Guest Cartoon: The Highwayman: "Seen This Movie Before" (Just Say No To Trump's Tax Scam)

<"Seen This Movie Before": The Highwayman>

<click the image to get the full size/flavor!>

Is Trump's tax plan a scam? Let's put it this way: I''ll cite one of my favorite recent factoids from Vanity Fair. For Republican magical thinking to work -- splendiforous results occur, and don't blow up the deficit -- the U.S. economy would have to grow at five percent, per year, over 10 years, "in line with emerging economic powerhouses China and India," Vanity Fair reports. "Guess what sports fans? That’s not happening, especially in an economy that has already supposedly been benefiting from absurdly low interest rates for close to a decade, and that is already at or near structural full employment."

I'd call that a fair statement. In contrast, the Federal Reserve's median forecast for growth is 1.8 percent -- which sounds a tad more realistic, given what we've seen lately -- while the Congressional Budget office foresees the dueling U.S. House/Senate versions add, at best, a tenth of a percentage point to growth, "bringing us to a whopping 1.9 percent," according to Catherine Rampell, of the Washington Post. 

We'll see soon enough what emerges from behind closed doors, which is why I've held off on commenting -- this is the bunch, remember, that cobbled together four increasingly poor health bills -- but, by and large, the public isn't buying this particular scheme...as our latest guest cartoon from my good friend, The Highwayman, makes abundantly clear. --The Reckoner

Links To Go (Hurry, Before The Trumpkins
Vacuum What's Left Of Your Cash Flow):

Atlantic: Why The GOP Tax Bill Is So Unpopular:
https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/11/gop-tax-bill-unpopular/546668/

Politico.com: GOP Deficit Hawks Fear
Tax Plan Is Secret Budget-Buster:
https://www.politico.com/story/2017/11/24/republicans-tax-reform-plan-deficit-cost-257604

Vanity Fair: It's A Ponzi Scheme: Wall Street
Fears Trump's Deranged Tax Plan
Could Kick Off Economic Euthanasia:
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/11/wall-street-fears-trumps-deranged-tax-plan-could-kick-off-economic-euthanasia

Lucky Day Forever

Full Closed Captioned Edition in English
"Prole 514 dreams about winning the Great Lottery. The lottery winner is transformed and allowed admission into the elite White society, where everyone is beautiful, young and happy and people spend their carefree lives solely on fun and partying. One day, 514's wish comes true... but was this what he really wanted?" Lucky Day Forever (2011) by Alek Wasilewski www.luckydayforever.com

---The Squawker

Are the Robots Taking Over?

I noticed in my old ho-dunk town, they remodeled McDonald's, and are putting computer ordering kiosks in. This is a bad sign, that in a small town in the middle of nowhere, they are already pushing the fast food workers out. I rarely shop at Wal-mart and was in one the other week and noticed they expanded the self-check outs, and there was only ONE cashier working. The majority were using the self-check outs. It used to be they were pushed off to the side and the majority were still using the cashiers. What are they going to expect people to do for work? With Republicans, since they don't care about anyone but the uber-rich, they certainly aren't talking about this growing issue of automation taking the jobs away. Why do they want machines to do everything, so we end up having no one to talk to...not even service people?---The Squawker.

Baby Boomer Disconnect: The Vacation Version

In my affluent town, it seems everywhere I go, the six-figure Baby Boomer set are always bragging about their endless travels. What does one say to this? "I got to go to Buffalo in 1992, that was my last air plane trip?" When Ingrid and Betty talk about their trips to Rome, Greece and India, it gets draining. Given the financial disconnect between these oldsters and their younger counterparts, one can see who really did vote for Trump and has no idea of how the rest of us struggle.

I got a bit irate at a few, and said, "Wow I'd go to Europe if I won the Lotto!" A self-help group, a past bible-study and now a community class, it's happened several times. I hear about the multiple far-flung  vacations and more. How do they all have thousands of dollars to take these trips? Are they trying to elicit jealousy? And it's not just one "once in a lifetime trip" they are talking about but multiple ones, with pictures to share. I don't relate to the people I live around. So many of them their lives are nothing but saving face and bragging about their experiences bucket list style.  Yes, I know not every Baby Boomer is rich, maybe they drive their poorer counterparts nuts, too. Honestly maybe it's better I stayed home, because they'd be the ones surrounding me on the plane, or around those cute cafes and expensive shops they wax on on about---The Squawker. 

Guest Cartoon: The Highwayman: "Sell Or Be Sold" (Just Say No To Trump's Tax Scam)

<"Sell Or Be Sold": The Highwayman>
<click the image to get the full size/flavor!>

Party line-driven legislation....crammed with fuzzy Washington math, leaps in logic, and wishful thinking ...hashed out behind closed doors ... whose key provisions favor the upper crust, with the groundlings as the giant "pay for"...no, we're not talking about another Zombie Trumpcare/ACA Repeal (Take Umpteen-Whatever-Attempt-It-Is-Now), but the Republican tax "reform" plan, as our GOP friends are calling it.

And, like Zombie Trumpcare, it's going down like the proverbial lead balloon...so far, at any rate. The big reveal is now off until tomorrow, due to the absence of little details like...who's going to pay for this latest go-round in Zombie Trickle Down Economics...not to mention the cracks already emerging in the "cut cut cut"/"simplify simplify simplify" feelgood facade that we've seen being previously trotted out for the cameras.

All hell is about to break loose, once we see the screwing that's being proposed in cold print. As Yogi Berra so famously said: "It's deja vu all over again."

But don't take our word for it. My favorite summary comes from Bruce Bartlett, the man who helped architect the Reagan-era tax cuts, and doesn't want to be in the same room with the current bunch comparing themselves to the Gipper: "Illustration of the Republican tax plan, Halloween edition--Give all your candy to the first kid and hope that he shares with his friends."

This nugget from Vanity Fair works well for me, too:

"If the idea was to deny Democrats an opening to paint the Republican Party as an annex of Koch Industries and the Chamber of Congress, they might have wanted to double-check the fine print in their own plan before rolling it out. All the salesmanship in the world won’t help Trump if and when a large swath of his “forgotten men and women” realize that they’re paying more to finance Trump’s tax savings."

I'm sure you can find more; maybe we'll save them for a "favored epitaph" list if this whole ill-starred enterprise collapses. For now, though, just enjoy the above cartoon from my good compadre, The Highwayman...and crank up "Sell Or Be Sold" (The Minutemen), too, while you're at it. Because the point's still relevant...more now, than ever.--The Reckoner

Links To Go (Hurry, Before Trump & Co.

Start Picking Your Already Bare Pockets):

Indivisible.org: Trump Tax Scam:
https://www.trumptaxscam.org/

The Minutemen: Sell Or Be Sold:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fqbo6FZCjtY

NBC News: The GOP Tried Trump-Style

Tax Cuts In Kansas. What A Mess:

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/gop-tried-trump-style-tax-cuts-kansas-n812701