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The 2016 election gave a slug of cash and tax breaks to the investor class, voted in by a huge cadre of people probably living check to check. Given that, why

The 2016 election gave a slug of cash and tax breaks to the investor class, voted in by a huge cadre of people probably living check to check. Given that, why should it have been an epiphany? Until people vote in their legitimate best interest, nothing will change.

MomoXenosaga 4y ago
True but the US government, Trump himself in fact, authorised helicopter money bags when COVID 19 disrupted society. In fact as much as I hate Trump he was change: the first evidence of the old elite losing control.
- jleyank 4y ago
  All countries threw bags of money. The difference was who it was thrown at.
- andrekandre 4y ago
  > the first evidence of the old elite losing control. admittedly pre-covid, but trumps tax-cuts greatly benefited the elites...
Maursault 4y ago
> Until people vote in their legitimate best interest, nothing will change Best interest here means best economic interests. About 25% of Republicans earn less than $30K/yr, another 25% earn less than $50K, another 25% earn less than $100K/yr, and another 23% of Republicans earn less than $300K/yr. This means 98% of Republicans have absolutely no idea what they're doing and are voting themselves into economic stagnation. The 2% of Republicans earning more than $300K/yr are quite shrewd, but at moral cost. The Republican Party is made up nearly entirely of the bamboozled, yet while they will never see economic opportunity while Republicans hold power, they are paying for the 2% to make inroads on the 0.01%.
- Red_Leaves_Flyy 4y ago
  Do you have sources for those numbers?
  - Maursault 4y ago
    Yes, but I eye-balled it.[1] Satisfied? [1] https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/religious-landscape-study/compare/income-distribution/by/state/among/party-affiliation/republican-lean-rep/ https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/religious-landscape-stu...
    - Red_Leaves_Flyy 4y ago
      Awesome, thanks. Note of warning for lurkers, the page is broken on my mobile.
- patrick451 4y ago
  Without a baseline, your numbers are both meaningless and uninteresting.
  - Maursault 4y ago
    Lovely straw man. Out of curiously, just what exactly are you talking about? Why do you think a baseline is needed? Because I have no earthly idea what you mean by "baseline" in the context of what percentages of Republicans earn.
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
rayiner 4y ago
Corporate tax breaks, like those in Trump's tax cuts, are complicated in terms of their effect on the economy. There's a reason why even countries with robust social democratic parties like Germany and Sweden have low corporate taxes. At least in theory corporate tax cuts drive business activity and lowers unemployment, which happened during Trump's presidency. Meanwhile, Trump also took aim at the "investor class" by capping SALT deductions, which hurt rich people in the orbit of Wall Street and Silicon Valley. As a practical matter, moreover, tax cuts are something Republicans can do with only 51 Senate votes, because the budget is an exception to the filibuster's 60 vote requirement. Query what would have happened if we eliminated the filibuster and the GOP had more room to give their voters what they want.
- bombcar 4y ago
  Corporate taxes just come from the customers of the corporations. It may be more palatable but it’s just VAT with extra steps. The SALT change and the deductible increase affected large swaths of taxpayers favorably-mostly the working poor who made enough to pay taxes but not enough for much deductions.
hotpotamus 4y ago
There's that, but also people are now turning down free, potentially lifesaving vaccines as an expression of their political identity. Dying on a ventilator to spite your perceived political enemies is not sending a very strong message of disapproval to the elite.
- polio 4y ago
  Dying and giving up your vote is not particularly effective politics either.
chiefalchemist 4y ago
I believe that when it comes to voting, those who do vote do the best they can. What's broken is the two party cartel system. Getting two choices, both of which are often second rate isn't the voters' fault. Put another way, if you don't have anyone worth voting for you're not going to vote. Voter turnout is very low. What does that tell us? Oddly enough, there's no one responsible and accountable for voter turnout. Funny how that is.

MomoXenosaga 4y ago

True but the US government, Trump himself in fact, authorised helicopter money bags when COVID 19 disrupted society. In fact as much as I hate Trump he was change: the first evidence of the old elite losing control.

jleyank 4y ago
All countries threw bags of money. The difference was who it was thrown at.
andrekandre 4y ago
> the first evidence of the old elite losing control. admittedly pre-covid, but trumps tax-cuts greatly benefited the elites...

Maursault 4y ago

> Until people vote in their legitimate best interest, nothing will change Best interest here means best economic interests. About 25% of Republicans earn less than $30K/yr, another 25% earn less than $50K, another 25% earn less than $100K/yr, and another 23% of Republicans earn less than $300K/yr. This means 98% of Republicans have absolutely no idea what they're doing and are voting themselves into economic stagnation. The 2% of Republicans earning more than $300K/yr are quite shrewd, but at moral cost. The Republican Party is made up nearly entirely of the bamboozled, yet while they will never see economic opportunity while Republicans hold power, they are paying for the 2% to make inroads on the 0.01%.

Red_Leaves_Flyy 4y ago
Do you have sources for those numbers?
- Maursault 4y ago
  Yes, but I eye-balled it.[1] Satisfied? [1] https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/religious-landscape-study/compare/income-distribution/by/state/among/party-affiliation/republican-lean-rep/ https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/religious-landscape-stu...
  - Red_Leaves_Flyy 4y ago
    Awesome, thanks. Note of warning for lurkers, the page is broken on my mobile.
patrick451 4y ago
Without a baseline, your numbers are both meaningless and uninteresting.
- Maursault 4y ago
  Lovely straw man. Out of curiously, just what exactly are you talking about? Why do you think a baseline is needed? Because I have no earthly idea what you mean by "baseline" in the context of what percentages of Republicans earn.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]

rayiner 4y ago

Corporate tax breaks, like those in Trump's tax cuts, are complicated in terms of their effect on the economy. There's a reason why even countries with robust social democratic parties like Germany and Sweden have low corporate taxes. At least in theory corporate tax cuts drive business activity and lowers unemployment, which happened during Trump's presidency. Meanwhile, Trump also took aim at the "investor class" by capping SALT deductions, which hurt rich people in the orbit of Wall Street and Silicon Valley. As a practical matter, moreover, tax cuts are something Republicans can do with only 51 Senate votes, because the budget is an exception to the filibuster's 60 vote requirement. Query what would have happened if we eliminated the filibuster and the GOP had more room to give their voters what they want.

bombcar 4y ago
Corporate taxes just come from the customers of the corporations. It may be more palatable but it’s just VAT with extra steps. The SALT change and the deductible increase affected large swaths of taxpayers favorably-mostly the working poor who made enough to pay taxes but not enough for much deductions.

hotpotamus 4y ago

There's that, but also people are now turning down free, potentially lifesaving vaccines as an expression of their political identity. Dying on a ventilator to spite your perceived political enemies is not sending a very strong message of disapproval to the elite.

polio 4y ago
Dying and giving up your vote is not particularly effective politics either.

chiefalchemist 4y ago

I believe that when it comes to voting, those who do vote do the best they can. What's broken is the two party cartel system. Getting two choices, both of which are often second rate isn't the voters' fault. Put another way, if you don't have anyone worth voting for you're not going to vote. Voter turnout is very low. What does that tell us? Oddly enough, there's no one responsible and accountable for voter turnout. Funny how that is.