Red Mosquito

Oh ok:

Clears that up. Thanks.

yea getting rid of the mortgage interest deduction could spell trouble for many people. Prices have skyrocketed the past couple years and without care - we could definitely burst again.

Based on how the homes in the area are stagnating I think we're closer than is comfortable. People were able to sell houses in less than a week but I know of a handful of people in my office who can't sell their houses, even under asking.

Bi_3 wrote:

4/5 wrote:

Fuzzy_Dunlop wrote:

4/5 wrote:It's a shame it doesn't repeal the mortgage interest deduction.

Yeah seriously, fuck the middle class, make'em pay!!

If you want the middle class to pay less taxes then cut middle class tax rates. The government shouldn't be in the business of incentivizing/subsidizing certain things, like taking on debt to "own" a home.

In principle I agree with you, BUT, there are literally millions of homes the would become no longer affordable to their current owners and/or the resulting price suppression would destroy the accumulated wealth of the owners. It would like result in even more consolidation of property ownership in the hands of businesses and the 1% as well.

Ok, so how about phasing out the deduction over a period of years instead of just ending it immediately? This would happen alongside a reduction in their income tax rate, which on net could leave them equally (and hopefully better) able to pay their bills than before.

People complain all the time about the lack of affordable housing, and this tax deduction is one of the many contributing factors to that problem.

Additionally, less than 20% of households currently claim the mortgage interest deduction and those who do are typically high income earners. The proposed tax plan would double the standard deduction which would likely further decrease its use among middle class homeowners.

Maybe? I dunno. I would guess, without a shred of evidence, that middle to lower middle class home owners with mortgages that would qualify for the deduction will never actually own the home without some sort of financial windfall, so I suppose it depends who you want to help. I suppose it’s that I don’t think that helping a family pulling in 100k/year afford a 500k house is really some act of evil oppression.

4/5 wrote: Additionally, less than 20% of households currently claim the mortgage interest deduction and those who do are typically high income earners. The proposed tax plan would double the standard deduction which would likely further decrease its use among middle class homeowners.

On top of getting rid of property tax deduction and state income tax deduction people in NJ and NY are gonna get killed. We need a significant rate cut just to break even. The increase in the standard deduction won't offset it either.

Roy Moore’s Alabama Victory Sets Off Talk of a G.O.P. Insurrection
https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/09/27/u ... nnell.html

Trent Lott, a former Senate Republican leader, was blunt: “Every Republican senator had better get prepared for a challenge from the far right.”

In a memo about the Alabama election that circulated among Republican donors, Steven Law, president of the Senate Leadership Fund, a “super PAC” closely allied with Mr. McConnell, said primary voters were intensely angry and inclined to blame Republicans for dysfunction in Washington.

“The Republican Congress has replaced President Obama as the bogeyman for conservative G.O.P. primary voters,” Mr. Law wrote, cautioning that the president was helping to amplify that point of view: “This narrative is driven by Trump himself, and it resonates with primary voters who believe the Republican Congress ‘isn’t doing enough’ (as we frequently heard in focus groups) to advance the president’s agenda.”

Echoes what I was saying earlier today.

McParadigm wrote:Echoes what I was saying earlier today.

Why can't they understand that a big reason nothing gets done is because their president is pretty dumb and doesnt care?

Strat wrote:

McParadigm wrote:Echoes what I was saying earlier today.

Why can't they understand that a big reason nothing gets done is because their president is pretty dumb and doesnt care?

They don't have a fucking clue what to do with him or their base right now. They're trapped in an ugly situation, and the donors are hammering on the door asking what happened to all those legislative promises they paid for. That's why you have the rash of retirements and retirement considerations.

Russia paid for Facebook ads promoting Jill Stein: ‘Trust me, it’s not a wasted vote’
https://www.rawstory.com/2017/09/russia ... -vote/amp/

We're all shocked, I'm sure.

Russian-funded Facebook ads purchased during the 2016 presidential election promoted Green Party candidate Jill Stein as well as then-candidate Donald Trump and Democratic primary candidate Bernie Sanders, said Politico on Wednesday.

“Other advertisements paid for by shadowy Russian buyers criticized Hillary Clinton and promoted Donald Trump. Some backed Bernie Sanders and his platform even after his presidential campaign had ended, according to a person with knowledge of the ads,” wrote Politico’s Josh Dawsey.

Dawsey reported that the Stein ad he saw was placed late in the campaign and played upon some liberals’ belief that Clinton is too hawkish and would lead the U.S. into war with Iran.

“Choose peace and vote for Jill Stein,” said the ad. “Trust me. It’s not a wasted vote. … The only way to take our country back is to stop voting for the corporations and banks that own us. #GrowaSpineVoteJillStein.”

Let's see what Jill has to say ab- ....okay...

Geezes christ.

I know that stuff is sort of old hat already, but I think part of getting through this is going to have to be acknowledging that we were all played to some degree...it wasn't just Trump voters. Far left liberals bought in on Stein, the media got played something fierce (fuck do they not like admitting that), and a lot of people who had been turning out didn't bother because it's not like he was going to win,..

McParadigm wrote:Russia paid for Facebook ads promoting Jill Stein: ‘Trust me, it’s not a wasted vote’
https://www.rawstory.com/2017/09/russia ... -vote/amp/

We're all shocked, I'm sure.

Russian-funded Facebook ads purchased during the 2016 presidential election promoted Green Party candidate Jill Stein as well as then-candidate Donald Trump and Democratic primary candidate Bernie Sanders, said Politico on Wednesday.

“Other advertisements paid for by shadowy Russian buyers criticized Hillary Clinton and promoted Donald Trump. Some backed Bernie Sanders and his platform even after his presidential campaign had ended, according to a person with knowledge of the ads,” wrote Politico’s Josh Dawsey.

Dawsey reported that the Stein ad he saw was placed late in the campaign and played upon some liberals’ belief that Clinton is too hawkish and would lead the U.S. into war with Iran.

“Choose peace and vote for Jill Stein,” said the ad. “Trust me. It’s not a wasted vote. … The only way to take our country back is to stop voting for the corporations and banks that own us. #GrowaSpineVoteJillStein.”

So instead of "war with Iran" we're looking at WWIII with North Korea. Well that's a fair trade, right?

McParadigm wrote:Russia paid for Facebook ads promoting Jill Stein: ‘Trust me, it’s not a wasted vote’
https://www.rawstory.com/2017/09/russia ... -vote/amp/

We're all shocked, I'm sure.

Russian-funded Facebook ads purchased during the 2016 presidential election promoted Green Party candidate Jill Stein as well as then-candidate Donald Trump and Democratic primary candidate Bernie Sanders, said Politico on Wednesday.

“Other advertisements paid for by shadowy Russian buyers criticized Hillary Clinton and promoted Donald Trump. Some backed Bernie Sanders and his platform even after his presidential campaign had ended, according to a person with knowledge of the ads,” wrote Politico’s Josh Dawsey.

Dawsey reported that the Stein ad he saw was placed late in the campaign and played upon some liberals’ belief that Clinton is too hawkish and would lead the U.S. into war with Iran.

“Choose peace and vote for Jill Stein,” said the ad. “Trust me. It’s not a wasted vote. … The only way to take our country back is to stop voting for the corporations and banks that own us. #GrowaSpineVoteJillStein.”

I haven’t really been following this story but I do have a question I haven’t seen answered anywhere... does anyone believe that only Russia was engaged in this?

I haven't seen anyone ask that question but it is a good one.

The bipartisan ACA prop-up is back. Turns out it wasn't dead after all!

So ends the silliest bluff ever.

Bi_3 wrote:

McParadigm wrote:Russia paid for Facebook ads promoting Jill Stein: ‘Trust me, it’s not a wasted vote’
https://www.rawstory.com/2017/09/russia ... -vote/amp/

We're all shocked, I'm sure.

Russian-funded Facebook ads purchased during the 2016 presidential election promoted Green Party candidate Jill Stein as well as then-candidate Donald Trump and Democratic primary candidate Bernie Sanders, said Politico on Wednesday.

“Other advertisements paid for by shadowy Russian buyers criticized Hillary Clinton and promoted Donald Trump. Some backed Bernie Sanders and his platform even after his presidential campaign had ended, according to a person with knowledge of the ads,” wrote Politico’s Josh Dawsey.

Dawsey reported that the Stein ad he saw was placed late in the campaign and played upon some liberals’ belief that Clinton is too hawkish and would lead the U.S. into war with Iran.

“Choose peace and vote for Jill Stein,” said the ad. “Trust me. It’s not a wasted vote. … The only way to take our country back is to stop voting for the corporations and banks that own us. #GrowaSpineVoteJillStein.”

I haven’t really been following this story but I do have a question I haven’t seen answered anywhere... does anyone believe that only Russia was engaged in this?

First of all, by definition Americans were the key assets/actors used to detonate this bomb. So there's that.

Beyond that, it depends on if you are referring to:

1. Spending decades developing assets among the wealthy and influential in another country.
2. Using controlled human assets to funnel money directly into a rival nation’s election.
3. Creating volumes of fake “local” accounts in order to sow distrust and promote nationalism.
4. Utilizing hacking as a method of information acquisition and on-site propagandizing.
5. Hosting, creating, and/or directly influencing media organizations in order to prevent a candidate you dislike from winning an election.
6. Using the above platforms, and others, to incite violence.

Because I’d say the answer is “some of those things are used by some actors some of the time, and a few of them are used by most or all influential nations.” But few nations have the combination of totally centralized authoritarian control, wealth of technical talent, financial malleability, cultural enmity, and existential paranoia that was necessary for Russia to dig this far into both American and European politics.

I'm sure China, NK, and all manner of other places engage in some of this. I'm sure we do, too. Just not all of it and not full on.

We've all been playing the floor is lava with 21st century information manipulation, and Russia brought in actual lava.

We could always put in a provision that all federal officials must fly coach. I bet that passenger bill of rights would get more teeth.