Tammany Awards 3.0

[SEVERUSMAX]

In light of recent scandals, allow me to revive the Tammany Awards, which are similar to the Darwin Awards, but political. For those not familiar with me, the Tammany is NOT an award that you want. It's an "award" for corruption, deceit, misinformation, and political stupidity.

Obviously, the first Tammany this time goes to Judge Roy Moore, the Republican Senate candidate for Alabama. Few men have managed to be theocrat, fascist lickspittle, statutory rapist, and hypocrite to the same extent as Roy Moore in recent memory. This man's "family values" seem to consist largely of supporting tax cuts for the rich, favoring slavery as a social institution, disputing even the idea of woman suffrage (something that has been part of the Constitution for nearly a century now), sexually harassing and "dating" underage females (better known as statutory rape in my home state of Arizona, a crime that carries steep penalties), and bashing homosexuals, as well as framing the Ten Commandments, at least some of which he is himself violating, on the state courthouse wall, oh, and cozying up to Russian dictators like Vladimir Putin (who I'm sure really suits Moore, given their shared homophobia and fondness for religious tyranny, given that Putin is all friendly with the Russian Orthodox Church these days).

And then, of course, Alabamans have a sane choice available, a respected federal prosecutor named Doug Jones, who has the misfortune of the scarlet D (for Democrat) after his name, all but making him unelectable in such a deep red state. America, the polarized! Where Pennywise the Clown could get elected if he had an "R" next to his name on the ballot, at least in the Deep South. Hell, Satan could run as Republican and the GOP would have pastors convincing their folks that Jehovah had endorsed him!

 

[gotsnowgotslush]

When ultra rich people say "billions and billions" they are not quoting Johnny Carson's fictional Carl Sagan quote. (Carl Sagan would say "billions." But, he would not say "billions and billions." That would be silly.)

https://news.avclub.com/carl-sagan-did-say-billions-and-billions-a-lot-on-cos-1798275508

What the ultra rich are referring to, is all of the billions that they would get to keep. The poors would not be sharing their loot.

Donald Trump, according to Forbes, is only (only!) the 248th richest American. His kids could save about $620 million if the estate tax is repealed, but the families of even richer Americans, a group that notably includes some of the biggest donors to the Republican Party, would save billions—each.

As it currently works, the first $5.5 million of an estate is exempt for an individual and, for a married couple, the first $11 million. For inheritances that exceed that value, owners are then taxed at a rate of 40 percent. Only an incredibly small number of Americans have to pay the estate tax each year: 2 in 1,000 estates (or 0.2 percent). Even so, the estate tax generates a significant amount of revenue: In 2016, the tax generated roughly $14 billion.

Trump's (Tremendously Terrible) Tax Plan

The House bill, though, takes this one step further by proposing double exemptions until 2024, at which point the estate tax would be completely eliminated.

Mother Jones spoke with Americans for Tax Fairness, an advocacy group focused on progressive tax reform, about how these changes to the estate tax will benefit the ultra-wealthy, specifically the top 15 richest Americans, as ranked and reported by Forbes. If the exemptions are doubled, each estate would save $4.4 million for a couple, or $2.2 million for a single person. And if the tax is repealed, that’s where things get interesting: According to numbers crunched by Americans for Tax Fairness, in that scenario, the people who inherit money from this tiny group of people could potentially save more than a whopping $300 billion combined. And the families of GOP-megadonors Charles and David Koch could collectively save nearly $39 billion, while the heirs of Republican kingmaker and moneyman Sheldon Adelson could be looking at $14 billion.

http://www.motherjones.com/politics...merica-will-save-if-we-repeal-the-estate-tax/

 

[SEVERUSMAX]

When ultra rich people say "billions and billions" they are not quoting Johnny Carson's fictional Carl Sagan quote. (Carl Sagan would say "billions." But, he would not say "billions and billions." That would be silly.)

https://news.avclub.com/carl-sagan-did-say-billions-and-billions-a-lot-on-cos-1798275508

What the ultra rich are referring to, is all of the billions that they would get to keep. The poors would not be sharing their loot.

Donald Trump, according to Forbes, is only (only!) the 248th richest American. His kids could save about $620 million if the estate tax is repealed, but the families of even richer Americans, a group that notably includes some of the biggest donors to the Republican Party, would save billions—each.

As it currently works, the first $5.5 million of an estate is exempt for an individual and, for a married couple, the first $11 million. For inheritances that exceed that value, owners are then taxed at a rate of 40 percent. Only an incredibly small number of Americans have to pay the estate tax each year: 2 in 1,000 estates (or 0.2 percent). Even so, the estate tax generates a significant amount of revenue: In 2016, the tax generated roughly $14 billion.

Trump's (Tremendously Terrible) Tax Plan

The House bill, though, takes this one step further by proposing double exemptions until 2024, at which point the estate tax would be completely eliminated.

Mother Jones spoke with Americans for Tax Fairness, an advocacy group focused on progressive tax reform, about how these changes to the estate tax will benefit the ultra-wealthy, specifically the top 15 richest Americans, as ranked and reported by Forbes. If the exemptions are doubled, each estate would save $4.4 million for a couple, or $2.2 million for a single person. And if the tax is repealed, that’s where things get interesting: According to numbers crunched by Americans for Tax Fairness, in that scenario, the people who inherit money from this tiny group of people could potentially save more than a whopping $300 billion combined. And the families of GOP-megadonors Charles and David Koch could collectively save nearly $39 billion, while the heirs of Republican kingmaker and moneyman Sheldon Adelson could be looking at $14 billion.

http://www.motherjones.com/politics...merica-will-save-if-we-repeal-the-estate-tax/

Of course, this was the very sort of "swollen fortune" and stratification of class that Theodore Roosevelt, himself no pauper, hoped to avoid when he and his Republican administration pushed for the estate tax. The more that I hear of the estate tax, the more that I'm convinced that it isn't high enough. In fact, even when I was a Republican, the estate tax just plain made sense to me. Why should trust fund heirs get to keep all of that unearned wealth, to that staggering extent, when many millions live hand to mouth, paycheck to paycheck, even here in the richest nation on the Earth?

I'm not saying impoverish them. I'm just saying spread the wealth around a bit more than it already is. We could fund single-payer easily if we raised the estate tax rate enough. Just as an example.

After all, as Thomas Jefferson himself observed, "The Earth belongs to the living, not the dead."

 

[phrodeau]

Of course, this was the very sort of "swollen fortune" and stratification of class that Theodore Roosevelt, himself no pauper, hoped to avoid when he and his Republican administration pushed for the estate tax. The more that I hear of the estate tax, the more that I'm convinced that it isn't high enough. In fact, even when I was a Republican, the estate tax just plain made sense to me. Why should trust fund heirs get to keep all of that unearned wealth, to that staggering extent, when many millions live hand to mouth, paycheck to paycheck, even here in the richest nation on the Earth?

I'm not saying impoverish them. I'm just saying spread the wealth around a bit more than it already is. We could fund single-payer easily if we raised the estate tax rate enough. Just as an example.

After all, as Thomas Jefferson himself observed, "The Earth belongs to the living, not the dead."

Those who oppose estate taxes say that they shouldn't have to pay tax for money that has already been taxed.

I say that they need to prove that they paid the tax on that money in the first place.

 

[SEVERUSMAX]

Those who oppose estate taxes say that they shouldn't have to pay tax for money that has already been taxed.

I say that they need to prove that they paid the tax on that money in the first place.

Besides, the dead have no property rights.