uncle bernard

It's actually not. The UChicago Economics department is the historical locus of the modern conservative political model. They are hardcore, true believers in unfettered capitalism. It was the training ground for conservative economists who were then dropped into the right-wing coup dictatorships we installed in Latin America to redesign their economies away from any sort of social-democratic model. They called it Shock Therapy.

The comparison is to the structure of the state. As the article says, it doesn't mean it ends in the same place. Even so, you would say the exact same thing if someone was comparing 1933 Nazi Germany with what they ended up doing. But it's pretty indisputable that Trump is doing something radically new right now. As Vak pointed out a while ago, in the past, when administrations got an unfavorable ruling, they filed appeals and tried to be heard by different courts - a process laid out in our legal structure. Trump has simply ignored rulings he doesn't like and his team have constantly attacked the entire Judicial Branch as unelected tyrants. That is a radical challenge to the constitution and the American government that shouldn't be handwaved away because we've become used to Trump's unorthodox style.

Yes, we're famous for our quick and easy wars here in the US.

These guys are doing a great job at deescalating! This officer should be arrested and charged with battery. Clear cut case caught on video of him deliberately targeting someone not doing anything wrong.

Personally, I'd like to go back to our old tax system when the middle class thrived and something like every dollar over $3 million was taxed at 90%. And if they did, it would have a far lesser effect on them than the current taxes have on middle class people. The 1% in this country have more money than they could possibly spend in 100 lifetimes. It's grotesque. The whole point of social prosperity is to take care of people, not to see who can hoard the biggest pile for themselves. We are herd animals. We are supposed to take care of the weak.

How long before Trump tweets "kill the boer"

I think I said on here back when DOGE started this would happen. You have to be a good hang to stick with Trump and Elon is the opposite of a good hang. Grating, awkward, and apparently high as a kite the entire time to the point he kept pissing himself. Plus, DOGE wasn't really bringing in good press anymore, so Trump cut him loose. It always amazes me that people keep trying to attach themselves to Trump. He has zero loyalty to anybody. When will they learn the lesson. Happy to see it happen to Elon, though. Despicable guy.

Can you explain why that 37 trillion is bad?

What you think we can afford and what we can actually afford are far different. Debt is not always bad.

And yet the vast majority of money saved is by the top 1%. Don't think you guys understand how much a billion dollars is.

You're a genius.

Which has a greater impact in the actual world?

Yeah, this has been obvious for a long time to anybody with a brain. Dude is on camera referring to him as a good friend who likes young girls and that still wasn't enough for his supporters lol.

Exactly. So which has a bigger impact? 2% on $10 million or 4% on 100k

True. That is exactly what they did to Obama when he let his own tax cuts expire.

This stuff is fine, but the bulk of the tax savings go to the richest. I consider it a tax cut because they were supposed to expire. They had to actively extend them. That's not functionally different than when they did it the first time.

1) If you care about the deficit, then yes, you should be outraged. It's an extension of policy that increases the deficit when it was set to expire. 2) Don't be stupid. A 4% cut on the middle class is peanuts compared to a 2% cut to the top 1%. That's why we have a progressive tax system.

The tax cuts are what balloon the deficit *in this bill.* That's what they're actually changing. If they did nothing and let the cuts expire, the deficit would grow minimally.

The biggest part is the extension of the 2017 tax cuts that were set to expire, summarized here (Trump's rates bolded: 10% up to $9,525, versus 10% up to $9,325 under existing law; 12% from $9,526 to $38,700, versus 15% on $9,326 to $37,950; 22% on $38,701 to $82,500, versus 25% on $37,951 to $91,900; 24% on $82,501 to $157,500, versus 28% on $91,901 to $191,650; 32% on $157,501 to $200,000, versus 33% on $191,651 to $416,700; 35% on $200,001 to $500,000, versus 35% on $416,701 to $418,400; 37% above $500,000, versus 2017’s 39.6% above $418,400. Most of those benefits were concentrated in the top tax bracket. A 2% decrease on billions is a lot more than a 4% decrease on $100k. Analysis of effects of the current bill: "Extending the expiring 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) would decrease federal tax revenue by $4.5 trillion from 2025 through 2034. Long-run GDP would be 1.1 percent higher, offsetting $710 billion, or 16 percent, of the revenue losses. Long-run GNP (a measure of American incomes) would only rise by 0.4 percent, as some of the benefits of the tax cuts and larger economy go to foreigners in the form of higher interest payments on the debt." https://taxfoundation.org/research/all/federal/trump-tax-cuts-2025-budget-reconciliation/

This happens during every Republican administration. Dems spend too, but they don't pair that spending with massive tax cuts, primarily for the rich and corporations. The tax cuts are what blow up the deficit. The "national debt" is just a political prop they use to advocate against spending on things they disagree with ideologically (healthcare, welfare, public research, etc...). They don't actually care about reducing it. If they did, they would pair spending cuts with tax increases. This is why, historically, the deficit always goes up under Republican administrations, while it usually shrinks under Democrats. Personally, I think focus on the debt is way overblown. The government budget does not function like a family budget. Anytime the government runs a surplus, that means they're sucking money out of the economy arbitrarily. Every cent, and more, should be spent back into the economy. My disagreement with the Republicans is how they do it, not that they do it. Trickle down doesn't work.

Gibberish.

First, thank you for being far more reasonable than the rest of the crew on here. Reasoned, intelligent thoughts are very welcome on this topic. Where I'd push back is that you can't separate the current support of Hamas from the bad faith dealings of Israel following Oslo. People support Hamas because they don't believe the peace process is possible. When it looked possible, they supported it. That's why I think we have such an important role to play. In order for this to be solved in a way that doesn't include genocide and/or ethnic cleansing, Israel needs to "be the bigger person" in order to reestablish trust in a peace process. That means not responding with overwhelming force every time Hamas fires rockets. Obviously, they'll never do this on their own accord, which is why we need to be the ones who make them. This doesn't mean letting Hamas run rampant. They should bolster their defenses along the border to prevent future attacks like 10/7, which was a huge outlier in terms of its success. Without further massive defense failures like that, very few Israelis would ever be in danger from Hamas. Bolster the borders around Gaza (and remove the settlements right along the border), start negotiating with the PA, pull back the illegal settlements in the West Bank, and you will weaken Hamas far more than the current bombardment does. It will take time. Hamas will still attempt attacks. But if Israel shows restraint and good faith, people will see there's another way. We saw that in the 90's. It can happen again.

They never fully gave Gaza back. They kept it under siege the entire time, which severely limited any sort of possible development, while also continuing to bomb it the entire time. They are very open about this. They refer to it as keeping the Palestinians "on a diet."

This is explicitly an argument for genocide.

Have you ever seen a conservative tweet you didn't immediately believe?