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Huckleberry

Certifiably Surly
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Posts posted by Huckleberry

  1. Some subsidization in certain industries is understandable for some of the reasons you list.

    This is where I point out that I made a huge mistake in that post by typing subsidies when I meant bailouts or what the admin is trying to call emergency aid. Brain got sidetracked by having recently read about the various subsidies that agriculture gets. That obviously makes a big difference in the post's specific meaning but the overall intent remains the same. It's good that the feedback has been to rescind the tariffs rather than increase the bailouts. Essentially that going back to the previous situation is better than continuing to jack up tariffs with accompanying handouts to the farmers.

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  2. So what's the napkin math on total taxable income of American households over 250K?

    Top marginal rate went from 70% down to 28% up to 39.6%  and now it's back down to 37%. Obviously moving around. At one time it was 92% IIRC.

    Did the United States economy grind to a halt when it was higher than 40%? Were businesses not being formed, not innovating, or not producing? I hear the horror stories of how a higher tax rate will totally stop all innovation and hard work in the American economy. That doesn't seem very persuasive given historical top marginal tax rates. In 1960 with a top bracket rate of 91% (and it had been that high or higher for over a decade, of course) the United States GDP was 40% of global GDP. 

    Capture.jpg

    On the other hand the drop from 70% to 28% appears to have created a temporary uptick in strength of the American economy. But then there was another uptick after Clinton oversaw an increase in the top rate from 31% to 39.6%. Obviously there's a lot more at play over the years, but I'm looking for someone to explain why 40% in the top rate has to be a hard ceiling for the economy to remain strong.

    And this doesn't even get into the fact that there's no reason there can't be more brackets. There have been as many as thirty brackets in the past if I'm not mistaken. Just because the tax rate on billionaires goes up to a certain level doesn't mean it has to go up the same amount on the small business owners making $600,001 as a family.

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  3. Just so we're all on the same page, what are we talking about with low six figures? That's a big range if we're not specific. $100,000 gross income? $500,000 gross income? Six figures goes from 100,000 to 999,999 of course so 500,000 is below the midway point.

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  4. 1 minute ago, HOOK'EMHOOAH said:

    Evidence should what guides what is believed or not believed.

    And that's what is happening. You are attempting to require beyond a reasonable doubt levels of evidence when that's not how the court of public opinion works. We are somewhere past preponderance of the evidence and shy of ironclad smoking gun levels of proof. Preponderance of the evidence is a perfectly valid basis for forming an opinion.

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  5. To be honest I'm somewhat heartened by the fact that the talking points from farm country have been that they'd rather have the tariffs gone than get the subsidies. That's the right answer and I'm glad that's the pushback they're providing rather than just being bought off by the handouts and staying quiet.

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  6. 1 minute ago, HOOK'EMHOOAH said:

    I get what you're saying. So I will add that one without the other discredits either alone.

     

    I don't see how. The one they're polling is the one that matters regarding how people will vote in the upcoming election. That's what political pundits, candidates, elected officials, and people consuming political media care about right now.

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  7. Yes, it truly is a mystery why posters on surlyhorns aren't able to produce mountains of evidence here in the middle of a Special Counsel investigation. Quite the riddle.

    Why can't you fools give me more evidence than has been publicly released by the investigation?!?!?!? You've been right about everything that has eventually come out over the past year but until I see the smoking gun that hasn't been publicly released I will believe nothing!!! I am objective!!!

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  8. 16 minutes ago, FondrenRoad said:

    Memorial day is for remembrance of fallen servicemembers. It is not about all or living servicemembers. Nobody is suggesting that police officers or firefighters be honored on veterans day. But let's not pretend that it isnt also a huge sacrifice to run into a burning building to get your grandma out. 

    However, I actually think we should make 911 a national holiday and honor fallen first responders then. 

    This is simply incorrect as hpslugga pointed out. Memorial Day is a day of remembrance for fallen military service members.

    And I wouldn't necessarily have an issue with a separate day for first responders, it's a far better idea than including them in Memorial Day.

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  9. 7 minutes ago, HOOK'EMHOOAH said:

    I really wish people would learn how to phrase questions around things like evidence instead of just what they think. The way this question is worded, it leaves open the question of this just being a popularity contest for the idea. Were the question instead "do you find the evidence convincing that Russia interfered in the 2016 election?" The results would be far more robust and able to accepted as a true explanation of where people stand.

    That's not the point of the poll. The point is getting public opinion on what people believe is the likely truth. It is not to ask them if they'd convict if they were on a jury in a criminal trial.

    I think it's likely that Donald Trump has sexually assaulted a woman in his life. If I were asked if I think Donald Trump has sexually assaulted a woman in his life the answer would be yes. If I were asked if I've seen convincing enough evidence to convict Donald Trump of sexual assault I would say no. Those are two different questions.

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  10. 7 hours ago, LongestHorn said:

    Law enforcement has police day, police week, and a peace officer day.  

    Memorial Day is for soldiers.  It's high time we remind LEO they are not soldiers.  And fuck them for thinking they are.

    This is the correct answer.

    Conflating police officers with soldiers is exactly how we've ended up with militarized police forces treating citizens like the enemy. Police officers and firefighters are not soldiers. They are not the military. And they should not be acknowledged as such on a day of remembrance intended for military personnel.

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  11. Wouldn't that mean that you have two R's on the ballot, meaning they'll split the Republican vote and the Democrat would most likely win?

    From what I gather they should actually both be listed as -R on the ballot but they are changing the rules so that one is going to be -U on the ballot so less of the vote is split.  

     

     

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  12. I'm by no means a campaign expert, but at this point the Republicans running in 2018 elections in Texas are making themselves easy targets for a coordinated advertising campaign by Democrats calling them all cowards. Avoiding debates, not defending wives and fathers against slanderous attacks, etc.

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  13. 19 hours ago, LongestHorn said:

    Just caught the Anderson Cooper interview of Tia and it was brutal.  They were told the boat could take 18-20 foot waves and their PFD was above them but they wouldn't need them.  First big wave broke and most of it went out the back.  Next wave swamped them and as she stood up, she was floating up against the darkening glass in the dark searching with her hands for any opening as the water became colder and colder as the sank.  She felt someone push her leg and she was floating up was the water began to warm.  When she broke the surface, Showboat was tossing PFDs from the dock.  Next thing she remembers is being pulled out of the water and looking for and seeing none of her people.  

    She said when they found her husband, he had all three of their children with him.  

    Absolutely heartbreaking. Damn.

  14. The people who should feel even worse based on that are Republicans. They could have won the election with any candidate and we could have any Republican POTUS right now and they threw in with Donald Trump.

    Well I suppose feeling bad presumes there are Republicans with a spine and guiding principles beyond GET MINE, so scratch that.

  15. 5 minutes ago, BrickHorn said:

    Wait a minute.  75% of American voters believe Russian meddling is a problem?  That can’t be!  I was assured just yesterday on this very board that pollsters could not even assign a number to such a small percentage of the population.  But unless I’m mistaken, 75 is a number.  

    I call shenanigans!

    That was the great and brilliant GRHorn.

    On 7/22/2018 at 9:34 PM, GRHorn said:

    Hey guys, I was out on vacation. Did I miss anything?  

    Everybody here still in a tizzy about Russia?   I guess we’re the exception here.

    https://libertyblitzkrieg.com/2018/07/19/lunatic-politics-part-2-its-becoming-impossible-to-have-a-conversation/

    “When Gallup recently asked Americans what the most important (non-economic) problem facing the country today is, the amount of people saying Russia was so low they couldn’t even attribute a number to it.

    Think about that. We’re being divided into two camps of increasingly insane and angry people because of hysteria surrounding an issue nobody even cares about. As usual, we can thank mass media for turning this topic into its singular obsession as well as promoting an environment of cultural insanity and stupidity.”

  16. 7 minutes ago, Austin Orange said:

    Good point. We already have a huge US Navy base in SF Bay and NY Harbor so the ships don’t have to go anywhere.  

    And, if the troops get blow jobs, hen the other arguments about wasting their time, all the money the Govt spends on fleet week, and the rehearsals, dog and pony shows, etc... are justified here.

     

    6 minutes ago, Austin Orange said:

    Good point! Very few troops in the Nation Capital region. 

     

    2 minutes ago, Austin Orange said:

    So, fleet week is something other than a dog and pony?  A good investment of time and tax money?

    hXQ4NFZ.png

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  17. 4 minutes ago, sachick said:

    Wait, this military parade is really happening? It's a real thing? People are letting him do this?

    Well he has to ask Congress to appropriate money for it, so there's a chance that the Republican controlled chambers will be able to stand up to him and deny the request and then intelligently explain to their constituents that they don't hate the troops and are in favor of actually helping them with things like dental benefits instead of a dog and pony show.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

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  18. So fucking true. Welfare is what government gives the other guys.

    What I deserve as an American is what the government gives me.

    I know I'm turning into Brisketexan by beating the same drum over and over but it's the selfishness of the American voters and the complete unwillingness to bear any sacrifice whatsoever that is destroying the country. The Greatest Generation was fantastic and we owe them everything, but they raised the most selfish group ever and then it has snowballed from there.

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  19. Americans are lazy because our lives are too easy. If the opposition calms down they will get beat at the ballot box. It's just a further degeneration of our government but it's true. You have to get your supporters frothing at the mouth and at least partially insane if you want to win an election.

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