Remember the National Debt?

[Res Ipsa]

I agree that Ajax is creating his own unhappiness. But he doesn't deserve that. No one does. I feel no joy when his unhappiness shows in his posting. I mostly feel bad for him.

I'm unhappy for the country and my children, not myself. I probably stand to make out better in ways due to the new regime. We had a great thing going this past four years. Unfortunately I doubt we'll see this kind of economic boom again for a long time if ever.

That may be the story you tell yourself to make yourself feel better. But it doesn't change the fact that the source of your unhappiness is that you cling to resentment and hatred that a bunch of rich guys are feeding you so that they can pick your pocket. Listen to what you are saying. You're saying you're going to do better with Biden as president, yet you still insist on clinging to your misery.

Economically, we had a pretty good thing going for 12 years. We went from a country teetering on the edges of economic collapse to a pretty decent period of economic recovery. By past standards it was slow, but it was steady and had a decent duration. But we haven't been able to "cure" the business cycle yet, and there is no reason to expect that we won't continue to have productive times and recessions in the years ahead.

What should worry you is not that your kids won't see another 12-year period like the last one. What should worry you is that, even in the good periods, your kids are unlikely to benefit from economic gains. For over 30 years, during rule by both political parties, we've hollowed out the middle class. The tremendous gains in wealth over that period haven't gone to you and me, and they haven't gone to the urban and rural poor. They've gone exclusively to the rich. Unless you are already part of the rich elite (which is composed of liberals and conservatives alike), the odds of your children moving up the economic ladder are close to zero. And its this same small percentage of rich people who encourage you to resent and hate lower class Americans so you won't pay attention to where the wealth really goes.

And when you say you feel bad for "the country," you're kidding yourself. America is its people. And you hate and resent over half of them. I feel bad for what you are doing to yourself, but that doesn't mean I believe your excuses for being unhappy.

America's most significant problem right now is the political divide that is being driven largely by the people who figured out they can profit from it. You can cling to your hatred or your resentment. Or you can spend your energy on fixing the problem.

[Gunnar]

That may be the story you tell yourself to make yourself feel better. But it doesn't change the fact that the source of your unhappiness is that you cling to resentment and hatred that a bunch of rich guys are feeding you so that they can pick your pocket. Listen to what you are saying. You're saying you're going to do better with Biden as president, yet you still insist on clinging to your misery.

Economically, we had a pretty good thing going for 12 years. We went from a country teetering on the edges of economic collapse to a pretty decent period of economic recovery. By past standards it was slow, but it was steady and had a decent duration. But we haven't been able to "cure" the business cycle yet, and there is no reason to expect that we won't continue to have productive times and recessions in the years ahead.

What should worry you is not that your kids won't see another 12-year period like the last one. What should worry you is that, even in the good periods, your kids are unlikely to benefit from economic gains. For over 30 years, during rule by both political parties, we've hollowed out the middle class. The tremendous gains in wealth over that period haven't gone to you and me, and they haven't gone to the urban and rural poor. They've gone exclusively to the rich. Unless you are already part of the rich elite (which is composed of liberals and conservatives alike), the odds of your children moving up the economic ladder are close to zero. And its this same small percentage of rich people who encourage you to resent and hate lower class Americans so you won't pay attention to where the wealth really goes.

And when you say you feel bad for "the country," you're kidding yourself. America is its people. And you hate and resent over half of them. I feel bad for what you are doing to yourself, but that doesn't mean I believe your excuses for being unhappy.

America's most significant problem right now is the political divide that is being driven largely by the people who figured out they can profit from it. You can cling to your hatred or your resentment. Or you can spend your energy on fixing the problem.

Extremely well said, RI! I wish Ajax could realize how egregiously he has been hoodwinked by Trump and his ilk!

[Chap]

What should worry you is that, even in the good periods, your kids are unlikely to benefit from economic gains. For over 30 years, during rule by both political parties, we've hollowed out the middle class. The tremendous gains in wealth over that period haven't gone to you and me, and they haven't gone to the urban and rural poor. They've gone exclusively to the rich. Unless you are already part of the rich elite (which is composed of liberals and conservatives alike), the odds of your children moving up the economic ladder are close to zero. And its this same small percentage of rich people who encourage you to resent and hate lower class Americans so you won't pay attention to where the wealth really goes.

That's it - as true in the UK as in the US.

All the targets of fear and hate - China, Mexicans, blacks, liberals, antifa - that are being fed to ajax18 and the people like him in my own country to distract them from who the real winners are, and have been for years. Very rich people are spending huge sums to protect themselves from the terrible risk that the voters might support governments that - horror of horrors! - might make them pay a proportion of their earnings in taxation that was of the same order of percentage magnitude as (let's say) what an optometrist pays.

Because that would be totally wrong, communist and would hurt God.

[Res Ipsa]

What should worry you is that, even in the good periods, your kids are unlikely to benefit from economic gains. For over 30 years, during rule by both political parties, we've hollowed out the middle class. The tremendous gains in wealth over that period haven't gone to you and me, and they haven't gone to the urban and rural poor. They've gone exclusively to the rich. Unless you are already part of the rich elite (which is composed of liberals and conservatives alike), the odds of your children moving up the economic ladder are close to zero. And its this same small percentage of rich people who encourage you to resent and hate lower class Americans so you won't pay attention to where the wealth really goes.

That's it - as true in the UK as in the US.

All the targets of fear and hate - China, Mexicans, blacks, liberals, antifa - that are being fed to ajax18 and the people like him in my own country to distract them from who the real winners are, and have been for years. Very rich people are spending huge sums to protect themselves from the terrible risk that the voters might support governments that - horror of horrors! - might make them pay a proportion of their earnings in taxation that was of the same order of percentage magnitude as (let's say) what an optometrist pays.

Because that would be totally wrong, communist and would hurt God.

Thanks for the information, Chap. Given the similarity in political trends in the UK and the US, that makes sense.

[ajax18]

Very rich people are spending huge sums to protect themselves from the terrible risk that the voters might support governments that - horror of horrors! - might make them pay a proportion of their earnings in taxation that was of the same order of percentage magnitude as (let's say) what an optometrist pays.

We'll see how my S Corp does this year. If taxes skyrocket, I'll probably just cut back from 6 day weeks to 5 or even 4.

But Chap you just don't get it on taxes do you? Every administration vows to sock it to the 1%. All this ever does is set off an expensive tax law war in court and the government usually loses. How do they pay for it? They sock it to the middle class. In case you haven't noticed, the 1% doesn't vote for conservatives. Democrats are the party of the indigent and ironically the 1%.

[Chap]

Democrats are the party of the indigent and ironically the 1%.

Yup. How could I have missed that?

[Res Ipsa]

Very rich people are spending huge sums to protect themselves from the terrible risk that the voters might support governments that - horror of horrors! - might make them pay a proportion of their earnings in taxation that was of the same order of percentage magnitude as (let's say) what an optometrist pays.

We'll see how my S Corp does this year. If taxes skyrocket, I'll probably just cut back from 6 day weeks to 5 or even 4.

But Chap you just don't get it on taxes do you? Every administration vows to sock it to the 1%. All this ever does is set off an expensive tax law war in court and the government usually loses. How do they pay for it? They sock it to the middle class. In case you haven't noticed, the 1% doesn't vote for conservatives. Democrats are the party of the indigent and ironically the 1%.

Why an S Corp? Can you limit your malpractice exposure that way?

[Res Ipsa]

We'll see how my S Corp does this year. If taxes skyrocket, I'll probably just cut back from 6 day weeks to 5 or even 4.

But Chap you just don't get it on taxes do you? Every administration vows to sock it to the 1%. All this ever does is set off an expensive tax law war in court and the government usually loses. How do they pay for it? They sock it to the middle class. In case you haven't noticed, the 1% doesn't vote for conservatives. Democrats are the party of the indigent and ironically the 1%.

Why an S Corp? Can you limit your malpractice exposure that way?

ETA: Here is Forbes 400 list of the richest people in America. Please verify that none of them are conservative. https://www.forbes.com/forbes-400/https ... 20&view=fc

And here’s a list of the top 25 political donors, with their political affiliation. Looks like a pretty even split.

[ajax18]

Why an S Corp? Can you limit your malpractice exposure that way?

Are you joking? No, it's not. Malpractice insurance is a drop in the bucket but it is nice to be able to write off the expense. I pay far less in taxes as an S Corp then I did back in my employed days. Trump's tax plan was generous to S Corps. I also get to buy new equipment and write it off instead of begging the elites to not make me work with outdated equipment. It's also an incentive issue. When you're paid a flat per diem rate, it really sucks to go in early, work through lunch, stay late, or spend my time sitting around waiting on late patients. When you're paid per patient, you get paid based on production. I've also found that I don't end up staying late nearly as often as I did when I was basically doing it for free for the corporate elites.

[Res Ipsa]

Why an S Corp? Can you limit your malpractice exposure that way?

Are you joking? No, it's not. Malpractice insurance is a drop in the bucket but it is nice to be able to write off the expense. I pay far less in taxes as an S Corp then I did back in my employed days. Trump's tax plan was generous to S Corps. I also get to buy new equipment and write it off instead of begging the elites to not make me work with outdated equipment. It's also an incentive issue. When you're paid a flat per diem rate, it really sucks to go in early, work through lunch, stay late, or spend my time sitting around waiting on late patients. When you're paid per patient, you get paid based on production. I've also found that I don't end up staying late nearly as often as I did when I was basically doing it for free for the corporate elites.

For some reason, I thought you were working as an employee. My mistake. If you’re operating as an independent contractor, an S Corp makes sense. I would have been surprised if you could limit professional liability exposure that way, but I know next to nothing about optometry. I don’t have to use a gazillion dollar chair and lenses to practice law, so accelerated depreciation didn’t affect me much.