There is an article in today’s NYT regarding the new tax plan which allows as how tax subsidies for home ownership are a form of social engineering and, worse yet, social engineering which “distorts the economy” in a negative manner.

The notion that subsidies for home ownership “distort the economy” would be laughable if scaling back those subsidies weren’t so punitive and dangerous. It’s not as though our American economic model was carved in stone and handed down from on high. The whole idea of *any* economic model is to engage in social engineering; to encourage some activities and people and to discourage others.

Are lower corporate tax rates not social engineering? How about all but abolishing the estate tax? Or waiving taxes on private jet maintenance contracts? Or taxing investment income less than wage income?

Everything we do as a society is in a real sense social engineering. Civilization itself is social engineering and so is, by extension, taxes paid for the common weal.

The new tax plan is nothing more than its own social engineering. The problem in this case — which is particularly egregious in a democracy— is that, for no apparent reason other than greed and selfishness, it entrenches both winners and losers in their current respective positions both now and for generations to come.

Equally as bad and, I would submit downright dangerous, is the wrenching effect the new tax plan will likely have on the entire housing industry including real estate sales, mortgages and banking, new home construction, home restoration and repair, appliance and electronics sales, etc., all of which form such a large part of our economy.

Instead of engineering our society for the possibility of upward mobility and the accumulation of wealth for the majority of our society, the new tax plan codifies increasing inequality and encourages an increasingly rental society with a few uber wealthy owners and the rest of the society as renters. This new tax plan is, without hyperbole, a giant step back towards feudalism.

Let's go back to hunting and gathering

Domestic production deduction is gone eh

MAGA

Executive performance incentives are now fully deductible with no cap.

the interest deduction cap was apparently raised from $500K in the previous bills to $750K in this new version. No scoring required!

The Dude wrote:Rep Speier says the rumor in DC is that Mueller will be fired Dec 22

So how would this work? I mean he has to be fired by the Justice Department, correct? I guess Sessions would have to "un-recuse" himself from the matter and then fire Mueller because I've seen no indication that Rosenstein thinks that Mueller has done anything improper at all. So I don't think Rosenstein would fire him. So if Sessions stays "re-cused" I guess they'd have to fire Rosenstein and get somebody under him to do it. Or am I off base here?

several female staffers uncomfortable with touching and sexual jokes of State Senator Daylin Leach (Dem running in PA 7 primary)

Metcalfe to defend him???

Squire wrote:

The Dude wrote:Rep Speier says the rumor in DC is that Mueller will be fired Dec 22

So how would this work? I mean he has to be fired by the Justice Department, correct? I guess Sessions would have to "un-recuse" himself from the matter and then fire Mueller because I've seen no indication that Rosenstein thinks that Mueller has done anything improper at all. So I don't think Rosenstein would fire him. So if Sessions stays "re-cused" I guess they'd have to fire Rosenstein and get somebody under him to do it. Or am I off base here?

They would have to order Rosenstein to do it. He’d have to either do it or resign (or be fired like Sally Yates). Assuming Rosenstein isn’t a total weasel (and he may be) it would likely be the latter and would look a lot like the Saturday Night Massacre in Watergate and we’d soon find out whether the Pubs in Congress have even the slightest bit of decency and patriotism left in them and threaten articles of impeachment or whether they’d just roll over and put another nail in the coffin of the rule of law.

Ralph Northam is apparently not going to push hard to expand Medicaid due to 'costs'.

Doug Jones said that the people elected Trump so we should stop investigating the sexual assault allegations.


Fucking wimps

If Mueller were fired for the holiday season, I hope that some soulless deep stater is already working with the papers to explode the story on to the front pages of several major papers immediately. Sort of presetting the dynamite with an agreement that the balloon goes up as soon as necessary, but not before. A continuous drip of information so that a story is pre-established, and a huge catalog of data is dumped if it goes haywire. Try it in the court of public opinion.

I cannot believe that I am advocating this proactive stance, but it is also not a leak. It will be called one, but it is something else.

Great. That's the shit that the Dems pretty much anointed to run against Meehan too.

Re: leach

Multiple people were in the race before Leach decided to make it about him.

I'm aware. Ive met them. Best hope left is that scientist woman. Forget her name. I liked Perry but he couldn't raise money and quit.

Molly Sheehan

Ajit posts a video with the help of the Daily Caller to explain all the stuff you can still do after the murder of net neutrality. He played a bunch of copy righted music to accompany him, including the Star War theme while whipping it up with a light saber.

Mark Hammill with time on his hands jumps in...

Hamill wrote:Cute video Ajit "Aren't I Precious?" Pai <Barfing Emoji>-but you are profoundly unworthy 2 wield a lightsaber-A Jedi acts selflessly for the common man-NOT lie 2 enrich giant corporations. Btw-did you pay John Williams his royalty? @AjitPaiFCCorpShill #AJediYouAreNOT

one of our fav's runs to get on Trumps good side....

lyingTedForkingCruz wrote:“Luke, I know Hollywood can be confusing, but it was Vader who supported govt power over everything said & done on the Internet”

Cruz pulls a dumpster fire Trump and misspells Hamill's twitter handle, but...

Hamill's strikes back...

Hamill wrote:Thanks for smarm-spaining it to me @tedcruz I know politics can be confusing, but you'd have more credibility if you spelled my name correctly. I mean IT'S RIGHT THERE IN FRONT OF YOU! Maybe you're just distracted from watching porn at the office again-mh https://twitter.com/tedcruz/status/942460828242063361 …

That is awesome.

This is how crazy the Republican party has gotten. When Joe Walsh has more common sense than you, you've failed as a party. Republican Party is now nothing more than a puppet for the mega rich in this country (and Russia).

These are some scary times.

Joe Walsh‏ @WalshFreedom
If President Trump fires Robert Mueller, he will be impeached.

And he will deserve to be impeached.

Fox “News”is having quiet the run...

Pirro Doubles Down: Andrew McCabe Is "Consigliere" Of FBI "Criminal Cabal"

In interviewing Kelly Anne they ask about an American coupe

That’s some weekend right there.