Trump Will Likely Win

[Derec]

The issue lies in the amount of money available, not simply in how it’s allocated.

According to this, City of Decatur schools spend $15,239 per student, while DeKalb County Schools spend $13,668. Quite close. That's because only part of the school district budget is local - the rest is paid for by the state and the federal government.
So Loren is right, it is more about allocation than a huge discrepancy in money available. Atlanta Public Schools are at $18,492 btw.

While the article does compare a majority-Black public school district (DeKalb) with a wealthier, majority-White charter district (Decatur), this is to show the funding disparities even between nearby districts.

But they are doing that in a dishonest way, by comparing building expenditures only. Also, DeKalb County is rather diverse, with blacks having only a slight majority.

The comparison highlights how funding based on local income and property values perpetuates inequalities, emphasizing that resource differences often stem from systemic biases and funding structures, not merely school type.

The difference in funding is far less than the difference in income between these two districts.

What’s wild is that I’m not even advocating for anything special for Black people—I’m just sharing my perspective on the state of our communities, making it clear it’s not about seeking retribution against hardworking white Americans. It’s frustrating to discuss how messed up things are and then feel the need to defend this information when, honestly, I wish these issues didn’t exist at all. I’d be thrilled to say, 'Loren, you’re right,' and live in a world where everything really is great.

I think your heart is in the right place, Gospel. But you should be more critical when reading biased articles like that one.

 

[Derec]

If that sounds impossible to achieve, just look at the leaked tax returns of the wealthiest Americans that nonprofit news site ProPublica analyzed in 2021: Over several years, billionaires Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Michael Bloomberg, among others, paid no federal income taxes at all.

But in other years, they paid billions in tax.

Do you want to pay less taxes? Great. Step one, be a rich person. Then, buy a yacht. Or a sports team. Give a lot to charity. Lose some money in the stock market. Above all, make sure most of your money exists in the form of assets, not cash — stocks, real estate, a Dutch master painting, fine jewelry, or whatever else strikes your fancy.

A small-time investor can also deduct stock market losses or real estate expenses from their capital gains taxes.
As far as yachts and such, there may be tax breaks associated with them, but I can see a legitimate business purpose. You are not taking a 100' superyacht for a family vacation or a fishing trip with the buddies. You are using them for business cocktail parties. Schmoozing potential investors and clients. That sort of thing.
Note also that they cost quite a bit of money. The tax savings are going to be but a small fraction of the total cost of ownership. And that cost is spent in the economy. The yacht must be built - requiring engineers, designers and workers, and it must be run, providing additional employment from mechanics to cocktail waitresses. Note that expenditures such as repairs or docking and even the food and beverages (high excise taxes on alcohol!) procured in port are usually taxed as well - federal income tax is not the only tax paid.

If that sounds impossible to achieve, just look at the leaked tax returns of the wealthiest Americans that nonprofit news site ProPublica analyzed in 2021: Over several years, billionaires Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Michael Bloomberg, among others, paid no federal income taxes at all.

Misleading since they paid billions in other years.
According to Kim's own source, itself the far lefty Pro Publica:

The results are stark. According to Forbes, those 25 people saw their worth rise a collective $401 billion from 2014 to 2018. They paid a total of $13.6 billion in federal income taxes in those five years, the IRS data shows.

Yes, the authors go on to wax idiotic about how that is a low "true tax rate" (a term of their own invention) based on unrealized capital gains that are not taxed almost anywhere in the world. Such taxation scheme would also be difficult to implement in practice. But at least they admit that these billionaires paid billions in taxes. Kim goes out of her way to obfuscate that fact.

We can discuss tax rates and various tax avoidance schemes the rich can use. What a "fair share" is likewise up to debate.
But we should not be dishonest and imply that the rich pay little or no taxes.

 

[robnisch]

MSN

This is the third time that tRump has screwed up a rally!
How many times do his minions need to be treated like this before they see what bumbling fool he really is.

 

[Derec]

What do Brits say? Could not organize a root in a brothel?

 

[bilby]

What do Brits say? Could not organize a root in a brothel?

That's an Australian idiom. An Englishman would say "Could not organise a piss up in a brewery", or "If he fell in a bucket of tits, he'd come out sucking his thumb".

 

[Tigers!]

What do Brits say? Could not organize a root in a brothel?

That's an Australian idiom. An Englishman would say "Could not organise a piss up in a brewery", or "If he fell in a bucket of tits, he'd come out sucking his thumb".

I've always liked the following
1. Couldn't get a touch in a brothel
2. Couldn't get a kick in a streetfight

 

[Toni]

What I like about you Derec, is that you never allow facts to interfere with your opinions.

And what I dislike about you, Toni, is that you never pass up the opportunity to make cheap insults whenever you run out of facts and arguments.

Why exactly do you deny that Michigan Muslims and/or Arabs could tip the state to Trump?

Derec, I detailed exactly how and why two cities in Michigan came to be predominately Arab/Muslim and you insist on saying that they are Islamic colonies. Doubled down on it, in fact.

Here’s the great thing about the US: It is not supposed to matter what, if any religion one follows: you are equally American if you are Catholic or Jewish or Muslim or Hindu or Lutheran or whatever, including atheist

 

[Colonel Sanders]

It wouldn't surprise me one bit to see them engage in suicide bombings and other acts of terrorism.

The Muslims are mostly on the Democratic side of the aisle, even if many of them are quite cross with the Democratic Party over Gaza.

Also, should Trump win, I see some on the Left also resorting to violence. Remember the 2020 riots?

What I think is interesting about all the protests where rioting took place is that it happened so much under Trump. Certainly there has been unrest under other presidents, but not to the same degree. You'd have to go back to the 60s and early 70s when e.g., lynchings weren't that far in the rearview mirror. In short, people were willing to be imprisoned or even killed to advance civil rights.

With respect to Trump, the unrest speaks to a large undercurrent of fear and anxiety about living under such a grossly unqualified leader spouting hateful vitriol on a near daily basis, if not multiple times daily.

In envisioning a scenario where Trump does indeed do what he's promising to do, violent response is inevitable. If Trump can recruit the military and police to wreak terror on American citizens, what else could one of the expected responses be? A second and quite likely possibility is that Trump could form his own version of Brownshirts. If 70+ million people are willing to vote for him, and if just 2% of those people can be employed to do Trump's bidding, that's 1.4 million scumbags who would be very happy to beat and murder objectors.

History shows that passive acceptance of tyranny is a far worse option than armed resistance.

 

[SLD]

It wouldn't surprise me one bit to see them engage in suicide bombings and other acts of terrorism.

The Muslims are mostly on the Democratic side of the aisle, even if many of them are quite cross with the Democratic Party over Gaza.

Also, should Trump win, I see some on the Left also resorting to violence. Remember the 2020 riots?

First, I do admire you, Derec is that a]you recognize that Trump is not a true conservative, and won’t vote for him. I know several other conservatives who will not support him.

I do hope we can keep this conversation civil though. I may profoundly disagree with you on many subjects, but I will be the first to admit that I don’t have all the answers.

But to your point. You are correct that Muslims in Michigan could possibly skew the vote away from Harris, either by not voting at all, voting for third party, and maybe a few voting for Trump even. In fact, I have pointed out that one of the reasons for the original attack on Israel last year was to provoke this reaction and that it would divide the West’s left. And indeed that has worked. Russia blessed this attack before it happened. They want to see Trump elected. They know that will make America much weaker.

As for violence, while I expect protests against Trump (and there should be), I do not expect out and out violence against the government the way we saw on January 6th. I don’t expect an out right coup attempt. That is what I do expect from Trump and his supporters. I do expect them to react explicitly violently. I actually expect a pseudo civil war.

 

[Elixir]

I actually expect a pseudo civil war.

I hope there will be a pseudo civil war.
That would mean
* Trump lost the election, and
* lost his ensuing attempt to overthrow the government of the United States.

If Trump wins there will be protests, and Trump will make sure they turn into massacres, which his drooling morons love.

 

[Shadowy Man]

I actually expect a pseudo civil war.

I hope there will be a pseudo civil war.
That would mean
* Trump lost the election, and
* lost his ensuing attempt to overthrow the government of the United States.

If Trump wins there will be protests, and Trump will make sure they turn into massacres, which his drooling morons love.

Maybe this time the police will defend themselves properly like they always seem able to do in many other, much more benign, confrontations.

 

[Colonel Sanders]

So the Washington Post whose slogan is "Democracy Dies in Darkness" has decided to not endorse either candidate. Same with the L.A. Times.

Thanks a pantload glorious 5th Estate. "5th Estate". What a self-promoting and self-interested group of insufferable assholes.

Are they worried about their publications being burnt to the ground in the event of a Trump victory? If so, they're a bunch of fucking cowards. They're going to be punished regardless of their spineless acquiescence anyway. They're part of the verminous enemy from within that Trump and the MAGA hoards hate with every idiot fiber of their collective, empty headed being.

Whatever their reasons are, they're a craven, contemptuous, useless group of unethical shits.

 

[Shadowy Man]

Whatever their reasons are, they're a craven, contemptuous, useless group of unethical shits.

Apparently it was just Bezos; the editorial board wrote an endorsement for Harris but Bezos vetoed it.

 

[ideologyhunter]

I actually expect a pseudo civil war.

I hope there will be a pseudo civil war.
That would mean
* Trump lost the election, and
* lost his ensuing attempt to overthrow the government of the United States.

If Trump wins there will be protests, and Trump will make sure they turn into massacres, which his drooling morons love.

This I don't believe. If the Capitol police had fired a volley of rubber bullets at the legs of Trump's mob-sters on J6, those fat asses would have turned back inside of two minutes.

 

[thebeave]

Re: Bezos and WP lack of endorsement. I suspect it has to do with KH proposing a tax on unrealized capital gains for the wealthy, along with the usual Democrat billionaire bashing rhetoric. Why would Bezos want to endorse someone who is out to significantly cut his wealth? Reminds me of the "Chickens for KFC" joke.

 

[Swammerdami]

If that sounds impossible to achieve, just look at the leaked tax returns of the wealthiest Americans that nonprofit news site ProPublica analyzed in 2021: Over several years, billionaires Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Michael Bloomberg, among others, paid no federal income taxes at all.

But in other years, they paid billions in tax.

Cite? Did you notice the "Over SEVERAL years"?

If that sounds impossible to achieve, just look at the leaked tax returns of the wealthiest Americans that nonprofit news site ProPublica analyzed in 2021: Over several years, billionaires Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Michael Bloomberg, among others, paid no federal income taxes at all.

Misleading since they paid billions in other years.

Echo chamber?

And Derec gives further proof that the Ilk regards "factual and truthful" as a synonym of "far left":

According to Kim's own source, itself the far lefty Pro Publica:

"Far lefty"? I suppose that in your dialect, that means they're more rational than Marjorie Taylor Greene.
Pro Publica has won seven Pulitzers. How many Pulitzers has your Fair and Balanced™ team won?

The Sandlers hired Paul Steiger, former managing editor of The Wall Street Journal, to create and run the organization [Pro Publica] as editor in chief.

Oh. Well I guess you're correct then. The ProPublica Executive Chairman used to work for that Marxist rag, only good as a sausage wrapper, the WSJ.

The results are stark. According to Forbes, those 25 people saw their worth rise a collective $401 billion from 2014 to 2018. They paid a total of $13.6 billion in federal income taxes in those five years, the IRS data shows.

So 25 super-rich DID pay 3.4% of their gains in taxes, which is more than Zero. But the claim you seem to think this contradicts was NOT about all 25. It was about THREE named billionaires and "several others."

 

[Elixir]

I actually expect a pseudo civil war.

I hope there will be a pseudo civil war.
That would mean
* Trump lost the election, and
* lost his ensuing attempt to overthrow the government of the United States.

If Trump wins there will be protests, and Trump will make sure they turn into massacres, which his drooling morons love.

This I don't believe.

Why not?

If the Capitol police had fired a volley of rubber bullets at the legs of Trump's mob-sters on J6, those fat asses would have turned back inside of two minutes.

That I do believe. I said earlier that a couple of shotgun blasts into the air would have done the trick, as far as getting rid of MAGAts is concerned. But protesting a Trump win/theft WILL result in violence.
Bet on it. It’s what Cheato wants. Spill some lefty blood, just to let them know how protests will be handled, and daring BLM et al to even THINK about it.

 

[Colonel Sanders]

Whatever their reasons are, they're a craven, contemptuous, useless group of unethical shits.

Apparently it was just Bezos; the editorial board wrote an endorsement for Harris but Bezos vetoed it.

Is there a credible source for this?

Even if there is, I still maintain my assertion that they're cowards hiding behind a tortured interpretation of professionalism by treating Trump as they would a not-batshit would-be dictator. Also, if indeed it was Bezos' call, then they should've gone on strike or even outright resigned. One could argue that it's easy to say that from afar, but again, by passively accepting Bezos' decree, they don't deserve to be called professionals.

In my line of work I'd absolutely quit, if for example, due process was denied my clients in contradiction to the Constitution. That's what I swore to uphold, and if I was required to abandon that oath or be disbarred, I'll sweep floors and live in a car before indulging authoritarian rule(s).

 

[Elixir]

Reminds me of the "Chickens for KFC" joke.

There are a LOT more chickens than billionaires in the US. They remind me of Trump voters. Parasitic billionaires are buying their votes* against the horrors of Harris, promising their host (Repugs) a rosy future that they fully intend to keep for themselves.

* Including pushing falsehoods eg “they’re eating the cats”, and saturating every medium with fearmongering lies

 

[Colonel Sanders]

Re: Bezos and WP lack of endorsement. I suspect it has to do with KH proposing a tax on unrealized capital gains for the wealthy, along with the usual Democrat billionaire bashing rhetoric. Why would Bezos want to endorse someone who is out to significantly cut his wealth? Reminds me of the "Chickens for KFC" joke.

Then why bother calling it the Washington Post, as if there is any shred of journalistic integrity left in it (which there isn't)? It should be called the Bezos Post.