CardinalBacker

This…. Elon wore the cost for Doge and saved 150 billion-then Trump wants to go 3.6T deeper in debt. I’d be peeved, too. $TRUMP coins for when your dollar ain’t worth a dime. It’s coming if Trump gets his way.

I’ve been waiting for four months for this to kick off… surprised it took so long.

Obviously, he was a genius until he spoke out against Trump. Now he’s an idiot. But that’s true of everyone from Musk to Faucci to Omarosa to Mad Dog Mattis.

If the plane is going to crash, might as well point the nose down and get over with.

I don’t remember him campaigning on adding $30 trillion in new debt over the next ten years. [Hidden Content] *our current debt is 37 trillion- it’ll hit 67 trillion in ten years according to some estimates. If it was good for the economy, Wall Street would be celebrating, right? Bid drop yesterday, flat today… bond market is cratering, Moody’s downgraded us because of our debt. Then we cut taxes further. It’s literally trying to borrow our way out of debt. But your guy won the election, and that’s all that matters.

Yep… immediate tax cuts funded by spending cuts that start in 2029… but we all know that won’t ver happen. This is going to be disastrous for our national debt. Interest expense is the second largest component in our federal spending, so the solution is to borrow more? Outstanding.

Trump is now screaming at Walmart when they announced that they’re having to raise prices in response to Trump’s tariffs. [Hidden Content] Did that idiot really think that China would stick a check in each shipping container to cover his tariffs? It was always gonna be passed off to consumers with higher prices. At the end of the day we’d either pay more for foreign food because of tariffs or pay more for goods made here in America. Either way, we’re paying more for everything. He believes that Walmart should “just eat” the 80% markup on the goods they sell instead of passing the cost on to customers. This guy is a turd.

It’s laughable that the same people who pardoned the J6 rioters for violent actions at the Capitol are now calling this a threat. It would be a funny if they weren’t serious. I dont see how Americans don’t end up at war between the right and left. There just aren’t that many more ways to escalate the attacks without lives being lost.

Yes, it is a stretch when the Biden administration gave them asylum and they have a legal basis for being here. Now, I certainly disagree that 6 million people needed asylum. The Ds wanted them here for political purposes. But to turn around and label that an “invasion” after they were legally allowed in, just so that the administration can suspend the civil rights of people here in America is just ludicrous. But what’s even more ludicrous is the fact that the same people who see people who immigrated here legally by way of the Biden admin’s laughable immigration guidelines is only made more ironic because those same people who see “an invasion” say that it “wasn’t an insurrection” because the Capitol police allegedly let those Trumpers in to desecrate the Capitol and attack the Congress. That’s the question-how is it “an invasion” when those seeking asylum did so legally? It’s not an invasion

Partisanship breeds stupidity. We’re not under an invasion. There’s no need to suspend habeas corpus, other than the fact that courts of law keep saying “you can’t do that” whenever the Trump admin does something unconstitutional. That’s why he wants it done. Just imagine for a second that your kid is away at college. There’s a protest held on campus and your son is falsely identified as protesting that day. Your child is thrown into jail, possibly overseas, and there’s literally nothing that can be done to secure his freedom. No charges, no indictment, no conviction, no bond. No chance for release until the “invasion” is over and habeas corpus is reinstated. Would you be bothered if your child was in prison being raped and beaten on a regular basis, all because of a case of mistaken identity? Or maybe, God forbid, he was exercising his First Amendment right to free speech by arranging some seashells in the form of “86-47” and goes to prison without being charged because of an imaginary invasion. I’ll repeat what I’ve said all along. The Ds were wrong when they weaponized the legal process to “get” Trump. But not all of those charges were false accusations, either. There was a basis for an investigation. As expected, the Rs returned to power eventually and now they’re turning it up a notch or two… and Rs are applauding since it’s working in their favor this time, they don’t mind. But as sure as the sun comes up on the east, the Ds will return to power and you can bet that things will only escalate further. If imprisoning citizens whose political views don’t match republican views is fine with you, where should it stop. Is it okay to execute people with opposing views for “treason” if they don’t agree with the party in power acceptable, too? Because that’s the next step. If we continue to escalate our political warfare against each other.

It’s not just suspended “for aliens” of “for the KKK.” It’s suspended for EVERYBODY. They can throw you in jail for no reason (possibly in a third-world country) and you have no rights. None. And some fed prosecutor will say “yeah, but Hippy supports the immigrants so he has no rights.” Kinda like what’s happening to that guy sitting in prison in El Salvador right now after doing NOTHING. Did you see where the DOJ is going after Comey for posting a picture of some seashells that spelled out “86-47” as an assassination attempt on Trump? Noem announced last night that the secret service is investigating it as a threat. The same DOJ that decided beating Capitol police officers, ransacking the Capitol, and storming congress is constitutionally protected free speech… Y’all need to wake up. Just because you like the guy who’s destroying our rights doesn’t mitigate the fact that’s he’s threatening every single American with his assault on our basic right to due process. This is serious business and this administration is out of control.

So you understand that if habeas corpus is suspended, NOBODY has rights to due process, right? When habeas corpus is suspended, the executive (or any branch) can throw you in jail for anything, without charges, without a conviction…. Nothing. And you have zero rights until “the invasion” is over. Speak out against the supreme ruler? Imprisoned with no rights. No trial, no bond, no indictment-just imprisoned. A “political prisoner” if you will. The last time it was done was during the civil war when Washington DC was in danger of being overrun during the civil war.

I’d be a little less certain if they weren’t already sending people to gulags in foreign countries without any due process… I’d hate to see how bad it gets if they lost what little restraints that are in place now.

You’re right. The way that the process typically works is that the CAD looks at nuts and bolts. Square footage multiplied by a value per foot and sets your appraised value. They’ll usually make correction if you protest with an actual error, like “that storage building has been gone for two years” or something along those lines… if you have a question of value (like a deteriorated driveway or a partially finished interior), they usually stick by their calculations. You’ll then need to ask for a hearing by the Appraisal Review Board-they’re independent citizens that mediate disputes between the CAD appraisers and the taxpayers. They’ve got more leeway to adjust value than the appraisers that are working exclusively off of ratios and numbers. The only time that I’ve had success arguing value with the CAD was one year when I’d paid for an independent appraisal for a home equity loan in that exact year, and the detailed report from the independent appraiser swayed the county appraiser to adjust the value downward before I went to see the ARB-and I think it happened because they knew I’d prevail at the ARB hearing with my evidence. But we still negotiated a little bit.

You’re not wrong. The CAD is trying to make sure that your appraised value is within 95-105% of its actual market value this year. Sometimes they’re on point and sometimes they’re way off. BUT, if my house has a sale price of $100k, I don’t leave the table with $100k. By the time you back out closing costs, a survey, title policy, buyer concessions and realtor fees, I’d be doing good to leave the take with $87k. I’m annually paying property tax on the fees that were paid once to others. That’s not fair IMO… but I don’t know how to make it any more fair. I don’t disagree with your driveway scenario, but like they said-the value of paving isn’t considered as a part of your CAD appraisal. Two mostly identical houses…Should somebody with a long driveway pay more than somebody with a short one? Same goes with fences… i don’t have one, but neighbor has a bunch of money tied up in a four rail fence and remote controlled entry gate. They just don’t consider those things. There’s good ground and bad ground. Some pastures stay wet half of the year, but others drain immediately-the acreage is taxed the same while we all agree that the actual values would vary greatly. It’s an inexact science that should be explained better, but it’s hard to reason when the typical response is made in anger.

Thanks for asking. I’m opposed to doing away with property taxes for a few reasons- primarily, in regards to “how will we replace this tax revenue?” If you normally pay $3k per year in property taxes, you’d just expect to pick it up elsewhere, through sales tax or an excise (vat) tax. The only problem is that the redistribution of that burden won’t be passed down evenly. Parkdale Mall Will no longer pay property taxes, but WILL pay a higher sales tax on the lightbulbs and toilet paper that they buy. They’re going to pay way less. A guy that owns a dozen rent houses will see his property tax bill shrink dramatically. Will he pass the savings on to his tenants? Of course not. The people renting won’t see any change at all in their cost of living. But the average Joe Homeowner who’s already having trouble making ends meet will surely see an increase in the cost of everything he buys to survive. It’s been proven that increases in sales taxes hurt lower income people worse than wealthy people. A larger percentage of their income will be spent on taxes, while people with multiple properties see their tax liability decrease. Another HUGE problem is that money won’t be collected locally. Your sales tax dollars will be collected by an agency of the state that will then redistribute the funds as they see fit. Good luck getting those hairy-legged women in the Peoples’ Republic of Austin to send anything back our way. How well can rural counties lobby against the Harris, Bexar, Dallas, and Tarrant counties? We’ll all be sucking hind teat, if you know what I mean. The cost of education is high. Right now the average annual spending per student in Texas is almost $10k/year. Assuming you had three kids at home, could you afford to educate them at a cost of $30k per year? I sure couldn’t. Most people who have kids in school simply can’t afford to shoulder the cost of educating them by themselves. That’s how we ended up spreading the cost of their education among all property owners. I’m not saying that property taxes are fair, but it’s the most fair system that we’ve got. And to be frank, the voting public will vote against their own interests when instructed to. I’d be amazed if you didn’t just vote for politicians here in Texas that were in favor of giving tax dollars to rich parents to offset the cost of private education for their spoiled brats. Not necessarily you personally, but Texans as a group just sent their legislators to Austin with a mandate to make vouchers for private school for rich kids a public responsibility, while simultaneously arguing that “taxation is theft.” It’s bananas.

Great question. I think at all points in time the US has been great, with some obvious missteps and problems along the way. Those have been addressed, such as the ending of slavery, civil rights Act of 1964, etc… America of today isn’t exceptional, other than the greed and laziness of its citizens. We’re all entitled to everything, but feel no obligation to contribute anything. We’ve borrowed ourselves into a no-win situation and I’m of the opinion that we’re going to topple eventually. We can blame political parties, but at the end of the day it’s the public who’s to blame. One of the things that MAGA taps into is a longing for the love of country. There are still a lot of people who feel patriotic and love their country. They would like to see America once again be a land of promise, but don’t have the sophistication to see that the current admin is doing nothing about it, other than branding the emotion for political purposes. Cutting taxes won’t work. Raising taxes won’t work, either. The only solution is to cut spending, and that’s something that the politicians that we keep electing will not even talk about because they know that the voting public won’t allow it…. On any issue. What are we doing today that makes us great? All we can do is point at our history and say “look back at what we were.”

Are we back up to where it was when Biden was running things?

This.

I think that’s what’s important to note. It’s important to remember that Herbert Hoover, Jimmy Carter, and Joe Biden all won elections, too. It’s okay to say “yeah, I voted for him, but this isn’t working out like he said it would-it’s a little concerning.” It’s the ones who say “oh, none of this matters… Trump won and this is all his plan. Art of the Deal!” Those are the guys who just don’t have any sense.

Just take a look at what’s happening with cargo coming into our west coast ports. Or not coming in, as it were. It’s the New Golden Age (don’t forget to stock up on toilet paper). If it turns out in a few weeks that we’re dealing with pandemic-like shortages based on Trumps Willy-nilly tariff debacle, he won’t have any place to hide. Neither will his supporters. China is about to put the hurt on the USA. “Nuh uh! They need our money!” Wrong they’ve still got plenty of our money, and especially not when we have to keep sending piles of cash their way, not for consumable goods, but to repay the loans that they’ve already made to us. And if we default it will destroy our economy. How’s that retirement check gonna handle $100 for a loaf of bread? My opinion is that we’re in a bad spot. How soon can we expect trump to announce that somebody… ANYBODY is willing to make a trade deal with us? So far the tariff policies have resulted in exactly zero agreements. They aren’t blinking, so Trump paused them for 90 days. We’re in an exceptionally bad spot.

Good news is that Trump ordered that the pollsters be investigated and hopefully imprisoned. [Hidden Content]

Because Trump put the tariffs on or took them off? And what is your prediction of what will happen in 83 days? Back on or still off, and will a change make your current boast seem even more baseless?

“124.” My grandparents lived through it and had stories. Even in their old age they would save two peas and call it “leftovers.” One point that stuck with me was my grandfather said that people would stop by the house and knock on the door, hat in hand, and ask for permission to go out into your field/garden and see if they could find anything that had been left behind-also that men would offer to work in exchange for food. But if it happened today (the 1980s), people would just kill you and take what they wanted. Then think about how far we’ve declined in terms of decency and work ethic since the ‘80s. It’s scary.

We were so poor my mama cut the pockets out of my pants on Christmas Eve so I’d have something to play with on Christmas morning.