Stupid Republican idea of the day

[Steve_MB]

Grifters gotta grift:

The U.S. State Department’s budget has been slashed drastically under President Trump. But that hasn’t stopped some high-level people in government from living the high life. According to a new report, the State Department spent a whopping $52,701 on curtains for Nikki Haley’s Manhattan apartment last year…

Of course, the All-Purpose Excuse[tm] was immediately trotted out:

Haley’s office reportedly defended the purchase by saying that the plans for the curtains were made during the Obama administration, but the curtains weren’t ordered until the Trump regime took power…

Maybe I just have a mean nasty cynical mind, but I translate this to mean: Some Obama Administration staffer in charge of maintaining the UN Ambassador’s apartment wrote a memo saying “Hey, can we get some new curtains in here?” and Haley came in and decided that she deserved the very best fancy motorized curtains the taxpayers’ money can buy.

[not_what_you_d_expect]

This statement from Patrick Kennedy regarding those curtains:
"Patrick Kennedy, the top management official at the State Department during the Obama administration, defended the spending, saying the curtains will be used by future officials and cited security and entertainment purposes.

“All she’s got is a part-time maid, and the ability to open and close the curtains quickly is important,” Kennedy told the newspaper.
…is just crazy. I just can’t even.

I am starting to wish somebody would stop the world and let me get off. I can not keep up with all the crazy.

[wonky]

@not_what_you_d_expect

This statement from Patrick Kennedy regarding those curtains:
"Patrick Kennedy, the top management official at the State Department during the Obama administration, defended the spending, saying the curtains will be used by future officials and cited security and entertainment purposes.

“All she’s got is a part-time maid, and the ability to open and close the curtains quickly is important,” Kennedy told the newspaper.
…is just crazy. I just can’t even.

I am starting to wish somebody would stop the world and let me get off. I can not keep up with all the crazy.

I don’t have even a part-time maid. Strangely, I can operate the window coverings. It’s a miracle of leverage!

[enipla]

Is Eric the relatively smart one or the dumb one?

@Batano

yes

Bravo. The most succinct and completely accurate answer.

[ThelmaLou]

@not_what_you_d_expect

…I am starting to wish somebody would stop the world and let me get off. I can not keep up with all the crazy.

I routinely think this several times a day now… :smack:

[j666]

I think the Ambassador to the United Nations should have a maid; she’s a busy woman.

I also think she should be able to work a curtain.

[ThelmaLou]

New estimate: GOP’s second tax cuts would add $3.8 trillion to deficit

New estimate: GOP’s second tax cuts would add $3.8 trillion to deficit

My emphasis.

A second round of Republican tax cuts would add an additional $3.2 trillion to the federal deficit over a decade, according to a new report released by a centrist think-tank.

The package was taken up by a House committee on Thursday and is expected to head to a vote on the floor later this month.

The GOP’s “tax reform 2.0” would make permanent many of the individual and estate tax provisions in the tax law Republicans passed last fall, which the Congressional Budget Office said would already add about $1.9 trillion to the deficit, factoring for interest costs.

The second round of cuts would cost $631 billion before 2028 and an additional $3.15 trillion in the decade after that, according to the Tax Policy Center. The finding was somewhat larger than the $2.4 trillion cost over 10 years projected by the Tax Foundation, a conservative think-tank.
…
TPC also found that the law would give a substantially bigger tax breaks to the richest families over those in the middle class. The richest 1 percent of filers would see an average tax cut of $40,000, while those in the middle 20 percent of earners would see an average cut of $980, TPC said.
…

Sounds fair.

[Slash1972]

Wait, I thought tax cuts brought in MORE revenue? How could it add to the deficit?

[ElvisL1ves]

*How *long have we been waiting for the Job Creators to get sufficiently motivated?

[Kobal2]

It’s gonna trickle down any minute ! The problem is all those Presidents who try and shore up gaping deficits by bringing the taxes back up, restarting the whole process from scratch !

[ThelmaLou]

@ElvisL1ves

*How *long have we been waiting for the Job Creators to get sufficiently motivated?

Well, they’ve been motivated to buy back lots of stocks. That’s what you had in mind, isn’t it?

President Donald Trump’s tax cuts have prompted corporate executives use the cash windfall to reward their own investors instead of building factories, buying new equipment or accelerating wage increases that might spur consumer spending and stimulate the U.S. economy.
…
Cite:
https://www.thestreet.com/investing/tax-cut-fueled-stock-buybacks-stymie-trump-economy-14613720

… The buyback boom is terrific news for shareholders — and corporate executives. When companies repurchase vast amounts of stock, they provide persistent demand that tends to boost share prices. Buybacks also artificially inflate a closely watched measure of profitability known as earnings per share.

The Republican tax cut created a windfall for Corporate America. The legislation slashed the corporate tax rate to 21% from 35%. It also gave companies a tax break on foreign profits that they return to the United States.

The tax law and strong economy have combined to fuel record profits. CEOs are choosing to use a large chunk of that money to reward shareholders.
…
Cite:
https://money.cnn.com/2018/07/10/investing/stock-buybacks-record-tax-cuts/index.html

[elucidator]

Also, my understanding is that many of these corporadoes have employment agreements that boost bonuses if the price of the company’s stock rises. So, this grabs handfuls of cash and stuffs it in their respective pockets.

And the voice of the turtle is heard in the land. “Oink!” says the turtle…

[Rick_Kitchen]

Brett Kavanaugh just released a letter from 65 women he went to high school saying he never assaulted them. Like somebody on Twitter said, where is the letter from 65 people saying Charles Manson never murdered them?

[Czarcasm]

@Rick_Kitchen

Brett Kavanaugh just released a letter from 65 women he went to high school saying he never assaulted them. Like somebody on Twitter said, where is the letter from 65 people saying Charles Manson never murdered them?

How large a high school was it? For instance, if there were 650 women in his high school, does that mean he didn’t sexually assault 10% of the females there?

[Ukulele_Ike]

It’s nice that he had that letter all signed and ready to go, isn’t it?

I don’t think I could even REMEMBER that many women I went to high school with, let alone which ones I had not assaulted, so I could hit them up for testimonials 30 years later.

[Slash1972]

@Ukulele_Ike

It’s nice that he had that letter all signed and ready to go, isn’t it?

I don’t think I could even REMEMBER that many women I went to high school with, let alone which ones I had not assaulted, so I could hit them up for testimonials 30 years later.

Maybe they were the only ones not crossed off on his “Women I need to assault” list that he hangs on his fridge?

[Ukulele_Ike]

Man, I HATE list-makers. That’s another reason to dislike Kavanaugh.

He probably loads his dishwasher all wrong, too, so I’d have to rearrange everything before I ran it.

[Slash1972]

@Ukulele_Ike

Man, I HATE list-makers. That’s another reason to dislike Kavanaugh.

Hmmmm…How do you document your reasons to dislike Kavanaugh?

[slumtrimpet]

@Rick_Kitchen

Brett Kavanaugh just released a letter from 65 women he went to high school saying he never assaulted them. Like somebody on Twitter said, where is the letter from 65 people saying Charles Manson never murdered them?

I thought he went to an all boys school.

[enipla]

@Rick_Kitchen

Brett Kavanaugh just released a letter from 65 women he went to high school saying he never assaulted them. Like somebody on Twitter said, where is the letter from 65 people saying Charles Manson never murdered them?

That is seriously f’ed up. And they want a guy that would make such a list to make decisions on the law of the land?

On second thought, of course they do.