U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has indicated to advisers he is keen on a new middle-class tax cut should he return to the White House, two people familiar with the discussions said, an initiative that could appeal to voters but could also worsen America's yawning budget deficit.
The Arkansas Legislative Audit this week wrapped up its investigation into the purchase of a $19,000 podium by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders' administration.
Civics education will be expanded in Florida, including instruction about communist and totalitarian governments, and state universities will be prevented from quashing conservative ideology under bills Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed Tuesday.
On the afternoon of March 11th, 2011, Mitsuyoshi Hirai, the chief engineer of the cable maintenance ship Ocean Link, was sitting in his cabin 20 miles off Japan's eastern coast, completing the paperwork that comes at the end of every repair. Two weeks earlier, something -- you rarely knew what -- damaged the 13,000-mile fiber optic cable connecting Kitaibaraki, Japan, and Point Arena, California. Alarms went off; calls were made; and the next day, Hirai was sailing out of the port in Yokohama to fix it.
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden made a combined income of $619,976 last year, and Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband made $450,299, according to the couples' 2023 tax returns the White House released Monday.
The best cover of this Tom Waits song I've heard so far...
Diana Krall - Temptation (2004)
www.youtube.com
As of 2003, she and Elvis Costello have been married.
OK, that aside, I still think her rendition of the Temptation tune is the best I've heard.
YMMV.
@#15 ... It does take a while sometimes. ...
Yeah, I've noticed.
Whilst we wait, here's a fun tune...
Sigue Sigue Sputnik - Love Missile F1-11 (1986)
www.youtube.com
OK, maybe "fun" is not the right word.
Odd?
Yeah, that may be better....
I do like how the audio engineer plays with the relative phasing of the channels to create sounds that seem to originate outside the physical location of the speakers.
Two comments...
1) wow the photo in the article of fmr Pres Trump as he appeared at the courthouse is, well, wow. But you decide...
www.reuters.com
2) what happened the last time fmr Pres Trump promised tax cuts for the middle class?
The 2017 Trump Tax Law Was Skewed to the Rich, Expensive, and Failed to Deliver on Its Promises (March 2024)
www.cbpp.org
... A high-stakes tax policy debate will accelerate this year through 2025 over the pending expiration of the individual income and estate tax provisions of the 2017 Trump tax law. Policymakers should use this opportunity to work toward a tax code that raises more revenues, is more progressive and equitable, and supports investments that make the economy work for everyone.
As this debate unfolds, policymakers and the public should understand that the 2017 Trump tax law:
- - - Was skewed to the rich. Households with incomes in the top 1 percent will receive an average tax cut of more than $60,000 in 2025, compared to an average tax cut of less than $500 for households in the bottom 60 percent, according to the Tax Policy Center (TPC).[1] As a share of after-tax income, tax cuts at the top " for both households in the top 1 percent and the top 5 percent " are more than triple the total value of the tax cuts received for people with incomes in the bottom 60 percent.[2]
- - - Was expensive and eroded the U.S. revenue base. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated in 2018 that the 2017 law would cost $1.9 trillion over ten years,[3] and recent estimates show that making the law's temporary individual income and estate tax cuts permanent would cost another roughly $350 billion a year beginning in 2027.[4] Together with the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts enacted under President Bush (most of which were made permanent in 2012), the law has severely eroded our country's revenue base. Revenue as a share of GDP has fallen from about 19.5 percent in the years immediately preceding the Bush tax cuts to just 16.3 percent in the years immediately following the Trump tax cuts, with revenues expected to rise to an annual average of 16.9 percent of GDP in 2018-2026 (excluding pandemic years), according to CBO. This is simply not enough revenue given the nation's investment needs and our commitments to Social Security and health coverage.
- - - Failed to deliver promised economic benefits. Trump Administration officials claimed their centerpiece corporate tax rate cut would "very conservatively" lead to a $4,000 boost in household income.[5] New research shows that workers who earned less than about $114,000 on average in 2016 saw "no change in earnings" from the corporate tax rate cut, while top executive salaries increased sharply.[6] Similarly, rigorous research concluded that the tax law's 20 percent pass-through deduction, which was skewed in favor of wealthy business owners, has largely failed to trickle down to workers in those companies who aren't owners.[7] Like the Bush tax cuts before it,[8] the 2017 Trump tax cut was a trickle-down failure. ...
... The report, conducted by Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez and the Fire Safety Research Institute, used extensive data to show how a combination of environmental and geographical factors, along with preparedness and response conditions, enabled the fire to "rapidly intensify into an urban conflagration." ...
Another view...
A new report on the Maui wildfires cites communications breakdowns
www.npr.org
... As wildfires ripped across Maui last August, the head of the emergency management agency dragged his heels about returning to the island amid the unfolding crisis, while a broad communications breakdown left authorities in the dark and residents without emergency alerts, according to a report released Wednesday.
Communications problems were also encountered by the Hawaiian Electric Company, with officials unable to confirm that power lines were de-energized until well after flames had caused widespread damage, the report from the Hawaii Attorney General said.
It was the second of two major assessments out this week about the deadliest U.S. wildfire in a century. A report released Tuesday by the Western Fire Chiefs Association detailed the challenges facing the Maui Fire Department during an unprecedented series of blazes, including one that killed 101 people in the historic town of Lahaina. ...
imo, it looks like the finger pointing is continuing...
@#10 ... Dead Baby bounce. ...
The phrase I've seen is "dead cat bounce."
But, yeah, the same concept.
DJT will be interesting to watch, especially the volume vs price movement.
Then there's things like this...
Investing in Trump Media is an act of faith,' expert says. Here are some risks involved
www.cnbc.com
... Trump Media[emphasis mine]
has become the latest stock to watch.
But rather than a meme stock " an investment that becomes popular for individual investors through social media " the company is more of a personality stock, according to John Rekenthaler, vice president of research at Morningstar.
"The reason that people own this stock is because, in one way or another, they support Donald Trump," Rekenthaler said.
"It's an act of faith," he said.
The former president is the majority shareholder in Trump Media, which trades under the initials of his name, DJT, on the Nasdaq. The stock got off to a rocky start this week, with two straight days of losses, though it was up more than 20% on Wednesday afternoon.
The company's mission statement is to end "Big Tech's assault on free speech by opening up the internet and giving the American people their voices back," according to its website. ...
@#23 ... Women's Rights Theory has entered the chat. ...
... and this is where we see the usual GOP supporters disappear.
But it is late this evening here on the East Coast.
So they may be going to bed. (as i dd a couple nights ago) ...
( drudge.com )
@#10 ... The Retort is bleeping Kari's instruction to strap one on! ...
My guess...
The Retort has a pool of advertisers that give money to The retort in order to allow you and I and others to post here.
That pool of advertisers probably have given The Retort a list of words that they do not want to see on the same page as their advertisements.
It's a standard practice in the industry. And one that Mr Musk is starting to appreciate regarding the nonsense (I'll be kind) he allows on X and his diminishing pool of advertisers.
Given the comments that I have seen allowed on this most august site, at this point I'm not complaining. I deal with it.
For example...
Seven dirty words
en.wikipedia.org
... The seven dirty words are seven English-language curse words that American comedian George Carlin first listed in his 1972 "Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television" monologue.[1] The words, in the order Carlin listed them, are: "----", "piss", "----", "----", "----------", "------------", and "----".[1][2] ...
So, let's see how I do...
The words, in the order Carlin listed them, are: "----", "p?ss", "f!!k", "c#nt", "c%cksucker", "-----------", and "----".
And, for the record, listening to Jefferson Airplane's tune, "Volunteers" I do note that recently, less and less of the word "-----------" seems to be bleeped on the radio of late. The whole word used to be bleeped out. Now it seems that just a syllable is bleeped out.
Maybe it is just the station I listen to. ( www.1071thepeak.com )
That station also does not use the censored lyrics for the James song, "Laid." Instead of the lyrics, "she only screams when she's on top" the station plays the original version, "she only c@ms when she's on top."
So, there's that.
@#3 ... When the New York Mafia ...
Yeah.
But no.
My guess is that the New York Mafia want nothing to do with fmr Pres Trump.
As much as fmr Pres trump has seemed to try to fit into New York, he was rejected.
OpEd: The City That Raised -- and Rejected -- Donald Trump (2020)
[emphasis mine]www.usnews.com