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The really sad part about the GOPs vilification of Hillary is that she is a president who will listen and move if possible. She's pretty practical, and not an ideologue like Sanders. But she has to have room to move. I'm afraid they won't give it to her.
To be a professional means that you don't die. - Takeru "the Tsunami" Kobayashi
In this week’s politics chat, we discuss the implications of Donald Trump’s fight with Republican officials. The transcript below has been lightly edited. micah…
I feel like I am watching the destruction of our democracy while my neighbors and friends cheer it on
What would the electoral map look like if only net taxpayers could vote?
All Red.
Remember, Trump pays hundreds of millions in property taxes. It is, sadly, typical of non-taxpayers to fail to distinguish among various state and local taxes.
All Red. Remember, Trump pays hundreds of millions in property taxes. It is, sadly, typical of non-taxpayers to fail to distinguish among various state and local taxes.
It is also typical for those looking for an undeserved free ride (anti-tax conservatives) to fail to recognize that nearly all citizens in this nation are taxpayers. Ever bought gasoline? You pay fuel tax. Ever bought something from a department store? You pay sales tax. Ever stayed at a hotel? You pay sales, hotel, county, visitor and 'other' tax. Pay for phone service, cable, or internet? Lots of taxes there too.
Even us anarchists willingly pay taxes - its the price of admission to live in the greatest country on earth. Right, left, middle and out there all pay taxes.
In all seriousness: Why do conservatives have this obsession with taxes? Why is it that some conservative who makes exactly as much as I do and pays exactly as much taxes as I do have taxes as their number one priority when taxes don't even make my top ten? Here I'm speaking of income and property taxes. Business taxes are a different conversation.
“Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read.” - Groucho Marx
In all seriousness: Why do conservatives have this obsession with taxes? Why is it that some conservative who makes exactly as much as I do and pays exactly as much taxes as I do have taxes as their number one priority when taxes don't even make my top ten? Here I'm speaking of income and property taxes. Business taxes are a different conversation.
Because in one of the basic decisions in Supreme Court history, McCulloch v Maryland, John Marshall said, "the power to tax is the power to destroy...", and that truth motivates conservatives.
Many conservatives own some form of small business, be that in the service sector, retail, or agricultural. The trade that small business people make is trading more hours and a much more vigorous competitive environment in exchange for being able to operate and live as "their own boss". This is as opposed to an hourly or salaried employee. It's not a moral question, and it is not a financial question. Those who take the first route just value freedom more than those who take the second. That's why we were called liberals, from the root word "liberty".
Conservatives like me fear the power of government. I know folks who went to the big Tea Party march in DC. They were motivated by a "stealth" tax (as the Supreme Court later held) in the ACA, and by the use of the IRS in trying to stifle dissent. The Tea Party had almost nothing to do with social issues. It had everything to do with taxation being used to destroy a way of life.
Last edited by Da Geezer; October 12, 2016, 05:45 PM.
Well just IMO but the self-reliance/independence aspect of the culture is a natural fit with minimalizing the importance of the state's contributions. Without it we are in Hobbes' nasty, brutish and short world. But no CEO or entrepreneur has his ego stroked by reminders of what the public sector brings. So it's easy in that scenario to pretend that we don't get something in return for what we pay into the system.
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