Democrats release "Merchant of Death" to kill again

NEW YORK POST ARTICLE;

Trump, 76, also questioned President Biden’s decision to free “one of the biggest arms dealers anywhere in the world” in a Truth Social post Thursday, claiming Bout was “responsible for tens of thousands of deaths and horrific injuries.”

“Why wasn’t former Marine Paul Whelan included in this totally one-sided transaction? He would have been let out for the asking,” the former president said. “What a ‘stupid’ and unpatriotic embarrassment for the USA!!!”

Bolton agreed, calling the deal “a huge victory for Moscow over Washington.”

Obviously, there’s a lot of very understandable human emotion here in getting Griner released, but this is a very bad mistake by the Biden administration,” Bolton told CBS of the decision to swap Bout 

This is not a deal. This is not a swap. This is a surrender,” Bolton added. “And terrorists and rogue states all around the world will take note of this, and it endangers other Americans in the future who can be grabbed and used as bargaining chips by people who don’t have the same morals and scruples that we do.

CAN YOU IMAGINE THE OUTRAGE IF TRUMP TRADED BOUT FOR WHALEN. EVERYONE WOULD SAY TRUMP AND HIS BUDDY PUTIN COOKED IT ALL UP. 

AND THEN GRINER WOULD NEVER GET OUT BECAUSE THAT PUTIN LOVING TRUMP ALREADY GAVE AWAY BOUT. 

Biden's White House announced in August that they offered Bout for Whelan and Griner. There's a press release from it back then, and articles from August. Russia drove a hard bargain. They had the choice to bring nobody back, or Griner back. I can't blame them for bringing Griner back. 

Speaking of Ukraine, at least Paul Manafort is no longer in a position to try and sell off the Eastern half of Ukraine to Putin. Remember who paid Manafort all those millions of dollars!

Actually I trash talked Trump for being a blowhard who knows Jack squat about policy and was willing to destroy or sell off our strategic positions for personal gain. He did raise my taxes more than $15k a year to subsidize red states, but nah that wasn’t divisive.

Neither was letting a planeful of Covid infected patients return to my area in March 2020, only for some of them to die in the hospital 0.7 miles away from my home at the time. That’s why he’d only brag about the China travel ban, while meanwhile letting the sick fly in from the other 85% of the world. At least he didn’t lie to Bob Woodward about downplaying the virus … oh wait.

But yeah, at least he begged Mexico’s president like a desperate fool to pay for the wall! How’d that work out again? 

Objectively speaking, the biggest reason why Trump was a massive failure is he couldn’t even assemble a staff who would stay for more than six months despite holding the highest office in the land. They were the best and the brightest in 2017, and traitors in 2018. Doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that Trump was the worst president ever.

Oh well, at least he washed Putin’s balls every chance he got while throwing our nation’s heroes under the bus. What a great guy! Not surprised to see him wanting to rip up the Constitution and ignore 53% of the country’s votes. 
But do tell, please do try to simultaneously play the victim card and the tough guy card at the same time, it’s hilarious.

For someone who does know jack squat about policy you would think he would have created war. Nah, Biden did that. Trump had peace agreements.

And last I remember you live in a red state. And if your taxes actually were raised 15k, doubtful, than you have to be in the $400,000+ class.

Funny when it was known Delta was beating the vaccine in May of 2021 Biden didn't have a travel ban, Nah, get the vaccine you won't even get covid. Then he punished African nations with a travel ban for Omicron, too late. So why a ban for Omicron and not Delta??? 

As far a downplaying the virus, take one look at human behavior. Toilet Paper off the shelves with just a mention of covid reaching us. People are nuts, panick happy idiots. I can see why you downplay it while actually having a plan to combat (warp speed) it and not make things even worse ( lockdowns).

And who gives a rats ass who pays for a wall. Biden admin throws money around like nothing, the cost for handling the illegals for one month far exceeds the cost of the wall. 

And Biden just washed Putin's balls with his stupid trade, all of which is a personal gain for him. Funny how Putin waits for democrats to get control to then go on the warpath. In fact the whole war in Ukraine was preventable with proper leadership. Now the entire globe is needlessy suffering, climate change has taken a back seat as gas pipelines are sabotaged releasing  tons of methane, Europe switches to coal and wood burning, inflation eats at everybody's ability to survive. Europe will see some upheaval, doesn't take a rocket scientist to see this coming. 

I just hope Griner has a newfound respect for the US and our flag after Biden gave up a war criminal for her while leaving a vet which is even something Trump didn't accept. I hope she puts in as much effort to help America in a positive way as or more than The Merchant of Death will give to Russia...

Any dems in here want to give their thoughts on the trade? I always see dems "support Ukraine", how do you feel about this trade knowing his guy is going to back Russia and fight against Ukraine? Does that put a stinger in your feelings? 

"merchant of death"

That will be what they'll be calling Fauci when the covid twitter suppression files are released next.... 

Nobody is above science. 

The overlooked part here is that the choice was whether or not to release Bout.  They decided to release Bout.  They could have decided not to release him.  It was not like they had to release him no matter what the offer/demand was. 

They could have left Griner as well as Whelan.

I saw a guy make the argument the other day that Biden and his team (because it, for sure, was NOT Biden alone) were not the right folks to make the negotiation work.  His point was with Griner over there now, Trump would have been a better negotiator to get them both out.

For example, now there would be more leverage to just make a trade for Whelan and Bout -- do not even ask for Griner, at first.  Why decide she is the main one you want to trade for?  If it has to be one or the other, why not choose Whelan since he had already been there longer, etc.?

Griner is not the only one there jailed for the exact same crime.  For example:

https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-american-medical-marijuana-prison/31902563.html

So, why was she the one Biden's team was so concerned with?

It was a very lopsided and bad trade -- by any measure.

No -- the choice was NOT just '...to bring nobody back, or Griner back'.  That was simply what the administration chose to accept.  Another way that Biden and his folks were made to look weak on the World stage.  No other country makes that deal. 

Good for Griner -- because I am sure it was a simple mistake by her, as much as she has been there.  That does not take away from it being a very, very bad deal.

@Raiders22

Well put  

@Sidehatch

You are, I hope, being intentionally deceptive with this statement.  You keep writing this and, seemingly, misleading folks to think your 'wage income taxes' went up 15k -- they did not.  

You could have had some other tax issues that led to an increase in your tax bill.  I doubt you are doing your own taxes with a tax bill like that.  I would have another tax consultant look at your taxes from back then and see what actually caused the increase -- because it was not your regular 'wage income'.  

During the legislative debates that occurred prior to the bill’s passage, opponents of the legislation—especially congressional Democrats—argued that TCJA would disproportionately benefit wealthy households and businesses, at the expense of lower- and middle-income American families.

For example, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, who now serves as the speaker of the House, said on November 6, 2017, “Despite Republicans’ empty promises to cut taxes for middle class working families, it’s clear that the GOP tax plan for the wealthiest is rich indeed.”[3]

“House Republicans’ tax bill would increase taxes for 12 percent of Americans next year, according to a new report from the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center,” Pelosi added.

“The truth is already catching up with the GOP’s snake oil pitch,” Pelosi concluded. “Instead of pushing a deficit-exploding handout to corporations and the wealthy that increases taxes on millions of hard-working families, Republicans must join Democrats to work on bipartisan tax reform that puts the middle class first.”

More than four years after Pelosi’s dire statements, analysts now have the evidence needed to evaluate whether the TCJA truly was, as Pelosi suggested, nothing more than a “snake oil pitch.” The results are definitive and striking.

According to data from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service comparing outcomes from 2017 to 2018—the first year the tax reform law went into effect—the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act reduced average effective income tax rates for filers in every one of the IRS’s income brackets, with the largest benefits going to lower- and middle-income households. (See Table 1 by clicking "Download the PDF" at the top of this page.)

For example, after accounting for all tax deductions and credits, filers with an adjusted gross income (AGI) of $40,000 to $50,000 received an average tax cut of 18.2 percent.[4]

The IRS data further show that the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act appeared to have a strong upward effect on economic mobility. The number of filers with an adjusted gross income of $1 to $25,000 decreased by more than 2 million in just one year, while the number of households reporting incomes higher than $25,000 increased in every income bracket.[5]

The most significant increase occurred in the $100,000 to $200,000 bracket, which included more than 1 million additional filers in 2018 than it did in 2017.[6]

The IRS data also revealed that higher-income earners paid an even larger share of the total tax burden in 2018 than they did in 2017, indicating that the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act may have made the tax code slightly more progressive. This finding contradicts the countless statements made by Democrats over the past four years criticizing TCJA as legislation that favored wealthier filers.

In 2017, filers earning $500,000 or more paid 38.9 percent of all personal income tax revenues. In 2018, the same income bracket paid 41.5 percent of total income tax revenues.[7]

The available evidence is clear: Based on tax data from 2017 and 2018, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act reduced taxes for the vast majority of filers, led to substantial improvements in upward economic mobility, and disproportionately benefited working- and middle-class households, many of which experienced tax cuts topping 18 percent to 20 percent.

It appears Nancy Pelosi’s claims of “snake oil” peddling were completely unfounded.

Gee, I’m sorry that you’re too ignorant to understand that Trump gave Californians the biggest tax hike of a lifetime, but I don’t have time to explain it to you. Perhaps you should talk to one of the three accountants I know and use, all of which who confirmed same (and one is a definite Trump voter, I don’t ask for political affiliation of the others).

And there inlies the true and utter ignorance of Trump backers. When presented with evidence of the biggest tax hike of a lifetime (hike blue state taxes to subsidize red state tax cuts), they simply deny it. I must be mistaken. LOL

And that’s why you dotards will never fully understand national politics. If it didn’t happen to you, it doesn’t exist!

Must be nice!

Meanwhile I’m being told which states I live in and how much I paid in taxes. I’ve lived in both red states and blue states, which is why I know that:

- red states actually pay a ton of corporate welfare to lure big box stores to their small towns, and also pay a lotta welfare to poor white people. That corporate welfare actually creates a ton of hidden special district costs at the city and county level (shhhhhh! Don’t say that part out loud!)

- blue states do tend to have higher taxes but also far, far higher wages and much greater educational opportunities to get a higher paying job

And that’s why, as I stand here today, I now make 8x more money in a blue state than when I lived in a red state. Worked full time while getting that secondary degree at an affordable Blue state college while playing Full Tilt, PokerStars, and even posting my MLB plays a decade ago here on Covers.

But yes, please do tell me how much I pay in taxes and where I live, your stupidity and hubris is simply breathtakingly hilarious. 

By the way, the Trump Tax Scam’s punitive anti-business measures kick in now, which sharply punish American businesses for R&D. Gee, I wonder why he did that? Oh that’s right, it was another hidden tax hike to help “pay for it” in 2017.

@Raiders22

 It's sure is funny seeing democRATS crying about taxes. 

@BigGame90

 That attack on Raiders tells you all you need to know about sidesnatch and all those others pathetic radical fascists..... Raiders just going about being polite, no name calling, just stating some facts with opinions, ya know, what is common place in any normal discussion forum (outside this politics sub - unless you are a radical fascist lefty in here then you can say whatever you want and be an aszszhole however you want) 

Raiders has made no mention of Trump, no previous backing of Trump or any reason to give any of the fascist bot names a reason to thinnk he is a backer of the Big Bad Orange Man.......Then BOOM out of nowhere he gets called a Trump loving neonazi and his love of Trump is the reason he is so dumb and wrong to think anything other than what the pathetic radical left usernamebots spute here over and over.  Very sad but not surprised with the undeserved attack.  

There are really only 3 or 4 of us that can have a civilized discussion over any topic..... Kelly / Fupa / Baisch and Zeus ONLY RESPOND TO EACH OTHER....what does that tell you huh   

This politics sub isn't really for discussion....mods / covers don't want it that way.  You go into any other sub and there is discussion, back & forth, people agree to disagree and it's mostly civil.  Politics is about division for the radicals.  They are not interested in working towards any compromise for a greater good.  

@kcblitzkrieg

 I usually just skip over their mouth vomit comments. 

If you have time to type all of this you have time to explain it. 
You are wrong when you mislead people to think you had a raise in your wage income tax rate from the year before.  You are implying that given the exact same circumstances with your income staying the same that your tax on your wages went up.  It did not. 
Other factors had your tax bill go up. 
You simply need to understand what those are, and if you do not like it — adjust accordingly.  That is what smart people do.  
Then explain to folks on here what you did and what you learned from this.  
No need for name calling.  Just do better with your taxes and stop misleading folks about your tax bill just to try to make Trump look bad. 

The data is in for everyone else — in black and white.  You were NOT an exception.  I guarantee it. 

If so, I would immediately fire all ‘3 accountants’.  

@Sidehatch

 “And there inlies the true and utter ignorance of Trump backers. When presented with evidence of the biggest tax hike of a lifetime”

What evidence did you present?  It is hearsay, at best — if that.  

I provided the evidence; not you.  I showed what the tax brackets were before and after, what the revenue was before and after, I showed what the burden on income levels were before and after.  

It had nothing to do with Trump backers.  Even someone like me — who is NOT a Trump backer — has to admit, when the assessment data shows the effects, that the tax break worked.  

Study up on it and you will be glad you did.  Take your political views out of it.  
Look at it solely from a selfish perspective on your finances, longterm.  
Then look at it from a fiscal perspective for the country longterm.  
I think you will agree if you take the politics out of it. 

The rest of this stuff is also my wheelhouse.  I would be glad to break them down for you one at a time — without political views — just from an economic standpoint (one of my areas). 

But for now this would not keep you focused.  I think it best to deal with one issue at a time.  Too many folks on here cannot multitask in discussions.  So, they cloud their main issue when presented with a dilemma, or spread theirselves too thin in the discussion. 

But if you can concentrate on the main thing you always bring up — your personal taxes — I would appreciate that.  

1) Was your wage income more, or less, the same?

2) Are you including something additional that you did differently or had happen?

3) Did you move, for example, from the bottom of one bracket to the top of another bracket?  

4) Was this due to things other than wages?

Etc.  

No rush.  Take your time.  Whenever you have a chance. 

Can someone run get WallStreet and tattle like the liberals do on here. I find his tone to antagonizing. Either apply rules equally or not at all.