re: Little Miss Tippie Top Ocasio-Cortez wants to raise taxes to 70% to pay for some socialist

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I tried.

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No. You didn't. You posted no data. You posted no rational objective facts that would be persuasive to any thoughtful person. No one and nothing has prevented you from doing so (other than their non-existance).

"Muh feels!" isn't an argument of merit nor mathematics.

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Go back to the echo chamber.

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"Muh feels!" isn't an argument of merit nor mathematics.

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You know what? frick it, I'm going to take a different approach. I came in hot because the Poli Board is a fricking cesspool of vitriol, but my whole point in starting to post here is to have meaningful discussions with people of a different political persuasion, so that I'm actually thinking and learning instead of just reinforcing my existing beliefs. (The idealist in me is hoping this is a two-way street, and everyone comes away with different perspectives.)

One of the biggest problems I think with modern politics is the pervasiveness and ease of echo chambers. I feel like this board (and the Deep South in general) is guilty of existing in these, but I too live in one, as I currently reside in the NY metro area. The Internet has only compounded this issue, as we now can create what Cass Sunstein calls our "Daily Me," a stream of info only sourced from places which make us feel good and convince us that whatever we're thinking is correct. This is dangerous for obvious reasons, and I think it should be incumbent upon all of us to try and fight this, even in small ways. TD is my attempt at just that--I'm here to learn from you guys why you think government is evil, and taxes are too high, and the wall should be built. I know what my media tells me is an exaggeration, or an intentional mis-characterization, so I want to hear it from you. I'd also like to show you that liberals are not the cartoon-ish villains your media portray us as (which is a new thing for me. I've always assumed conservatives just thought liberals were pussies. I didn't think they actually thought we were assholes.)

So I've gotten that you think my original proposition of taxing the ultra wealthy a higher percentage of their incomes is patently insane. Some of you have shown data that support the idea that if we wanted to increase taxes in meaningful ways, we should aim at the middle class (which, while effective potentially, would be political suicide), but underlying these data seems to exist the additional unspoken argument that ANY increase would be a waste of money and resources (I could be misinterpreting this, though, so forgive me if that's the case).

So I guess the over-arching questions, then, are 1) do you think the current (and increasing) income/wealth gap is an issue? and 2) if so, how do we go about rectifying it, if not through higher taxes?

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Even WHOOPIE slammed her today

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What did she say?

The statistical income gap is largely caused by two factors:
1. those on entitlements are counted as making $0, when their income is significantly above zero.

2. The differences in cost of living across the country. Middle class in the San Francisco suburbs is making upper class income in Southwest Louisiana.

Now, if you're talking about the WEALTH gap, that's a big difference. The gap in WEALTH is largely driven by:
1. Consolidation of markets into cartels (think telecom industries, search engines, ISPs, etc)
2. broken homes
3. home ownership
4. Government intervention in higher education, mortgage lending, and healthcare.

Broken homes and home ownership are largely tied together. People rarely buy homes unless they have a steady income, have children, and are married or close to marriage. With people having kids prior to getting a stable income, the stability needed to get to the home purchasing stage rarely develops. It typically takes a nuclear family to build wealth in order to buy a home that will appreciate in value and put away money for retirement that creates what shows up as the wealth gap (old people at the verge of retirement have more money than young single mothers renting).

The consolidation of industry is where government regulations and taxation plays a huge role. Every regulation creates another barrier to entry for small business to compete simply by the fact that large companies have the luxury of being able to afford in overhead people, even departments, dedicated solely to decifering and complying with byzantine regulatory requirements. Small businesses simply can't do that, so they get left in the dust or can't compete at all. By reducing regulations in general and enforcing anti-trust rules already in place, we can break up the telecom cartels, make it easier for competing firms to break into the market, and foster the kind of competitive environment that will drive prices down and create more jobs.

Finally, the federal government has to get out of the loans business and the healthcare business. We need to put Glass-Steagall back in place, stop backing student loans, repeal EMTALA, end Section 8, and repeal Obamacare. We need to open up competition in healthcare and get the federal government out of it so that prices can come down. People can't afford housing with those health insurance premiums, student loans, and crazy real estate prices eating away at their salaries. Without that disposable income, they can't purchase the goods needed to support a consumerist economy. Government is artificially propping up prices in higher education, healthcare, and real estate, and it needs to stop in order for those goods to reach a market equilibrium and become affordable again.

Too many people either pay no taxes or are a net drain on the economy. I'm much more concerned about that than I am with people at the top keeping more of what they earned.

How in the name of frick did this woman win an election?? She sounds like she is having trouble at times assembling a coherent sentence.

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Told her to set down and shut up and listen and learn.

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In the context of what, exactly?

Does Whoopi not agree with her high tax plan because she would be directly affected?

I want to say only 13k voted in that primary. You can get that number easily with soyboy leftists and her bartending clientele. Once she made the runoff, she wasn't going to lose to a white Republican in that district.

She could probably easily be defeated in a primary, but she will be as untouchable as Maxine Waters now that she is an incumbent.

This must really give Claire heartburn.

She’s been in office less than two weeks, but Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) has already inspired one Capitol Hill dive bar to launch a new food special in her honor.

The Ugly Mug, near the Capitol, is introducing “The Affordable Meal Act” — a selection of $7 nosh.

The Tuesday evening specials, which start next week, are a nod to “’intern nights’ of old where young staffers can get a meal they can afford with their meager earnings, stipends, and allowances,” according to the eatery.

Some of the cheap eats options, which come with fries, include Korean fried chicken, a veggie fried rice bowl or a cheeseburger.

The meals, an Ugly Mug rep tells ITK, “were inspired by the youngest woman in Congress, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and her road to Congress.”

Ocasio-Cortez, 29, made headlines last November when she said in an interview that she would need to wait for her congressional salary to kick in before being able to rent an apartment in the District.

“Expenses can really add up,” the watering hole’s rep noted. “The Ugly Mug welcomes AOC, her staff, and the rest of the new class to partake in the Affordable Meal Act.”