“But his advice for Dems to give into compromise perhaps more reflects a cynicism stemming from having his efforts blocked at every turn for a few decades”

Who said it was debatable? I said it’s more complicated than that one sentence you just regurgitated again.

“Readers are understandably irritated by articles like these”

Whether or not wages are keeping pace is more complicated than some people make it out to be. It’s also relevant for people to stop repeating that statement as if it applies to all workers as opposed to the middle fifth of the working population aka “average” workers.

“I know tons of people that lost all their money when the market tanked!”

Federal contractors are hardly comparable to gig workers. In fact most contractors are hardly comparable to gig workers.

How many times has Splinter complained that spineless Democrats weren’t willing to escalate to shutdown for <insert_issue_of_the_month>? You can’t advocate for shutdown tactics and then crow when you see the result.

What about the possibility that the sectors that are struggling are in the process of dying a death they deserve to die? Warehouse workers? Does anyone really think that’s a role that’s going to continue to exist in perpetuity? Manual labor is in trouble. Menial white collar labor is in trouble. Not because people are…

“Beyond that: 401Ks (socialism for capitalists!) are the only real methods many Americans can currently enjoy as a way to retire, and even those are wildly going back and forth with no sign of stability.”

Oh my god is a corporation profiting from the misery of the people? Burn it down!

“And you’re all over the place with your single argument that SALT and other deductions are somehow short changing the federal government.”

The image is obviously a comparison between single filers and married filers with two children and would change a bit if you took out the children but it illustrates the point.

I completely understand your position. Your position is that a married couple, despite operating on a combined income, despite the fact that two people in general consume more of everything including government compared to one, should be taxed as though they have individual incomes. You want the benefit of a combined…

I’m all over the place and your sole defense is “but the state contributes more” on something that is entirely a household matter.

“But that “self serving” manner, as you call it, generally pays for better schoolsand other services, which produce a better educated population, which should - as the theory goes - make those states able to attract the companies that make those high paying jobs that you seem to be looking down your nose at possible”

“Married couples do pay the same rate as single taxpayers, except in the top bracket, where married couples are actually penalized. If you make $50,000, and your spouse makes $62,000, your combined income is $112,000, which puts the couple in the 24% marginal tax bracket, the same as if each taxpayer filed as single…

“And why does a state like Mississippi not have a glut of high-paying jobs?”

“People move to cities for opportunity. The more opportunity, the more people want to live there, and the higher cost of living.”

“So we’re just going to skip over the part where you attempted to cherry pick three states out of 13 that are net payers into the system with lower state tax burdens without mentioning the other 10, some of which also have the highest state tax burdens.”

“If my state is using my income tax to address needs in my state, the federal government doesn’t have to”