(04-04-2019 10:09 PM)stinkfist Wrote:  if I could fire 80% of those in congress, I'd have done it yesterday...

I actually think firing 20% is what would be truly in order--the right 20%, the 20% that represents the leadership on both sides.

I remember several years ago when all the budget deficit brouhaha that led to a shutdown and eventually the whole sequestration deal. I attended a State Bar of Texas tax seminar (I go almost every year, to get continuing education hours that count for both law and CPA purposes). We have a guy who is a tax lobbyist in DC, originally from Dallas, who comes down each year to give us an update on what is happening. He said that he had (obviously) been working the halls of congress pretty hard on this, and he was absolutely convinced that 85% of both houses could, "settle this in about 15 minutes if they could only find a way to keep Obama, Reid, McConnell, Pelosi, and Boehner out of the room." I fully believe that to be the case.

I think the leaders on both sides are totally worthless. Get rid of the 20% that are the leadership, and the other 80% would figure it out pretty quickly. But right now, they can't do that. Maybe what we really need is a good revolt of the rank and file in congress.

(04-04-2019 10:43 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(04-04-2019 10:09 PM)stinkfist Wrote:  if I could fire 80% of those in congress, I'd have done it yesterday...

I actually think firing 20% is what would be truly in order--the right 20%, the 20% that represents the leadership on both sides.

I remember several years ago when all the budget deficit brouhaha that led to a shutdown and eventually the whole sequestration deal. I attended a State Bar of Texas tax seminar (I go almost every year, to get continuing education hours that count for both law and CPA purposes). We have a guy who is a tax lobbyist in DC, originally from Dallas, who comes down each year to give us an update on what is happening. He said that he had (obviously) been working the halls of congress pretty hard on this, and he was absolutely convinced that 85% of both houses could, "settle this in about 15 minutes if they could only find a way to keep Obama, Reid, McConnell, Pelosi, and Boehner out of the room." I fully believe that to be the case.

I think the leaders on both sides are totally worthless. Get rid of the 20% that are the leadership, and the other 80% would figure it out pretty quickly. But right now, they can't do that. Maybe what we really need is a good revolt of the rank and file in congress.

I was easily exaggerating my percentage.....there's no questioning leadership on both sides are beyond repair....until that changes, it most likely wouldn't matter what the turnover looked like afterwards...

if you had your druthers, who would like to see replace McConnell, Pelosi, and Schumer? I don't see any problem with McCarthy to date...

I can't think of a dem worth a crap to replace the current idiots, but it would be interesting if Rand could supplant McConnell as the senate majority leader.....I could live with that swap....

(04-04-2019 11:38 AM)Claw Wrote:  

(04-04-2019 11:20 AM)NCeagle Wrote:  why is trump so afraid of releasing his tax returns. We all know the auditing reason is BS. Why is he scared?

He isn't only protecting himself, he is protecting every person and business entity that might be connected in any way to his returns.

Once the Democrats started attacking his personal lawyer and close associates, they forever removed any chance of Trump ever willingly releasing his tax returns. He is not going to open all of his businesses and associates to that kind of attack.

I don't blame him.

I suspect he will refuse to do this and it will go to court. Even the House has no right to illegal search and seizure without due process. Ultimately he will win unless the House has some actual probable cause.

Why protect a Russian mob and the Russian mafia run by Putin? It is against the law to do organize crime that all mobs do. If Trump is mixed up in the Russian mob? As a US citizen? We all need the right to know if Trump is mixed up. We should never cover up crimes including elected officials. This is what I hate about this country. People like Bill Clinton and Donald Trump get away with crimes while you and me could be serving time in prison for what they have done.

(04-04-2019 11:19 PM)DavidSt Wrote:  

(04-04-2019 11:38 AM)Claw Wrote:  

(04-04-2019 11:20 AM)NCeagle Wrote:  why is trump so afraid of releasing his tax returns. We all know the auditing reason is BS. Why is he scared?

He isn't only protecting himself, he is protecting every person and business entity that might be connected in any way to his returns.
Once the Democrats started attacking his personal lawyer and close associates, they forever removed any chance of Trump ever willingly releasing his tax returns. He is not going to open all of his businesses and associates to that kind of attack.
I don't blame him.
I suspect he will refuse to do this and it will go to court. Even the House has no right to illegal search and seizure without due process. Ultimately he will win unless the House has some actual probable cause.

Why protect a Russian mob and the Russian mafia run by Putin? It is against the law to do organize crime that all mobs do. If Trump is mixed up in the Russian mob? As a US citizen? We all need the right to know if Trump is mixed up. We should never cover up crimes including elected officials. This is what I hate about this country. People like Bill Clinton and Donald Trump get away with crimes while you and me could be serving time in prison for what they have done.

Why don't you try coming up with some reasonable cause to believe that he is protecting "a Russian mob and the Russian mafia run by Putin" of "mixed up in the Russian mob" before demanding his tax returns. That's how the law usually works.

The problem is that, at least so far, there is no crime there. If you can produce some indicia of a crime, then perhaps you can establish a basis to proceed. But, "Wah! Wah! Wah! Orange man bad," is no basis for gaining access to tax returns.

Besides, exactly WTF do you expect to see in tax returns? A line item called. "Hush money from the Russian mob, $10,000,000"? Well, you won't see anything like that on a tax return. Number one, because there is no indication that it happened. Number two, because it it did, it wouldn't be reported on a tax return. Number three, because if it were reported on a tax return, then the IRS would be down on it like stink on you-know-what. Number four, because Donald Trump is a wealthy man who presumably employs competent tax counsel, and if I were advising him and there was anything like this around, I would say, "Look, you can't afford to run for president. If you want to shape policy, start a research and lobbying foundation and find candidates to back." That's four hoops to jump through, and I see no indication of any of them.

What you will see is one-line entities from 401k's for partnerships and S Corps and LLCs through which he conducts his multiple businesses. He may also have some C Corps, but those are not great vehicles for real estate. And even if you got his tax returns, you can't get the 1120s and 1120Ss and 1065s for those entities without permission of all investors. Trump knows that this is a witch hunt. If they can't bring him down, they will just bring down everybody associated with him. If I were a partner in a Trump deal, there is no way in hell that I would agree to release anything.

(04-04-2019 10:09 PM)stinkfist Wrote:  

(04-04-2019 06:59 PM)bullet Wrote:  

(04-04-2019 06:20 PM)stinkfist Wrote:  

(04-04-2019 05:57 PM)miko33 Wrote:  LOL! The desperation of the Dems reeks worse than a rotting corpse on a hot and humid day in the Everglades... Dems are running afoul of the public at this point because the Mueller report at a min says no proof of illegal activity uncovered. Otherwise we’d have indictments coming out. Dems got their independent investigator, but not the results they wanted. It’s blatantly obvious. The public would much rather see all politicians investigated for misappropriation of campaign funds and the selling of their influence to their donors.

I've never seen anything like it in my lifetime....it's gone from bs rhetoric, to wanting to shake cobwebs out any 'pocket' available to get elected...it's why I despise politics...

any sane american should be nervous what the dems have done/are attempting to do...the same applies to the pubs sitting on their collective arses...

it's beyond obvious at this point that politics vs. the people have taken over...

#henceDJT and his 'Carnegie philanthropic moment' in history....ol' boy is engineering a different train...,and I'm loving every fk'n minute of it...

There's a reason President Trump has more support among Republicans than any previous president has had with his own party. And its not white supremacy and its not DJT. Its the Democrats. They are very, very scary.

in the past, Owl# has mentioned "gridlock" being the least of all evils within an inept congress (which I once agreed with on principle)....

not anymore.....the dems have completely fallen off the cliff of reality.....and the cons aren't much better dealing with the issues that truly matter (spending, health care, immigration, etc...)

I thought the last version of the legislative branch was pathetic.....these guys and gals make the last crew look like navy SEALs....

if I could fire 80% of those in congress, I'd have done it yesterday...

Yep.

Very basic duty is passing a budget. And its only happened once since 2008-Ryan's first year as speaker.

The more and more liberals try to push the Russia-hoax, lowering voting age, reparations, green new deal, 3rd trimester abortions, identity politics, weak immigration ideas, socialist policies, gun-control....all this is doing is pushing more and more centrists to the right. So please, continue doing what you're doing Libs!