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#14944119
President Trump rarely misses a chance to offer himself up as the champion of “forgotten” Americans, men and women who feel ignored or derided by elites and believe, as he frequently says, that the “system is rigged” against them.

He has said: “You will never be ignored again.”

Let us follow the $ to the truth.

In a Labor Day letter to congressional leaders, Mr. Trump said the government would forgo an automatic 2.1 percent pay increase for federal workers scheduled for Jan. 1 and specified that there would be no across-the-board increase for 2019. The letter did not estimate the overall savings from canceling the raises, though it said a related move canceling raises that are based on the workers’ location would save $25 billion.

“We must maintain efforts to put our nation on a fiscally sustainable course, and federal agency budgets cannot sustain such increases,” the president wrote.

The estimated $1,800,000,000,000 increase to the federal deficit resulting from recently passed "Tax cuts and jobs act" was apparently deemed sustainable. Approximately 80% of this amount will flow to the top 1% …………. those with an annual income over $730,000.

Next to come will undoubtedly be efforts to reduce Social Security and Medicare benefits.... in the interests of "sustainability".

No offense to Trump Zombies but WTF more evidence do you need to demonstrate Donald's true allegiance to his plutocratic buddies while giving it to "forgotten" Americans up the ass. It really does seem to help Trump supporters to be a little on the dumb side.
#14944240
jimjam wrote:In a Labor Day letter to congressional leaders, Mr. Trump said the government would forgo an automatic 2.1 percent pay increase for federal workers scheduled for Jan. 1 and specified that there would be no across-the-board increase for 2019. The letter did not estimate the overall savings from canceling the raises, though it said a related move canceling raises that are based on the workers’ location would save $25 billion.

“We must maintain efforts to put our nation on a fiscally sustainable course, and federal agency budgets cannot sustain such increases,” the president wrote.

Federal workers tend to escape the market pressures of the rest of us. They did well for themselves while the rest of the country suffered. They can do with a little belt tightening. Maybe 30 years of no raises, and they will understand how the rest of the country feels.

jimjam wrote:The estimated $1,800,000,000,000 increase to the federal deficit resulting from recently passed "Tax cuts and jobs act" was apparently deemed sustainable. Approximately 80% of this amount will flow to the top 1% …………. those with an annual income over $730,000.

The bulk of it goes to publicly-traded corporations which are owned by the masses.

jimjam wrote:Next to come will undoubtedly be efforts to reduce Social Security and Medicare benefits.... in the interests of "sustainability".

Now we're off in fantasy land.

jimjam wrote:No offense to Trump Zombies but WTF more evidence do you need to demonstrate Donald's true allegiance to his plutocratic buddies while giving it to "forgotten" Americans up the ass. It really does seem to help Trump supporters to be a little on the dumb side.

You have to have a public position and a private position, as Hillary was reported to say. Why do people think Trump supporters believe everything he says? The fact that the establishment hates him is sufficiently entertaining for most of us.
#14944291
blackjack21 wrote:Federal workers tend to escape the market pressures of the rest of us. They did well for themselves while the rest of the country suffered. They can do with a little belt tightening. Maybe 30 years of no raises, and they will understand how the rest of the country feels.

$1,800,000,000,000 increase in federal debt is not an issue for Don's buddies down at the club who make $730,000 and up but $25,000,000,000 is an issue for non members.
blackjack21 wrote:The bulk of it goes to publicly-traded corporations which are owned by the masses.

The top 10% of American households, as defined by total wealth, now own 84% of all stocks in 2016.... masses? :lol:

blackjack21 wrote:Now we're off in fantasy land.


Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) said that the tax bill is just the first step before “…instituting structural changes to Social Security and Medicare…” benefits to reduce the federal deficit. Similarly, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) said that “we’re going to have to get back next year [2018] at entitlement reform, which is how you tackle the debt and the deficit.” In other words, the majority leadership will seek cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security benefits as the next step to pay for the deficits this tax bill will create.
#14944412
To think of ownership in terms of just owning publicly traded stock is silly. Few people ever own a large percentage to be able to have decisionmaking power. So what if you own 1 % in Apple stock for example, you are only passively earning dividends. Very few are considered rich in USA.

@jimjam Good points. Always makes me cringe how so many politicians spout unsupported ideas, without crunching the numbers. Did they fail math or did they think that their job exempts them from using actual numbers? It's amazing the idiocy that goes on in politics.
#14944413
America will become another developing country in a few generations.

One of the biggest markers of a developing country is wealth inequality. A few super rich people living wonderful lives, while everyone else is working poor.
#14944424
jimjam wrote:The top 10% of American households, as defined by total wealth, now own 84% of all stocks in 2016.... masses? :lol:

It's mostly owned by average investors in their 401ks, IRAs and Roth IRAs. This isn't exactly a state secret.

Here's who actually owns the stock market

jimjam wrote:Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) said that the tax bill is just the first step before “…instituting structural changes to Social Security and Medicare…” benefits to reduce the federal deficit. Similarly, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) said that “we’re going to have to get back next year [2018] at entitlement reform, which is how you tackle the debt and the deficit.” In other words, the majority leadership will seek cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security benefits as the next step to pay for the deficits this tax bill will create.

Medicare taxes don't make up for the expenses of Medicare. So Medicare requires reforms. Crooked medical organizations are the problem, not tax rates.
#14944429
Rancid wrote:America will become another developing country in a few generations.

One of the biggest markers of a developing country is wealth inequality. A few super rich people living wonderful lives, while everyone else is working poor.

We are well on our way to this point. It will get, as you point out, more obvious. Trump is simply continuing what has been going on for some time. Continuing the con on behalf of his buddies down at the club, the real swamp, who are running the show.

The official rate of unemployment in America has plunged to a remarkably low 3.8%. The Federal Reserve forecasts that the unemployment rate will reach 3.5% by the end of the year.

But the official rate hides more troubling realities: legions of college grads overqualified for their jobs, a growing number of contract workers with no job security, and an army of part-time workers desperate for full-time jobs. Almost 80% of Americans say they live from paycheck to paycheck, many not knowing how big their next one will be.
#14944476
jimjam wrote:Trump is simply continuing what has been going on for some time.

Since the GOP primaries were finally decided between him and Cruz, it was only a choice between Russia and Latin America.

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#14944493
jimjam wrote:The official rate of unemployment in America has plunged to a remarkably low 3.8%. The Federal Reserve forecasts that the unemployment rate will reach 3.5% by the end of the year.


Yea, this is another way we get fooled. Unemployment rates are such bad metrics since they don't give us insight into wages and standard of living. It's weird that so many people look at the low unemployment rate and think "everything is good!!"... well.. it's not all good.
#14945750
Rancid wrote:Yea, this is another way we get fooled. Unemployment rates are such bad metrics since they don't give us insight into wages and standard of living. It's weird that so many people look at the low unemployment rate and think "everything is good!!"... well.. it's not all good.

In recent decades, the nation’s tremendous economic growth has not led to broad social uplift. Economists call it the “productivity-pay gap” — the fact that over the last 40 years, the economy has expanded and corporate profits have risen, but real wages have remained flat for workers without a college education. Since 1973, American productivity has increased by 77 percent, while hourly pay has grown by only 12 percent. If the federal minimum wage tracked productivity, it would be more than $20 an hour, not today’s poverty wage of $7.25.

Meanwhile, this is the richest Congress on record, with one in 13 members belonging to the top 1 percent.

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