Politics

[rookhawk]

Didn’t removing suppressors from the NFA get dropped from it?

Sorta. The tax stamps were reduced to zero for SBR, Suppressor, and AOW. But they didn't remove them from the NFA which means still 12 month wait times perhaps.

 

[Rocked and Loaded]

Sorta. The tax stamps were reduced to zero for SBR, Suppressor, and AOW. But they didn't remove them from the NFA which means still 12 month wait times perhaps.

It’s a start.

 

[Rocked and Loaded]

Doesn’t carry quite the same street cred.

 

[Tundra Tiger]

I have zero issue with this. And Trump was/is the one telling them to reign it in and not get too crazy with cutting spending. Kinda sounds sorta swampish, doesn't it?

 

[spike.t]

What's with this scaremongering?....

Is It safe to travel? Americans react to the US 'worldwide caution' alert

The US State Department has issued a rare global security warning ahead of summer. But travellers – and the destinations that rely on them – are largely undeterred.

www.bbc.com

 

[BSO Dave]

I have zero issue with this. And Trump was/is the one telling them to reign it in and not get too crazy with cutting spending. Kinda sounds sorta swampish, doesn't it?

I'm not saying it was you, but not too long ago on here there were several who were calling members of the Freedom Caucus traitors and agitators for sticking to their principles, but now they are patriots because they are opposing the spending portions of Trump's BBB? Sorry, but you can't have it both ways...

I am a huge advocate of fiscal conservancy, but I also realize that we as a country will never seriously address the issues until we are in the midst of a crisis... The only serious way to pay down the debt is to completely overhaul the biggest social programs in this country which happen to be Social Security, and Medicare... Even mentioning this is usually political suicide for most politicians on either side of the isle with the exception of a few like the Freedom Caucus and a handful of republican senators who have been given mandates by their constituency... However, I seriously doubt those constituents are truly aware, or prepared for what must be done to make an actual difference...

Everyone in this country says they want to pay down the national debt, but nobody actually wants to acknowledge the pain and sacrifice necessary to do so by making significant changes to these benefits... Maybe guys like Elon can put their money where their mouth is and privately subsidize these programs... Until then, we will continue to keep kicking the proverbial can down the road until we are actually broke...

 

[Ray B]

Back in the day (70s),among the general public the University of Chicago was virtually unknown and I found a lot of ambivalence and downright ignorance in the people various institutions hired in the personnel/human resources departments, however for teaching and learning I think my combined AB/MBA with professors such as Milton Friedman and Gary Becker is equal to or exceeds the education received from professors such as Paul Samuelson and John Galbraith. Particularly now that "those" schools have sold out to the Philistines.

 

[Tundra Tiger]

I'm not saying it was you, but not too long ago on here there were several who were calling members of the Freedom Caucus traitors and agitators for sticking to their principles, but now they are patriots because they are opposing the spending portions of Trump's BBB? Sorry, but you can't have it both ways...

I am a huge advocate of fiscal conservancy, but I also realize that we as a country will never seriously address the issues until we are in the midst of a crisis... The only serious way to pay down the debt is to completely overhaul the biggest social programs in this country which happen to be Social Security, and Medicare... Even mentioning this is usually political suicide for most politicians on either side of the isle with the exception of a few like the Freedom Caucus and a handful of republican senators who have been given mandates by their constituency... However, I seriously doubt those constituents are truly aware, or prepared for what must be done to make an actual difference...

Everyone in this country says they want to pay down the national debt, but nobody actually wants to acknowledge the pain and sacrifice necessary to do so by making significant changes to these benefits... Maybe guys like Elon can put their money where their mouth is and privately subsidize these programs... Until then, we will continue to keep kicking the proverbial can down the road until we are actually broke...

I clicked 'like' because I think I mostly agree with what you're saying, and I guess that's one of my issues with our President: I do not care for the grandiose verbiage he spews. I don't want to have to read between the lines because that's just how he talks. You and I disagree with a number of things about him, but in this case it feels like his whole "drain the swamp" mantra was largely garbage - and for the reason you mention: nobody wants to own/acknowledge the pain and sacrifice it would really take to make it happen. And I don't see it being all on him - it's just that he's the one who has been the loudest and brashest about it. I do agree with Musk: if you're going to tell your constituents that you're going to do one thing... and you vote another way... that just sounds like status quo to me. And frankly? I think the whole damn thing is just too big to change.

 

[Tex .416]

Sorta. The tax stamps were reduced to zero for SBR, Suppressor, and AOW. But they didn't remove them from the NFA which means still 12 month wait times perhaps.

My last suppressor using the electronic filing took only three days for approval. That was last month.

 

[BSO Dave]

I clicked 'like' because I think I mostly agree with what you're saying, and I guess that's one of my issues with our President: I do not care for the grandiose verbiage he spews. I don't want to have to read between the lines because that's just how he talks. You and I disagree with a number of things about him, but in this case it feels like his whole "drain the swamp" mantra was largely garbage - and for the reason you mention: nobody wants to own/acknowledge the pain and sacrifice it would really take to make it happen. And I don't see it being all on him - it's just that he's the one who has been the loudest and brashest about it. I do agree with Musk: if you're going to tell your constituents that you're going to do one thing... and you vote another way... that just sounds like status quo to me. And frankly? I think the whole damn thing is just too big to change.

I clicked "Like" right back at ya because I mostly agree with you as well....

Slogans like MAGA and Drain the Swamp are politically necessary.... You have to get people excited, and rally behind something even if some of it is not literally achievable... Trump is no more or less guilty of that than any POTUS before him... I don't disagree with Musk's point, but I have a hard time believing his sincerity because he has shown to be just as big of a hypocrite than any of them...

I realize you are a critic of Trump, but even with the hyperbole, he is still implementing more of his agenda than any POTUS in our lifetime. What he has been able to do with the border and hopefully the tax cuts that will be extended in this bill alone were worth my vote... Getting serious legislation passed on paying down the debt at this point in time is not a reality and Trump well aware of this... I do believe he is doing the best he can in this bill with what he can actually deliver... His tactic of growing the economy to reduce debt has shown that it can indeed work... We will see... He has done a pretty good job of defying his economic critics so far...

 

[Tundra Tiger]

Way to go Idaho!

 

[wvhunt]

Way to go Idaho!


View attachment 696322

That's one we should all be able to agree upon.

 

[mdwest]

Back in the day (70s),among the general public the University of Chicago was virtually unknown and I found a lot of ambivalence and downright ignorance in the people various institutions hired in the personnel/human resources departments, however for teaching and learning I think my combined AB/MBA with professors such as Milton Friedman and Gary Becker is equal to or exceeds the education received from professors such as Paul Samuelson and John Galbraith. Particularly now that "those" schools have sold out to the Philistines.

Friedman and Becker are still cited routinely in both BBA and MBA coursework. They are definitely noteworthy. I find it very cool that you were able to study under both of them directly. Im a bit jealous if Im honest about it

 

[shootist~]

I have zero issue with this. And Trump was/is the one telling them to reign it in and not get too crazy with cutting spending. Kinda sounds sorta swampish, doesn't it?

View attachment 696287

Is it really the biggest deficit increase in history, or is that because the original Trump tax cuts are being continued?

 

[Red Leg]

I clicked 'like' because I think I mostly agree with what you're saying, and I guess that's one of my issues with our President: I do not care for the grandiose verbiage he spews. I don't want to have to read between the lines because that's just how he talks. You and I disagree with a number of things about him, but in this case it feels like his whole "drain the swamp" mantra was largely garbage - and for the reason you mention: nobody wants to own/acknowledge the pain and sacrifice it would really take to make it happen. And I don't see it being all on him - it's just that he's the one who has been the loudest and brashest about it. I do agree with Musk: if you're going to tell your constituents that you're going to do one thing... and you vote another way... that just sounds like status quo to me. And frankly? I think the whole damn thing is just too big to change.

I clicked "Like" right back at ya because I mostly agree with you as well....

Slogans like MAGA and Drain the Swamp are politically necessary.... You have to get people excited, and rally behind something even if some of it is not literally achievable... Trump is no more or less guilty of that than any POTUS before him... I don't disagree with Musk's point, but I have a hard time believing his sincerity because he has shown to be just as big of a hypocrite than any of them...

I realize you are a critic of Trump, but even with the hyperbole, he is still implementing more of his agenda than any POTUS in our lifetime. What he has been able to do with the border and hopefully the tax cuts that will be extended in this bill alone were worth my vote... Getting serious legislation passed on paying down the debt at this point in time is not a reality and Trump well aware of this... I do believe he is doing the best he can in this bill with what he can actually deliver... His tactic of growing the economy to reduce debt has shown that it can indeed work... We will see... He has done a pretty good job of defying his economic critics so far...

This is a worrisome day. I find I largely agree with both of you. I try not to pay too much attention to the President on most things because I truly don't think much consideration goes into anything before he utters it. And no, I don't pay much attention to the Freedom Caucus, because they seem all too willing to ignore the fact that their party also must govern. Who I have been paying a lot of attention to is Scott Bessent. He seems to clearly believe that the only politically feasible strategy to address the burgeoning debt crisis, is to grow the economy out of it sufficiently to have the economic maneuver space to begin to address entitlements.

Setting aside the tax increases, that strategy is essentially the one employed by the Clinton administration in the 90's that resulted in a fairly dramatic period of deficit reduction. The deficit was 3.8% of GDP in 1993 and 3.2% of GDP by 2000. The current deficit is 6.2% of GDP.

I am hardly alone in believing that Clinton era economic growth was in spite of the administration's tax policy. The tech boom was a fortuitous era that fed revenue dramatically. My sense is that Bessent, and by extension the president, believe they can kick start another such economic boom. I am not a good enough economist to know whether or not that will happen, but I am fairly sure it won't have a chance if the strict fiscal conservatives and Elon succeed in gutting the administration's economic agenda.

 

[Tundra Tiger]

"This is a worrisome day. I find I largely agree with both of you."



To quote a line from a favorite book from when I taught second grade: "Some days are like that. Even in Australia."

 

[wesheltonj]

A little Freedom Caucus info. Today, 7-1, I’ve received two text messages and one phone call, telling me to call Chip Roy’s office and tell him to vote for the Big Beautiful Bill.

 

[DillonG]

This is a worrisome day. I find I largely agree with both of you. I try not to pay too much attention to the President on most things because I truly don't think much consideration goes into anything before he utters it. And no, I don't pay much attention to the Freedom Caucus, because they seem all too willing to ignore the fact that their party also must govern. Who I have been paying a lot of attention to is Scott Bessent. He seems to clearly believe that the only politically feasible strategy to address the burgeoning debt crisis, is to grow the economy out of it sufficiently to have the economic maneuver space to begin to address entitlements.

Setting aside the tax increases, that strategy is essentially the one employed by the Clinton administration in the 90's that resulted in a fairly dramatic period of deficit reduction. The deficit was 3.8% of GDP in 1993 and 3.2% of GDP by 2000. The current deficit is 6.2% of GDP.

I am hardly alone in believing that Clinton era economic growth was in spite of the administration's tax policy. The tech boom was a fortuitous era that fed revenue dramatically. My sense is that Bessent, and by extension the president, believe they can kick start another such economic boom. I am not a good enough economist to know whether or not that will happen, but I am fairly sure it won't have a chance if the strict fiscal conservatives and Elon succeed in gutting the administration's economic agenda.

The conversation is fun when “normal” citizens begin to angree about major issues. No politician will ever recommend policy, let alone, vote for reforms to social programs. It would be political suicide. However, it is necessary in order to achieve fiscal solvency.

I am far enough away from retirement to worry about losing government handouts. Still, those are the programs to be reduced/removed to regain financial health for the country.

 

[Tanks]

It's all semantics anyway, these are all top, top programs. Glad your daughter did well for herself. If I was faced with the notion of being an attorney myself and an MBA wasn't a requisite, I'd probably pick Yale law from the trio because its such a small school and the law alumni network runs thick as thieves over there.

My daughter and SIL both have Yale undergraduate and Harvard law degrees. Yale strongly discourages its graduates continuing their law education at Yale. Guess they want their law school be more diverse in undergrad degree schools.

Neither needed an MBA.

 

[Tanks]

I am far enough away from retirement to worry about losing government handouts. Still, those are the programs to be reduced/removed to regain financial health for the country.

FYI

Social security is NOT a government handout. I have paid the max each year.