People that you've never heard of, people that are in the dark shadows -- US Politics September 2020

OK, so why does this make Ezra Klein credulous? I think he would largely agree with you on all of this.

According to him, he does not agree with me, he thinks all of that is very much possible:
"I’m not going to call this a prediction, but it is a possibility."

"... and the vision of the Senate that he is convincing Democrats to embrace, the reforms he might, at last, convince them to make."

"The singular lesson Senate Democrats learned from the Obama years was McConnell simply wouldn’t let them govern if they retook the majority." - Ezra apparently has not heard Joe Biden speak?

etc.

OK, well, I think it's possible, too. I don't think it will be easy (cf. Joe Manchin's comments on court packing today), but I don't think it's impossible, as you seem to think so many things are. (Biden is still polling within spitting distance in Texas, btw.)

I think lots of things are possible. I don't know how you can live in 2020 and think you know how everything's going to shake out.

Jaymc otm

social security / medicare = for all

Sometimes the day is ending and I repeat the nightly news to my husband and just go, "Well okay," then we make passionate love.

My favorite Faye Dunaway line from Network.

I don't know how you can live in 2020 and think you know how everything's going to shake out.

Because I’m listening to Biden and Biden’s team and Schumer and Feinstein and Manchin and etc. tell me all the things that aren’t possible.

The Democratic Party that wipes away the filibuster, packs the court and grants statehood to DC and Puerto Rico is a fantasy.

Maybe they’ll need to nibble at the filibuster to pass a budget - but we saw how that works in 2013. The whole thing isn’t going away, but we’ll make sure the Pentagon budget can climb over $800bn.

OK. Then capture the Democratic Party and make it a reality. But don't expect any of those outcomes to be handed to you because you like them.

If "politics is the art of the possible", then the job of progressives is to make their policies possible. The way to do that is to accrue enough political power to find candidates and back them with enough votes to win elections. Believe it or not, this is somewhat less of a mountain to climb than fomenting a proletarian revolution.

But don't expect any of those outcomes to be handed to you because you like them.

That wasn't the question, the question was "why is Ezra Klein credulous."

Ezra Klein may have said those things were possible, but he was careful not to say how possible he thought they were. iow, his credulity in this regard was played very close to the vest.

Then capture the Democratic Party and make it a reality.

Believe it or not, this is somewhat less of a mountain to climb than fomenting a proletarian revolution.

idk these seem about equally difficult to me

yikes, parscale is having a rough one

https://www.local10.com/news/local/2020/09/28/former-trump-campaign-manager-brad-pascale-armed-barricades-self-in-fl-home-police-called/

if i had to guess, that suggests that he has more on his mind than trump losing. there are lots of rumors swirling about him siphoning off the campaign financing to personal ends

in order to drain the swamp it was necessary to create another larger swamp to drain it into

MSNBC says this report is sending "shockwaves through the White House."

I find that very hard to believe--surely they've known for years this was coming out sooner or later.

But Brad seemed like such a nice young man!

It's always the greed. Brad, despite siphoning off millions, no doubt invested those millions in some stupid scheme.

As I said, 750 is somehow more offensive than 0

Well that was quick — the Biden team just released their first ad on the reporting released today on Trump’s taxes in the @nytimes pic.twitter.com/Cw51FUof8g

— Grace Panetta (@grace_panetta) September 28, 2020

The NYT tax story is really a breakthrough in reporting and presentation. It's thorough and dense for those looking to parse details, but there's one punchline detail that folks will remember for a long time: $750.

— Ryan Mac 🙃 (@RMac18) September 28, 2020

i've already had 3 or four friends use as their statuses "I paid more in taxes than that in 2016 and 2017!" and those kindsa points are spreading.

that....isn't a bad way to illuminate further the ridiculousness of it.

civilian friends of mine who aren't rich paid more in 2016 and 2017 than the President. not because he didn't pay any, but cos heo nly paid $750.

caek otm

tomorrow's news - Trump resigns.

Pence is promoted to President.

Pence pardons Trump and makes him his VP.

Pence resigns.

Trump is now President.

Trump nominates Pence as his VP.

#SCsen:
Graham (R-inc) 45% (+1)
Harrison (D) 44%@YouGovAmerica/@CBSNewsPoll, LV, 9/22-25https://t.co/u7KYVZX1Tr

— Political Polls (@Politics_Polls) September 27, 2020

he won't lose, but what if he did...

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/09/25/lindsey-graham-begs-for-cash-421952

I just kicked in $10 to Graham's opponent, Harrison. I want Lindsey Graham sweating bullets when the confirmation hearings start.

https://t.co/RUQxbxIXUE pic.twitter.com/ByWCvCc4n0

— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) September 28, 2020

As I said, 750 is somehow more offensive than 0

I think it's more insulting, in a way. Someone who owes zero, we all know about tax write-offs and whatever. But 750 means that he's claiming some paltry amount of income, which just seems ridiculous.

it's like why a penny tip is more insulting than stiffing the waiter

idk for me it’s more the confirmation that there’s the hidden lever or the secret handshake that gets you that deal

not the amount, not the math of how it works out but the deal that made it “ok”

you live your whole life knowing thats how it works, but seeing it in writing is just

xps:

US banks won't lend Trump money since the early aughts. Most of his loans appear to be through Deutsche Bank's US private wealth management business. And why would Deutsche Bank lend to a notorious deadbeat?

ForensicNews.net: Deutsche Bank’s loans to Donald Trump were underwritten by Russian state-owned VTB Bank

Hard to say where Trump's actual net worth stands. Without consideration of debt, Forbes goes property by property and still gets $2.5 billion. Much is minority interests in properties with reasonable assessments, and Forbes isn't counting intangibles like whatever value the Trump brand may still have. So if Trump's personal liabilities are limited to the $413 million debt due in the next 4 years, + maybe IRS clawback of a $72 million refund the IRS is auditing, he'll still have a more comfortable retirement than any of us can hope for.

However, the NYT piece to my knowledge doesn't mention any longer maturity debt. Supposedly it's just the first of many planned features from the tax returns. And Trump still faces potential liability from the thousand+ civil cases. My worthless guess, between the $250 million tangible net worth the NYT reported in 2005, property appreciation, and ill-gotten gains, he could still be in the higher 9 digits.

what’s interesting is that he’s utterly worthless

tomorrow's news - Trump resigns.

Pence is promoted to President.

Pence pardons Trump and makes him his VP.

Pence resigns.

Trump is now President.

Trump nominates Pence as his VP.

― LaRusso Auto (Neanderthal), Monday, 28 September 2020 05:11 (four hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

We feed the cats to the rats, the rats to the cats, and get the skins for free!

Now get this...

I could actually see Neanderthal's scenario playing out, except for the last step - Trump would swap in the My Pillow guy or some other toadie that was more sufficiently loyal than Pence, just because he could.

there's zero chance that once Pence is President that he doesn't tell Trump to go fuck himself and name Mother as his VP.

Mother do ya think they'll try to break
My balls

i can't imagine this level of tax evasion is in any sense legal

Nixon did some of that

i like the detail of the $72 million dollar tax refund.

lol

this country is such a joke. i'm sure plenty of other rich people basically do this.

also the fact that his stupid tv show was one of his few profitable ventures. the whole real estate/hotel empire apparently is just bleeding money constantly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAVl_IJV5eI

it's also possible that the massive losses the golf courses, etc, are incurring is fraudulent and a way to reduce his taxable income.

he could be hiding some of the revenue from those places. i wouldn't be surprised. the huge losses he keeps claiming seem really convenient.

i can't imagine this level of tax evasion is in any sense legal

yeah the lede a lot of people seem to be going with is "somehow this is all legal" (or, if you're FOX, "PATHETIC NYT BOMBSHELL REVEALS NO CRIME"), but the take I've heard from the two people I know who do business internationally is "there's a lot of outright fraud here and it's fucking insane the IRS didn't catch it earlier"

have heard that perhaps his decision to reopen everything as soon as possible may be influenced by the fact that he is broke

I mean Biden may wanna suggest that at the debate. just a thought

It's been so frustrating to see even some usually well meaning libs on Twitter hand-waving this way as "this just shows how badly written our tax code is". Well, yes, of course, but that doesn't come close to explain all of this.