pay higher taxes and recirculate that money into another productive individual in society.

    So free healthcare, right? Average doctor earns $180,000 in Danish Crones. Tax rate is as high as 45% in that tax bracket... Add in the 25% VAT tax, you'll probably be walking away with just $60,000 after all is said and done. It's a vastly different system and unless you want to tax doctors up to 65% in America, trying to replicate that same cost formula is ridiculous. But here's a great article on why we pay more!

    https://arcdigital.media/u-s-health-care-reality-check-1-pharmaceutical-innovation-574241fb80ba

    If you don't want to read it, the summarized version is: We subsidize the healthcare costs for every other nation! Have you heard of patents? It's what protects companies and their R&D investment. Patents are legal in the country they are filed. What happens is, European and other countries benefit off this by forcing these pharmaceutical companies to either sell them the drug at the price they want it for or they will simply ignore their patent and create the same drug. This means that while the pharmaceutical recuperates their money in R&D via the United States, they have no choice but to sell these same drugs to other countries for much less! These other countries are piggybacking off our higher costs. I guarantee you that if these other countries all offered the same price as Americans pay, our healthcare costs will drop significantly and we can spend more on treatment and medical procedures. But they won't, why? Because they don't want to pay more, period! Same with NATO. People act like it's such a great thing... Yeah, for the other NATO countries. Think about it: Their military sucks but if you're in NATO, you're working alongside the United States. If something happens, United States to the rescue! And who pays for the military of the United States? US! So we're subsidizing for the military operations of other countries as well. Totally unfair but what can you do when you have silly politicians who have no clue what they are doing? Even funnier is how we are one of very few countries actually paying the required threshold rate for NATO-participating countries.

    https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/03/eac...al-contribution-to-the-military-alliance.html
    Norway, Denmark, Canada... These countries with strong social programs are lauded but they won't pay for military defense? They aren't paying the 2% rate that was agreed upon... Meanwhile, the U.S. is paying a 3.5% rate?

    https://www.nato.int/nato_static_fl2014/assets/pdf/pdf_2019_11/20191129_pr-2019-123-en.pdf

    3.5% rate of GDP, mind you. So consider that nearly 70% of NATO's military funding is... wait for it.. funded by the USA!

    So why are we the stupid country that funds the operations of NATO when these other countries with heavy social programs won't even pay the required 2% threshold? Why don't we just stop NATO funding and just fund our social programs? I'd like that! Canadians like criticizing Americans and their military expense. I'm sure they won't be complaining when America has to come save their butts, right? Who will be the first call Trudeau makes in an attack on Canada? "Hello, Mr. Trump. Please help!"

    Sorry, long post. But it's important you understand how the world works. It's not a singular form of economic policy. Norway works for Norway because they have a vastly smaller population of individuals who are all paying into the system and a large government pension fund via their large oil reserves. Their taxes are higher, their living costs are higher, and they have a VAT tax. Norway is full of white people. I'm sorry but it's how it is. Now, imagine if whites only accounted for 50% of their population with 20% blacks, 20% hispanics, and 10% Asians of all income classes. You're going to see a massive amount of individuals who aren't contributing to the system with cultural and societal tensions increasing due to religion, race, and class construct. In fact, it's already happening: There is a growing fear among Norwegians that their aging population will soon lead to accepting more immigrants and thus, leaving their social programs at risk.

    Norway has a population of 5 million people. USA has a population of 330 million (way more due to illegal immigrants that haven't been identified). Some estimates say we have 360 million people. If you truly think simply replicating Norway's policies and way of life will generate the same results, you are deeply ignorant in how the world works. And that's not an insult, it's just you needing to do more research and I suggest you do so. Bernie is right in some facets but if his entire formula is to replicate what these Scandinavian countries are doing, it tells you just how out of touch he is with the world.
     
  16. Sentient Meat

    Sentient Meat - Rookie -

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    You act like the contribution of immigrants hasn't facilitated the incredible profits of white CEOs who were long able to exploit the cheap labor they provided since the time of Cesar Chavez. Many Republicans treat these people like the plague, but who were the people who employed these people as strawberry pickers, gardeners, laborers, nannies? Hint: the Mexicans didn't hire themselves...

    And now you want to discard them after you exploit them for decades?

    Quit acting like people of color don't contribute... sure there are a few bad seeds but most of that is a function of poverty not race.
    Ever ask yourself why Asian women excel and dominate in college, yet are rarely seen at the head of Fortune 500 companies?

    Before you say they don't have a temperament for leadership positions, which might be the case in individual cases, consider the possibility that much of this is due inherent bigotry in the system that gives an advantage to those who have run the country for generations. This principle applies to all aspects of American life... and I will also agree that it exists in European and Asian countries as well.

    I've never said we can transplant Scandinavian principles onto the United States and have immediate success. Of course our system is more complex...

    But if you consider the size of the European Union... overall they have all managed to make socialized medicine and education work although they've had issues that led to Britain's divide over Brexit... such as supporting and subsidizing Portugal, Greece, Ireland etc

    Bottom line, it's complicated, but we should be at least willing to try.

    The wealthy control the government, the media...

    With the amount they saved on estate taxes and corporate tax breaks... they could give each Congressperson a million dollars in an offshore account and still have billions left over in profit. I'm not saying they are doing that... but the entire lobbying industry... the control of the media companies should more than compensate for buying the government.

    As I said... if you like your money... and you don't just give a f*ck about poor people... carry on... I can't argue with social Darwinism.

    But if you aspire to something more noble... this isn't it.
     
    Last edited: Jan 23, 2020
  17. BangBoomPow

    BangBoomPow - Lakers Starter -

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    I like how you seemingly couldn't find how ironic your statements are...

    "Bernie and AOC wants to spend more money on healthcare and education."

    Yet, you just posted articles stating how poor our healthcare and education system is despite us paying higher than most countries! How stupid is that? You want to put MORE money into THAT?
    https://www.nationalpriorities.org/budget-basics/federal-budget-101/spending/

    We aren't spending as much in the military as you would think...

    Most of our spending is on MANDATORY spending... Look at the cost of it. Look at our federal tax revenue. As a percentage of GDP, our federal tax revenue has been hovering around 16-18% the past five decades. So why are we constantly in a deficit? Because our spending is OUT OF CONTROL in regards to the corrupt healthcare industry. Yet, you want more money? Have you ever been to a hospital that is funded largely in part by Medicaid? It's so corrupt! Medicare? My grandmother has medicare. You know what they did? She was sick but felt better after the second day. They made her stay in the hospital for a week by claiming that they wanted to run more tests and track her progress. Why do you think they did that? Because the hospital wants to make more money! And you want to give these hospitals more money by having MEDICARE-FOR-ALL? Haha, good luck! Soon every hospital will have 1,000,000 people just sitting in hospital beds playing candy crush on their phones. Nice!

    I love how you try to make it seem as if you're some revolutionary figure and that it's either your way or we're all selfish greedy a**holes who only care about money. You're damn right I care about money if I earned it! Everyone has a pair of legs, a brain, and can move their damn hands to get to work. Even me spending time here is a waste of valuable time but I can afford to spend some time here without worrying about my financial situation. The problem is, many people don't understand how to value their time so they choose a crappy career and then blame people. The government won't make you poor or rich... You do that to yourself. If you're relying on the government to save you, you've already lost. If you want to sit on your bed crying about how we spend too much on military instead of coming up with a better idea to mitigate conflict around the world, you're wasting valuable time. All I've read from you is complaining. No solutions! In the real world, you would be fired!

    AOC trying to make the world more tolerable? LOL!
    1) Went from being a bartender to earning a $180,000 salary within one year. What makes her more intelligent than any of us here?
    2) Cost 100,000 new jobs in New York City because she didn't understand how tax credits worked. In her own words, "We could use that $3 billion on our educational programs and to fix the MTA." Newsflash: There is no $3 billion UNLESS Amazon PAYS it!
    3) Complains about Amazon being corrupt but her campaign spent over $9,000 on Amazon!
    https://www.aol.com/article/finance...mpaign-including-dollar300-on-chalk/23675050/
    4) She said there is 500 million Americans in the United States... Census shows 327 million... She can't even take two seconds to find out the population but is an expert on legislative policies?
    5) She claimed the U.S. spent $1.4 trillion on the military... I repeat, she VOTES for the budget and had no clue how much was being appropriated for the military? Did she not even know what she was voting for?

    I guess you support AOC and if you do, well, the only thing we have in common is we are Lakers fans (which I question at times). She is an idiot and anyone who supports her is just as dumb.
     
  18. Sentient Meat

    Sentient Meat - Rookie -

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    People who complain about immigration and welfare cheats as the crux of the problem remind me of someone who has an armed robber in their house (big business) but instead obsesses over the ants and cockroaches.

    I don't like anyone who cheats and exploits our system and our laws should be enforced but it's a scapegoat distracting from the biggest criminals.

    Politician and big business steal trillions from our economy... welfare cheats have been proven to steal a tiny fraction of those amounts.

    It's also ironic to me how people blame blacks and Mexicans for crime and murder... when although they might account for 10,000 murders annually mostly against their own people... it pales in comparison to how many people Americans killed in their endless wars against the third world... Vietnam, the Middle East, Latin America. Hitler killed 6 million people because they weren't the right kind of Germans... Stalin killed millions... Mao killed millions. Yet somehow if you watched or read American media, you'd find blacks or latinos the most dangerous people.

    Why, because we live under the illusion that if you kill people under the name of war, it is noble... but if you kill people because you are poor... you are scum.

    All people are capable of atrocities... and when I see people make a point of mentioning race... it raises a red flag for me.

    With respect to AOC... I get that she doesn't come from a traditional background... but I find that refreshing.

    As the old Bob Dylan line goes... you don't need a weatherman to tell which way the wind is blowing.

    She used Amazon? So what. That's the problem with a monopoly... you could destroy the environment driving around 20 miles to find an obscure product and prove a point. Or she or her staffers could buy from the only reasonable option left from the gamed economy.

    That's why Yang believes in UBI because like climate change is inevitable it soon will be the only option short of letting the obsolete workforce die a slow humiliating death.
     
  19. BangBoomPow

    BangBoomPow - Lakers Starter -

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    1) And who do you think wants to keep these illegal immigrants in the country? You whine about rich CEO's benefitting off the work of illegal immigrants but ignore that Democrats have been trying to gain as many as possible. Hypocrite much? Who employed those people? You act like Republicans are against illegal immigration. Are you confused? Which cities are the ones that prevent ICE from deporting illegal immigrants and which party wants to enforce and toughen up our immigration policies?

    2) Exploit? Illegal immigrants cost more than they contribute. Americans were the ones being exploited. Who is most affected by illegal immigration? The lower income class. Have you even done any research on how illegal immigrants have cost more than they have contributed? A nanny? First off, if you hire an illegal immigrant to be a nanny of your child, you seriously don't care about your child and I will report you to the Child Protection Services. Ahhh, gardeners, laborers, strawberry pickers... you mean jobs that Americans don't want to work because illegal immigrants have driven the rates so low to where companies would rather hire illegals than Americans? Do the math, buddy. Social Security and Medicare tax, employee benefits, pensions, fringe benefits, etc., are all money that would be saved by hiring an illegal over a legal American. You complained about CEO's earning too much money while seemingly defending their methods in doing so. You're confused because you have no idea how this is all connected. You just continue ranting.

    3) I wasn't discriminating at all. In any society, an influx of mass immigration of all races, cultures, religions will create turmoil that affects the social norms and way of life in a country. That's just a fact. It's easier to run a country when all your people have subscribed to a certain way of life. It's another when you have a vastly different demographic of individuals with their own subscription of how life should be.

    4) "It's complicated but at least we should try." Which part aren't we trying? Name them. Free college for all? Okay, tell me how you will fund it. Increase the tax rates to 80%? Capital gains, VAT tax, etc.,? Which taxes are you referring to? You're just typing words. It sounds good on paper but there is no logical projection of how it would work.
     
  20. Sentient Meat

    Sentient Meat - Rookie -

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    What do you think cost our economy more?

    The debatable issue about whether illegals contribute to or siphon more out of our economy?

    Or the non debatable issue about the corporate and estate tax cuts that cost us trillions?

    Again... we are focused on the termites vs. the armed robber in the house.

    I agree that dealing with a large population which is not monolithic culturally is more challenging which is why I gave the answer of the European Union being able to make it work for the most part. I think you know that... but I addressed it in case someone less intelligent would correlate that to a race issue which is how the Trump administration tends to do at times.

    We spent 5 trillion on perpetual war over the 3000 people who were killed on 9/11. That number is still growing.

    I was sad and like many Americans I immediately was moved to donate money to the Red Cross and other charities after that day.

    However... Harvard estimates between 30,000 to 45,000 Americans die annually due to lack of medical insurance... thousands or millions more are bankrupted and die from peripheral stress.

    This means every one to two years the number of Americans who died fighting in Vietnam are eclipsed by the number of Americans who die from a lack of health insurance.

    Since 9/11 600,000 to 750,000 Americans have died from insufficient health coverage... isn't that more a pressing issue than 3000 dead?

    Wouldn't the five trillion be better spent on that rather than perpetual war against these third world nations?

    Plus you don't radicalize thousands of Arabs by constantly killing their relatives and destroying their lands.

    You say I'm stupid if I'd support someone like AOC... but to me someone who can't understand investing 5 trillion into healthcare rather than perpetual war might also be a fool.
     

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