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News Us politics - read first post before comment

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I'm getting personally scared about this tax reform bill. In its current form in the Senate, it does away with COLA for SS beneficiaries, of which I am one, for disability. I can live without COLA increases, but what if they try to decrease our monthly benefits? And I've heard nobody talk about proposed Medicare cuts. Evidently, there hasn't even been enough time for any of them to know all the details of the bill.

I've been opposed to this because what we do know is that it is a plan for a clear transfer of wealth from the poorest to the richest. Turns out the poorest will have the biggest tax increases, while the richest will have the least.

At this point, it seems we just have to wait and see what kinds of changes the House and Senate come up with when they meet together. But I find it scary when GOPs meet together to hammer out details on these issues. So many just seem concerned with their donors and could care less about the rest of us. And they are trying to rush this through without hearings, without waiting for CBO scores or anything, probably because they know people will be up in arms if they know the extent to which they will be hurt.

The worst offenders are Social Darwinists who seem to believe the least able are the least worth allowing to live decent lives, no matter how much we contributed when we were able, forget people who were not even able to contribute much due to circumstances beyond their control. It's, yes, deplorable.
 
Where I'm sure this is going, in the long run, is this tax break for the rich, which is supposed to lead to such an awesome economic uptick that it solves all the world's problems, will actually lead to an increase in the deficit. Which, in a year or so, will panic your social Darwinists, who will then exclaim that we have to cut back on social programs, to save the country...... This is the Republican idea of a "War on Poverty" and it has been at least since Reagan. They have managed to arrange the Congressional districts so they can claim most of them (and the Democrats stood by and let it happen.) I'm not sure there's a way to stop them, without getting extreme.

I heard today that, as a group, companies in the US are on track for record profits this year. Not earnings, profits. I kinda think if any of it was going to "trickle down" it would already be happening.
 
Yes, the trickle-down theory has been thoroughly debunked over the decades. Any extra goes to everything except workers. This is simply a transfer of wealth and damn the rest of us.

And, you're right, companies are already doing well, and if they're not paying more now, they won't ever.
 
I don't know if any Reps or Sens will be home before the final vote. The ones that hold town halls are susceptible to protests. Otherwise, there's going to their local offices to protest. I'm way out on the prairie in the middle of nowhere and don't have a reliable car to get to where Collin's nearest office is. Maybe bombard them with emails and phone calls? Though I really don't think we personally have to worry about our two As. Probably not Collin, either. I've heard no Dems are going to vote for this, either in the House or the Senate. It kind of makes me feel helpless. Unfortunately, we may have to depend on people with GOP Reps and Sens. Though I can understand why there's not a similar outcry like there was with health care -- because not even most congresspeople know everything that's in this bill! It seems the GOPs are just desperate to appease their donors and get any kind of win that they can campaign on in 2018. Yeah, the best and the brightest. Sigh.
 
I get Peterson's newsletter. He voted against it and probably will when it gets through the conference committee too. He pretty well nailed the issues with it in a recent newsletter.

It's kind of interesting that there's no uproar about this, like there was health care. I wonder if all the OTHER uproars, plus the holidays, kind of have people numb? When I think about it, I don't ever remember people protesting a tax bill. (Not since the first revolution anyway.) I suppose it seems silly to protest when they claim your taxes are going down, even if it's a bait & switch kind of deal.
 
Yeah, I think tax bills are too kind of abstract for a lot to grasp. I'm certainly no economist, but I get the bottom line.

Anyway, I just emailed Amy to remind her of the book recently published that contains articles by 27 psychiatrists and mental health professionals about Trump's instability for her reference hopefully WHEN the Senate may consider the 25th Amendment. I added that my hubby and I would love to see her run for Pres in 2020.

On the one hand, I think it's probably risky to run a woman when we desperately need a Dem in power, but on the other hand, it would be so awesome if a woman won next time. And I've met Amy. She has superb political and people skills, she is very likable, she cares, and is very smart and capable. Haha, she is like an anti-Trump.
 
Sorry, Scout, I'm not following. Can you specify which article you're referring to on the link you posted? Some of these blogs don't seem to have good pinpointing :-).
 
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