2024 ELECTION THREAD
The next presidential race will be here soon! Please see current Bovada odds. Thoughts?
so many irrelevant days 'at work'....
Jesus, the Dems have said plenty of positive things about the wall, bragged about building wall and actually built wall. Trump is worse. Both things can be true. I can't imagine anyone really against the wall defending the Dems on the border just because Trump is worse unless they are as partisan and thoughtless as a MAGA numbskull.
I think the border should basically be open so its pretty easy to defend the Dems on the border.
This isn't about defending the Dems though. Its about pointing out sophistry in a vacuum.
But like, objectively, the only reason the wall was expanded under Biden is because it was literally required due to the way funds were originally appropriated by Congress. So like, if Obama did something 10+ years ago I don't really give a **** and don't have to claim that.
Its incredibly straight forward yet you can't wrap your brain around it kinda like a thoughtless numbskull.
I think the border should basically be open so its pretty easy to defend the Dems on the border.
This isn't about defending the Dems though. Its about pointing out sophistry in a vacuum.
But like, objectively, the only reason the wall was expanded under Biden is because it was literally required due to the way funds were originally appropriated by Congress. So like, if Obama did something 10+ years ago I don't really give a **** and don't have to claim that.
Its incredibly straight forward ye
What? You think the Dems are for an open border? If so, that's only you and brain dead MAGA chuds who think that.
What? You think the Dems are for an open border? If so, that's only you and brain dead MAGA chuds who think that.
the democrat position is a lot worse than open borders.
they want open borders for the poorest, less educated people around the world they can find, but strict regulation if a normal person dares to try and enter.
the idea they want to treat a completely uneducated Nicaraguan 19y old BETTER than a 42y old japanese engineer is beyond horrific
hospitality though is one of the few sectors where people ACTUALLY WORK. like they do work all the time. unlike the vast majority of white collar jobs where you can find Farmville or whatever while "working".
I truly think that paper shufflers (who when lucky are useful a small percentage of their working time, often their role is a complete waste and damaging to society) being taxed more than people who actually work isn't morally bad
It's not a big stretch to understand a tip as a gift. It is optional. And you can receive up to $18k/year in gifts without it being taxed.
This is incorrect. Gifts received are never taxed. It is the giver that pays the gift tax on amounts over $18k/year to one person. You can give that amount to as many people as you want. You can also go over that amount - again, to one person - and not pay tax, but the overage goes against the estate tax exemption when you die.
ETA: I believe the amount goes to $19k in 2025.
the democrat position is a lot worse than open borders.
[B]they want open borders for the poorest, less educated people around the world they can find, but strict regulation if a normal person dares to try and enter.
the idea they want to treat a completely uneducated Nicaraguan 19y old BETTER than a 42y old japanese engineer is beyond horrific
Lol no. They want open borders for no one. They fund and police the border every bit as much as the Republicans. They do it, they boast about it and they campaign on it.
This is incorrect. Gifts received are never taxed. It is the giver that pays the gift tax on amounts over $18k/year to one person. You can give that amount to as many people as you want. You can also go over that amount - again, to one person - and not pay tax, but the overage goes against the estate tax exemption when you die.
ETA: I believe the amount goes to $19k in 2025.
Thanks. I was wondering if maybe I had that wrong - seems weird (not saying wrong) that the giver pays, but that's certainly good like if someone is given a car or something and couldn't both keep it and pay taxes on it.
I don't like tax policy that favors one group of workers in a tax bracket over another group of workers in the same tax bracket. Why should waiters get a tax break, but not sanitation workers, or whatever? It's just pandering to a specific group to get votes. And I guess it might have helped in a state like Nevada if one candidate was proposing the policy and the other was not, but it still doesn't feel right to me.
Eliminating a tax on tips also helps businesses by reducing the need for them to raise employee wages to stay in business. It would also help retain and find new employees to some extent.
I'd imagine the business end of it certainly played a role in incentivizing this because changes are going to have to be made when minimum wage continues to go up and you're fighting to prevent unemployment from going up as well.
Lol no. They want open borders for no one. They fund and police the border every bit as much as the Republicans. They do it, they boast about it and they campaign on it.
All incorrect. Both Democrats and Republicans-- who are both beholden to corporate interests-- want open borders in order to help drive down wages. Anything they say or do to the contrary is just theater designed to appease the masses who naturally do not want wages suppressed.
I think the border should basically be open so its pretty easy to defend the Dems on the border.
This isn't about defending the Dems though. Its about pointing out sophistry in a vacuum.
But like, objectively, the only reason the wall was expanded under Biden is because it was literally required due to the way funds were originally appropriated by Congress. So like, if Obama did something 10+ years ago I don't really give a **** and don't have to claim that.
Its incredibly straight forward ye
Dems are literally campaigning on a stronger border. their policies are basically Republican policies from like 4 years ago.
All incorrect. Both Democrats and Republicans-- who are both beholden to corporate interests-- want open borders in order to help drive down wages. Anything they say or do to the contrary is just theater designed to appease the masses who naturally do not want wages suppressed.
This is true in that they want there to be illegal immigration and policing those people makes them more desperate and vulnerable as easier to exploit.
That's not really open borders though.
the guy who invented the word was the rare radical leftist I actually liked a lot, loved his books, he died while visiting here recently in Venice :-(
All incorrect. Both Democrats and Republicans-- who are both beholden to corporate interests-- want open borders in order to help drive down wages. Anything they say or do to the contrary is just theater designed to appease the masses who naturally do not want wages suppressed.
no we have proof that's not the case, especially at the high end. plenty of billionaires would love to have automatic green cards for STEM degree holders with no nation quotas but they can't achieve that yet
the guy who invented the word was the rare radical leftist I actually liked a lot, loved his books, he died while visiting here recently in Venice :-(
Not horseshoeing here...but...anarcho-capitalists pretend to be a flavor of anarchism because they pretend to love liberty.
I also like Graeber a lot and I've read all his popular-ish books and even exchanged a couple emails with him about Rojava.
This is true in that they want there to be illegal immigration and policing those people makes them more desperate and vulnerable as easier to exploit.
That's not really open borders though.
That's fair and you're right. They want it so that illegal immigration is easy and legal immigration is difficult.
Not horseshoeing here...but...anarcho-capitalists pretend to be a flavor of anarchism because they pretend to love liberty.
I also like Graeber a lot and I've read all his popular-ish books and even exchanged a couple emails with him about Rojava.
debt the first 5000 years is actually a shockingly good book on economic history btw
That's fair and you're right. They want it so that illegal immigration is easy and legal immigration is difficult.
but capital works differently elsewhere. high quality immigration is easy to Switzerland for example.
republicans and democrats don't allow enough high quality migratiok because the masses (including the very powerful upper middle class) in the USA don't want it, not because capital doesn't want it.
Bill Gates (and many others) are preaching to a wall in the last 20+ years about making it far far far easier to get talent from elsewhere to no avail.
and they donate a ton for that, but it's not enough.
H1B is capped by country quotas, iirc in India we are at a 30y queue
in Europe tipping is rare (almost only Americans tip here for ex. we do tip for actually exceptional service).
when it happens it's 100% cash. like "place is empty at this hour you let me smoke, here it's 10 or 20 for you" kind of stuff. or "you did insane here it's a 10".
we tip if you go and fix an actual problem (like a waitress which played with our kid half an hour) and stuff like that. 100% cash. even the option to tip with a credit card is like alien to us.
and no one is expected to share th
I love how you know everything about everything and come up with definitive answers, often using americans unfamiliarity with European ways of life.
What you are describing is a complete mischaracterisation of the tipping scene.
Yes tips aren't usually mandatory in most of Europe, but most people (aka normal average people) do tip for average service, and I'm not talking about 10s and 20s.
Like you have a coffee, very often people will round it up, same for a cab and plenty other services.
Fwiw I've lived in many europeans countries for 1 year stays minimum, so I would know.
Your image really correspond to your postings and it doesn't surprise me at all that you would not tip on the go.
Open borders are something progressives have advocated for but not necessarily Democrats. Ruy Teixeira wrote about this in something I read today.
by Ruy Teixeira
Summary:
1. Loosening restrictions on illegal immigration was a terrible idea and voters hate it.
2. Promoting lax law enforcement and tolerance of social disorder was a terrible idea and voters hate it.
3. Insisting that everyone should look at all issues through the lens of identity politics was a terrible idea and voters hate it.
4. Telling people fossil fuels are evil and they must stop using them was a terrible idea and voters hate it
Point being that voters are often terrible and it's strategically wrong to be moral. Some percentage of people who call themselves progressives now are for open borders, and of course open borders were the rule in the United States for more than 100 years, but Bernie was right, and for most of his days the idea was more libertarian than Democratic or progressive.
