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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM
Also, Trump is profiting from the ineptitude of the Republican Congress. There is a widespread perception that they have betrayed their base, considering that they failed to repeal Obamacare and other of Obama's initiatives despite having a majority and having promised to do this - sometimes they have not even tried.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard FeynmanFor the last 40 years, Republicans have been elected on the promise to stick it to liberals, blacks, gays, women, Muslims, non-Christians, whatever — and have instead lowered taxes and made life cushier for the very wealthy. Their abject collapse under Barack Obama came because a wave of True Believers got elected who really believed in the Kool-Aid that the party had been selling to get people to vote for it. Those people decided not to take "maybe" for an answer and hijacked the party by refusing to compromise, thus denying the GOP any Democratic votes that might have helped them get their legislative agenda passed.
Cruz is one of those no-compromise Senators, and Trump is akin to the Emperor's tailor leading the cry that he's not wearing clothes.
edited 25th Apr '16 11:57:50 AM by Fighteer
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"People have crowdfunded basic services in the US, there's an entire crowdfunding website devoted to providing US schools with basic supplies for teaching projects.
Edit: Found a link to a story about it [1]
.
edited 25th Apr '16 11:11:51 AM by Silasw
“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ CyranCrowdfunding is great and all, but it demonstrably leads to the haves getting more than the have-nots, because the haves have no social incentive to support people that aren't part of their clique.
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton share Delaware tax 'loophole' address with 285,000 firms.
edited 25th Apr '16 12:24:14 PM by Demonic_Braeburn
Any group who acts like morons ironically will eventually find itself swamped by morons who think themselves to be in good company.Hillary, stop proving Bernie right about you being part of the corrupt system that he's trying to fix!
Then again, there's a point to be made that, as long as people are using it, you're at a competitive disadvantage if you don't also use it.
edited 25th Apr '16 12:27:45 PM by Fighteer
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"Getting outraged at politicians abusing loopholes that 'everyone' (colloquially speaking) abuses is wasted energy. The time to get mad is when reform is explicitly brought up and we see which people are sufficiently invested in those abuses that they try to excuse them instead of agreeing that they need fixing. At some point, a politician has to be willing to take the hit and argue against his own self-interest for the sake of the common good.
Furthermore, I think Guantanamo must be destroyed.The response is, "Of course I'm taking advantage of tax loopholes to my own benefit. I'm not an idiot. The idiots are the people who put them there, and I'll happily support removing them as long as they get removed for everyone."
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"Unfortunately, we have a fixation on moral/ethical purity in our candidates — a person must never have done a thing or taken advantage of a thing whose existence they do not support, or they are automatically a hypocrite. This idea forms the majority of Sanders' argument against Clinton's candidacy.
As for a comment above that I meant to remark on: there is no point in U.S. government agencies taking advantage of loopholes intended to shield income from taxation, since government agencies don't pay taxes.
edited 25th Apr '16 1:15:02 PM by Fighteer
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"Pretty sure that America (The Book) had a joke like that regarding outsourcing, finishing with "Did you answer 'A' [the humane option]? Congratulations! You have just been fired by the person that answered 'B' [the Corrupt Corporate Executive option]!"
As for how realistic Sanders' policies are, I'm not sure how many share this view, but I consider myself fully aware that they'd have a snowball's chance in hell of making it through our current Congress. However, by getting him in office as President, I'd hope that he'd at least succeed in shifting the Overton window. Even if none of his policies work in practice, getting the conversation itself started on a National level is something that needs to happen, and I don't see that getting accomplished with Clinton, given that she's only recently started echoing some of Sanders' statements.
1) He'd constantly bang on about income inequality and push for solutions to it, which would likely get him some impressive support from the public.
2) He'd push for further economic reforms on Wall Street and the oft-criticized "billionaire class", including tax hikes and some good ol' fashioned Trust Busting, which we sorely need.
"Why would I inflict myself on somebody else?"![]()
No, but a Delaware
(or a Nevada
) Corporation does offer a chance for greater secrecy than other states, as the Corporations' real owners can stay hidden in the shadows — which could be useful if it's an organisation like, say, the CIA.
edited 25th Apr '16 1:28:11 PM by Greenmantle
Keep Rolling OnBasically, a Sanders presidency will be either a big win or a big lose for liberalism, while a Clinton presidency is likely to be a small win or maintain the status quo.
It's perhaps unsurprising that the young and the reasonably well off are the most willing to go with Sanders as the high risk/high reward option.
edited 25th Apr '16 1:39:02 PM by NativeJovian
Really from Jupiter, but not an alien.Add in a dose of ignorance and a subconscious smattering of the misogyny/racism that infests the Trump campaign...
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

Personally, I think Sanders has only done as well as he has because a good number of millennials just don't want Hillary as President. Millennials who still vote will more than likely vote for her because the alternative to her and Sanders are candidates so crazy, even the Republicans don't want them. Look at it from the perspective of a millennial... Generally, the decrease in their quality of life goes all the way back to the policies of Ronald Reagan and every president after him except Obama who had perhaps the most hostile Congress in the history of America working against him. This list includes Bill Clinton. Hillary's undeniable association with Bill as his wife and former First Lady likely hurts her severely with millennials who saw Bill as one of the reasons why their lives are as bad as they currently are. I know enough millennials who were groaning last year that it was going to Clinton Vs. Bush, since they really do blame Reagan, Bush, Clinton, and Bush for why their quality of life has gone to shit. It's likely also the reason why Trump is so popular for the other side since he railed specifically on Bush-Era policy and is dismantling the Bush-Era Republican Party. I will admit that this isn't rational and I am happy Clinton is being forced to drift to the left because of Sanders, but when people are angry, they are not going to be rational.
edited 25th Apr '16 10:43:51 AM by GameGuruGG
Wizard Needs Food Badly