The photo: really, people. If that's not a picture of your doddering, drunk uncle, than just what is? Seriously.
Is it possible, in discussions of corporate taxes, to refer to the percent of corporate profits collected as taxes rather than the percent that might be collected if the full rate of taxation were to be realized.
I do not know what either rate is, but I do think that knowing would be helpful.
I do not know what either rate is, but I do think that knowing would be helpful.
2
Dear Bret Stephens, The essential figure is not the top corporate tax bracket. A more useful figure is the percentage of federal government income paid by corporations. In 1952, corporate taxes constituted 33% of federal government income. Today, that number is 9%, despite record corporate profits and a record cyclical low in the share of corporate revenue going to American workers. The latter issue, the share of the pie going to shareholders, workers, and management, is a subject often discussed by Warren Buffett as a measure of the health of our democratic capitalist system.
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2014/aug/28/bernie-s/...
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2014/aug/28/bernie-s/...
7
Was it a Freudian slip when the notes for Trump's speech contained
"lasting peach"?
Worried about the "speach" as well as impeachment perhaps?
The President doth protest to much methinks. Especially about being the most unfairly persecuted politician in history. After he went on and on about Obama's birth certificate among other things. What a wimpy, little whiner he is.
"lasting peach"?
Worried about the "speach" as well as impeachment perhaps?
The President doth protest to much methinks. Especially about being the most unfairly persecuted politician in history. After he went on and on about Obama's birth certificate among other things. What a wimpy, little whiner he is.
4
I would prefer Lieberman over Flynn.
1
Did Dan Coats take the 5th when he refused to confirm or discuss whether Trump asked him to obstruct justice AND that Coats was recently the Senator from Indiana, the state of VP Pence. This is a den of thieves.
6
Blame my comment on the reference to a hot dog eating contest. The president is a bit of a hot dogger wouldn't you agree? So, if he's the hot dog, we're the bun.
Einstein said:"
Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler."
=================================================
Trump makes things too simple and Democratic elites make things too hard.
Trump won the election with his cellphone Tweets and Hillary lost it spending one billion dollars on ads, defending her emails.
And the NY Times prints thousands of words trying to challenge the Trump presidency and they leave us more confused than ever.
How about contests to come up with the best ways to put Trump in his place?
=========================================================
Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler."
=================================================
Trump makes things too simple and Democratic elites make things too hard.
Trump won the election with his cellphone Tweets and Hillary lost it spending one billion dollars on ads, defending her emails.
And the NY Times prints thousands of words trying to challenge the Trump presidency and they leave us more confused than ever.
How about contests to come up with the best ways to put Trump in his place?
=========================================================
2
How does the rate of agogment affect attitudes toward the administration? This is actually a two-step process. The rate of agogment is proportional to the instantaneous value of agogment. This well studied situation results in an exponential rise in agogment. Catastrophe can be averted only by a prompt removal of the cause of agogment. Failure to do so leads to unknown and unknowable consequences.
1
Oh, thank god, he's out of the country. It's the first time since January that my stomach hasn't been in knots for most of the day.
But this whole trip is theater. No one believes anything he said in Saudi Arabia, least of all the Saudis. Does he or his writers know that the Saudis originated Wahhabism from which ISIS grew? The Saudis just want the equipment and someone should tell DT that they have enough money to not need him to make a deal on their behalf. Isn't he supposed to help American business be great again?
How can the Saudis believe his words about Islam when they know perfectly well what he's said here during the campaign and that he continues to want to ban people from these countries coming here? He has a similar difficulty with the Israelis because he talks out of both sides of his mouth simultaneously. And the Vatican? Really? This is the same guy who criticised the Pope! NATO? Those people have already been told to make their speeches short and bulleted to accommodate DT's minuscule attention span. He's the same guy who said there was no use for NATO and then found that there actually was one.
If this turkey were a comic his shtick would be funny, but as President he's making many of us physically ill. But for the moment, I'm just glad he's out of the country. And will someone please tell these talking heads that a trip abroad does not a statesman make.
But this whole trip is theater. No one believes anything he said in Saudi Arabia, least of all the Saudis. Does he or his writers know that the Saudis originated Wahhabism from which ISIS grew? The Saudis just want the equipment and someone should tell DT that they have enough money to not need him to make a deal on their behalf. Isn't he supposed to help American business be great again?
How can the Saudis believe his words about Islam when they know perfectly well what he's said here during the campaign and that he continues to want to ban people from these countries coming here? He has a similar difficulty with the Israelis because he talks out of both sides of his mouth simultaneously. And the Vatican? Really? This is the same guy who criticised the Pope! NATO? Those people have already been told to make their speeches short and bulleted to accommodate DT's minuscule attention span. He's the same guy who said there was no use for NATO and then found that there actually was one.
If this turkey were a comic his shtick would be funny, but as President he's making many of us physically ill. But for the moment, I'm just glad he's out of the country. And will someone please tell these talking heads that a trip abroad does not a statesman make.
5
Mr Stephens reference to John Yoo ignores the discredited legal judgments of Yoo as George Bush's pro-torture lawyer. According to wikipedia: The Department of Justice's Office of Professional Responsibility concluded in a 261-page report dated July 29, 2009, that Yoo committed "intentional professional misconduct" when he "knowingly failed to provide a thorough, objective, and candid interpretation of the law", and it recommended a referral to the Pennsylvania Bar for disciplinary action. Yoo was not actually disciplined, but his legal memos on why Bush could ignore the Geneva Conventions are notorious.
4
Utter nonsense. No warp speed. If anything, until the trip, little movement worth anything more than twitter.
Historically almost the only time anything of note happens in the first 100 days it is because the previous president had it organized and ready to go but the opposition had the power of the purse string. Such as Roosevelt inherited all the legislation ready to go that Hoover had put together.
Similarly, Johnson had years in Congress and then as Vice President his 100 days.
Take away his twitter muttering and little of substance has been talked about.
Historically almost the only time anything of note happens in the first 100 days it is because the previous president had it organized and ready to go but the opposition had the power of the purse string. Such as Roosevelt inherited all the legislation ready to go that Hoover had put together.
Similarly, Johnson had years in Congress and then as Vice President his 100 days.
Take away his twitter muttering and little of substance has been talked about.
1
Bret, come on! You know that tax rates are a sham. Nobody pays the corporate tax rate of 35%. The average actual rate is 12% and many firms don't pay any tax at all. Just like nobody pays the marginal income tax rate of 39.5%. Remember Mitch Romney (you may not want to remember Romney) paid only 14% after loopholes. And what about Trump? No tax returns? I wonder why. Do you favor lowering income tax rates for the "Job creators", the same CEOs that made their chops by cutting labor costs (automation and outsourcing). And if the unemployment rate is 4.4%, why are the Republicans yelling jobs! Jobs! Jobs! Your response would be welcome.
JD
JD
6
What about ditching Trump via the 25th amendment to the Constitution?
Not going to happen. His hand-picked toadies in the cabinet and Pence must start the process and then 3/4 of each of the house AND senate must vote for it.
Beelzebub himself could not be removed this way.
Beelzebub himself could not be removed this way.
2
What I would love to see is this frenetic, chaotic, deranged Trump presidency put to an end at warp speed. But, as I remind myself on a daily basis, be careful what you wish for.
Because, as Gail says, then we would get Mike Pence, who knows exactly what he is doing, with big plans to turn the USA into an authoritarian, highly polluted theocracy and make the rich richer and the poor and the rest of us far poorer.
We really are between a rock and a hard place, and sadly for us and our country, the Democrats, as the party of opposition, are not. Now what?
Because, as Gail says, then we would get Mike Pence, who knows exactly what he is doing, with big plans to turn the USA into an authoritarian, highly polluted theocracy and make the rich richer and the poor and the rest of us far poorer.
We really are between a rock and a hard place, and sadly for us and our country, the Democrats, as the party of opposition, are not. Now what?
6
Bret says "we have one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world". But he's talking about the "nominal rate", not the "effective rate". Our effective rate is about the same as other industrialized economies. Also, many well-known American companies (Verizon, Boeing) have paid no tax over the years 2008 through 2012.
3
Warren Buffet noted last week that in 1960, corporate taxes were 4% of GDP. now they are 2%. Healthcare on the other hand was 5% of GDP and now it is 17%.
3
The Republican mess is so messy it defies definition or explanation, trump is just a manifestation of a bankrupt party, fraudulent and power mad. They are a perfect match. As to Lieberman I just wish he would go away.
2
Watch out Gail...Trump is going to think you are one of his fans as the very fact that everyone is kept off-balance is something he revels in. While it may serve well in business (legitimate or otherwise), it certainly is no way to run a country. We have given a child a 700 HP engine vehicle with no brakes, no rear-view mirror, and perhaps an opaque windshield, and he doesn't care because he doesn't hold himself responsible for anything. The wreckage in his wake is beyond his attention span because it is seconds days or weeks since it happened, and he doesn't connect any of the dots, or indeed own them.
2
It is somewhat reassuring to read these weekly exchanges with Gail Collins and now Bret Stephens, while David Brooks remains in the picture. When listening to friends, we are all in agreement that the world is changing swiftly. A time to focus and decide what is important when it comes to allocating one's time to the News.
The Headlines can be read at a glance, Fake news such as Trump tweaking his wife's rear on the side, as the Pope prepares to welcome them. He is doing good on his foreign trip, doing good with the Saudis from an acquaintance of mine. A shame, really, I venture in return, that when he comes home, there are serious allegations of a breach of National Security with Russia. Silence.
But apparently this does not really matter, nor the fact that this president is unable to release his tax statements, nor Congress offer the People a viable Health Care Program, nor any hope for the creation of New Jobs. That was a damming article in the Times about Truckers on The Road and time to drop the expression 'keep on trucking'.
A Nation in stagnation and uncertainty but Spring is here. A time of renewal to wave Trump adieu as he takes off to his pad in Florida. No need to further mention the ineptitude of this Trump Administration, or his Presidency but at times I wonder if America bid us farewell when Trump decided to bring it back with his 'epic incompetence', the most wasteful and controversial president in American History.
The Headlines can be read at a glance, Fake news such as Trump tweaking his wife's rear on the side, as the Pope prepares to welcome them. He is doing good on his foreign trip, doing good with the Saudis from an acquaintance of mine. A shame, really, I venture in return, that when he comes home, there are serious allegations of a breach of National Security with Russia. Silence.
But apparently this does not really matter, nor the fact that this president is unable to release his tax statements, nor Congress offer the People a viable Health Care Program, nor any hope for the creation of New Jobs. That was a damming article in the Times about Truckers on The Road and time to drop the expression 'keep on trucking'.
A Nation in stagnation and uncertainty but Spring is here. A time of renewal to wave Trump adieu as he takes off to his pad in Florida. No need to further mention the ineptitude of this Trump Administration, or his Presidency but at times I wonder if America bid us farewell when Trump decided to bring it back with his 'epic incompetence', the most wasteful and controversial president in American History.
2
Rather than "warp speed" with it futuristic implications, I would call it the "Blitzkrieg" Presidency as it seems to have many of the same qualities as the original.
This is why there HAS to be a new kind of reporting. One where newspapers/media don't cover everything as though all of it has equal weight (this was the problem in the election: and Trump's team continues to exploit it!) The news media has to step up: show a difference between the click bait (Mrs. Trump not holding President Trump's hand, money given to Ivanka Trump's foundation) and the news that is significant (proposed budget cuts, Trump positioning Saudi Arabia as 'negotiators' for Israel/Palestine).
1
I loved this. Gail and Bret had me in stitches. Keep it up!!! These 2 go together!
1
"It’s like a hot dog-eating contest" And this folks is what America has been reduced to. And if Republicans get there way the richest 1% will have all the hotdogs.
2
One could, early on, get the idea that nonstop chaos will enable Trump/Bannon/whoever to put across a master plan for deconstruction of the administrative state by exhausting the public. It's getting harder to give them that much credit. But the problem, as it looks from here, in the heart of Trumpland, is that a lot of people aren't aware of ANY of it. Mention any of these nonstop scandals/crises/shenanigans to them and you will get a blank stare. The undernewsed as well as undereducated voter gave us Trump, and a lot of them still think he's going to be able to make America great again, if the politicians/establishment/liberals/Democrats/elite stop harassing him and let him do his job.
3
Bret: Welcome to the Times. I'm sure that Gail and I will often disagree with you. But, I think you have a first-rate mind and I'm always interested in what you have to say. You come by your opinions logically and honestly (as do Gail and I), and I'm sure that if new facts arose that contradicted a previous view, you're fully capable of changing your mind.
Let's hope he's a warp speed president and is gone in warp speed - tomorrow is not too soon.
4
Trump can't fire his way out of this because you misunderstand the nature of the scandal, Mr. Stephens. This is not about the cover-up, it's about the crimes. And they are his crimes.
5
A bit distressing that torture memo author Jon Yoo thinks Trump can save himself. Hope Bret's right that "Trump is inescapably himself. That's his undoing."
2
Bannon's idea was to destroy the administrative state - those agencies that keep the U.S. in business ...at warp speed so that legislators and the people could not possibly protest every move.
The people and the press have done an admirable job but destruction is being done every day that the focus is on Russia. Oh, don't get me wrong; I think trump and his slimy family have been up in Russia's banking grill for years and have engaged in money laundering...at least.
That said, we need to pay attention to the leaking Dakota pipeline, the loss of education...and school lunches for crying out loud...the seemingly "small" things that make life easier for citizens - that's what's being torn down on the QT.
I have faith we can both prosecute the criminal n' chief and stop some of the most egregious moves of this administration.
The people and the press have done an admirable job but destruction is being done every day that the focus is on Russia. Oh, don't get me wrong; I think trump and his slimy family have been up in Russia's banking grill for years and have engaged in money laundering...at least.
That said, we need to pay attention to the leaking Dakota pipeline, the loss of education...and school lunches for crying out loud...the seemingly "small" things that make life easier for citizens - that's what's being torn down on the QT.
I have faith we can both prosecute the criminal n' chief and stop some of the most egregious moves of this administration.
9
No, the weight of scandal does NOT negate the scandal. It leads to the - correct - impression that this administration is among the most corrupt in the modern world AND the most clueless. The POTUS can't even manage to find a shade of makeup that matches his complexion, for crying out loud! How inept can you be...
5
Mistaking the frequent changes by the snail's pace Presidency of Trump as 'warp-speed' misses the point. Trump's crawling sluggish Presidency of the swamps is mired in his own ignorant, immature, incompetent, inexperienced, insecure and intemperate mythology.
Trump is the same old plodding plutocrat persistent privileged parasite that he was naturally born to be. Change is not speed.
The speed of light is the only constant. While space and time are relative. Warp-speed imagines folding and bending space and time. That is Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin's job and power over Trump.
Trump is the same old plodding plutocrat persistent privileged parasite that he was naturally born to be. Change is not speed.
The speed of light is the only constant. While space and time are relative. Warp-speed imagines folding and bending space and time. That is Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin's job and power over Trump.
3
Never thought I'd hear myself saying I miss a conservative columnist. Yet I do. Ever since David Brooks left The Conversation, I've missed him. In fact, because of The Conversation, I, a die-hard progressive who all too easily succumbs to head-sticking-in-sand-mentality when it comes to conservative colleagues, acquaintances, and family members, even began to read David Brooks' columns on a regular basis. But when I read Mr. Stephens, I cannot shake the feeling he is lecturing his readers who, after all, aren't nearly as gifted as is he.
I'll keep reading, though, Who knows? I may yet come to appreciate Mr. Stephens, just as I did David Brooks.
I'll keep reading, though, Who knows? I may yet come to appreciate Mr. Stephens, just as I did David Brooks.
1
Why is our high corporate tax rate bad for the richest country in the world? Why is it bad for the most powerful country? Why don't so many people care about the health and welfare of our weakest citizens? I don't see a Christian attitude here. More atheists are concerned about poor people than the rich, it seems.
6
Bret Stephens posits, “Does the rate of scandal erode the weight of scandal?”
It got me to come up with a Washington D.C. “Theory of Mendacity,” which like Einstein’s more famous theory states:
E= MC2.
In which E (E represents Trump’s Impeachability) equals M (M represents the weight of Trump scandals) times C squared (C represents the rate of Trump scandals).
In layman terms, when the rate of Trump scandals start rapidly increasing and they get progressively weightier, his impeachment becomes a reality.
It got me to come up with a Washington D.C. “Theory of Mendacity,” which like Einstein’s more famous theory states:
E= MC2.
In which E (E represents Trump’s Impeachability) equals M (M represents the weight of Trump scandals) times C squared (C represents the rate of Trump scandals).
In layman terms, when the rate of Trump scandals start rapidly increasing and they get progressively weightier, his impeachment becomes a reality.
3
It's exhausting. I've stopped watching the news altogether. That 'head in the sand' thing is really very restful. Watching recorded PBS shows and sometimes Netflix and Amazon Prime. No news, no nothing, regardless of what flavor it comes in, I don't want to know. It's all just too depressing.
2
" We have one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world. That tax must be paid at the expense of something or other, like workers’ wages."
Name me one large corporation that pays anything near what they should be paying on paper, Mr. Stephens. There are so many tax loopholes for corporations to leap through (loopholes designed by lobbyists paid for by the corporations themselves) that this dumb canard about "highest corporate rate" should be called out every time. When all is said and done, corporations in the US pay no more, and probably less, than corporations in Europe do.
Name me one large corporation that pays anything near what they should be paying on paper, Mr. Stephens. There are so many tax loopholes for corporations to leap through (loopholes designed by lobbyists paid for by the corporations themselves) that this dumb canard about "highest corporate rate" should be called out every time. When all is said and done, corporations in the US pay no more, and probably less, than corporations in Europe do.
4
'afraid he’ll do something strange or terrible or ridiculous and cause an international incident.'
So, so very true. I used to monitor my cell phone for messages from my mother's nursing home. I would check it every hour in fearful anticipation, ready to run at the first sign of disaster. I thought this feeling would stop once my mother died. Surprise. It didn't! It has been replaced with the sentiment from the quote above. Although my mother was more important to me than anything, I still check my phone for scary Trump news flashes.
So, so very true. I used to monitor my cell phone for messages from my mother's nursing home. I would check it every hour in fearful anticipation, ready to run at the first sign of disaster. I thought this feeling would stop once my mother died. Surprise. It didn't! It has been replaced with the sentiment from the quote above. Although my mother was more important to me than anything, I still check my phone for scary Trump news flashes.
3
Now … I thought Gail sought out “Conversation” partners who DISAGREED with her on political matters. When the subject is Trump, Bret hardly qualifies – he was as scathing in his dismissals of Trump while at the WSJ as George Will has been at the WaPost. But I suppose that if your objective is to obliterate someone, offering up a bipartisan double-whammy can’t hurt. This wasn’t so much a “conversation” as an agreement to agree.
Frankly, I believe the “warp-speed” presidency, or rather its coverage, will desensitize the great unwashed to what the press regards as sensational news. Events such as Manchester still will resonate, but people have lives, and this constant layering of “Gotcha!” gets old fast – and ignored.
The tactic employed by liberals of lambasting every political nomination of a person who doesn’t possess decades of related, specific experience, obviously is one that some choose to apply judiciously. Gail, for instance. Lieberman would have been a superb AG, because that’s basically a political job; but as FBI director? The last thing we need at the apex of FBI authority is a professional politician: we need a cop. Like Bret, I like Lieberman, but Trump should consider cashiering Jeff Sessions and appointing ol’ Joe to THAT post. Jeff could always make a passable living dry-cleaning robes made of white sheets.
Frankly, I believe the “warp-speed” presidency, or rather its coverage, will desensitize the great unwashed to what the press regards as sensational news. Events such as Manchester still will resonate, but people have lives, and this constant layering of “Gotcha!” gets old fast – and ignored.
The tactic employed by liberals of lambasting every political nomination of a person who doesn’t possess decades of related, specific experience, obviously is one that some choose to apply judiciously. Gail, for instance. Lieberman would have been a superb AG, because that’s basically a political job; but as FBI director? The last thing we need at the apex of FBI authority is a professional politician: we need a cop. Like Bret, I like Lieberman, but Trump should consider cashiering Jeff Sessions and appointing ol’ Joe to THAT post. Jeff could always make a passable living dry-cleaning robes made of white sheets.
Gee Richard -- it appears the public, or at least the right-wing public, sure loved endless false "gotcha" when it was on FOX news, about Democrats, particularly HRC.
How many years did we hear about birtherism? The Vince Foster conspiracy theory? Benghazi, Benghazi, Benghazi ... till it found the emails? Heck, for shear idiocy, Comet Ping Pong? And that crazy guy actually goes in with a gun?
And now Seth Rich -- the Hannity madness du jour?
Care to name anything half-way so preposterous as Comet Ping Pong that the left is circulating?
How many years did we hear about birtherism? The Vince Foster conspiracy theory? Benghazi, Benghazi, Benghazi ... till it found the emails? Heck, for shear idiocy, Comet Ping Pong? And that crazy guy actually goes in with a gun?
And now Seth Rich -- the Hannity madness du jour?
Care to name anything half-way so preposterous as Comet Ping Pong that the left is circulating?
6
Well, it certainly says much about the state of our presidency that Ms Collins and Mr Stephens appear to agree that Mr Trump is a disaster at his job and the most important issue is the nature of his vacating the office.
Now, if only the commentariat and their comments section left behind the WSJ could be so persuaded ...
Now, if only the commentariat and their comments section left behind the WSJ could be so persuaded ...
Bret just tosses out the old Republican saw about US corporate tax rates being the highest in the world, when they all know it's only the "paper rate" of 35%. Any corporation worth its huge accounting/ department pays nowhere near that. Many pay zero. But say it often enough and the True Believers believe. Even a NYT columnist who surely knows better.
3
Absolutely delighted to have Bret at NYT. I used to look forward to reading his Global View column at WSJ. And now I look forward each week to his column at NYT. His command and delightful use of English are inspiring to say the least. A belated welcome Mr Stephens. You are a worthy addition to the likes of David Brooks to the editorial pages of NYT
1
There's too much noise, which may not be the same thing as news -- not if news is a signal,
Shades of North Korea! The terminally credulous followers and should-know-better compliant Party leaders continue to support their absolutely incredible Glorious Leader.
"It Can't Happen Here" is now "It Has Happened Here"?
"It Can't Happen Here" is now "It Has Happened Here"?
1
Perhaps a look at the NY tabloids would help; trump nearly broke himself on that wheel, trying to be in 2 or 3 papers every day and the coverage, good or bad, did not matter. He's putting WaPo and NY Times through tabloid school where nothing matters after the ink is dry; no follow-up, no investigation, no philosophizing or connecting the dots in any way. Each piece of coverage, in trumps view, is HIS NAME in the paper. Think we can agree that trump may be a mile wide in coverage but an inch deep in meaning. I think the NY Times is doing a fantastic job covering trump WITH MEANING and a deep well of knowledge. And hey, tabloid school can be kind of fun with it's non stop headline practice and search for meaninglessness tho the last would better be done over a beer after work.
1
So the White House offers assisted care?
1
Such enlightened responses from Trump's supporters. They take my breath away.
Shades of North Korea! The terminally credulous followers and should-know-better compliant Party leaders continue to support their absolutely incredible Glorious Leader.
"It Can't Happen Here" is now "It's Happening Here."
Shades of North Korea! The terminally credulous followers and should-know-better compliant Party leaders continue to support their absolutely incredible Glorious Leader.
"It Can't Happen Here" is now "It's Happening Here."
"No sooner does the administration drop one bomb than it drops another." That's a strategy that the George Bush administration invented. But the time the reality-based community had dutifully proven that W's statements were false, the administration walked back its statements and dropped another bomb. There was even a term for it: outrage fatigue.
2
Bret,
Why is it that all conservatives think that corporate tax savings would help companies pay their workers more? That is just so laughable. Companies pay wages based on the going rate to fill jobs, not based on their tax bills.
As for a corporate tax rate, cut it, but cut it to be competitive with other industrialized countries, not to be a rate that Donald Trump would like to pay.
Why is it that all conservatives think that corporate tax savings would help companies pay their workers more? That is just so laughable. Companies pay wages based on the going rate to fill jobs, not based on their tax bills.
As for a corporate tax rate, cut it, but cut it to be competitive with other industrialized countries, not to be a rate that Donald Trump would like to pay.
3
Donald Trump is a political engineering experiment tried by American voters sick and tired of Democrats and Republicans.
Like any social experiment, there are two possible outcomes: (a) Trump is successful and re-elected. A new political dynasty is born outside mainstream politics;
(b) Trump fails, is not reelected but voters continue to rebel against democrats and republicans. The US becomes sort of Italy politically. Two parties engulfed in a permanent state of warfare. Impossible to resolve society's problems and aspirations.
Like any social experiment, there are two possible outcomes: (a) Trump is successful and re-elected. A new political dynasty is born outside mainstream politics;
(b) Trump fails, is not reelected but voters continue to rebel against democrats and republicans. The US becomes sort of Italy politically. Two parties engulfed in a permanent state of warfare. Impossible to resolve society's problems and aspirations.
2
The right analogy isn't speed, it's noise. Trump dominated the media coverage for himself and drowned out his opponents by carpet bombing us with loud, outrageous assertions in tweets and campaign rallies.
Most often, these were either obvious lies or distortions or demeaning references to those who opposed him, or both. After a while, it was impossible to keep track of even a fraction of the noise he generated.
Now he's doing the same as president, and we're all disgusted and suffering a new kind of PTSD: President Trump Stress Disorder.
Most often, these were either obvious lies or distortions or demeaning references to those who opposed him, or both. After a while, it was impossible to keep track of even a fraction of the noise he generated.
Now he's doing the same as president, and we're all disgusted and suffering a new kind of PTSD: President Trump Stress Disorder.
1
Bret:
Greatest line I've read about a politician in a long time:
"He (Al Gore) was Prince Charles without the passion."
Gail:
I agree with you on Lieberman...even previous Republican Connecticut Senators since WW2 weren't as conservative as him...and that includes Prescott ("Pres") Bush --- Pappy's dad and Dubya's grandpop!
Greatest line I've read about a politician in a long time:
"He (Al Gore) was Prince Charles without the passion."
Gail:
I agree with you on Lieberman...even previous Republican Connecticut Senators since WW2 weren't as conservative as him...and that includes Prescott ("Pres") Bush --- Pappy's dad and Dubya's grandpop!
1
The only good thing that emerges from all of this mess, is the basic raw material -- as in raw footage -- of one ridiculous Trump misstep, scandal, tweet after another -- will be a treasure trove for filmmakers in the future -- both the documentary and fictional kind.
Bernie Madoff has already had not one but TWO biopics. ABC broadcast a 4-part mini-series last year starring Richard Dreyfuss, and last week HBO broadcast their Madoff film starring Robert DeNiro.
In the grand scheme of things Trump's misdeeds will eventually dwarf Madoff's; besides movies, he'll probably get a musical, too.
I hope Lin Manuel Miranda is taking notes.
Bernie Madoff has already had not one but TWO biopics. ABC broadcast a 4-part mini-series last year starring Richard Dreyfuss, and last week HBO broadcast their Madoff film starring Robert DeNiro.
In the grand scheme of things Trump's misdeeds will eventually dwarf Madoff's; besides movies, he'll probably get a musical, too.
I hope Lin Manuel Miranda is taking notes.
3
In analytic geometry, an asymptote of a curve is a line such that the distance between the curve and the line approaches zero as they tend to infinity.
Yes, Mr. Stephens there is a mathematical word for it. Basically it means that as an asymptotic function (perhaps, such as of White House bombshells) continues towards infinity it never crosses a limiting line. But since the WH function of bombshells is not a well defined mathematical concept, we don't know for sure if there is a limit to their cumulative affect or not.
Yes, Mr. Stephens there is a mathematical word for it. Basically it means that as an asymptotic function (perhaps, such as of White House bombshells) continues towards infinity it never crosses a limiting line. But since the WH function of bombshells is not a well defined mathematical concept, we don't know for sure if there is a limit to their cumulative affect or not.
3
Not two months ago the entire Democratic Party was telling us that this American President wasn't getting anything done. Now it's going too fast? Well, which is it?
The tax cut is the whole thing. We increased taxes because Mr. Obama thought we had too many people working - which is why you raise taxes.
NOW that American wants to go back to work, we need to power income taxes and taxes companies pay - the whole idea of which sounds kind of dishonest.
Why ask the poorest young mother to help the store chain pay its income taxes? Whenever she buys diapers or formula she has to help he company pay its federal taxes? Seems a bit much.
The tax cut is the whole thing. We increased taxes because Mr. Obama thought we had too many people working - which is why you raise taxes.
NOW that American wants to go back to work, we need to power income taxes and taxes companies pay - the whole idea of which sounds kind of dishonest.
Why ask the poorest young mother to help the store chain pay its income taxes? Whenever she buys diapers or formula she has to help he company pay its federal taxes? Seems a bit much.
Just two small quibbles with this enjoyable and almost informative back and forth: 1) My grandfather was a pig farmer in Secaucus when that town got its now mostly forgotten reputation. There is a lot of shoveling required for moving Trump news through the system, but it is not the type seen at a hot-dog-eating contest. It's the kind of shovel work done by my grandfather, uncles, and all the other farmers along the backroads of my hometown. 2) The official corporate tax rate in the U.S. may be one of the highest in the world. But how long would it take both of you working together to come up with the names of half a dozen large corporations that have ever paid anything near that tax rate? If you need help, I can offer you a couple of antique shovels.
4
"Acceleration. The pace of news, of scandal, of Trump. It’s like a hot dog-eating contest. We’re shoveling in the Trump news with little time to chew it over and even less time to digest it."
This is more than just true, it is the Trump method of manipulating the media. It is how he got elected. It is basic.
This isn't just an oddity, it is the main thing. Each election seems to bring a new thing to the fore, the new winning idea. We've had micro targeting, and data crunching, and "It's the economy stupid." The new thing is this pace of news.
Trump sets the pace, it is his design and purpose. It worked for him. It may continue to work for him. It isn't just happenstance.
Trump is doing this. Will others do it too? Or will others find a way to stop it? Or will there be another new idea that overtakes it?
In recent elections, the answer has always been a newer idea that overtakes and defeats the last. Someone out there likely has ideas how to overcome this with something even "better."
I don't know who it is, or what it is. That is just the pattern we've seen, and that I hope for.
This is more than just true, it is the Trump method of manipulating the media. It is how he got elected. It is basic.
This isn't just an oddity, it is the main thing. Each election seems to bring a new thing to the fore, the new winning idea. We've had micro targeting, and data crunching, and "It's the economy stupid." The new thing is this pace of news.
Trump sets the pace, it is his design and purpose. It worked for him. It may continue to work for him. It isn't just happenstance.
Trump is doing this. Will others do it too? Or will others find a way to stop it? Or will there be another new idea that overtakes it?
In recent elections, the answer has always been a newer idea that overtakes and defeats the last. Someone out there likely has ideas how to overcome this with something even "better."
I don't know who it is, or what it is. That is just the pattern we've seen, and that I hope for.
2
What is the "new idea" behind the cascade of leaks and scandals that will keep President Trump--not candidate Trump--from moving forward in any meaningful way on his agenda? What is the "new thing" that has resulted in a a demoralized, dispirited White House staff; 24/7 damage control; a bitter, embattled president; and ridicule around the world?
After the inauguration, Steve Bannon said that "“the media should be embarrassed and humiliated and keep its mouth shut and just listen for a while.” Fortunately, the media didn't heed that advice. His boss, that master manipulator of the media, is under investigation by a special counsel, and the media has been keeping the heat on. Because that's their job.
For the White House, the pace of news has been rapid. But the tenor of news has been all bad. What a great idea.
After the inauguration, Steve Bannon said that "“the media should be embarrassed and humiliated and keep its mouth shut and just listen for a while.” Fortunately, the media didn't heed that advice. His boss, that master manipulator of the media, is under investigation by a special counsel, and the media has been keeping the heat on. Because that's their job.
For the White House, the pace of news has been rapid. But the tenor of news has been all bad. What a great idea.
Meanwhile, so-called Attorney General Jefferson (Davis) Beauregard Sessions III is trying his Confederate best to make sure the nation's judges and courts throw the book at non-whites and fill up the nation's prisons.
I wish I wasn't in Dixie, but apparently we all are.
What a Trumpian nightmare.
I wish I wasn't in Dixie, but apparently we all are.
What a Trumpian nightmare.
15
Trump snail's pace Presidency is crawling along in the swamp of his own ignorant, immature, incompetent, inexperienced, insecure and intemperate making.
The speed of light is the universal constant while time and space are relative. Warp-speed imagines bending and folding space- time. The past is determined. The present fleeting. The future is unknown.
What we perceive as a warp-speed American Presidency is a mere smudge on the gun of the real American President aka Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin.
The speed of light is the universal constant while time and space are relative. Warp-speed imagines bending and folding space- time. The past is determined. The present fleeting. The future is unknown.
What we perceive as a warp-speed American Presidency is a mere smudge on the gun of the real American President aka Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin.
This presidency reminds me of a variant of the Dopeler Effect (WaPo 2009 Wordplay Masters Invitational winner) - The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly. The Trump Effect is the warping of your sense of normal when scandal hits you rapidly.
6
As regards Lieberman, and know that I am aware of age discrimination, but how does one offer a 10 year position to a 75 year old man? And one with no law enforcement experience to head the FBI? Pure insanity beyond defiance of common sense.
25
Lieberman for FBI Director is maybe the most laughable idea of the entire Trump circus. Don't insult our intelligence by asserting Lieberman is anything other than utterly two faced (just Trump's kinda guy). Prima facie, he has obvious conflict of interest "Lieberman is now senior counsel at the firm Kasowitz, Benson, Torres and Friedman, which has offices in nine cities. The firm has represented Trump in matters for years." Marc Kasowitz has done Trump's sleaziest dirty-work since 2006: Last October, he threatened The New York Times with legal action after the newspaper published pages from Trump’s 1995 income tax return. Later that month, he wrote a letter to Times demanding the retraction of an article about two women who claimed Trump had “touched them inappropriately.” )The Times did not retract the article.) "The Wall Street Journal has called Kasowitz “Donald Trump’s go-to guy for his toughest legal battles.” (ALSO, don't insult our intelligence by trying to suggest any analogy between the situation of the universally respected Robert Mueller, whose firm represents Ivanka in some cases, and slippery Joe Lieberman.)
12
Stephens writes: "There was an interesting op-ed in The Times last week by John Yoo, a law professor at Berkeley who served in George W. Bush’s Justice Department."
Yoo is much much more than a humble civil servant in the Justice department.
Yoo is the principal author and advocate of the Torture Memos that made the U.S. formally a torture state.
Yoo was an eager champion for Cheney and sustained torture that reveals nothing but American moral cancer.
Yoo was censured by professional legal bodies but still he called for the waterboard and the slamming and the sleep deprivation and the stress positions and the heat and the cold as though emerging from a medieval dungeon with Cheney, the pitiable screams begging mercy ignored by the inhuman torture masters.
Yoo is a torturer and the NYT and Stephens fail their readers when they ignore this monstrous fact.
Stephens is so full of right wing malarkey he misinforms the reader on subjects like climate change and can't serve as Gail's foil.
Yoo is much much more than a humble civil servant in the Justice department.
Yoo is the principal author and advocate of the Torture Memos that made the U.S. formally a torture state.
Yoo was an eager champion for Cheney and sustained torture that reveals nothing but American moral cancer.
Yoo was censured by professional legal bodies but still he called for the waterboard and the slamming and the sleep deprivation and the stress positions and the heat and the cold as though emerging from a medieval dungeon with Cheney, the pitiable screams begging mercy ignored by the inhuman torture masters.
Yoo is a torturer and the NYT and Stephens fail their readers when they ignore this monstrous fact.
Stephens is so full of right wing malarkey he misinforms the reader on subjects like climate change and can't serve as Gail's foil.
11
If Lieberman gets the job we will have two of the famous Keebler Elves in the DOJ.
7
The rapid onslaught of Trump scandals apparently creates a supply-and-demand effect: the more scandals there are, and the greater their frequency, the less importance each one seems to occupy.
On some level, totalitarian dictators must have always known this. The violations committed by Hitler, Stalin, Mao, etc., were so numerous -- and epically outrageous in scope -- that it was arguably EASIER to implement them.
It's important to recall, though, that Trump's scandals are really all of a piece. One portentous piece. A narrative unites them.
Each one could be viewed like a detective views each lead or piece of evidence while building his or her case.
On some level, totalitarian dictators must have always known this. The violations committed by Hitler, Stalin, Mao, etc., were so numerous -- and epically outrageous in scope -- that it was arguably EASIER to implement them.
It's important to recall, though, that Trump's scandals are really all of a piece. One portentous piece. A narrative unites them.
Each one could be viewed like a detective views each lead or piece of evidence while building his or her case.
5
Actually it is very clear operates only on impulse power.
6
This should be a this should be an hour interview on PBS. The comments about Lieberman are interesting---Joe's whining ambivalence drives me nuts.
To my point--we talk about Donald Trump as if he was the whole show. Instead, he has pulled in a lot of dark hearted people who either want to or have done some very dark hearted things. Just ask orphaned bear cubs whose mother's
We're shot while sleeping at their side---not a false image, check it out. Those folks never make the front page for more than a day.
Donald does have some people with good hearts. When they come to his defense they too become sullied---a form of Colin Powell at the UN lying to the general assembly.
What I wanted asked was at what point does this highly toxic behavior become
Malignant--- thus making a return to healthier behavior impossible?
To my point--we talk about Donald Trump as if he was the whole show. Instead, he has pulled in a lot of dark hearted people who either want to or have done some very dark hearted things. Just ask orphaned bear cubs whose mother's
We're shot while sleeping at their side---not a false image, check it out. Those folks never make the front page for more than a day.
Donald does have some people with good hearts. When they come to his defense they too become sullied---a form of Colin Powell at the UN lying to the general assembly.
What I wanted asked was at what point does this highly toxic behavior become
Malignant--- thus making a return to healthier behavior impossible?
3
Why is your President above the law ? In any civilized country he would have been charged with obstruction of justice and breach of trust, by interfering with law enforcement investigations.
10
The FBI is investigating and will decide if the evidence supports criminal indictments. In Nixon's case, it took months to build the case.
The US Constitution specifies that a president can be removed against his will only by impeachment. This was intended to prevent removal of a president for purely partisan reasons. High crimes or misdemeanors must be documented and the Senate must convict the president. Otherwise (like Bill Clinton), he is not removed.
The US Constitution specifies that a president can be removed against his will only by impeachment. This was intended to prevent removal of a president for purely partisan reasons. High crimes or misdemeanors must be documented and the Senate must convict the president. Otherwise (like Bill Clinton), he is not removed.
Warp speed? No, just a plain old warped presidency.
6
The real question is: since someone as smart and well educated about the corporate world as Bret Stephens is cannot possible believe that a corporate tax cut would result in workers being paid higher wages, why did he say it? Every answer to that question is sufficiently unflattering to his character so as to disqualify him from being asked again to write for the NYT.
17
Does anyone else feel that this is deja vu, all over again?? Day after day, the Presidential Apprentice makes or utters a colossal, embarrassing blunder, we all roll our eyes, and shrug. THIS is the new normal, the lobotomized administration. Thanks, GOP. You've met your goal, just enough of the " uneducated " to win. Enjoy yourselves, while you can.
5
"Gore is Prince Charles without the passion..."
I much prefer that over a president who is King George III without a filter.
I much prefer that over a president who is King George III without a filter.
17
Since we all agree that Trump is a disaster, I'll join Gail in assailing Joe L. Other than being a freedom rider in his youth, every political action he has taken was for self efficacy, of course the same can be said for most former senators, or present ones. Those Americans that had to fight and still are the Iraq war is enough to scratch his name off the list of candidates. I believe Al Gore wishes he had.
9
Good conversation, and very hopeful. I too hope that Trump causes his own downfall, through inability to control himself. And I don't like Lieberman but I'm not scared of him either; he's not going to try to destroy democracy like Trump is doing.
Also it's great to see a conservative who's rational, has ideas I can tolerate if not agree with, and one who is putting the nation's interests ahead of the party's. I think denying global warming is stubbornly foolish, but it hardly matters now, global warming will go on regardless of what humanity does. And the bright side is it will slay hundreds of millions of humans, and humanity desperately needs to be reduced.
Also it's great to see a conservative who's rational, has ideas I can tolerate if not agree with, and one who is putting the nation's interests ahead of the party's. I think denying global warming is stubbornly foolish, but it hardly matters now, global warming will go on regardless of what humanity does. And the bright side is it will slay hundreds of millions of humans, and humanity desperately needs to be reduced.
5
This is the finest hour for those of us who understand in our gut, the underpinnings of our democracy.
This is a President who is determined to have the mean, the stupid and the chaotic intermingled with the illegal and the treasonous.
There will be the temptation to laugh off this administration as merely incompetent, but the real test would be to call out and resist the dangerous - amidst an endless stream of benign insanity.
This is a President who is determined to have the mean, the stupid and the chaotic intermingled with the illegal and the treasonous.
There will be the temptation to laugh off this administration as merely incompetent, but the real test would be to call out and resist the dangerous - amidst an endless stream of benign insanity.
"We have one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world. That tax must be paid at the expense of something or other, like workers’ wages."
Not only do companies not actually pay at that high nominal rate (the effective rate is actually competitive with rates in other countries), but I think at this point we can safely say that when you give big corporations more money to work with, they absolutely DO NOT pass the savings on to their workers or consumers. Given that many of the biggest and most profitable companies actually pay zero in taxes, it's disingenuous to blame low wages or outsourcing on overly high tax burdens. People like you create this whole scammy narrative where companies are right on the edge of treating the workforce humanely, but there's just not quite enough available cash to get there. But it's a scam, because every time we loosen the regulations or decrease the tax burden or even just hand them a bunch of cash, all of the increased revenue goes straight into the pockets of the executives and shareholders. Every time. And you keep telling us, no, this'll be the time, this time for sure, they've already got the check made out to you and they just need some money to get started. It's like we learned nothing from the laissez faire policies of the early 20th century.
Not only do companies not actually pay at that high nominal rate (the effective rate is actually competitive with rates in other countries), but I think at this point we can safely say that when you give big corporations more money to work with, they absolutely DO NOT pass the savings on to their workers or consumers. Given that many of the biggest and most profitable companies actually pay zero in taxes, it's disingenuous to blame low wages or outsourcing on overly high tax burdens. People like you create this whole scammy narrative where companies are right on the edge of treating the workforce humanely, but there's just not quite enough available cash to get there. But it's a scam, because every time we loosen the regulations or decrease the tax burden or even just hand them a bunch of cash, all of the increased revenue goes straight into the pockets of the executives and shareholders. Every time. And you keep telling us, no, this'll be the time, this time for sure, they've already got the check made out to you and they just need some money to get started. It's like we learned nothing from the laissez faire policies of the early 20th century.
Mr. Stephens, the US may have a high corporate tax rate, but economic analyses tell us that few corporations pay the actual tax rate of 35%. TWO-THIRDS of corporations had zero tax liability after all they used all of their loopholes, tax credits, deductions and other voodoo economic instruments. If trickle-down economics worked, we wouldn't have discussions about it. Instead, every year Republicans have power in Congress or the in the presidency, we have to keep them from enriching corporations and the 1% on the backs of the poor and middle class. Trump is now proposing to do away with Medicaid to help pay for his horrible tax plan. When are conservatives going to see how bad putting more people in poverty and eliminating the middle class are for our country's economy and national security?
https://www.forbes.com/sites/eriksherman/2017/04/24/trumps-corporate-tax...
https://www.forbes.com/sites/eriksherman/2017/04/24/trumps-corporate-tax...
10
Good comment. We see the "high" corporate tax rate quoted all the time, but lowering it without closing loopholes and reducing deductions will only be a gift for the companies who already pay little or no tax. And if it is so easy for a corporation to avoid taxes in this country, why do some of them move their money or operations offshore? Is it because they can't take advantage of the loopholes other companies do, that they are just extra greedy, or maybe because they get other benefits, like being able to access cheaper labor more easily, that outweigh the tax benefit?
1
Would people stop accusing Lieberman of being "honorable"?!?! I cannot forget his being on the fence when Thomas was being considered for the Supreme Court. He was being lobbied this way and that. No one knew what he would do. When the time for his vote came, he deferred. AFTER Thomas had the seat, bold Joe voted no. I cannot forgive this lily-livered maneuver. His centrism (INCLUDING KILLING THE PUBLIC OPTION!) is entirely explained by his having no moral anchor (yes, I know about his religious convictions).
18
A lot about corporate tax rates here. So what are American corporate tax rates compared to the rest of the world? To begin with, they are now the lowest they have been since the War as a percentage of taxes collected by the IRS. And some major corporations pay no tax. What do State and Local taxes add to the rate, and how do they vary state to state, and taking into account property tax exemptions? How much do mandatory health insurance contributions and workers comp add to this? Then factor in government subsidies. Give us an overall figure of what the tax rate is, with a high and low by industry and state.
Some simple solutions: 1. Put in a minimum tax rate of 15-20%. Reduce the top rate 5-10% in exchange for profit sharing, provided base pay is no more than the average of all workers, excluding the top and bottom 5%; management overhead no more than 15%. 2. Continue employee premiums for health insurance as tax free; extend this to self employed and workers without company plans. Obviously here single payer would reduce everybody's premiums, which could be begun through medicaid--both employee and income taxes being already in place to support it. The way we pay for health insurance through middlemen is a major competitive factor. 3. Tax imports at the border to make up the difference in health and other insurance costs from countries that don't offer them. 4. Give Trump a 50% reduction in his taxes, his quid-pro-quo-reason-for-running, if he will resign.
Some simple solutions: 1. Put in a minimum tax rate of 15-20%. Reduce the top rate 5-10% in exchange for profit sharing, provided base pay is no more than the average of all workers, excluding the top and bottom 5%; management overhead no more than 15%. 2. Continue employee premiums for health insurance as tax free; extend this to self employed and workers without company plans. Obviously here single payer would reduce everybody's premiums, which could be begun through medicaid--both employee and income taxes being already in place to support it. The way we pay for health insurance through middlemen is a major competitive factor. 3. Tax imports at the border to make up the difference in health and other insurance costs from countries that don't offer them. 4. Give Trump a 50% reduction in his taxes, his quid-pro-quo-reason-for-running, if he will resign.
4
5. Put in a carbon tax used to subsidize individual/business purchases of renewables--a transfer tax. 6. Give 10 year tax holidays to utilities on income gained through purchase of electricity made from renewables (wind, solar, micro-hydro) from their customers. Give them an incentive to change their business plans away from fossil fuels.
1
"We’re shoveling in the Trump news with little time to chew it over and even less time to digest it.": Love the media and its self-aggrandizement. Actually a lot of the US, if not the world are NOT bloated over the Trumpster, but might be more concerned with bombings.
The New York Times keeps insisting the news coverage begets the news, rather than vice versa. Sad decent into the clutter of tabloids. No wonder the sobriquet "fake news", resounds among Trump's other fables. As usual, he's half right.
They still don't get it.
The New York Times keeps insisting the news coverage begets the news, rather than vice versa. Sad decent into the clutter of tabloids. No wonder the sobriquet "fake news", resounds among Trump's other fables. As usual, he's half right.
They still don't get it.
1
Oh, boy. The old "highest corporate taxes" yadda yadda. It has been posted earlier, and better, but I just have to chime in on this. Whatever the corporate tax is, it doesn't matter a rat's patoot if most of the corporations use loopholes you could drive a subway train through to avoid paying virtually anything! And for anyone who still buys the line that lowering the so-called corporate tax rate will induce corporations to increase their employees' wages.....there's a couple of bridges around town that are for sale. Call me.
15
"That tax must be paid at the expense of something or other, like workers’ wages."
Right, boardrooms across America are filled with executives banging their heads on the table, causing the muffins to jump, and crying out: "Oh how I wish I could raise my workers' wages, but the taxes our organization pays are simply too high!"
Right, boardrooms across America are filled with executives banging their heads on the table, causing the muffins to jump, and crying out: "Oh how I wish I could raise my workers' wages, but the taxes our organization pays are simply too high!"
16
I'm sure trump and his son-in-law would welcome higher taxes on workers. How else are they going to continue to enrich themselves at the expense of the majority of the citizens.
If jared has no problem evicting or taking hard-working individuals to court for various ridiculous--and sometimes unfounded--reasons and his father-in-law has no problems not paying contractors for work they did on his casinos or cheating people out of tuition for a fake university, why would they care now that they have the keys to our treasury.
If jared has no problem evicting or taking hard-working individuals to court for various ridiculous--and sometimes unfounded--reasons and his father-in-law has no problems not paying contractors for work they did on his casinos or cheating people out of tuition for a fake university, why would they care now that they have the keys to our treasury.
8
Are wages considered a write off or somehow acknowledged in tax forms to decrease in income for the company?
1
Keeping up with this 200-PSI firehose flush of non-stop headlines caused by this President has become tiresome, that is true. It is important to keep our eye on the ball.
Four months into the administration, Trump fired one FBI director, is under criminal investigation, gave classified information to a sworn enemy of ours (and in the process, endangering the lives of our spies and spies of our allies), can't figure out how to properly staff jobs within his administration, and is in the process of destroying relationships with every ally we have. On top of all this, he is lurching forward to remove environmental protections across the board, sell off national parkland, and prevent workers from having health and safety on the job, and is crass, crude, and disrespectful to citizens and nations of the world, women, and his own staff.
Of course, I'm missing a number of other news clips that Trump has made; who can keep track of this mess? Oh yes - forgot the gorilla in the closet (health care reform). Trump has done everything possible to gut support and pull the rug out from under the ACA passed under Obama in every conceivable way. To prevent total collapse of our health care system, Republicans must see the light on this topic and change their priorities to make sure that the primary goal is to provide insurance to the uninsured. Otherwise, they should take a long look at their offices - since they'll be booted out of office and/or out of the majority next election cycle.
Four months into the administration, Trump fired one FBI director, is under criminal investigation, gave classified information to a sworn enemy of ours (and in the process, endangering the lives of our spies and spies of our allies), can't figure out how to properly staff jobs within his administration, and is in the process of destroying relationships with every ally we have. On top of all this, he is lurching forward to remove environmental protections across the board, sell off national parkland, and prevent workers from having health and safety on the job, and is crass, crude, and disrespectful to citizens and nations of the world, women, and his own staff.
Of course, I'm missing a number of other news clips that Trump has made; who can keep track of this mess? Oh yes - forgot the gorilla in the closet (health care reform). Trump has done everything possible to gut support and pull the rug out from under the ACA passed under Obama in every conceivable way. To prevent total collapse of our health care system, Republicans must see the light on this topic and change their priorities to make sure that the primary goal is to provide insurance to the uninsured. Otherwise, they should take a long look at their offices - since they'll be booted out of office and/or out of the majority next election cycle.
4
I say we all get together to help accelerate the end to Trump's presidency. He likes to set records and be the first, so let's help him set the record for the shortest elected presidential term in office without dying.
9
I say 'resignation' ends this farce. The Masters of the Universe have invested heavily in the current unified majority of the Exec and Congress - it's precious, fleeting and expen$ive; they do not intend to waste it.
When they conclude finally that le petit orange cannot sustain attention to anything beyond the end of his nose, they will instruct their House and Senate pipers to retrace the Goldwater visitation, and play the prez his swansong.
Not sure where he'll celebrate the Holidays, but it won't be in DC.
When they conclude finally that le petit orange cannot sustain attention to anything beyond the end of his nose, they will instruct their House and Senate pipers to retrace the Goldwater visitation, and play the prez his swansong.
Not sure where he'll celebrate the Holidays, but it won't be in DC.
6
Great analogy Bret - hot dog eating contest. Can we throw-up yet?
Worse than the N. Korean ransomware is that Trump is effectively holding our country for ransom - give him his tax cuts and eliminate the estate tax and he will go ... maybe not.
International affairs including WAR to justify the added money for the military will be "the change" POTUS is seekingaa.
I think The NYT's helpful links for leakers has succeeded beyond our wildest dreams. Good work!
Worse than the N. Korean ransomware is that Trump is effectively holding our country for ransom - give him his tax cuts and eliminate the estate tax and he will go ... maybe not.
International affairs including WAR to justify the added money for the military will be "the change" POTUS is seekingaa.
I think The NYT's helpful links for leakers has succeeded beyond our wildest dreams. Good work!
4
He's a MA-niac, a MAA-niac, I'm sure....
4
Hay Bret, one issue: "We have one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world. That tax must be paid at the expense of something or other, like workers’ wages." Problem is, I'm not sure any American corporation pays the top rate; many of the largest companies pay no tax at all. In fact, over the last several years, American corporations have been enjoying record profits, and they are sitting on unprecedented piles of cash. That cash is NOT being re-invested in infrastructure or being used to hire more workers, it's going to shareholders and executives. There is no reason to believe that lowering corporate tax rates will suddenly inspire these companies to start hiring if they haven't yet.
27
Agree with you both on Trumps epic incompetence which we are subjected to because of Hillary Clinton's epically incompetent campaign. But wait, that was the fault of Comey and the Russians. And Gore's loss was the fault of Joe Lieberman! Epically incompetent or not, I hardly think
Ms. Collins can plausibly criticize Trump for playing the persecution card. That has become liberal stock and trade in the 21st century. The primary legacy left to us by the Clinton's.
Ms. Collins can plausibly criticize Trump for playing the persecution card. That has become liberal stock and trade in the 21st century. The primary legacy left to us by the Clinton's.
One of the many myths propagated by conservatives is that our corporate taxes are high compared to other countries. It is true that our nominal rate of 35% is high, but because of loopholes, this figure is meaningless.
A good parameter to look at is total corporate taxes actually paid divided by GDP because neither of these figures can be fudged by corporations. If you look at developed countries, you will see that Norway has the highest value at 12.5%. The US is tied with Turkey for the lowest at 1.8%. If you look at all the countries touted by conservatives as low tax countries such as Ireland or Canada, you will see that their corporate taxes as a percentage of GDP are higher. http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/31/are-taxes-in-the-u-s-high-o...
In addition, during the Great Prosperity, 1946 - 1973, this figure was about 3 times higher than today
It seems to me that if our real corporate taxes were in line with the rest of the world or maybe even higher than the average, corporations would think twice about leaving piles of cash lying around and would reinvest them to avoid paying tax.
A good parameter to look at is total corporate taxes actually paid divided by GDP because neither of these figures can be fudged by corporations. If you look at developed countries, you will see that Norway has the highest value at 12.5%. The US is tied with Turkey for the lowest at 1.8%. If you look at all the countries touted by conservatives as low tax countries such as Ireland or Canada, you will see that their corporate taxes as a percentage of GDP are higher. http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/31/are-taxes-in-the-u-s-high-o...
In addition, during the Great Prosperity, 1946 - 1973, this figure was about 3 times higher than today
It seems to me that if our real corporate taxes were in line with the rest of the world or maybe even higher than the average, corporations would think twice about leaving piles of cash lying around and would reinvest them to avoid paying tax.
15
"We have one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world. That tax must be paid at the expense of something or other, like workers’ wages."
Bret is implying that if we lower the corporate tax rate, corporations will increase worker's wages. History says otherwise. Those tax cuts will find their way into the pockets of the rich people at the top-the upper management and the board and the shareholders, not the everyday person who works for the company. And, there's always the fact that few corporations actually pay that tax rate. Many pay nothing. Some get refunds. I'm not crying in my soup over the taxes the rich pay. They don't need more tax breaks.
Bret is implying that if we lower the corporate tax rate, corporations will increase worker's wages. History says otherwise. Those tax cuts will find their way into the pockets of the rich people at the top-the upper management and the board and the shareholders, not the everyday person who works for the company. And, there's always the fact that few corporations actually pay that tax rate. Many pay nothing. Some get refunds. I'm not crying in my soup over the taxes the rich pay. They don't need more tax breaks.
175
It works the same way as giving tax breaks to the rich creates jobs. Give the rich more money and of course they will share it with their workers. Reagan proved that, just as he proved deficits don't matter (after running the first time on reducing the debt), and unions are not beneficial (after heading a union himself when he was still a democrat).
2
Just as a small aside, the U.S. corporate tax *rate* may be among the highest in the world, but that rate in no way reflects what most large corporations actually pay. The average actual paid-in rate on taxable corporate income is around 20%, and that includes small and medium sized domestic corporations who don't have access to the loopholes available to large international corporations.
One tires of hearing the false rhetoric surrounding our level of corporate taxation. After awhile, it becomes like hearing a Gold Coast mansion owner complaining about having to fork over Social Security taxes for his gardener... when he actually chooses to do so, or says he does.
One tires of hearing the false rhetoric surrounding our level of corporate taxation. After awhile, it becomes like hearing a Gold Coast mansion owner complaining about having to fork over Social Security taxes for his gardener... when he actually chooses to do so, or says he does.
6
Corporations don't pay the highest possible rate, no where near it. The huge moneymakers don't pay taxes at all (I'm talking to you Boeing and GE). Many more offshore their money to avoid taxes (Apple!). Cutting the tax rate is not going to suddenly make these "people" (thanks to Citizen United) pay higher wages to the bottom of the rung employees. I'm all for a tax rate applied to gross revenue based on the wage multiple differences between your highest paid earner (including stock options, golden parachute packages, deferred compensation, leased cars and the rest) and your lowest paid earner (including contract labor above 15 hours a week). To heck with income less expenses calculations, that just drives up the cost of CEOs and any tax cuts flow upward not downwards.
5
Yes there is a mathematical expression here. Any number of them from the disciplines of physics, chemistry, etc.
Seems like you are looking for the equilibrium points of [different] nonlinear systems. What happens around an equilibrium point, in these systems, as a practicing mathematician, I would describe in simple lay terms as "extremely weird".
Seems like you are looking for the equilibrium points of [different] nonlinear systems. What happens around an equilibrium point, in these systems, as a practicing mathematician, I would describe in simple lay terms as "extremely weird".
2
"Do you see this ending in high drama — Trump gets impeached or resigns?
1. Impeached? That's the same as being indicted and it goes from there to a trial.
2. Resigns? Never, that's not his style...unless he has a
3. Heart attack! It seems more likely, with a resignation to follow, after which he can claim himself a great president and hire someone to write a book proclaiming such.
1. Impeached? That's the same as being indicted and it goes from there to a trial.
2. Resigns? Never, that's not his style...unless he has a
3. Heart attack! It seems more likely, with a resignation to follow, after which he can claim himself a great president and hire someone to write a book proclaiming such.
5
I'm still uncertain why Russia decided to "Make America Great Again," but whatever their reason, I think we owe them a great big "Spasibo!"
Yeah, Al Gore failed to win his home state, but then again so did Donald Trump--by a landslide!
201
I grew up in Tennessee. A reasonable politician failing to win Tennessee says more about Tennessee than it does the politician. New York is a different story. Since New Yorker's have watched the Trump charade for decades I doubt that he could be elected dog catcher there. Trump had to go far afield and fool the not so astute, those willing to throw a brick through the White House windows, into thinking he knows anything about government with his angry every man trope.
3
Of course we have time to "digest them". The same time it takes me to digest the doubling of my home taxes this year in Anchorage Alaska with a Republican administration. I am age 77 and live on social security and a pittance of interest on my savings. How hard is that to figure out?
9
"Acceleration. The pace of news, of scandal, of Trump."
Brett, you have obviously been paying attention because you have much of Trump pegged, but you must note that there is no new acceleration of Trump and Trump related scandals.
He has been running at the same breakneck pace, trying to stay one step ahead without knowing what his next step will be and relying on confusion and chaos, since he first started dodging creditors.
Everyone else is accelerating now because they have to try to keep up, but Trump hasn't changed his stride at all.
Brett, you have obviously been paying attention because you have much of Trump pegged, but you must note that there is no new acceleration of Trump and Trump related scandals.
He has been running at the same breakneck pace, trying to stay one step ahead without knowing what his next step will be and relying on confusion and chaos, since he first started dodging creditors.
Everyone else is accelerating now because they have to try to keep up, but Trump hasn't changed his stride at all.
6
Well, we finally have a totally unconscious person as President.
a person with no maturity, self-awareness, or ability to assess a situation properly, and who is feathering his own nest in full view.
I remember reading a little Joseph Campbell blurb about not getting into a car with a guy whose life is living him instead of the other way around. Too late- we got a blind Napoleon Complexer at the wheel.
We need a basic psychological test for this office from now on.
a person with no maturity, self-awareness, or ability to assess a situation properly, and who is feathering his own nest in full view.
I remember reading a little Joseph Campbell blurb about not getting into a car with a guy whose life is living him instead of the other way around. Too late- we got a blind Napoleon Complexer at the wheel.
We need a basic psychological test for this office from now on.
12
The speed at which the Trump catastrophe results in a new scandal has, in a way, insulated him from the kind of criticism that might penetrate his loyal hoards.
If he was half as bad, he would seem much worse because we would have the time to digest and reflect upon his blunders.
@otherminds
If he was half as bad, he would seem much worse because we would have the time to digest and reflect upon his blunders.
@otherminds
3
Funny that the only people Stephens can think of for FBI director are political hacks. Why not an FBI veteran?
7
That would make way too much sense.
1
Nice conversation.
From Lieberman to Yoo ,those who want to play leader from the middle of the road tend to become roadkill.
Agogment? Really?
From Lieberman to Yoo ,those who want to play leader from the middle of the road tend to become roadkill.
Agogment? Really?
2
Hey, Stephens, stop trying to equate TREASON with some "flavor of the moment", news cycle bullet. Your weak attempts to either ignore and/or minimize the clearly historic gravity of this subject diminish any veracity you maybe expecting for your "comments".
Ditto your incomprehensibly tone-deaf "opinions" re "one of the highest corporate tax rats in the world", totally IGNORING reality! CORPORATIONS DO NOT PAY THOSE RATES. GE, for instance (one of "our" largest), not only DOES NOT PAY ANY taxes, they actually get A TAX BENEFIT!
Stop pedaling the nonsense that tax hurts workers. It's absurd, illogical and has NO BASIS in reality. NOT PAYING WORKERS is what hurts workers. And with no money to spend, and and increasingly huge healthcare bill (thanks again, repubs), there will be NO GROWTH in our economy.
Ditto your incomprehensibly tone-deaf "opinions" re "one of the highest corporate tax rats in the world", totally IGNORING reality! CORPORATIONS DO NOT PAY THOSE RATES. GE, for instance (one of "our" largest), not only DOES NOT PAY ANY taxes, they actually get A TAX BENEFIT!
Stop pedaling the nonsense that tax hurts workers. It's absurd, illogical and has NO BASIS in reality. NOT PAYING WORKERS is what hurts workers. And with no money to spend, and and increasingly huge healthcare bill (thanks again, repubs), there will be NO GROWTH in our economy.
21
First of all, kudos to the conservative writer for not going "Both Sides Do It." I was getting pretty fed up with Both Sides Do It in this column. Both Sides Don't Do It. One side does horrendous stuff, the other side does similar, but less horrendous stuff - most of the time. By going Both Sides Do It you are putting an equal sign between the two. Very Sad logic. Whenever I hear Both Sides Do It, I think Caligula and the horse he appointed to the Roman senate. Obviously, Caligula is the Republican base and the horse the Democrat base. Caligula was the guy who sodomized anything on legs, and the horse was the sodomized. Frankly, I don't know which one of these is more pitiful.
This week's subject is kind of fascinating. There is not much evidence to prove much of anything, but from what little I have seen and read I get the impression that the Trump Base is keeping its Eyes On The Prize, and damn the pesky philosophical stuff about Democracy. They just don't understand why everybody won't just let Trump do his (ethically dubious) things so we can be Great. It's good to be Great, but then we all wake up and find outselves in Rome and Caligula is giving the State of the Unions address.
As for Lieberman, Gail pretty much summerized it all for me. And I can't take seriously the other writer who endorses this Political Animal to head the "Federal Bureau Of Investigation" at this time in our history. Whatever your politics, let's agree to be serious.
This week's subject is kind of fascinating. There is not much evidence to prove much of anything, but from what little I have seen and read I get the impression that the Trump Base is keeping its Eyes On The Prize, and damn the pesky philosophical stuff about Democracy. They just don't understand why everybody won't just let Trump do his (ethically dubious) things so we can be Great. It's good to be Great, but then we all wake up and find outselves in Rome and Caligula is giving the State of the Unions address.
As for Lieberman, Gail pretty much summerized it all for me. And I can't take seriously the other writer who endorses this Political Animal to head the "Federal Bureau Of Investigation" at this time in our history. Whatever your politics, let's agree to be serious.
4
John Yoo, the author of the "Torture Memos" justifying violations of the Geneva Conventions and all human morality by redefining horrifying torture as "enhanced interrogation", has no moral or intellectual legitimacy to opine in anyone's column. Shame on you Bret.
"Weekly Review" is not a forgotten tweet, but a regular column by Joe Kloc in Harpers. Credit where credit is due.
https://harpers.org/blog/2017/05/weekly-review-17/
"Weekly Review" is not a forgotten tweet, but a regular column by Joe Kloc in Harpers. Credit where credit is due.
https://harpers.org/blog/2017/05/weekly-review-17/
15
It's hard to keep up. It's even harder to keep your stories straight. One thing one day. A retraction the next. There's consistency in both places. Trumps and yours. He thinks out loud for all to see and hear. You contemplate how you can exemplify anything negatively. Give us all a break. Promise nothing negative for a whole week. Maybe even a whole day? A whole hour? A whole nanosecond?
When you are no match for this President it is hard to keep up. Now you know!
When you are no match for this President it is hard to keep up. Now you know!
This entire campaign was about " the brand" and profit. I truly believe he never thought, or even wished for, a win. But, thanks to decades of the GOP propaganda machine, and Too many Dems that couldn't be bothered to actually vote OR were pouting because they didn't get their perfect pony, HE pulled it off. An incompetent, gross amateur, a lifelong professional conman. Now, we're stuck. But, he appears to be just a few more hissy fits away from breakdown. Physical, not mental, as THAT ship has sailed.
I predict that within a few months, or sooner with all the " investigations " swirling about, he will " resign- to spend more time with his family, and concentrate on the Trump Family Business ". Pence is a theocrat, but relatively sane. Lesson learned? I really doubt it, but can hope.
I predict that within a few months, or sooner with all the " investigations " swirling about, he will " resign- to spend more time with his family, and concentrate on the Trump Family Business ". Pence is a theocrat, but relatively sane. Lesson learned? I really doubt it, but can hope.
Trump is spearheading a host of other disasters that are not being covered because of the Agogment Factor (or whatever you called it). Disasters for individuals both in the U.S. and around the world.
6
Lieberman: Gore's Sarah Palin. Gore probably wanted to throw the 2000 election. He is too lightweight for the job.
"The appointment of Robert Mueller as special counsel means we’ve gone from the “this is totally nuts” stage of the presidency to the “this is deadly serious” stage."
Wishful thinking born of desperation. Whistling in the dark.
This tiny little part of fixing what's wrong is equivalent to a dab of rouge on Donald's old cheek.
Wishful thinking born of desperation. Whistling in the dark.
This tiny little part of fixing what's wrong is equivalent to a dab of rouge on Donald's old cheek.
2
Trump is like a meal, best ingested slowly, with plenty of time for long contemplative walks between courses. If you take it in all at once you'll surely suffer the consequences akin to indigestion, gastroesophageal reflux disease or worse. Small bites, over the course of the day will protect you from harm...
Trump is like a meal best spit out.
6
Does "man [indeed grow] used to everything," as Dostoevsky declared? Maybe not, but in my case, I have grown very weary of the incessant drum beat of President Trump's serially execrable do-do dance.
I reluctantly follow the rattle of the Trumpian tympani, but I have to force myself to do it. Sentient men and women typically try to steer clear of incessant depression. Following the current news cycling walks us right into it, eyes wide open.
BTW, Joe Lieberman has no erstwhile friends on the left. The left has always despised him, and for very good reason. Lieberman is as "honorable" as I am athletic.
Where's my Xanax?
I reluctantly follow the rattle of the Trumpian tympani, but I have to force myself to do it. Sentient men and women typically try to steer clear of incessant depression. Following the current news cycling walks us right into it, eyes wide open.
BTW, Joe Lieberman has no erstwhile friends on the left. The left has always despised him, and for very good reason. Lieberman is as "honorable" as I am athletic.
Where's my Xanax?
9
There's a lot to agree with here. However, I came off the rails when Bret Stephens said "We have one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world." That's simply not true. I know. I've worked in corporate finance. You can't reform the corporate tax code in any meaningful way until you actually enforce the tax code fairly and universally. Saying 35% is too high is meaningless when only suckers are paying 35%. Companies should be required to work for their tax breaks; we shouldn't have to work to have companies pay their taxes. The logic is backwards.
By laying out this same un-meritorious trope time and again, moderate conservatives undermine their own reasonable arguments. One big lie casts doubt on all the nuanced differences of opinion we might have. Stop doing it. You're compromising your own position.
By laying out this same un-meritorious trope time and again, moderate conservatives undermine their own reasonable arguments. One big lie casts doubt on all the nuanced differences of opinion we might have. Stop doing it. You're compromising your own position.
289
The Republicans are embracing "Sore Loserman"? They are consistent in their inconsistencies. "Moral Joe" can be counted on to pontificate loudly about morals while cutting back room deals. As FBI Director he would display his bipartisan approach by dropping the Russian investigation and pursuing Hillary for the email server. He might be the right guy for the Trump FBI but not the U.S. FBI.
Real tax reform would require making the nominal corporate tax rate the effective corporate tax rate, through eliminating tax dodges. Let's see if Republicans can put their donors' money behind that reform.
The burgeoning Trumpgate is Watergate on steroids. To coin a phrase, the pump has been primed by a President who tweets before he thinks. And the Internet acts like an accelerant. It seems clear that Trump is laying the groundwork for the defense of mental incapacity.
PS Wasn't it Arthur Brooks and not David Brooks who recently paired with Gail?.
Real tax reform would require making the nominal corporate tax rate the effective corporate tax rate, through eliminating tax dodges. Let's see if Republicans can put their donors' money behind that reform.
The burgeoning Trumpgate is Watergate on steroids. To coin a phrase, the pump has been primed by a President who tweets before he thinks. And the Internet acts like an accelerant. It seems clear that Trump is laying the groundwork for the defense of mental incapacity.
PS Wasn't it Arthur Brooks and not David Brooks who recently paired with Gail?.
10
Always a fun conversation about the intrigues involved in politics and politicking of our two-faced politicians, full of empty promises, as our liar-in-chief is so well endowed with; but not only the incompetent buffoon at the helm; witness the lowly ego-tripper worm Joe Lieberman, with interventions, or lack thereof, whose negative impact still haunts us. That Trump does not fail to surprise us with his distractions, and scapegoating, while playing 'pussy' (behaving irresponsibly reckless) with us, ought not allow us to fall into despondency nor complacency nor consider his swamp the 'new normal'. Nor look the other way while hypocrites Ryan and McConnell are trying to wreck, take away, the healthcare insurance that Obama has tried to accomplish. Don't you sense a good dose of "racism" when the republicans are trying to erase anything with Obama's signature, however useful, even praised, by its beneficiaries? One thing you must give to Trump, he has been consistent in surprising us in his constant betrayal of the truth, the rule of law, and his vulgar bullying the press into submission, and his superb ability to distract us from his misrule.
6
The FOX " president ". PEROID.
6
The U.S. has the third lowest taxes of the 35 wealthy OECD countries measured by revenue as a percent of gdp.
The U.S. has taxes of 26 per cent of gdp vs an OECD average of 34 per cent.
The cost of this low tax policy is evident throughout the U.S. where the 100 million underclass is sacrificed to the rich along with education, pay, pensions, health care, infrastructure.
Low American taxes will kill you far far more than ISIS.
The U.S. has taxes of 26 per cent of gdp vs an OECD average of 34 per cent.
The cost of this low tax policy is evident throughout the U.S. where the 100 million underclass is sacrificed to the rich along with education, pay, pensions, health care, infrastructure.
Low American taxes will kill you far far more than ISIS.
1
I routinely see comments that the
USA has the highest corporate tax rate. Interesting, but what do companies actually pay? I've never heard that number.
USA has the highest corporate tax rate. Interesting, but what do companies actually pay? I've never heard that number.
13
From what I have read 0-15%.
3
The corporate tax rate structure is bizarre and full of (loop) holes. Small businesses pay a higher rate than larger ones do. Explain that! However, few small businesses can take advantage of the Swiss cheese tax code, while large ones can even get their taxes down to zero. So, it's even worse for our "engine of the economy." Small businesses create more jobs than big ones and take it in the neck when it comes to taxes.
Both parties praise small businesses and claim to be in favor of helping them. What's holding them back?!
Both parties praise small businesses and claim to be in favor of helping them. What's holding them back?!
8
Yeah that's the problem with America, corporations can't make enough money.
265
Can we please drive a stake through the zombie factoid that we have this horrendously inflated corporate tax rate? It is baloney. The average tax rate actually paid is much closer to other countries. The fictive tax rate is there for conservatives to clutch their pearls over, and for those with money and power to avoid by buying legislators. The huge and widening gap between the rich and the poor, and the stranglehold the former has on the latter with a budget and health plan that slowly walks them into a 21st Century "Holocaust Center", tells us everything we need to know about the poor, oppressed filthy rich. And as for cutting taxes for the rich while bloating the military: How'd that work out for the economy under W?
27
While I wish we could have more civil dialogue, Bret Stephens closing about David Irving is disturbing. A quick google called Irving a climate denier and Nazi sympathizer. Then this quote from Irving "David Irving made a series of “disgusting” remarks about Jews at the event in the city’s DoubleTree by Hilton hotel. He also said that he liked living in the north of Scotland because it reminded him of the England he was born into, when “England was white”. It will be hard to take Stephens seriously if this is his idea of a joke. If I am being "politically correct" then so be it.
13
Hey Bret, don't you mean a "Make Ireland Even Greater" scheme? :-)
4
"The Conversation" is my favorite part of the NYT! Thank you for bringing it back and looking forward to conversations between Gail and Bret!
3
Snoozer of a conversation until the topic turned to Lieberman. With 10 anti-Trump opinion pieces published here everyday, try to find another topic or just give up.
2
The US just looks more moronic every day, racing back to feudalism and superstition.
127
And, of course, there is NO "back".
1
Note to Bret Stephens: Multinationals hire MORE employees in countries with higher corporate tax rates, because payroll expense is a deduction which LOWERS their taxes in those countries. While it is true that lowering taxes creates jobs it important to remember that those jobs are created in aggregate. Large corporations, as much as possible, will continue to move their profits to countries with low tax rates (Ireland) and their employment to countries with high tax rates (Germany).
13
Wow ... Bret doesn't mince his allusions ... Raskolnikov for Trump? Raskolnikov murders a female pawnbroker with an axe, kills her sister too, intending to use the money "for good causes" -- he believes in Nietzche's Übermensch and that he is one -- free of any compunctions about the "little people."
But Bret sure gets "can't see above the parapet of his self-pity" right about the orange one.
The best figures in literature as allegories for Trump are "the Duke" and "the King" in Mark Twain's "Huckleberry Finn." One of these two low grifters gets the best line in the book: "H'ain't the fools in town on our side? T'ain't that a big enough majority in any town?"
But the two are ignoring the most important rules of grifting: stay small, move on fast. They aren't moving down the Missouri fast enough, and an angry mob catches up with them and tar-and-feathers them.
OK, its a morality play wrapped in a bildungsroman that Clemens could even provide a coherent ending for, and is simultaneously perhaps the most important novel in the English language. But it's not real.
In his era very few got tar-and-feathered. Casually shot or hung was actually considerably more likely.
And in our era tar-and-feathered never happens, though would be ideal for Trump: groper and fraudster.
But impeached may well happen, because Trump forgot the first rules of grifting: he didn't stay small enough, and the Presidency pens you into the harsh light where everybody is looking.
But Bret sure gets "can't see above the parapet of his self-pity" right about the orange one.
The best figures in literature as allegories for Trump are "the Duke" and "the King" in Mark Twain's "Huckleberry Finn." One of these two low grifters gets the best line in the book: "H'ain't the fools in town on our side? T'ain't that a big enough majority in any town?"
But the two are ignoring the most important rules of grifting: stay small, move on fast. They aren't moving down the Missouri fast enough, and an angry mob catches up with them and tar-and-feathers them.
OK, its a morality play wrapped in a bildungsroman that Clemens could even provide a coherent ending for, and is simultaneously perhaps the most important novel in the English language. But it's not real.
In his era very few got tar-and-feathered. Casually shot or hung was actually considerably more likely.
And in our era tar-and-feathered never happens, though would be ideal for Trump: groper and fraudster.
But impeached may well happen, because Trump forgot the first rules of grifting: he didn't stay small enough, and the Presidency pens you into the harsh light where everybody is looking.
8
Ignore this fool, please. A moratorium on Trump, please. Most of the people I know say they no longer listen to nor read the news because it's all about Trump-this and Trump-that. Boring. If a tree fall in the forest and there is no one to hear, does it make a sound?
2
Joe Lieberman: my husband calls him "Judas." We don't need a Judas heading the FBI. Remember, Jesus trusted him with the purse, even washed his feet - before Judah's left to betray him.
We need an unimpeachable FBI person who has risen through the ranks. Of some intelligence bureau. Who has proven to those he or she will serve that duty to the constitution, to our Republic, comes first. Before party. Before status or wealth or power.
Thanks for the question, Gail.
We need an unimpeachable FBI person who has risen through the ranks. Of some intelligence bureau. Who has proven to those he or she will serve that duty to the constitution, to our Republic, comes first. Before party. Before status or wealth or power.
Thanks for the question, Gail.
Bret, Joe Lieberman's deep moral shortcomings and faulty judgements brought and bring misery to millions.
It isn't as funny as you think and he certainly is not middle of the road.
It isn't as funny as you think and he certainly is not middle of the road.
22
Yes, high drama -- but don't let us forget that at least three top security folks quietly said NO to Trump. That "other side" of his corruption should give us hope that the professionalism and integrity of good swamp critters may carry us through to some semblance of true governance.
8
"We have one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world." Oh yeah? America's average corporate tax rate is 12.6%, well below the world average, and 20% of large corporations paid zero taxes last year.
37
You two are distracted by the con artist's bright shiny objects in his left hand while his right is deep in our pockets, destroying rather than improving health care and building his supporting class of plutocrats who want it like their Chinese and Russian counterparts have it: a disqualified news media, a cooperative judiciary and congress, and an intimidated populous (see Congressman Frelinhuysen's brazen attack on the employment of a liberal activist, a lesson for us all...stay safe and shut up!)
10
"Do you see this ending in high drama — Trump gets impeached or resigns? "
You do not consider a third alternative that Trump is found to be innocent.
And the fact that you do not even CONSIDER innocence tells me a lot.
Gail, you used to be a level headed person. What caused you to jump onto the bandwagon of irrationality?
Of course your two possibilities are real. He could be impeached. And he could resign. What troubles me is your failure to consider a third possibility.
You do not consider a third alternative that Trump is found to be innocent.
And the fact that you do not even CONSIDER innocence tells me a lot.
Gail, you used to be a level headed person. What caused you to jump onto the bandwagon of irrationality?
Of course your two possibilities are real. He could be impeached. And he could resign. What troubles me is your failure to consider a third possibility.
Why would anyone want to consider denial of truth, facts, and reality testing as a third possibility. That consideration does not merit consideration.
7
I enjoyed this conversation because I found things both to agree and disagree with along the way. Nothing is getting done either in the White House or in Congress. Daily the Republicans show us again and again that they cannot govern. They show us again and again that they do not have the best interests of the American people or this country at heart. Their words and actions bear this out. Americans of common sense should believe them. And as for Joe Lieberman--he's a Trumpie. Too many ties to the President. He'll give his loyalty to Trump as FBI Director if he gets the chance. That we don't need.
132
A warped mind at warp speed. I guess you have to work fast when you're an old guy who pushes to the limits of the law, and quite likely beyond. He needs to grab every available penny and create as many tax breaks as possible before the party stops, one way or another.
I hope this joke of a presidency ends in a huge explosion, with the entire Trump infestation exposed for what it is. Otherwise we'll be stuck with them sucking the life out of this country for generations.
Gail should have left Al Gore out of this one. That's another one who feels deserving of the very best of everything for himself, and makes a great living telling everyone else how they have to save the planet. The planet already has enough hot air.
I hope this joke of a presidency ends in a huge explosion, with the entire Trump infestation exposed for what it is. Otherwise we'll be stuck with them sucking the life out of this country for generations.
Gail should have left Al Gore out of this one. That's another one who feels deserving of the very best of everything for himself, and makes a great living telling everyone else how they have to save the planet. The planet already has enough hot air.
38
I was with you til Al Gore. enough said.
8
Sorry, the hot air that we all need to be concerned about is not being expelled by bloviating politicians. The climate change deniers have the ultimate out, they will not be around to bear the brunt of their myopic denials.
1
Bret Stephens said "We have one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world...." I am beginning to think that any columnist who trots out this tired old mistruth should be made to watch reruns of The Apprentice for 3 straight days. The nominal US corporate tax rate is high, but the actual effective tax rate is comparable to other OECD countries. And 30% of US companies are S-type corporations, where the income is passed through and paid at the individual level.
There are arguments to be made about reducing corporate taxes, but this isn't one of them.
There are arguments to be made about reducing corporate taxes, but this isn't one of them.
51
On second thought, we're all already watching reruns of The Apprentice every day nonstop.
"The nominal US corporate tax rate is high, but the actual effective tax rate is comparable to other OECD countries."
Exactly, Peter. Why the NY Times editors allow it to be repeated without qualification over and over again is a mystery. The difference between nominal and effective tax rates is covered in high school economics courses. It's not that hard to grasp.
Exactly, Peter. Why the NY Times editors allow it to be repeated without qualification over and over again is a mystery. The difference between nominal and effective tax rates is covered in high school economics courses. It's not that hard to grasp.
10
Actually, it is very difficult to compute the real effective tax rate, since corporations are so adept at fudging their financial figures. A better parameter is corporate taxes actually paid to the Treasury as a percentage of GDP since neither of these figures come from the corporations.. Our rate is not comparable to other developed countries. We are tied with Turkey for the LOWEST, 1.8%.
http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/31/are-taxes-in-the-u-s-high-o...
http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/31/are-taxes-in-the-u-s-high-o...
2
Any good reporter will tell you that the news begins and ends with the facts. In that regard the only thing that has been dizzying has been the speed at which the media repeats what they told us yesterday, as if somehow it's a new story today.
No mainstream story has really explained the factual basis to a Russian connection to the DNC hacking, or HOW the release of the emails by Wikileaks influenced the election?
It's been asserted over and over again that both happened, but the main facts we are given is today's story quoting yesterday's, quoting last weeks, quoting an unnamed CIA source.
Sorry, that's speculation, not fact. There is a place for un-named sources and even for opinion, but there have to be underlying facts to make a story. Here the underlying fact is Clinton lost. The voting data and exit polls say she lost because she didn't appeal to sectors of the working class and even then she only lost by a slim margin.
It's a huge leap from that data to 'the Russians did it." And to date the only thing moving at warp speed is the Times jumping from one speculation to another.
Did Trump or members of his team attempt to extract financial deals in exchange for lifting Russian sanctions? That's worthy of investigation, especially based on Trump's history. But even there let's not get too far out in front of the facts.
Trump voters still support their guy. But in his tax plan he basically told them "you're fired." Now that's a story that's fact, not speculation.
No mainstream story has really explained the factual basis to a Russian connection to the DNC hacking, or HOW the release of the emails by Wikileaks influenced the election?
It's been asserted over and over again that both happened, but the main facts we are given is today's story quoting yesterday's, quoting last weeks, quoting an unnamed CIA source.
Sorry, that's speculation, not fact. There is a place for un-named sources and even for opinion, but there have to be underlying facts to make a story. Here the underlying fact is Clinton lost. The voting data and exit polls say she lost because she didn't appeal to sectors of the working class and even then she only lost by a slim margin.
It's a huge leap from that data to 'the Russians did it." And to date the only thing moving at warp speed is the Times jumping from one speculation to another.
Did Trump or members of his team attempt to extract financial deals in exchange for lifting Russian sanctions? That's worthy of investigation, especially based on Trump's history. But even there let's not get too far out in front of the facts.
Trump voters still support their guy. But in his tax plan he basically told them "you're fired." Now that's a story that's fact, not speculation.
4
Doc - You miss the point. There is no proof because these has been no thorough investigation. The scandal is that the Administration and the Republicans are trying to prevent an investigation.
2
No we don't really have the highest corporate tax rate in the world, and everybody knows it. We have the highest tax rate for little C corporations, that don't have the money or the business scale to avail themselves of all the loopholes and tax avoidance schemes that all the big corporations play.
The big-boys like the scheme exactly the way it is: they built it, with their lobbyists and bought congressmen. It insulates them from competition by newcomers.
And Trump's proposed changes transparently benefit his interests, the most blatant self-dealing we've seen by any President in American history.
The big-boys like the scheme exactly the way it is: they built it, with their lobbyists and bought congressmen. It insulates them from competition by newcomers.
And Trump's proposed changes transparently benefit his interests, the most blatant self-dealing we've seen by any President in American history.
28
There's a good perspective of what Trump is all about by asking google the following question: What hotels in Saudi Arabia are tied to Trump Plaza via licensing agreements? Rephrase the question any way you choose. It's worth a few minutes. There's no rhetoric. Just good info. At the end of Trump's term go to google and ask, how much Trump is now worth now and before his presidency.
9
I think I'm starting to know how living in monsoon season feels.
It's raining harder every day, which though, is better than a typhoon when the rain has gone away
It's raining harder every day, which though, is better than a typhoon when the rain has gone away
The canard that U. S. corporations pay the highest tax rate is a deceitful misstatement. The maximum rate is on the books, but so many loopholes and deductions exist that corporations pay singnifcantly lower percentages.
It is beginning to look as though Trump is creating his clown show to prevent "mainstream" republicans from sliding their crackpot agenda through congress. Considering that he never expressed enthusiasm for those policies until he ran for president, is that more far fetched than him being chaos personified? Any other republican president would have destroyed health care, abortion rights, progressive tax codes, the Iran nuclear agreement, the Paris accord by now. But yes, it is more far fetched.
Still, corporations are not overtaxed.
It is beginning to look as though Trump is creating his clown show to prevent "mainstream" republicans from sliding their crackpot agenda through congress. Considering that he never expressed enthusiasm for those policies until he ran for president, is that more far fetched than him being chaos personified? Any other republican president would have destroyed health care, abortion rights, progressive tax codes, the Iran nuclear agreement, the Paris accord by now. But yes, it is more far fetched.
Still, corporations are not overtaxed.
12
Sorry to be a wet blanket, but the Macbeth analogy doesn't work. The prophecy about Birnam Woods coming to Dunsinane was a prediction thought to be so impossible as to seem reassuring that nothing could go wrong. When Macbeth saw the army advancing behind a protective cover of shrubberies, everyone was shocked and surprise. By contrast, the appointment of a special counsel was all too predictable.
4
I must keep missing something ...
If paying taxes 'has to come from someplace like wages', then how is it that corporations have cash they have to work to stash away overseas (rather than pay taxes with that cash)? Is it somehow accepted that corporations are entitled to all the funds they can corral while paying taxes at a cost only to the employees?
If you guys could explain that sometime I'd really appreciate it.
If paying taxes 'has to come from someplace like wages', then how is it that corporations have cash they have to work to stash away overseas (rather than pay taxes with that cash)? Is it somehow accepted that corporations are entitled to all the funds they can corral while paying taxes at a cost only to the employees?
If you guys could explain that sometime I'd really appreciate it.
15
This combination of Gail and Bret was interesting to say the least. Bret is so intellectually in the clouds that she brings him back to earth and he makes a good foil for her humor. Their disagreement on politics is polite and not the screaming disagreement. Thanks.
1
So is the suggestion (again) that if corporate taxes were lower that worker's wages would be higher? Haven't we done that experiment at least twice and NOT gotten that predicted outcome? For pro-growth, let's put some more cash in the pockets of people who will go out and spend it. I believe it was Henry Ford who said he needed to pay his workers well so they would buy his products. Same is true today.
339
While we have "one of the highest corporate tax rates" many corporations don't pay taxes at that rate. Several years ago, GE made millions but paid not one cent in federal taxes.
1
The Agogment Rate is useful. Who is talking about what the Senate is putting into a healthcare bill that has the potential to make me a widow? Who is talking about college loan interest rates or water quality? Who is talking about consumer protections?
We are too Agog at the transcending Awfulness and the need to hold our breaths to see if Trump manages to make the whole world see him as an idiot speech after speech. People are really looking to see if he goes off script when meeting the Pope.
So who is chalking up the effect of everything else going on around him?
We will have a slow journey to jettisoning the President because Mike Pence is a lot harder to hide behind. Unlike Ringling Brothers, this circus has a chance.
We are too Agog at the transcending Awfulness and the need to hold our breaths to see if Trump manages to make the whole world see him as an idiot speech after speech. People are really looking to see if he goes off script when meeting the Pope.
So who is chalking up the effect of everything else going on around him?
We will have a slow journey to jettisoning the President because Mike Pence is a lot harder to hide behind. Unlike Ringling Brothers, this circus has a chance.
9
We would have just used ' warped ', but warp-speed is fine, too.
Gail, we've seen these ' disruption ' tactics used many times, many places, in many different situations - they count on being able to overwhelm through sheer volume, stressing the status quo everywhere possible, and are usually employed by a Wrecking Crew, re-labeled in the business world as green-mailers, activist investors or private equity.
Their rise is traceable to our Business Schools, who face some rightful condemnation for the methods they use and lessons they teach:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/24/books/review/golden-passport-duff-mcd...
and it is no mystery how those lessons have made it into D.C.
When the disruptors are insidious, or seditious, the disruption builds up nothing, but the tactics do indeed succeed in destroying.
This is when it is important to remember the words last week from James Clapper, former Director of National Intelligence, that the institutions of this country are under assualt by the President:
http://edition.cnn.com/videos/politics/2017/05/14/james-clapper-institut...
There is a clear and present danger.
Gail, we've seen these ' disruption ' tactics used many times, many places, in many different situations - they count on being able to overwhelm through sheer volume, stressing the status quo everywhere possible, and are usually employed by a Wrecking Crew, re-labeled in the business world as green-mailers, activist investors or private equity.
Their rise is traceable to our Business Schools, who face some rightful condemnation for the methods they use and lessons they teach:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/24/books/review/golden-passport-duff-mcd...
and it is no mystery how those lessons have made it into D.C.
When the disruptors are insidious, or seditious, the disruption builds up nothing, but the tactics do indeed succeed in destroying.
This is when it is important to remember the words last week from James Clapper, former Director of National Intelligence, that the institutions of this country are under assualt by the President:
http://edition.cnn.com/videos/politics/2017/05/14/james-clapper-institut...
There is a clear and present danger.
13
"Trump’s Oval Office intelligence disclosures to the Russians."
Putin joked that Lavrov was a bad person because Trump told secrets to Lavrov and Lavrov did not share them with Putin.
We do NOT know that there were intelligence disclosures and if there were whether they were harmful or mere politeness.
It has become a habit in the media to accuse Trump of a crime and declare him guilty before the evidence is in.
It is very destructive to undermine a president this way but the NYT does it constantly.
OK, if Sanders was vice president, then it might make SOME sense to say, "Trump must go." But I hope you are aware that Sanders is not the vice president. If Trump goes, Pence will take over and I am not sure that liberals will like HIS policies.
Putin joked that Lavrov was a bad person because Trump told secrets to Lavrov and Lavrov did not share them with Putin.
We do NOT know that there were intelligence disclosures and if there were whether they were harmful or mere politeness.
It has become a habit in the media to accuse Trump of a crime and declare him guilty before the evidence is in.
It is very destructive to undermine a president this way but the NYT does it constantly.
OK, if Sanders was vice president, then it might make SOME sense to say, "Trump must go." But I hope you are aware that Sanders is not the vice president. If Trump goes, Pence will take over and I am not sure that liberals will like HIS policies.
2
You're right...Pence is disturbingly wrong on almost every issue. But he isn't dangerous in the same way that Trump is. And, I would expect, his fate would be the same as Gerald Ford's--a thumping goodbye in 2020.
7
"A president who cannot see above the parapet of his self-pity isn’t going to run a competent administration, period."
And a president who can't stop interfering with judicial oversight of his own actions isn't going to get anything done, as Bret states.
For liberals, maybe that's a good thing. No healthcare replacement, no tax reform, no further transfer of money allocated for the poor up into the pockets of the mega-rich.
Yeah, Trump announced a budget, but it's DOA, per some GOP senator. I don't know why Mulvaney even put that budget out there: it would have been far simpler, and cost less paper, to simply write the budget as it will appear AFTER Congress passes it, I can see it now: A big circle in three parts--the military, the third rails (Social Security and Medicare), and the final third slice, "TBD". That TBD could include infrastructure or maybe just federal money for private-government partnerships (you know, the kind where the government gives corporations money to work on national projects).
In other words, poverty relief programs would be eradicated. Which is what the Trump administration, and indeed the GOP, would like. The fewer poor people, the better--after all, it's their own damn fault if they lose their job due to downsizing, disability, or a market meltdown.
And a president who can't stop interfering with judicial oversight of his own actions isn't going to get anything done, as Bret states.
For liberals, maybe that's a good thing. No healthcare replacement, no tax reform, no further transfer of money allocated for the poor up into the pockets of the mega-rich.
Yeah, Trump announced a budget, but it's DOA, per some GOP senator. I don't know why Mulvaney even put that budget out there: it would have been far simpler, and cost less paper, to simply write the budget as it will appear AFTER Congress passes it, I can see it now: A big circle in three parts--the military, the third rails (Social Security and Medicare), and the final third slice, "TBD". That TBD could include infrastructure or maybe just federal money for private-government partnerships (you know, the kind where the government gives corporations money to work on national projects).
In other words, poverty relief programs would be eradicated. Which is what the Trump administration, and indeed the GOP, would like. The fewer poor people, the better--after all, it's their own damn fault if they lose their job due to downsizing, disability, or a market meltdown.
13
I was actually somewhat impressed with Stephens' attempt to modulate the climate change discussion.
Then there's his comments on Joe Lieberman.
For anyone who doesn't know Joe, here's a good sampling of his views as a "civil libertarian":
Lieberman’s record on civil liberties is the single most alarming thing about his selection. Throughout his career in the Senate, Lieberman consistently showed a disregard for basic Constitutional protections and ambitiously pursued expansions of the government’s ability to surveil and detain Americans without judicial review. He has also advocated investigating news outlets for reporting on classified information, and once defended waterboarding by saying “it’s not like putting burning coals on people’s bodies.”....
Then there's his comments on Joe Lieberman.
For anyone who doesn't know Joe, here's a good sampling of his views as a "civil libertarian":
Lieberman’s record on civil liberties is the single most alarming thing about his selection. Throughout his career in the Senate, Lieberman consistently showed a disregard for basic Constitutional protections and ambitiously pursued expansions of the government’s ability to surveil and detain Americans without judicial review. He has also advocated investigating news outlets for reporting on classified information, and once defended waterboarding by saying “it’s not like putting burning coals on people’s bodies.”....
26
Sorry, forgot the attribution - the quote starting "Lieberman's record on civil liberties" is from the Nation - https://www.thenation.com/article/joe-lieberman-is-a-civil-libertarians-...
7
"Hard to imagine the resignation part with this guy."
Really, Gail? I suspect it's because you're currently focused on Trump the Narcissist. Understandable, certainly. But, let's shift frames for a minute, to Trump the Whiner. Not so difficult now, is it? Sure, he's a narcissist, but he's also a giant baby. He'll take his gold plated ball and go home to Trump Tower before he'll allow himself to be seen as a loser. Watch and see.
Really, Gail? I suspect it's because you're currently focused on Trump the Narcissist. Understandable, certainly. But, let's shift frames for a minute, to Trump the Whiner. Not so difficult now, is it? Sure, he's a narcissist, but he's also a giant baby. He'll take his gold plated ball and go home to Trump Tower before he'll allow himself to be seen as a loser. Watch and see.
12
Truly, from your lips to God's ears.
Corporate tax rates? Really? Most companies pay far less than they seem to on paper, and many receive billions in government subsidies such as Boeing with more than $13 billion each year from US taxpayers. They are also big beneficiaries of Trump's advanced military technology deal with Saudi Arabia, while Raytheon will open a Riyadh subsidiary. Trump is busily transferring quite a lot of wealth to such corporations.
Reform shouldn't on taxes with this administration frankly. Try ethics reform with all those secret waivers being given to lobbyists as well as the waiver for nepotism. Draining the swamp would be good except that it is awash in Trump and GOP sewage right now (and not recyclable).
Reform shouldn't on taxes with this administration frankly. Try ethics reform with all those secret waivers being given to lobbyists as well as the waiver for nepotism. Draining the swamp would be good except that it is awash in Trump and GOP sewage right now (and not recyclable).
8
And yet...the pace of governing is oh...so...slo-o-o-o-o-o-o-ow. Nothing is getting done. Vacancies not getting filled, budget three months late, health care on the rocks, tax reform...hee-yeah, right. Folks make a point that Trump doesn't have a clue what he's doing. Guess what...neither does the Republican Congress. The party demonstrates itself to be incapable of governance. It's not just a Trump problem.
8
We may have the highest corporate tax rate in the world, but the brute fact is that most large, profitable corporations pay somewhere between half that rate and zero. It would be a terrific idea to lower the rate to 12% or so and simultaneously eliminate deductions so that everybody paid it, but I somehow suspect that is not what Mr. Stephens has in mind.
43
Bret, wages are tax deductible. One could probably argue that higher top-line tax rates encourage higher wages, since the after-tax wage is lower than it would be in a lower tax rate environment. Anyway, let's not try and fool us that lower corporate tax rates would lead to higher worker wages. That's another conservative fiction (there are so many!).
66
If you took a Fox News viewer who screams endlessly at his TV every night and made them President, this is about what it would look like…..government by incoherent stream of consciousness.
109
Brett Stephens continues to validate my belief in the flawed and distorted logic of Conservative commentators. His referencing of the infamous "Torture Memo"author, John Yoo's, glaring false equivalency, comparing the Iran Contra affair, and Donald Trump's prima facia obstruction of justice, is a prime example. The Iran Contra scandal involved the Reagan Administration's attempt to circumvent the Boland Amendment, passed by Congress, which banned U.S. aid to the Contra's in Nicaragua. Donald Trump's "obstruction" issue involves HIS bumbling attempts to interfere with an investigation of Mike Flynn and Russian collusion. Firing his staff will not lessen his legal jeopardy one iota. The non sequitur nature of the two events illustrates the classic conservative paradigms of distortion and illogic.
62
They are propagandists first, and use any means possible to further their agenda, which includes the elimination of tax obligations for the 1%.
9
Ronald Reagan was true to his roots as an actor in that he didn't have to occupy center stage all the time. Not so, DJT.
Reagan was willing to have people who appeared more competent speak for him. Maybe, at times, he didn't realize they were speaking, but he didn't seem to take offense.
The commonality between the Reagan administration and Trump's is the spin that people put on events. Even there, Reagan was content to have his underlings "explain" what he meant; unlike Trump who can't resist putting in his two cents.
Reagan was willing to have people who appeared more competent speak for him. Maybe, at times, he didn't realize they were speaking, but he didn't seem to take offense.
The commonality between the Reagan administration and Trump's is the spin that people put on events. Even there, Reagan was content to have his underlings "explain" what he meant; unlike Trump who can't resist putting in his two cents.
3
Is it Donald Trump or Donald Rump
With a rear that’s unpleasingly plump
Both hair and derrière
Are exceedingly rare
Yet are oft’ seen on the campaign stump.
Was never a sight for sore eyes,
A double shock the pair comprise,
So just be alert
Your two eyes avert
Avoid viewing things you despise,
With a rear that’s unpleasingly plump
Both hair and derrière
Are exceedingly rare
Yet are oft’ seen on the campaign stump.
Was never a sight for sore eyes,
A double shock the pair comprise,
So just be alert
Your two eyes avert
Avoid viewing things you despise,
38
Larry, I like your poems and limericks. Keep up the nice work. You have my nomination for poet/limerist laureate.
It's more than the speed of Trump's follies that's warped, here! Trump is hurting the country. There's a lot we don't know, that someone in the FBI should start leaking, so we can end this reign of error before too much more damage is done. Lieberman is not the man for the job.
56
Liebbie is a nicer version of trump.
He whines. Listen to his voice.
He is and was in bed with big pharma.
He is a duel citizen w Israel.
He never did anything substantial for the Ct. Voters.
He was a Yale educated opportunist and A Clinton roommate.
He will look the other way and try to stop truth from rising up for voters.
Bad choice but of course.
Murphy and Blummie you're on notice to reign in this junk.
He whines. Listen to his voice.
He is and was in bed with big pharma.
He is a duel citizen w Israel.
He never did anything substantial for the Ct. Voters.
He was a Yale educated opportunist and A Clinton roommate.
He will look the other way and try to stop truth from rising up for voters.
Bad choice but of course.
Murphy and Blummie you're on notice to reign in this junk.
5
I have a problem with the idea of dual citizenship in general for adults (allowing a child dual citizenship and the right to choose at age 21 is OK by me), and I have a particular objection for those in office in our state and federal governments to do so.
I will never vote for anyone with dual citizenship, forgeddaboutit. I'm an American. If you are only half an American, you don't have my interests at heart.
I will never vote for anyone with dual citizenship, forgeddaboutit. I'm an American. If you are only half an American, you don't have my interests at heart.
My late Uncle Arch used to distinguish between funny "ha, ha" and funny "strange." Many readers comment that the Trump presidency is no longer funny. It clearly isn't "ha-ha" funny but it certainly remains "ironic-strange" funny.
Trump's election was of course due to that non-democratic relic of the slavery era: The Electoral College. But placating the slave states and other smaller, less populated states was not the Electoral College's sole raison d'etre.
Alexander Hamilton favored the Electoral College as a hedge against the election of an unqualified candidate possessed of a talent for "low intrigue and the little arts of popularity" (Federalist No. 68).
James Madison endorsed the Electoral College as a safeguard against the possibility that a majority of citizens, "actuated by some common impulse of passion," might unite in support of an unqualified candidate with results that are inimical "to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community" (Federalist No. 10).
Both Hamilton and Madison would acknowledge the present irony: Due to the Electoral College a minority of voters have elected a president devoid of civic virtue and otherwise unfit for office.
Definitely not funny "ha, ha," but clearly funny "strange."
"Ironic-strange" funny, in Trump's case is eerily disquieting. It does not elicit belly laughs. Rather, it provokes nervous giggles.
Trump's election was of course due to that non-democratic relic of the slavery era: The Electoral College. But placating the slave states and other smaller, less populated states was not the Electoral College's sole raison d'etre.
Alexander Hamilton favored the Electoral College as a hedge against the election of an unqualified candidate possessed of a talent for "low intrigue and the little arts of popularity" (Federalist No. 68).
James Madison endorsed the Electoral College as a safeguard against the possibility that a majority of citizens, "actuated by some common impulse of passion," might unite in support of an unqualified candidate with results that are inimical "to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community" (Federalist No. 10).
Both Hamilton and Madison would acknowledge the present irony: Due to the Electoral College a minority of voters have elected a president devoid of civic virtue and otherwise unfit for office.
Definitely not funny "ha, ha," but clearly funny "strange."
"Ironic-strange" funny, in Trump's case is eerily disquieting. It does not elicit belly laughs. Rather, it provokes nervous giggles.
72
Andrew, your comment is right on target. I think Hamilton and Madison would be incredibly disappointed to see that the Electoral College was not used to prevent an unqualified person from winning the Presidency but just the opposite. If not for the Electoral College, Hillary Clinton would be our president now. Say what you will about her, she is anything but unqualified!
Where is the drive to abolish the Electoral College? It has given us 2 of the last 3 presidents despite the fact that they did not win the popular vote. George W. Bush's terms were a disaster. We are still fighting the unnecessary war that he started. Our current president's term (hopefully only one) will be a disaster if he implements even a fraction of his agenda. Our if he stands by and lets the Republican Congress implement theirs.
When will we grow up and abolish this undemocratic, archaic, ridiculous, not "funny haha" but "funny strange" institution? What will it take?
Where is the drive to abolish the Electoral College? It has given us 2 of the last 3 presidents despite the fact that they did not win the popular vote. George W. Bush's terms were a disaster. We are still fighting the unnecessary war that he started. Our current president's term (hopefully only one) will be a disaster if he implements even a fraction of his agenda. Our if he stands by and lets the Republican Congress implement theirs.
When will we grow up and abolish this undemocratic, archaic, ridiculous, not "funny haha" but "funny strange" institution? What will it take?
3
Great exchange. So much food for thought. But the most interesting line must be when Ms. Collins admits that Obamacare is a "stupendously complicated, middleman-ridden mess."
7
Obamacare is complicated because the GOP refused to make health care reform simple. A Medicare buy in was the best, SIMPLIST reform, but the GOP is against even the idea of Medicare.
If you work for a company Trump wants to tax your health benefits. That's simple too. Nothing like a salary cut for the middle class as it funds tax cuts for the 1%!
If you work for a company Trump wants to tax your health benefits. That's simple too. Nothing like a salary cut for the middle class as it funds tax cuts for the 1%!
51
And indeed it surely is. As others have noted, it is Lieberman and the Republicans who made it the mess that it is.
And it is now the GOP and Trump who are responsible, and have no clue or actual intent to fix any of it.
This is why the public is getting very, very ugly at Republican town hall meetings. The GOP in congress is now a true "death panel," no kidding. People don't accept being told that they or their families will die early or be impoverished to make big tax cuts for the rich. That was not what the Trump supporters had in mind or heard Trump say.
The AHCA that Congress passed is a fool's bill. Everyone else knows it, the Senate included. It's political suicide to really enact, and it may well have been political suicide for those who pushed it in the House, we'll see.
And it is now the GOP and Trump who are responsible, and have no clue or actual intent to fix any of it.
This is why the public is getting very, very ugly at Republican town hall meetings. The GOP in congress is now a true "death panel," no kidding. People don't accept being told that they or their families will die early or be impoverished to make big tax cuts for the rich. That was not what the Trump supporters had in mind or heard Trump say.
The AHCA that Congress passed is a fool's bill. Everyone else knows it, the Senate included. It's political suicide to really enact, and it may well have been political suicide for those who pushed it in the House, we'll see.
146
The Heliocentric Theory of Health Care Reform
Before Copernicus and Kepler, people generally believed the sun and the planets revolved around the earth, but as we got more data it became increasing hard to reconcile this basic idea with the observed facts. People thought up the Ptolemaic system in which the heavenly bodies didn't just revolve around the earth, but they revolved in small circles called epicycles as they went around the earth. That eventually turned out not to be sufficient, so they hypothesized epicycles within the epicycles. The last iteration of the Ptolemaic system was an incredible complicated mess that was almost beautiful in it's complexity.
That's what we are doing today with health care reform. We wanted a "uniquely American solution." We wanted to keep the private insurance industry. We wanted the sun to go around the earth.
So we talk about mandates, exchanges, reference pricing, death spirals, etc. The problem of adverse selection is an example. We need some more epicycles. We wound up with a bill with thousands of pages whose result is unknown. HR676 (improved Medicare for All) had 70 pages.
If Kepler were alive, I am sure he would say, "If you simply give everyone Medicare, you wouldn't need all this complication, and I'll bet it would be cheaper, too."
Before Copernicus and Kepler, people generally believed the sun and the planets revolved around the earth, but as we got more data it became increasing hard to reconcile this basic idea with the observed facts. People thought up the Ptolemaic system in which the heavenly bodies didn't just revolve around the earth, but they revolved in small circles called epicycles as they went around the earth. That eventually turned out not to be sufficient, so they hypothesized epicycles within the epicycles. The last iteration of the Ptolemaic system was an incredible complicated mess that was almost beautiful in it's complexity.
That's what we are doing today with health care reform. We wanted a "uniquely American solution." We wanted to keep the private insurance industry. We wanted the sun to go around the earth.
So we talk about mandates, exchanges, reference pricing, death spirals, etc. The problem of adverse selection is an example. We need some more epicycles. We wound up with a bill with thousands of pages whose result is unknown. HR676 (improved Medicare for All) had 70 pages.
If Kepler were alive, I am sure he would say, "If you simply give everyone Medicare, you wouldn't need all this complication, and I'll bet it would be cheaper, too."
21
Warp Speed? Maybe the deterioration rate of Trump's dilithium crystal-powered base. Though, Trump hold-outs can run on impulse power indefinitely, it seems, just like the movies.
Otherwise, everything and everyone, has been trapped in time .. at D minus 1. You know, the day before Trump's infamous "Day One" when we start getting so tired of winning.
With Robert Mueller re-animated on 17 May, I'm thinking the equivalent of 3 buildings falling is just days away. Then count out the increasing warp speed, Hikaru Sulu and Susan Ling.
Otherwise, everything and everyone, has been trapped in time .. at D minus 1. You know, the day before Trump's infamous "Day One" when we start getting so tired of winning.
With Robert Mueller re-animated on 17 May, I'm thinking the equivalent of 3 buildings falling is just days away. Then count out the increasing warp speed, Hikaru Sulu and Susan Ling.
6
Dostoyevsky nailed Trump in "Crime and Punishment" when he wrote, "What’s the most offensive is not their lying - one can always forgive lying - lying is a delightful thing, for it leads to truth - what is offensive is that they lie and worship their own lying."
It will indeed be delightful when Trump's lies lead to truth, as they eventually will. Until then we will endure a blizzard of falsehood, falsehood that is fallout from Trump's self-worship.
It will indeed be delightful when Trump's lies lead to truth, as they eventually will. Until then we will endure a blizzard of falsehood, falsehood that is fallout from Trump's self-worship.
82
It has been a Warp- Speed, Turn on a Dime Presidency.
Trump mashed NATO during his campaign — going so far as to say he’d pull the United States out of it. However, during a recent press conference, Trump said NATO is “no longer obsolete.”
Trump, also expressed ambivalence about Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen. On November 2015, he mentioned, she “should have raised [interest] rates,” he also suggested that she was a stooge for the Obama administration. But, in April he declared in a WSJ interview that he would keep Yellen, stating “I like her, I respect her,” .
In 2015 Trump affirmed that China was a currency manipulator. But, Trump stated of China, in April “They’re not currency manipulators”
But, we have to be thankful for little things. I'm just thrilled that Trump didn't tell the Saudi's, that he loved to play "Hide and Sheik" as a kid, and that he didn't show up at the Wailing Wall with a harpoon.
Trump mashed NATO during his campaign — going so far as to say he’d pull the United States out of it. However, during a recent press conference, Trump said NATO is “no longer obsolete.”
Trump, also expressed ambivalence about Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen. On November 2015, he mentioned, she “should have raised [interest] rates,” he also suggested that she was a stooge for the Obama administration. But, in April he declared in a WSJ interview that he would keep Yellen, stating “I like her, I respect her,” .
In 2015 Trump affirmed that China was a currency manipulator. But, Trump stated of China, in April “They’re not currency manipulators”
But, we have to be thankful for little things. I'm just thrilled that Trump didn't tell the Saudi's, that he loved to play "Hide and Sheik" as a kid, and that he didn't show up at the Wailing Wall with a harpoon.
26
Whaling wall - perfect! What was not reported was the content of the note he crammed therein. I'm thinking it was an eviction notice or a deed claim. He probably was told the area was indeterminate in ownership and....
6
Eviction notices - You read his thoughts
6
As many in CT know him: Joe Lieberman, the senator from Israel. I never heard have a good thing to say about a democrat in the last decade. I'm sure he'd be Trump's patsy in the FBI.
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Gee, I thought he was the Senator from Aetna.
3
BRET: "We have one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world."
That's the rack rate, Mr. Stephens, and almost nobody pays those rates because of a sea of deductions, deferrals and credits.
For tax years 2008 to 2012, profitable large U.S. corporations paid, on average, U.S. federal income taxes amounting to about 14% of the pretax net income that they reported in their financial statements.
http://www.gao.gov/assets/680/675844.pdf
It would be more accurate to say we have one of the highest fake corporate income tax rates in the world, at least for America's largest profitable corporations.
And 18 very large, very profitable corporations paid zero (or got a refund) in federal income taxes over the 2008-15 period.
These companies, whose pretax U.S. profits totaled $178 billion over the eight years, included: Pepco Holdings (–27.9% negative income tax rate (NITR)), PG&E (–14.5% NITR), International Paper (-7.7% NITR), Priceline.com (–4.4% NITR), General Electric (–3.4% NITR), and Ryder System (–2.7% NITR).
https://itep.org/the-35-percent-corporate-tax-myth/#.WMGvmBIrLUZ
America's corporate income tax rates are a Congressional Christmas buffet for America's largest corporations.
Get real, Stephens, you're not at the Fraud Street Journal anymore.
That's the rack rate, Mr. Stephens, and almost nobody pays those rates because of a sea of deductions, deferrals and credits.
For tax years 2008 to 2012, profitable large U.S. corporations paid, on average, U.S. federal income taxes amounting to about 14% of the pretax net income that they reported in their financial statements.
http://www.gao.gov/assets/680/675844.pdf
It would be more accurate to say we have one of the highest fake corporate income tax rates in the world, at least for America's largest profitable corporations.
And 18 very large, very profitable corporations paid zero (or got a refund) in federal income taxes over the 2008-15 period.
These companies, whose pretax U.S. profits totaled $178 billion over the eight years, included: Pepco Holdings (–27.9% negative income tax rate (NITR)), PG&E (–14.5% NITR), International Paper (-7.7% NITR), Priceline.com (–4.4% NITR), General Electric (–3.4% NITR), and Ryder System (–2.7% NITR).
https://itep.org/the-35-percent-corporate-tax-myth/#.WMGvmBIrLUZ
America's corporate income tax rates are a Congressional Christmas buffet for America's largest corporations.
Get real, Stephens, you're not at the Fraud Street Journal anymore.
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The corporate is regressive just like our income tax rate. The small corporation's and LLC pay the full rate. The Dr's who have to incorporate to get small advantages like group insurance and 401k, the small companies with a few dozen employees, etc who pay that real rate. It is just the companies who can easily afford to pay the taxes that get to avoid them. It is the corporate 1%.
5
Righto, Socrates. The U.S. has the highest corporate tax rate in the world the same way people at other stores pay the "regular" price on the tag at T.J. Maxx.
The rack rate is what would be paid on repatriation of profits by US multinationals.
The WARPED Presidency. There, fixed it for you. Seriously.
23
All the Trump news indicates that the governing elite Have added circular investigation squads to both major party's circular firing squads. There will be no last pol left standing. This will assure that, although gridlock will dissipate, no governing will ever occur--which may be all for the good. Or not. Given the current degradation of what passes for politics in this
US of A, perhaps no governance is the best governance of all.
Of course even with no governance, the nation's debt will increase and the shameless banksters, CEOligarchs and finagliaciers will continue to prosper largely at the average Joe's and Josephine's expense.
US of A, perhaps no governance is the best governance of all.
Of course even with no governance, the nation's debt will increase and the shameless banksters, CEOligarchs and finagliaciers will continue to prosper largely at the average Joe's and Josephine's expense.
5
Brett, I would love to see you, Thomas Friedman, and Paul Krugman sit down with Herman Daly to discuss "pro growth" versus ecological economics. It is about time that those of you in the liberal media at least acknowledge the elite disease (on both the left and the right) of pushing "infinite growth" on a finite planet. We have 7 Billion humans on this planet, with 9 to 12 Billion being the projection before we euphemistically "level off." How about we show some leadership and vision and discuss this reality, possible scenarios, and economic solutions that would adequately distribute wealth and human well being for the majority of the world's citizens. We know today's unfettered capitalism with increasing wealth inequality is not the answer, so what is? What do we liberals have to offer the poor and the suffering who are about to find even greater poverty and suffering--even in our own country? How can we continue to label environmental "regulations" (i.e., protections) as the enemy when in fact, we humans are dead or very sick without clean air, clean water and healthy ecosystems? How can we protect our environment that we all depend on for life--and develop a robust and healthy economy to support communities and people? Talk sustainability with Herman Daly, Joshua Farley, Amory Lovins, Paul Hawken, Hunter Lovins, Lester Brown, Fred Krupp, etc. Any or all. Our liberal institutions need to help change the paradigm rather than perpetuate Milton Friedman's great lie.
50
Bh -- i don't think any economist believes in "infinite growth" of anything except money. The salient point here is that money has no intrinsic value, or as a scientist would put it, no physical existence or conservation law. As such, yes it can grow forever.
Economics shares almost all the math of ecology, but ecology is the rigorous science, dealing in countable numbers of members of a species and species, conservation laws of energy, momentum and mass action (chemistry).
Subtracting that from economics leaves econ as the psychology of gamblers.
Economics shares almost all the math of ecology, but ecology is the rigorous science, dealing in countable numbers of members of a species and species, conservation laws of energy, momentum and mass action (chemistry).
Subtracting that from economics leaves econ as the psychology of gamblers.
3
One of the dumbest things the Republicans are doing is cutting funds for and access to birth control! We do not need more poor children brought into this world.
4
It's disingenuous to say workers' wages suffer primarily because of corporate tax rates. In addition to the loopholes that let them pay little or no taxes there has been a shift over years in how corporations allocate their profits. The percentage of that profit that goes to employees in the form of increased wages and benefits has steadily declined. Profits are more likely to be used to buy back stock or put back into the business which raises stock value - the goal of most CEOs. Just look at those golden payouts even when they fail and the stagnation of wages.
137
Some data:
From 1948 to 1979, worker productivity rose 108%, and hourly worker compensation increased 93%.
From 1979 to 2013, worker productivity rose 64%, and hourly compensation rose just 8%.
The difference ?
From 1978 to 2013, CEO compensation increased 937% while worker pay increased just 10%.
From 1948 to 1979, worker productivity rose 108%, and hourly worker compensation increased 93%.
From 1979 to 2013, worker productivity rose 64%, and hourly compensation rose just 8%.
The difference ?
From 1978 to 2013, CEO compensation increased 937% while worker pay increased just 10%.
5
Since late afternoon Monday, the media has focused its undivided attention on the terrible story coming out of Manchester. It was the first time in recent memory that Trump's name did not dominate the news. As much as we all wish he hadn't been upstaged by a tragic deadly attack, there was a feeling of momentary respite from the torturous, relentless 24-hour coverage that has seeped into our bones and haunted us day and night these past hundred-plus days. Not hearing his name for an entire evening was a sad reminder of what America was like only recently, when President Obama was our leader. Those were the days.
78
NYCtoMalibu
I had the same feeling this morning when I opened the paper.
'Thank God there was a tragedy last night and Trump's foolishness isn't the lead.'
What has become of me?
I had the same feeling this morning when I opened the paper.
'Thank God there was a tragedy last night and Trump's foolishness isn't the lead.'
What has become of me?
4
There’s endless discussion about how the president isn’t up to the job. Examples of his incompetence are crammed into every article, and while these are individually terrifying, there’s not much offered to tie them together into a coherent narrative of his incoherence.
I’d suggest that the incompetence is a result of a sizeable minority of voters having put a glorified reality TV show host and scam-happy mogul into the Oval Office. What were we expecting? We can’t blame a clueless doofus for not knowing he shouldn’t run for president. Making ill-considered decisions is what clueless doofi do. It’s up to the voters to screen out the loonies.
In the rare moments when he looks presidential, he’s got a deadpan expression on his face as he reads other people’s words from a teleprompter. Soupy Sales could have done that, and so could Chuck Woolery, who actually looks presidential. And both would have done a better job.
The reason the president is taken as joke is because he doesn’t appear to have a sense of humor. He never loses himself in sincere laughter, and people who can’t laugh at themselves find nothing funny. The closest he came to being self aware was when he grinned a bit and said. “I’m the president! Can you believe it?” He certainly couldn’t.
I never thought I’d feel nostalgic for Nixon, but then again I never thought that a TV mogul scam artist with a six-foot tie would be running the country.
I’d suggest that the incompetence is a result of a sizeable minority of voters having put a glorified reality TV show host and scam-happy mogul into the Oval Office. What were we expecting? We can’t blame a clueless doofus for not knowing he shouldn’t run for president. Making ill-considered decisions is what clueless doofi do. It’s up to the voters to screen out the loonies.
In the rare moments when he looks presidential, he’s got a deadpan expression on his face as he reads other people’s words from a teleprompter. Soupy Sales could have done that, and so could Chuck Woolery, who actually looks presidential. And both would have done a better job.
The reason the president is taken as joke is because he doesn’t appear to have a sense of humor. He never loses himself in sincere laughter, and people who can’t laugh at themselves find nothing funny. The closest he came to being self aware was when he grinned a bit and said. “I’m the president! Can you believe it?” He certainly couldn’t.
I never thought I’d feel nostalgic for Nixon, but then again I never thought that a TV mogul scam artist with a six-foot tie would be running the country.
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every one of your comments are both cathartic and hopeful that there are humans such as yourself out there.
6
Sooooo true. Trump's biggest deficiency is his lack of humor. He is a bitter, bitter man.
9
The "Smilin' Don" pic at the Saudi Arabian sword dance with a bunch of old guys was his first presidential smile. I couldn't see if he was smiling while bowing to the King or not while hunched over for his gold pop beads necklace. lol.
6
I thought the best part of Trump's Coast Guard Academy Commencement address occurred when he departed from his prepared text and spoke from the heart:
"And everyone loves me. Did you see that yuuugist crowd ever at my inauguration? National Mall, wall to wall people. And all those thousands who climbed trees? Just to get a glimpse--a glimpse! And my election by acclamation? What a roar of approval! Unprecedented!"
That truly inspired all those young freshly-minted ensigns and their proud parents.
"And everyone loves me. Did you see that yuuugist crowd ever at my inauguration? National Mall, wall to wall people. And all those thousands who climbed trees? Just to get a glimpse--a glimpse! And my election by acclamation? What a roar of approval! Unprecedented!"
That truly inspired all those young freshly-minted ensigns and their proud parents.
38
I am no fan of Trump, and want to believe you about this quote, but I just did a search and was unable to find a transcript of the speech that included this. The "surety" ramble is even published on whitehouse.gov, so can you please post a link to the speech transcript that includes that quote?
Satire lives in Trump's alternative reality.
1
Clearly, FBI Director Comey's firing was inevitable and needs no investigation whatsoever.
President Trump--ever observant rascal that he is--noted that Mr. Comey is a head taller than himself, is svelte of figure, has readily manageable hair, possesses a normal size non-puckering mouth, displays extraordinarily large hands and speaks in complete sentences. Trump's vengeful inferiority complex and narcissistic impulses kicked in with the result that Comey absolutely had to be eliminated from the scene.
In the face of the self-evident, no investigation is called for.
President Trump--ever observant rascal that he is--noted that Mr. Comey is a head taller than himself, is svelte of figure, has readily manageable hair, possesses a normal size non-puckering mouth, displays extraordinarily large hands and speaks in complete sentences. Trump's vengeful inferiority complex and narcissistic impulses kicked in with the result that Comey absolutely had to be eliminated from the scene.
In the face of the self-evident, no investigation is called for.
153
Gail, Bret: Please read! Joe Lieberman is a terrible candidate for the FBI.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/05/say-it-aint-so-joe/...
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/05/say-it-aint-so-joe/...
25
President Trump has taught the American public an important lesson--a lesson that surely will not be lost on young people planning to enter politics and/or the business community.*
The lesson:
Veiled shamelessness can be unmasked and countered. Publicly displayed shamelessness demoralizes and bewilders the general public--and generally goes unpunished.
President Trump and Wall Street banksters have long known this.
*"Business community"--within the context of our nation's individualistic, anti-communal, laissez faire capitalist economy that's quite an oxymoron.
The lesson:
Veiled shamelessness can be unmasked and countered. Publicly displayed shamelessness demoralizes and bewilders the general public--and generally goes unpunished.
President Trump and Wall Street banksters have long known this.
*"Business community"--within the context of our nation's individualistic, anti-communal, laissez faire capitalist economy that's quite an oxymoron.
10
And speaking of the topic, Acceleration, HE looks like he's aged at least 10 years, since the election. Perhaps he doesn't have the stamina required for the job. Just saying.
61
Conservatives always point out that U.S. corporate tax rates are among the highest in the world, but they don’t tell the rest of the story. There are so many loopholes that 26 firms, among the Citigroup and AT&T, paid more to their CEO alone than they paid in corporate taxes in 2011. In fact, our corporate tax revenue, 1.8 percent of GNP, is tied with Turkey for the lowest in the developed world. If libertarian models are correct, our current corporate tax structure manages to achieve the worst of all possible worlds: the least revenue and the most economic distortion from attempts to dodge it. We need to lower the nominal rate, but also to devise policies that assure it is actually paid. For starters, restore the old rule on offshoring that requires any corporation with less than 50 percent foreign ownership to be taxed as American.
228
Conservative are also against the loopholes. So I guess we are in agreement. Let's eliminate the loopholes and reduce corporate taxation to the UK's 19 percent, which is still to high. Romney was right, corporations are people. All corporate taxes are double taxation, taking money that could be used to pay employees who already pay taxes on their income, or from shareholders, including pension funds and middle-class 401k accounts, or cause prices to be raised making life more difficult for low-income consumers.
2
I'll believe corporations are people when Texas executes one. The same Supreme Court that made that dubious ruling on the basis of the 14th Amendment oddly found that it did not protect the freedmen for whom the amendment was originally written. I'd be happy with 19% and no loopholes, but despite the double taxation you lament, the concentration of wealth at the top continues to increase.
10
Charles - I make a buck; I pay taxes on it. I pay it to my plumber; he pays taxes on it. Money is frequently taxed when it changes hands, Double taxation? No.
GE makes a buck; they pay taxes on it. They pay it to their stockholders as a dividend; they pay taxes on it. Double taxation? No.
The main purpose of a corporation is so that people can invest money without taking responsibility for the actions of the corporation. If you are part owner of a company that does something bad, you may lose everything you have. If you own stock in a corporation that does something bad, you can only lose your investment.
The way this is accomplished is that the corporation is regarded as a separate legal entity from the collection of its investors. The cost for this protection is that this entity, the corporation, must pay taxes when it makes money and the shareholders must pay taxes when they are paid by the corporation for the use of their investment.
Got it?
PS - The accurate way to measure corporate taxes is the amount of corporate taxes actually paid to the Treasury divided by GDP because neither of these figures can be fudged by the armies of lawyers and accountants employed by corporations. For us (and Turkey) this is 0.18. It is the LOWEST among developed nations (Ireland's figure is 55% higher). It was 3 times higher during our Great Prosperity of 1946 - 1973.
GE makes a buck; they pay taxes on it. They pay it to their stockholders as a dividend; they pay taxes on it. Double taxation? No.
The main purpose of a corporation is so that people can invest money without taking responsibility for the actions of the corporation. If you are part owner of a company that does something bad, you may lose everything you have. If you own stock in a corporation that does something bad, you can only lose your investment.
The way this is accomplished is that the corporation is regarded as a separate legal entity from the collection of its investors. The cost for this protection is that this entity, the corporation, must pay taxes when it makes money and the shareholders must pay taxes when they are paid by the corporation for the use of their investment.
Got it?
PS - The accurate way to measure corporate taxes is the amount of corporate taxes actually paid to the Treasury divided by GDP because neither of these figures can be fudged by the armies of lawyers and accountants employed by corporations. For us (and Turkey) this is 0.18. It is the LOWEST among developed nations (Ireland's figure is 55% higher). It was 3 times higher during our Great Prosperity of 1946 - 1973.
7