Foreign Policy Shifts?

[Faded Float Coat]

JFC, of course, the VAQ mafia are the smartest people on the planet. You know, Elon could probably use your KSEs at SpaceX. If the world, and this country, especially the MAGA crowd are so incredibly f* ked up, you should help his team find a better, more palatable solution on another planet

pull your green ring man... take it to a PM if you want/must.

 

[Spekkio]

This, right here ladies and gentlemen is why civil discourse is dying on this board, and frankly, many other places as well. Condescension, public shaming, I’m “from community X” so I am automatically smarter and better then you. “Some” here, try and have rational, reasonable discussions. Unfortunately, everyone here knows the barriers to sharing alternate views is wide and deep.

There were some outright wrong things in your post, like implying that property taxes are federally controlled and the complaint about borrowing against the SS trust fund.

 

[ChuckMK23]

What kind of 'social welfare' are you referring to?

Funding a guaranteed minimum standard of housing, healthcare, childcare and nutrition with eligibility requiring nothing more than US Citizenship and being a human.

 

[ChuckMK23]

@ChuckMK23 can we start with the massive public assistance fraud running rampant just about EVERYWHERE? The Federal Government doesn't need more revenue, it needs an audit . . . .

I don't believe the level of fraud you purport is the reality, but of course there is fraud. The greater good requires getting benefits to deserving people without creating such a high bar as to strangle access to programs that help the needy. Fraud is the cost of doing business. Getting benefits out to recipients is the goal. We can't allow the optics of zero defect compromise this

That said I do believe the justice system and our system of law enforcement does a pretty good job of uncovering, prosecuting, and punishing those who commit fraud at scale.

 

[number9]

The federal deficit is $1.78 trillion.

If you rolled our tax code back to the Carter administration, you still would not pay for the deficit.

The elephant in the room is the Affordable Care Act, which accounts for over half of that deficit via corporate welfare tax credits. We are in a 16 year game of chicken where the GOP wants to bankrupt the government to force the Democrats to amend / repeal the ACA and Democrats want to 'tax the rich' but lost office before the TCJA expired. The ARRA under Obama plus ARP and IRA under Biden also dramatically increased mandatory spending.

Where I really hate the Democrats' dishonesty here is that they continuously pass tax code with strings-attached credits to fund their priorities, most of which only large business owners qualify for. Then they point at the GOP and shout "tax cuts for the rich" as their plea to make marginal income tax rates more progressive to make up for the difference. The end result is they squeeze America's professional class of workers (which includes military officers) and small business owners so that we can fund projects like going all-electric vehicles by 2037.

No one goes to a cardiologist and thinks to themselves "this mothafucka needs to pay his fair share." But apparently it was the end of the world in 2017 that he could no longer use the $60,000 a year he pays in taxes and interest on his $2 million primary residence as a tax deduction. Unlimited SALT deductions were so "popular" that it killed the build back better bill with Biden's own party.

Weird that you haven't mentioned broken Republican promises like paying down the debt, sending out DOGE checks, or repealing the ACA. Also weird that you haven't mentioned the proposed $1.4T defense budget, which (ceteris paribus) will add about $800B of deficit spending a year. I'm sure it's just a coincedence?