What does a TRUMP presidency look like?

[Syt]

Is it me or is Barr trying to play intellectual and then proceeds to confuse Rousseau with Robespierre? Those accusations make no sense otherwise 

https://twitter.com/LizRNC/status/1292575407888359430

He's hard to take seriously:

https://twitter.com/existentialfish/status/1292628403699556352?s=20

Bill Barr says that Trump "is an excellent executive" whose White House makes "well-vetted" decisions. He adds that that "I've never seen such energy. He's always working."

[Sheilbh]

I find Barr the most threatening of the folks in the Trump administration. It feels like he's the most deliberate and competent of them.

[Tamas]

  the moment I read the Mt. Rushmore thing I was totally certain it was true. It sounds exactly like Trump to want to do something like that.

[Syt]

Deferring payroll tax and promising to get rid of it seems surprisingly shrewd by Trump. If he loses the election or the Democrats refuse to get rid of it, the Dems will be the bad guys in the GOP narrative.

If he manages to abolish it, his base will be happy that "welfare queens" lose money.

[garbon]

Deferring payroll tax and promising to get rid of it seems surprisingly shrewd by Trump. If he loses the election or the Democrats refuse to get rid of it, the Dems will be the bad guys in the GOP narrative.

If he manages to abolish it, his base will be happy that "welfare queens" lose money.

Is it shrewd to fuck with soon to be retirees, retirement income?

[Tamas]

Deferring payroll tax and promising to get rid of it seems surprisingly shrewd by Trump. If he loses the election or the Democrats refuse to get rid of it, the Dems will be the bad guys in the GOP narrative.

If he manages to abolish it, his base will be happy that "welfare queens" lose money.

Is it shrewd to fuck with soon to be retirees, retirement income?

They would need to grasp the connection though.

[Syt]

Deferring payroll tax and promising to get rid of it seems surprisingly shrewd by Trump. If he loses the election or the Democrats refuse to get rid of it, the Dems will be the bad guys in the GOP narrative.

If he manages to abolish it, his base will be happy that "welfare queens" lose money.

Is it shrewd to fuck with soon to be retirees, retirement income?

It's disgusting, but might still pay off for him.

[garbon]

Deferring payroll tax and promising to get rid of it seems surprisingly shrewd by Trump. If he loses the election or the Democrats refuse to get rid of it, the Dems will be the bad guys in the GOP narrative.

If he manages to abolish it, his base will be happy that "welfare queens" lose money.

Is it shrewd to fuck with soon to be retirees, retirement income?

They would need to grasp the connection though.

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/08/07/politics/social-security-medicare-trump-payroll-taxes/index.html

Coronavirus has already dealt a blow to Social Security's finances. Trump's payroll tax holiday could make it worse

https://www.forbes.com/sites/ebauer/2020/08/09/will-trumps-payroll-tax-cut-end-social-security-as-we-know-it-lets-hope-so/#7ea9b48148a5

Will Trump's Payroll Tax Cut End Social Security As We Know It? Let's Hope So.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewsolender/2020/08/09/white-house-walks-back-permanent-payroll-tax-cut-amid-social-security-concerns/#9ca566b3bc9a

White House Walks Back 'Permanent' Payroll Tax Cut Amid Social Security Concerns

Anecdotally on twitter, I saw people in their 60s commenting on twitter news articles panicking if they should start taking social security now on the basis that if the program collapses, gov't can't claw back the money they already started taking.

[Syt]

"There would be enough money in social security for Americans, if it weren't for the darn immigrants - illegal or otherwise!"
(Regardless of the validity of the claim - it just has to *feel* right)

[garbon]

I'm just saying it isn't very hard for people to make the connection...particularly as we are constantly told that social security is underfunded.

[Razgovory]

I'm just saying it isn't very hard for people to make the connection...particularly as we are constantly told that social security is underfunded.

For some reason most Americans don't seem to understand how social security works.

[The Minsky Moment]

The SS system does have a substantial amount in the trust fund; however, drawing down on that money to fund benefits would require large sales of Treasury securities. 

[Syt]

I'm just saying it isn't very hard for people to make the connection...particularly as we are constantly told that social security is underfunded.

Anecdotally, when my sisters condemn the US government dipping into, say, pension funds or medicare, they blame politicians, i.e. "The Senate" and "The Representatives", and the true problem  is those politicians being in office for decades and making too much money (from their office and "elsewhere"), losing touch with the common man. Yet they keep voting for Republicans who are often the worst offenders because sticking it to the libtards and protecting America from communism/immigrants/Islam/Communist Islamic Immigrants ( ) is more important, or rather the lesser of two corrupt evils.

[The Minsky Moment]

I don't think anyone really understands how social security works because financially and economically how it works depends on context.  The legal structure is set up so that the payroll taxes and trust fund are separated from the rest of budget but there is nothing stopping Congress from changing that at any time and "raiding" the funds.  From a macroeconomic perspective, the legal status of the system is basically irrelevant - it is one federal government with a set of revenues each year being applied to a set of obligations.  It makes no difference to say that Obligation "S" is fully paid but Obligation "G" is not as opposed to the other way around.

Two things that are clear: (1) the system is entirely pay-as-you-go so the ability to fund benefits depends on what resources are available that year, (2) all "trust" funds are lent to the Treasury so there is no way to break the linkage between the system and the overall fiscal position of the federal government.

[viper37]

Americans gave this man the nuclear codes.

Growing up, I never thought I'd witness the fall of the american empire.

I thought this article was a good assessment: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/political-commentary/covid-19-end-of-american-era-wade-davis-1038206/

Except that "the American Era" has ended about 25 times in the last 20 years, so the audience response to yet another claim that it has ended is a yawn.

The doomsayers need a new schtick.

True.  But on the other end, most people didn't realize the Roman empire was gone in 476.  Life kept going as usual for a while after that.