US Elections 2020 (geopolitics, informed debate, no ad hominems)

Biden

14 (66.7%)

Trump

7 (33.3%)

Total Members Voted: 21

Voting closed: November 02, 2020, 06:25:59 pm

[hogloff]

Oh, you talking about the press again?

Nope...the Trumpster that you worship daily and kiss his feet.

[John Camp]

The winning campaign issue right now is health insurance.  Even if they have a COBRA plan, the premiums will be very high.  A lot of those who have been laid off and will not be going back to their jobs won't have health insurance and the Trump Administration seems to be willfully committing suicide by going after the ACA aka Obamacare, without any replacement being offered.  Biden just has to sit on the stoop ala William McKinley and just keep repeating the mantra - "they want to take away your health insurance"

Exactly.

[Alan Klein]

The winning campaign issue right now is health insurance.  Even if they have a COBRA plan, the premiums will be very high.  A lot of those who have been laid off and will not be going back to their jobs won't have health insurance and the Trump Administration seems to be willfully committing suicide by going after the ACA aka Obamacare, without any replacement being offered.  Biden just has to sit on the stoop ala William McKinley and just keep repeating the mantra - "they want to take away your health insurance" 

Both parties seem to be giving away the store.  By the time this is over, there will be free medical care, unemployment insurance for life, forgiveness of tuition debt, and a chicken for every pot. Your pension and mine and our Social Security checks won't be worth squat as inflation destroys the value of the dollar from all the printing the Fed's going to do.  We'll all be in the poor house. 

[John Camp]

Well, there is a surprise.

I have listened to a couple of the recent press conferences, and Kayleigh McEnany is even less credible than her predecessors, if that is even possible.

Let's not get started on Kayleigh. I treasure her press briefings, especially the interplay with other female reporters who are telling her that she's full of shit. But Kayleigh is made of teflon -- the comments slide right by her and she doesn't even blink, just keeps going with that inane, and possibly insane, smile, because she doesn't recognize the fact that the reporters are telling her that she's an idiot. And she looks so much like Barbie! Andy Warhol would have loved her as much as I do! She's the Republican female dream, and you gotta respect that! 

[John Camp]

Both parties seem to be giving away the store.  By the time this is over, there will be free medical care, unemployment insurance for life, forgiveness of tuition debt, and a chicken for every pot. Your pension and mine and our Social Security checks won't be worth squat as inflation destroys the value of the dollar from all the printing the Fed's going to do.  We'll all be in the poor house.

In other words, pretty much what the boomers got for themselves, and convinced themselves that they earned. Social Security that pays out much more than they paid in, thereby breaking the bank, colleges that charged a couple hundred dollars for tuition (I think I paid $360 at the University of Iowa in 1962.) They also gifted themselves with Medicare to take care of themselves when they were no longer getting company-paid health insurance. And on the chickens...I got nothin'.

[Alan Klein]

In other words, pretty much what the boomers got for themselves, and convinced themselves that they earned.

Of course boomers are guilty as everyone else.  When I explained to my accountant friend, who also collects Social Security and is a liberal Democrat, that they might cut Social Security, he was very upset and adamant that it's unfair if they did that.  After all, he contributed to Social Security all his life.  It's his money they're paying back.  Yet he feels it's perfectly OK to raise taxes on richer people as if the money they earned they didn't earn.   He couldn't see that those additional taxes are really owned by the people not the government and they have just as much a right to their money as we are with the contributions we made to Social Security.  It's really the same issue.  The money belongs to the individual in both cases.  You see everyone is for more taxes to pay for things as long as its the other guy who's getting taxed.

[Chris Kern]

Let's not get started on Kayleigh. I treasure her press briefings, especially the interplay with other female reporters who are telling her that she's full of shit. But Kayleigh is made of teflon -- the comments slide right by her and she doesn't even blink, just keeps going with that inane, and possibly insane, smile, because she doesn't recognize the fact that the reporters are telling her that she's an idiot.

Well, I take your point, but I still treasure the memories of Sean Spicer's White House press briefings.  Sean didn't have Keyleigh's flair for saying preposterous things with a straight face and a blank smile: you could see the little beads of sweat break out on his face when he was lying.  Of course, Spicer was a pro, with a series of progressively important appointments in Republican Party politics before he went to work for Trump, and he undoubtedly knew that after his White House gig his credibility would be gone for good.  Now he's dancing with the stars.  That's not a metaphor, for those of you who aren't familiar with U.S. television—it's the name of a celebrity "reality" competition program.  Actually, that ended a while ago.  He's probably selling shoes now.

[Alan Klein]

Spicer has his own program on Newsmax called Spicer & Co.  I believe they teach dancing to punk-rock. 

[Jeremy Roussak]

Nope...the Trumpster that you worship daily and kiss his feet.

If, as your posts appear to demonstrate, this is the best you can manage, begone. Final warning, yet again.

Jeremy

[hogloff]

Both parties seem to be giving away the store.  By the time this is over, there will be free medical care, unemployment insurance for life, forgiveness of tuition debt, and a chicken for every pot. Your pension and mine and our Social Security checks won't be worth squat as inflation destroys the value of the dollar from all the printing the Fed's going to do.  We'll all be in the poor house.

Doesn't your pension increase with inflation?

[LesPalenik]

Doesn't your pension increase with inflation?

Pension indexing adds even more to the federal debt, so they will have to print even more money. In addition, the inflation devalues any of your savings.

[Alan Klein]

Doesn't your pension increase with inflation?

Yes, partially. Up to 3% but no more than $540 maximum increase for any one year.  So it really doesn't cover it.  Social Security does go up based on inflation. Unfortunately, the way the government figures it doesn't actually cover the devaluation of currency.  The problem is that in the future, when they really start to run out of money, they're going to make changes that reduces Social Security.  They may index it to your total income like they do Medicare payments that seniors pay.  Social Security is now taxed at 85% if you make more than a certain amount.  They could increase than tax to 100% of the total amount.  That's already a double taxation.  They tax the original income and then take out the social security payroll deduction.  Then when you retire and get the social security, they tax that money again.  Of course if you die before starting social security, they just keep it all so your dependents get nothing from what you paid in all your life. 

At least we don't have a VAT tax like Europe.  But that may change too.  We'll all be working for the government like the serfs use to work for the British King and Lords. We revolted, fought for independence, and now we're doing it to ourselves.  We've come full circle. 

[Peter McLennan]

  By the time this is over, there will be free medical care...

Medical care is not and never will be free.  Not even in Canada.

[Alan Klein]

Medical care is not and never will be free.  Not even in Canada.

Medicare for the elderly is not free in America.  They pay approximately $1500 annually. Plus there's a surcharge if your total income is higher than a certain amount.  So you could be paying thousands for "free" medical care.  Medicine is extra.  Of course nothing is free that the government provides.  It has to be paid for in incomes taxes.  Or they borrow and you have to pay it back later like a credit card.  Or they print it and you have to pay with currency whose purchasing power is being devalued by inflation.  There is no free lunch. 

[hogloff]

Pension indexing adds even more to the federal debt, so they will have to print even more money. In addition, the inflation devalues any of your savings.

Since I retired 5 years ago, my savings almost doubled. Got to be smart with your money and not treat them as savings, but investments.

[Alan Klein]

Since I retired 5 years ago, my savings almost doubled. Got to be smart with your money and not treat them as savings, but investments.

What's your secret?

[TechTalk]

Paterson, NJ election fraud is just the tip of the iceberg, the ones who got caught.

In the decision of a two year long Federal Court case, that ran from 2016 to 2018 and was just reaffirmed by a Federal Appeals Court 2 months ago, in which Kris Kobach (who has built his political career for the past decade on claims of widespread voter fraud and who Trump appointed to lead a commission to uncover such fraud) was the defendant in a voter suppression lawsuit, the judge wrote...

Defendant insists that these numbers are just “the tip of the iceberg.” This trial was his opportunity to produce credible evidence of that iceberg, but he failed to do so.

Instead, the Court draws the more obvious conclusion that there is no iceberg; only an icicle, largely created by confusion and administrative error.

[hogloff]

What's your secret?

I spend a couple of hours a day reading, watching and learning about the markers and individual stocks. Back 10 years ago when the banks tanked...I invested into BAC which paid back 6x when I sold it last Febuary. I made a quick double on marijuana stocks and got out when I saw it is cheaper to buy off the street than through retail as the middle man is greedy. Need to keep your ear to the ground and just use some common sense.

[Alan Klein]

In the decision of a two year long Federal Court case, that ran from 2016 to 2018 and was just reaffirmed by a Federal Appeals Court 2 months ago, in which Kris Kobach (who has built his political career for the past decade on claims of widespread voter fraud and who Trump appointed to lead a commission to uncover such fraud) was the defendant in a voter suppression lawsuit, the judge wrote...

Defendant insists that these numbers are just “the tip of the iceberg.” This trial was his opportunity to produce credible evidence of that iceberg, but he failed to do so.

Instead, the Court draws the more obvious conclusion that there is no iceberg; only an icicle, largely created by confusion and administrative error.

I don't know anything about that case and it has nothing to do with the current situation in New Jersey. The City of Paterson and 31 other district problems in NJ are just a few weeks old and have major criminal implications.  People have already been arrested.  The results of elections are being discarded or questioned.  You're just creating a straw man diversion to protect Democrats who are opposed to effective monitoring of voting.

[Alan Klein]

I spend a couple of hours a day reading, watching and learning about the markers and individual stocks. Back 10 years ago when the banks tanked...I invested into BAC which paid back 6x when I sold it last Febuary. I made a quick double on marijuana stocks and got out when I saw it is cheaper to buy off the street than through retail as the middle man is greedy. Need to keep your ear to the ground and just use some common sense.

What kind of dividends did they send you on those marijuana stocks?