Trump cheats at golf - the ONE and ONLY politics thread

Regarding the taxes discussion that I missed and don't really have the dedicated time to catch up on, I caught in skimming some of the usual chatter about how high-income people "could afford" to have their taxes jacked way up. I'm always curious about where people draw that line. We are over the $250,000 threshold. Not by a whole lot, but we're over it. If my taxes went way up, I couldn't afford my house any more. Certainly couldn't afford to put anything away for retirement. I guess I have two points:

1. People make big-ticket purchases assuming a certain tax rate, while there is not guarantee it will stay precisely at its current rate forever, won't drastically change overnight;
2. There is no guarantee that we'll make this much forever. I have no expectation of making partner at my current shop;
3. We may have a nice income, but we have very little wealth, owing to 10 years on a sports writer and teacher's salaries, then three years out of the job market entirely.

 

Proposals to tax wealth overall as opposed to straight income have been made, but of course that's difficult to assess and do. Most people in your bracket are already taxed on their primary asset, their homes, by their municipalities, and if it's a nice house in a nice town, that rate is probably on the high side.

 

Interesting article in the NYT on one of President Obama's narrative shapers:

"Rhodes is a storyteller who uses a writer's tools to advance an agenda that is packaged as politics but is often quite personal. He is adept at constructing overarching plotlines with heroes and villains, their conflicts and motivations supported by flurries of carefully chosen adjectives, quotations and leaks from named and unnamed senior officials. He is the master shaper and retailer of Obama's foreign-policy narratives, at a time when the killer wave of social media has washed away the sand castles of the traditional press."

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/08/m...st-who-became-obamas-foreign-policy-guru.html

 

One of the most striking exit polls I saw was from SC. Trump supporters, by about a 3 to 1 margin, favored raising the minimum wage and increasing taxes above the aforementioned $250K threshold.

Down here in VA, many of the religious right social cons are having fits (although the most religious ones in my family appear to be talking themselves into him). The ideological conservatives are howling that he "isn't a conservative," as though that somehow disqualifies him from the party. The reason I bring this up in relation to the SC poll...it's not as if Trump voters didn't know these objections. The opposition spent a huge amount on anti-Trump advertising. The media reports were nonstop. The reality is that a significant percentage of those voting Republican these days aren't ideological conservatives and aren't part of the religious right. That's probably been true all along.

Trump is using the Republican party mechanism for what is essentially an independent run. It's fascinating.

 

Donald Trump inspires Cards Against Humanity knockoffs

 

That's why I've always wondered how he would have done in the Democratic primaries, as well. Most of the country would have probably never heard of Bernie Sanders.

 

Trump is probably going to lose to Hillary. I accept that. That said, like you said, it's a fascinating political experiment. It's really a test run for a future candidate with broader appeal who can hijack the process and take it all the way.

 

So, he's your guy yet your abstaining from voting?

 

Well said. In some ways it's just another faction of the republican party rising up with Trump as their leader. At it's basic level not a lot different than when the tea party wanted to be heard and had Rand Paul as their leader.

 

I am not strongly considering voting for Trump. The taco salad stunt won me over. He's what we need - a straight shooter who doesn't take himself too seriously, and can negotiate the kind of deals that will make America a force to be reckoned with again - and it would be a dereliction of my duty as a citizen not to vote for him. (Assuming he picks a running mate with government experience.)

 

Trump himself has so far (always an important qualifier for him), opposed raising the minimum wage and has proposed a massive tax cut benefiting those with incomes higher than $250 K per annum. Those South Carolina Trump voters are in for a rude shock if he wins. I just do not believe Trump's appeal is on economic grounds in any way. It's total tribal identity.

 

A straight shooter?