Re: Tariffs and bikes

On 4/6/2025 7:03 AM, zen cycle wrote:

On 4/5/2025 2:04 PM, AMuzi wrote:

On 4/5/2025 11:44 AM, Frank Krygowski wrote:

On 4/5/2025 9:20 AM, AMuzi wrote:

On 4/4/2025 11:08 PM, Frank Krygowski wrote:

On 4/4/2025 10:30 PM, AMuzi wrote:

On 4/4/2025 9:03 PM, Frank Krygowski wrote:

On 4/4/2025 12:26 PM, AMuzi wrote:

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You can have whatever opinion you like but not your own facts.

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Heck, I thought it was fashionable to have "alternative facts" if you don't like the look of normal ones! Wasn't that made clear during Trump version 1?
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USA has among the most steeply sloped tax regimes on earth, such that the top 1% of earners pay roughly half of all income tax.
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https://usafacts.org/articles/who-pays-the-most- income-tax/

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The USA also has some of the highest income and wealth disparity of developed nations. Granted, not as bad as many small 3rd world countries - but I think we should not be striving to emulate those.
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https://www.oxfamamerica.org/explore/issues/economic- justice/ income- and-wealth-inequality/
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I'd say that means our tax structure is still insufficiently progressive.
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And what should we be trying to achieve anyway? ISTM our nation was founded on the idea of doing away with a privileged class lording it over those purportedly of less worth. Also the idea of everyone (well, as long as their complexion wasn't too dark) getting an equal shot at prosperity. If nothing else, those ideas, if implemented, work toward keeping the masses content enough that they don't literally rebel. Rebellions are messy, unpredictable, and bad for bike shops.
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We now have a new privileged class, one that can rake in millions per year and pay lower rates than struggling middle Americans, in part because of clever deductions. Remember Leona Helmsley? "Taxes are for little people."
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And of course, any money made over $170,000 per year is free of Social Security duties. Because hey, one's third mega- mansion is much more important than better food for the family making $50,000 per year. Why should the ultra- rich help to keep Social Security afloat?
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The 'disparity' is a myth in that it counts only taxable earnings, ignoring that fully half the country pays no income tax.  Many of those receive 'negative tax' payments and in fact dos very well on relief, much better than many working people.

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"The disparity is a myth"??  The GINI index for the U.S. is higher (worse) than for Britain, Italy, France, Austria, Canada, Australia, Ireland, Sweden, Albania, Croatia, etc. etc. etc. Yes, it's not as bad as South Africa, Mexico, Venezuela, Columbia, but it's hardly a myth.
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Regarding wealthy citizens, we do indeed have some inherited wealth but almost all the top earners are self made ...

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That's irrelevant. I was not restricting my comments to inherited wealth. I'm basically saying that our current laws and tax structures favor the wealthy and especially the very wealthy. That includes corporations, for which it's not that unusual to pay next to zero federal taxes. Tax shelters are available to those with tons of money. Helmsley's "little people" have no access to that trickery.
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Your snarky racism comment is ridiculous.

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I said a big idea for the new nation of the U.S. was that everyone should get an equal shot if their skin wasn't too dark. Did you somehow forget that black slavery existed back then? Slaves did not get an equal shot.
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Yes, I know you (especially you!) can come up with anecdotes about modern black guys who have gotten rich. But surely even you don't think it's as likely for a young black guy to succeed as it is for a young white guy.
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There are 224 times more black millionaires in USA than the top 19 countries of Africa combined.
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Go stick your racism somewhere else.

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I was not comparing black Americans to black Africans. I was comparing black Americans to white Americans. And in my original statement, I was comparing those groups in 1776.
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It simply is not true. Full stop. Not true.

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It is not true that black Americans in 1776 suffered disadvantages compared to white Americans? That is absolutely senseless.
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'Income disparity' is a classic blatant example of 'garbage in, garbage out.  By utterly ignoring our lavish transfer/benefits systems, the appearance of poverty greatly exceeds poverty.
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As with so many topics discussed here, one would do well to ask what is counted and who is counting.

For readers who did not pursue my previous link,

here's a shorter
simpler version:
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https://www.cato.org/study/myth-american-income-inequality

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:-) Ah yes, "one would do well to ask ... who is counting." So we should ignore the countless American and world-wide economic institutions which all accept recognized standards for inequality measurements, and rank America's GINI index as being worse than all similar modern nations. Instead we should pay attention to the outlier, the hyper-libertarian Cato institute.
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And regarding racism, why do legal immigrant Nigerians, being as dark or darker than US citizens grouped as black, do so well here?

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Yes, there are certainly cultural differences among various sub- cultures. Japanese and Chinese tend to do better here by various measurements than average white Americans. IIRC, white Jewish Americans do better, on average, than other whites. That does not mean that racism against American blacks is gone, and that blacks don't suffer from its current and historical effects.
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When I lived down south, I witnessed my black co-workers and later my black students getting mocked behind their backs or to their faces. I remember our two neighbors proudly going off to hear Lester Maddox speak, telling us "He's going to put those niggers back in their place." I can't believe those attitudes didn't lead to disadvantages for them.
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One thing that I learned fairly recently: My father bought his first house with help from the GI Bill. My wife and I did the same many years later. Buying a home and having its value appreciate, as they generally do, was an important contributor toward increasing family wealth. But after WW2, black servicemen had much more trouble taking advantage of the GI Bill. That put a great damper on black family's equity growth, and the historic effects persist.
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Or as my favorite black millionaire from humble roots often notes, "Hard work wins."

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It's more likely to "win" if you have good connections, good education, access to capital, etc. and if you're not rejected for a job by being the wrong color.
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Nearly 60 years ago I was shocked and offended at separate water fountains. We're roughly of the same age so I know what you meant.
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That was long long ago. Fortunately.
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 And yet....
https://michiganadvance.com/2024/07/22/we-love-hitler-we- love-trump-white-supremacists-march-through-howell/
 https://www.brennancenter.org/events/do-police-care-about- white-supremacist-violence
 https://www.ctpublic.org/2025-01-10/nh-supreme-court-sides- with-white-supremacist-group-over-highway-banner-in-portsmouth
 https://www.brennancenter.org/events/do-police-care-about- white-supremacist-violence
 https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/politics- government/2025-01-08/u-s-attorneys-office-yellowstone- gunman-espoused-white-supremacist-views

Right. We're a very large country with every flavor of belief arranged uncomfortably into two gargantuan party structures.  But a few pointy head racists (above) or the antisemite scum in the other party are equally offset by their opposites. In each party.
https://www.chicagoflipsred.com/
--
Andrew Muzi
am@yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971