Trump tax returns released, and no one is surprised that he was doing tax avoidence

[TraderPatTX]

Has he admitted he's wrong about any issues/statements/etc ... during your discussions?

I'm just trying to find common ground. I don't like admitting when I'm wrong. Mainly because it rarely happens, lol

 

[IncredulousP]

I don't like admitting when I'm wrong. Mainly because it rarely happens, lol

If you were truly as intellectual as you claim, you would be proud to admit when you're wrong.

 

[TraderPatTX]

The number of illegal border crossings has remained mostly steady for a long time now. It's not at all an all-caps "CRISIS" like sensationalist right-wing media makes it out to be. They always need to drum up some big faux emergency to keep cable news from dying out entirely. Migrant workers aren't responsible for keeping our wages suppressed and our infrastructure trapped in the 1980s, that would be billionaires and corporations.

250,000 illegal aliens a month is an all-caps CRISIS, especially for border towns with a population of 2,000. But New York freaks out when they receive a couple hundred.

Huge difference between fact and conspiracy theory as well. This won't be the last pandemic in our lifetimes, as permafrost melting is going to reveal some really nasty blasts from the past. The vaccine research being done now can help to not only lessen the impact of those, but also potentially eliminate cancer, AIDS, etc.

I'm actually running out of conspiracy theories because all of mine are coming true and we already have cures for cancer and AIDS. Do you think Big Pharma's goal is to cure us or to make us permanent customers? For somebody who distrusts and outright hates corporations, you seem to have soft spot for Big Pharma even though Pfizer has paid the largest fine in human history for falsifying clinical studies and paying doctors off. I wouldn't trust them to make aspirin. And now it's come out that Scott Gottlieb was getting people banned from social media for saying that natural immunity was better than the jab. I guess $81 billion in profits in 2021 just wasn't enough for them.

We're on the same page as far as believing the Federal Reserve never should've been established goes. Kennedy was set to block it after returning from Texas, which may well be the reason he never did.

This agreeableness is becoming very habit forming. Maybe we should stop. I think we're scaring everybody else. lol

People gonna think we're friends before long.

Post automatically merged: Jan 10, 2023

If you were truly as intellectual as you claim, you would be proud to admit when you're wrong.

Calm down Frances. The lol at the end signifies it was a joke.

 

[Xzi]

250,000 illegal aliens a month is an all-caps CRISIS

It might be if we hadn't just lost well over a million people to COVID, but as things sit now a lot of industries are still facing worker shortages.

Do you think Big Pharma's goal is to cure us or to make us permanent customers?

This isn't about big pharma, they fund their own research. It's about independent scientific studies, which would not exist with government grants.

This agreeableness is becoming very habit forming. Maybe we should stop. I think we're scaring everybody else. lol

Well you have been surprisingly reasonable lately, which makes me wonder if you realize that a lot of the opinions you're voicing would get you kicked out of a Trump rally in a heartbeat.

 

[TraderPatTX]

It might be if we hadn't just lost well over a million people to COVID, but as things sit now a lot of industries are still facing worker shortages.

Except we didn't have any excess deaths. The death rate during the Covid years was in line with modeling.

This isn't about big pharma, they fund their own research. It's about independent scientific studies, which would not exist with government grants.

You should look into what the government funds. We just recently learned that we have been funding bioweapons research. What else are we about to learn that our government has been doing in secret?

Well you have been surprisingly reasonable lately, which makes me wonder if you realize that a lot of the opinions you're voicing would get you kicked out of a Trump rally in a heartbeat.

It's amazing how reasonable one can be when they are not being called a fascist, racist, transphobe nazi on every thread.

There are a wide variety of views at a Trump rally. I've been to a couple. You'd be surprised that a lot of people at a Trump rally are Democrats, especially down here in deep blue south Florida.

 

[Hanafuda]

The number of illegal border crossings has remained mostly steady for a long time now. It's not at all an all-caps "CRISIS" like sensationalist right-wing media makes it out to be.

 

[Xzi]

Except we didn't have any excess deaths. The death rate during the Covid years was in line with modeling.

Modeling? Pretty sure we weren't expecting any deaths from a pandemic at all in the summer of 2019, else we would've been better prepared to prevent them.

You should look into what the government funds. We just recently learned that we have been funding bioweapons research.

You can probably find evidence of the military funding bioweapons research all the way back to the 1900s. That doesn't change the fact that the government also funds important medical research.

There are a wide variety of views at a Trump rally.

Pressing X to doubt. There's a reason he continues to employ the Southern Strategy, and it's not because he's trying to turn Republicans into the big tent party.

View attachment 346982

Seems pretty well in line with a bump in immigration every twenty years or so, eh? Maybe the CIA should stop fucking with South America's stability so often.

 

[Hanafuda]

Seems pretty well in line with a bump in immigration every twenty years or so, eh? Maybe the CIA should stop fucking with South America's stability so often.

No it seems pretty consistent with illegal immigration steadily declining thoughout 2000-2010, then holding at 1970s level from 2010-2020, then spiking 5-6x higher since Biden came in office. Basically in just one year. No numbers for 2022 as whole yet, but they're coming soon.

You claimed "steady for a long time now," and now you're trying to make like you suggested there's a "bump" every 20 years or so. There's no pattern where it's only happened one time. And it's not a bump when it's a cliff edge rocket shoot to the worst its ever been.

 

[Xzi]

You claimed "steady for a long time now," and now you're trying to make like you suggested there's a "bump" every 20 years or so. There's no pattern where it's only happened one time.

I was wrong, but this is the third time since the 1980s according to your chart. The numbers would also carry more significance if either party was willing to follow through on the obvious solution, namely a path to citizenship for those who migrate legally or claim asylum, but instead we keep the system as-is to benefit corporate interests. As I've stated previously, Republicans have become nothing but a party of grievances without any actual policy platforms. Immigration is exclusively used as a ragebait topic for right-wing media.

 

[TraderPatTX]

Modeling? Pretty sure we weren't expecting any deaths from a pandemic at all in the summer of 2019, else we would've been better prepared to prevent them.

It means, the number of deaths were around the number that was predicted before the pandemic hit. Now we have an exorbitant number of people dying suddenly with no cause.

You can probably find evidence of the military funding bioweapons research all the way back to the 1900s. That doesn't change the fact that the government also funds important medical research.

Of course they fund important research. If everything they did was bad or against the law, we would find out about it. That's like saying the corporate media is trustworthy because they sprinkle in a little truth here and there. Judging by their ratings and subscriber count, that dog ain't huntin' no more.

Pressing X to doubt. There's a reason he continues to employ the Southern Strategy, and it's not because he's trying to turn Republicans into the big tent party.

It wasn't just happening in the south. Unless of course, you can provide some numbers to prove dRumpf was employing a Southern Strategy.

Seems pretty well in line with a bump in immigration every twenty years or so, eh? Maybe the CIA should stop fucking with South America's stability so often.

I agree with President Kennedy when he said he wanted to splinter the CIA into a thousand pieces because South America is not the only place they operate (think Ukraine) and destabilizing governments is not even close to the worst of their crimes.

Just a quick question. When do all of Biden's properties get raided by the FBI since his lawyers and staff do not have the security clearance to look at top secret documents? Where is the special prosecutor? Are we witnessing a two-tiered justice system? Also pretty weird that we just found out about this and Garland assigned a special prosecutor to dRumpf after he was aware of these documents. Garland is such a good wingman.

Post automatically merged: Jan 12, 2023

I was wrong, but this is the third time since the 1980s according to your chart. The numbers would also carry more significance if either party was willing to follow through on the obvious solution, namely a path to citizenship for those who migrate legally or claim asylum, but instead we keep the system as-is to benefit corporate interests.

There is a path to citizenship. It's called legal immigration. And people can only claim asylum at ports of entry, not wherever they get caught and picked up.

As I've stated previously, Republicans have become nothing but a party of grievances without any actual policy platforms. Immigration is exclusively used as a ragebait topic for right-wing media.

Judging from that graph, the policies put in place from 2017-2020 worked pretty well. Then when those policies were eliminated, we see a giant spike.

I wish people on the left would realize that an open border is racist and sexist. An open border only enriches US corporations and the Mexican cartels. The amount of fentanyl crossing the border is enough to kill everybody in the US 3 times over. Even more serious is all of the human trafficking (including kids) that Biden is enabling. But Democrats choose to ignore the problem or cover it up like they just did in El Paso.

 

[Xzi]

It means, the number of deaths were around the number that was predicted before the pandemic hit.

My point is that nobody predicted COVID-19 in the first place, there's no way we were expecting 500k excess deaths in a single year. For that matter, the Trump administration even disbanded a federal pandemic response team in 2017, simply because the Obama administration had been the one to establish it. Who knows how many of those deaths could've been prevented otherwise.

Of course they fund important research. If everything they did was bad or against the law, we would find out about it.

A lot of it is bad and/or against the law, and we don't find out about it until decades later because it's top secret military business. I've already voiced my support for cutting into the military budget to fund other things, beyond that I don't know what other solution you might propose aside from revolution.

It wasn't just happening in the south. Unless of course, you can provide some numbers to prove dRumpf was employing a Southern Strategy.

The Southern Strategy is more or less just a series of racist dogwhistles. Except Trump isn't nearly subtle enough for that, so he uses a bullhorn instead.

I agree with President Kennedy when he said he wanted to splinter the CIA into a thousand pieces because South America is not the only place they operate (think Ukraine) and destabilizing governments is not even close to the worst of their crimes.

Huh? If anything, Ukraine and its government have become more stable over the last several years, which is what the US needed to happen in order to gain a buffer between Russia and the rest of Europe. But yeah, the CIA seems to do a lot of unjustifiable shit, especially where democratically-elected socialist leaders are concerned.

Just a quick question. When do all of Biden's properties get raided by the FBI since his lawyers and staff do not have the security clearance to look at top secret documents? Where is the special prosecutor? Are we witnessing a two-tiered justice system? Also pretty weird that we just found out about this and Garland assigned a special prosecutor to dRumpf after he was aware of these documents. Garland is such a good wingman.

A special counsel was appointed to investigate Biden's classified documents as of yesterday. The big difference being that Biden's staff turned over all documents the second they were discovered, where Trump tried to keep documents hidden and even ordered his lawyers to lie about having turned them all over. I have no issue with both cases being investigated thoroughly, of course.

When I refer to a two-tiered justice system I'm talking about rich vs working class, however, not Ds vs Rs.

There is a path to citizenship. It's called legal immigration.

Waiting years or even decades to migrate is not a realistic option for most, only for those that are already well off. The current system is a massive deterrent to legal immigration, very much by design.

And people can only claim asylum at ports of entry, not wherever they get caught and picked up.

Sure. For a time even that was criminalized, however.

Judging from that graph, the policies put in place from 2017-2020 worked pretty well. Then when those policies were eliminated, we see a giant spike.

Seems more like a post-COVID surge, being that the numbers were also pretty low during both of Obama's terms.

I wish people on the left would realize that an open border is racist and sexist. An open border only enriches US corporations and the Mexican cartels. The amount of fentanyl crossing the border is enough to kill everybody in the US 3 times over.

Neither party is for an "open borders policy," but both parties are in favor of enriching corporations, which is how we got to where we're at now with a broken system. Illegal immigration is never going to stop, or even really slow down, so long as there are companies willing to hire and pay under the table.

Fentanyl is a problem, yes, but drugs won the war on drugs in America, so it's gonna make its way here one way or another regardless. Whether that be from the Northern border, by boat or by plane. Best defense against it is to just not do the hard stuff kids, stick to weed.

Even more serious is all of the human trafficking (including kids) that Biden is enabling.

Give me a break, nobody is in favor of human trafficking. Well, except for maybe the incels who think Andrew Tate did nothing wrong.

 

[TraderPatTX]

My point is that nobody predicted COVID-19 in the first place, there's no way we were expecting 500k excess deaths in a single year. For that matter, the Trump administration even disbanded a federal pandemic response team in 2017, simply because the Obama administration had been the one to establish it. Who knows how many of those deaths could've been prevented otherwise.

You don't understand what excess deaths are. Excess deaths are if those people would be alive today, which for most of them, they wouldn't because they were in nursing homes and very old.

A lot of it is bad and/or against the law, and we don't find out about it until decades later because it's top secret military business. I've already voiced my support for cutting into the military budget to fund other things, beyond that I don't know what other solution you might propose aside from revolution.

The first step is admitting that our government does a lot of illegal shit and to stop making excuses for them. Both sides do this.

The Southern Strategy is more or less just a series of racist dogwhistles. Except Trump isn't nearly subtle enough for that, so he uses a bullhorn instead.

It's so weird that during his presidency, blacks enjoyed higher wages and lower unemployment. He targeted their neighborhoods (opportunity zones) that actually improved their lives. Democrats just talk about helping black people while making their lives worse.

Huh? If anything, Ukraine and its government have become more stable over the last several years, which is what the US needed to happen in order to gain a buffer between Russia and the rest of Europe. But yeah, the CIA seems to do a lot of unjustifiable shit, especially where democratically-elected socialist leaders are concerned.

It was stable before the coup of 2014. It's just that our government didn't like the Ukraine president being buddies with Russia, so they took him out and his attorney general.

A special counsel was appointed to investigate Biden's classified documents as of yesterday. The big difference being that Biden's staff turned over all documents the second they were discovered, where Trump tried to keep documents hidden and even ordered his lawyers to lie about having turned them all over. I have no issue with both cases being investigated thoroughly, of course.

You sound like MSNBC. Does Biden's staff have security clearances? Do his lawyers have security clearances? And who pays their attorneys $600/hour to pack up boxes? Nothing makes sense and the media refuses to ask hard questions. Not to mention those documents were moved twice. Once when Biden left the White House and again in 2018 where they were sent to his garage. Biden is not protected by the Presidential Records Act. He could not declass a single word. Why would he have them to begin with? Once again, why doesn't the media ask these simple questions?

When I refer to a two-tiered justice system I'm talking about rich vs working class, however, not Ds vs Rs.

When I refer to a two-tiered justice system, I'm talking about the uniparty vs everybody else. Look at the difference of how the FBI treats Trump vs Biden. One had their properties raided, the other is allowed to go look for documents by people who lack security clearances.

Waiting years or even decades to migrate is not a realistic option for most, only for those that are already well off. The current system is a massive deterrent to legal immigration, very much by design.

I agree, but the uniparty is not about solving problems. They campaign on solving problems, then once in office, they create other problems to distract from their campaign promises.

Sure. For a time even that was criminalized, however.

Because you can't just walk into a country. Name a single country you can just walk into and claim to be a citizen? You won't be able to because none exists. Why should we be different from everybody else? Why should Europe be different from everybody else? Because diversity? You know what countries lack diversity? Japan. Republic of Congo. Jordan. Bolivia. Weird how countries with brown people are not required to be diverse. Kinda makes you wonder.

Seems more like a post-COVID surge, being that the numbers were also pretty low during both of Obama's terms.

Seems or is? You don't seem too sure about your conclusion.

Neither party is for an "open borders policy," but both parties are in favor of enriching corporations, which is how we got to where we're at now with a broken system. Illegal immigration is never going to stop, or even really slow down, so long as there are companies willing to hire and pay under the table.

Can't enrich the Chamber of Commerce without open borders. All we have to do is pass a national E-Verify system and fine companies $500,000 per illegal alien hired. And then go make an example of a large corporation like Tyson Farms.

Fentanyl is a problem, yes, but drugs won the war on drugs in America, so it's gonna make its way here one way or another regardless. Whether that be from the Northern border, by boat or by plane. Best defense against it is to just not do the hard stuff kids, stick to weed.

So we should just give up and do nothing? Do you hate people that much?

Give me a break, nobody is in favor of human trafficking. Well, except for maybe the incels who think Andrew Tate did nothing wrong.

The uniparty is. How else can both Jeffery Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell both be convicted of sex trafficking to no clients? Those clients are protected because many in the uniparty were clients. If an English prince was a client, who else do you think was blackmailed?

 

[Xzi]

You don't understand what excess deaths are. Excess deaths are if those people would be alive today, which for most of them, they wouldn't because they were in nursing homes and very old.

Even most "very old" people would've had 5+ years to live still without COVID. And since obesity was also a major co-morbidity, that took out a lot of younger people too.

The first step is admitting that our government does a lot of illegal shit and to stop making excuses for them. Both sides do this.

I never said it didn't, but it'll also never correct course if we criticize all the things it does right with just as much fervor as we do for the things it does wrong.

It's so weird that during his presidency, blacks enjoyed higher wages and lower unemployment. He targeted their neighborhoods (opportunity zones) that actually improved their lives.

If you took a poll, I very much doubt most would agree with that assessment. For that matter you could just look at how many black people voted for him in 2020. Trump's economic policies were beneficial exclusively to the rich.

It was stable before the coup of 2014.

Ukraine's government was corrupt as hell before Zelenskyy was voted in, much like the Kremlin. There was no evidence of a "coup," people really need to stop using that word every time an election results in an outcome they dislike.

Does Biden's staff have security clearances? Do his lawyers have security clearances? And who pays their attorneys $600/hour to pack up boxes? Nothing makes sense and the media refuses to ask hard questions. Not to mention those documents were moved twice. Once when Biden left the White House and again in 2018 where they were sent to his garage. Biden is not protected by the Presidential Records Act. He could not declass a single word. Why would he have them to begin with? Once again, why doesn't the media ask these simple questions?

That's...the entire point of appointing a special counsel to investigate. We have no idea who moved the documents in the first place, or what their intent was, let alone the level of security classification of each document. The most likely explanation is that they were simply forgotten about, as unlike Trump's documents, there was nothing missing, and an FBI raid was not required to retrieve them. If it turns out that both Trump and Biden committed criminal acts, great, charge 'em both. Two wrongs don't make a right, it's not a get out of jail free card as a lot of Republicans want to pretend it is.

When I refer to a two-tiered justice system, I'm talking about the uniparty vs everybody else. Look at the difference of how the FBI treats Trump vs Biden. One had their properties raided, the other is allowed to go look for documents by people who lack security clearances.

That makes no sense. Trump would very much be part of this "uniparty" you speak of. He was president FFS, he can no longer claim he exists outside of the political establishment. All he had to do was turn over the documents he had when the request was made, instead of lying about it. There was never any request made for Biden's documents because nobody knew he had them, Biden himself included most likely.

Because you can't just walk into a country.

You literally just said that claiming asylum at the border is legal, and despite the Trump administration's attempts to criminalize it, it is.

Name a single country you can just walk into and claim to be a citizen?

That's not what a path to citizenship is. It means you can enter the country immediately as long as you're documented, and then over years of work, paying taxes, and staying out of legal trouble, you're eventually awarded citizenship.

Seems or is? You don't seem too sure about your conclusion.

Correlation does not equal causation, so neither of us can be 100% certain about the conclusions we're drawing from one chart. That is what the numbers imply, however.

All we have to do is pass a national E-Verify system and fine companies $500,000 per illegal alien hired. And then go make an example of a large corporation like Tyson Farms.

That would be nice. Problem being that we're still sometimes electing candidates who themselves hire undocumented workers, so there's no incentive for them to change anything.

So we should just give up and do nothing? Do you hate people that much?

I mean we have the DEA and local/state police to try to track down fentanyl distribution rings, dunno what else you expect us to do aside from going full authoritarian big brother like the CCP. People who want drugs badly enough will always find a way to get them, and hard drugs have always been associated with a much larger risk than the recreational stuff. It comes down to personal responsibility.

The uniparty is. How else can both Jeffery Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell both be convicted of sex trafficking to no clients? Those clients are protected because many in the uniparty were clients. If an English prince was a client, who else do you think was blackmailed?

Much like the Panama papers being forgotten, that's more an issue of class warfare than anything else. For every politician who visited Epstein's island, there were at least two wealthy/powerful non-politicians who did as well.

 

[TraderPatTX]

Even most "very old" people would've had 5+ years to live still without COVID. And since obesity was also a major co-morbidity, that took out a lot of younger people too.

Actually, I was mistaken when I said there were no excess deaths in 2021 and 2022. There were... however they are not attributed to Covid19. They are attributed to sudden death syndrome also known as unexplained death also known as a coincidence. The causes of these deaths have been attributed to climate change and gas stoves.

I never said it didn't, but it'll also never correct course if we criticize all the things it does right with just as much fervor as we do for the things it does wrong.

When the things it does wrong leads to the deaths of millions, it doesn't really matter how much good it has done. Nazi scientists made many medical discoveries, but it doesn't matter because of all the horrible things they did. And certain factions of the US government has killed more people than they did back in the 30's and 40's.

If you took a poll, I very much doubt most would agree with that assessment. For that matter you could just look at how many black people voted for him in 2020. Trump's economic policies were beneficial exclusively to the rich.

It doesn't matter how much you doubt. Trump got more black votes in 2020 than he did in 2016. Even the horrible NYTimes were forced to admit that the tax cuts benefitted everybody.

Ukraine's government was corrupt as hell before Zelenskyy was voted in, much like the Kremlin. There was no evidence of a "coup," people really need to stop using that word every time an election results in an outcome they dislike.

The Maidan Revolution was instigated by the CIA and led to civil war in Ukraine until 2022. Ukraine would bomb the eastern part of the country relentlessly and send in the nazi Azov battalian to brutally murder people. Nobody cared about these deaths until the media told everybody to care.

That's...the entire point of appointing a special counsel to investigate.

Another reason to appoint a special counsel is to block congressional investigations.

We have no idea who moved the documents in the first place, or what their intent was, let alone the level of security classification of each document.

Intent is irrelevant.

The most likely explanation is that they were simply forgotten about, as unlike Trump's documents, there was nothing missing, and an FBI raid was not required to retrieve them.

All classified documents must be checked out. A record is kept who checked them out and when. You are also making excuses because your guy was storing classified documents at Hunter's house with no security. At least Trump has the Secret Service in Mar-a-Lago.

If it turns out that both Trump and Biden committed criminal acts, great, charge 'em both. Two wrongs don't make a right, it's not a get out of jail free card as a lot of Republicans want to pretend it is.

Different laws cover each scenario. Trump is covered under the Presidential Records Act. Biden was vice president at the time and had zero authorization to declass anything.

That makes no sense. Trump would very much be part of this "uniparty" you speak of. He was president FFS, he can no longer claim he exists outside of the political establishment.

Then why do both parties attack him? Did you ever wonder that? Why were Republicans like McConnell, Cheney, Romney and others attacking him more than the Democrats?

All he had to do was turn over the documents he had when the request was made, instead of lying about it.

He did.

There was never any request made for Biden's documents because nobody knew he had them, Biden himself included most likely.

Biden's documents were found before the election. Now they have found more. If the government is losing classified documents, then NARA needs to be investigated and/or disbanded.

You literally just said that claiming asylum at the border is legal, and despite the Trump administration's attempts to criminalize it, it is.

It's legal at the ports of entry. Not in the Rio Grande.

That's not what a path to citizenship is. It means you can enter the country immediately as long as you're documented, and then over years of work, paying taxes, and staying out of legal trouble, you're eventually awarded citizenship.

These people swimming across the river are not documented and they are not claiming asylum at a port of entry. Hence, they are breaking our laws. Thank you for finally understanding.

Correlation does not equal causation, so neither of us can be 100% certain about the conclusions we're drawing from one chart. That is what the numbers imply, however.

I'm sure about my conclusion. You're the one who seems a little iffy.

That would be nice. Problem being that we're still sometimes electing candidates who themselves hire undocumented workers, so there's no incentive for them to change anything.

Then the states need to step up. We can't watch unlawful acts keep going unpunished and just throw our hands up and call it quits.

I mean we have the DEA and local/state police to try to track down fentanyl distribution rings, dunno what else you expect us to do aside from going full authoritarian big brother like the CCP. People who want drugs badly enough will always find a way to get them, and hard drugs have always been associated with a much larger risk than the recreational stuff. It comes down to personal responsibility.

Maybe go back to Trump's policies when things at the border was better?

Much like the Panama papers being forgotten, that's more an issue of class warfare than anything else. For every politician who visited Epstein's island, there were at least two wealthy/powerful non-politicians who did as well.

I can't help that people forget things and are unable to use the internet to look things up. But yes, many wealthy/powerful people went to the island, his NYC mansion and his New Mexico ranch. I'd bet most of Hollywood are involved. And we know Bill Gates had a relationship with him after Epstein was convicted in 2008. And yet, people still did as he told them to do over the last couple of years. Smh

 

[Xzi]

Actually, I was mistaken when I said there were no excess deaths in 2021 and 2022. There were... however they are not attributed to Covid19. They are attributed to sudden death syndrome also known as unexplained death also known as a coincidence. The causes of these deaths have been attributed to climate change and gas stoves.

It's all really beside the point that migrant workers often fill jobs that would otherwise go unfilled. You could argue companies would get more applicants if they paid and treated their workers better, and I wouldn't disagree, but sadly a number of industries are far too reliant on cheap (less than minimum wage) labor.

When the things it does wrong leads to the deaths of millions, it doesn't really matter how much good it has done.

"Government = bad in all circumstances" is just an intellectually lazy take though, not to mention untrue. What we need is far more than two political parties so that people can no longer make the claim that they aren't truly represented by any of the candidates.

Trump got more black votes in 2020 than he did in 2016. Even the horrible NYTimes were forced to admit that the tax cuts benefitted everybody.

8% versus 6% in 2016. You'd expect a much bigger bump than that if black voters thought Trump's policies were truly beneficial to them. And Trump's tax cuts are only permanent for the rich, the rest of us will see our taxes increased every couple years until they end up higher than they were before.

The Maidan Revolution was instigated by the CIA and led to civil war in Ukraine until 2022. Ukraine would bomb the eastern part of the country relentlessly and send in the nazi Azov battalian to brutally murder people. Nobody cared about these deaths until the media told everybody to care.

It's much more likely it was instigated by the Kremlin, as they'd be the only ones with something to gain from destabilization prior to a planned invasion.

Another reason to appoint a special counsel is to block congressional investigations.

Congressional investigations are toothless compared to a special counsel who can actually bring criminal charges against a guilty party.

Different laws cover each scenario. Trump is covered under the Presidential Records Act. Biden was vice president at the time and had zero authorization to declass anything.

None of the documents were declassified prior to being removed. The act of simply moving the documents itself also wasn't illegal, and there'd be no controversy at all had both men returned them to where they belong before leaving office.

These people swimming across the river are not documented and they are not claiming asylum at a port of entry. Hence, they are breaking our laws. Thank you for finally understanding.

Which is, again, what they're incentivized to do with the current broken immigration system in place. A path to citizenship with no wait time to cross the border would incentivize legal immigration instead. Sadly it seems Biden is no more inclined to implement an actual fix than Trump was, but at least he's not creating additional problems by separating families at the border.

I'm sure about my conclusion.

Which just makes you confident in your ignorance, not objectively correct. Again, correlation =/= causation.

Then the states need to step up. We can't watch unlawful acts keep going unpunished and just throw our hands up and call it quits.

There are more steps we could take to ensure public safety, certainly. Decriminalizing all drugs and opening up as many safe use/testing centers as possible has worked wonders for other countries. Definitely not something the alcohol and private prison industries would be on board with, however.

Maybe go back to Trump's policies when things at the border was better?

Made no difference in the amount of fentanyl coming into the US. Once again, the Southern border is hardly the only point of entry for drugs.

 

[TraderPatTX]

It's all really beside the point that migrant workers often fill jobs that would otherwise go unfilled. You could argue companies would get more applicants if they paid and treated their workers better, and I wouldn't disagree, but sadly a number of industries are far too reliant on cheap (less than minimum wage) labor.

So just like with drugs, you just want to hand people needles and places to shoot up instead of blocking them at the border like any other sane country. "Aww shucks, those billion dollar corporations are gonna hire illegal aliens. Sure would be nice if we could stop them."

"Government = bad in all circumstances" is just an intellectually lazy take though, not to mention untrue. What we need is far more than two political parties so that people can no longer make the claim that they aren't truly represented by any of the candidates.

Well that's not gonna happen with the uniparty in control. If the people united, we could beat them, but the left seems uninterested.

8% versus 6% in 2016. You'd expect a much bigger bump than that if black voters thought Trump's policies were truly beneficial to them. And Trump's tax cuts are only permanent for the rich, the rest of us will see our taxes increased every couple years until they end up higher than they were before.

The fact that he got more black votes shows that they were beginning to see their lives improving. What's Ice Cream Biden done for them so far?

They won't increase if the Democrats in the Senate don't block them.

It's much more likely it was instigated by the Kremlin, as they'd be the only ones with something to gain from destabilization prior to a planned invasion.

"Much more likely" = "I'm gonna pull this out of my ass with no proof"

There are DOD paid biolabs and Zelenskyy was funneling the billions we sent over there through FTX, who in turn gave it to the uniparty as campaign donations. We need everybody's taxes including family, companies and campaigns.

Congressional investigations are toothless compared to a special counsel who can actually bring criminal charges against a guilty party.

When's the last time we've seen that happen?

None of the documents were declassified prior to being removed. The act of simply moving the documents itself also wasn't illegal, and there'd be no controversy at all had both men returned them to where they belong before leaving office.

Presidents can declassify anything they want.

Which is, again, what they're incentivized to do with the current broken immigration system in place. A path to citizenship with no wait time to cross the border would incentivize legal immigration instead. Sadly it seems Biden is no more inclined to implement an actual fix than Trump was, but at least he's not creating additional problems by separating families at the border.

Exactly. How long are we gonna be lied to that the uniparty does not fulfill campaign promises before we start rising up together to enact change?

Which just makes you confident in your ignorance, not objectively correct. Again, correlation =/= causation.

I'm not the one making excuses for all of our problems and why they can't be solved.

There are more steps we could take to ensure public safety, certainly. Decriminalizing all drugs and opening up as many safe use/testing centers as possible has worked wonders for other countries. Definitely not something the alcohol and private prison industries would be on board with, however.

Other countries also have strict immigration and importation laws. Some countries like Sweden don't have minimum wage laws. Weird that you don't want to emulate those.

Made no difference in the amount of fentanyl coming into the US. Once again, the Southern border is hardly the only point of entry for drugs.

The numbers never seem to back up your statements.

https://nypost.com/2022/12/26/fentanyl-seizures-at-the-border-shatter-records-in-2022/

 

[Xzi]

So just like with drugs, you just want to hand people needles and places to shoot up instead of blocking them at the border like any other sane country. "Aww shucks, those billion dollar corporations are gonna hire illegal aliens. Sure would be nice if we could stop them."

I've given you a valid solution to both problems, I can't help it if you're more in favor of the "uniparty" status quo than anything else.

If the people united, we could beat them, but the left seems uninterested.

You really need to stop referring to Democrats as "the left." Leftists are very much united by a desire to see a workers' revolution happen in our time, if nothing else. On other topics there tends to be a lot more infighting.

They won't increase if the Democrats in the Senate don't block them.

The tax increases on the working class were written into the same bill that passed during the Trump administration. It'd be much preferable if those increases were blocked by the current Congress.

"Much more likely" = "I'm gonna pull this out of my ass with no proof"

I'm applying Occam's Razor to the scenario. There would be no reason for the US to destabilize its own ally, especially an ally willing to fight against one of our biggest global adversaries. And if destabilization was the goal, we could've simply let Russia run right over them rather than sending aid in any form.

When's the last time we've seen that happen?

Last notable example was Watergate, I believe. I'm sure there have been other, lower-profile cases prosecuted by special counsels more recently, however.

Presidents can declassify anything they want.

Nonsense, you can't declassify the nuclear codes. And declassifying anything is a process that takes time and has to go through several departments, it can't be a unilateral declaration by the president.

Exactly. How long are we gonna be lied to that the uniparty does not fulfill campaign promises before we start rising up together to enact change?

As soon as people stop falling for the traps set by the elites to divide us. Racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, etc. Too many people wear these toxic traits like a badge of honor these days.

Other countries also have strict immigration and importation laws. Some countries like Sweden don't have minimum wage laws. Weird that you don't want to emulate those.

Well yeah, obviously I'd rather not emulate laws which grant corporations even more power when they're already exploiting the system as it stands now. The point is to have less dark money influencing policy, not more.

The numbers never seem to back up your statements.

https://nypost.com/2022/12/26/fentanyl-seizures-at-the-border-shatter-records-in-2022/

You realize that more fentanyl seized by authorities = less fentanyl making its way into our drugs, right? This is evidence that drug enforcement efforts have been more effective under Biden than they were under Trump, it's not evidence of a change in the total amount that people are attempting to smuggle into the US.

 

[TraderPatTX]

I've given you a valid solution to both problems, I can't help it if you're more in favor of the "uniparty" status quo than anything else.

Why you gotta lie?

You really need to stop referring to Democrats as "the left." Leftists are very much united by a desire to see a workers' revolution happen in our time, if nothing else. On other topics there tends to be a lot more infighting.

Democrats are leftists. We've also seen what workers' revolutions have led to in the past. Over 100 million dead.

The tax increases on the working class were written into the same bill that passed during the Trump administration. It'd be much preferable if those increases were blocked by the current Congress.

I agree. Let's see how the new split Congress plays together.

I'm applying Occam's Razor to the scenario. There would be no reason for the US to destabilize its own ally, especially an ally willing to fight against one of our biggest global adversaries. And if destabilization was the goal, we could've simply let Russia run right over them rather than sending aid in any form.

Ukraine is only ally because they are the most corrupt European country and the uniparty launders money through there.

Last notable example was Watergate, I believe. I'm sure there have been other, lower-profile cases prosecuted by special counsels more recently, however.

So your search came up empty.

Nonsense, you can't declassify the nuclear codes. And declassifying anything is a process that takes time and has to go through several departments, it can't be a unilateral declaration by the president.

If any department denies a president from declassing a document, that president can just fire them and hire people who will declass. A president is the ultimate declass authority because he is the commander in chief. Presidents don't have to ask permission of their employees.

As soon as people stop falling for the traps set by the elites to divide us. Racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, etc. Too many people wear these toxic traits like a badge of honor these days.

And too many see these toxic traits where they aren't any to perpetuate the imaginary divisions.

Well yeah, obviously I'd rather not emulate laws which grant corporations even more power when they're already exploiting the system as it stands now. The point is to have less dark money influencing policy, not more.

Have you heard of a dark money problem concerning corporations in Sweden, because I couldn't find a single story on it.

You realize that more fentanyl seized by authorities = less fentanyl making its way into our drugs, right? This is evidence that drug enforcement efforts have been more effective under Biden than they were under Trump, it's not evidence of a change in the total amount that people are attempting to smuggle into the US.

You do realize that the more that is seized means that more is slipping through. Drug lords in the 80's used to send shipments of cocaine to intentionally get caught so that larger shipments would pass through.

Biden is too busy selling classified documents to China to care how much fentanyl and child sex slaves are coming across the border.

https://nypost.com/2022/04/09/54m-in-chinese-gifts-donated-to-upenn-home-of-biden-center/

Get ready for the 25th Amendment.

 

[Xzi]

Why you gotta lie?

Why you gotta pretend "tough on crime" policies benefit anybody other than the powers that be? Republicans have no desire to fix the immigration system or the fentanyl crisis, they just exploit the former for cheap labor and the latter to keep profits high at private prisons.

Democrats are leftists.

Democrats are capitalists, capitalists cannot be leftists. There are a few progressives within the party that identify as Socialist, but 99% of their elected officials do not.

We've also seen what workers' revolutions have led to in the past. Over 100 million dead.

Compared to how many dead from the manufactured and artificial scarcity that capitalism has created? Not to mention all the imperialism and senseless wars necessitated by the military industrial complex. If you don't like things as they are, but you're also scared of changing them in any meaningful way, where does that leave us exactly?

Ukraine is only ally because they are the most corrupt European country and the uniparty launders money through there.

Now you're just contorting yourself into knots trying to find some justification for why we should be supporting the infinitely more corrupt Kremlin instead. Our elites have never had any issue finding ways to launder money inside of US borders, and the Panama papers show that Ukraine isn't even in the top 100 countries to keep money stashed offshore.

So your search came up empty.

They tend to be appointed more frequently on the state level than federal, thus specifics of those cases are rarely made available to the public. The only other option would've been the DoJ investigating both Trump and Biden themselves, which definitely would've caused more accusations of bias.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_counsel

A president is the ultimate declass authority because he is the commander in chief. Presidents don't have to ask permission of their employees.

The "I didn't say it, I declared it" episode of The Office comes to mind. No, that's not how things work. If a president wants to declassify military secrets, that request has to be processed through the Pentagon first. Same for other departments like the FBI or CIA when documents fall under their purview. Imagine the kind of damage an Alzheimer's-riddled Reagan could've done to the nation without such checks and balances in place.

And too many see these toxic traits where they aren't any to perpetuate the imaginary divisions.

Maybe when there's nobody left flying confederate or swastika flags at various events/marches, then we can talk about how the divisions are all imaginary. You really wouldn't think that'd be a high bar to clear, would you.

Have you heard of a dark money problem concerning corporations in Sweden, because I couldn't find a single story on it.

Because Sweden is a social democracy, they put the needs of the people ahead of the greed of corporations, unlike the US. It wasn't too long ago they even nationalized a bank and distributed its profits among the public (though I may be thinking of a different Scandinavian country). If something similar ever happens with a bank in the US, I'll need you to slap me to ensure I'm not dreaming.

You do realize that the more that is seized means that more is slipping through.

So if we just wave the fentanyl through instead, there would be less of it in the US? C'mon man, we both know that doesn't make any fucking sense. Extraordinary claims like that require extraordinary evidence, of which you have none.

Get ready for the 25th Amendment.

Sure, I'll take the same steps to ready myself for that as I have been for readying myself for every single QAnon prediction to come true.

 

[TraderPatTX]

Why you gotta pretend "tough on crime" policies benefit anybody other than the powers that be? Republicans have no desire to fix the immigration system or the fentanyl crisis, they just exploit the former for cheap labor and the latter to keep profits high at private prisons.

I agree, Republicans have zero desire to fix immigration because their Chamber of Commerce donors want cheap laber. It's why they fought against Trump so hard.

Democrats are capitalists, capitalists cannot be leftists. There are a few progressives within the party that identify as Socialist, but 99% of their elected officials do not.

All socialists use capitalism to gain power. Even Bernie Sanders doesn't rail against millionaires any more ever since he became one. How'd that happen? That's right, he sold a book using capitalism.

Compared to how many dead from the manufactured and artificial scarcity that capitalism has created? Not to mention all the imperialism and senseless wars necessitated by the military industrial complex. If you don't like things as they are, but you're also scared of changing them in any meaningful way, where does that leave us exactly?

Capitalism does not create scarcity. Ukrainians during starve during the Holomodor because of capitalism. Chinese people didn't starve to death during the Great Leap Forward because of capitalism.

Now you're just contorting yourself into knots trying to find some justification for why we should be supporting the infinitely more corrupt Kremlin instead. Our elites have never had any issue finding ways to launder money inside of US borders, and the Panama papers show that Ukraine isn't even in the top 100 countries to keep money stashed offshore.

I never mentioned the Kremlin. You're right though, Ukraine wasn't in the top 100 corrupt countries in the 1970's, 80's or 90's. But they are now.

They tend to be appointed more frequently on the state level than federal, thus specifics of those cases are rarely made available to the public. The only other option would've been the DoJ investigating both Trump and Biden themselves, which definitely would've caused more accusations of bias.

SC Hur has many ties to the Democrat Party.

The "I didn't say it, I declared it" episode of The Office comes to mind. No, that's not how things work. If a president wants to declassify military secrets, that request has to be processed through the Pentagon first.

The commander in chief doesn't have to ask permissions from people under him.

Same for other departments like the FBI or CIA when documents fall under their purview. Imagine the kind of damage an Alzheimer's-riddled Reagan could've done to the nation without such checks and balances in place.

We are seeing it right now with Biden.

Maybe when there's nobody left flying confederate or swastika flags at various events/marches, then we can talk about how the divisions are all imaginary. You really wouldn't think that'd be a high bar to clear, would you.

It's weird that those people flying those flags are always plants.

Because Sweden is a social democracy, they put the needs of the people ahead of the greed of corporations, unlike the US. It wasn't too long ago they even nationalized a bank and distributed its profits among the public (though I may be thinking of a different Scandinavian country). If something similar ever happens with a bank in the US, I'll need you to slap me to ensure I'm not dreaming.

We are a social democracy too. I'm told this all the time.

So if we just wave the fentanyl through instead, there would be less of it in the US? C'mon man, we both know that doesn't make any fucking sense.

I didn't say fentanyl was being waved through. Don't put words in my mouth. It makes talking to you more difficult.

Sure, I'll take the same steps to ready myself for that as I have been for readying myself for every single QAnon prediction to come true.

Not sure what QAnon is but Q has never made posted about Biden and the 25th Amendment.