Any counter examples to this? Or are we pretty much already on the path and past the point of no return?
It depends. IF America manages to have reasonably free and fair elections in November, there is a chance to turn back from this path. However if, as I fear, the election will be disrupted to the point of putting the result in doubt, then more chaos and unrest awaits, with those provoking it best prepared to take advantage. And that’s something it’s much harder to come back from.
Fun fun.
To be fair, Germany did come back from its descent into fascism.
It certainly didn’t do it on its own though.
Moderate Republican (and never Trumper) here…
As a Pro-choice republican I am often asked by my more liberal friends how I can vote Republican.
The whole abortion thing is just to get the Bible thumpers on board voting Republican.
Neither Reagan/Bush1/Bush2/or even Trump are evangelical Christians. It’s politics.
So, would you vote for a Republican who ran entirely on a pro-life platform?
Has there ever been one? NO
So would you vote for for a Democrat who ran entirely on an African-American reparations platform? Wealth Distribution? Tax the rich 99%? Throwing people into re-education camps for thought crimes?
Roe v Wade is established law, that is why I don’t lose sleep about voting for pro-life republicans. Even though I am pro-choice.
If there are democrats who have those items as even a part of their platform, then I would be very hesitant to vote for them. (Well, wealth distribution, but I suspect that you and I would have very different definitions for that one[of course, we probably have different definitions for the rest of your list as well.])
There are, however, republicans who are very proud of their pro-life stance. Maybe it was a bit of unfair hyperbole to say “entirely on”, as they also are for guns and bibles, but as a major part of their campaign platform, absolutely.
I don’t know if you have noticed, but Roe V Wade has been being chipped at quite a bit over the years by republicans, and it is in real danger of being either overturned or essentially sidestepped.
So, I can understand why your liberal friends would wonder how you could vote for pro-life republicans while holding a pro-choice stance. Sure, if your priorities are different, it makes sense. If you are more worried about gun restrictions than abortion rights, then you vote for the person who will make sure that there are no gun laws while also removing a woman’s right to bodily autonomy. Or maybe it’s the religion or same sex marriage or something else that you find is more important to you than your pro-choice views.
There was one poster on here who said that he would never vote for a politician that ever voted for a gun bill, no matter what else they had done.
Just explain that to your liberal friends. Tell them that, yes, this person has voted for abortion restrictions, but that is not as important as when he voted against gun laws, or whatever it is that you find to be most important.
They will understand single issue voting. They may not really like it, but it is something that makes sense.
Trying to downplay the republicans’ desire to restrict abortion rights is the wrong way to go there. It flies in the face of the actual facts, which is a hard position to argue from.
The Current “Conservative” Supreme Court recently struck down abortion restrictions. Again, not all Conservatives are Bible thumpers.
I also understand not all democrats are secretly Communists. Give conservatives the same credit.
I do not own a gun.
Yes, and yes as the marginal tax rate above the first ten million. Not only yes, but hell yes.
that’s why I’m a Republican. who ya gonna tax when all the rich people are gone? who is gonna open new businesses if your gonna take 99% of the profit?
Are you familiar with the concept of marginal tax rates?
Also, personal income tax is different from corporate tax.
High tax rates don’t make rich people “go away.” It just keeps them from being obscenely rich – multiple billionaires – while people are living in cardboard boxes. Republicans used to favor moderation. Now, they are only extremists, and the nation suffers from it.
Trump is no Democrat…but he is EXEMPLARY of the faults of the Republican party.
If you have a new Sch C sole proprietor business that NETS $10MM after expenses, etc, then wow.
Pretty much has never happened.
90% marginal tax rates are fairly common in the world. From the 1930’s to 1964 top marginal tax rates in the USA were around 90%, reaching 94%. 70% was common after that for decades. So, since the uSA puttered along with a top marginal tax rate of 90% or so for over three decades, it didnt destroy America. Perhaps the concept of marginal tax rate is confusing?
A super high Corporate marginal tax rate would be 50%.
There was a slim majority of Justices that ruled on a law that was almost identical to a law that the previous court had struck down. This was after quite a number of restrictions were upheld.
The fact that these laws are being written in the first place should tell you that Roe V Wade is under attack. If the makeup of the court swings by one more member, do you really think that they will strike down further restrictions?
It is easy to understand that democrats are not secretly communist, as they do not advance or vote for communist things. It is harder to accept the assertion that conservatives are pro-life, when they advance or vote for pro-life positions. They don’t keep it a secret, it is part of their campaign.
So? I didn’t say you did. I said that you have priorities that are higher than a woman’s right to bodily autonomy. From what you have said subsequently, I take it your main issue is taxes. You don’t want to pay them.
Given your statement that you are confused as to how taxes work, I can empathize with the desire to be against something that you do not understand. But, I do not see that as a good reason to be against taxes, just a good reason to educate yourself.
I suppose if I believed that by opening a business, I would have been taxed 99% of my profits, then I probably would not have. Given that I know better, I went ahead and did so.
Yes… I remember, in the 70s and 80s, trying (not always successfully) to explain to people that, no, getting a pay raise and moving into a new tax bracket does not mean losing money on the deal.
Delta taxes never exceeds delta income. But a lot of people, in the past, at least, could not comprehend this.
Single issue politics are silly.
I have a views on hundreds of issues. Some might be moderate left, but most are moderate right.
I make an informed decision weighing pros and cons of each candidate and make a decision and what I think is in my best interest and that of the country.
I did not think Trump is the best person for the Job, so I didn’t vote for him.
While I am pro-choice, as I’ve said I think Roe v Wade is safe for now. So I don’t begrudge Republican candidates who take a pro-life stance because I understand the have to do that to get bible thumper vote, which is important to any Republican candidate. Perhaps in the future, if these attacks on Roe V Wade become more likely to be successful , I might change my tune. I view them mostly as symbolic so they can tell the Bible thumpers, “well we tried”. Knowing full well the Supreme Court is going to strike it down. The most recent decision was nearly identical to another law in another state (Texas? ). Everyone knew it was gonna stand.
And in the context of the OP, as a Billionaire I doubt Trump is much of a liberal but I also doubt he gives a rats ass about abortion, probably paid for a few in his life. As others have said, he identified as a democrat in the past. He is a typical politician who makes political calculations about how to get votes. If he thought he could get votes by being pro-Reparations for Black people, he’d do it.
Trump defines and epitomizes the modern Republican Party. There is no way around that.
Whatever he does is essentially, by definition, upholding Republican values. He is able to do what he wants unchecked by his party.
His popularity among Republicans has been unprecedented. Any Republican who claims they don’t support Trump simply isn’t really a Republican anymore in any real sense.