Puerto Rico - U.S. Virgin Islands
POSTED BY: SHINYGOODGUY
UPDATED: Saturday, July 25, 2026 15:29
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Quote:You missed one characteristic: money. Responding to a hurricane in Puerto Rico with even half as much generosity as Hurricane Andrew (1992) in Florida will cost so many billions of dollars that it will interfere with Trump's planned tax cut FOR HIMSELF. America cannot afford to reduce the inheritance tax for the Trump family estate to zero and cut the Trump family's quarterly income tax payments and also pay for Puerto Rico. Trump knows this, I know this, and now you know this. That is why Trump is whining about the Puerto Ricans. Trump won't get his personal tax cut because of them. It is not about identity politics. It's about Trump's money.
Originally posted by 6stringJoker:
I'm not invalidating anybody else. . . . THIS is what the Democratic party has done to the country with its identity politics. Everything is about race or sex or some other identity bullshit now.
www.cnn.com/2017/09/30/us/puerto-rico-responds-to-trump-tweets/index.h
tml
Trump’s “Give the Rich a Break” Tax Plan
https://angrybearblog.com/2017/09/trumps-give-the-rich-a-break-tax-pla
n.html
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6StringJoker: "Everything is about race or sex or some
other identity bullshit now."
Second: "You missed one characteristic: money."
Oonj: Right! Most things are about money. The only
concern that trumps money is survival.
... oooOO}{OOooo ...
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Trump cannot reform the tax code in his family's favor if Puerto Rico absorbs tax money. Trump wants to pretend that he is not a beneficiary of changes in the Code that particularly benefit the ultra-wealthy.
That comes to the surface now because of his claims in an Indianapolis speech that he would not receive any benefit from the so-called “reform” tax “framework” put out by Trump and the GOP leadership. We know from 2005 returns that he has, at least in that year, had to pay $31 million in Alternative Minimum Taxes (AMT) in a year when he would otherwise have paid very little in taxes. That is, in fact, the purpose of the AMT–to force wealthy taxpayers to pay some tax on their incomes when they otherwise have the ability to take advantage of so many loopholes that they would get off pretty much tax free. So we know that Trump lied when he said in Indianapolis that he would not get a benefit from his own tax proposal. His tax proposal would eliminate the AMT backstop for wealthy payment of at least some taxes. That would directly benefit Trump. He lied.
Trump would also directly benefit from the elimination of the Estate Tax. That is a tax that is very low at this point, because of decades of GOP whittling away at it to reduce it to zero on behalf of their wealthy donors. When a married couple with $11 million in assets die, their estate would not pay any estate tax, because there is an exemption for the first $11 million for a couple. On the rest of the estate above $11 million (a size of estate of those in the top 1% of the distribution), the tax rate is now exceedingly low–only 35%. Trump’s plan would reduce it to zero. He said in the Indianapolis speech that eliminating the estate tax would help middle class people, small family farms, and small businesses. He lied. Only the wealthy pay any estate tax (see above). Very few small businesses and family farms are subject to the estate tax at all–estimates say there would be only about 80 in a given calendar year at this point. Of those that are subject to it, the amount subject to the estate tax is only the excess over the exemption amount. And family farms get 14 years to pay off any tax like that the heirs might owe, through a provision for installment payment intended to help preserve family farms and allow them to pay the tax due, if any, over time out of the operating profits of the business. So, again, Trump lied.
Trump also would likely benefit huugely from the reduction of rates on corporations, through getting more dividends out of the even higher corporate profits that would result (to the extent that he has investments in corporate stock, which are likely substantial, since most of the financial assets in this country are owned by those in the very tip-top of the income and wealth distribution). So, again, Trump lied.
Trump would also likely benefit bigly from the reduction of rates on pass-through income from real estate partnerships and hedge funds. The Trump empire is clearly in real estate, and there are likely quite a few partnerships in the structure of the Trump companies. Since otherwise passthrough income is currently taxed at the individual partner’s personal income tax rate, a 25% rate on income that would currently be taxed at a 39.6% rate (including the tax on investment income), is a 14.6% lower rate or more than a 1/3 reduction in the tax rate on the income. So, again, Trump lied.
https://angrybearblog.com/2017/09/trumps-refusal-to-release-his-own-ta
x-returns-and-californias-legislature.html
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly
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As the crisis continues in Puerto Rico, there is one thing Trump — and only Trump — could do right now to help: ask for more money.
Addressing the situation will require a lot of federal money. Trump is the one person who can ask for this funding and get the process started in Congress.
It's going to require Congress to pass a relief package to free up more federal dollars to fix the island's infrastructure problems. But first, the White House needs to send a request to Congress for the money. Trump hasn't even gotten that started.
Federal workers are doing what they can to help Puerto Rico respond with the minimal amount of resources. But that won't be enough to rebuild the island.
“So mad I could spit”: a former disaster relief official on Trump’s response to Puerto Rico. He described the Trump administration’s response as “malpractice.”
The mayor of San Juan is begging for help from federal officials as Puerto Rico recovers from Hurricane Maria. Meanwhile, from his New Jersey golf club, Trump responded by starting a feud with her on Twitter.
www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/9/30/16389640/puerto-rico-disaster
-relief
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Well I guess that Trump has already decided that he won't be building anything on an island in the middle of an ocean that is rising then. Probably not a bad idea.
I find it quite amusing that nobody is seeing the bigger picture here. The US and the EU have been FORCED to take on millions of economic refugees from countries that HATE us.
Why aren't we even discussing doing the same with Puerto Ricans now?
If Puerto Rico were a house in my town, it would be condemned. You wouldn't even be allowed to re-build on the land because of the chances that this would happen again. It would be much cheaper to relocate the people than to throw a bunch of money at a problem that will only HAPPEN AGAIN IN TIME.
I thought you were a proponent of planning for the future Second. How much money should be wasted rebuilding the entire island until the next big hurricane wipes them out again, or until the sea level rises and the only people living on the island are Kevin Kostner from Waterworld?
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Quote:You're talking fantasy, not reality. I am all for taking a time machine to visit President William McKinley in 1898 and warning him not to accept Puerto Rico as part of the peace treaty with Spain, but that is not really an option for Trump to make this Spain's problem rather than his problem. President Trump has to deal with Puerto Rico, as it is today, but he is not doing anything more mentally strenuous than tweeting:
Originally posted by 6stringJoker:
Well I guess that Trump has already decided that he won't be building anything on an island in the middle of an ocean that is rising then. Probably not a bad idea.
I find it quite amusing that nobody is seeing the bigger picture here. The US and the EU have been FORCED to take on millions of economic refugees from countries that HATE us.
Why aren't we even discussing doing the same with Puerto Ricans now?
If Puerto Rico were a house in my town, it would be condemned. You wouldn't even be allowed to re-build on the land because of the chances that this would happen again. It would be much cheaper to relocate the people than to throw a bunch of money at a problem that will only HAPPEN AGAIN IN TIME.
I thought you were a proponent of planning for the future Second. How much money should be wasted rebuilding the entire island until the next big hurricane wipes them out again, or until the sea level rises and the only people living on the island are Kevin Kostner from Waterworld?
Retired Lieutenant General Russel Honoré, who won applause for turning around the chaotic Katrina relief effort 12 years ago, put Trump’s attacks on the San Juan mayor in clear contrast during a CNN interview Saturday.
“The mayor's living on a cot, and I hope the president has a good day at golf,” Honoré said, alluding to Trump’s weekend at his luxurious Bedminster Club in New Jersey.
Trump’s response this weekend is shocking not just because he is attacking public officials desperate to get aid for their people, but because his denunciation of press coverage verges on fantasy. Not for the first time, Trump seeks to deny the plain truth of news reports, but in this case there is no shortage of visual evidence to confirm the destruction. Even if he thinks he can fool mainlanders, Trump is also demanding that Puerto Ricans believe him, rather than their lying eyes:
Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump
To the people of Puerto Rico:
Do not believe the #FakeNews!#PRStrong
2:53 PM - Sep 30, 2017
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/914216744385904640
It’s hard to imagine this would convince a Puerto Rican.
www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/10/trump-san-juan-mayor/5416
65/
I will be pleased to get the same millionaire's tax break that Trump is also maneuvering for himself because I am not the President breaking his oath of office by abandoning Puerto Rico because it interferes with his tax reform plans and increasing his family's wealth.
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Quote:
Originally posted by second:
You're talking fantasy, not reality. I am all for taking a time machine to visit President William McKinley in 1898 and warning him not to accept Puerto Rico as part of the peace treaty with Spain, but that is not really an option for Trump to make this Spain's problem rather than his problem.
What are you talking about?
I'm actually suggesting opening up a discussion about taking actual refugees from Puerto Rico here, rather than try to re-build an island that should just be condemned. I'm not talking about pawning that off on Spain or telling these people to get fucked.
I think we should immediately stop taking any Muslim refugees in because the ideology is poison and they are NOT OUR PROBLEM, but I'm not opposed to doing that for any Puerto Ricans who want the help. There would just have to be a reasonable effort made to ensure that they actually try to get employment and aren't a total drain on society once they're here. It would be much cheaper than throwing money at an island that's eventually going to sink anyway.
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Quote:Your solution will cost the price of a one-way plane ticket for each Puerto Rican to some location within the USA picked by Donald J Trump. He could apply your solution to Hurricane Harvey and it would be a whole lot cheaper throwing Texans on a flight out of Houston than to rebuild Houston. But take note, even Trump didn't suggest abandoning Houston, unlike you abandoning Puerto Rico. The last time I heard the Rebuild Houston option costs $150,000,000,000. Plane tickets to California would be cheaper and if Trump places enough flood damaged Texas Republicans there, he could win California in 2020.
Originally posted by 6stringJoker:Quote:
Originally posted by second:
You're talking fantasy, not reality. I am all for taking a time machine to visit President William McKinley in 1898 and warning him not to accept Puerto Rico as part of the peace treaty with Spain, but that is not really an option for Trump to make this Spain's problem rather than his problem.
What are you talking about?
I'm actually suggesting opening up a discussion about taking actual refugees from Puerto Rico here, rather than try to re-build an island that should just be condemned. I'm not talking about pawning that off on Spain or telling these people to get fucked.
I think we should immediately stop taking any Muslim refugees in because the ideology is poison and they are NOT OUR PROBLEM, but I'm not opposed to doing that for any Puerto Ricans who want the help. There would just have to be a reasonable effort made to ensure that they actually try to get employment and aren't a total drain on society once they're here. It would be much cheaper than throwing money at an island that's eventually going to sink anyway.
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly
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So what you're really trying to say is that Trump is in a no-win situation and no matter what he did you'd have something to bitch about.
Tell me something I don't know.
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