Mike Medeiros

@Andrige3 @jasontrost Yes, the nation with the highest GDP has the highest government expenditures. We're barely in the top 40 for government spending as a percentage of GDP. Don't be surprised if a consumption tax requires *higher* government spending to offset the regressive nature of the tax.

@mmedeiros @jasontrost I never said alone but we have highest government expenditures in world. I want to fix the hole in the leaky bucket. Income tax disincentivizes people from working and wealth tax does same for investing. I’d be fine with consumption tax to raise more money.

If you own stock, you pay 23.8% only when you sell and you can borrow without tax. If you have salary income, you pay 37% annually. Isn't that a tax problem?

@Andrige3 @jasontrost And? Because reducing spending alone doesn't fix the problem You said we should "lower income tax rate and cut wasteful spending" Do you now see that would only exacerbate the problem and we are a long way from being able to decrease revenue regardless of how much waste is cut?

@mmedeiros @jasontrost And even if you could confiscate all the wealth of the billionaires, you still couldn’t pay off our debt and we’d have no more growth (eg what happened in Soviet Russia) so clearly we have to reduce spending.

@Andrige3 @jasontrost The vast majority of "our current spending policies" cannot be changed at this time. Say 25% of discretionary funding is wasteful, and we remove that 25%. You're now running at a $1.3T deficit instead of $1.8T Cutting "waste" doesn't solve this problem.

@mmedeiros @jasontrost Depends how you define waste. Interest payments becoming the highest budget line items seems pretty wasteful and isn’t going to slow down with our current spending policies. We are also paying way too much for other mandatories (eg military and poorly managed contractors)

@bren_geo @Guardians_Bane The "gold standard" still requires that you understand the difference between a definition and example usage. 😂

@Guardians_Bane That’s from Oxford Languages, the gold standard for the English language.

Let's try this again for the theists that don't seem to get it. Atheism: non-belief in a god(s) It makes no claims. It doesn't even attempt to explain anything. It isn't a worldview. (It's a small part of worldviews each person has built from many other things) Astrophysics, biology, cosmology, origins of life/universe, morality, evolution, abiogenesis, morality, etc... are NOT a part of athesim. We just don't believe in gods. Secular humanism, Naturalism, etc... those things do attempt to explain things. But those are not prerequisites for being an atheist. There are atheistic religions that have their own moral codes and myths and explainations to reality. Buddism, Taoism, Jainism, etc... all have these. Just no gods involved. I hope this will help those who try so a hard to shove all those things into atheism. (I doubt it though)

@Andrige3 @jasontrost Cutting "waste" doesn't solve this problem.

@jasontrost It is a tax problem. We should also lower income tax rate and cut wasteful spending.

@Eminemzee @jasontrost What do you propose is cut? Keep in mind that half of discretionary spending is on defense.

@jasontrost Spending is the problem. It’s wasteful and inflationary. We’ve already spent our future. Look at the debt clock. Total financial ignorance if you think taxing is a solution.

@kornegay_danna @washingtonpost Maybe the war mingers (sic) are the clowns that started a war without congressional approval, spent billions, got 13 American service members killed, didn't achieve stated goals, and "negotiated" a worse deal than the one we started with?

@washingtonpost You mean the war mingers are not happy

Senate Republicans are finally learning the details of the agreement that President Trump struck with the Iranian government days ago to end the war — and many of them are not happy. wapo.st/4a6Kaxx

@CMichael26441 @Happyja @AtheistPhoenix Since you can't differentiate between faith and logic and continue to assume you know anything about what I believe, I'm exiting. Have a good day.

@CMichael26441 @Happyja @AtheistPhoenix I really don't care one way or another about your beliefs. Nor did I assume anything about them or diminish them. You assumed mine. And once again, you are making the same mistake. It takes some stones to accuse me of something and then do the same thing in your next sentence

There’s no evidence that the resurrection happened

@CMichael26441 @Happyja @AtheistPhoenix You know nothing about what I believe. Please don't make assumptions. I would not need hard evidence that something doesn't exist to lack belief that it does. Logic doesn't work that way. I don't believe in astrology. That lack of belief is not an example of faith.

@mmedeiros @Happyja @AtheistPhoenix You speak of verifying the impossible, yet your belief system cannot be verified. You have no evidence that God does not exist, yet you believe that's true. Yours is faith. Yes, nothing wrong with faith bur realize your belief system requires faith, perhaps more than mine.

@MrEddieTarazona @bridgetekelly Is anyone suggesting that the government should prevent him from saying it? Or is it that the consequences of his free speech are that he's being judged as a hateful moron?

@bridgetekelly I feel the attack on free speech is more offensive than any offensive comment anyone can make.

Are there any republicans who find the Michelle Obama comment offensive? Are there any decent republicans out there.

@CMichael26441 @Happyja @AtheistPhoenix Your argument rests on non-contemporaneous legend. Verifying if they had a chance to recant is impossible. Verifying they died because of what they saw is impossible. Your choice to believe legend is not evidence. It's faith. Nothing wrong with faith, but it's not evidence.

@mmedeiros @Happyja @AtheistPhoenix The difference between Jonestown and early century Christians was that Jonestown people were FORCED or killed to drink the kool-aid. Early Christians had a choice to recant or die--they chose death. Again, not for what they believed, but for what they saw. Your argument is flawed

@BStorm5 Overturning Citizens United would be a great start.

@mmedeiros Ok. we agree. Now what?

It's not healthy for society. If you can't understand why, take it further, imagine instead that Musk manages to somehow accumulate far more wealth. He takes massive ownership stakes in every company. He buys out, or locks out through political influence, competitors, market by market until they fail/sell. He could buy out the media. If they won't sell, since he owns so many major companies, he pulls advertising. He slaps them with as many lawsuits as he can throw at them until they cannot sustain themselves, and must do as he says or sell. He'd have enough money to basically purchase any political race with ease. Between that and having the media doing his bidding, democracy is effectively dead. Imagine he decides to offer insane amounts of money to start buying all of the farms and ranches. Now he controls the food supply. Where it goes. Who gets it. What they have to pay for it. Wealth begets wealth. The more wealth you have, the faster your wealth grows, and the more disproportionately it grows compared to normal, working folks. A society which allows trillionaires while the bottom 50% are struggling to pay bills and wondering if they'll even be able to retire is a society that is headed rapidly towards failure. I suspect if there was a hypothetical communist multi-trillionaire that y'all would quickly realize how scary someone possessing that much wealth truly is.

@BStorm5 Easily. The answer is yes. No individual should have the political power billionaires have in our country. It shouldn't be difficult to have non-hypocritical beliefs.

@mmedeiros Oh. Well then can you actually answer the question?

@CMichael26441 @Happyja @AtheistPhoenix 918 people died for their beliefs in Jonestown. It doesn't make their beliefs true. RE: Matthew, Mark, and Luke, accounts of their deaths came decades/centuries later. Maybe they were martyred. We don't know for sure. Believe what you want, but your argument is weak

@Happyja @AtheistPhoenix How about Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and Paul. Just about all died a horrible death, one that you would coward out of. They did not die because they believed Jesus rose from the dead, but because they saw him after death. Would you die being boiled in oil for your faith?

@Gmanmad1 @sportslarryk That freedom includes the freedom to think he's a homophobic ass. No one needs to "get over it"

@sportslarryk Fan base should get over it ..its his freedom to express himself how he wants to..the gays do it why can't he?..oh and im a die hard giants fan ..who believes in americas freedom.

What started out as a good thing has morphed into an “everybody must do this or else” situation. I’d wear it gladly, but to try to hurt or publicly shame the players who opt not to is wrong.

@BStorm5 @LeaveMyCountryx Don't move goalposts. It's lazy. My comment was in reply to this. Not any tax proposal discussion

@mmedeiros @LeaveMyCountryx Complaining is one thing which the right did. Suggesting a wealth confiscation tax is a whole another approach which the left is currently pushing.

@Valmcd10 @PaulGoldEagle You should drive to San Recto and check it out! Might be difficult, since it isn't a real place though.

@PaulGoldEagle 🙏 let's hope they continue searching every inch of LA. Bring it on...

BREAKING: 675 ballots for Spencer Pratt found in a dumpster in San Recto. Federal authorities are on scene.Let the games begin H/T Christian Cole

@banditredar @PaulGoldEagle @wendyp4545 Real fraud would vitiate everything. Imaginary fraud in an imaginary city that validates some people's preconceived beliefs isn't especially helpful. 😂

@PaulGoldEagle @wendyp4545 Fraud vitiates everything. The question is how much fraud is considered significant enough ? 😂

@BStorm5 @LeaveMyCountryx And y'all have complained about Soros for decades. But when the guy is on your side, everything is cool? Hypocrisy is not an exclusive trait of one party. Billionaires (and the new trillionaire) have too much power in our country. This remains true even if they are on your side

@LeaveMyCountryx Sounds subjective