DOGE

[Thales750]

You jest. You have zero credibility when it comes to economics since you are quite delusional.

OK. what happened in 2008? And which country lead the world in recovering from it? How long had one of the greatest economic growth periods in history been going on before Orange Head took office?

You are not remotely qualified to make disparaging remarks about my understanding of the economy. All you know is what the talking head brainwashers have told you to know.

You and Pat should Get together and write a book on economics,

You could call it "The Sharecroppers Guide to Trickle Down"

 

[Thales750]

Innumeracy: The art of fooling Conservatives with what sounds like the facts.


1.3M Followers

DOGE claimed they had saved $8 billion by slashing one contract. The actual number was $8 million​

 

[Isaac]

Guess you've never heard the phrase "Buy, borrow, and die"

No.

 

[AccessBlaster]

 

[Isaac]

Innumeracy: The art of fooling Conservatives with what sounds like the facts.


1.3M Followers

DOGE claimed they had saved $8 billion by slashing one contract. The actual number was $8 million​

How do you know?

My problem with DOGE is that neither side can be satisfied. The left resorts to their usual verbiage like "baseless", "without evidence", etc.
Then DOGE posts details and they cry "classified/confidential information". Truthfully, the left does not WANT to see evidence, that would legitimize DOGE. But DOGE posts some of it anyway.

At this point there is so little trust between the two parties, broadly speaking, that DOGE could post photographs of the contracts and the left still wouldn't believe it. Normally, we take politicians' words for a lot of things, or investigators' words - i.e. they publish a report of their findings and we take it as gospel, they don't publish photographs of every confidential document they reviewed to GET to that finding.

Doge is being held to a higher standard, maybe for good reason, maybe not, but trying to generate trust here is useless. I say they're doing good work, it's just starting out small - but if that kind of psychologically revs up the team to go out and play bigger for a win - then great, why not?
Why not celebrate the smaller stuff at first? Rather than just bashing it.

 

[Steve R.]

Under the Biden administration, we were essentially living in the rebirth of a Jacobin Revolution (circa 1790) where history was to be erased for the benefit of the new order. We even had our own rendition of the "Reign of Terror", the cancelling or people as a opposed to actually Guillotining them. I didn't ask Grok about the renaming of military bases, schools, parks and other places that were renamed to promote woke politics.

Some thoughts on this from Victor Davis Hanson.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1892840058555691152

 

[Pat Hartman]

Guess you've never heard the phrase "Buy, borrow, and die"

Seems like a non sequitur to me. Are you saying that we shouldn't go into CC debt? I couldn't agree more. Are you saying that you shouldn't mortgage income producing properties, I couldn't disagree more.

 

[Pat Hartman]

OK. what happened in 2008?

The banks imploded because they were making reallllllly bad loans and Congress stupidly voted to bail them out. This is what we call a "moral hazard". As long as there is no downside to taking stupid risks, companies will continue their poor practices with the knowledge that they will be "saved" by their partners in crime from Congress.

 

[moke123]

Seems like a non sequitur to me. Are you saying that we shouldn't go into CC debt? I couldn't agree more. Are you saying that you shouldn't mortgage income producing properties, I couldn't disagree more.

I'll take that as a no.
When my parents died we didn't pay a dime in taxes.

Step 1: Buy Assets​

Wealthy family buys stocks, bonds, real estate, art, or other high-value assets. It strategically holds on to these assets and allows them to grow in value. The family won’t owe income tax on the growth in the assets’ value unless it sells them and makes a profit.

Step 2: Borrow Against Assets​

Wealthy family borrows against its assets’ growing value and uses the newly available cash to live off or invest in other assets, like rental properties. The family does NOT owe taxes on its asset-leveraged loans because the government doesn’t tax borrowed money.

Wealthy family uses its untaxed wealth to access significant amounts of untaxed cash to live luxuriously while continuing to grow its wealth, untaxed, indefinitely.

Step 3: Die and Pass Assets Tax Free to Heirs​

Wealthy parents or benefactors of the family keep the original appreciated assets until their death, leaving those assets to an heir. Neither the current federal or local tax code require the original asset holders or the heir to pay taxes on the growth in value up to that point. Instead, the tax code wipes out any tax liability for the capital gains by “stepping up” the baseline value of the assets from the original price to their value at the time of the benefactors’ death. This enables the wealthy family’s heirs to altogether avoid taxes on the increased value of stocks, real estate, and valuable artwork.

 

[Pat Hartman]

When my parents died we didn't pay a dime in taxes.

And I'm sure you didn't cheat. You took advantage of the many loopholes created specifically for people with money. Good for you. So, at least one person here can't complain about the rich not paying their fair share

 

[AccessBlaster]

OK. what happened in 2008?

Congress encouraged and incentivized subprime loans through policies aimed at expanding homeownership. These subprime contracts failed and cascaded throughout the industry causing a massive default. There were other factors, but that was a biggie.

 

[moke123]

And I'm sure you didn't cheat. You took advantage of the many loopholes created specifically for people with money. Good for you. So, at least one person here can't complain about the rich not paying their fair share

I didn't say I necessarily agree with it, just that I was a beneficiary of it.

 

[NauticalGent]

Congress encouraged and incentivized subprime loans through policies aimed at expanding homeownership. These subprime contracts failed and cascaded throughout the industry causing a massive default. There were other factors, but that was a biggie.

The two best movies made about this are "The Big Short" and "Margin Call"

 

[Thales750]

The banks imploded because they were making reallllllly bad loans and Congress stupidly voted to bail them out. This is what we call a "moral hazard". As long as there is no downside to taking stupid risks, companies will continue their poor practices with the knowledge that they will be "saved" by their partners in crime from Congress.

The question was rhetorical. And, as usual, your answer is straight out of the cool aid bin.
If we didn't provide them with loans, which they paid back, we would have had a worse situation than the Great Depression. Is there no subject that you don't post the party brainwashed line?

 

[Pat Hartman]

I didn't say I necessarily agree with it, just that I was a beneficiary of it.

Then don't be a hypocrite. Give it back

The question was rhetorical. And, as usual, your answer is straight out of the cool aid bin.

You mean the banks weren't making bad loans? My daughter was working for a company at the time who couldn't bundle them fast enough in an attempt to get them off the bank's and loan company's books and into the hand of other greedy people. There were always buyers. Didn't matter how bad the tranche's were.

The family won’t owe income tax on the growth in the assets’ value unless it sells them and makes a profit. Unless the Dems get their way and get to tax your assets every year.

 

[Isaac]

yeah don't the democrats want to start taxing your worth rather than your income?
talk about a nightmare of valuations, differing opinions, accusations of fraud, and assessments.

 

[AccessBlaster]

@Thales750 you agree with @NauticalGent movie picks, but disagree with @Pat Hartman assessment. They both seem to be discribing the same event.

 

[Isaac]

The banks imploded because they were making reallllllly bad loans and Congress stupidly voted to bail them out.

And because every yuppie couple in the world felt like they just had to have the expensive suburban house instead of starting out at a level appropriate to their income.

 

[Thales750]

The two best movies made about this are "The Big Short" and "Margin Call"

I Totally Agree.
"Inside Job" was a documentary that pretty much captured the whole process. I was a database guy in 2009, 2010, & 2011 at TSA, driving back and forth, to across from the Pentagon, every day gave me a chance to listen to CSPAN every morning.

The United States lead the world in fixing the problem. Which is completely opposite of what the ones in charge did during the Great Depression.
We're on dangerous ground with the administration trying to shut down the Federal Government.

 

[AccessBlaster]

And because every yuppie couple in the world felt like they just had to have the expensive suburban house instead of starting out at a level appropriate to their income.

Actually, wasn't it inter-city folks who couldn't qualify and congress stepped in?