I would just like to say once again, now that we see it in action:
Fuck you, John Roberts.
"This Court now concludes that independent expenditures, including those made by corporations, do not give rise to corruption or the appearance of corruption. That speakers may have influence over or access to elected officials does not mean that those officials are corrupt. And the appearance of influence or access will not cause the electorate to lose faith in this democracy."
He's right, we lost faith in it well before the appearance of influence or access
This Court now concludes that independent expenditures, including those made by corporations, do not give rise to corruption or the appearance of corruption.
Jesus christ what world does that man live in?
That speakers may have influence over or access to elected officials does not mean that those officials are corrupt
When politicians do whatever their campaign donors want them to I don't see how anyone could say thats not corrupt
And the appearance of influence or access will not cause the electorate to lose faith in this democracy.
Ehh, people mostly donate to officials who agree with them in the first place.
Also, I saw the sample ballot for my county a couple of minutes ago. Bob Goodlatte is running unopposed for reelection. God damnit. I mean, he'd sail through anyway, but still.
Supreme Court justices live in a fantasy land where police abuse of power isn't expected by pretty much everybody, people have faith in democracy, the founding fathers had any real discernible idea of what certain provisions of the constitution meant, and federalism isn't a fucking joke thanks to their own interpretation of the commerce clause and spending powers.
Jesus christ, Beck's rants have grown even more ridiculous and insane since I last saw him o_O
What the hell, who the fuck watches this? How does he have so many viewers?
Byron Williams makes the case that Beck wants his followers to go out and cause violence while carefully protecting himself legally from the fallout, and applauds Beck for it - and I have trouble disagreeing with that
Jesus christ, Beck's rants have grown even more ridiculous and insane since I last saw him o_O
What the hell, who the fuck watches this? How does he have so many viewers?
You know how people drink alcohol to make the world seem easier and not something you have to think about much?
Well, you can't drink alcohol all the time, and listening to Beck and actually agreeing with him has the same simplifying effect on the world as having the outer layers of your brain taking a break.
I would just like to say once again, now that we see it in action:
Fuck you, John Roberts.
"This Court now concludes that independent expenditures, including those made by corporations, do not give rise to corruption or the appearance of corruption. That speakers may have influence over or access to elected officials does not mean that those officials are corrupt. And the appearance of influence or access will not cause the electorate to lose faith in this democracy."
Seriously. Fuck him and fuck his four conservabuddies.
I've lost faith in this democracy (I use that term loosely). And as a bonus, I've lost faith in the judiciary too. Thanks Chief Justice Roberts! Thanks for your strict constructionist stance of doing whatever the fuck you want as long as it benefits your Republican friends.
I see a lot of republicans touting the line that the bush tax cuts need to be extended because of small businesses.
which makes no sense. how would taxes on individuals making more than 250k a year apply to businesses? because I can guarantee most small business owners don't make anywhere near that amount.
Many corporations are s-corps which means the person has all their business income tied in with their personal income. This is how the removal of the tax cuts on personal income could hurt small businesses. IIRC people do this because the tax codes are set up in a stupid way such that they pay less taxes as an s-corp than as a regular corp. So I would be happy if it forced a lot of people filing as s-corps to file as regular corporations.
CommunistCow on
No, I am not really communist. Yes, it is weird that I use this name.
I see a lot of republicans touting the line that the bush tax cuts need to be extended because of small businesses.
which makes no sense. how would taxes on individuals making more than 250k a year apply to businesses? because I can guarantee most small business owners don't make anywhere near that amount.
Certain types of corporations (S-Corp comes to mind, I think maybe some LLCs/LLPs) consider corporate profits the personal income of the stockholders, as opposed to the way dividends are normally taxed.
Salvation122 on
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Just_Bri_ThanksSeething with ragefrom a handbasket.Registered User, ClubPAregular
Ehh, people mostly donate to officials who agree with them in the first place.
Also, I saw the sample ballot for my county a couple of minutes ago. Bob Goodlatte is running unopposed for reelection. God damnit. I mean, he'd sail through anyway, but still.
Except for the organizations that donate the maximum amount allowed to both sides...
Just_Bri_Thanks on
...and when you are done with that; take a folding
chair to Creation and then suplex the Void.
Ehh, people mostly donate to officials who agree with them in the first place.
Also, I saw the sample ballot for my county a couple of minutes ago. Bob Goodlatte is running unopposed for reelection. God damnit. I mean, he'd sail through anyway, but still.
Except for the organizations that donate the maximum amount allowed to both sides...
Right. Individuals and companies do not have the same donation tendencies.
Edit: looking at my post, I think an interesting conceptualization arises. This may be too reductive, but tell me what you think:
Both parties mainly target the middle class, as the poor and the rich are both firmly in one camp or the other.
As a result, both parties essentially make a case for allocation, for us-vs-them. Conservatism is, perhaps, fundamentally a way of saying "fuck those dirty undeserving poor people and n*****s, they're trying to take a piece of your pie."
And progressivism is fundamentally a way of saying "fuck those greedy rich bastards and honkies, they're trying to take a piece of your pie."
The problem is that conservatives are making that case explicitly and fluently, and we're not making our case.
The problem with that argument is that nobody in the middle class aspires to drop down to the lower class, but every single one of them aspire to rise up to the upper class. So arguing "fuck those greedy rich bastards" doesn't resonate as much because somewhere in their minds they're thinking "hopefully one day I'll be a greedy rich bastard".
I don't think the issue is really that most people think they will be "rich," I think it's that they have an inaccurate conception of what "rich" is. A lot of people with solid, middle class incomes could double or triple their annual take and still not fall within the uppermost tax bracket, but our leaders speak as though increasing that bracket by a few percentage points would cripple small business, "families," etc. The actual reality of the distribution of wealth in this country is a huge blind spot for our society, politically.
I also think that the progressive/liberal/whatever side has totally abandoned the selfish argument for their policy, which is too bad. Yes, I want to help the poor and so on, but I really want to redistribute wealth because it creates the society I want to live in, which leads to more positive opportunities for me. That reasoning is basically absent from the modern liberal argument.
ed: and yeah, even if you are filing as an s-corp, I doubt that a business netting more than 250k a year can properly be considered "small" in the political context we understand it, or that an incrementally higher tax burden would be harmful to them.
Eat it You Nasty Pig. on
it was the smallest on the list but
Pluto was a planet and I'll never forget
you would think singling out that the top like .2% control 20% of the entire wealth of this country would be a popular political move since people tend to hate the rich.
I see a lot of republicans touting the line that the bush tax cuts need to be extended because of small businesses.
which makes no sense. how would taxes on individuals making more than 250k a year apply to businesses? because I can guarantee most small business owners don't make anywhere near that amount.
Many corporations are s-corps which means the person has all their business income tied in with their personal income. This is how the removal of the tax cuts on personal income could hurt small businesses. IIRC people do this because the tax codes are set up in a stupid way such that they pay less taxes as an s-corp than as a regular corp. So I would be happy if it forced a lot of people filing as s-corps to file as regular corporations.
Reposting this from earlier in the thread because it seems topical again.
Did anyone else watch Olbermann last night? He opened by talking about how the Republicans define what is considered a small business (in regards to the Bush Tax Cuts). I always thought their numbers sounded fishy, but I never imagined it was as morally bankrupt as it actually is (and my presumes starting position for Republican politicians is "pretty goddamned morally bankrupt). Here's the link to the video on the MSNBC website (skip to 2:00 to get past the show intro).
And he's a transcript I copied of a good portion of it for anyone who can't see/hear the video. Spoilered for huge wall of text.
A variety of sources including court documents confirm that when Republicans talk about the small businesses they’re trying to help with their tax cut, they’re actually talking about some of the biggest companies in the world and some of the richest people in this country. Mr. Boehner admitting this summer that his tax cuts only benefit 3% of so-called small businesses. So how small can that top 3% be when it accounts for half of all small business income?
So how do they decide which companies they would term “small businesses”? H&R Block told Politico it has 1.5 million small clients. But extending the tax cuts would benefit fewer than 1% of them. Fewer than 750,000 people, one quarter of 1% of the country, would be affected by the top rate. So how small can this top 3% of small businesses be if they make half the small business money?
Dave Kamp knows. He’s the ranking republican member of the House Ways and Means Committee. To him, the definition of small business is a footnote. Literally. “According to the joint committee on taxation, 94% of all U.S. businesses in 2007 were “S” Corporations, Partnerships, or Sole Proprietorships. Pass-through business types commonly used by small businesses.” They call them pass-through companies because they file no taxes, passing through profits to the owners who report them on their individual tax returns instead. In short, they are considered small, not because they have a small payroll, but because they have a small number of owners. It’s not the income that’s small, it’s not the number of employees that’s small, it’s just the total number of owners that’s small. In the case of “S” Corps, up to 100 owners. When politicians talk about small businesses, they are including any company that pays taxes as a pass-through.
…if you want to know which companies these are, you are out of luck. Because individual tax filings are not public record. Still, some have revealed themselves. The “S” Corp. Association lobbying group is chaired by an executive of the Hillman Company, a small business founded by a billionaire. The “S” Copper group president is from Venn Strategies, a small business whose chief Operating Officer is a former special assistant to President Bush, whose president used to work for senate leader Reid. Directors of the “S” Corp. Group come from Ferrellgas, which provides propane and propane accessories, with a small business touch to 1 million customers. A small business. Coorstek, North America’s largest maker of technical ceramics, a small business founded by Adolf Coors. A small business. The Dead River Company, a small business with commercial real estate valued at $300M. A small business. And a small business called Maccel Haney, selling their Tabasco sauce out of their kitchen to 160 countries. A small business. “The Boston Globe” revealed in 2007 that Fidelity Investments was becoming an “S” Corp., a move that saved this small business hundreds of millions of dollars. Similar to how a scrappy little newspaper called “The Tribune” as in the “Chicago Tribune”, make an extra $1.9B by converting to “S” Corp. status in 2008. As tax reporter David K. Johnston figured out, other companies get revealed as “S” Corps when their fillings become evidence in tax trials. That’s how he identified one of the biggest small businesses in the world – Bachtel. A small business that builds airports, sea ports, railroads, oil refineries, nuclear refineries, and the Hoover Dam. Today, the world’s number one engineering and construction firm, a small business.
tl;dr - A small business is defined by the number of owners, not the profits or employee numbers. So it's basically any non-publicly traded company, including some of the largest companies in the world and many authors, actors, and celebrities.
you would think singling out that the top like .2% control 20% of the entire wealth of this country would be a popular political move since people tend to hate the rich.
you would think singling out that the top like .2% control 20% of the entire wealth of this country would be a popular political move since people tend to hate the rich.
Unfortunately that .2% controls approximately 100% of mass media. And the vast majority of campaign contributions.
you would think singling out that the top like .2% control 20% of the entire wealth of this country would be a popular political move since people tend to hate the rich.
People wish they were rich. Anything that in any way impedes the rich impedes the voter who just knows that one day he will be rich too.
It just got pretty interesting up here in relation to Joe Miller
Called a press conference to answer questions about some of his work history. He's been really really uptight about the reasons surrounding his departure from the Borough. (our version of a county)
His spokesman said:
“The purpose of the press conference is to address his employment at the borough, including the records request,” DeSoto said. “You may anticipate that other issues will be covered as well.”
And will no longer be answering questions about this or anything that isn't "issues related" until AFTER the election.
I don't see McAdams winning this one. But Lisa probably has a pretty good shot a keeping her seat, thus nothing changes. I've noticed some Miller signs being quietly put away around town lately.
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lonelyahavaCall me Ahava ~~She/Her~~Move to New ZealandRegistered Userregular
See, most people think their taxes have gone up under this Congress. Partially because as I recall the biggest portion of tax cut was hidden in a FICA cut so that people wouldn't think of it as a lump sum (and would in fact, barely notice) and would be more likely to spend it.
Good policy, not as good politics.
enlightenedbum on
Self-righteousness is incompatible with coalition building.
Seems to me that he didn't do anything wrong. He did re-enanctments for multiple sides and eras, including Americans in WWI and WWII, as well as both sides of the Civil War.
He visited schools in his SS uniform:
"We talked about the atrocities that were committed and it was a horrible, horrible part of history. But we can't forget about it or, you know, sweep it under the rug. Because those who forget about history are destined to repeat it."
All in all, it seems to have been about genuine interest in history. He says:
"Never, in any of my re-enacting of military history, have I meant any disrespect to anyone who served in our military or anyone who has been affected by the tragedy of war, especially the Jewish Community."
She says "I'm you" and then looks right as me as she adopts a threatening tone before trying to collect herself again for one more half-hearted "I'm you." I'm scared of her now.
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KageraImitating the worst people. Since 2004Registered Userregular
Seems to me that he didn't do anything wrong. He did re-enanctments for multiple sides and eras, including Americans in WWI and WWII, as well as both sides of the Civil War.
He visited schools in his SS uniform:
"We talked about the atrocities that were committed and it was a horrible, horrible part of history. But we can't forget about it or, you know, sweep it under the rug. Because those who forget about history are destined to repeat it."
All in all, it seems to have been about genuine interest in history. He says:
"Never, in any of my re-enacting of military history, have I meant any disrespect to anyone who served in our military or anyone who has been affected by the tragedy of war, especially the Jewish Community."
He probably could have visited schools WITH the uniform on like a hanger or something.
He didn't really NEED to wear it. *I* couldn't wear it at least, it would give me the heebie jeebies.
This has nothing to do with the race however, so who cares really?
She says "I'm you" and then looks right as me as she adopts a threatening tone before trying to collect herself again for one more half-hearted "I'm you." I'm scared of her now.
This ad was on during GMA while I was on the elliptical at the gym yesterday.
Fucking terrifying.
It was probably the single scariest thing I've ever seen with regards to politics, and I've met Strom Thurmond.
Posts
He's right, we lost faith in it well before the appearance of influence or access
When politicians do whatever their campaign donors want them to I don't see how anyone could say thats not corrupt
And yet it does.
Also, I saw the sample ballot for my county a couple of minutes ago. Bob Goodlatte is running unopposed for reelection. God damnit. I mean, he'd sail through anyway, but still.
Jesus christ, Beck's rants have grown even more ridiculous and insane since I last saw him o_O
What the hell, who the fuck watches this? How does he have so many viewers?
Byron Williams makes the case that Beck wants his followers to go out and cause violence while carefully protecting himself legally from the fallout, and applauds Beck for it - and I have trouble disagreeing with that
You know how people drink alcohol to make the world seem easier and not something you have to think about much?
Well, you can't drink alcohol all the time, and listening to Beck and actually agreeing with him has the same simplifying effect on the world as having the outer layers of your brain taking a break.
That's...uh
o_O
That's some highly concentrated crazy right there. Beck's gotten way crazier since last I watched his show.
I've lost faith in this democracy (I use that term loosely). And as a bonus, I've lost faith in the judiciary too. Thanks Chief Justice Roberts! Thanks for your strict constructionist stance of doing whatever the fuck you want as long as it benefits your Republican friends.
The entire article is chilling.
Also, Alex Jones does not need more following, especially from the legion of zombies that listen to Beck.
Nothing worse than a bunch of people telling you to Think! when their conspiracies are contradictory and held together with metaphorical duct tape.
Fun fact: Hugo Boss helped design some of the uniforms for the nazis. However, I'm not sure if it was under duress or not.
Many corporations are s-corps which means the person has all their business income tied in with their personal income. This is how the removal of the tax cuts on personal income could hurt small businesses. IIRC people do this because the tax codes are set up in a stupid way such that they pay less taxes as an s-corp than as a regular corp. So I would be happy if it forced a lot of people filing as s-corps to file as regular corporations.
Certain types of corporations (S-Corp comes to mind, I think maybe some LLCs/LLPs) consider corporate profits the personal income of the stockholders, as opposed to the way dividends are normally taxed.
Except for the organizations that donate the maximum amount allowed to both sides...
chair to Creation and then suplex the Void.
Right. Individuals and companies do not have the same donation tendencies.
The problem with that argument is that nobody in the middle class aspires to drop down to the lower class, but every single one of them aspire to rise up to the upper class. So arguing "fuck those greedy rich bastards" doesn't resonate as much because somewhere in their minds they're thinking "hopefully one day I'll be a greedy rich bastard".
I also think that the progressive/liberal/whatever side has totally abandoned the selfish argument for their policy, which is too bad. Yes, I want to help the poor and so on, but I really want to redistribute wealth because it creates the society I want to live in, which leads to more positive opportunities for me. That reasoning is basically absent from the modern liberal argument.
ed: and yeah, even if you are filing as an s-corp, I doubt that a business netting more than 250k a year can properly be considered "small" in the political context we understand it, or that an incrementally higher tax burden would be harmful to them.
Pluto was a planet and I'll never forget
Reposting this from earlier in the thread because it seems topical again.
no they don't
not here, anyway
i really wish they did
Class warfare, Marxism, also.
People wish they were rich. Anything that in any way impedes the rich impedes the voter who just knows that one day he will be rich too.
"Fuck you, I'll get mine."
Specifically, he designed the SS uniforms (the black ones). Duress wasn't needed, since you have to order uniforms before you do bad things in them.
Made with quality slave labor.
Called a press conference to answer questions about some of his work history. He's been really really uptight about the reasons surrounding his departure from the Borough. (our version of a county)
His spokesman said:
Then he cancelled it.
And will no longer be answering questions about this or anything that isn't "issues related" until AFTER the election.
I don't see McAdams winning this one. But Lisa probably has a pretty good shot a keeping her seat, thus nothing changes. I've noticed some Miller signs being quietly put away around town lately.
ohgod.
they did it again.
Democrats Abroad! || Vote From Abroad
Pluto was a planet and I'll never forget
But the background and music are creepy. Why keep them? They'll just remind people of the first ad.
Who's the "our" she's talking about? Because last I looked, it was anyone making above $250,000 a year.
Hardly "me".
Not that I even live in her state, but still- she really isn't about "the people".
cause she has plenty of it.
they're trying to get $1M so they can air that statewide. Says so on her website *shudder*
Democrats Abroad! || Vote From Abroad
Good policy, not as good politics.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39619593/ns/politics-decision_2010/?gt1=43001
Seems to me that he didn't do anything wrong. He did re-enanctments for multiple sides and eras, including Americans in WWI and WWII, as well as both sides of the Civil War.
He visited schools in his SS uniform:
All in all, it seems to have been about genuine interest in history. He says:
She says "I'm you" and then looks right as me as she adopts a threatening tone before trying to collect herself again for one more half-hearted "I'm you." I'm scared of her now.
He probably could have visited schools WITH the uniform on like a hanger or something.
He didn't really NEED to wear it. *I* couldn't wear it at least, it would give me the heebie jeebies.
This has nothing to do with the race however, so who cares really?
Iott accidentally the entire media?
Fucking terrifying.
It was probably the single scariest thing I've ever seen with regards to politics, and I've met Strom Thurmond.
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.