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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM

ironballs16 Since: Jul, 2009 Relationship Status: Owner of a lonely heart
#291376: Oct 2nd 2019 at 11:04:31 AM

Speaking of Warren, I really like this idea she's proposing to curb excessive lobbying.

TL;DR:

“Under my lobbying tax proposal, companies that spend between $500,000 and $1 million per year on lobbying, calculated on a quarterly basis, will pay a 35% tax on those expenditures,” Warren said. “For every dollar above $1 million spent on lobbying, the rate will increase to 60% — and for every dollar above $5 million, it will increase to 75%.”

She said that if her tax hit the lobbying organizations of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Koch Industries, Pfizer, Boeing, along with many others, then over the past 10 years it would have brought in over $10 billion in total revenue.

The proceeds from this tax, Warren says, would go into what she defines as a new “Lobbying Defense Trust Fund.” The money in that fund will be used to insulate various congressional and federal agencies from lobbyists trying to influence their decision-making.

“Every time a company above the $500,000 threshold spends money lobbying against a rule from a federal agency, the taxes on that spending will go directly to the agency to help it fight back,” Warren said.

"Why would I inflict myself on somebody else?"
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#291377: Oct 2nd 2019 at 11:18:46 AM

Umm, I feel like that could backfire if those agencies view the lobbying tax as a revenue stream. It's like doubling your donation. "Can't piss off ExxonMobilBPShell because we won't get all that tax money that comes from their lobbying money."

In fact, this may be her most poorly thought-out plan ever.

Edited by Fighteer on Oct 2nd 2019 at 2:19:21 PM

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#291378: Oct 2nd 2019 at 11:23:20 AM

And I suspect they'd find a loophole or a workaround. Corporations have more or less mastered maximizing returns on taxation, when they pay at all. Warren would be better off revamping tax law first.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#291379: Oct 2nd 2019 at 11:23:38 AM

Bernie had a artery blockage and said he's off the campaign trail.

https://twitter.com/i/events/1179419874390462464

Edited by CharlesPhipps on Oct 2nd 2019 at 11:24:59 AM

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
ironballs16 Since: Jul, 2009 Relationship Status: Owner of a lonely heart
#291380: Oct 2nd 2019 at 11:24:39 AM

[up][up][up]

Except it would also nail think-tanks like the "Chamber of Commerce" to the wall, since pretty much all they do is spend lobby money. Not to mention that it's still a win-win - either we get a shitload more tax funds through the lobbying (what with the loopholes exploited by those same industries, and it's not like we're raising taxes on most of them anyway), or they spend less on lobbying, thus weakening their sphere of influence and easing pressure on legislators to kowtow to those industries.

Edited by ironballs16 on Oct 2nd 2019 at 2:24:55 PM

"Why would I inflict myself on somebody else?"
Draghinazzo (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: I get a feeling so complicated...
#291381: Oct 2nd 2019 at 11:26:06 AM

I don't think sanders' exit from the primaries when he inevitably has to concede is necessarily going to be the same as last time. Arent he and Warren actually friends?

KazuyaProta Shin Megami Tensei IV from A Industrial Farm Since: Jan, 2015 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
Shin Megami Tensei IV
#291382: Oct 2nd 2019 at 11:28:46 AM

[up][up] Gosh. I hope he recovers for it sad

Watch me destroying my country
LSBK Since: Sep, 2014
#291383: Oct 2nd 2019 at 11:40:22 AM

Warren and Sanders might actually be friends, but that doesn't have to mean anything to his more toxic fanbase (which to be clear, isn't all, or even most of them).

MrHellboy The Shadow from A world of my own Since: Dec, 2017 Relationship Status: Yes, I'm alone, but I'm alone and free
The Shadow
#291384: Oct 2nd 2019 at 11:43:30 AM

I'm sure the Majority Report crew are freaking the fuck out.

Their one and only Savior is potentially out of the running and this is the end of everything for them

The hardest thing in this world is to live in it.
KazuyaProta Shin Megami Tensei IV from A Industrial Farm Since: Jan, 2015 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
Shin Megami Tensei IV
#291385: Oct 2nd 2019 at 11:46:44 AM

I like mocking Bernie bros all the time, but let's not lie to ourselves, most of this thread would be equally worried and anxious if Warren got a artery blockage and that it's a perfectly valid reason to be worried.

Edited by KazuyaProta on Oct 2nd 2019 at 1:48:23 PM

Watch me destroying my country
Forenperser Foreign Troper from Germany Since: Mar, 2012
Foreign Troper
#291386: Oct 2nd 2019 at 11:55:39 AM

Wishing death to anybody is a real low blow.

Hell, I don't even wish death to Trump. I'd rather see him imprisoned.

Certified: 48.0% West Asian, 6.5% South Asian, 15.8% North/West European, 15.7% English, 7.4% Balkan, 6.6% Scandinavian
MrHellboy The Shadow from A world of my own Since: Dec, 2017 Relationship Status: Yes, I'm alone, but I'm alone and free
The Shadow
#291387: Oct 2nd 2019 at 11:55:52 AM

Of course.

My problems are not so much with Sanders himself (at worst, he's out of touch and cantankerous, but that's to be expected of a man close to 80), but more with his rabid, refuse-to-listen-to-reason followers/cultists

[up] Death is too good for Trump. What he truly deserves is to have to work for/be married to himself

Edited by MrHellboy on Oct 2nd 2019 at 1:58:07 PM

The hardest thing in this world is to live in it.
Fourthspartan56 from Georgia, US Since: Oct, 2016 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
#291388: Oct 2nd 2019 at 12:01:11 PM

Hopefully, Sanders gets better soon, I haven't been the fondest of him in the past but it can't be denied that he has played a pivotal role in moving the Overton Window in a more progressive direction.

"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang
Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#291389: Oct 2nd 2019 at 12:02:09 PM

Should be noted that stints are pretty routine, with a very good prognosis. Declaring Sanders' campaign (let alone the man himself) dead is premature.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
Forenperser Foreign Troper from Germany Since: Mar, 2012
Foreign Troper
#291390: Oct 2nd 2019 at 12:03:23 PM

[up] WE know that, but the uneducated masses?....

Certified: 48.0% West Asian, 6.5% South Asian, 15.8% North/West European, 15.7% English, 7.4% Balkan, 6.6% Scandinavian
3of4 Just a harmless giant from a foreign land. from Five Seconds in the Future. Since: Jan, 2010 Relationship Status: GAR for Archer
Just a harmless giant from a foreign land.
#291391: Oct 2nd 2019 at 12:06:42 PM

or the press wanting to sell clicks.

"You can reply to this Message!"
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#291392: Oct 2nd 2019 at 12:32:15 PM

"Bernie has heart disease, may not survive Presidency!"

Well, they did something similar to Hillary Clinton.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Silasw A procrastination in of itself from A handcart to hell (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
A procrastination in of itself
#291393: Oct 2nd 2019 at 12:41:57 PM

Death is too good for Trump. What he truly deserves is to have to work for/be married to himself

Nah he deserves to truly and completely understand the pain he’s inflicted and feel remorse and guilt for what he’s done, then he deserves to live with that guilt while striving desperately to do the impossible and make him time on this planet come out a net good.

As for the possibility of Bernie dropping out at some future point, he’s already lost a lot of support to Warren, his remaining supporters largely back Biden as their second choice, so it may not help Warren if Bernie exits the race.

Edited by Silasw on Oct 2nd 2019 at 7:43:02 PM

“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran
MrHellboy The Shadow from A world of my own Since: Dec, 2017 Relationship Status: Yes, I'm alone, but I'm alone and free
The Shadow
#291394: Oct 2nd 2019 at 12:50:45 PM

Why the hell would Sanders supporters have Biden as their next choice? Warren is more like him than Biden ever will be

The hardest thing in this world is to live in it.
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#291395: Oct 2nd 2019 at 12:52:25 PM

For some, misogyny. For others, contrarianism. It's hard to pick the brain of a die-hard Sanders supporter.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
MrHellboy The Shadow from A world of my own Since: Dec, 2017 Relationship Status: Yes, I'm alone, but I'm alone and free
The Shadow
#291396: Oct 2nd 2019 at 12:53:34 PM

So basically, Sanders dropping out could throw the election to Trump again?

The hardest thing in this world is to live in it.
TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#291397: Oct 2nd 2019 at 12:55:21 PM

Yes. Failing to nominate Sanders could cause Trump to win.

Nominating Sanders, meanwhile, could cause Trump to win.

Trump can also lose in 2020 if we nominate Sanders, and he could lose in 2020 if we do not nominate Sanders.

Election results are the product of a lot of factors.

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
Silasw A procrastination in of itself from A handcart to hell (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
A procrastination in of itself
#291398: Oct 2nd 2019 at 12:55:42 PM

[up][up]Not at all.

[up]X4 Low information voters might only feel well informed about Biden and Bernie, both Biden and Bernie connected well with unionised blue-collar workers without degrees, sexism, a fear of sexism, a belief that Warren doesn’t connected with white men without degrees in the Mid-West who may be critical come the election.

[up] Don’t enable the fear mongering. The election results are yet to be determined and will still be potentially multiple things well after the nominee is decided.

Edited by Silasw on Oct 2nd 2019 at 7:57:04 PM

“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran
KazuyaProta Shin Megami Tensei IV from A Industrial Farm Since: Jan, 2015 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
Shin Megami Tensei IV
#291399: Oct 2nd 2019 at 12:56:38 PM

[up][up][up]That if you think Biden can't defeat Trump, which is just...refusing all evidence pointing the contrary. Both Biden and Warren can defeat Trump alone

Edited by KazuyaProta on Oct 2nd 2019 at 2:57:04 PM

Watch me destroying my country
MrHellboy The Shadow from A world of my own Since: Dec, 2017 Relationship Status: Yes, I'm alone, but I'm alone and free
The Shadow
#291400: Oct 2nd 2019 at 12:57:30 PM

D'ya reckon the whole impeachment process finally getting underway helps us at all?

The hardest thing in this world is to live in it.

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