Where is Trump's Beautiful Healthcare Plan? Here's Warren's...

We can point out some individuals who have earned their wealth through ill gotten ways but on the whole you are spot on. Anecdotally when I look at people I know who are rich or the few that have real wealth, I know they worked their *ss off. While someone like me wastes their time on a board like this those guys sacrifice a lot to get to where they are.

Now there are people who work their *ss off and aren't rich. And having more money doesn't necessarily make someone a better person. But folks try to diminish the effort and risks many of these well to do people took to get where they are.

Bill Gates literally sat on his ass the last 5 years and made over $30B.
 
This is just a mindset I don't understand. First off we wouldn't end homelessness. That aside, does Bernie think Gates has $100m sitting in a bank account somewhere? Not even a thought to what it would do to markets and the economy trying to abstract this wealth from him. And of course the belief that the government can spend the money better than Gates can.

This is a perfect example of someone brainwashed by billionaire propaganda.

We can end homelessness in the US with just $20B, according to HUD. Bill Gates alone has $107B:

Homeless Rates Steady Despite Recession HUD says
https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/10/...36B5F068C6DEB0885A&gwt=pay&assetType=REGIWALL

Now, I can forgive someone being brainwashed...it's easy for that to happen, no doubt.

But there is absolutely no excuse for the laziness of not even bothering to do a search of "cost to end homelessness in the US".
 
Impeachment is so important that the Democrats are taking the following action on important issues.
• NO routine tax relief for Hurricane victims
• NO increased enforcement of our borders
• NO growing our economy
• NO lowering the cost of drug prices
• NO cracking down on the opioid epidemic
• NO fixing our health care system
• NO fixing the issue of surprise medical billing
• NO bills to fund the government for next year
• NO movement on the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA)
• NO action on the new The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) deal known as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA)

The House has sent over 300+ bills to the Senate that Conservatives have refused to even bring up for a debate.
 
The House has sent over 300+ bills to the Senate that Conservatives have refused to even bring up for a debate.

Gee isn't that funny the list came from a non-Republican member of the House, so sorry guess MSNBC lied to you again.

Not all Democrats walk in lock step mit der fuhrer Pelosi.
 
Gee isn't that funny the list came from a non-Republican member of the House, so sorry guess MSNBC lied to you again.

Democrats control the House thanks to Trump killing the GOP in 2018.

You can just go to govtrack and see for yourself.
 
First off we wouldn't end homelessness.

First off, you make a stupid claim without even bothering to do the research first. Like a simple Google search of "how much would it cost to end homelessness in the US?"

So, why are you so fucking lazy, you can't even do the bare minimum to be knowledgeable? Because you have an entitlement complex that makes you think you are entitled to believe whatever shit you want, at any given time.

According to HUD, it would cost $20B to end homelessness.

Bill Gates has $107B.

He wouldn't even know that $20B was gone.
 
What does Obama have to do with the Senate refusing to debate the 300+ bills sent to it by the House in the last 11 months?

I already told you that is bullshit the House is more interested in impeachment than doing it's job.
 
I already told you that is bullshit the House is more interested in impeachment than doing it's job.

The House sent 300+ bills to the Senate since January; it's your Conservative buddies who are more interested in impeachment than doing their job.
 
Bernie Sanders is the worst thing to happen to the Democratic Party since Jimmy Carter.

Well, Jimmy Carter was President, and Sanders can electrify the youth vote like no other candidate, even Trump.

Kids love Bernie, and the kids are the future and Millennials are the largest voting demographic.

So maybe we should listen to them and not to the lazy Boomers who fucked everything up and are now trying to foist establishment candidates to protect the billionaire class.
 
OK, so explain what the "hard work" is there? Sitting and collecting a return isn't hard work. He's retired.

Bill Gates has so much money, he doesn't even know how much he has.

When he was interviewed by Andrew Ross Sorkin over the weekend, he "joked" about how if Warren took $100B from him (which she's not proposing, but should) he might have to start "counting". But even if Warren took $100B from him, he would still be left over with $7B, which is more than even Bill Gates could ever spend in his lifetime. So it doesn't sound to me like there's a world of difference between Gates having $107B or $7B. He's still a billionaire. Even if Warren taxed his wealth at 90% (and again, she's only saying maybe 2-3%), Gates would still have over $11B.

You said that you "work hard" to get your wealth. Well, what is hard work about sitting and collecting returns? He's retired. He's not working hard. Yet he grew his wealth faster in the last 5 years than he did in his previous 59.

Yeah, but it's not enough, clearly...and it's not "worthy" causes...it's his causes. So it's at his personal discretion, as a retired person who hasn't worked in 5 years.

Bill Gates worked hard up to the day he retired and he still works hard running The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. You need to stop with this idea that he should give $100 Billion to the government. That's a horrible precedent and something Vladimir Putin would do in Russia. The Gates's are giving away billions to charities and have been for almost 20 years. How you can criticize that generosity and philanthropy is beyond me:

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), previously the William H. Gates Foundation, is an American private foundation founded by Bill and Melinda Gates. Based in Seattle, Washington, it was launched in 2000 and is reported to be the largest private foundation in the world, holding $50.7 billion in assets. The primary goals of the foundation are, globally, to enhance healthcare and reduce extreme poverty, and, in the U.S., to expand educational opportunities and access to information technology. The foundation is controlled by its three trustees: Bill and Melinda Gates, and Warren Buffett. Other principal officers include Co-Chair William H. Gates, Sr. and Chief Executive Officer Susan Desmond-Hellmann.

It had an endowment of $50.7 billion as of December 31, 2017. The scale of the foundation and the way it seeks to apply business techniques to giving makes it one of the leaders in venture philanthropy, though the foundation itself notes that the philanthropic role has limitations. In 2007, its founders were ranked as the second most generous philanthropists in the US, and Warren Buffett the first. As of May 16, 2013, Bill Gates had donated $28 billion to the foundation. Since its founding, the foundation has endowed and supported a broad range of social, health, and education developments including the establishment of the Gates Cambridge Scholarships at Cambridge University.

Warren Buffett donation
On June 25, 2006, Warren Buffett (then the world's richest person, estimated worth of $62 billion as of April 16, 2008) pledged to give the foundation approximately 10 million Berkshire Hathaway Class B shares spread over multiple years through annual contributions, with the first year's donation of 500,000 shares being worth approximately $1.5 billion.[21] Buffett set conditions so that these contributions do not simply increase the foundation's endowment, but effectively work as a matching contribution, doubling the foundation's annual giving. Bloomberg News noted, "Buffett's gift came with three conditions for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: Bill or Melinda Gates must be alive and active in its administration; it must continue to qualify as a charity; and each year it must give away an amount equal to the previous year's Berkshire gift, plus an additional amount equal to 5 percent of net assets. Buffett gave the foundation two years to abide by the third requirement." The Gates Foundation received 5% (500,000) of the shares in July 2006 and will receive 5% of the remaining earmarked shares in the July of each following year (475,000 in 2007, 451,250 in 2008). In July 2018, Buffet announced another donation of his company's Class B stock, this time worth $2 billion, to the Gates Foundation.


I would rather have Bill Gates manage his charity than Bernie Sanders and the government.
 
Most is most...so, before, you said that wasn't the case.

Now, it looks like it is the case.

Most wealth in this country goes to just the richest 5% of families, according to the article.

Most could be 51% or 99%. It's an approximation and doesn't tell the full story. So what you're saying is you don't know if it's closer to 51% or 99%. Just admit it so we can move on.

And of course most wealth goes to the richest families. So what? They worked harder and took more risks than those who aren't wealthy.
Like I said before, anybody in America can become wealthy if they want to. ANYBODY!!! Even you. Are you willing to do what the wealthy people did? Work hard, educate yourself and obey the law?
If not, stop vilifying billionaires and do what they did if you want to be where they are. Don't expect the government or Bernie Sanders to do it for you. It's that simple.
 
The House sent 300+ bills to the Senate since January; it's your Conservative buddies who are more interested in impeachment than doing their job.

How many hit's of the opium pipe have you had this morning? That is exactly the same complaint and number of bills the Republicans had sent to the Harry Reid controlled Senate. seems someone is plagiarizing old news.
 
Well, Jimmy Carter was President, and Sanders can electrify the youth vote like no other candidate, even Trump.

Kids love Bernie, and the kids are the future and Millennials are the largest voting demographic.

So maybe we should listen to them and not to the lazy Boomers who fucked everything up and are now trying to foist establishment candidates to protect the billionaire class.

Bernie Sanders is making promises he can't keep. Kids who are smart don't love Bernie because they know Bernie can't deliver on his promises. You think it's fair to forgive student debt when most students worked hard to pay off their debt? You really think the US government can afford giving everyone free medical care and free college tuition? If you do, you need to take a course in finance and budgeting. The US government is already $23 trillion in debt. Do you know what that does to the US economy?

And please tell me how Boomers fucked everything up? I'm a Boomer and I'd like to know. You really need to let go of your hate for billionaires. They aren't the problem. The problem is the government (both parties) spends and wastes too much of our tax money. Then they blame the other side for the problem when both parties are to blame. Open your eyes. Government is the problem, not the people. Your disdain for the wealthy is without basis.
 
Bill Gates worked hard up to the day he retired and he still works hard running The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Which is a non-profit group, of which he might be the Board chief, but he is not involved in the day-to-day operations of that foundation, is he?

Sylvia Mathews is COO of it, and Susan Desmond-Hellman is CEO.

What do Bill and Melinda Gates actually do for the Gates Foundation? Nothing. It's just their name. Neither of them are running it.


You need to stop with this idea that he should give $100 Billion to the government.

Why? That $100B is just sitting there, doing nothing.

The operating budget of the Gates Foundation is just $2B. Does $2B = $100B?


That's a horrible precedent and something Vladimir Putin would do in Russia. The Gates's are giving away billions to charities and have been for almost 20 years. How you can criticize that generosity and philanthropy is beyond me:

First of all, Putin doesn't give anything to the government, he gives everything to his rich, oligarch friends who profit, and then shields and protects them from tax liability.

Secondly, no amount of wealth they donate will balance out the $107B they are hoarding. Just like no amount of good the Catholic Church does balances out the centuries of covering up sexual assault by clergy members.

If Gates has $107B after donating for charity, then he's not really that charitable.

I know those big numbers dazzle you, but how much of his $107B has he given to charity? None of it.
 
Most could be 51% or 99%.

Which doesn't matter.

Squabbling over a percentage of how much wealth is hoarded is a nice distraction from the fact that they are hoarding wealth in the first place.

According to the article, which it seems like you don't want to read, nearly all gains have gone to the richest 5% of families since the Great Recession.

Nothing trickled down.


And of course most wealth goes to the richest families. So what?

OMG - SO THAT IS EXACTLY THE PROBLEM


They worked harder and took more risks than those who aren't wealthy.

Oh really? Donald Trump works hard? Bill Gates works hard...at being retired? What did they risk?

Gates increased his wealth faster once he was retired than when he wasn't. It took him 59 years to get to $76B. It took him 5 years to add $30B more. 5 years of retirement.


Like I said before, anybody in America can become wealthy if they want to. ANYBODY!!!

Bullshit. Among all western nations, America ranks dead last in economic mobility. And that isn't new. It's been that way for a generation and was amplified by the Great Recession.


Are you willing to do what the wealthy people did? Work hard, educate yourself and obey the law?

Do you honestly, truly believe that people like Donald Trump, and the Koch Bros, and Zuckerberg, and Bob Murray all work hard and follow the rules?

How about the Sacklers? Do you think they worked hard by causing millions to be addicted to opioids and then lying about it?

I guess lying does require a lot of hard work...unless you're a sociopath, in which case it's very easy to lie and not obey the law.


If not, stop vilifying billionaires and do what they did if you want to be where they are.

So...when you cannot argue the economics of what we're talking about, then you fall back into an emotional argument about jealousy because it's easier for you to accept that, than to accept the fact that your conventional wisdom is bullshit and informed solely by the prosperity gospel.

Try again. I don't get into these emotional arguments because they don't matter. Your subjective view of fairness or jealousy or whatever bullshit you're trying to push doesn't outweigh the economics, which is the only thing I care about. It makes all the economic sense in the world to tax billionaires in order to alleviate costs for everyone else. And those billionaires will end up wealthier anyway because if we all don't have to spend as much out of our own pockets for things like health care and education, we can spend more in the consumer economy or pay down debt.

We can't tax billionaires because then they won't be able to buy the things they need like NFL franchises, islands, and tax deductible think tanks specifically established to lend credibility to fringe beliefs that billionaires shouldn't be taxed.

We had income taxes as high as 90% during the 50's and 60's...there were still rich people, there was still industry, there was still plenty for the wealthy. They did just fine.
 
How many hit's of the opium pipe have you had this morning? That is exactly the same complaint and number of bills the Republicans had sent to the Harry Reid controlled Senate. seems someone is plagiarizing old news.

Harry Reid? WTF? It's 2019. Harry Reid doesn't matter. Stick to the subject.
 
Bernie Sanders is making promises he can't keep.

Like what?

Did Bernie promise 3% growth if we cut taxes for the rich?

Did Bernie promise to reduce the deficit if we cut taxes for the rich?

What promise are you talking about? You're the ones who don't want any of the things Sanders proposes, so then you say he won't be able to deliver on his promises...well yeah, because you are resisting it. If Bernie gets the nomination and wins then what do you say to the majority of people who voted for him because of this? Because you're not going to look like anything more than a Republican, and your voice will be less and less significant in the debate.

We don't need you to win elections, you realize...we don't have to pander to you for your vote. We can make up that vote and more by making these central issues to the campaign and election. So then you, and not the Republicans, will be the one undermining anything a Democratic President wants to do. So you might as well vote for Trump.


You think it's fair to forgive student debt when most students worked hard to pay off their debt?

Yes.

But my subjective view of "fairness" doesn't matter. What matters are the economics, and you have no economic argument against that policy.

Your only argument is an emotional one.

Stop being so emotional.
 
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