Sounds like a typical attack on an Asian population.
Hopefully, we learned from the 1st Korea and Viet Nam and WW2 for that matter.
It might be better to just assassinate the crazy dude.

I'm not just referring to showing up twice as a problem in the runoff. I don't think he's going to lose by 14 pts in the runoff like Jim Martin did in the runoff as there's definitely more enthusiasm to keep it close. I'm more worried about the coalescing of votes and enthusiasm for the GOP once one emerges as the runoff contender. I saw one poll that said Ossoff was only the second choice of 1% of voters, which would be very problematic.

I sure hope you're right and I'm wrong.

That's my vote ... but make it look at an accident.

I’m not sure assassinating the current Kim is going to achieve a whole lot, to be honest – outside of start a war. From what I’ve read over the years he sounds like he leans closer to figurehead than he does unilateral dictator

Do we need to hire Seth Rogen and James Franco to do it?

I'm pretty sure they would screw it up!

Right I acknowledge and get all of that. It still comes down to turning out your vote in the run off. In the last 20 years, turn out drops by about 40% between a main and a run off election. Historically it is even larger. My only point is that if Ossoff can turn out his voters in similar form in both the main and the run off then he could be the 18th choice of those who vote against him in the run off and he's going to have a pretty good shot at winning.

Presumably there's just more crazy on the bench tho.

Ossoff looking good in early vote counting, but its going to be close.

Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) | Twitter

Unfortunately he could not hold on to early momentum, and now looks like a runoff with Karen Handel :(

So it ends up being uber liberal vs liberal.

I think Ossoff will end up with about 48%... not enough.

AJC.com is showing Ossoff with 54%, updated as of 9:29pm.

(Oh, 32% reported in)

Your ideal candidates I know Jon :)

Hey, I've lived in the state with such stellar elected officials as McKinney, Lewis, and "Guam-Is-Tipping" Johson. I'll survive Asshat.

edit to add: even survived the barely tenable situation of having Cynnnnnnnthiuh as my actual rep for a year or so.

Yeah, based on where the reported vote is coming from versus left to count, this seems to be the number.

Color me shocked?

https://www.wsj.com/articles/exxon-s...ons-1492620677

So anyone know what the true story is behind the (mis)communication re: the armada?

I can't believe we would deliberately lie about it and the Chinese/Russian/ROK satellites surely would have known (but nothing came out).

...you don't? If it's being used as a muscle-flexing show not for the benefit of NK, but to convince the American people that Trump is strong?

I haven't followed the story much, but Trump has been very clear during the election and after that he does not want to let potential/real enemies know where American forces are via the media. So I think it was partly that, and probably partly inexperience/being on the same page with the various people who commented on the armada.

Not telling the media is one thing, but I'm not sure major foreign powers need news reports to tell them where another nation's naval fleet is.

But then we're still left with Pence...

No probably not but I'm also sure major foreign powers use our media as one of their sources of information.

Had my Econ students interview family on healthcare. Here are my 2 favorite quotes:

What do you see as the main problems with the current system?

"I'm having to pay for some no-good sick person with my money, thanks to Obama!"

"Donald Trump is the big fucking problem!"

Overall it was pretty even: 1/3 Liberal/Universal, 1/3 Conservative/Privatization, 1/3 Don't know/Don't care. Definitely shows the need for educators to provide information and context to such emotional and personal experiences.

Chaffetz is not running for reelection in 2018, may be resigning his seat as soon as tomorrow.

That was the case more during the first golf war era through the early war on terror years than now. At that time it was the best way to get news on our troop movements and developments. Now with level of information technology out there it's not needed or relied on as heavily.

I don't feel like they understand the basic concept of insurance.

Yesterday I thought this was just about cashing in on a government career, but his resignation implies that there's something else going on. I wonder if the real story will still break?

He's just wanting to spend more time with Семьи. Err, family.

Ahhh, cartman has been a spam bot the whole time.

(shh)

That's so yesterday news (when I posted that here :) ) Pretty big thorn out of the Dems hair if he does.

Everything is a con.

maybe Sessions needs to go sit on an island somewhere...

Jeff Sessions doesn’t think a judge in Hawaii — a.k.a. ‘an island in the Pacific’ — should overrule Trump - The Washington Post

So WTF is going on over there. May just be wishful thinking from the 'US defense official' and it may be a reaction to the recent aggressive US tone?

If Donald did actually get the Chinese totally on our side and they are now going to do something about NK ...

http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/20/politi...ina/index.html

I know there are more sexy things to fret over, but at some point, doesn't the horrifying lack of actual leadership in government matter? We've seen this in bits and pieces... of the top jobs at the State Department, they have filled something like one of 100... of all these senior US Attorneys fired for being Obama holdovers simply have not been replaced... and so forth. It's pretty clear (regardless of what side you're on, I'd think) that this President and Administration have less interest than usual in the actual day-to-day conduct of government business, and I guess we knew we were getting that. But doesn't this actually matter at some point? Or is this just yet another left/right talking point where the true believers will tell us that since the sun continue to rise in the East, that's evidence that we don't actually need a true State Department, and can get by with an occasional official visit somewhere from Ivanka instead? (and so on and so forth)

According to Trump, next week the ACHA will be passed through the House, a tax reform plan will be introduced and an increase to the debt limit will be passed and signed.

We should all plan on a government shutdown, I guess.

I don't think it'll matter to many people unless if affects their daily lives. There's a good portion of people, especially on the right, that see these jobs as do-nothing crony jobs anyways.

Nothing better than being forced to go to work and waiting for the backpay to be approved and processed.

It seems to be a combination of ideology, control, incompetence and a lack of people willing to serve. There's probably also some degree of laziness or at least an unwillingness to do the hard work of staffing the lower level appointees.

It will certainly matter at some point. When Pence went to SK we had no ambassador to SK or Japan and no Far East deputy at State. My guess is everything, or almost everything is being run by DoD, which while competently staffed, has an obvious bias towards escalation.

It also is at least partially to blame for the lack of legislation signed by Trump. There just aren't enough skilled, experienced folks to write and/or negotiate legislative language. The WH is entirely dependent on Congress to create and negotiate legislation, but they don't trust them, so failure gets repeated.

But, yes, the average voter doesn't care about staffing. We pay a guy to do that, so most just assume that whatever happens is the "right" answer. They won't care about staffing per se, but they will care when nothing gets done or disasters arise without competent people in place to deal with them. Trump's been relatively lucky so far, but that won't hold for four years.

http://fortune.com/2017/04/19/trump-...-canada-trade/

The Trumpster is going to bat for me. Long story short, Canada protects their milk production with tariffs and producton quotas. The processor I currently sell my own milk to had found a loophole and now the Canadians have moved to close that loophole (or make it less desirable to buy said product from the US).

My current milk processor let 75 farms know on April 1st that they would no longer be purchasing their milk on May 1st. Right now it is next to impossible to find a new home for milk so many of these farms will go out of business.

I may be next. I'm hearing rumors that my processor is going to cut more farms, and I have a sneaking suspicion that my farm may be among the next cuts which would be all the more brutal for me as I could be left standing in this game of musical chairs. If this happens, it will be the end of my farming career.

Trump's gonna put a man on Mars this term. Good for him.

I think that removing the pre-tax benefit for retirement is one of the most short sighted things that congress has ever considered. I mean, it's meant as a cash pull to cover for a budget short fall and it will succeed in that, but it's most harmful directly to the middle class, once again, and directly impacts how people behave in regard to saving for retirement.

It wouldn't be so bad if SS was solvent and running like a top, but they've stolen from that well too. As people shift to Roth401k's that money will start to dwindle too, then they'll come for your Roth.

The government already allowed companies to eject pensions and screw people, now essentially getting rid of 401k pretax breaks for saving is just de-incentivizing savings all that much more.

Didn't know about the 401k so googled on it and the only article I found was

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money...eak/100837046/

I suspect this is a non-starter. Too much political backlash, probably easier finding money somewhere else.

The wsj had a blog post about it the other day too that went into greater detail. From the sounds of it, it's something that is strongly being considered. The article is behind the paywall for anyone who has that sub, here's the link.

https://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2017...from-congress/

Corporate tax breaks at the expense of the middle class. Make America great again. Brilliant.

Under the Trump plan as being leaked, why wouldn't we all form LLCs and insist on being independent contractors?

Trumps always been a trickle down fan.

If they are actually going to do that, they might as well go ahead and just do a total re-do of the tax code. Having to pay taxes on gains on income you put into a 401(k)... you should be able to withdraw money from the 401(k) to make those payments. If you do that, then you should just be able to treat it like any other taxable investment account and withdraw at will. If you do that, people will start withdrawing money left and right from these accounts. If you do that, we will have a major retirement income problem in another 10-20 years that could create a whole new underclass of elderly.

Sounds great.

I understand the practical argument for making more revenue now... but applying incremental taxation to unrealized gains is bound to cause serious market distortion. (Even if we allowed people to pay taxes from those accounts) Who the hell would want to do that anymore? What would an employer (like me) who currently only offers a 401(k) do? Switch everyone into a Roth to dodge this crap? Do the fed them go after them?

Not liking that particular rabbit hole.

That too, but the real world implications are probably beyond me to figure out. That's why we need smart guys like you to call it out.

Trump is putting tariffs on Canadian lumber now in retaliation for the the whole milk thing I talked about a few posts back.

I have some suggestions for good candidates for the job.

But then the Democrats would hold the house, senate and Presidency... things might actually get done.

Virtually all of them bad.

I have a much more beneficial solution in mind however :)

You could argue an established middle class is the ruin of democratic countries.

The modern peaceful Western civilisation model seems to work best when countries are expanding, with a defined upper and working class, with the latter having the realistic aspiration to better themselves.

Once too many of the working class better themselves, the system creaks under the weight of too large a middle class, not enough workers nor people willing to work (two separate groups), and too many older people as modern medicine, welfare and the lack of face to face warfare saves lives.

I'm not sure any western democracy is more powerful now than at any point in the past: European countries had empires, the US was more powerful compared to the rest of the world 30-50 years ago.

Not saying I agree with this, but you could defend it in a debate.

Maybe the U.S. was more powerful in a relative sense ten years ago, but we're basically at a point where we're more powerful than we've ever been. There's literally no country on earth that could threaten us.

And the middle class, as defined by the middle three income quintiles, has a lesser share of both income and wealth than they did decades ago. What data do you use to justify the contention that the problem is a swelling middle class?

The problem is the bloating at the top. It has caused a major imbalance in the system.

If left unchecked it will bring the country to its knees.

We'll have things like:
Poisoned water lines
Coal dust being dumped in rivers
Removal of regulations attempting to increase fuel efficiency in vehicles
Dismantling the EPA
Dismantling the parks system
...

Nary a peep from conservatives after Trump issues a statement taking credit for the most executive orders since FDR.

Maybe process complaints aren't really sincere?

Wild boars overrun Islamic State position, kill 3 militants

:lol:

They have to pay for the tax cuts for the rich somehow. Middle and lower class are going to be the one's that take the hit.

It'll impact younger people who don't vote as much and likely aren't taking retirement serious. So I understand why it's a target. Older people got their tax cuts from the system and can now screw over the younger generation.

As Trump Inquiries Flood Ethics Office, Director Looks To House For Action

And in the ever expanding file of insincere arguments, add, laws should apply to congress.

exiling yourself to Outer Mongolia?? You're a prince jon.. the prince of darkness ;)

Don't you guys have plenty of lumber available in Yellowstone etc ? No need to import, sound strategy.


:banghead:



(and yeah, i have no idea as to the realities/reasoning between either the milk thing or this one)

More, and more detail, on this point in the "mainstream media" today.

Slow pace of Trump nominations leaves Cabinet agencies ‘stuck’ in staffing limbo - The Washington Post


Federal agencies now hiring lobbyists to help get their own staff appointed. WTF

Welcome To Mar-A-Lago

Guess those wheels of justice are moving really slowly these days.

Canadian lumber is cheaper. The Trump administration argument is that Canadian lumber is cheaper because the lumber companies are unfairly subsidized by the Canadian government. Most of the timber land used by Canadian lumber companies is government owned.

With milk, Canada has tariffs on imported milk and the government has a supply management system that ensures a good price to their farmers but limits growth as you must buy expensive quota to produce more milk. We could probably put the Canadian dairy industry out of business if they got rid of quota and lifted tariffs. We'd flood their market with cheaper dairy products. I don't blame Canada for keeping it.

Doesn't look like I'm getting early retirement as my milk processor is going to be keeping my farm.

That's good to hear at least.

Amidst all the tax ideas being bandied about, two in particular seem odd when placed alongside one another:

-Trump describes his plan as the "biggest tax cut ever"
-Congress appears committed to things being "revenue neutral"

So... let's try to take some of this at face value. Big rate cut for corporations. Probably a big rate cut for the very wealthy. Even if you assume some positive growth numbers and come foreign repatriation of income (there's zero doubt there will be some fantasy-like dynamic scoring in play, and those numbers will be the guide rather than those coming from the CBO), you still have to find some net increase in revenue elsewhere to make this revenue neutral, or even close to it.

I think the best guess is that for many people in middle income, the net effect might be some modest drop in rates, but a substantial broadening of your taxable income base, and probably some weird tweaks like new taxation of your pension assets' incremental gains. Lots of people in the demographic strata who voted for this president are going to end up paying higher taxes, most likely.

But "postcard" tho.

It will be very interesting to see how much Trump benefits from any tax cuts.

It probably won't matter to his supporters though. Many of them believe he's paying for his trips to Mar-A-Lago out of his own pocket.

Without knowing the full extent of his own finances will we truly know?

Is this the Joseph Ducreux version of "but her e-mails?"

Amazing no one responded on this. It still baffles me how blatantly dishonest this guy/administration is. And no one seems to give a shit anymore. Is this asshat desensitizing us to the truth? And what kills me, as a southerner, who as a whole, we pride ourself on honesty and trustworthiness, the majority of my people voted for, and still support this insincere clown.

Even if he manages to do something that works toward something good 1 time out of 10, he's still hitting better than his predecessors. The bar he needs to clear to represent improvement is awwwwfully low.

While I do still have Obama above Carter in the worst-ever derby, the majority of my friends (largely Southern, which is why I feel like it's relevant to your specific complaint) have Obie firmly in the worst-ever slot. And I'm talking about people who, by a strong majority, lived through both.

I believe the majority of those voters you're talking about (tho a disappointingly slim majority) knew this was a simply "best of the available choices", not "greatest ever". The bar is pretty low.

We live in a time where the right is being steered by 4chan and the left by professional victims that call themselves activists. It's not about policy or the truth. It's about my team winning and shifting my ideals to fit the policy introduced by my team's leader.

So probably shady... but at some level, isn't it getting tough to fill these positions with qualified (or at least somewhat qualified) candidates if lots of people don't want to serve under this administration.

Am I wrong in stating that the US gov't subsidizes US milk by buying up supply if the price drops below a certain point?

You are blaming Trump for desensitizing people to the truth? Where have you been the last 10, 20, 30, 40 years?
This is what all politicians do. So a better question would be "Have we really become this desensitized?" or "When do we start the take over?"

It might still be in place but hasn't been updated in so long so that it actually kicks in.

The current government margin insurance program from the last farm bill was pretty much a joke. I never did sign up, but I continue to use a different insurance program to set a floor on my milk price. The premium on this insurance is partially government subsidized.

No

Comparing the level of lying and general dishonesty from Trump and his administration to any other administration in US history (including Nixon) is either nativity or ignorance.

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features...heir-promises/

Politicians generally twist reality to suit their arguments. Trump just makes shit up - it's a big leap.

Q: how is milk literally selling for 1.28$ in Ohio when 15 miles over in PA there is a state minimum of 3.40$ I think. Surely it costs a helluva lot more than 1.28 to produce a gallon of milk, right?

Anyways I find myself getting 4-5 gallons every time I stop at Walmart there. Even if I throw away some I'm still way ahead.

I'm saying this anecdotally, but the southerners who voted for Trump and value honesty only do so as a stereotype they claim but rarely try to live up to. My family's roots are in Appalachia a couple of generations back and most of them voted for Trump. Neither of my parents had ever seen a non white person before they left home at 18. They don't care that he's lying because they are habitual liars who will double down on an obvious lie, who will change positions because Fox News tells them to, and whose vote for Trump had nothing to do with his character and everything to do with stupid promises about backwards crap like pumping money into dead industries like coal and keeping out anyone who isn't white. It's that simple. They'll self describe as good, honest, hard working folk but it's simply not true in practice and never has been.

I suspect that the following three tax deductions will go away in the next decade:

- 401k / Retirement from pre-tax dollars
- Mortgage interest
- Lack of tax on other employer benefits, healthcare being the big one

My question is will it be better to do it all at once or piecemeal.

It's probably for the best to move people off of the 401k and onto better savings options.

If you have a company match, what would be better (even taking the matched portion out of the equation)?

Politically I'm not sure you can get away with any of that list, but you certainly couldn't do it all at once. The tax hit on the middle class would be huge, and they generally don't pay enough in income taxes to have a rate cut offset the increases.

Nothing up to the match. After that it I think the conventional wisdom is that it depends on what investment options are offered and potential fund expenses compared to personal retirement accounts you can open and fund yourself.

It depends on how much the company matches. It's also an issue of having an option where you aren't penalized for accessing your money in a crisis situation. I'll again reference James Altucher who, though I don't agree with all of his points, is a financial wiz who has made millions several times in his life. I don't agree with him that's it's just a big scam, but I do agree that it's shady and something as simple as putting money into a Wealthfront account or investing in a Vanguard index fund is better and allows much more flexibility.

Why Your 401K Is A Scam!

I agree. Diversification is always important and the key to any good financial planning.

But it isn't as simple as saying "just move to another saving option" when people in this country have a problem with saving. There is enormous power in having that money come out of your paycheck automatically, and it took a real long time for people to understand why using pre-tax money is so important. So yeah, you can start directing contributions from your paycheck to another account that you have designated for retirement but you had to have had some very expensive investment options in your 401k account in order to make up for the pre and post tax difference.

Yeah I don't expect there to be an offset. Eventually revenues will have to be raised and the government doesn't seem ready to cut spending. And frankly neither does most of the population since any proposed cut results in some special interest group coming out saying that it's the worst thing ever.

I think the difference is that employers should be matching something like an index fund instead of something as restrictive as a 401k. Even the creators of the 401k say it's a mistake. Overall, I don't view the 401k as bad, and definitely not a scam, but I don't see it as a solid enough option given the alternatives. I interviewed for a job with UNLV and was shocked that they require 14.5% to be placed into their retirement fund.

Even the people who pushed the 401(k) think it's been a huge mistake.

Some 401k programs are good, some are not. Some 401k's do offer index funds as investment options. Some do not.

Your link is about how 401k's replaced pension funds and that is a net negative. That's not helpful from the standpoint of "invest in something other than a 401k right now." That's a totally different line of discussion.

A data point for the earlier staffing discussion:


http://www.nationalreview.com/articl...t-incompetence

Withdraw from NAFTA, murder healthcare for poor people, destroy taxes for everyone but the extremely wealthy. He's really going for the trifecta so people think he accomplished something at that deadline he says is stupid.

More fake news from another liberal news organization /s

Looks like a short call with Trudeau talked him out of leaving NAFTA. Art of the Deal or whatever LOL.

Cookies are Not Accepted - New York Times