Fergies Gum
Full Member
- Joined
- May 23, 2011
- Messages
- 13,816
GOP and Trump are about to get their first big legislative victory.
One of the signatories, Gil Sylvia of the University of Georgia, does not have a biography page or any online trace of employment at the university. A university representative told The Intercept that no one with the name Gil Sylvia is employed there.
...
Another signatory to the RATE letter, Seth Bied, is not an economist. He is a low-level office assistant at the New York State Tax Department, whose spokesperson said Bied does not remember signing the economists’ letter.
Other names on the economists’ letter may raise eyebrows. John P. Eleazarian is listed as an economist with the American Economic Association. But membership to the AEA is open to anybody who coughs up dues, and membership simply grants access to AEA journals and discounts at AEA events. Eleazarian is a former attorney who lost his law license and the ability to practice law in California after he was convicted and sentenced to six months in prison for forging a judicial signature and falsifying other documents.
...
Professor Ashley Lyman is listed as a signatory who works at the University of Idaho, but his biography pageshows that he is actually retired. The same goes for Richard Kilmer of the University of Florida, Jerold Zimmerman of the University of Rochester, Stephen Happel of Arizona State University, and William R. Allen of the University of California, Los Angeles. All are listed as current academics while they are, in fact, in retirement.
Other signatories are far from independent voices. One is an in-houseeconomist at a financial services firm based in Illinois. Another is an in-house economist with Bank of America.
Others on the list are part of advocacy groups that have made tax cuts their biggest legislative priority. James C. Miller III, one of the signatories, is an official with Americans for Prosperity, the Koch brothers-run advocacy organization hell-bent on passing tax cut legislation. Douglas Holtz-Eakin, another signatory, is head of the American Action Forum, the sister group of the American Action Network, the dark money group aligned with Ryan’s political team.
It's interesting, though not surprising, that in a fair amount of the reporting on Flynn's discussions with the Russian ambassador, it's seldom mentioned that the reason Flynn was trying to get the Russians to oppose or delay the UN resolution condemning the Israeli settlements—in defiance of the official US position on the resolution (which gets reported merely as "Obama's position," as if he were some random private citizen)—is that Netanyahu, or at least senior Israeli officials, instructed the Trump transition team to seek the defeat of the resolution. I guess that kind of work with or on behalf of a foreign power is not newsworthy, at least according to the Washington Post, The Daily Beast, The Atlantic, CNN, Talking Points Memo, and CBS.
Yeah but he wasn't on the ballot and he endorsed the dem candidate on the ballot. I have no sympathy for idealogues wishing death on John McCain because they were thick enough to vote for third party candidate.
He tried to bomb Vietnam, fecked up the flying, got tortured, and then decided to organise and support every bombing and massacre his country did.
He got a brain tumour and decided that poorer people with brain tumours don't deserve to live.
I'm on #teamtumour.
How the grad student tax is class war:
I'm assuming it is intentional, and that the effects on other students are similar to those for me: take-home pay of ~1k/month (poverty line.) It also means that income used for paying back student loans becomes taxable.
Undergrad college in the US is expensive, and bar a small percent of rich families, and exceptional students with scholarships, many students go into significant debt for their degree. The total student loan debt in the US is $1.5 trillion. This steep cost means that for borderline middle class families, joining college is a dilemma with a big risk. However, getting a degree is a significant boost to future income generally and an important part of class mobility.
What about a PhD? Universities generally pay tuition and a stipend for PhD students. Though this isn't high compared to typical salaries, it is comfortable enough and there is a promise of higher future incomes once you complete a post-doc (mid-30s). It is also the only route to get into academia.
1. This obviously means that the next generation of professors - and the current generation of actual researchers - will be from even richer families. I would not be surprised if the GOP want this to affect social science research, particularly in the types of questions being asked.
2. It means that non-rich Americans who pursue a subject because they like it, are good at it, and are willing to sacrifice their income and time to study it, will no longer be able to do so. It means further diversion of these people into industry, and thus a worse job market even in "safe" fields.
3. The Kochs and deVoses etc have charities which run free-market and other such think-tanks within universities. As funding for research decreases, these think-tanks become more important. These have open ideological biases, and choose students that match their ideology. With this rule change, scholarships offered by such think-tanks will become extremely valuable. Obviously as these scholarships become more vital, there will be a change in ideology of grad students.
4. It is a safe guess that within a year, as the deficit skyrockets, the GOP will start cutting all non-defence spending including research budgets. I'd guess that they would target the very meager funding that remains for social sciences and humanities. Colleges and students have already been painted as the enemy by 30 years of anti-PC rhetoric; this will be a fairly popular move. It will lead to the feudal situation, where studies depend on ruling-class patronage. (And as discussed above, there are a few very ideological families engaged in this patronage)
Edit: the bill also killed the Public Service Loan Forgiveness. My friend, for example, is in law school and was going to work in legal aid, relying on laon forgiveness to pay ff his tuition debt. So this is another obvious act of class war, when public defenders are already bankrupt all over the US, it means that the solid, permanently criminal and unemployable underclass will expand.
would that be the party that isn't as right wing as the other partyvote for the party which tried to stand for what you believed in
You can wish whatever you like,but you didn't have a vote. If you had a valid vote last election and didn't vote for the party which tried to stand for what you believed in because they had to win your vote by nominating your choice of candidate, you really are a special kind of stupid. It's that simple really. When you sucked your thumb while voting and now complain about Republicans voting for Republican policies, you deserve a hard slap.
He's a Republican senator from Arizona. Of course he is going to vote for a tax cut. What the feck is strange about it? Perhaps it's now the time for Clinton is bad as Trump YouTube clip.
Since we are just throwing out examples here:
My room-mate was in the army in Iraq. She is religious, and she made a vow after coming back to never vote for an Iraq war supporter. She broke her vow to stop Trump.
She is trans, so she gets special treatment from the GOP especially here in NC), but she still regrets her vote. Hillary did not "stand for what she believed in."
Hillary did some things, including Iraq, that people find very hard to morally accept.
would that be the party that isn't as right wing as the other party
From my understanding, they are till 2025?These aren't tax cuts for most people, they're tax increases.
Exactly, they're shit.Yes the same party which deported a record number of people yet somehow is perceived as weak on border.
Is this bill really going to pass with proposed cuts to PhD students? I am applying for my PhD in US this year, what am I looking at?
But as long as someone I've never seen can't abort a pregnancy, I don't care.So the GOP tax bill is about to pass? When it comes down to cut taxes for the rich the right is always united.
From my understanding, they are till 2025?
And that's exactly the problem with a broken fptp two party system.But as long as someone I've never seen can't abort a pregnancy, I don't care.
That's how a lot of the poor will think.
Are you and @berbatrick on the March for science fb group? Some excellent examples of tax with and without the plan on there. Basically, if you get a stipend for say 30,000 you are taxed at 30,000. These assholes want to tax you at 80,000. The 30,000 stipend plus the 50,000 tuition waiver. They'll be after scholarships in undergrad next, those should be taxable gifts.Is this bill really going to pass with proposed cuts to PhD students? I am applying for my PhD in US this year, what am I looking at?
That's what Reagan used to do. Think the USA deficit was very high during his presidency.Cutting corporate tax from 35 to 20% further adding to an already massive deficit which will inevitably be taken from social security and medical provision. These people are just disgusting
But this tax cut will help America. Jobs are already coming back into the country, wages up, consumer confidence is at an world record high (no planet has ever succeeded under a President more than me(massive yuge hands)) when will the FAKE news stop lying and start reporting the facts? Ignore the FAKE news media and trust what I tell you - your favourite President with the big hands (me!)Cutting corporate tax from 35 to 20% further adding to an already massive deficit which will inevitably be taken from social security and medical provision. These people are just disgusting
From my understanding, they are till 2025?
This is an utterly compelling podcast. Had never heard of the guy prior to listening to this.
James O'Brien is the LBC presenter who regularly rips leavers apart over Brexit. Good guy.
I find him a bit of a prick, to be honest. Far too condescending, but his podcast is definitely worth a listen.
Deplorable you might say.Cutting corporate tax from 35 to 20% further adding to an already massive deficit which will inevitably be taken from social security and medical provision. These people are just disgusting