Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Second rate reporter says what?

Their freedom requires your slavery.

The Supreme Court cannot be allowed to become the ultimate, unaccountable arbiter of everything.

American History and Black History can not be separated.

If West Virginia and San Francisco had a love child.

There is no compromise when it comes to body autonomy. You either have it or you don’t.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

Republicans choose power over democracy, every day.

In my day, never was longer.

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

Republicans got rid of McCarthy. Democrats chose not to save him.

I didn’t have alien invasion on my 2023 BINGO card.

…and a burning sense of injustice to juice the soul.

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

How any woman could possibly vote for this smug smarmy piece of misogynistic crap is beyond understanding.

Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.

Every reporter and pundit should have to declare if they ever vacationed with a billionaire.

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

Oh FFS you might as well trust a 6-year-old with a flamethrower.

I’m pretty sure there’s only one Jack Smith.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Time to Raise Hell

Time to Raise Hell

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Because the very fact of President Obama’s existence as a beloved, accomplished, respected and self-made man is a grave narcissistic injury to the worthless whelp of Fred Trump, the Orange Fart Cloud has tried to undo everything his predecessor did. Now Trump is trying to ruin the economy that PBO rescued from the abyss.

The good news is, the GOP tax plan is deeply unpopular, and if we can put the fear of God in just a few Republicans, we can defeat it, which would hang another goose egg on the scoreboard, against all odds. (Trump has already given us an assist on that by trashing Senator Flake on Twitter — thanks, asshole!) Another legislative defeat would drive Trump even more batshit insane, causing him to lash out impotently at his own party and perhaps hastening the unraveling of the whole sorry mess.

So call/fax/email/tweet your senator, maybe? Here’s where to get contact info, in case you don’t already have them in your contact list (which you do). Thanks!

Reader Interactions

150Comments

  1. 1.

    TenguPhule

    and if we can put the fear of God in just a few Republicans, we can defeat it,

    Sorry, going to need something a bit more fearful then that.

    When we have Trump Bible-humping supporters starting to admit they’d fucking accept Trump over JESUS FUCKING CHRIST, they’re not afraid of ‘God’ anymore.

    /still in shock over what the hell I saw.

  2. 2.

    Shantanu Saha

    When the self-described capitalist tools are against your grift, you know you’re in trouble.

  3. 3.

    ? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?

    @TenguPhule:
    Maybe a riot at one of their offices that they’re personally at during the same time frame by Republican constitutients?

  4. 4.

    Mike J

    Does anybody have a schematic and parts list for a guillotine? Do you really need 4x4s for the vertical track support or will 2x4s do? What’s the minimum drop height for the blade, and how many uses can you get in between sharpening?

    These are the things we need to know.

  5. 5.

    D58826

    Other than the inflation threat I wish he could have had some specific things that he feared would undermine the long term economic outlook..

  8. 8.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    @TenguPhule:

    white supremacy is the most potent, and toxic force on earth. Trump is literally the anti-christ in the way he administers it in daily doses to his cult. Republicans are literally a death/suicide cult.

  10. 10.

    Amir Khalid

    Republicans in Congress fear no god but Mammon the billionaire donors’ deity. If they fail in their mission to secure those greatly desired tax cuts, the donors shall be displeased. A wrathful Mammon shall smite them a mighty blow right in the campaign fund. 2018 was going to be a tough year for them even without that.

  12. 12.

    ruemara

    I’m amping up my push for folks to call. We can’t waste time on anything other than preventing a very fast collapse of this country.

  14. 14.

    donnah

    Lotsa reasons the Trump team wants this pile o’crap tax bill to pass. There’s the whole “making the millionaires and corporations richer” angle, the “Trump promised this in his campaign” angle, the “If the Dems don’t like it, I’m all for it, even if I starve to death as a result of passing it”, right off the top of my head.

    Also, too, ignoring the Deficit, which only matters when Democrats are in power, and making sure those with private jets are not infringed upon.

    I’m calling my Senators, pronto!

  16. 16.

    trollhattan

    @Mike J:
    Will be really important to get kiln-dried straight-grained beams, as warping will make the blade run askew and jam. I recommend Doug fir or spruce.

  18. 18.

    TenguPhule

    @Mike J:

    What’s the minimum drop height for the blade, and how many uses can you get in between sharpening?

    Depends on the weight and sharpness of the blade. 12-16 feet on average tends to work best.

    I recommend cleaning and checking the blade around every 4th neck or so, its not the sharpening so much as to make sure there’s no chipping from hitting the bones. Most of the work is done by gravity, after all.

  20. 20.

    rikyrah

    Good riddance to bad rubbish

    This greeted me as I sipped on my morning coffee:

    Could there be a realignment under way? Fmr. DNC Chair candidate @Ronan4Progress joins @LindsayBrownNJ7 in running for Congress as a Republican. Both are left wing progressives. @TomPerez should take note.

    — Walker Bragman (@WalkerBragman) November 20, 2017

    First: Walker Bragman: HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

    Secondly: Any “progressive” who runs as a Republican is no progressive.

    Thirdly: Good luck winning a GOP primary.

    And, lastly: Well, what else can you say? Bernie progressives are upset because the Democrats haven’t bent to their will and anointed Bernie Sanders as permanent Secretary General of the party. So, these two gonefs are taking their balls and saying: “See, we’ll just run as Republicans if you’re not nice to us!” That’s like a Social Democrat in Germany deciding to run as a rightwing AfD candidate. It would make one wonder about his or her’s devotion to liberal principles in the first place.

  24. 24.

    rikyrah

    The Democrats need to be holding Town Halls in nearby GOP districts to ‘ explain’ the tax bill.

    Don’t let the GOP hide out when on Thanksgiving recess.

  25. 25.

    rikyrah

    NEWS: On Thanksgiving, Pope Francis will meet @RevDrBarber, who’s leading a revival of MLK’s Poor People’s Campaign. Barber is among international grassroots leaders meeting @Pontifex that day. https://t.co/PsYcqqJd9x

    — Laurie Goodstein (@lauriegnyt) November 20, 2017

  26. 26.

    Brachiator

    I’m glad that the Twitter message in Betty Cracker’s post refers to the Forbes article, which lays things out pretty clearly:

    GOP Tax Bill Is The End Of All Economic Sanity In Washington

    If it’s enacted, the GOP tax cut now working its way through Congress will be the start of a decades-long economic policy disaster unlike any other that has occurred in American history….

    There’s no economic justification whatsoever for a tax cut at this time. U.S. GDP is growing, unemployment is close to 4 percent (below what is commonly considered “full employment”), corporate profits are at record levels and stock markets are soaring. It makes no sense to add any federal government-induced stimulus to all this private sector-caused economic activity, let alone a tax cut as big as this one….

    Meanwhile, Congress has ignored other estimates like this one from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School showing that the tax bill won’t do what the GOP is promising.

    In other words, the GOP tax bill may be enacted without anyone who votes for it having any understanding of the damage it could do to the economy. They have wishes, hopes and prayers but in reality nothing beyond the economic equivalent of pagan superstition….

    Without massive cuts in Social Security, Medicare and the Pentagon, it won’t be possible to reduce federal spending enough to do more than tweak the deficit.

    It’s enough to make you choke on your Thanksgiving turkey.

  28. 28.

    rikyrah

    Va. Elections boss just said there were 83 voters wrongly assigned in a House district where the Republican is currently leading by 82 votes.

    — Alan Suderman (@AlanSuderman) November 20, 2017

  29. 29.

    Mike J

    BTW, Samuel Ronan, who ran for DNC chair claiming the primaries were rigged, who said he wants reign women in, and is running in OH-1, has announced he’s switching to the Republican party.
    https://twitter.com/joanwalsh/status/932643298153500672
    I’d rather having him pissing inside their tent than ours, but I don’t think he’s going to find many sympathetic listeners there.

    Also his web site now has dead links for issues like “muslim ban” and “Trump care”. Guess he’s busy changing all his positions since Dems don’t want him.

  30. 30.

    TenguPhule

    @schrodingers_cat: It doesn’t specify exactly where the sign of evil is supposed to be located on him. A full body inspection would be necessary to confirm or deny the accusation.

  31. 31.

    TenguPhule

    @rikyrah:

    Va. Elections boss just said there were 83 voters wrongly assigned in a House district where the Republican is currently leading by 82 votes.

    Of course they are.

  32. 32.

    trollhattan

    O/T Trump cabinet member says what we already knew.

    Over a July dinner with Oracle CEO Safra Catz — who has been mentioned as a candidate for several potential administration jobs — McMaster bluntly trashed his boss, said the sources, four of whom told BuzzFeed News they heard about the exchange directly from Catz. The top national security official dismissed the president variously as an “idiot” and a “dope” with the intelligence of a “kindergartner,” the sources said.

    That dinner was reportedly a messy affair, with BuzzFeed also reporting that, along with the president, McMasters expressed negative comments about Tillerson, Steve Bannon, James Mattis, and Jared Kushner.

  39. 39.

    Jeffro

    @daveNYC: Hey look, it’s my crazy uncle…and my dad…and the old coot down the street…and and and…

    Putting the click bait title and article aside.
    Instead of reform we elimination. -Abolish all forms of taxation and government tax collection agencies. That’s right get rid of sales, hotel, property, and utility any other form of taxation today. Next get rid of all state and federal tax collecting agencies.
    -Replace it with a flat 10% purchase fee. The only exclusions would be food, medical, buying a home, and retirement investments.
    -Collect all of the 10% purchase fee income at the point of sale digitally so the government knows exactly how much revenue they have to operate in real time.
    -Convert federal and state budgets to be based on % of their incoming revenue instead of $ like they have today.
    This simplification and heightened awareness of revenue will bolster consumer confidence.

    SO SIMPLE, LIBTARDS!!! Just abolish all taxes and go with that magical 10% flat tax. (Funny how retirement investments are excluded from even that tax, no?)

  41. 41.

    Mike J

    @LeonS: You want it to stand up to repeated use, but on the other hand you want it to be as cheap as possible so more people can participate in the project.

  43. 43.

    martian

    All my reps are solid Dems. Are there any Republicans, maybe with presidential aspirations, who would care about hearing from people outside their constituency? Any apps out there for faking caller location?

  48. 48.

    catclub

    @Mike J:

    how many uses can you get in between sharpening?

    I think with 200 lbs behind it, and a well greased track, sharpening is never necessary.

  52. 52.

    ruemara

    @martian: Murkowski & Collins are very open to hearing from folks as they are often voting against this crap. Messages of support are always welcome. I would also say sending a fax to Majority Leader Yertle in his capacity as a Majority Leader is fair, but I am sure they’re mostly screening for the right zipcodes.

  53. 53.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    @rikyrah:

    It makes more sense for the Wilmerites to court Republicans – it’s their natural constituency. Wilmer and his cult have done nothing to fix their problems with the Dem base – they don’t want to, because they desperately want to be the victims of the economic system of oppression known as capitalism, since they clearly aren’t the victims of the real system of oppression of white male supremacy. They’d have to look in the mirror at their own extreme mediocrity and wonder why they’re a bunch of losers in a system that tilts everything their way. They can take that resentment over to the GOP and test out Wilmer’s kinder and gentler white resentment coupled with big government socialism. Why GOPers would vote for Trump Lite instead of Trump is the hard thing they’re going to find out the hard way that no, Bernie wouldn’t have won. If the white middle/working class is going to pay higher taxes, they want it with Trump’s air raid siren racism, not Wilmer’s dog whistling about “identity politics”.

  54. 54.

    TenguPhule

    Douglass Henry, owner of packaging materials manufacturer Henry Molded Products, admits he could live without a tax cut. He is not going to shutter his factory and lay off his 105 workers here in Pennsylvania Dutch country if Congress fails on tax overhaul. His company is flourishing, the workers and machines humming 24 hours a day.

    “We’ve been selling everything but the paint on the wall,” he said.

    But Henry, a longtime Republican, says he wants Congress to pass a big tax cut for a different reason: It can.

    “Now is the opportunity,” said Henry, 60. “This is not an issue that is going to come up with every Congress. After 30 years, we’re overdue.”

    GOP Nazis 2018: After 62 years, we’re overdue.

  55. 55.

    Betty Cracker

    @TenguPhule: Well, Voice of Doom, the Republicans managed to pass exactly zero pieces of major legislation despite holding both chambers and the presidency, even with a full-blown cult problem in their base. So I think it’s worth trying to defeat this piece of shit bill. YMMV.

  56. 56.

    Chip Daniels

    @Jeffro:
    A 10% tax on every purchase?

    EVERY ONE?

    Like, when investment firms purchase shares of a company?

    Whats 10% of the yearly churn of Wall Street trading?

  57. 57.

    Jeffro

    @rikyrah:

    First: Walker Bragman: HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

    Secondly: Any “progressive” who runs as a Republican is no progressive.

    Thirdly: Good luck winning a GOP primary.

    And, lastly: Well, what else can you say? Bernie progressives are upset because the Democrats haven’t bent to their will and anointed Bernie Sanders as permanent Secretary General of the party. So, these two gonefs are taking their balls and saying: “See, we’ll just run as Republicans if you’re not nice to us!” That’s like a Social Democrat in Germany deciding to run as a rightwing AfD candidate. It would make one wonder about his or her’s devotion to liberal principles in the first place.

    I agree this is a cluster f**k and a fool’s errand. What would be funny would be to see a Dem – properly prepared with a speech, some advance press releases, etc – file to switch parties and primary Trumpov for the GOP nomination.

    “I’m here to run as a conservative alternative to the Russian puppet, just to show Republicans what a conservative with actual principles – as opposed to being a TRUMP SELLOUT GRIFTER – would look like. Will I have to fake enthusiasm for conservatism? Hell yes. I’d much rather stay a progressive and be able to sleep at night. But I can put on that ‘suit’ if that’s what it takes to remind Republicans just how far gone they are, and what an abomination they’re currently supporting.”

  58. 58.

    catclub

    @Jeffro: –

    Replace it with a flat 10% purchase fee. The only exclusions would be food, medical, buying a home, and retirement investments.

    so when Warren Buffet buys $1B in stocks he (Berkshire Hathaway) pays a 10% tax. Good luck with that plan.

    retirement investments. Author is over 50, but not yet selling those retirement investments.

  59. 59.

    Fester Addams

    @trollhattan:

    The top national security official dismissed the president variously as an “idiot” and a “dope” with the intelligence of a “kindergartner,” the sources said.

    As previously observed by Rex Tillerson. And one doesn’t have to think the former CEO of Exxon Mobil would make a good Secretary of State to believe he knows a fucking moron when he sees one.

  60. 60.

    FlipYrWhig

    @rikyrah: Good luck with that one, Walker Bragman. I promise I’ll rue the day when you helped build a coalition of slavering Bible-bangers, racists, and highly-educated white hipsters with mustaches.

  63. 63.

    martian

    @ruemara: My name isn’t Adelson, Koch, or Mercer, so I’m sure Yertle won’t be bothered by anything from my zip. Thanks for the Murkowski and Collins suggestion – I’ll work up something to say to them.

  64. 64.

    TenguPhule

    @Betty Cracker: I’m just saying you need to set your sights higher. Put the Fear of Fear into them. The old norms are not applicable any more.

    They have to be scared and stay scared.

  65. 65.

    Tenar Arha

    @rikyrah: ? AFAICT no one but Capuano has regular events according to this ??

    ETA it’s Massachusetts, so either the app is missing something or the Representatives & Senators are up to something else, I hope.

  67. 67.

    Jeffro

    @Major Major Major Major: @TenguPhule: Yup. The smug, calm demeanor of someone who has given exactly zero thought to how this would work in the real world. Otherwise know as an airquote “libertarian”

    @Chip Daniels: You know if you asked this clown “does every purchase mean EVERY purchase?” he ain’t talking about investment firms and rich folks and stuff.

  68. 68.

    FlipYrWhig

    @Jeffro: If it’s true that the White Working Class (TM) desperately wants battlin’ populism and they’re frustrated the Democrats won’t give it to them, they can elect Republicans who will. SPOILER ALERT: they don’t want it, and in fact they think Walker Bragman is friends with Pajama Boy.

  70. 70.

    sherparick

    Mr. Collendar is right about the end of economic sanity, but wrong in that to the Republicans and their donors that hamstringing the Federal Government in economic crisis is a feature, not a bug. https://www.forbes.com/sites/stancollender/2017/11/19/gop-tax-bill-is-the-end-of-all-economic-sanity-in-washington/2/

    Ryan and Mulvaney want the next economic crisis to “cleanse” the system and force wages into gutter. Then the workers will have a proper deference to the Randian Overlords.

  72. 72.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    @rikyrah:

    Always forget about tripping the mod filter using the “s” word, so I’ll repeat myself.

    It makes more sense for the Wilmerites to court Republicans – it’s their natural constituency. Wilmer and his cult have done nothing to fix their problems with the Dem base – they don’t want to, because they desperately want to be the victims of the economic system of oppression known as capitalism, since they clearly aren’t the victims of the real system of oppression of white male supremacy. They’d have to look in the mirror at their own extreme mediocrity and wonder why they’re a bunch of losers in a system that tilts everything their way. They can take that resentment over to the GOP and test out Wilmer’s kinder and gentler white resentment coupled with big government s0ciali$m. Why GOPers would vote for Trump Lite instead of Trump is the hard thing they’re going to find out the hard way that no, Bernie wouldn’t have won. If the white middle/working class is going to pay higher taxes, they want it with Trump’s air raid siren racism, not Wilmer’s dog whistling about “identity politics”.

  75. 75.

    Chyron HR

    @rikyrah:

    Good! The entire thesis of Our Revolution is the idea that Republican voters in red states yearn for democratic socialism. Obviously the logical course of action for them is to stop trying to take over the “neoliberal corporatist” party and run as Republicans instead.

  76. 76.

    frosty

    Repeated from below:

    We gotta make more calls on the tax hike. I just talked to a real person in Toomey’s DC office. I never got anything but voicemail the whole way through ACA repeal. That tells me the phones aren’t busy enough. Call!

  77. 77.

    TenguPhule

    @sherparick: As I said in an earlier thread. If this tax abomination gets through, federal tax evasion is going to hit levels not seen outside of third world hellholes.

    The system only works because most people who live here still respect the law.

    Once that changes, things get ugly.

  79. 79.

    catclub

    @Jeffro:

    he ain’t talking about investment firms and rich folks and stuff.

    I bet an exception for gun purchases is coming, too.

  80. 80.

    The Moar You Know

    When we have Trump Bible-humping supporters starting to admit they’d fucking accept Trump over JESUS FUCKING CHRIST, they’re not afraid of ‘God’ anymore.

    @TenguPhule: Same people who would actually pray to cardboard cutouts of George Bush, before he embarrassed them all by doing his job for once.

    They are true atheists. They’re neither afraid of or believe in God, if they did, they would not act as they do.

  83. 83.

    But her emails!!!

    A middle class tax cut that makes the tax code “simpler” and is revenue neutral or better is easy.

    1. Double the standard deduction
    2. Condense the 10% and 15% brackets to a single 10% bracket
    3. Condense the 25% and 28% brackets to a single 25% bracket
    3. Condense the 33% and 35% brackets to a single 35% bracket
    4. Make the current top bracket 40%
    5. Add a new top bracket on income over 1 million dollars at 50%

    See, easy.

  84. 84.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    @Chyron HR:

    This is what they should have been doing all along, because they’re not getting anywhere with the Dem base who refuse to step aside. Especially after Virginia. Who needs them?

  86. 86.

    TenguPhule

    @But her emails!!!: But we’re in the part of the economic cycle where taxes should be going up, not down.

    They’re literally doing everything in their power to make sure the federal government will be helpless in the next economic downturn and that the effects of the crash will be magnified to the worst extent possible.

  87. 87.

    catclub

    There’s no economic justification whatsoever for a tax cut at this time. U.S. GDP is growing, unemployment is close to 4 percent (below what is commonly considered “full employment”), corporate profits are at record levels and stock markets are soaring. It makes no sense to add any federal government-induced stimulus to all this private sector-caused economic activity, let alone a tax cut as big as this one.

    This is actually the ideal time for Washington to be doing the opposite.

    Hey, somebody saying what I have been saying. He must be right!

  88. 88.

    sheila in nc

    @Major Major Major Major:
    Once again: Any combination of arithmetic “brackets” is easy — for wage-earners.
    For business owners or investors or whatnot, the hard part is NOT “what is my tax bracket”; it is “what part of all this income is taxable and what is not”
    The hard part (the part you pay the accountants for!) is always determining what is taxable income. The brackets are just arithmetic.

  92. 92.

    Suzanne

    Just called Senator Flake’s Phoenix office and left a message with a staffer. Flake is officially “still reviewing the legislation”.

  94. 94.

    catclub

    @eclare:

    And they’re gunning for Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.

    well of course. Tax cuts are the all season recommendation good times or bad.

  95. 95.

    But her emails!!!

    @Major Major Major Major:

    I’m not a moron. I know it’s easy. Tax software does it easily. Even without it, it would take about 5 seconds to calculate using Excel. Having said that, for some reason the number of brackets is daunting for the general public and Republican Politicians. I assume a continuous function would be even scarier.

    @sheila in nc:

    The counter to that is that calculating taxable income beyond a certain point has been made difficult by the very people who employ accountants.

  96. 96.

    The Moar You Know

    Wow, Forbes commenters are truly “special”. Damn. Thought they were supposed to be an upscale outfit, not Breitbart II.

  97. 97.

    Brachiator

    @TenguPhule:

    As I said in an earlier thread. If this tax abomination gets through, federal tax evasion is going to hit levels not seen outside of third world hellholes.

    And as I said in an earlier thread, you’re probably wrong about this.

    However,

    The system only works because most people who live here still respect the law.

    Once that changes, things get ugly.

    This would be a feature of the GOP plan, not a weakness. The Republicans want to take as much money out of the tax system as possible in order to target Social Security and Medicare. The Koch Brothers and their ilk are opposed to any kind of social safety net, and one fantasy of extremist Republicans has always been to starve the beast, i.e., the federal government.

    Whatever money they could scrape up would go towards the military, although in the real world, reduced tax revenues would ultimately affect this sector, too.

  98. 98.

    piratedan

    The hardest part to understand is that the guys that are forcing the economic hands of the GOP are the guys who’ve already won with the system that we have in place, they can’t just hand the ball to the official knowing that; so, they’re not only wanting to spike the football, they wish to calvinball the game so that they are not only the winners, but they’re also the only players and we’re supposed to admire them from below, while they’re not only standing above us, but on us as well.

  100. 100.

    Brachiator

    @The Moar You Know:

    Wow, Forbes commenters are truly “special”. Damn. Thought they were supposed to be an upscale outfit, not Breitbart II.

    I don’t think I’ve ever looked at the comments to Forbes stories. Sounds like it was a good idea to avoid them.

  101. 101.

    rikyrah

    Why is Donald Trump launching a withering attack on nonprofits?
    David Callahan
    …………………………….

    According to an analysis by the Joint Committee on Taxation provisions of the House bill – specifically, a doubling of the standard deduction – 31 million taxpayers would no longer be incentivized to make charitable deductions, gutting a tax break that has helped spur giving for 100 years.

    Scrapping the estate tax – another feature of the House bill (although not the Senate version) – would lower donations by eliminating a major incentive for the wealthiest Americans to devote large fortunes to philanthropy…

    The bill would also impose a 1.4% tax on income generated by university endowments, and penalize nonprofit executive salaries over $1m a year – although it says nothing about exponentially higher levels of corporate compensation.

  102. 102.

    rikyrah

    Ari is on it.

    Trump judicial nominee who defended NC voter suppression law & racial gerrymandering may have lied to Senate about his role in Jesse Helms effort to disenfranchise over 100,000 black voters https://t.co/39nR9e1sQC

    — Ari Berman (@AriBerman) November 20, 2017

  105. 105.

    Jeffro

    @But her emails!!!:

    A middle class tax cut that makes the tax code “simpler” and is revenue neutral or better is easy.

    1. Double the standard deduction
    2. Condense the 10% and 15% brackets to a single 10% bracket
    3. Condense the 25% and 28% brackets to a single 25% bracket
    3. Condense the 33% and 35% brackets to a single 35% bracket
    4. Make the current top bracket 40%
    5. Add a new top bracket on income over 1 million dollars at 50%

    See, easy.

    Easy indeed – great work!

    For folks who’d like to play at home, give this a try: Budget Puzzle-You Fix the National Deficit!

    (an oldie but a goodie)

    I usually end up putting us a couple hundred billion in the black, with a sensibly-sized military, slight trimming of entitlements, and the rich paying their fair share.

  106. 106.

    Jeffro

    @catclub:

    I bet an exception for gun purchases is coming, too.

    And donations to the ‘right’ kinds of churches and private schools…

  107. 107.

    Hellbastard

    Good piece from Bruce Bartlett, too:

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/nov/20/republican-tax-cuts-democrats#comments

    The answer is that Republicans are pushing the tax cut at breakneck speed precisely because they know they are probably going to lose next year and in 2020 as well. The tax cut, once enacted, however, will bind the hands of Democrats for years to come, forcing them to essentially follow a Republican agenda of deficit reduction and prevent any action on a positive Democratic program. The result will be a steady erosion of support for Democrats that will put Republicans back in power within a few election cycles.

  110. 110.

    PPCLI

    @TenguPhule: Next up from the professed Christian Trump-lovers:

    “ If Jesus Christ told me `A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.’, I’d check it with Trump.”

  111. 111.

    Jack the Second

    @Mike J: I think keeping your tracks straight is going to be absolutely critical. I would even go up to 6×6’s, and then use some 2xN dimensional lumber at right angles on two sides of each post (eg, the back and outside edges) to increase rigidity. I would also look for a way to make the blade easily swappable, so you can sharpen one blade while using the other. When a piece of equipment is going to see constant utilitization for long periods of time, you don’t want to skimp on the construction, and you want to ensure you minimize down times for repairs and maintenance.

  112. 112.

    Tokyokie

    Gin & Tonic
    says:

    November 20, 2017 at 2:20 pm
    @FlipYrWhig: Hipsters don’t wear fedoras, they wear trilbys (generally).

    Thank you for the clarification. I’m wearing a snap-brim fedora as I write this (the black one, not the gray Borsalino), and, not having a single tattoo marring my skin, I can’t be a hipster.

  113. 113.

    Stan

    @donnah:

    Also, too, ignoring the Deficit, which only matters when Democrats are in power,

    That’s not quite how it works. Deficits matter when dems are in power because it is a great tool with which to stop them from doing good stuff.

    Deficits must be INCREASED when repubs are in power so that the problem will be there waiting when dems next take power. So it’s not that they don’t matter, they matter a lot in this way.

  114. 114.

    PPCLI

    @TenguPhule: The mind of a Trumper: Things are great, sales are humming, I’m taking in cash by the truckload. Therefore: Let’s completely turn the tax structure upside down, explode that deficit that I described as the most important thing ever right up until the end of last January, and shock the economy to its toes. Oh, and withdraw from NAFTA while you’re at it. It will be great!

  116. 116.

    FlipYrWhig

    @Stan: When Republicans say “deficit” they mean “welfare.” The things they squander money on, which affect the actual technical definition of the deficit, aren’t stigmatized. Hence _by definition_, “the deficit” is a Democratic problem, because Democrats want The Government to dish out money to Those People, causing “the deficit.”

    Republicans have been playing this game at least since Reagan. The media either doesn’t notice or pretends not to notice.

  117. 117.

    guachi

    I think Democrats should take something out of the Republican playbook and run on “repeal and replace”. If the tax cut ends up being as unpopular as it’s polling then the Democrats can wipe the slate clean and start over.

  118. 118.

    Miss Bianca

    Wow. fuck me, weasel Cory Gardner is having a town hall today? No advance notice? And I’ve already missed it. That smarmy little SOB.

  119. 119.

    Peale

    @Stan: Yep. So the public can continue to send lovely mixed messages that they want spending but don’t want any taxes so the Dems will need to tackle unsustainable deficits, thereby pissing off their base.

  123. 123.

    Brachiator

    @schrodingers_cat:

    The tax plan also attacks graduate education.

    I know some people who think you don’t need no education past Grade school, and a good understanding of the Bible.

  124. 124.

    tobie

    I call my Republican Rep so often it gets kind of embarrassing. Even though the tax bill is now being debated in the Senate, should I call my Rep again?

  126. 126.

    Bill Arnold

    Another article worth spreading:
    “It’s a Ponzi Scheme”: Wall Street Fears Trump’s Deranged Tax Plan Could Kick Off Economic Euthanasia

    “The Trump team is arguing that massively cutting taxes for corporations will somehow translate into significant wage increases for working people,” David Mendels, the former C.E.O. of publicly traded software company Brightcove wrote last week. “This argument fundamentally disregards everything we know about how companies actually decide to hire and how much to pay their employees. As a C.E.O. (and in previous roles) I was involved in hiring and determining salaries for thousands of people over 25 years. From real-world experience I can tell you that tax rates literally never came up in any discussion about hiring or pay levels.”

  127. 127.

    WaterGirl

    I just called all 3 of Al Franken’s offices and left messages at 2 of them. One of them had a full mailbox., so I imagine a lot of people are calling to say he should resign. I left messages saying, sure, the USO photo was in poor taste, but there’s no way he should resign because of that or because of this ridiculous “al grabbed my but cheek during a state fair photo” issue.

    Having said that, I am going to make a list of every person – male and female – who accidentally brushed my boobs in passing because of an ill-timed move. (not really!)

    This is exactly what I feared – people coming out with politically motivated bullshit stories.

  128. 128.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Major Major Major Major: He sometimes wore a hat (as was the fashion at the time) but not nearly as frequently as some other musicians. Monk, for instance, was seldom without a hat, although some of his would be hard for anyone else to pull off.

  130. 130.

    Mary G

    @martian: I sent a postcard to Jeff Flake that if he votes no on the tax bill I will contribute $1 a month to his inevitable presidential campaign as soon as he announces, but if he votes yes, I am bringing my Guatemalan-American housemates over the border into Arizona to volunteer for the most whack primary challenger in the race.

  132. 132.

    catclub

    @The Moar You Know:

    Wow, Forbes commenters are truly “special”.

    1. Never read the comments on internet news sites.
    2. Never get out of the boat – the mangos are evil.
    3. There is no three. Also no spoon.
    4. goatse

  135. 135.

    TenguPhule

    @andy:

    Why worry about that when every financial district in the country is so well equipped with lamp posts?

    Most of those fuckers are too heavy to risk the lamp posts.

  140. 140.

    TenguPhule

    @schrodingers_cat: Yep. Anyone who remains is pretty much guaranteed to be cheating on their taxes from that point on. Because unless you have a trust fund, there is no way you can survive being taxed on twice or three times your actual income.

  141. 141.

    Emma

    @WaterGirl: He’ll be gone by the end of the year. We do it to ourselves, ever freaking time. I can tell you one thing, the democratic groups, from the DNC on down, each and everyone of them, can whistle for my money.

  143. 143.

    Aleta

    We figured our grad students will have to pay $8000 in taxes out of their assistantship salary of (at most) $20,000.

  145. 145.

    Emma

    @WaterGirl: Unfortunately, the Democrats are conditioned to stupid actions. Let’s face it, the Republicans are crap but they fight for their own to the last drop of blood. I am tired of politicians who are good moral people; I want SOBs who can fight.

  146. 146.

    WaterGirl

    @Emma:

    I am tired of politicians who are good moral people; I want SOBs who can fight.

    I want good moral people who will fight.

    The absolute WORST thing Franken could do “for” the democratic party would be to step down. If he steps down they will take it as an admission of guilt and tar the democrats with that all the while being holier than now because Trump and the AL senatorial hopeful didn’t step down because those were false accusations.

  150. 150.

    Bill Arnold

    The GOP presume that it will be mostly dark meat at the buffet.

    Pretty sure that the GOP isn’t really thinking about it, except for the drafters of these higher-education parts, and they probably think “graduate students bad[1]” without thinking about how this is essentially slow national attempted suicide. OK maybe not suicide, but akin to attempting to drink oneself into a dysfunctional stupor with Bloody Marys made from one’s own blood. OK, maybe that’s a bit hyperbolic, but these changes in higher education tax policy are profoundly stupid.

    I was at a party Saturday night, and took the opportunity to directly ask a wingnut couple (as in husband and wife, asked independently) if they would be willing to suffer a 5-10 percent drop in their home value “for the team”. They both said yes!!!. The husband said that “they need a win”. (They being “his team”)
    It was unsettling. These are both people who can think reasonably complex thoughts about other thinks, but politics literally makes them stupid. [2]

    [1] “bad” == “do not vote Republican”
    [2] Earliest cite I found, whatever you think of lesswrong.com, Politics is the Mind-Killer:

    Politics is an extension of war by other means. Arguments are soldiers. Once you know which side you’re on, you must support all arguments of that side, and attack all arguments that appear to favor the enemy side; otherwise it’s like stabbing your soldiers in the back—providing aid and comfort to the enemy.

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