Beto O'Rourke proposes 'war tax' as part of veterans' plan

https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/24/politics/beto-orourke-war-tax-veterans-plan/index.html

6/25/2019 12:59:12 PM

Quote :

"Households making less than $30,000 per year would pay $25; those making less than $40,000 would pay $57; those making less than $50,000 would pay $98; those making less than $75,000 would pay $164; those making less than $100,000 would pay $270; those making less than $200,000 would pay $485; and those making more than $200,000 would pay $1,000."

So, this isn’t “technically” regressive, until you make $1million, then it pretty much is. If you’re rich enough to profit from our forever wars, this is a pretty good damn deal isn’t it? (You know, disregarding the body count and judging life by you own bottom line).

6/25/2019 6:07:58 PM

I'm a fan of Julian Castro. I think he can make an impact in the near future. He's the guy who can beat Ted Cruz in 2024.

6/26/2019 12:55:46 PM

The war tax shows just how constipated O'Rourke is when it comes to actual ideas. It wouldn't get passed; if it did get passed, it would never actually be enacted, because we never declare "wars" anymore and a future President would carefully classify future military actions as something that could skirt tax hikes; even if it somehow got enacted, it's not high enough to encourage enlistment or even really depress support for wars, particularly among the elites; and whatever was collected would just get squandered on other things before the veterans saw a dime.

Plus, if you're running on ending all the wars, the "accomplishment" of passing this tax is pretty much invisible. It would be a tax that didn't exist.

I'd prefer a clearly-defined set of national service options (military, Americorps, etc.) with a progressive lifetime tax for anyone who doesn't participate. The problem would be creating and protecting the options so that rich kids didn't just come up with "volunteer programs" in beach towns where they drink and fuck for two years without doing anything.

6/26/2019 6:32:52 PM

Tim Ryan looks like a young deblasio

6/26/2019 9:46:59 PM

The Spanish is honestly a little embarrassing? Maybe it speaks to latinx but it seems transparently pandering

6/26/2019 9:47:51 PM

Everyone is doing well except Beto

Debates will be good for the democrats brand.

6/26/2019 9:48:10 PM

^^
I think it looks good because Trump barely speaks English and here you have democrats speaking proper English and Spanish

6/26/2019 9:56:53 PM

Ha, fair

6/26/2019 9:57:43 PM

Fucker just gave the "mental health" answer

[Edited on June 26, 2019 at 10:13 PM. Reason : E]

6/26/2019 10:13:27 PM

I’m not like deblasio any more. I don’t see him gaining in the polls.

Booker looking better than I expected. Delaney looking good. Warren is getting a lot of time but she’s not running away with the show.

I like what Castro is saying but he needs more energy.

6/26/2019 10:21:14 PM

Inslee seems like the person Trump wishes he was, temperament wise.

6/26/2019 10:23:17 PM

Delaney barely talked and he just used his time to imply that progressive Dem policies aren't popular and might lose vx he thinks the senate represents the people

6/26/2019 10:23:51 PM

Tulsi strolling tim Ryan on Afghanistan

6/26/2019 10:41:08 PM

Will Delaney bow out after this?

6/26/2019 10:56:49 PM

Funny that Earl made that alias and got suspended before he could pump up his namesake as she scores points tonight (under that alias anyway)

6/26/2019 11:02:07 PM

I like klobuchar’s attitude I think she has great leadership skills. She’d make a good Secretary of State.

6/26/2019 11:02:43 PM

Overall, a boring debate. No passion just talking points. Delaney is a prime example of the type of person being paid by the DNC to run. They built this whole debate for Warren by isolating her by herself, placing her front and center and giving her all of the time in the background of their narrative that she is surging. MSNBC jumped off of foreign policy just when Tulsi seemed to be standing out.

6/26/2019 11:06:17 PM

Warren and Castro skated around everyone. Tim Ryan embarrassed himself and the entire educated Midwest. Klobuchar was horrific. Beto sucked.

[Edited on June 26, 2019 at 11:08 PM. Reason : Booker phony AF]

6/26/2019 11:07:48 PM

^^Gg waiting to the end to mention tulsi, makes it seem like an afterthought, nobody will make any connections

^^^do you think she'll make more hay with foreign heads of state by throwing staplers or by eating dinner with a comb?



[Edited on June 26, 2019 at 11:08 PM. Reason : 3]

6/26/2019 11:07:52 PM

6/26/2019 11:18:53 PM

Man, I must have tuned in for a weird part of it. During the parts I watched, Inslee and Delaney seemed like they were talking more than anybody.

Purely gut reaction from the 10-15 minutes or so I watched:

Beto O'Rourke is a rube who is trying to play way out of his league, intellectually speaking. Next to Ted Cruz, I guess anybody looks good.

Cory Booker looked like he was about to pop a blood vessel. His points were meh, but his temperament was way at odds with his "conspiracy of love" persona.

Julian Castro seemed calm, collected, well-informed, competent, and utterly without the presence and charisma needed to get elected. When I first saw him I thought he was Andrew Yang, which doesn't bode well for either of them (though it also doesn't bode well for my ability to distinguish between faces or even races).

I don't think de Blasio said anything the entire time he watched, and if he did, I thought he was Tim Ryan. (Well, actually, I don't know who Tim Ryan is, so I guess what I'm saying is that I lumped them together as a generic "Who?")

---

Warren has been growing on me, demonstrating a solid ability to keep her head above water among all the big names. Certainly I'd prefer her to Biden or Sanders. Though I still have a special place in my hard for Buttigeig, it's increasingly clear that he's probably the least palatable Democrat for African American voters. If that crowd doesn't turn out, we're boned.

6/27/2019 7:40:04 AM

I think Castro did a lot for himself in the debate and did what he had to do for a breakout. Warren stuck to the script and didn't gaffe which is all she needed. Delaney should drop out and Tim Ryan was stuck on his white working class constituency. That is great to keep your seat in OH (or maybe you should run for Senate there?). Booker was polished and De Blasio was just happy his NYC record didn't come up too much, particularly on the MTA. Inslee held his own but probably didn't move the needle. Beto can't give a direct answer to any question and that showed as well. His Spanish came off as pandering in the public eye. Tulsi will be remembered for the shot she took on the Afghanistan question. Klobuchar is not what the base is looking for.

6/27/2019 8:14:51 AM

^^^ I want to see that with moderators, Chuck Todd has to be up there



Brietbart and Drudge are firmly in the Tulsi camp, she's getting great coverage from them

6/27/2019 8:55:43 AM

Earl really doesn’t like Warren. Which is weird for a so-called progressive.

6/27/2019 9:52:12 AM

Beto seems like he's trying to strap on a big boy, Obama-inspired speaking voice/cadence and it really falls flat to me.

BELIEVE ME GUYS, I'M A DEEP THINKER! DON'T YOU HEAR ALL THE PAUSES I'M TAKING??

6/27/2019 10:01:14 AM

I'm unmistakably a huge Tulsi fan but that doesn't mean I think she should be president nor does it cloud my perception of the facts. I support her and do think she is hands down the best person to be secretary of defense but she's not a person I want to be president.

As a progressive, Bernie is about as far right as I'm willing to move no matter how many Jill Stein policies Warren "rolls out" in effort to look progressive. I stand by my assertion that one does not simply become progressive from 2016-2019 at the age she is at. Just like a native American doesn't just wake up in a white woman's body, a person doesn't just go from being a Hillary supporter with no desire to be president to a super progressive who is suddenly aligned with Bernie on policy after 3 short years. Warren supporters have no explanation for that and the idea that the things someone says in a debate can make them "grow on you" is the entire reason we have a congress full of lying politicians. I know I'm being harsh on her but this is the POTUS, its not just any position.

Why is it so difficult for democratic voters to see past words and hold people accountable for their records?

Then theres the media. MSM can feed their viewers whatever narrative they chose but that will never change the facts. Some people will continue to believe what they are told ("CASTRO DID IT"?? LOL!!), but more and more people are onto their constant lies.


Once you get past what the media is feeding and look at actual data, there really isn't any debate who won that "debate". Tulsi left the biggest impression on almost every state. Black people in the south searched Booker and Cherokees in Oklahoma searched Warren after she answered one question by speaking in Cherokee.

So no, its not "Breitbart and Drudge", its "America" which they just happen to be part of.


[Edited on June 27, 2019 at 5:08 PM. Reason : dont call me out on vermont and south dakota]

[Edited on June 27, 2019 at 5:27 PM. Reason : pandera bread]

6/27/2019 5:02:23 PM

6/27/2019 6:54:41 PM

6/27/2019 8:23:41 PM

Shouldn't the number of followers gained and not percentage be the relevant metric? And why are they assuming followers equals support?

6/27/2019 8:37:24 PM

^,^^measuring the debate should stop after the debate. That twitter graphic includes the affect that the media saying "castro won the debate" for 16 hours had on the subjects.


Gillibrand:

Quote :

"The problem isn't capitalism, the problem is companies caring more about profits than people"

Gillibrand defines capitalism and "greedy capitalism" and essentially says that if only capitalists were (definition of socialists), capitlism wouldn't be a problem.

NBC: 'stop talking gillibrand, we didn't call on you' (fucked up in its own right even though shes completely lost.

6/27/2019 9:15:17 PM

Kamala laying down the law, good look for her.

6/27/2019 9:21:13 PM

Wait so theres a whole candidate just there to hype joe biden. How deep does the fix run? This would be a great debate if there weren't so many extra useless candidates. Should have had 4 sets of 5 based on polling.

[Edited on June 27, 2019 at 9:25 PM. Reason : why are they here if they can't talk]

[Edited on June 27, 2019 at 9:29 PM. Reason : just after i type that, Williamson makes the most profound point of the whole cycle]

[Edited on June 27, 2019 at 9:30 PM. Reason : re: americans are sick because of capitalism]

[Edited on June 27, 2019 at 9:33 PM. Reason : that was a pseudo handraise from biden. literally middle ground hand-raise. scared?]

[Edited on June 27, 2019 at 9:36 PM. Reason : Biden: 'put executives(capitalists) in jail for.....maximizing profits(doing capitalism)'???????]

[Edited on June 27, 2019 at 9:36 PM. Reason : lotta socialism from 'non socialists']

[Edited on June 27, 2019 at 9:39 PM. Reason : Kamala is describing 'open borders' DACA is still a second class citizen classification.]

[Edited on June 27, 2019 at 9:41 PM. Reason : hickenlooper would make sure children in concentration camps are in them with their families]

[Edited on June 27, 2019 at 9:46 PM. Reason : williamson is sounding like a real progressive]

[Edited on June 27, 2019 at 9:49 PM. Reason : Biden: people who came illegally should not be locked up or deported (thats open borders)]

[Edited on June 27, 2019 at 9:52 PM. Reason : hard to believe kamala when she locked up parents for their kids being late to school]

6/27/2019 9:24:07 PM

Quote :

"And why are they assuming followers equals support?"

For the same reason Earl equates Google searches with support.

6/27/2019 9:27:45 PM

How long ago do you think Kamala wrote that food fight line?

6/27/2019 9:28:01 PM

^ I think it was off the cuff

She is crushing the debate right now I think. Hitting all the right notes.

6/27/2019 9:39:27 PM

Ok I don't know if I'm jaded or you're naive, but there was like a 0.5% chance that was off the cuff, imo. Everyone knew this was going to happen especially after last night, she knew a snapback would be an easy applause moment. Almost nothing these candidates say is off the cuff.

6/27/2019 9:43:49 PM

It’s already just a civil violation to cross the border?

6/27/2019 9:44:23 PM

there is a 0.0% chance that line was off the cuff

6/27/2019 9:46:40 PM

^^ i don’t think you’re giving them enough credit. Kamala is a smart, experienced
Person that could easily be off the cuff

Remember this moment from Obama debates?

https://youtu.be/fdloPRuWR_4

6/27/2019 9:47:42 PM

I'm giving her a ton of credit. She is shrewd and scored points with a planned takedown.

Unfortunately it rings hollow bc she was in the same "let me talk" battle about 10 minutes later.

6/27/2019 9:50:09 PM

sanders positions have basically dominated discussion for 2 debates

6/27/2019 9:50:45 PM

^ yeah but I think his temperament is going to be off putting to people

I said this a while ago but I bet trump doesn’t participate in any debates this cycle.

6/27/2019 9:52:57 PM

^^You mean Stein's positions?
^How dare he come off mad as hell about the current state of things


[Edited on June 27, 2019 at 9:54 PM. Reason : lmao scavenger party]

[Edited on June 27, 2019 at 10:06 PM. Reason : they knocked out mayor butti and now kamala dealing death blows to biden. gloves are off popcorn]

[Edited on June 27, 2019 at 10:09 PM. Reason : biden out here with a libertarian rand paul ass point of view on bussing in 2019 ]

6/27/2019 9:53:15 PM

Biden saying the wrong thing completely here.

6/27/2019 10:07:57 PM

Biden camp in meltdown mode rn

6/27/2019 10:09:53 PM

I don't even care about the food fight, love Kamala 360 dunking on Biden, jesus

6/27/2019 10:11:34 PM

I never realized how unlikeable Biden is until just now. Obama totally hid him well in his shadow.

6/27/2019 10:14:44 PM

I kinda like the pass the torch guy

6/27/2019 10:35:44 PM

this two word answer shit is really pissing me off. this is not a debate. msnbc is a shitshow for dumbing down everything.

[Edited on June 27, 2019 at 10:55 PM. Reason : and howcome yangs 45 seconds to close was more than his entire time in the debate]

6/27/2019 10:44:14 PM