President Biden's Infrastructure Plans

[Derec]

I looked for other recent Green New Deal sorts of bills, and I found more more bills, like:

Just curious. What does your girlfriend think about regulating bitcoin (and other crypto) mining?

Bitcoin Is an Incredibly Dirty Business

 

[Derec]

There's no point in trying to negotiate with the Republicans. They have made it very clear they don't want honest negotiation.

Mitch McConnell != "the Republicans". I think Biden could get at least 5 GOP Senators on board with a good bipartisan plan. But a compromise would earn him the ire of the Squad.

 

[none]

There's no point in trying to negotiate with the Republicans. They have made it very clear they don't want honest negotiation.

Mitch McConnell != "the Republicans". I think Biden could get at least 5 GOP Senators on board with a good bipartisan plan. But a compromise would earn him the ire of the Squad.

which 5?

 

[Derec]

What is this gibberish? Proposed tax hikes apply to people earning over $400,000 annually — this makes the complaint I've colored brown nonsensical in this context.

Sorry. I was responding to TV&CC and not the proposal specifically. He was talking about unearned income in general I think.

As for the purple gibberish, Derec seems unaware that unearned income is now taxed at a much LOWER rate than earned income.

Oh I am aware. I am also aware that that only applies to long term capital gains and not to short term traders.

Apparently Derec is one of those defending the super-rich without the educational experience of actually filing a tax return with a rich man's unearned income!

1. How is making >$400k "super-rich"? In any case, TV&CC did not even make a "400k" caveat, much less "super rich" caveat.
2. My understanding of TV&CC is that he wants to tax unearned (i.e. investment) income higher than earned income. I am aware of capital gains taxes of course.

The green comment — though a non sequitur here — is a meme common among right-wingers who've never studied history. It gets a key relationship exactly backwards!! It is only through some form of government that property rights emerged at all!

Oh of course! We do need government and we do need taxation. Do not confuse me for a right winger, much less one who has not studied history or who thinks government is bad per se or that taxation is theft. My comment, again, was to TV&CC and his 'snouts in troughs' comment, which implied that the money belongs to the government and that by not being highly taxed the "rich" have their snouts in the trough filled with government's money.

 

[Derec]

which 5?

Apparently there is group of 10 wiling to work on a compromise.

GOP senators see path to narrower infrastructure deal

But again, Sgt. Sandy et al would get livid if some of their pet projects get sacrificed to get Republicans on board.

 

[none]

which 5?

Apparently there is group of 10 wiling to work on a compromise.

GOP senators see path to narrower infrastructure deal

But again, Sgt. Sandy et al would get livid if some of their pet projects get sacrificed to get Republicans on board.

yeah sure, what was their proposal?

 

[Derec]

I am referring to unearned income, income one does not have to work for. How it affects one's level of comfort. I am not referring to one's level of comfort and how it is obtained (as you injected earned income into the discussion to present it as a false dichotomy).

If a person saves a portion of their earnings to invest in the market, they should be able to enjoy the comfort that comes from it.

If you invest your earned income and that earned income makes unearned income, you've just made money for sitting on your ass doing nothing. Now then, it is my position, if your ass is already fat and happy, I see no reason that unearned income should not be highly taxed, penalized, pilloried for your success, or whatever you want to call it.

Thanks for spelling it out so clearly. Swammerdami accuses me of not understanding capital gains taxes. I do, but I was responding to you and you are pretty explicit in wanting to tax investment income at very high rates.

After all, you've obtained the unearned income because you got lucky, not because you're a savvy investor.

How do you know how a person obtained their income? And the stock market is not Vegas (and even in Vegas there is a difference between blackjack and slots).
Perhaps a person is neither a savvy nor lucky stock picker, just a disciplined long-term investor putting their money into an index fund like VTSAX or VFIAX.

Just needed to get that out so we're on the same page, that no one is kidding themself here.

I think you are, but that's neither here nor there.

On the other hand we have unearned income in the form of support for those who cannot make ends meet. These people are not fat and happy in this context.

Unless the ends that cannot meet are the ends of their belt. *rimshot* I'll be here all week.

Now, I'm not talking about the lazy ones who sit around drinking forties, smoking weed, and making babies.

Aren't they the ones who are getting additional $3-3.6k per child? Of course, much of those funds will be spend on cheap beer and weed, not so much on their babies.

Or the physically or mentally handicapped. I'm talking about those who are willing to and do work hard every day but their intellectual capacity is such that they do not nor will they ever make enough to make ends meet.

And again, my "snouts" comment here refers to unearned income, not "money you earned".

If you make money and invest it, you are not some pig with your snout in a trough. Again, whose money do you think those "pigs" are feasting on? If I invest in S&P500 and have gains and dividends, that's still my money. Not government's. Now, of course some taxation is necessary, but not the high levels you seem to endorse.

 

[Derec]

yeah sure, what was their proposal?

Dollar wise, I think about 800 billion. In any case, I think they need to sit down with Senate Dems and Biden and hash a compromise out. I hope they come up with a good plan for America. AOC getting apoplectic over it would just be a cherry on top.

 

[none]

yeah sure, what was their proposal?

Dollar wise, I think about 800 billion. In any case, I think they need to sit down with Senate Dems and Biden and hash a compromise out. I hope they come up with a good plan for America. AOC getting apoplectic over it would just be a cherry on top.

welp if that is your understanding....um do you think those 10 will compromise up?
would be nice to have a little more to work with other than rumour

 

[Derec]

welp if that is your understanding....um do you think those 10 will compromise up?
would be nice to have a little more to work with other than rumour

That's what negotiations are for.

 

[none]

welp if that is your understanding....um do you think those 10 will compromise up?
would be nice to have a little more to work with other than rumour

That's what negotiations are for.

yeah so let them negotiate up towards 2 trillion.
and drop the nasty nancy memes.
lest I have to paint a picture.

 

[TV and credit cards]

Well I tried, Derec. Tried to keep you from twisting my statements out of context. But I failed. I should have known better. Taking advantage of my “fat and happy” idiom for contentment with your “fat” comment of people who can afford only the most unhealthy of food or go hungry. Or your “cheap beer and weed” assumption of a people many of whom are too busy working day and night to find time for this, the cheapest form of recreation/relaxation. Oh well. I guess we’re just at different points on the benevolence scale. I’m more inclined to give what I have that is extra. You are more the stand on your own two feet type. That’s cool. Now you might be thinking, fine, if you want to give your money away, that’s should be your choice. Problem is, what I’ve found is my lacking in discipline to do so on a regular basis. Yes, my intentions are good but my actions fall short. And you know the old saying, “Good intentions are for shit”. So, I think the government should help me. Help us. Help me to be the good person I want to be and help you to see you can be just as happy with a little less. So that we may all be a little happier. That we may all have a warm, dry home. Enough to keep us in Walmart grade food through to the end of the month. Maybe a couple years of preschool so parent can go out and work, contributing to a robust economy. A couple more years after high school because we both know reading, writing, and arithmetic just ain’t gettin it anymore. Again, contributing to a robust economy. But I’m going off on a tangent now. We both know these last two items have nothing to do with infrastructure. I mean, how is an educated productive member of society like a suspension bridge?

 

[ZiprHead]

yeah sure, what was their proposal?

Dollar wise, I think about 800 billion. In any case, I think they need to sit down with Senate Dems and Biden and hash a compromise out. I hope they come up with a good plan for America. AOC getting apoplectic over it would just be a cherry on top.

So the dems compromise and still get no republican votes, as has happened so many times before.

"Fool me once, can't get fooled again." Bush II

 

[Elixir]

There's no point in trying to negotiate with the Republicans. They have made it very clear they don't want honest negotiation.

Mitch McConnell != "the Republicans". I think Biden could get at least 5 GOP Senators on board with a good bipartisan plan. But a compromise would earn him the ire of the Squad.

which 5?

Better question - what good is "5 Republicans"?
I guess it would ensure the passage of anything only requiring 51 Senate votes, but pretty useless when it comes to general legislation that requires 60, let alone systemic change that requires 67..

 

[Elixir]

which 5?

Apparently there is group of 10 wiling to work on a compromise.

GOP senators see path to narrower infrastructure deal

But again, Sgt. Sandy et al would get livid if some of their pet projects get sacrificed to get Republicans on board.

Hard to tell if Derec actually trusts that the Party of The Big Lie is interested in compromise rather than delay.
(Hint: they're not.)
Rather than condemn his 'optimism' as willing participation in Republicans' ongoing obstruction, I'll give him the benefit of the considerable doubt and deem his push for compromise a product of childlike naiveté.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

There's no point in trying to negotiate with the Republicans. They have made it very clear they don't want honest negotiation.

Mitch McConnell != "the Republicans". I think Biden could get at least 5 GOP Senators on board with a good bipartisan plan. But a compromise would earn him the ire of the Squad.

which 5?

Manchin and Sinema? That is as bipartisan it seems to get, without military funding being involved. I think it is adorable that Derec thinks Pelosi gives a fuck what "the squad" thinks. "The Squads" power in the House is nothing but a windmill.

 

[TomC]

[stupid image]

And what does free elder home care do for bridges exactly? Are old people going to hold them up instead of reinforced concrete?

Here's how it works.
Elder care creates jobs. Jobs create taxpaying workers. Taxes fund bridges so the workers can get to work.

Easy Peasy.
Tom

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

[stupid image]

And what does free elder home care do for bridges exactly? Are old people going to hold them up instead of reinforced concrete?

You mean other than the United States' existing infrastructure (as in flat out buildings and beds, we can forget about staffing!) for eldercare is woefully and pathetically ill prepared and grossly outnumbered for the oncoming onslaught of Boomers?

Just because the United States has ignored the eldercare elephant in the room, doesn't mean it hasn't been in the room for a couple decades pilfering peanuts.

It is like, "If it doesn't personally affect Derec right now" it doesn't exist in the real world. Eldercare is just one of a long list of infrastructural issues that affect or is going to affect most Americans soon and has been completely ignored for the sake of 'lower taxes". FYI, the free market solution will be unregulated homes that'll require a lot of elder neglect and almost no staff that speaks English (forget as a second language).

 

[Toni]

[stupid image]

And what does free elder home care do for bridges exactly? Are old people going to hold them up instead of reinforced concrete?

Here's how it works.
Elder care creates jobs. Jobs create taxpaying workers. Taxes fund bridges so the workers can get to work.

Easy Peasy.
Tom

Also: Elder care frees up younger offspring to engage in paid work which generates tax revenue. Actually twice: The elder care worker gets paid and pays taxes. The adult with elderly parents gets to continue working instead of providing care and pays taxes.

Same thing with child care.


While you may never have had the circumstance of having a parent in need of in home care, I have. A lot of people face this during their working lives. It can be a big deal.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

People furious after website they never used or even heard of stops listing recipes with beef.

I've definitely used their recipes before. No more, I guess.

There's no point in trying to negotiate with the Republicans. They have made it very clear they don't want honest negotiation.

Mitch McConnell != "the Republicans". I think Biden could get at least 5 GOP Senators on board with a good bipartisan plan. But a compromise would earn him the ire of the Squad.

You think they're going to cross McConnell?