TRUMP's TAX RETURN

[pancakeramp]

So Republicans believe that the blue collar worker should work harder for less money. Why didn't they campaign that way in Michigan and Ohio? Why were they only saying "jobs", or if they were bold "good paying jobs".

If you were a laid off autoworker who was used to an hourly rate of $25 an hour, plus a pension, plus your health insurance paid for 100%, plus health insurance for life when you retired, when you hear "good paying jobs" do you think of something that pays $15 an hour with no pension, no healthcare in retirement, and a fair chunk of money to pay your portion of your health insurance? Because these are the jobs that are being created in the rust belt.

The $75 wasn't the wage by itself. Republicans took the wage, pension, healthcare, and retirement benefits into account to get that number...THEN they blamed unions and union workers who were demanding $75 an hour to put a bumper on a car.

Those damn unions were killing everything. Heck..the reason that airfares were so high back in the day is because we were paying some guy $60 an hour to throw bags in a plane. You're a ramper...aren't you? Still making $60 an hour? Still have a pension? Thank Republican's.

As expected, it did fly right over your head.

 

[KCFlyer]

As expected, it did fly right over your head.

You mean you HAVE a pension? I'm only saying what Republicans were saying about blue collar union workers back in the 80's and 90's. Unions were the problem. They forced companies to pay blue collar workers too much. They still believe that today. Just google "right to work" laws. It's a republican attempt to force unions to negotiate for members who choose not to pay union dues...without union dues...unions fail. When unions fail...well....you really don't want to know what happens.

 

[pancakeramp]

You mean you HAVE a pension? I'm only saying what Republicans were saying about blue collar union workers back in the 80's and 90's. Unions were the problem. They forced companies to pay blue collar workers too much. They still believe that today. Just google "right to work" laws. It's a republican attempt to force unions to negotiate for members who choose not to pay union dues...without union dues...unions fail. When unions fail...well....you really don't want to know what happens.

Typical liberal garbage narrative. You said that the union workers were blamed. They were never blamed, the union fat cats who sold out their members are the ones to blame.

All you have are lies.

I'm shocked you didn't have a real life anecdote that fit that garbage you pulled from rear end.

 

[pancakeramp]

Just for you KFC Wordsalad Chef.

Money thrown out the window and people still lost their jobs. Except for the union fat cats.
Auto Bailout? More Like a $23 Billion Gift to the UAW

 

[KCFlyer]

Typical liberal garbage narrative. You said that the union workers were blamed. They were never blamed, the union fat cats who sold out their members are the ones to blame.

All you have are lies.

I'm shocked you didn't have a real life anecdote that fit that garbage you pulled from rear end.

The union fat cats weren't the ones being paid $75 an hour to put a bumper on a car. That was the union WORKER who was targeted. And the poor quality of American cars in the 70's and 80's? They blamed lazy assed union workers who were overpaid and didn't give a damn about what they were doing. Republican's have always felt that union WORKERS were overpaid. But you guys vote for them...and point to jobs paying 11 bucks an hour as "proof" that they care.

 

[La Li Lu Le Lo]

The book "Listen Liberal" by Thomas Frank calls out the Democratic Party for abandoning the New Deal and shifting their focus on yuppies and education and technology. He said that Democrats and Republicans are still battling for votes....but they have both abandoned the working class, especially the blue collar working class. Oh...they make the trips past idled factories and tell us what a shame it is and they will bring back all these jobs. But back when America was great, one guy could go to work at his lowly blue collar job and his wife in many cases could stay home. Yet they bought cars and homes and clothes and went out to dinners. They went on vacations or bought boats and campers. Very few can do that on the pay of any of these new jobs that are being created.

But starting in the 80's and early 90's, republicans were the ones pointing to union workers and blaming them for many of the problems. I mentioned the $75 an hour to put a bumper on a car argument. I heard that...a LOT. If I were a union man, I never would have forgot comments like that. Then a clown prince comes into town and promises jobs, jobs, jobs. And there ARE jobs. But the pay and benefits from those jobs are nowhere close to what they were back when America was great. . And those idled plants are still idled. Gosh...GM announced that two plants will be CLOSING by the end of this year. "Costs (the union worker) were too high".

Trump was pretty upset about it and groused that he would MAKE GM bring those jobs back. But....we don't hear about that any more. In fact, he was IN Ohio...one of the states where GM closed a plant. He was giving a speech at a tank factory. Rather that whip up the base about the GM plant closings and jobs....he launches into a rift about a guy who had been dead 7 months. I'm still not sure if those 2020 voters he was talking to went silent because they couldn't believe he was kicking a man when he was dead, or were they wondering if he really gave a rats ass about their brother in Lordstown who lost his job due to the GM closure.

At any rate....more and more union workers pulled the lever for Trump and the Republicans...even though Trump and the Republicans have felt that union workers are what made America less great for the past 3 decades. So I guess my only question is....what have REPUBLICANS done for the blue collar union worker?

Those jobs were lost for 3 reasons.

1.Technology: Technology has either completely automated jobs or made people so efficient at a job it takes 1 person to do what many used to do. As AI gets better and better this will get worse and worse.

2. Globalization: Globalization is probably the second leading cause of declining compensation. This is the reason we NEED tariffs to protect our domestic production. We allow too many imports and we allow the same protections and tax benefits to companies who choose to offshore.

3. Illegal immigration: Mass illegal immigration has resulted in decreased pay and benefits for unskilled work for 2 reasons. First immigrants are more likely to work for less. Second when you have more people available for labor it tends to drive wages down.

Technology we can't really do anything about. Tariffs and strong borders will take care of the rest.

 

[La Li Lu Le Lo]

So Republicans believe that the blue collar worker should work harder for less money. Why didn't they campaign that way in Michigan and Ohio? Why were they only saying "jobs", or if they were bold "good paying jobs".

If you were a laid off autoworker who was used to an hourly rate of $25 an hour, plus a pension, plus your health insurance paid for 100%, plus health insurance for life when you retired, when you hear "good paying jobs" do you think of something that pays $15 an hour with no pension, no healthcare in retirement, and a fair chunk of money to pay your portion of your health insurance? Because these are the jobs that are being created in the rust belt.

The $75 wasn't the wage by itself. Republicans took the wage, pension, healthcare, and retirement benefits into account to get that number...THEN they blamed unions and union workers who were demanding $75 an hour to put a bumper on a car.

Those damn unions were killing everything. Heck..the reason that airfares were so high back in the day is because we were paying some guy $60 an hour to throw bags in a plane. You're a ramper...aren't you? Still making $60 an hour? Still have a pension? Thank Republican's.

KCFlyer would you say in all fairness that people have much more to spend their money on now? Just in my lifetime cell phones, computers, gaming consoles, internet, cable TV/satellite, and tablets have become very common. Not long ago it was very uncommon for a family to have a TV (forget color) and 2 cars.

I would say in my lifetime people's standard of living has increased substantially even if pay has remained stagnant.

 

[KCFlyer]

KCFlyer would you say in all fairness that people have much more to spend their money on now? Just in my lifetime cell phones, computers, gaming consoles, internet, cable TV/satellite, and tablets have become very common. Not long ago it was very uncommon for a family to have a TV (forget color) and 2 cars.

I would say in my lifetime people's standard of living has increased substantially even if pay has remained stagnant.

I grew up in the 1960's. Dad sold RCA TV's. He had a car. Mom had a car. We lived in a nice house in Orlando. Mom volunteered at the local hospital when the kids went to school. There wasn't any cable but we had an antenna rotor to pick up the stations in Tampa. And don't forget...the standard of living might have increased a bit...but today it takes dad AND mom to get that standard up.

Meanwhile...YOUR pension got cut and eliminated. YOu might have had a job where you could be the "breadwinner"...but if you have a family, odds are prety good your wife is working two. It's taken two "stagnant" incomes to bring that lifestyle up. Oh yeah...and you forgot one other thing that also went up substantially....personal debt. Indeed we DO have more stuff. But personal debt is alarmingly high.

 

[La Li Lu Le Lo]

Oh yeah...and you forgot one other thing that also went up substantially....personal debt. Indeed we DO have more stuff. But personal debt is alarmingly high.

You can blame our debt problems on easy credit and a consumer culture.

I do agree with your statement. As a nation our debt is very high. Both government and personal debt.

However, except for my home I am debt free. Everything I have is paid off because I put bills before stupid BS. I will have my home paid off soon (I only moved 1 year ago this month). I believe most people's money problems are a result of stupid decisions rather than insufficient income.

Watch someone get a bonus and all they talk about is what toy they are going to buy. It is rare to hear someone say I am going to pay this off.

Our debt is high but our government has a spending problem. And Democrats forced banks to approve loans to high risk individuals. Credit card debt is high and interest rates today are obscene. I use credit but I electronically pay it off within 2 days of a charge. These 2 issues have caused the poor to slide ever further into poverty. But again, it was mostly the result of the poor making stupid decisions with the money they did have. Someone offered them easy debt and they jumped on it like a fish on a hook.

I disagree it takes 2 people to work. I have several one income households in my extended family from the previous generation and growing up I lived in a one income household. Most of my family from THIS generation do have dual income households. However, I think that is more of a cultural thing than by necessity. It has become normalcy for both parents to work. I had a cousin making almost 200K a year and his wife worked. I assure you it was not because she HAD to. Again it has just become a cultural norm.

 

[KCFlyer]

I disagree it takes 2 people to work. I have several one income households in my extended family from the previous generation and growing up I lived in a one income household. Most of my family from THIS generation do have dual income households. However, I think that is more of a cultural thing than by necessity. It has become normalcy for both parents to work. I had a cousin making almost 200K a year and his wife worked. I assure you it was not because she HAD to. Again it has just become a cultural norm.

I still disagree. I think that everything has gone up....except (lower 90%) pay. It has remained stagnant. My ex and I built our first house in 1990. We paid $92,000 for it. If my daughter wanted to buy that house back today, it would cost her $250,000. Just got the tax assessment on my current house that I bought 9 years ago. It's on the rolls for $100,000 more than I paid for it. It's possible for people to live on one income. But you aren't going to be in the nicest part of town.

 

[Dog Wonder]

Sunday brunch. Pancakes getting a tour of the digestive system. We know how that ends.

Pancakes have worked their way down to the colon. They seem at home there. Need to get to the dog park, can’t let them loose where I live.

Wooo Doggie! That felt good.

Got to the dog park just in time. The pancake tour of the digestive system is complete. More of an eviction than an evacuation. Those pancakes had made themselves at home in that colon. Putting up family pictures and a Home Sweet Home sign.

Now the whole dog park is my territory. No one else wants to go there. Maybe it would have been better to leave the pancakes where they were comfortable. Now the EPA is there in decontamination suits, and the National Enquirer is trying to pay anyone to get them samples from the park. Must be some nasty stuff they need to cover up.

To top it off a goat just asked me "What the Hell did you eat?". "Just pancakes" I told Him. He walked away puking.

Story isn't over yet.

 

[La Li Lu Le Lo]

I still disagree. I think that everything has gone up....except (lower 90%) pay. It has remained stagnant. My ex and I built our first house in 1990. We paid $92,000 for it. If my daughter wanted to buy that house back today, it would cost her $250,000. Just got the tax assessment on my current house that I bought 9 years ago. It's on the rolls for $100,000 more than I paid for it. It's possible for people to live on one income. But you aren't going to be in the nicest part of town.

Sounds like another housing market bubble in the making. I guess people did not learn their lesson the first time.

 

[Insp4]

 

[Dog Wonder]

I just took a flaming crap yesterday, Gave some pancakes a tour of the digestive system. Didn't come out well when they were evicted.

 

[Insp4]

I just took a flaming crap yesterday, Gave some pancakes a tour of the digestive system. Didn't come out well when they were evicted.

Yea, we understand you have a problem with diarrhea!