tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post4916162748821732894..comments2023-09-29T05:32:04.308-07:00Comments on StrangePegs: What Johnny Rotten Got WrongAndrew Leonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13964775673414653644noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-29833020926679940532017-04-10T18:53:00.990-07:002017-04-10T18:53:00.990-07:00Rusty: I wasn't thinking about the previous 90...Rusty: I wasn't thinking about the previous 90% tax bracket. I suppose it has given them a way to hold onto obscene amounts of money.Andrew Leonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13964775673414653644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-11704756157418429422017-04-10T17:21:51.240-07:002017-04-10T17:21:51.240-07:00Had Koch bros comment but Briane stole most of my ...Had Koch bros comment but Briane stole most of my thunder. Except to say it is totally worth it to pay for politicians. They would be paying 90% tax rate if it was the 50's. And something like 70% as recently as the 70's. Buying politicians has been the biggest wealth generator of super rich imaginable - well, it isn't a generator of wealth, it's a redistribution, but still. Rusty Carlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09887821877521181811noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-69264909752003938642017-04-10T15:20:10.519-07:002017-04-10T15:20:10.519-07:00Jeanne: Yeah, the fact that he can cheat and lie a...Jeanne: Yeah, the fact that he can cheat and lie and get away with it doesn't make him "bad," it makes him "smart."<br />Or a rich, white guy who can pay his way through the system and get away with things without admitting guilt.Andrew Leonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13964775673414653644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-44155497991546097702017-04-10T15:18:42.106-07:002017-04-10T15:18:42.106-07:00Michael: It's not just as murky as ever; it...Michael: It's not just as murky as ever; it's worse. He's been dumping sewage into the system, much of it Russian, since before his inauguration.Andrew Leonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13964775673414653644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-24765721035973271862017-04-10T15:13:13.822-07:002017-04-10T15:13:13.822-07:00Briane: What it says is something about the "...Briane: What it says is something about the "Protestant Work Ethic." Aside from "believing" that people should work, and not just work but work hard and long hours and get up early to do it, "it" believes that people are rewarded accordingly. So, if you have money, you have been rewarded for the quality of your being and, if you don't, you don't have that same quality of being and therefore don't deserve anything. You have been found wanting. Which is kind of a horrible way to say it, all things considered. Let's put it another way:<br />Poor people don't deserve help. You can tell because they are poor.<br /><br />So I do believe they believe they are making the world a better place... for those who deserve it.<br />And everyone else can go burn.Andrew Leonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13964775673414653644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-80876336445848458562017-04-10T13:07:04.611-07:002017-04-10T13:07:04.611-07:00Anyone who believes that he's anti-establishme...Anyone who believes that he's anti-establishment is a moron. The only thing he does differently than other politicians is be upfront about his evilness, which makes me wonder what the hell is wrong with the world. He's accused of screwing people over in order to make money and straight up abusing the office of the president, but no, it's Hillary Clinton who's evil and should be in jail.J E Oneilhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09780097298061829471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-4700287626541573092017-04-10T08:26:16.124-07:002017-04-10T08:26:16.124-07:00When Trump was a candidate, he claimed that since ...When Trump was a candidate, he claimed that since he understood the corruption of our political system better than anyone, he was the only one who could fix it. That was, of course, a lie.<br /><br />It is true, though, that because Trump understands political corruption, he was always poised to exploit it. Trump exploited it by tapping into voters' distrust and pretending that being a non-politician elevated him above cashing in on power. And now Trump continues to exploit it by his use of cronyism and nepotism for positions of power; by using political connections to enrich his familial enterprises; and by surrounding himself with people who do likewise.<br /><br />Forget about Trump draining any swamp. It is murky as ever beneath the gaudy Trump name.<br /><br />We are (unfortunately) in full Banana Republic mode (and I don't mean the retailer).Michael Offutt, Phantom Readerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10557969104886174930noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-60333608047374955612017-04-10T06:37:03.549-07:002017-04-10T06:37:03.549-07:00Your aside about the Kochs really made me wonder. ...Your aside about the Kochs really made me wonder. According to a quick search, they spent $1,289,000,000 in 2012 and 2016 on the elections. They're worth $41,100,000,000, so they spent only 3% of their money on those elections. Most estimates say each of the Kochs earn $12,000,000,000 per year. So they pay $4,752,000,000 in taxes on that at the highest marginal tax rate. Spending $1,200,000,000 to save $3,000,000,000 (writing numbers out is the only to avoid false equivalencies) is actually kind of smart.<br /><br />Kind of. It's the kind of smart that leads people to say "I wouldn't want to win the lottery because they take half of it in taxes." While I don't think anyone would ever be happy paying $4,000,000,000 in taxes, the amount of money it leaves you to spend makes that level of taxation irrelevant. The amount of money they have would let a person spent $78 per minute every minute of his life from birth to death at age 100 -- $112,000 PER DAY, every day, for 100 years -- and not run out of money even then. <br /><br />The bigger question is whether they really believe they are making the world a better place, and for whom? I don't believe there's a cabal of billionaires actively conspiring to make only a few billionaires for the rest of eternity. So why are they doing it? Do they truly believe they are reshaping society into a better thing?<br /><br />Someone like douchey Paul Ryan -- if there's something Wisconsin should be ashamed of it's the number of terrible Republicans we have foisted off on the nation -- seems to honestly think that the programs are BETTER, forgetting that Frat Bro Ryan & his backward baseball cap have always benefitted from the programs he's trying to gut. <br /><br />Imagine, for a moment, if the Kochs put $1,200,000,000 into poverty relief. An investment into municipal bonds and other tax-emempt funds, put into a trust and managed by the Kochs to give funds to homeless shelters and school lunch programs and educational initiatives would generate $55,200,000 per year in income, without touching the principal. This investment would allow more municipal and other tax-exempt borrowing, while also given $55,200,000 per year towards housing, education and food initiatives. <br /><br />The federal government spent $50,000,000 in 2014 on homeless initiatives. The Kochs could have taken their money and invested it, leaving the principal there for them to live off of, and effectively doubled the funding to fight homelessness. That they didn't do so says something. I'm just not sure what.Brianehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01616494058636881575noreply@blogger.com