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Texas GOP Platform in a nutshell

1) move to state elector system so that it can be rigged to always favor Republicans regardless of demographic changes or political opinion shifts.

2) give wealthy people more tax breaks and create a broader division between wealthy land owners and lower class renters.

3) turn the lower class renters into baby factories to produce more cheap labor

4) remove social safety nets so that people will be desperate enough to work as cheap labor

5) create a system of dependency upon the Church for poor people

6) allow the church to drive politics.

That's what it all boils down to folks. Educated people have less babies. Homosexual relationships produce no babies. More people is more competition for jobs is cheaper workers. People brainwashed by religion are more likely to accept their lot in life.

Texas Republicans have revealed themselves as cartoonish moustache twirling villains and people still support them. Wake up conservative sheeple. Most of you are going to be the mutton, not the shepherds.

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Dainbramadge · 56-60, M

We all have to accept our place in life.
We can't all drive the ship. Someone has to hoist the sales.
That doesn't mean you can't better yourself and your position in life.
I think the only one that I can address is number two about wealthy people and tax breaks.
A boss of mine once told me the reason they do that is because people with money are more likely to start a business.
Also I have never received a paycheck from a poor man.
You put a lot of work into this post. I can tell you have very strong feelings about everything you wrote.
I guess I will also add that thing about the serenity prayer.

"God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
courage to change the things I can,
and wisdom to know the difference."

I think that pretty much sums it all up.
You can only actually make political changes at The ballot box.

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ViciDraco · 36-40, M

@Dainbramadge trickle down economics is a failed experiment. It's true that poor men don't cut your paychecks, but they probably give the rich guy the money you worked hard for. The middle and working class thrived in this nation at a rate where the wealthiest paid much more tax. At least if you were a white male, but I am sure we can do better on that next time around.

As for changing it at the ballot box, that was point number one. They are making it significantly harder.

tindrummer · M

@Dainbramadge quit being so damned uppity, right?

windinhishair · 61-69, M

@Dainbramadge Not only is trickle-down economics a failed experiment, but David Stockman, President Reagan's Office of Management and Budget Director, admitted that they didn't even believe it would work, but used it as an excuse for tax cuts for the wealthy.

justanothername · 51-55, M

@Dainbramadge It’s that mindset that stops Texas from becoming a technology and innovation hub of the south. Technology and innovation creates employment and higher paying jobs, something you guys are unlikely to ever get.

Dainbramadge · 56-60, M

@justanothername So people understanding that someone has to produce the commodity is what is keeping tech based companies from starting up in Texas?

Dainbramadge · 56-60, M

@windinhishair To tell the truth, I never understood why people are so concerned with how much tax wealthy people pay.

Dainbramadge · 56-60, M

@tindrummer I'm not sure I follow where you were going.

Dainbramadge · 56-60, M

@ViciDraco What is the alternative to trickle down?
Nobody is going to start or operate a business if there is no money to be made.

windinhishair · 61-69, M

@Dainbramadge Because as incredible as it may seem, tax revenues have to come from somewhere. They come from a combination of taxes on people in all income brackets. If wealthy individuals pay less in taxes, other people with less money pay more, or you allow the deficit to increase, which is not sustainable in the long run. We had a well-off middle class in the 1950s and 1960s when the marginal tax rate was 90%. More recently, after Republican tax cuts for the wealthy, it has been around 30%. Any guess as to where the money now comes from? Come on, you can do it!

Dainbramadge · 56-60, M

@windinhishair so does that mean you are in favor of just a flat tax? You know like everybody just pays 30% income tax?

windinhishair · 61-69, M

@Dainbramadge That's even more regressive. Where would you get that idea? The wealthy should pay much more than they are paying now. We can go back to rates that worked in the 1970s, for example

ViciDraco · 36-40, M

@Dainbramadge a good investment is a good investment. Making more money would never mean earning less. It just means that it is more difficult to go from 9 million to 10 million than it is to go from 1 million to 2 million. Again, America thrived after the high taxation brought about during the new deal.

I don't know where you get this thing about there being no money to be made. Even being taxed at a top rate of 90% making more money is making more money.

Dainbramadge · 56-60, M

@windinhishair I'm actually not following the root of what you are trying to say.
As far as where do I get my idea it was just that an idea of that, wait for it, I had not generated by any other input from any other source or person.
So hypothetically if everyone paid 30% income tax Rich, poor ,middle class, gym class etc etc.... How would that not be fair or productive?

Dainbramadge · 56-60, M

@ViciDraco I think you kind of lost me on the no money to be made statement.
I don't think I said anything about money not being made except when I said people won't start businesses if there isn't money to be made.
Are you saying that rich people should have to pay a higher rate of taxes simply because they make more money?

ViciDraco · 36-40, M

@Dainbramadge yes, exactly the same way we do it now, only we add more tax brackets. And we bring capital gains into traditional income tax systems.

But you are reversing the situation. Rich people are not being taxed more. It is the money that is being taxed. My first dollar and Elon Musk's first dollar are taxed the same. We do not increase taxes on someone's first dollar. Instead, we tax dollars earned over a certain amount at a higher rate.

Dainbramadge · 56-60, M

@ViciDraco so that would be yes that rich people should pay a higher percentage of income tax. Right?

ViciDraco · 36-40, M

@Dainbramadge Yes. And because the system is applied progressively it is entirely fair. There is never a penalty for earning more.

windinhishair · 61-69, M

@Dainbramadge Do I really have to spell it out for you? Because paying 30% of an inadequate income to live on is far more difficult than paying 30% of an income that is far greater than your basic needs. It hurts the poor and doesn't hurt the wealthy anywhere near as much. The only fair way to do it is to exempt low incomes from taxes while increasing taxes on the wealthy. VinDraco has explained the reasoning. A billionaire and a pauper would pay the same rate on the lowest amount of income, and then increasingly greater percentages of each marginal income bracket. But no matter how much someone makes, they are still making more money at each level.

Dainbramadge · 56-60, M

@windinhishair actually that is exactly what I wanted was for you to spell it out for me.
@ViciDraco @windinhishair I guess I was having trouble with your concept because I just couldn't understand how someone could think that just because someone makes more money than another that you are entitled to a share of it.
That seems to be the root of the left. You want people that have more to do above and beyond.
It shouldn't matter if I make a dollar a day or 10 billion a minute I should pay the same percentage.
So what is your Battle cry? Make the rich pay for it.

windinhishair · 61-69, M

@Dainbramadge If someone can't get by on $10,000 a year, you would gladly take the same percentage from them as someone who makes $200,000 a year. How is that fair when it hurts the poor far more?

Taxation by definition taxes some people more than others. Some income is taxed differently too. With loopholes, the wealthy pay less of their income as a percentage than most middle class workers. Trump didn't pay any tax at all for over a decade. Do you think that is fair?

The motto of he right is to soak the poor and give to the rich. A reverse Robin Hood approach.

Dainbramadge · 56-60, M

@windinhishair I guess I can see the difference between your view and mine.
You're mad because Trump didn't pay any taxes.
I want his accountants phone number.

windinhishair · 61-69, M

@Dainbramadge I see. So not paying your fair share of taxes and saddling everyone else with the bill is seen with reverence, not disgust. I understand your whole point in this now.

Dainbramadge · 56-60, M

@windinhishair If he is using the government's layout then isn't that the government's fault? Not the rich guy who uses the availability of the layout?
If he is playing by the rules then how can you get mad at him and think he is cheating?
If he was doing something underhanded don't you think the IRS would have caught him by now?

windinhishair · 61-69, M

@Dainbramadge Do you really think Trump is playing by the rules, given his proven inability to be truthful? Hahahahahahahahaha. You've made your point that you value not paying your fair share of taxes and sticking everyone else with the bill. Not that it is surprising.

Dainbramadge · 56-60, M

@windinhishair I see you just went to rhetoric rather than admit that he isn't doing anything wrong by following the rules.
You are a good Lefty.

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