2016 Election

Anyone want to answer why both Trump and Sanders are polling close to the same number in their parties, yet if you are for one you are a "racist" and the other you are "for the people"? I assume by people they mean lazy Occupy types who some believe will actually show up and vote. Or do they just hate their chosen candidate that bad that they are for someone who believes in 90% tax rates. Though again, you actually have to work and earn money to be taxed, so nevermind.

Quote: Boz

Anyone want to answer why both Trump and Sanders are polling close to the same number in their parties, yet if you are for one you are a "racist" and the other you are "for the people"? I assume by people they mean lazy Occupy types who some believe will actually show up and vote. Or do they just hate their chosen candidate that bad that they are for someone who believes in 90% tax rates. Though again, you actually have to work and earn money to be taxed, so nevermind.

It has often perplexed me why government officials treat the rich with such hostility and disdain. The top 1% of income earners are responsible for somewhere around 40% of the tax revenue in America despite making only 16% of the overall income. In other words they are their top customers. In most other businesses, they treat their best customers with reverence and care. A Vegas resort will fly in a whale from halfway around the planet on a private jet, give them the nicest suite or villa on the house and give him all his food and beverage for free, because he spends so much money in the casino. What do the government's best revenue generators get for all they contribute? They get told they don't pay enough or even their fair share, when by most estimates they pay about 2.5 times their fair share. These are also the people who are creating businesses which hire people, which causes them to pay more taxes into the system.

Quote: Gabes22

It has often perplexed me why government officials treat the rich with such hostility and disdain. The top 1% of income earners are responsible for somewhere around 40% of the tax revenue in America despite making only 16% of the overall income. In other words they are their top customers. In most other businesses, they treat their best customers with reverence and care. A Vegas resort will fly in a whale from halfway around the planet on a private jet, give them the nicest suite or villa on the house and give him all his food and beverage for free, because he spends so much money in the casino. What do the government's best revenue generators get for all they contribute? They get told they don't pay enough or even their fair share, when by most estimates they pay about 2.5 times their fair share. These are also the people who are creating businesses which hire people, which causes them to pay more taxes into the system.

Somehow wealth is evil; more evil than just "wealth" is wealth in the hands of a Conservative. I don't get it either. I don't bemoan the fact that Soros and the Koch brothers are rich...but why is it that it seems that the Koch brothers are evil and Soros is a saint?

Are their evil wealthy people? Sure. There are evil poor people, too. One is open to attack and attempts to rob them of their earned money; another is treated as if all of their problems are society's fault. In reality, there will always be a group of people we can and should take care of, but there is another group that has decided it is easier to live off of the wage earners rather than earning a wage.

Quote: Boz

Anyone want to answer why both Trump and Sanders are polling close to the same number in their parties, yet if you are for one you are a "racist" and the other you are "for the people"? .

I admit I lean left.
If you are a Trump supporter Boz, you are absolutely NOT a racist. Where does this come from? If you search hard on the internet, yea you may find some extreme left wing wack job spouting BS. The reality is, normal average people such as me that lean left, don't think of any conservatives as racist simply because they are a conservative.
Anybody that supports Trump, that's their right. Maybe they feel its better to have a businessman as President then a life long politician. I get that. I don't view any Trump supporter as a racist.

Don't listen to the tiny few trolling left wing wack jobs and I wont think the westboro Baptist church represents Christian Conservatives.

Quote: RonC

Are their evil wealthy people? Sure. There are evil poor people, too. One is open to attack and attempts to rob them of their earned money; another is treated as if all of their problems are society's fault.

Pretty sure, just for example if we tallied up comments about the evils of the wealthy and the poor or underclass on this site, you would clearly see the wealthy aren't the only ones getting hit hard with demonization.

Shoot, if I add up all the times one of you has said some unknown non-descript person is not pulling their fair share, or some such thing just as generalization, it wouldn't be any prettier.

So lets not cry a single tear for demonization of the wealthy, like it's a one-sided affair.

It's not.

It never has been.

It won't be in the future.

Quote: rxwine

Pretty sure, just for example if we tallied up comments about the evils of the wealthy and the poor or underclass on this site, you would clearly see the wealthy aren't the only ones getting hit hard with demonization.

Are there comments here regarding "comments about the evils of the wealthy " ?
I can see somebody here posting a negative comment regarding somebody like Bernie Madoff.
Are there actually comments here regarding the evils of being wealthy?
This is a Vegas/gambling board , a lot of wealthy people here with a lot of money to waste gambling and blowing on trips to Vegas.
I check out a lot of threads here and I have never ever seen comments regarding wealth being evil.
I lean left, take trips to Vegas, gamble, so I have moderate wealth, I certainly don't think my wealth is evil. Yea I could donate it to charity and be a better person but I work hard, would rather have fun just like everybody else on this board with wealth.
Now I don't read every thread but I have to imagine a comment regarding the evils of wealth on a gambling vegas board gotta be rare.

Quote: terapined

I admit I lean left.
If you are a Trump supporter Boz, you are absolutely NOT a racist. Where does this come from? If you search hard on the internet, yea you may find some extreme left wing wack job spouting BS. The reality is, normal average people such as me that lean left, don't think of any conservatives as racist simply because they are a conservative.
Anybody that supports Trump, that's their right. Maybe they feel its better to have a businessman as President then a life long politician. I get that. I don't view any Trump supporter as a racist.

Don't listen to the tiny few trolling left wing wack jobs and I wont think the westboro Baptist church represents Christian Conservatives.

Great post!!!! Thank you!

Quote: terapined

Are there comments here regarding "comments about the evils of the wealthy " ?
I can see somebody here posting a negative comment regarding somebody like Bernie Madoff.
Are there actually comments here regarding the evils of being wealthy?
This is a Vegas/gambling board , a lot of wealthy people here with a lot of money to waste gambling and blowing on trips to Vegas.
I check out a lot of threads here and I have never ever seen comments regarding wealth being evil.
I lean left, take trips to Vegas, gamble, so I have moderate wealth, I certainly don't think my wealth is evil. Yea I could donate it to charity and be a better person but I work hard, would rather have fun just like everybody else on this board with wealth.
Now I don't read every thread but I have to imagine a comment regarding the evils of wealth on a gambling vegas board gotta be rare.

It was in response to a comment I made about Bernie Sanders proposing 90% tax rates on the rich. I was comparing the rich to the government's best customers and finding it perplexing how the government and politicians treat them with disdain, especially with what you see private businesses doing to cater to their best customers.

Quote: Gabes22

It was in response to a comment I made about Bernie Sanders proposing 90% tax rates on the rich. I was comparing the rich to the government's best customers and finding it perplexing how the government and politicians treat them with disdain, especially with what you see private businesses doing to cater to their best customers.

The thing is, you still need a means test. A doctor who made 20 million just got convicted of treating hundreds of people, some who didn't even have cancer. Maybe his paying 2.5 percent more makes up for that. Doubt it though.

You can make yourself wealthy at a cost to society in other ways, that are legal.

Wealth doesn't make you a net benefit to society. You can certainly misuse resources, lead people to folly, leave the world more polluted and worse off than when you came in. You're more powerful and can independently wield more damage if you happen to be amoral, and don't care how you obtain your wealth or what cost to anyone or anything as you acquire it.

Quote: Boz

And I will admit, I never will be able to understand someone like you who it appears works hard for everything you have can be a liberal. Does the "Gay" thing override all others, and if so, that I might be able to understand because the GOP has missed the boat on that one.

First, why do you have to say something like "that Maddow dude"??? Why do you have to be that small, immature and petty. The second I read something like that, I think "well that is not a very mature person that I want to attempt to engage in any kind of meaningful dialog with".

But, let me try to explain it to you sir, as far as my own situation. In recent years, as I have made a little bit of money and have a little bit of money and property that I want to protect. I have found my views changing as far as fiscal issues and government involvement of my finances. I am now more in favor of smaller government, which is more in line with republicans in this regard. But this is one issue and while an important one for me, there are other issues.

As a gay man, social issues and gay marriage in particular have dominated my politics for most of my adult life. Now that I have that right, married last fall and we have gotten that right for all my 'brothers and sisters' throughout the land, other things move up in priority. And frankly, some of these things I am aligned more with the right than the left at this point.

Problem is that even with this issue off the table, I don't feel the slightest bit welcome in the republican camp. There are still those screaming that they will do everything they can to take that right away from me. There are others like, former senator and presidential candidate Rick Santorum who makes statements saying he doesn't hate the sinner (me) he hates the sin. Well gee, that is a warm, inclusive feeling that makes me want to join the cause.

I don't expect you to understand, but for someone like me, being gay has been an issue that has dominated my life. There was some bullying issues in school, although probably nothing like older generations went through. There were family issues, including being kicked out of my home the day I turned 18, while still in high school. Being gay is an issue that impacts every aspect of your life (again, I don't expect you to understand that).

I suspect Latinos and blacks have similar stories. You know many of these people, as do many gays have conservative values that better align with the republican party. But there is absolutely no effort by the party to be inclusive and build on common values and interests. Quite the contrary. So these groups as a whole, including those with conservative values flock to the democratic party. That is something your party needs to think about.

In your particular case stating "the Gay thing", with 'gay' in quotes emphasizes your opinion and how little you care and can relate to me. It is not a warm fuzzy, inclusive feeling.

I'll tell you, if there were no party labels and affiliations and everyone just ran as individuals based on their own views (and maybe that's the way it should be), I would most likely be supporting Jeb Bush. Instead, when party affiliations and party views and platforms are added to the mix, I will likely vote for Hillary Clinton, a candidate that I don't really like in this cycle.