" Yea...it's hard on blacks...I'm well aware."

So, not as hard as for folks like you. There's your white privilege.

" Well...if you come across as gay or a little effeminate, that isn't great either in some companies."

Except you were already trained to hide it. You certainly did when you joined the Navy.

Also, it's easy to tell, from a sizable distance, skin color. Not so much sexual preference.

" If you want to vote, you'll figure it out without making excuses."

Name one good reason why every legal voter shouldn't be able to cast their vote the way most convenient for them?

Who, exactly, are you, to tell others how to exercise their civic duties?

" I should have said that at interviews...."I'm white so I'm here for my job"."

What would the reaction have been if you were black?

Would they have even seen you?

"Fraud" has never been my primary motivation for questioning the usage of mail-in ballots for a presidential election."

Folks stealing ballots from house mates has been your primary motivation. Trouble with that, is tens of thousands of people would've had to have their ballots taken. After a close election, especially one so emotional, anyone who had their ballot taken, especially if they believed someone else in their household had taken it and voted in a way they didn't want, would've come forward.. We would've had dozens, if not hundreds of folks coming out of the woodwork, claiming your theory.

The fact it's been five years, and not a single person has come forward with that tale, proves it didn't happen, and definitely not at scale.

" Especially when there are other incredibly simple methods of holding an election that is fair."

You mean "fair" for people like you, and difficult for "certain others" who you wish wouldn't vote.

That's what upset you most about the 2020 election. More people voted, but they didn't vote the way you wanted them to.

There are folks who believe in-person voting is the safest. If it is, it's also the easiest to manipulate: construction, altered bus lines, speed traps, long lines, too few precincts. More votes get suppressed in this manner, than all the voter fraud you'll ever experience.

People should be allowed to participate in the voting process the way they deem best for themselves.

Their decision, not yours.

" 19- not really surprising, considering she has a much more peculiar name"

OK. Without looking it up, who tried to assassinate Trump?

" Miss Squeaky Fromme"

Interesting: we still remember her name, even though the assassination attempt was over forty years ago.

Meanwhile, 14 months ago, someone shot at Trump, and I doubt anyone reading this can name the guy without looking it up.

" Trump never misses an opportunity to criticize his predecessor about the economy, alleging former President Joe Biden caused an inflation crisis."

Trump never mentions he wanted a stimulus 42% higher than Joe Bidens stimulus. That means inflation would've been worse under Trump than it was under Biden. Our economy also returned the fastest and the furthest of any of the G7 countries, leading it to be Christened "the envy of the world".

Then Trump came along. Nobody refers to the American economy as the envy of the world anymore.

" better yet, how many was it estimated to be purchasing health insurance to avoid being penalized?"

That was the thing: for a lot of folks, the penalty they had to pay, would've been their premiums, especially when subsidies are counted.

When that became clear, I started to see fewer and fewer folks paying the penalty, and more and more being covered.

TrumpCare, however, has no mandate.

" At that point, how many people were paying the penalty"

By my experience, less and less every year.

" That is precisely what everyone who pays taxes says."

Except I also see 1000 returns a year.

I'm definitely paying my fair share. I'm also ensuring others do as well.

" Did that ever get off the ground?"

The mandate? Absolutely. I remember doing taxes for folks who had to pay the penalties.

" IOW, did it matter in the first place?"

You tell us, insurance guy: does a guarantee of an extra 10 million in the pool, most of them who will be using it sparingly (the younger, healthier set) allow for lower rates? Or lower annual increases? Bonus points if you use the words "adverse selection".

Also, could you please remind people that even if the cost of their insurance policy doesn't go up the following year, their cost still goes up the following year? And how the same policy will have dozens of different price points, all based on age?

TIA

" Starving", lol. Starving people can't afford tax specialists."

Nonsense. My rates are very reasonable; I'm very aware I charge much less than the going rate. I even offer an early bird special: most clients can get a federal, state, and city tax return done and filed for less than $200. The chains start around twice that price.

I bump up my rates every three weeks, and by April I'm charging $185/hr. The folks who delay never seem to come earlier, so I can't be doing it wrong. But the fact is, I make half my annual income in three weeks, between March 24th and April 15th.

Also, most of these "starving" folks are self-employed, so they need my help to save money now, and even more in the future. Usually, I save folks more than my fee in the first year, the second year THEY save more than my fee by following my advice, and by the third year, we're a humming MACHINE!

"Iran's great sin is being a country that stands up for Palestinians in Israel"

Since the Palestinians have been lead by Hamas, could you explain/justify the Hamas Preamble?

The wording is basically "Israel will exist only until we obliterate it".

It also goes on to say ANY mediators suggesting anything other than total annihilation of Israel are the devil.

I only ask because, as a longtime negotiator, I would be nothing but frustrated if every time we made an offer, the response was "our counter offer is to kill you, kill your family, and assume all your assets."

That's been the counter-offer since 1948.

Please explain the preamble, and let me know what your next offer would be after getting the same counter-offer above for decades.

And, for the record, I've already stated there are no heroes here. I believe both sides are guilty of war crimes.

"However, the law's effects on overall health are mixed"

That's odd, when they mentioned multiple positive results, and no negatives were proffered.

When I first joined a health committee at AFTRA, our goal was to get the preventative medicine (annual physical, prostate exam, mammogram, child immunizations) into the health plan at no increased cost.

I thought that would be a huge uphill slog. I was dead wrong. Insurance companies WELCOMED the wellness package.

Why? They knew, better than we did ... it lowers their overall costs.

Now, I understand: Prevention is MUCH cheaper than cure.

" US Navy launches most intensive attack since Desert Storm"Super Hornets hit 1,000 Houthi targets"

On contact, they make a sound that just screams "peace prize".

" Lavrov said all drones were destroyed by Russian air defenses, with no injuries or damage."

And THAT'S why it almost looks like it never happened. How convenient!

Let's see the fragments from the 91 drones.

" Like ObamaCare"

No, not at all. Obamacare had a mandate. As soon as Trump ended the mandate, it became TrumpCare.

Every honest broker tasked with making the equation work, democrat and republican alike, always comes out of meetings admitting a mandate is required.

Once the mandate was removed, it's no longer Obamacare. Just like if you buy a product, then modify it, voiding the warranty. YOU'RE the one now responsible for the fallout.

I give it about a week or two before the TrumpCare feces hit the fan.

" Maybe a separate small tax for universal healthcare."

There is no such thing. As Americans, we spend over $10,000 per person every year.

Luckily, we have TrumpCare, where we will be spending a lot more, to get a lot less.

" If you are poor, no one cares. Go to a charity."

Your concept of the scale is frightening.

Charities would be overwhelmed overnight.
~Sincerely, Math

"One tax rate for income. Period. For everyone."

The Mitt Romney's of the world will NEVER let that happen.

He gets paid in "carried interest" and dividends, which are taxed at much lower rates than your income. He also pays no SS taxes on his income; you pay it on ALL your income, starting with the first dollar.

Folks like him are laughing at your suggestion.

The person paying the highest federal tax rate in America is not the millionaire, or even the billionaire. It's the W-2 worker making $185,000 a year.

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" Walz knows as much as Rick Scott about the fraud going on in their organizations."

You're literally conflating a governor with a CFO. The fraud victim, with the fraud architect.

Are you trying to look stupid?