I think it was Wyoming that came up with a really great solution to the repeat DUI problem: offenders are put on alcohol monitoring with certain jail time for any breach. Most of the country is designed to require driving, so better to go after the drinking part. It’s been hugely successful.

Seriously, every goddamn time. It’s like local authorities think the only thing that makes the killing wrong is if booze/drugs are involved.

Since it’s a DUI, they might actually prosecute. NYPD is famous for considering a $500 failure to yield ticket all that needs to be done and local prosecutors generally agree. Only exception is if drugs/alcohol are involved, or if it’s public enough that the outcry begins immediately.

The argument from the Democrats back in 2009 regarding the essential benefits package was that there are some things we should always guarantee because (a) it’s a social benefit to make sure everyone has coverage for those issues, (b) those are benefits that should be cost shared across the population so as to avoid…

Tax cuts don’t “have” to benefit the rich the most. Cut payroll taxes, cut the lowest brackets, or increase the EITC or standard deduction and you get a benefit that’s distributed across earners.

#blessed

The best argument, to me, is that it’s a good thing to have some guardrails built in to the system to push back against aristocracy. America is supposed to be about going west and making something of yourself, not the supremacy of the Duke of Ohio.

Complain all you want, but he’s just fulfilling his mandate. We all remember the crowds at Trump rallies chanting “Tax cuts for real estate developers and hedge funds!” If you’d get out of your snowflake liberal coastal bubble for a second you’d realize that real America wants to solve the plight of wealthy heirs…

The tax code isn’t even logical in how it’s written; lots of interlocking sections and references. The sad thing is, in theory it’s super logical. “Add up how much money you made, subtract if you qualify for these special programs, and then look at the table to see how much you owe.” Things get weird once we have…

How is someone living off of their investments more moral than someone working for a living? Why can’t the tax code treat them equally?

Maybe in some scenarios, but not now. The mechanism for that happening is that at the margin, there’s a little less saving and therefor a little less investable capital, and interest rates are high as a result. Right now we have a massive savings glut with interest rates very low. If we normalize CG taxation and in…

Yes, all realized gains. There’s no reason that the source of your money should matter. Why would someone that gets $80k a year from investments be taxed less than someone who gets $80k a year as a salary?

It’s also the case that preferential treatment of capital gains is behind 90% of the weird corporate structuring and complex accounting that’s taken for granted these days. As long as as income called “capital gains” is taxed much more lightly than “plain income,” there’s an enormous incentive to call as much income…

One of the worst realizations I had after the election, on a personal level, was knowing that in order to win in the future, we’re just going to have to eat the plate of shit white Republicans handed us, call it delicious, and praise their cooking skills.

It’s a great sentiment, but every single thing you mention was soundly rejected by these same voters. They had the choice between a more progressive tax plan or a giant cut for the wealthy, and they want the cut for the wealthy. They had a choice between tighter financial regulation and a strong CFPB or deregulating…

Its fine, but is there any new info in there that people who pay attention didn’t already know? The famous Death and Taxes posters that cover all federal spending are only $25, and is much more detailed than what I’m seeing on this website. Literally anyone who has read about the mortgage interest deduction is aware…

On the other hand, getting paid $190k a year in your early 20s to write horseshit is a pretty sweet deal.

I’ll just give my view, since you absolutely have a valid complaint. I have no idea what the right thing to do with Syria is. There are no good options and we’ve already seen Obama choose a bad one.

This is where Trump’s constant attacks on the dignity of the presidency really hit me. How to respond to Syria and Assad is an incredibly difficult question, with bad options on either side. It demands a serious, well thought out answer. I don’t think Obama handled it well, but I also don’t think there was or is an…

My favorite part is when he hand waves away Tebow (who excelled at every one of his made up categories) because he wasn’t much of a passer. Guess what isn’t one of the things that Lombardi thinks is essential for a QB? Being good at passing!