BREAKING: Medical debt is now required to be removed from your credit reports impacting millions of Americans, per CBS.

— unusual_whales (@unusual_whales) January 7, 2025

Another "gift" from Joe Biden to America: this will do immense harm to the country just like everything else he did.

trey3216 said:

---

historian said:

---

Another "gift" from Joe Biden to America: this will do immense harm to the country just like everything else he did.

---

I'm personally not against having medical debt not be major factor in credit reports. I know several people who have been financially ruined (credit wise) by medical debt, even though they had insurance. Hell, my daughter's medical debt (with insurance) helped knock about 100 points off mine a few years back, and we were paying it.

---

I agree.

historian said:

---

Another "gift" from Joe Biden to America: this will do immense harm to the country just like everything else he did.

---

I have NO problem with this and I don't carry personal debt of any kind. I will submit the main problem with medical debt problem are not who is in the WH, but the Insurance companies and the insurance lobby funded by the Rs

BREAKING: AOC and other politicians have introduced a bill to ban stock trading by Congressional members and their family members.

— unusual_whales (@unusual_whales) January 10, 2025

Anyone want to disagree with that?

boognish_bear said:

---

BREAKING: AOC and other politicians have introduced a bill to ban stock trading by Congressional members and their family members.

— unusual_whales (@unusual_whales) January 10, 2025

---

vote out all that oppose it!

Not arguing from me on that point.

BREAKING: Congressman Buddy Carter just introduced a bill to abolish the IRS, repeal income, payroll, estate and gift taxes.

— unusual_whales (@unusual_whales) January 12, 2025

boognish_bear said:

---

BREAKING: Congressman Buddy Carter just introduced a bill to abolish the IRS, repeal income, payroll, estate and gift taxes.

— unusual_whales (@unusual_whales) January 12, 2025

---

If democrats really wanted to tax the rich, they'd agree to only a large sales tax.

Why are they in favor of confiscating what little money the poor and middle class make when they could tax the piss out of the rich by having a 20%+ tax on purchases outside of food/produce? If they're buying yachts, airplanes, buildings, companies etc...then they'll be the ones with the massive burdens, not us.

If you take home 100% of your pay and eliminate corporate taxes, prices will drop due to a massive increase in competition.

Doc Holliday said:

---

boognish_bear said:

---

BREAKING: Congressman Buddy Carter just introduced a bill to abolish the IRS, repeal income, payroll, estate and gift taxes.

— unusual_whales (@unusual_whales) January 12, 2025

---

If democrats really wanted to tax the rich, they'd agree to only a large sales tax.

Why are they in favor of confiscating what little money the poor and middle class make when they could tax the piss out of the rich by having a 20%+ tax on purchases outside of food/produce? If they're buying yachts, airplanes, buildings, companies etc...then they'll be the ones with the massive burdens, not us.

If you take home 100% of your pay and eliminate corporate taxes, prices will drop due to a massive increase in competition.

---

What has to go along with that is user fees to pay for services, we do it for utilities, toll roads, bridges, etc.
Either that or you will pay more in taxes, it will just be up to the State and Locals to provide services. I have no issue with either, but there has to be some manner to pay for the infrastructure, health and education that the Nation operates. This is not a Liberal vs Conservative thing, it is a reality thing.

FLBear5630 said:

---

Doc Holliday said:

---

boognish_bear said:

---

BREAKING: Congressman Buddy Carter just introduced a bill to abolish the IRS, repeal income, payroll, estate and gift taxes.

— unusual_whales (@unusual_whales) January 12, 2025

---

If democrats really wanted to tax the rich, they'd agree to only a large sales tax.

Why are they in favor of confiscating what little money the poor and middle class make when they could tax the piss out of the rich by having a 20%+ tax on purchases outside of food/produce? If they're buying yachts, airplanes, buildings, companies etc...then they'll be the ones with the massive burdens, not us.

If you take home 100% of your pay and eliminate corporate taxes, prices will drop due to a massive increase in competition.

---

What has to go along with that is user fees to pay for services, we do it for utilities, toll roads, bridges, etc.
Either that or you will pay more in taxes, it will just be up to the State and Locals to provide services. I have no issue with either, but there has to be some manner to pay for the infrastructure, health and education that the Nation operates. This is not a Liberal vs Conservative thing, it is a reality thing.

---

The first thing we need to get rid of is collusion between government and contractors or allowing contractors to game the system. Contractors initially bid low to win the business, but later submit "change orders" resulting in higher costs, saying the scope of the project changed. This is rampant behavior. On top of that, government officials are the kind of people who don't know how to manage a contract and are easily taken advantage of.

It doesn't matter what tax code we have if the people managing the tax dollars are abusive.

Doc Holliday said:

---

FLBear5630 said:

---

Doc Holliday said:

---

boognish_bear said:

---

BREAKING: Congressman Buddy Carter just introduced a bill to abolish the IRS, repeal income, payroll, estate and gift taxes.

— unusual_whales (@unusual_whales) January 12, 2025

---

If democrats really wanted to tax the rich, they'd agree to only a large sales tax.

Why are they in favor of confiscating what little money the poor and middle class make when they could tax the piss out of the rich by having a 20%+ tax on purchases outside of food/produce? If they're buying yachts, airplanes, buildings, companies etc...then they'll be the ones with the massive burdens, not us.

If you take home 100% of your pay and eliminate corporate taxes, prices will drop due to a massive increase in competition.

---

What has to go along with that is user fees to pay for services, we do it for utilities, toll roads, bridges, etc.
Either that or you will pay more in taxes, it will just be up to the State and Locals to provide services. I have no issue with either, but there has to be some manner to pay for the infrastructure, health and education that the Nation operates. This is not a Liberal vs Conservative thing, it is a reality thing.

---

The first thing we need to get rid of is collusion between government and contractors or allowing contractors to game the system. Contractors initially bid low to win the business, but later submit "change orders" resulting in higher costs, saying the scope of the project changed. This is rampant behavior. On top of that, government officials are the kind of people who don't know how to manage a contract and are easily taken advantage of.

It doesn't matter what tax code we have if the people managing the tax dollars are abusive.

---

I agree with you on the change orders, they are abused. As for the "government officials" being the type to be taken advantage of? I don't think there is any difference between the private and public sector on contract management. Due to the amount of regulations, I would say the public is better only because they get more practice on it.

The point you are missing is that there is not just two groups, private and public. Most of the time, it is the same people at different points in their careers (at least in the technical, operations and construction side). Almost everyone I work with has had a substantial amount of time on the other side, usually quite successfully. When you are young first getting a job, not knowing ****, a few years in the public side gets you experience to get hired by the Private and make real money. By the time you have 15 years or so on the Private you are sick of worrying about being 90% billable in the 4th quarter. So, you jump back to Public to give your family a little stability. You get your 20 or 30 in the public and then you go back to the Private to be a rainmaker for while. They are the same person. Their skills have not changed just because they are now getting paid by the State or Fed. Many times, it is more a family thing to keep kids in the same school, cut down living on planes, or giving the wife some stability going into retirement. It is not as black and white as you make it. One good, one bad.

That doesn't even delve into public service to give something back, make the place you grew up and your grandkids are going to live better. Or help the Nation accomplish something, like Apollo or the Interstate System. Now, it is Space that intrigues me. Working for NASA to get to Mars. That would be a life worth living. Sorry, these are all the same person, some private, some public, some greedy, some altruistic...

Government officials and bureaucrats are easily bribed and rarely punished.

FLBear5630 said:

---

Doc Holliday said:

---

FLBear5630 said:

---

Doc Holliday said:

---

boognish_bear said:

---

BREAKING: Congressman Buddy Carter just introduced a bill to abolish the IRS, repeal income, payroll, estate and gift taxes.

— unusual_whales (@unusual_whales) January 12, 2025

---

If democrats really wanted to tax the rich, they'd agree to only a large sales tax.

Why are they in favor of confiscating what little money the poor and middle class make when they could tax the piss out of the rich by having a 20%+ tax on purchases outside of food/produce? If they're buying yachts, airplanes, buildings, companies etc...then they'll be the ones with the massive burdens, not us.

If you take home 100% of your pay and eliminate corporate taxes, prices will drop due to a massive increase in competition.

---

What has to go along with that is user fees to pay for services, we do it for utilities, toll roads, bridges, etc.
Either that or you will pay more in taxes, it will just be up to the State and Locals to provide services. I have no issue with either, but there has to be some manner to pay for the infrastructure, health and education that the Nation operates. This is not a Liberal vs Conservative thing, it is a reality thing.

---

The first thing we need to get rid of is collusion between government and contractors or allowing contractors to game the system. Contractors initially bid low to win the business, but later submit "change orders" resulting in higher costs, saying the scope of the project changed. This is rampant behavior. On top of that, government officials are the kind of people who don't know how to manage a contract and are easily taken advantage of.

It doesn't matter what tax code we have if the people managing the tax dollars are abusive.

---

I agree with you on the change orders, they are abused. As for the "government officials" being the type to be taken advantage of? I don't think there is any difference between the private and public sector on contract management. Due to the amount of regulations, I would say the public is better only because they get more practice on it.

The point you are missing is that there is not just two groups, private and public. Most of the time, it is the same people at different points in their careers (at least in the technical, operations and construction side). Almost everyone I work with has had a substantial amount of time on the other side, usually quite successfully. When you are young first getting a job, not knowing ****, a few years in the public side gets you experience to get hired by the Private and make real money. By the time you have 15 years or so on the Private you are sick of worrying about being 90% billable in the 4th quarter. So, you jump back to Public to give your family a little stability. You get your 20 or 30 in the public and then you go back to the Private to be a rainmaker for while. They are the same person. Their skills have not changed just because they are now getting paid by the State or Fed. Many times, it is more a family thing to keep kids in the same school, cut down living on planes, or giving the wife some stability going into retirement. It is not as black and white as you make it. One good, one bad.

That doesn't even delve into public service to give something back, make the place you grew up and your grandkids are going to live better. Or help the Nation accomplish something, like Apollo or the Interstate System. Now, it is Space that intrigues me. Working for NASA to get to Mars. That would be a life worth living. Sorry, these are all the same person, some private, some public, some greedy, some altruistic...

---

Any successful private sector company has upper management forcing employees to be ruthlessly frugal. Stacking nickels is how you scale.

The upper management of the public sector does the exact opposite. Its not that employees aren't capable, its that they have a culture that practices the opposite of being frugal.

Doc Holliday said:

---

FLBear5630 said:

---

Doc Holliday said:

---

FLBear5630 said:

---

Doc Holliday said:

---

boognish_bear said:

---

BREAKING: Congressman Buddy Carter just introduced a bill to abolish the IRS, repeal income, payroll, estate and gift taxes.

— unusual_whales (@unusual_whales) January 12, 2025

---

If democrats really wanted to tax the rich, they'd agree to only a large sales tax.

Why are they in favor of confiscating what little money the poor and middle class make when they could tax the piss out of the rich by having a 20%+ tax on purchases outside of food/produce? If they're buying yachts, airplanes, buildings, companies etc...then they'll be the ones with the massive burdens, not us.

If you take home 100% of your pay and eliminate corporate taxes, prices will drop due to a massive increase in competition.

---

What has to go along with that is user fees to pay for services, we do it for utilities, toll roads, bridges, etc.
Either that or you will pay more in taxes, it will just be up to the State and Locals to provide services. I have no issue with either, but there has to be some manner to pay for the infrastructure, health and education that the Nation operates. This is not a Liberal vs Conservative thing, it is a reality thing.

---

The first thing we need to get rid of is collusion between government and contractors or allowing contractors to game the system. Contractors initially bid low to win the business, but later submit "change orders" resulting in higher costs, saying the scope of the project changed. This is rampant behavior. On top of that, government officials are the kind of people who don't know how to manage a contract and are easily taken advantage of.

It doesn't matter what tax code we have if the people managing the tax dollars are abusive.

---

I agree with you on the change orders, they are abused. As for the "government officials" being the type to be taken advantage of? I don't think there is any difference between the private and public sector on contract management. Due to the amount of regulations, I would say the public is better only because they get more practice on it.

The point you are missing is that there is not just two groups, private and public. Most of the time, it is the same people at different points in their careers (at least in the technical, operations and construction side). Almost everyone I work with has had a substantial amount of time on the other side, usually quite successfully. When you are young first getting a job, not knowing ****, a few years in the public side gets you experience to get hired by the Private and make real money. By the time you have 15 years or so on the Private you are sick of worrying about being 90% billable in the 4th quarter. So, you jump back to Public to give your family a little stability. You get your 20 or 30 in the public and then you go back to the Private to be a rainmaker for while. They are the same person. Their skills have not changed just because they are now getting paid by the State or Fed. Many times, it is more a family thing to keep kids in the same school, cut down living on planes, or giving the wife some stability going into retirement. It is not as black and white as you make it. One good, one bad.

That doesn't even delve into public service to give something back, make the place you grew up and your grandkids are going to live better. Or help the Nation accomplish something, like Apollo or the Interstate System. Now, it is Space that intrigues me. Working for NASA to get to Mars. That would be a life worth living. Sorry, these are all the same person, some private, some public, some greedy, some altruistic...

---

Any successful public sector company has upper management forcing employees to be ruthlessly frugal. Stacking nickels is how you scale.

The upper management of the public sector does the exact opposite. Its not that employees aren't capable, its that they have a culture that practices the opposite of being frugal.

---

We won't agree on this. Public Sector manages to the budget, they do not get more. Unlike the Private Sector that will not blink to put in change orders to cover their losses.

FLBear5630 said:

---

Doc Holliday said:

---

FLBear5630 said:

---

Doc Holliday said:

---

FLBear5630 said:

---

Doc Holliday said:

---

boognish_bear said:

---

BREAKING: Congressman Buddy Carter just introduced a bill to abolish the IRS, repeal income, payroll, estate and gift taxes.

— unusual_whales (@unusual_whales) January 12, 2025

---

If democrats really wanted to tax the rich, they'd agree to only a large sales tax.

Why are they in favor of confiscating what little money the poor and middle class make when they could tax the piss out of the rich by having a 20%+ tax on purchases outside of food/produce? If they're buying yachts, airplanes, buildings, companies etc...then they'll be the ones with the massive burdens, not us.

If you take home 100% of your pay and eliminate corporate taxes, prices will drop due to a massive increase in competition.

---

What has to go along with that is user fees to pay for services, we do it for utilities, toll roads, bridges, etc.
Either that or you will pay more in taxes, it will just be up to the State and Locals to provide services. I have no issue with either, but there has to be some manner to pay for the infrastructure, health and education that the Nation operates. This is not a Liberal vs Conservative thing, it is a reality thing.

---

The first thing we need to get rid of is collusion between government and contractors or allowing contractors to game the system. Contractors initially bid low to win the business, but later submit "change orders" resulting in higher costs, saying the scope of the project changed. This is rampant behavior. On top of that, government officials are the kind of people who don't know how to manage a contract and are easily taken advantage of.

It doesn't matter what tax code we have if the people managing the tax dollars are abusive.

---

I agree with you on the change orders, they are abused. As for the "government officials" being the type to be taken advantage of? I don't think there is any difference between the private and public sector on contract management. Due to the amount of regulations, I would say the public is better only because they get more practice on it.

The point you are missing is that there is not just two groups, private and public. Most of the time, it is the same people at different points in their careers (at least in the technical, operations and construction side). Almost everyone I work with has had a substantial amount of time on the other side, usually quite successfully. When you are young first getting a job, not knowing ****, a few years in the public side gets you experience to get hired by the Private and make real money. By the time you have 15 years or so on the Private you are sick of worrying about being 90% billable in the 4th quarter. So, you jump back to Public to give your family a little stability. You get your 20 or 30 in the public and then you go back to the Private to be a rainmaker for while. They are the same person. Their skills have not changed just because they are now getting paid by the State or Fed. Many times, it is more a family thing to keep kids in the same school, cut down living on planes, or giving the wife some stability going into retirement. It is not as black and white as you make it. One good, one bad.

That doesn't even delve into public service to give something back, make the place you grew up and your grandkids are going to live better. Or help the Nation accomplish something, like Apollo or the Interstate System. Now, it is Space that intrigues me. Working for NASA to get to Mars. That would be a life worth living. Sorry, these are all the same person, some private, some public, some greedy, some altruistic...

---

Any successful public sector company has upper management forcing employees to be ruthlessly frugal. Stacking nickels is how you scale.

The upper management of the public sector does the exact opposite. Its not that employees aren't capable, its that they have a culture that practices the opposite of being frugal.

---

We won't agree on this. Public Sector manages to the budget, they do not get more. Unlike the Private Sector that will not blink to put in change orders to cover their losses.

---

The government spends $5.7B more than it brings in per day, and $3B of that amount is going to just pay interests on the debt which limits the funds of other priorities.

If this continues, buying power will diminish because it requires printing trillions of dollars. If you raise taxes alongside the money printing, it will diminish buying power even more. Its a recipe for hollowing out the middle class.

We can't simultaneously have all of these government services and maintain the middle class. Its mathematically impossible. It will lead to a situation where the vast majority of the population relies on government services which then requires even more allocation to those services/welfare...along with having less and less money to be able to tax. Its self defeating.

The private sector is more than capable of meeting the needs of the public and at much cheaper cost with competition to bring prices down. The government always has an element of central planning and it doesn't work.

Doc Holliday said:

---

FLBear5630 said:

---

Doc Holliday said:

---

FLBear5630 said:

---

Doc Holliday said:

---

FLBear5630 said:

---

Doc Holliday said:

---

boognish_bear said:

---

BREAKING: Congressman Buddy Carter just introduced a bill to abolish the IRS, repeal income, payroll, estate and gift taxes.

— unusual_whales (@unusual_whales) January 12, 2025

---

If democrats really wanted to tax the rich, they'd agree to only a large sales tax.

Why are they in favor of confiscating what little money the poor and middle class make when they could tax the piss out of the rich by having a 20%+ tax on purchases outside of food/produce? If they're buying yachts, airplanes, buildings, companies etc...then they'll be the ones with the massive burdens, not us.

If you take home 100% of your pay and eliminate corporate taxes, prices will drop due to a massive increase in competition.

---

What has to go along with that is user fees to pay for services, we do it for utilities, toll roads, bridges, etc.
Either that or you will pay more in taxes, it will just be up to the State and Locals to provide services. I have no issue with either, but there has to be some manner to pay for the infrastructure, health and education that the Nation operates. This is not a Liberal vs Conservative thing, it is a reality thing.

---

The first thing we need to get rid of is collusion between government and contractors or allowing contractors to game the system. Contractors initially bid low to win the business, but later submit "change orders" resulting in higher costs, saying the scope of the project changed. This is rampant behavior. On top of that, government officials are the kind of people who don't know how to manage a contract and are easily taken advantage of.

It doesn't matter what tax code we have if the people managing the tax dollars are abusive.

---

I agree with you on the change orders, they are abused. As for the "government officials" being the type to be taken advantage of? I don't think there is any difference between the private and public sector on contract management. Due to the amount of regulations, I would say the public is better only because they get more practice on it.

The point you are missing is that there is not just two groups, private and public. Most of the time, it is the same people at different points in their careers (at least in the technical, operations and construction side). Almost everyone I work with has had a substantial amount of time on the other side, usually quite successfully. When you are young first getting a job, not knowing ****, a few years in the public side gets you experience to get hired by the Private and make real money. By the time you have 15 years or so on the Private you are sick of worrying about being 90% billable in the 4th quarter. So, you jump back to Public to give your family a little stability. You get your 20 or 30 in the public and then you go back to the Private to be a rainmaker for while. They are the same person. Their skills have not changed just because they are now getting paid by the State or Fed. Many times, it is more a family thing to keep kids in the same school, cut down living on planes, or giving the wife some stability going into retirement. It is not as black and white as you make it. One good, one bad.

That doesn't even delve into public service to give something back, make the place you grew up and your grandkids are going to live better. Or help the Nation accomplish something, like Apollo or the Interstate System. Now, it is Space that intrigues me. Working for NASA to get to Mars. That would be a life worth living. Sorry, these are all the same person, some private, some public, some greedy, some altruistic...

---

Any successful public sector company has upper management forcing employees to be ruthlessly frugal. Stacking nickels is how you scale.

The upper management of the public sector does the exact opposite. Its not that employees aren't capable, its that they have a culture that practices the opposite of being frugal.

---

We won't agree on this. Public Sector manages to the budget, they do not get more. Unlike the Private Sector that will not blink to put in change orders to cover their losses.

---

The government spends $5.7B more than it brings in per day, and $3B of that amount is going to just pay interests on the debt which limits the funds of other priorities.

If this continues, buying power will diminish because it requires printing trillions of dollars. If you raise taxes alongside the money printing, it will diminish buying power even more. Its a recipe for hollowing out the middle class.

We can't simultaneously have all of these government services and maintain the middle class. Its mathematically impossible. It will lead to a situation where the vast majority of the population relies on government services which then requires even more allocation to those services/welfare...along with having less and less money to be able to tax. Its self defeating.

The private sector is more than capable of meeting the needs of the public and at much cheaper cost with competition to bring prices down. The government always has an element of central planning and it doesn't work.

---

Seems like this would be pretty easy to fix.

Doc Holliday said:

---

FLBear5630 said:

---

Doc Holliday said:

---

FLBear5630 said:

---

Doc Holliday said:

---

FLBear5630 said:

---

Doc Holliday said:

---

boognish_bear said:

---

BREAKING: Congressman Buddy Carter just introduced a bill to abolish the IRS, repeal income, payroll, estate and gift taxes.

— unusual_whales (@unusual_whales) January 12, 2025

---

If democrats really wanted to tax the rich, they'd agree to only a large sales tax.

Why are they in favor of confiscating what little money the poor and middle class make when they could tax the piss out of the rich by having a 20%+ tax on purchases outside of food/produce? If they're buying yachts, airplanes, buildings, companies etc...then they'll be the ones with the massive burdens, not us.

If you take home 100% of your pay and eliminate corporate taxes, prices will drop due to a massive increase in competition.

---

What has to go along with that is user fees to pay for services, we do it for utilities, toll roads, bridges, etc.
Either that or you will pay more in taxes, it will just be up to the State and Locals to provide services. I have no issue with either, but there has to be some manner to pay for the infrastructure, health and education that the Nation operates. This is not a Liberal vs Conservative thing, it is a reality thing.

---

The first thing we need to get rid of is collusion between government and contractors or allowing contractors to game the system. Contractors initially bid low to win the business, but later submit "change orders" resulting in higher costs, saying the scope of the project changed. This is rampant behavior. On top of that, government officials are the kind of people who don't know how to manage a contract and are easily taken advantage of.

It doesn't matter what tax code we have if the people managing the tax dollars are abusive.

---

I agree with you on the change orders, they are abused. As for the "government officials" being the type to be taken advantage of? I don't think there is any difference between the private and public sector on contract management. Due to the amount of regulations, I would say the public is better only because they get more practice on it.

The point you are missing is that there is not just two groups, private and public. Most of the time, it is the same people at different points in their careers (at least in the technical, operations and construction side). Almost everyone I work with has had a substantial amount of time on the other side, usually quite successfully. When you are young first getting a job, not knowing ****, a few years in the public side gets you experience to get hired by the Private and make real money. By the time you have 15 years or so on the Private you are sick of worrying about being 90% billable in the 4th quarter. So, you jump back to Public to give your family a little stability. You get your 20 or 30 in the public and then you go back to the Private to be a rainmaker for while. They are the same person. Their skills have not changed just because they are now getting paid by the State or Fed. Many times, it is more a family thing to keep kids in the same school, cut down living on planes, or giving the wife some stability going into retirement. It is not as black and white as you make it. One good, one bad.

That doesn't even delve into public service to give something back, make the place you grew up and your grandkids are going to live better. Or help the Nation accomplish something, like Apollo or the Interstate System. Now, it is Space that intrigues me. Working for NASA to get to Mars. That would be a life worth living. Sorry, these are all the same person, some private, some public, some greedy, some altruistic...

---

Any successful public sector company has upper management forcing employees to be ruthlessly frugal. Stacking nickels is how you scale.

The upper management of the public sector does the exact opposite. Its not that employees aren't capable, its that they have a culture that practices the opposite of being frugal.

---

We won't agree on this. Public Sector manages to the budget, they do not get more. Unlike the Private Sector that will not blink to put in change orders to cover their losses.

---

The government spends $5.7B more than it brings in per day, and $3B of that amount is going to just pay interests on the debt which limits the funds of other priorities.

If this continues, buying power will diminish because it requires printing trillions of dollars. If you raise taxes alongside the money printing, it will diminish buying power even more. Its a recipe for hollowing out the middle class.

We can't simultaneously have all of these government services and maintain the middle class. Its mathematically impossible. It will lead to a situation where the vast majority of the population relies on government services which then requires even more allocation to those services/welfare...along with having less and less money to be able to tax. Its self defeating.

The private sector is more than capable of meeting the needs of the public and at much cheaper cost with competition to bring prices down. The government always has an element of central planning and it doesn't work.

---

We do agree on the first two points, 100%. (We may have a difference of what level of debt is appropriate, but

We don't agree on the last, there are things that the Government needs to provide in services, mainly infrastructure and utility related. There are various ways to do that, many of which we use now, such utility corporations, transportation authorities, and Government Agencies. There is no best way, there are best ways for certain situations such as toll roads are great where there is congestion. But, the one thing they all have in common is user fees.

I'm in overall agreement with your assessment, including the last one. Perhaps I miss some details on the previous post, but I don't think privately funding a police force, city/ county or whatever is practical. Well maintained streets:roads/highways are essential and exceedingly expensive but necessary. We have enough trouble trusting our legislators and government to meet safety standards for water, food, product safety, so to imply we will trust a private entity who is in business to make a profit and keep their shareholders and board happy may be a stretch. Currently our nation is obviously no longer interested in being known as the one with high ethical, moral, legal or safety standards. Trusting a private entity has its own special problems.
Not saying that we should not work to reduce our federal deficit; I am saying that until enough of us have the political will to sacrifice a bit that we are all knowing contributors to the disaster we are creating for our grandchildren. We created this mess and we are not willing to sacrifice to get out of it. Meanwhile we continue to hone our ability to gripe and deflect as we deny and rationalize fault.

41% of companies worldwide plan to reduce workforces by 2030 due to AI, per CNN.

— unusual_whales (@unusual_whales) January 17, 2025

I'm sure age plays a factor in what you see as important

40% of Millenials said it’s important to have visible signs of wealth, whether it be purchasing a fancy car, clothing, or place to live, per Wells Fargo.

By comparison, just 21% of Gen Xers, 8% of baby boomers, and 7% of the silent generation feel the same.

— unusual_whales (@unusual_whales) January 17, 2025

THE BANK OF JAPAN RAISES RATES BY 0.25%, NOW TO THE HIGHEST LEVEL IN 17 YEARS.

The last time this happened in August of 2024, we had the Yen-Carry trade which spiked the $VIX up 600% in a day and caused equities to fall from 20-30%.

The reason for this was because traders were… pic.twitter.com/qs7kAY71uS

— amit (@amitisinvesting) January 24, 2025

22 million Americans are millionaires, per UBS.

— unusual_whales (@unusual_whales) January 23, 2025

In the first quarter of 2023, "69% of the total wealth in the United States was owned by the top 10% of earners," according to Statista

Read more: https://t.co/8QzGwyrGBy

— unusual_whales (@unusual_whales) January 24, 2025

“22 million Americans are millionaires”

No they are not as 90% of that is in the form of housing.

— Douglas Ritz (@douglasritz) January 23, 2025

BREAKING: Gold prices surge to new all time high of $2840/oz, now up 40% in 12 months.

Gold is telling us something. https://t.co/Q7ZiEi78Ek pic.twitter.com/36iUAT0OdX

— The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) January 30, 2025

Tariff announcement today was received well by the markets…especially the bond market.

trey3216 said:

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Tariff announcement today was received well by the markets…especially the bond market.

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That is very surprising to me.

Hope it holds.

KaiBear said:

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trey3216 said:

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Tariff announcement today was received well by the markets…especially the bond market.

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That is very surprising to me.

Hope it holds.

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I was commenting with extremely sarcasm

trey3216 said:

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KaiBear said:

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trey3216 said:

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Tariff announcement today was received well by the markets…especially the bond market.

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That is very surprising to me.

Hope it holds.

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I was commenting with extremely sarcasm

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Yeah, I just saw the DOW.

Monday is really going to be ugly.