USA Politics Bottomlined?

[BabylonHoruv]

I used to agree with the OP.  I no longer do.  I stopped during Clinton.  I vote for the Dems because they are smarter, not because they align with my interests.  They will at least slaughter me in a way that makes sense.

[Jasper]

The only vote that is going to have a nontrivial effect is a vote for someone who will enact systemic change to the very processes of legislation and government.  In essence, find someone who knows the game is rigged and knows how to mend it.  And wants to do so more than they want money and power. 

Anyone?  No?

Oh well.

[Bobby Campbell]

what makes you think that taxes on the rich go to fund social programs? For that matter, what makes you think the rich ever actually end up paying any of those increased taxes?

hint: they don't, it's just an emotional appeal to get your vote.

and you're focusing on the trappings of each party rather than what REALLY goes on. The truth is, they're both bought and paid for by the same interests. Your vote for a democrat candidate does absolutely nothing that your vote for a GOP candidate wouldn't do. In the end, Bechtel/KBR/GenDyne/Lockheed-Martin/BofA/Goldman-Sachs/etc. still own your ass. Not saying you should vote one way or another or that you shouldn't cote however you want to, but you should do it without being under an illusions that it makes a tangible difference. The only elections that matter to your daily life in a tangible manner are your municipal and maybe some state elections.

That seems like a well reasoned appeal to further re-consideration, First City Hustle! Thanks.

[tyrannosaurus vex]

What's funny is that people know this but haven't seemed to catch on yet. How many election cycles have been dominated now by some version of "WASHINGTON IS FUNDAMENTALLY BROKEN, AND WE WILL FIX IT." ? Last time the Dems claimed it, now the Tea Party is claiming it. It's true, and it's also a fucking goldmine of popular support for whichever party most effectively claims it.

For some reason, nobody seems to ever notice that it's always being claimed by the same fucking people.

[Jasper]

It's the homeopathy scam applied to politics.

[East Coast Hustle]

It's the homeopathy scam applied to politics.

[the last yatto]

what do you think the Democratic party does/will do that will help the poor or middle class any more than the GOP?

Well it isn't just the GOP running on the R ticket anymore... I often vote blue tho mostly because the donkeys lack the will to throw a punch. McCain would have bomb Iran by now probally right before they figured out the virus code

Social freedoms seem more important then economic freedoms since I make less then the quarter million with cheese. Tho I don't think we should eat tax the rich either, but someone should be honest its not small business owners that will be hurt as they usually can write off things as expences, its the suits making six figures have to worry their taxes will cancel out their yearly bonus. Dems aren't on easy street, or even main street, if they had listen to Ron Simms about local taxes or called the IRS on Walmart they might not see a huge voter rout like they are thinking is coming this November

[Kai]

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

[East Coast Hustle]

what do you think the Democratic party does/will do that will help the poor or middle class any more than the GOP?

Well it isn't just the GOP running on the R ticket anymore... I often vote blue tho mostly because the donkeys lack the will to throw a punch. McCain would have bomb Iran by now probally right before they figured out the virus code

Social freedoms seem more important then economic freedoms since I make less then the quarter million with cheese. Tho I don't think we should eat tax the rich either, but someone should be honest its not small business owners that will be hurt as they usually can write off things as expences, its the suits making six figures have to worry their taxes will cancel out their yearly bonus. Dems aren't on easy street, or even main street, if they had listen to Ron Simms about local taxes or called the IRS on Walmart they might not see a huge voter rout like they are thinking is coming this November

First of all...


THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS AN ACTUAL "TEA PARTY". FFS. They're NOT an actual political party, they're just a bunch of loudmouthed douchebags with a catchy name. So yes, they ARE still GOP.

Second of all...as a former small business owner, I can tell you that you are 100% wrong. You don't just get to "write things off as expenses" unless you want to be on the wrong end of the IRS's shitstick. And those tax increases will utterly FUCK you if you're right on the borderline of profitability. One of the many reasons I could never quite get my pizzeria to the point of being worthwhile was the continually increasing tax burden. And those rich people who make over 250K a year? They can afford tax lawyers and offshore bank accounts in the Caymans and the BVI. They'll literally never pay an extra dime in taxes no matter how much you raise their tax rate, unless they're incredibly stupid (in which case it's unlikely they make that much money).

third of all...please point me to even one instance in the last 10 or 12 years in which a publicly elected Democrat has done anything to increase your social freedoms. It's a fallacy. And anyway, without economic freedom, your social freedoms are pretty worthless.

"I mean hey, I can't afford diapers for my kid or nutritious food for my family, but at least I can smoke pot in Seattle without being hassled by the man! Except I can't because the SPD is ignoring that law ans referring more marijuana cases than ever to the prosecutor's office! YAY SOCIAL FREEDOMS!"
\

[Requia ☣]

I was under the impression that small business taxes were based on profits, not on revenue, was this incorrect?

[Suu]

The bottomline:

"Shit happened, and nobody did much of anything."

[Adios]

I was under the impression that small business taxes were based on profits, not on revenue, was this incorrect?

Just employment taxes can eat a small business alive.

[Requia ☣]

Point.  I forget they aren't happy with just taxing you once and being done with it, they have to tax 15 other things too. 

[East Coast Hustle]

I was under the impression that small business taxes were based on profits, not on revenue, was this incorrect?

Payroll taxes and workers comp have nothing to do with your profits. Except that they tend to make them disappear. As far as your corporate income tax, yeah it's based on profit but Peleus seemed to be positing that you could just increasingly make up expenses to write off to offset that without ending up in an IRS dungeon and believe me, it's not that easy. They scrutinize small business returns to a much higher degree than they do personal returns.

[Bebek Sincap Ratatosk]

You know what?

Two years ago, I voted Democrat because I swallowed Obama's bullshit. I fell for it hook, line, and sinker. I don't blame myself for being stupid (I mean, the facts added up well enough: Obama started dirt poor and had to work his ass off to get where he was, and there's really no logical reason to sell out at that point), but I do blame myself for being optimistic.

Obama and the Democrats have controlled Washington for 2 years now as a unit. They could have enacted serious reform: they could have scrapped Medicare and Medicaid and created a single-payer system and fucked the corrupt insurance companies right out of existenc, but they didn't. They could have brought the hammer of Thor down on Wall Street and obliterated corporate shenanigans, but they didn't. Obama single-handedly could order the DOJ to stop enforcing stupid Marijuana laws, even if the weren't repealed: he hasn't. He is the commander in chief; he could have ordered the DOD the fuck out of Iraq and Afghanistan, and closed Gitmo on day one. He didn't. He could have done a million things he was elected to do, but in every single case, he has sold the soul of reform for a few token votes from Republicans who hate him anyway. He isn't a stupid man, there's no way he doesn't realize this, therefore the only reasonable conclusion is that he did it on purpose.

Obama and the rest of the Democrats took the wave of Progressivism sweeping the country that began in 2006 and culminated in 2008 with his election, and they have effectively reversed it, and then some. Now, the country is more batshit crazy for failed economic and social policies than ever. And it isn't because progressive policies don't work (the meager progress the Democrats have made is making meager progress in the economy, for example) but because the Democrats have shit all over you with your own "Hope" for "Change".

Why would I vote for another Democrat? No, thanks. I can't defend them at the polls because they've given me nothing to defend except more of the same old bullshit that has been in Washington for 40 years. The only thing I have to thank Obama for is that I have been completely freed from the delusion that the broken American political system is capable of fixing itself.