Sunday, October 18, 2015

Bernie Sanders Makes No False Promises About Taxes

Bernie Sanders said straight-up today that he would not lower middle class taxes but rather raise those rates slightly to account for his proposals for paid family leave.  In contrast, Clinton has said she will lower the tax rate on the middle class and that won't work even if Sanders' proposals are not taken.  You know as well as we, here at the Rockhouse, tax rates won't go down and they're not that high anyway.  Compare them to any developed nation; the tax rates here are not that high.  (CNN:  Sanders endorses small tax hike on all to fund family leave)

Perhaps your answer to that is you will spend your money better than the government so keep the tax rates where they are.  In most cases that's true but not all of them and that's where Sanders comes into it.  He has radical proposals but they're not without cost and it's not a complex thing as 'you get what you pay for' and, right now, no-one is willing to pay for very much while they rich pay for hardly anything, relatively-speaking.

Call what comes of it socialism or whatever you like but I call it taking care of the country and the people everyone says they love so much.  I don't want to fuck around with hot, nutritive food for children at school but I damn sure I want someone doing it.  No-one else will do it and that's proven by looking around; no-one else does it now.  The thousand points of light are fireflies and they're not coming.  The reality is taxes because someone has to pay the freight.

Lewis Black does a bit on taxes and he said he's proud to pay them.  Now that he's hit the big league in comedy, he probably pays a lot of taxes too.

Update:  in my own life, my thinking was acceptance on taxes.  There wasn't any positive or negative any more than for the phone bill or a water bill.  There could be discussion on what the tax rates should be but the actual tax bill when it gets to me is a done deal.  There's no point in a rant about it and never has been in my life because that's the price of admission and, after it's been paid each year, there's no point in complaining about because nothing will change for the previous year.  Discussion is to change future years.  Lewis Black does it in a rational way and he's not ranting.  He's quite charming, if you can believe that.  I'm sure he is anyway but his stage act is often, um, aggressive and charming wouldn't be the first choice of review words.



Not quite ten minutes into it, he gets into taxes and America.  I'm not sure if this is the one in which he says he is proud to pay taxes but he gets into socialism and gives a good explanation of his logic.  No matter what your politics, you will find him a literate and educated man.  He's incredibly nervous which isn't like his stage performances and that's charming because his parents are in the audience.  It's an extraordinary performance.

Lewis Black is as wide-open with his honesty as Bernie Sanders and I admire both of them for it tremendously.

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