Also the tax policy is horrific from both candidates. We can't have a strong military and welfare state only taxing people making more than $400,000. The SALT deduction was bad. Not taxing overtime is comically terrible policy. Horrendous incentives already make OT bad for everyone but stop taxing it and every salaried worker will suddenly try and go hourly. It'll be a bonanza for tax evasion. Not taxing tips is also stupid (sorry JVL but it's garbage).
Taxes must rise. We can't have a deficit forever and there's nothing to actually cut. If you can't cut your expenses the only option is raise your income. Taxes must rise. Maybe keep rates the same for families under 100,000k but for everyone else its time to get serious.
Can one imagine if a Democratic candidate was married to someone who had done nude modeling work? The tolerance of Trumps libertine values is shocking and shows how unmoored from it's previous stated values the right has become.
Usually you put the Cheap Shot at the end. Today you led off with a cheap shot by unfairly invoking Miles Davis to set up your ill-conceived comparison with Trump’s approach to tax policy. Miles was a musical genius who created some of the most profound musical expressions every. To suggest flippantly that Miles made it up on the fly the way Trump makes up policy does Miles’ legacy a disservice and reveals a naïveté and ignorance of the creative process. I know you are more culturally sophisticated than you appear - you owe Miles an apology.
You know which states hate SALT? The ones run by Republicans who get their roads fixed by money from Washington and not the people who live in their state.
Kind of misleading to say that only Clinton and Obama won reelection as Dems since Roosevelt. Both Truman and Johnson were incumbent presidents and elected for another term. In Truman’s case, he had served almost the entire prior term, as Roosevelt died weeks into his 4th term.
The SALT was limited to $10K was ment to punish blue states that did not support Trump pure and simple. You said most went to $100K. In the Portland area a $100K is the amount of income that a family of 4 needs to live in the area. In red states (like IN and OH which I lived in for 35 years) the cost of living is neatly half that. So , since my taxes from a blue state goes to support red states to keep them afloat. Like 1/3 of the state budget of WV and 1/4 for KY comes from the federal government. So, no SALT return since it save a trillion dollars. How about a new rule that no state can receive can receive more money than they pay into the federal government. I am sure that would save money too.
Dropping in here to say, Team Harris: Let's drive that new voter registration in PA via phonebanking! Please join in for these, they do it once a week, we can be collectively bringing thousands of new voters into the fold! It's tomorrow at 4 p.m. ET, LFG!: https://www.mobilize.us/ft6/event/581992/
At a recent town hall he answered the question, with first stating that he was going to cut oil prices (small indirect effect, but he can't do it anyway), then rambled on to say rates will be coming down because the economy is in bad shape (no it isn't), and finally he did talk about food by saying that farmers want a tariff (will raise food prices).
2) Biden's economy has defied economist predictions:
We haven't experienced the predicted stagflation, or 5 years of 6% unemployment in order to tame inflation. Instead, we have had 60-year record low unemployment numbers (27 straight months under 4% including a month at 3.4%) and very strong GDP growth (by far the strongest of western economies), with inflation now under 3%. Had Biden told us in 2021 that we would see this, economist would have called it fantasy thinking. The economists would have been wrong, just as they were wrong with their dire predictions about the ARP. These economists with the incorrect dire predictions had mis-applied the macroeconomic models, using bad assumptions. Keep in mind that other western economies have seen the same inflation, even worse in some cases (EU 23% , UK 22% , US 20% and Canada 17%), as we have, but not the same unemployment and GDP numbers.
3) While Harris' plans will basically keep the strong economy going. Trumps' will cause inflation and a recession.
4) Trump may be setting himself up for an SEC violation, and maybe even criminal charges, on his Truth Social stock (ticker DJT). The lock-up ends today and insiders are free to sell their shares tomorrow. Trump said last week that he will not be selling. Insiders can't make misleading statements when, and immediately prior to, selling shares. They also must report any sales to the SEC within 2 days after any stock sales. I bet Trump violates both.
Maybe, just maybe Harris is hesitant about over exposing herself in the media because she spent 3 years of people claiming she was unqualified do to one bad Lester Holt interview.
I think you're (hopefully unintentionally) dissing Miles Davis with that headline.
Davis was a graduate of Juilliard. Nobody else (probably) played his trumpet parts. He clearly was deeply steeped in music theory, complex harmonies and the history of jazz as well as American popular song.
So when Miles "made it up," as Johnny Mercer might say, he knew exactly what he was doing. I'm not sure we can say the same about some of the graduates of Wharton.
Perhaps Bill should have referenced my improv. I am a mediocre amateur trumpet player and once took a short series of lessons on jazz improv. I didn't do my homework, so my improv is very bad. The main problem with this analogy is that no one knows me or any of that. And I stopped doing it. But the analogy is perhaps more apt.
The hypocrisy of Trumpers on "hateful" and "dangerous" rhetoric is off the charts. Either they've never listened to what Trump says about his opponents all the time, or they're applying the foundational MAGA doctrine that it's wrong to judge him by the same standards expected of others.
Trumpism started with catastrophizing the consequences of electing his opponent: America would be "finished." Trump was "our last chance to save America." It was a Flight 93 election, and we were all going to die, so we needed to take drastic action in hopes of saving something from total destruction.
Then there's the Trump mantra "you won't have a country anymore" -- which directly inspired violence. He's still saying it, along with "our country has gone to hell," and a claim that Harris will make the U.S. like Nazi Germany - plus the MAGA elite claims that tyranny is upon us if any Democrat wins.
Trumpers think all of that is not inflammatory at all but it's outrageous to say that Trump is a "threat to democracy" - even as he praises despots, demands freedom to violate law with impunity, and preemptively rejects the legitimacy of any election he loses. And when MAGAs often say "We're not a democracy! We're a republic!"
I see I am preceded by an army of tax experts. May I add thatthe raising of the standard deduction in the Trump tax bill was a great thing that simplifies filing (or should) for millions. Raise the rates to an appropriate (yes, higher) level and we are moving forward. Raise them high enough and you can restore SALT. Hope this is not unduly redundant.
"...91 percent of the pre-TCJA SALT benefit went to households making more than $100,000."
Honestly for those on the coasts and in the larger cities $100K is not as much as you think it is and doesn't go as far as it sounds. I have a decent 1 bed apartment in Queens in a building that is 100 years old...my rent was $27K last year. That's after Fed, State, and City tax (roughly 45%). Perhaps if you index that to cost of living it would be a better representation.
I'd also question the tax break those in "taker" states were given under Bush II in the oughts. People in states that didn't have income taxes (and generally take more in Federal Tax money that they give) were allowed to deduct Sales Taxes they paid. If you're going to cap SALT - take away this deduction as well.
Also - the Student Loan interest Deduction is capped based on income - but the Mortgage Interest Deduction is capped by amount borrowed (yes, one is a direct deduction above the line and the other comes below the line). Tax policy is social policy - homeownership is a good thing...so is education.
Also the tax policy is horrific from both candidates. We can't have a strong military and welfare state only taxing people making more than $400,000. The SALT deduction was bad. Not taxing overtime is comically terrible policy. Horrendous incentives already make OT bad for everyone but stop taxing it and every salaried worker will suddenly try and go hourly. It'll be a bonanza for tax evasion. Not taxing tips is also stupid (sorry JVL but it's garbage).
Taxes must rise. We can't have a deficit forever and there's nothing to actually cut. If you can't cut your expenses the only option is raise your income. Taxes must rise. Maybe keep rates the same for families under 100,000k but for everyone else its time to get serious.
Can one imagine if a Democratic candidate was married to someone who had done nude modeling work? The tolerance of Trumps libertine values is shocking and shows how unmoored from it's previous stated values the right has become.
Usually you put the Cheap Shot at the end. Today you led off with a cheap shot by unfairly invoking Miles Davis to set up your ill-conceived comparison with Trump’s approach to tax policy. Miles was a musical genius who created some of the most profound musical expressions every. To suggest flippantly that Miles made it up on the fly the way Trump makes up policy does Miles’ legacy a disservice and reveals a naïveté and ignorance of the creative process. I know you are more culturally sophisticated than you appear - you owe Miles an apology.
You know which states hate SALT? The ones run by Republicans who get their roads fixed by money from Washington and not the people who live in their state.
Kind of misleading to say that only Clinton and Obama won reelection as Dems since Roosevelt. Both Truman and Johnson were incumbent presidents and elected for another term. In Truman’s case, he had served almost the entire prior term, as Roosevelt died weeks into his 4th term.
The SALT was limited to $10K was ment to punish blue states that did not support Trump pure and simple. You said most went to $100K. In the Portland area a $100K is the amount of income that a family of 4 needs to live in the area. In red states (like IN and OH which I lived in for 35 years) the cost of living is neatly half that. So , since my taxes from a blue state goes to support red states to keep them afloat. Like 1/3 of the state budget of WV and 1/4 for KY comes from the federal government. So, no SALT return since it save a trillion dollars. How about a new rule that no state can receive can receive more money than they pay into the federal government. I am sure that would save money too.
This.
Dropping in here to say, Team Harris: Let's drive that new voter registration in PA via phonebanking! Please join in for these, they do it once a week, we can be collectively bringing thousands of new voters into the fold! It's tomorrow at 4 p.m. ET, LFG!: https://www.mobilize.us/ft6/event/581992/
You can tell which bulwark members live in NY and Calif., by who wants SALT lifted. guilty as charged.
A few economic thoughts:
1) Trump's "plan" to reduce costs on food:
At a recent town hall he answered the question, with first stating that he was going to cut oil prices (small indirect effect, but he can't do it anyway), then rambled on to say rates will be coming down because the economy is in bad shape (no it isn't), and finally he did talk about food by saying that farmers want a tariff (will raise food prices).
2) Biden's economy has defied economist predictions:
We haven't experienced the predicted stagflation, or 5 years of 6% unemployment in order to tame inflation. Instead, we have had 60-year record low unemployment numbers (27 straight months under 4% including a month at 3.4%) and very strong GDP growth (by far the strongest of western economies), with inflation now under 3%. Had Biden told us in 2021 that we would see this, economist would have called it fantasy thinking. The economists would have been wrong, just as they were wrong with their dire predictions about the ARP. These economists with the incorrect dire predictions had mis-applied the macroeconomic models, using bad assumptions. Keep in mind that other western economies have seen the same inflation, even worse in some cases (EU 23% , UK 22% , US 20% and Canada 17%), as we have, but not the same unemployment and GDP numbers.
3) While Harris' plans will basically keep the strong economy going. Trumps' will cause inflation and a recession.
4) Trump may be setting himself up for an SEC violation, and maybe even criminal charges, on his Truth Social stock (ticker DJT). The lock-up ends today and insiders are free to sell their shares tomorrow. Trump said last week that he will not be selling. Insiders can't make misleading statements when, and immediately prior to, selling shares. They also must report any sales to the SEC within 2 days after any stock sales. I bet Trump violates both.
Maybe, just maybe Harris is hesitant about over exposing herself in the media because she spent 3 years of people claiming she was unqualified do to one bad Lester Holt interview.
I think you're (hopefully unintentionally) dissing Miles Davis with that headline.
Davis was a graduate of Juilliard. Nobody else (probably) played his trumpet parts. He clearly was deeply steeped in music theory, complex harmonies and the history of jazz as well as American popular song.
So when Miles "made it up," as Johnny Mercer might say, he knew exactly what he was doing. I'm not sure we can say the same about some of the graduates of Wharton.
Perhaps Bill should have referenced my improv. I am a mediocre amateur trumpet player and once took a short series of lessons on jazz improv. I didn't do my homework, so my improv is very bad. The main problem with this analogy is that no one knows me or any of that. And I stopped doing it. But the analogy is perhaps more apt.
I came here to say just this. Miles was a genius improvisor, who knew when to lay out, and when to steer the ensemble.
Trump is more like the Kenny G. of tax policy.
It must be said, though, Kenny G is a best selling recording artist, at 75 million records worldwide. For whatever that may mean....🫤
McDonald’s has a best-selling burger.
And it only proves the old saw: there's just no accounting for taste. 😵💫
Funny.
Well, I think we should defer to Trump, the expert on not paying taxes.
The hypocrisy of Trumpers on "hateful" and "dangerous" rhetoric is off the charts. Either they've never listened to what Trump says about his opponents all the time, or they're applying the foundational MAGA doctrine that it's wrong to judge him by the same standards expected of others.
Trumpism started with catastrophizing the consequences of electing his opponent: America would be "finished." Trump was "our last chance to save America." It was a Flight 93 election, and we were all going to die, so we needed to take drastic action in hopes of saving something from total destruction.
Then there's the Trump mantra "you won't have a country anymore" -- which directly inspired violence. He's still saying it, along with "our country has gone to hell," and a claim that Harris will make the U.S. like Nazi Germany - plus the MAGA elite claims that tyranny is upon us if any Democrat wins.
Trumpers think all of that is not inflammatory at all but it's outrageous to say that Trump is a "threat to democracy" - even as he praises despots, demands freedom to violate law with impunity, and preemptively rejects the legitimacy of any election he loses. And when MAGAs often say "We're not a democracy! We're a republic!"
Heeere kitty kitty kitty!
I see I am preceded by an army of tax experts. May I add thatthe raising of the standard deduction in the Trump tax bill was a great thing that simplifies filing (or should) for millions. Raise the rates to an appropriate (yes, higher) level and we are moving forward. Raise them high enough and you can restore SALT. Hope this is not unduly redundant.
"...91 percent of the pre-TCJA SALT benefit went to households making more than $100,000."
Honestly for those on the coasts and in the larger cities $100K is not as much as you think it is and doesn't go as far as it sounds. I have a decent 1 bed apartment in Queens in a building that is 100 years old...my rent was $27K last year. That's after Fed, State, and City tax (roughly 45%). Perhaps if you index that to cost of living it would be a better representation.
I'd also question the tax break those in "taker" states were given under Bush II in the oughts. People in states that didn't have income taxes (and generally take more in Federal Tax money that they give) were allowed to deduct Sales Taxes they paid. If you're going to cap SALT - take away this deduction as well.
Also - the Student Loan interest Deduction is capped based on income - but the Mortgage Interest Deduction is capped by amount borrowed (yes, one is a direct deduction above the line and the other comes below the line). Tax policy is social policy - homeownership is a good thing...so is education.
Wow, I just grabbed a coffee and was ready to respond to this article when I read your post. You just saved me 20 minutes. Thanks Joey!