Charles Blow dissects and trashes the GOP Tax bill.
It starts:
“With their tax bill, Donald Trump and the Republicans are raiding the Treasury in plain sight, throwing crumbs to the masses as the millionaires and billionaires make off with the cake.
“America should be aghast not only at the looting but also at the brazenness of its execution.
“It seems that for as long as I can remember, Republicans have been wringing their hands about deficits. And yet in this budget, they willingly, willfully exploded the deficit, not for public uplift or rebuilding America’s infrastructure but rather on the spurious argument that giving truckloads of money back to businesses will spark their benevolence.
“According to the government’s own nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the tax bill will lead to “an increase in the deficit of $1,455 billion over the next 10 years.”
“But be sure, when this bill leads to these predicted deficits, Republicans will return to their sidelined deficit rhetoric armed with a sickle, aiming the blade at the social safety net, exacerbating the egregious imbalance of the tax bill’s original sins.
“That’s the strategy: Appease the rich on the front end; punish the poor on the back. Feed the weak to the strong…
“Make no mistake: No matter how folks try to rationalize this bill, it has nothing to do with a desire to help the middle class or the poor. This is a cash offering to the gods of the Republican donor class. This is a bill meant to benefit Republicans’ benefactors. This is a quid pro quo and the paying of a ransom.
“Trump promised to drain the swamp. That was another lie among many. He and the Republicans are in fact feeding us to the gators…
“America must make an honest appraisal: Donald Trump is a plutocrat masquerading as a populist. He is a pirate on a mission to plunder.
“Trump is milking the American presidency for personal gain. If he can give the impression of compassion on his mission to cash out, all the better for him, but the general good, the health of the nation and the plight of the plebeians is not now nor has it ever been his focus.
“His ego is too big for egalitarianism, and his heart too small for it.
“So he sticks closely to what he knows, the brand of Trump: promoting it, positioning it, defending it and enriching it.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I looked back at some of the comments we wrote just after the election last year. It’s as bad and worse than we feared. And while we celebrate small victories, will we be able to repair the damage that is being done right now?
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We will repair the damage. We will start by taking the House and maybe the Senate in 2018.
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You are right. We’ve been backed into a corner and the only option is to fight. And we need to keep our allies accountable and focused.
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GregB
Bingo .
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Great. The first time I’ve ever hit Bingo in my life and I don’t get a thing.
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Here is a brilliant synopsis by Reich
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Diane,
May I please add one more thing?
I think you’re right, but in order to do so, it is VERY important for people who are considerably much in the same camp to shed their differences and labels, to know that there is never any such thing as 100% alliance, and that even close allies who are practically joined at the hip and brain can have diverse views on how to solve the same problem and arrive at the same results, both mechanically and stylistically.
Internecine conflicts divide us. I know this is not a perfect situation, and I personally identify now as an independent with progressive values. I have never and will never vote for GOP, but I have little faith in both parties. I have always identified and voted as a “democrat” all my life. Still, it is better to have the lesser of two evils temporarily, but best to form third and other new parties that will not behave as “establishment”.
There are some on this blog who I disagree with, including you from rare time to rare time, yet, it would be foolish of me to alienate my allies. I would be lost without reading this blog.
Therefore, I appeal to everyone to not nit-pick and expect mirror images of themselves in their allies, but rather, to fight the good fight in ways that are meaningful, purposeful, and productive.
United we stand . . . .
Do you know what I mean?
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Yes, I agree, Robert. I have written repeatedly that people in the same camp—opposed to high-stakes Testing, opposed to privatization, opposed to profiteering, and supportive of a humane education that builds on children’s strengths without punishing or humiliating them, supportive of reduced class size, supportive of teacher professionalism, supportive of teachers’ right to bargain collectively—should stand together. We might not agree on every detail and every word, but we are allies and should have each others’ backs, instead of shooting our allies in the back. No “friendly fire.”
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Robert Rendo & dianeravitch—
Your comments just above this.
Yes.
😎
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I agree, Diane and KTA . . .
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The leftists and socialists could not beat a tired, brain-dead orange-face moron in 2016. Do you have any particular insight, as to how the Democrats can take back the House/Senate? I do not see it.
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Well, Trump promised the moon. Now, he is polling at 35-40%. I don’t think he ever has reached 50%.
Democrats just swept the state of Virginia. You noticed, I am sure, as you live there.
The deep red state of Alabama just elected a Democratic Senator.
That’s my insight.
People are on to Trump. He is a phony.
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I think that complaining about increasing the deficit is the pot calling the kettle black. Obama has increased the deficit more than all other Presidents combined.
Corporations do not pay taxes, they just raise their prices to cover it so the consumer pays those taxes too.
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Obama saved the country from an all out depression. There GOP gave us the great depression of 1929 and they are working overtime to give us another Great GOP Depression.
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Do you, by any chance, have any evidence to substantiate this assertion? Generally, that’s the protocol when making claims such as this.
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Evidence is for slackers. You may also remember that FDR increased spending after the Great Depression and put us into deep debt to fight WWII. Talk about your fiscal irresponsibility!
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“Corporations do not pay taxes, they just raise their prices to cover it so the consumer pays those taxes too.”
Corporations also don’t pay their workers’ wages. They just raise their prices to cover it so the consumer pays worker wages. In fact, corporations don’t pay any of the costs of doing business — they just raise their prices!
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I can’t tell what is sarcasm, and what are your true thoughts.
Corporation is from the latin “corpore” which means “body”. A corporation is a legal entity, which operates as a legal person.
When a consumer buys a widget, he pays the entire cost of the widget. From the raw materials, to the rent on the widget factory, to the transportation to bring the finished widget to the Wal-Mart, and the wages of the clerk at the store. AND- guess what? the taxes on the corporation that assembled and delivered the widget. Taxes are a cost, that corporations pass on to the final consumer, just like all other costs.
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Right, thus corporations have no costs, because they pass all costs on to their customers.
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Corporations pass all of their costs off to the consumers of their products/services. The amount that a corporation charges for their product/services covers the costs. The amount that a corporation charges over their actual costs, is called the profit.
The only “tax” that a corporation actually pays is an excess profits tax. During WW2, most USA corporations were subject to a 90% excess profits tax, to act as an incentive against war profiteering.
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Exactly. Corporations pass off all of their costs to their customers. Taxes are one of those costs. Therefore, corporations pay no taxes, because taxes are just one of many costs that corporations pass on to their customers. Corporations also pay no other costs, because all costs are passed on to their customers. This is made possible by the fact that customers are willing to pick up any and all costs that are passed onto them. As a consequence, it is impossible for a corporation to loser money, because any and all of their costs will always be paid by their customers. There is absolutely nothing idiotic about any of these statements.
“The amount that a corporation charges over their actual costs, is called the profit.”
Charles, you are blowing my mind. Did you go to Wharton or something?
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Ronald Reagan was a “deficit hawk”, and pushed for a balanced budget. Nevertheless, during the eight years of the Reagan administration, the USA ran up more deficit spending than all previous presidents combined.
Do you think that a Democratic House/Senate, coupled with a Democrat in the White House, can do any differently?
Mile-High deficits are going to be with us, no matter who controls the government.
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No, we didn’t need to give $1 trillion in cuts to the 1%.
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Picture says a thousand words. 1 African-American and 9 women, all strategically placed in front of a hundred plus rich white men.
Tax plan:
Rich get richer – and will NOT add jobs in their corporations (in U.S) and will invest in private white schools and militarized charters which they will also deduct
Middle class is boiled frog – a few higher pay checks until 2025 (?) when their taxes increase
Poor get blamed for everyone’s woes, “get a job” (which doesn’t exist)…
Blame the victims – and immigrants – who need jobs and health care for their high taxes
Public schools, roads, fire, police all lose local and state taxes because middle class and wealthy will not vote increases because they can’t deduct from federal taxes
Buy up and Control the media – spin their lies and misleading headlines and call the others liars and biased
Control the judgeships so appeals and inequeties denied
Divert attention with secret investigations…
Here’s the deal: How many readers called their Congress(white)men?
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I have called and called Senator Todd Young (R-IN). [I’ve emailed him many, many, many times.] My last call to him was the afternoon before the Senate voted on this horrible tax bill. I read the reasons why this bill was so rotten. The facts came from an email put out my my Representative Pete Visclosky (D-IN). I gave Young verified facts of how destructive this would be to Hoosiers and he voted for it anyway.
I am completely frustrated by a Congress that doesn’t hear average people. I wasn’t able to donate a million or more to buy his vote. He has either been bought out by donations, is totally stupid or is too weak to stand up for what is right and had to follow the party line…which is dominant in a RED state.
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Carol,
Join with the Indivibles in your community or start your own chapter. Prepare to take back the country, at least the part that stands for re-election in 2018. These guys are like a gang of thieves who break into a home; they hear the alarm go off, they know the cops are on their way, they stuff their sacks with everything they can in the few minutes they have. The cops are on the way. The thieves will steal and steal as long as they are in the house. Their time is running out. No one knows whether they will get a tax cut or not until 2019. The election is November 2019.
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I am a member of the Indivisibles. I did go to one of their sponsored tax protests in NW Indiana. We knocked on doors and put out fliers to tell residents of the mass numbers of people who had been taken off voting lists without being notified.
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In other words Diane, “Repeal and Replace” Republicans in all elected offices in 2018.
Quite frankly, I think Democrats should adopt that slogan for their own use. It was useful for the Right, and nearly successful.
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Great slogan. Tweet it to Schumer and Pelosi
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That’s the spirit! I called my GOP senator daily. Kicker was on day of tax votes, went to voice mail – office closed! And, email server suspiciously down and not accepting contacts.
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Future generations, our children and their children, will be paying off this debt. And, the picture of all those Republicans standing up there with Trump, sucking up to him and celebrating. It makes me feel ill.
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As far as I’m concerned, I view the GOP as criminal enterprise determined to destroy this country.
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They are treasonous . . .
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Trump is too stupid to have thought this out. He’s nothing but ego that needs to be stroked. Awful human being, but not able to have put any thought into this. We need to look behind the curtain to see who the puppet masters are.
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Trump is probably very aware of the last minute additions which will give him and Corker lots of money. I doubt that he understands anything that he signs. He just wants to smile his huge smile and tell everyone that he is the greatest and just signed whatever it is that will save the US and the world. [He is a blatant liar who is ignorant beyond belief.] He watches 4-8 hours of Fox daily so that is most likely his source of information on everything.
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I just heard Pence say that he and Trump had resorted America’s credibility in the world, just hours after the UN overwhelmingly condemned the US for Trump’s announcement that he would move the US embassy to Jerusalem. As a Jew, I know how stupid that decision was. The status of Jerusalem is a matter to be resolved in negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis. Pence is the perfect laptop.
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Why the Wildly Unpopular Tax Bill Passed | The Report | US News | US News
The tax bill is wildly unpopular. This is why it passed anyway.
…As for the tax bill, “the Republicans are betting that by the time people realize what a turkey this bill is, it will be somebody else’s problem,” Collender says. And that problem may be dumped onto the tax bill-hating Democrats, should they succeed in wresting control of Congress.
https://www.usnews.com/news/the-report/articles/2017-12-22/why-the-wildly-unpopular-tax-bill-passed
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Yep…..just leave it for the next generation to take care of. And they won’t be able to take care of it because the are being denied the education and opportunities that are required for change. Keep the masses poor and dumb so that money continues to flow to the rich. We need a reset button in a bad, bad way.
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Here are some statistics from Mother Jones. It tells just how horrible this bill is for everyone who isn’t wealthy.
……..
On Wednesday, House Republicans approved a sweeping $1.5 trillion tax bill that’s deeply unpopular among Americans. The bill now just needs President Donald Trump’s signature to become a law. Recent analyses by the Tax Policy Center and Joint Committee on Taxation agree: The Republican tax plan will undoubtedly fill the coffers of America’s wealthiest….
In 2027, the top 1 percent would receive 83 percent of total benefits, while 53 percent of taxpayers will see a tax hike. That year, people making less than $75,000 in income would see tax hikes, including a 26 percent tax average increase for those who make between $20,000 and $30,000….
In 2018, 80 […]http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/12/these-6-jaw-dropping-charts-show-just-how-much-rich-people-will-get-richer-from-the-gop-tax-bill/
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Not all deficit spending is bad. Remember that the Revolutionary war, the War of 1812, and the 1848 war with Mexico, were all paid for by deficit spending. Our independence, our final divorce from England, and the war with increased the size of the USA by almost double, were all paid for by credit card.
AND- The federal budget was balanced, throughout most of the Great Depression of the 1930’s. Balanced budgets will not take our nation to the promised land.
“We are all Keynesians, now” – Author Unknown.
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Why is deficit spending on wars ok but deficit spending to save our people’s health and welfare is not.
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Diane, I LIKE that comment. I’ve been wondering the same thing for several years. There isn’t even any debate when the military or the NSA needs more money. There NEVER is money for any program that helps people. [Those greedy people just want handouts. Society and each individual benefits when these people stop being lazy, get jobs and work for a living. There are no jobs but that doesn’t matter. It also isn’t fair to expect a decent salary.] Watch to see how much is cut from social nets once the deficit explodes due to the tax break that benefits mainly the wealthy. I bet the military isn’t cut.
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Nonsense! Charles knows that deficit spending will help tp enrich our miltiary contractors. Why spend it to heal people when you can spend it to hurt or kill people. That’s Charle’s American way and Christmas wish for the readership . . .
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Spending is spending, whether it is on bullets or on immunizations. The costs are run up, and the government spends. Even conservative Pres Eisenhower, favored deficit spending during recessions.
The federal government is charged with providing for the common defense.
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The Constitution says the federal government is responsible not only for national defense but for the common welfare.
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QThe Constitution says the federal government is responsible not only for national defense but for the common welfare. END Q
You are mistaken. The preamble states that in order to promote the general welfare, the people ordain and establish the constitution.
The framers were not socialists. The federal government is not empowered to nor required to be responsible for the common welfare. If the framers could see how the feds have turned into a “money machine”, and that the feds are providing AFSC, food stamps, section 8 housing, etc etc, they would be spinning in their graves.
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Our federal government spends vast sums on social welfare—for medical care, social insurance, schools, etc. are you suggesting that all these expenditures are unconstitutional?
This is the PURPOSE of the U.S. Constitution:
“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
Promoting the general welfare is just as important as providing for our common defense.
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DIane,
I admire your tenacity with Charles.
Charles is a sad excuse for a thinker, but he does try very hard, and I encourage him to just be himself. He is useful.
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If Charles didn’t exist, I might invent him.
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Here are some really good statistics showing how programs to help people ARE actually helping. It certainly works better than the ‘trickle down’ that is supposed to save our society and bring wealth to everyone.
…………………
The Republican Plan Isn’t Just About Taxes—It’s About Shredding the Safety Net
…It also doesn’t matter a whit to conservatives what the evidence says about the kinds of things that make a difference in people’s lives. It doesn’t seem to matter that our anti-poverty programs cut poverty in half—that poverty would have been as high as nearly 30 percent in recent years without them; or that girls who had access to food stamps (SNAP) saw increases in their economic self-sufficiency as adults—including less welfare participation—compared to their disadvantaged peers who didn’t have access; or that a little assistance for children up to age 5 is associated with boosted educational performance, and increased work and earnings as adults; or that children under 13 who were able to use a housing voucher to move to a low-poverty neighborhood were 32 percent more likely to attend college and earned 31 percent more annually as young adults, compared to their peers in families that didn’t receive a voucher. Or even that expansion of Medicaid eligibility has reduced infant mortality and childhood deaths, and that children eligible for Medicaid are more likely to go on to graduate college.
You’d think some of this data would make an impression on Speaker Ryan, who is constantly clambering about the need for evidence. The fact is, he simply doesn’t like the evidence he sees…
https://www.thenation.com/article/the-republican-plan-isnt-just-about-taxes-its-about-shredding-the-safety-net/
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I think this says it all. There’s a good chance that this ‘tax break for the wealthy’ will cause corporations to move overseas. Why are corporations being given a big tax break when they are already getting record profits? “More for the wealthy”, the GOP mantra.
………….
Quartz: The GOP tax bill is a massive victory for globalization
The GOP’s new tax overhaul may appear to be a victory for Donald Trump’s nationalist politics—but it’s not. In reality, the bill endorses globalization and…
Although it’s been marketed as a middle-class tax cut, the largest line item in the new law is a $1.3-trillion reduction in corporate income taxes at a time of record profits. ..
Shareholders will be the immediate beneficiaries. They also happen to be the wealthiest Americans, since the top 20% of earners own more than 90% of US equities; many are also foreign investors…
Most surveys suggest companies will use the money to buy back stock or issue dividends to investors, rather than open new factory or add another shift.
No economic forecasts expect the new law to dramatically alter the trend of US growth. Statisticians will be watching to see if the promised gush of new investment in US industry appears, if multinational corporations use their gains in other ways, or simply continue to keep money overseas.
Critics, even those who favor lower corporate rates, fear this bill will increase existing incentives for companies to employ tax havens. … hastily written new rules create a loophole for companies to skirt that minimum tax by investing in factories and other routine operations outside the United States.
… That could mean more jobs headed out of the US. Certainly, Ireland isn’t worried….
https://qz.com/1160761/gop-tax-bill-the-republican-tax-plan-is-a-victory-for-globalization/
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An aside, but important to consider:
I am glad I am not a college student these DAZE. The debt incurred for a college education is SICK.
No wonder those yahoos CRY OUT that ALL must earn a college degree after highschool.
The debtors will be KA-CHINING forever off college students’ backs.
https://studentloanhero.com/student-loan-debt-statistics/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/specialfeatures/2013/08/07/how-the-college-debt-is-crippling-students-parents-and-the-economy/#239752792e17
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/americas-growing-student-loan-debt-crisis-2016-01-15
Oh, those HS rankings are crazy, too.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2015/08/10/a-critical-look-at-the-annual-high-school-rankings-by-u-s-news/?utm_term=.a2f8632076ad
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AT&T ANNOUNCES THOUSANDS OF LAYOFFS, FIRINGS JUST IN TIME FOR CHRISTMAS BY CARLOS BALLESTEROS ON 12/24/17 AT 3:53 PM
AT&T plans to lay off and fire more than a thousand workers starting early next year, according to local reports.
Across the Midwest, an estimated 600 workers were notified they were being laid off by the company on December 16, a week before AT&T announced it was doling out $1,000 bonuses to 200,000 of its employees in celebration of the Republican Party’s tax overhaul…
http://www.newsweek.com/christmas-att-layoffs-midwest-bonuses-trump-758391
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COMCAST FIRED HUNDREDS OF WORKERS BEFORE CHRISTMAS ALONGSIDE PLEDGE TO GIVE $1,000 ‘TRUMP TAX CUT’ BONUSES
BY CHANTAL DA SILVA ON 1/5/18 AT 10:04 AM
Just two weeks before Christmas, hundreds of Comcast door-to-door salespeople were called into company offices and fired from their jobs, it has emerged, just after the telecommunications giant announced it would be giving out $1,000 bonuses to staffers thanks to a major tax cut.
The firings are reported to have occurred around the same time AT&T announced it would laying off and firing nearly 600 workers, also right before Christmas…
http://www.newsweek.com/comcast-fired-500-workers-christmas-after-pledging-give-employees-1000-bonuses-771789
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This was just emailed from the WH. It shows what a non-thinker Pence is. How low can he bow?
…..
The power of conservative voices
“I think from the conservative perspective, we accomplished more thanks to President Trump’s leadership than has been accomplished in more than a generation,” Vice President Mike Pence told Dana Loesch in an interview yesterday.
The Vice President covered a lot of ground with the conservative radio and television host. The two discussed the economy, infrastructure, North Korea, and what to expect from Republicans in 2018. Loesch also asked Vice President Pence about the state of political commentary during the Trump Administration.
“The reality is that great, strong . . . [conservative voices] have, while outnumbered, served to create a tremendous counterweight,” the Vice President said.
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Lies and boasting can get you just so far. Only the true believers swallow those lies.
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Thom Hartmann puts up the case that Pence is really the one running the WH.
………………………
Donald Trump isn’t Running the White House. So Who Is ?
Thom Hartmann Program
Published on Jan 4, 2018
Then newest reports and leaks point out that not only is Donald Trump not running the white house but he is being run by the billionaires and technocrats or those working for them. Enter former tobacco shill Mike Pence!
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I believe Pence picked the cabinet.
Mick Mulvaney.
Scott Pruitt.
Betsy DeVos.
Trump never heard of them. Pence did.
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I kept reading about the great bonuses that Walmart was giving and was suspicious of that claim. So much for the great benefits that accrue to workers after this corporation got a big tax cut. Here is the story:
……
Walmart quietly lays off thousands of workers after bonus announcement
…Walmart employees are eligible for the $1,000 bonus only if they’ve worked at the company for 20 years. Most Walmart employees, of course, haven’t worked there that long. Those employees will receive a smaller bonus based on seniority. Walmart didn’t explain exactly how the sliding scale will work, but said the total value of the bonuses will be $400 million. Walmart has about 2.1 million employees, which works out to be an average bonus of about $190.
The one-time bonus Walmart announced this morning amounts to just over 2 percent of the total value of the tax cut to the company.
In fiscal year 2017, Walmart had pre-tax profits of about $20.5 billion and paid an effective federal tax rate of around 30 percent. With a new corporate tax rate of 21 percent, the corporate tax cut is worth at least $1.85 billion to Walmart every year. Since this cut is permanent, the true benefits to Walmart will grow much larger over time. But it’s safe to say that, over 10 years, this corporate tax cut will be worth over $18 billion to Walmart.
But now it appears the announcement was timed carefully to cover for thousands of unannounced layoffs.
https://thinkprogress.org/walmart-bonus-layoffs-ed187882b011/
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