Quote:
Originally Posted by pokerodox
1. Lower taxes is just good. Can't even be any disagreement on that. I also believe it creates jobs for everyone including the poor. People tell me Kansas or Nebraska ran an experiment and it came out the other way. lol sample size.
Lower entitlements because whatever you pay people to do, they do more. Pay them to not have a job and they will not have a job, for example. Now, this has to be taken in moderation. I don't want to eliminate all entitlement. Just have less. Look at the flip side of this coin. Are liberals saying there should be infinite taxes and entitlements? I don't think so. Does anyone want 90% taxation and $100,000 per year entitlement to everyone making less than $100,000 per year. No. So it's really just a question of which direction you want to move the scale right now.
Of course there can be disagreement that lower taxes is good. Also, it seems likely that Trump is so incompetent that tax reform will never get done.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pokerodox
3. No. But I think you're asking how I would compare him to a dem candidate. The question for me is to line up their views/goals on all issues and pick the one you like best or least dislike. That was an easy decision for me.
Not really; I'm more asking about your support for him now. I'm not trying to vilify you for your choice on election day; that serves no purpose. I'm interested in the now. And I think that it is now extremely obvious that Trump is extremely incompetent and stupid. I would expect this concern to override any alignment you may have with him on policy issues.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pokerodox
4&5. I think Trump's rollout of the travel ban(s) were horribly incompetent. Can't believe ICE didn't even know how to enforce it and people thought green card holders were impacted. Horrible. The tax rollout seemed lame too. One page is a tax plan? Re healthcare, at first the MM called incompetence cuz they couldn't get it done. But then they did get it done in the House. So I see that as a case of the MM trying to say he's incompetent when he wasn't. Could even be the case on taxes.
So, yes, I see lots of incompetence.
Okay, yes, we agree. Doesn't this concern you?
Quote:
Originally Posted by pokerodox
But "hiring" Pence was great.
What do you like about Pence? Are you religious?
Quote:
Originally Posted by pokerodox
Also very happy with most prominent Secretaries.
Could you expand on which ones you are happy (and not happy) with, and why?
Quote:
Originally Posted by pokerodox
Gorsuch. Huge win. Huge.
Why? I mean, I think this answer is a little more self-explanatory and you are just going to say "because he's a conservative" in which case, fine, I guess, from the standpoint of the election. But again, I'm much more interested in whether and why you support Trump now, not whether you think you made the right choice at election time.
Also, do you endorse the GOPs tactics re: Merrick Garland?
Quote:
Originally Posted by pokerodox
Is he dangerous? No. That's silly. I'm actually happy with his foreign policy moves so far.
But you admitted that you "see lots of incompetence." Don't you think that makes him dangerous? He has an incredibly important job. Note, I do not mean this solely in the realm of foreign policy although that is certainly a focus.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bahbahmickey
I think a lot of conservatives would be more ok with paying for the health care of the poor if the healthcare bill wasn't a transfer of wealth and instead we just told the rich up front we were going to take more of their money via higher taxes to pay for the poors' health care.
What in the **** do you think putting a tax increase in a healthcare bill does if not tell the rich we are going to take more of their money via higher taxes to pay for the poors' health care? Like, what would it look like if it weren't a "transfer of wealth" in your eyes?
Quote:
Originally Posted by bahbahmickey
How do you figure the poor and middle class pay a higher % of their income than the rich? Are you including charitable donations and tax shelters where they are playing a -EV game just to avoid taxes?
I don't actually know the relative tax rates of the "poor" and the "rich" and it's going to depend a lot on how you categorize the two but capital gains tax rates are obviously what is being referred to here.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bahbahmickey
Giving poor people more money doesn't make them better off at a certain point. It is up to discussion where this point is.
Uh, what? Having more money would make them not poor, and then they would be better off because they are not poor. Like, what are you talking about?
Quote:
Originally Posted by wil318466
Let's say you think society is racist towards poor minorities. How do you explain the success of dirt poor Chinese? (Yes. Many Chinese are incredibly poor).
Dirt poor Chinese are not successful; they are dirt poor.
Quote:
Originally Posted by wil318466
I have the exact opposite view. I think America is amazingly not racist. In my experience no one really cares what you are. I've worked at quite a few companies and met a lot of people in my life. I've actually come across some true racists, but they were never in a work environment and they very much left me alone, after they let me know they disliked my racial group. It was harmless, and very rare.
I'm not going to express an opinion about whether your conclusion here is right or wrong but you realize your personal anecdote is not very strong evidence right?