When these politicians switch back and forth between Democrat and
Republican it really shows that all of the so-called partisan bickering
is mostly for show. If they can switch back and forth so easily and
whenever it is expedient that shows that they don't really see a
difference themselves.
Carl Sagan “It seems to me what is called for is an exquisite balance
between two conflicting needs: the most skeptical scrutiny of all
hypotheses that are served up to us and at the same time a great
openness to new ideas. Obviously those two modes of thought are in some
tension. But if you are able to exercise only one of these modes,
whichever one it is, you’re in deep trouble. If you are only skeptical,
then no new ideas make it through to you. You never learn anything new.
You become a crotchety old person convinced that nonsense is ruling the
world. (There is, of course, much data to support you.) But every now
and then, maybe once in a hundred cases, a new idea turns out to be on
the mark, valid and wonderful. If you are too much in the habit of being
skeptical about everything, you are going to miss or resent it, and
either way you will be standing in the way of understanding and
progress. On the other hand, if you are open to the point of gullibility
and have not an ounce of skeptical sense in you, then you cannot
distinguish the useful as from the worthless ones.” ― Carl Sagan
On 4/8/2021 10:03 AM, Carl Jarvis wrote:
Political Party switching has become just another tool in a
politician's portfolio.
But it makes no never mind, as my grandpa Ludwig used to say, because
it's just one more trick they have up their sleeve. And it does go to
the fact that there is only one(1)party, The Establishmentarians.
What this country needs is a good Anti Establishmentarians' People's
Party.
Carl Jarvis
On 4/7/21, Roger Loran Bailey <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
The Manchin family is a long-time political family here in West Virginia
and every one of them is a Democrat. It is interesting to note, though,
that whether it is Joe or his uncle Jimmy or others in the family who
have gotten into the house of delegates, they have all always voted with
the Republicans And the ones who do not actually get elected tend to
lobby for Republican causes. I wonder. It used to be that if you wanted
to get elected to anything in West Virginia you had to run as a
Democrat. Could it be that the Manchins were Republicans all along and
stayed affiliated to the Democrats only to get into positions of power
to effect Republican causes? Not that there ever was much difference
between the Democrats and the Republicans in the first place, but they
have still divided up their dirty work so that Republicans do certain
dirty work that betray the working people of the state while the
Democrats take on other dirty work. The Manchins, though, call
themselves Democrats while doing the Republican dirty work. Now,
however, things have switched and it is hard to get elected in this
state unless one runs as a Republican. I wonder if Joe sees himself as
switching parties in the near future. It works for other corporate
politicians. The current governor, James Justice, switched from
Republican to Democrat just before announcing his candidacy for
governor. Then, once he was elected, he switched back to Republican.
There are some other West Virginia politicians who have done the same
thing. It shows that they don't really see a difference between
Republicans and Democrats either. They just decide to be one or the
other depending on what is expediant at the time. After all, they can
always switch back at any time and very few of the voters will notice.
___
Carl Sagan “It seems to me what is called for is an exquisite balance
between two conflicting needs: the most skeptical scrutiny of all
hypotheses that are served up to us and at the same time a great
openness to new ideas. Obviously those two modes of thought are in some
tension. But if you are able to exercise only one of these modes,
whichever one it is, you’re in deep trouble. If you are only skeptical,
then no new ideas make it through to you. You never learn anything new.
You become a crotchety old person convinced that nonsense is ruling the
world. (There is, of course, much data to support you.) But every now
and then, maybe once in a hundred cases, a new idea turns out to be on
the mark, valid and wonderful. If you are too much in the habit of being
skeptical about everything, you are going to miss or resent it, and
either way you will be standing in the way of understanding and
progress. On the other hand, if you are open to the point of gullibility
and have not an ounce of skeptical sense in you, then you cannot
distinguish the useful as from the worthless ones.” ― Carl Sagan
On 4/7/2021 12:36 PM, Miriam Vieni wrote:
Joe Manchin Wants to Keep the Corporate Tax Rate as Low as Possible
By David Sirota and Andrew Perez, Jacobin
07 April 21
West Virginia senator Joe Manchin is threatening to block President Joe
Biden's higher corporate tax rate as part of Biden's infrastructure bill -
a
move that could shield private equity firms whose executives boosted
Manchin's campaign and bet big on Trump's tax bill.
Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin on Monday began raising objections to
President
Biden's legislation to fund infrastructure investments by raising the
corporate tax rate to 28 percent. Derailing the tax hike would be a
lucrative gift to both corporate CEOs in general, and to private equity
giants whose executives bankrolled the lawmaker's 2018 campaign and funded
a
super PAC that boosted his closely contested reelection bid.
On Monday, Manchin discussed Biden's infrastructure plan with West
Virginia
MetroNews, and declared: "If I don't vote to get on it, it's not going
anywhere."
"As the bill exists today, it needs to be changed," Manchin said. While
Biden's plan calls for raising the corporate tax rate from 21 percent to
28
percent, Manchin said he believes the corporate tax rate should be closer
to
25 percent for the United States "to be competitive."
On Monday, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, told reporters that the Democratic
caucus and the Senate finance committee will work together to set a final
corporate tax rate figure. But Manchin's proposed change would have a
huge
impact on how the Biden infrastructure plan is paid for, while largely
preserving a tax policy that is delivering a disproportionately huge
windfall to a tiny handful of executives at major corporations.
Last month, the Daily Poster reported on a recent study by Grinnell
College
economist Eric Ohrn showing that for every dollar that publicly traded
firms
reap from corporate tax cuts, "compensation of the firm's top five
highest
paid executives increases by 15 to 19 cents." That study preceded last
week's revelations that fifty-five publicly traded corporations paid zero
corporate taxes last year.
Manchin's move could also particularly benefit private equity firms that
have converted from partnership structures to C Corporations to take
advantage of former president Donald Trump's tax law, which dropped the
corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent.
Such conversions allow private equity firms to attract capital from a
wider
array of institutional investors who may not have been permitted to
invest
in partnerships. But private equity firms had not converted until a lower
corporate tax rate made the switch even more profitable. The conversions
are
effectively permanent.
Ares Management was the first private equity giant to convert from a
partnership structure to a C Corporation. The firm's executives were
together among his top donors during his 2018 reelection bid. In all,
they
funneled more than $21,000 to his reelection campaign that year,
according
to federal records reviewed by the Daily Poster.
Data compiled by OpenSecrets show that was part of more than $212,000
that
the private equity and investment industry delivered to Manchin during an
election cycle in which he was given a "small business investment" award
by
a major private equity group that has been lobbying on tax issues.
The Blackstone Group and the Carlyle Group have also converted from
partnerships to C Corporations. Executives from those firms donated $4.4
million to Senate Democrats' super PAC, Senate Majority PAC, during the
last
two election cycles, including $1.3 million in 2018 when Manchin was
reelected with the group's support.
Changing the tax rates now could eat into these private equity firms'
profits. Ares, Blackstone, and Carlyle have all recently lobbied on
federal
tax issues, according to the most recent federal disclosures.
While Manchin has been fighting to keep the corporate tax rate low, Ares
has
been explicitly warning investors that "any substantial changes in
domestic
or international corporate tax policies, regulations or guidance,
enforcement activities or legislative initiatives may adversely affect
our
business."
There was initially talk of Biden's tax plan including provisions to
close
the so-called private equity tax loophole, but that language was excluded
from the initiative.
