Free Republic

Increase in capital gains tax rate

This proposal is an unwarranted boon to government. It unjustly rewards inflation. Let's face it, some of the alleged gains in capital holdings are due not to increased true value, but to the operation of inflation caused by excessive government spending.

If Congress wanted to play fair, they would mandate a calculation of "gain" by requiring the calculation to be performed in constant dollars. If you bought a stock in 1933 and sold it in 2024, to calculate the actual gain you would need to multiply the sale price by 0.023, so the gain would be calculated in 1933 dollars. Or, multiply the basis price by, say, 45 or so, to do the calculation in constant dollars.

Even such a multiplier may be two low. Right now, gold is at 104 times the original price fix in 1920.

I won't hold my breath.

We now known why there were no cameras in the Trump trial courtroom. Juan knew he was going to have to put his big thumb on the balance pans of justice to hear "Guilty!" from the jury. I'm sure he remembers the O. J. Simpson trial, being televised for the nation to see. The last thing he needed was recorded evidence of his actions. Too bad (for the judge) there was an excellent witness in the courtroom on the final day of defense presentation.

Assume the worst: jury does return a verdict of guilty. How can Trump's team get a stay? I'm sure that the defense lawyers are putting in overtime preparing an appeal to be files 20 minutes after the jury come back thumbs-down.

But that assumes they all come back with big frowns. A number of talking heads have assumed that the jury consists of twelve dyed-in-the-wool elite-loving leftist Democrats who thinks that this country is under the rule of men, instead of the rule of law. It only takes one rule-of-law believer to upset the attempt at lawfare. Yes, yes, I know this is New York City. Yes, yes, I know that the prosecution put every single prospective juror through microscopic evaluation for low IQ and high loyalty to the Klanettes.

They can't all be Bums, could they?

What is starting to scare me, as an Independent, is how close we are to having no sane choice for President. Long-time science fiction fans will recall Robert Heinlein's Future History series of stories. Specifically, the story of how Nehemiah Scudder, aka "The Prophet", turned the United States into a theocratic dictatorship for generations.

Instead of religion, though, the current pair of candidates are claimed to be extreme idealists by their opponents and mouthpieces. Both sides of the political aisle are claiming that "the other side" will destroy "Democracy" if elected, and lament that elections will be a thing of the past. (In the case of the Klanspeople, elections are already tainted by the corruption by partisan election workers.)

The soap box isn't working very well. The election box has a huge thumb on its scales. That leaves one box left. How soon will the peace be shattered?

And don't forget who the Dims nominated in 1968: Humphrey and Muskie.

Are we going to be able to say that the protesters to the 2024 convention were "mostly peaceful"?

Many of you may not be aware that the United States Post Office is going to shift much of the mail handling in the Reno area to Sacramento. This means that mail-in ballots may first appear in California, before being shipped over I-80 to vote counters in Washoe County.

Three guesses what could happen.

I skip Starbucks for a simple reason: I'd have to leave home to get their overpriced product. My local supermarket carries a wide variety of K-cup options. (I was gifted a Keurig machine when my employer shut down an office location and laid me off at the same time.) The selection includes a number of Peets coffees, and the price hasn't changed much in the last 12 months. If the supermarket prices goes up, I can get the same stuff from Amazon.

Never understood the attraction of Starbucks.

No exam, grade of “Incomplete”. That means zero credits toward graduation/degree. And, no refund of tuition, lab fees, housing costs, &c.

It's a poor sword that doesn't cut both ways -- Salvor Hardin, Foundation

News reports have made it clear that Trump may well have been the victim of a conspiracy to commit election fraud and election interference, under color of office, at several different levels and even by a sitting President of the United States. Shielded by that huge thumb on the scales of justice, qualified immunity.

When I think “jury of my peers” I think of people who are like me, in culture and in occupation class. New York City is full of people with high net worth, who deal in real estate, and have comparable ethnic backgrounds. What I haven’t heard is that the people pulled in even come close in ANY of the criteria.

Someone must think that those sites are targets for the IDF

I'm waiting for non-profits and other entities beginning a campaign based on “Get Out the Voter-ID” registration drive. Critics are saying that voter ID measures are divisive, so why not even the playing field by helping those who don't have ID to get ID. Then we can start having fair elections in this country.

DMV fees too high? Use some of that charity to smooth the road for the “underserved.”

The part about business owners in New York worrying about being treated like Trump is nonsense.

Actually, based on the videos that have been posted by investors and stakeholders in NYC business, they have a real fear. Here's why:"

In parts of the world where you have big cats like lions and tigers, there is a real danger if one of those animals catches, kills, and eats a human -- they will find that we are rather tasty. That's why tribes will hunt "man-killers" with vigor -- it's survival for them.

The prosecution of Donald Trump isn't about DJT himself, but about the power and sway he holds. If he never came down that elevator 12 years go, he would be just another rich building owner, and not worth going after so hard. The goal of the NYC justice system isn't justice, but ball-cutting. In other words, the lawyers and judges will get a taste of the fallen prey.

Can the same weapons be used on other tycoons who use the same business practices, practices that are used around the world every single day. DJT's trial, if successful, becomes precedent. Not only in NYC, but around the United States. For no matter how the trial ends, it will be appealed. All the way to the Supreme Court. And that is how the man-eating big cat becomes a hazard to every businessman.

I was most impressed when the Secretary of Transportation tried to use the telephone system as a comparison. Consider the more than one hundred years of the history of the telephone: it started with dry cells and hand-cranked magnetos running over a single wire, with the return path through ground. Noisy, lossy, short-distance. Early switchboards were in the parlours of widows. Shifts in technology improved sound quality, and more importantly the range, until calls coast-to-coast became practical, with cross-ocean calls gaining ground shortly after.

Some of the first automobiles were electric. "History doesn't repeat itself, but it often rhymes." The early horseless carriages were pathetic by today's standard, both in range and in performance -- the electric car falling far short. The ICE version was an improvement, and further refinements continues to increase the utility of ICE-powered vehicles. (The racing circuit helped propel these advances.)

I will grant you that battery-powered cars have come a long way from the early electrics. But. The advances center around finding a lighter, safer energy storage device, which has been slow to come.

Let's give it up for the huge thumb of government on the scales in favor of battery-powered cars.

Remember the old joke? "I drove coast to coast in an electric care. It cost $5 for the electricity, and $3995 for the extension cord."

Guatemala's new president, Bernardo Arévalo, hasn't done his homework. The United States, by its corporations, have launched a number of investments in a number of countries. In some cases, those investments were "nationalized" by the countries where the ventures were located. That tells our corporations, "don't invest out-of-country, because it will be confiscated."

The United States provides lots of money to China in foreign trade, yet we are seeing illegal "visitors" from that country.

Tried that, didn't work.

I have to ask: what the “new” James Bond an orphaned Scot? Will they keep that continuity? If not, perhaps it would be better to start a whole new franchise, around the Mossad.

I think the word "invasion" is now the wrong word to describe the flow of humanity flowing northward from the US/Mexico border. I think the word "infestation" is more accurate. We are not talking about "the best people", we are talking about people unable to thrive in their hometowns, especially people who are released from prison and hearded to the border (as has been reported).

The answer of sending them to undeveloped parts of our nation is not viable. Unlike the Boomers (and the Sooners) who moved into Oklahoma, there isn't any more open farmland.

Not to mention that, like most pest infestations, this swarm carries disease, some of which the USA eradicated in the last century. I wonder if that's one of the reasons the Klanmen are doing this.

I for one don't like the decision, either. BUT...I don't think this story is done yet. Will the “defendants” file an appeal? If so, there is still time for justice to be done right, as in “everyone must follow the rule of law, even ex-presidents” ... and district attorneys, Fani.

So what happens when the shoe is on the other foot? We already know that the Left is willing to "light up the town" when Bad Things Happen(tm). It could well be that we will see a new January 6 reaction that is different, bloodier, and more charred.

The Democrats have already set the precedent: another House Select committee...with minimal Klan representation.

History may not repeat itself, but it often rhymes.

I was very surprised at how much money I was spending at restaurants. No more.

My SO and I regularly patronized a restaurant during the COVID lock-downs. Every week, we would have dinner there. Through the renovation. Through the various scares.

The COVID panic subsided. The two of us arrived at our usual time. To be greeted with "You smell, don't come back." I still don't understand the guy's problem.

So, we didn't. That was $60-80 a week that wasn't going to them. It adds up.

When Silicon Valley Bank happened, I started buying gold and silver. I now have a nice kitty for when the dollar and the banks both crash. And all because I didn't throw the cash away on "the experience." Who knew?

“TPA and other Florida airports are experiencing a high number of delays and cancellations due to a long band of thunderstorms to the north of us,” Tampa International Airport said in a statement to 8 On Your Side. “The FAA has a delay program in effect for arriving and departing flights, primarily due to the weather and the high volume of flights today.”