The Shining City Upon a Hill

[bsm2]

Re: The Shining City Upon a Hill

First look at $5K SONDORS Metacycle e-motorcycle's removable battery

[BillyCarpenter]

Re: The Shining City Upon a Hill

There are many reasons China is beating the USA in many areas. The truth is that the USA in 2020 couldn't compete with 1950's era USA. We built the Hoover Dam in 5-years. The Golden Gate Bridge took 4-years. Today both projects would require a 10 year study by the EPA and countless other government hoops to jump thru before it could even begin construction.


A vaccine normally takes 10-15 years to get approved. The only reason that wasn't the case for the Covid vaccine is that the government stood down to a very large degree and allowed private business to do what they do.

[bsm2]

Re: The Shining City Upon a Hill

More Good News
$10,200 in unemployment benefits won't be taxed thanks to American Rescue Plan

[bsm2]

[bsm2]

Re: The Shining City Upon a Hill

Electric vehicle start-up Canoo'''s new pickup and camper

[SalesServiceGuy]

Re: The Shining City Upon a Hill

I am sure a lot of US citizens and small businesses are thankful to President Biden for the stimulus cheques and free vaccines that they are almost immediately receiving.

The next plan to to spend a lot of money on infrastructure which most citizens agree is in desperate need of repair.

Unfortunately, the tooth fairy cannot give away free money for ever so expect tax increases soon.

President Biden eyes first major tax hike since 1993 in next economic plan


President Joe Biden is planning the first major federal tax hike since 1993 to help pay for the long-term economic program designed as a follow-up to his pandemic-relief bill, according to people familiar with the matter.

Unlike the US$1.9 trillion COVID-19 stimulus act, the next initiative, which is expected to be even bigger, won’t rely just on government debt as a funding source.

While it’s been increasingly clear that tax hikes will be a component -- Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said at least part of the next bill will have to be paid for, and pointed to higher rates -- key advisers are now making preparations for a package of measures.

With each tax break and credit having its own lobbying constituency to back it, tinkering with rates is fraught with political risk. That helps explain why tax hikes since Bill Clinton’s signature 1993 overhaul stands out from the modest modifications done since.

For the Biden administration, the planned changes are an opportunity not just to fund key initiatives like infrastructure, climate and expanded help for poorer Americans, but also to address what Democrats argue are inequities in the tax system itself. The plan will test both Biden’s capacity to woo Republicans and Democrats’ ability to remain unified.

“His whole outlook has always been that Americans believe tax policy needs to be fair, and he has viewed all of his policy options through that lens,” said Sarah Bianchi, head of U.S. public policy at Evercore ISI and a former economic aide to Biden. “That is why the focus is on addressing the unequal treatment between work and wealth.”

While the White House has rejected an outright wealth tax, as proposed by progressive Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren, the administration’s current thinking does target the wealthy.

The White House is expected to propose a suite of tax increases, mostly mirroring Biden’s 2020 campaign proposals, according to four people familiar with the discussions.

The tax hikes included in any broader infrastructure and jobs package are likely to include repealing portions of President Donald Trump’s 2017 tax law that benefit corporations and wealthy individuals, as well as making other changes to make the tax code more progressive, said the people familiar with the plan.

The following are among proposals currently planned or under consideration, according to the people, who asked not to be named as the discussions are private:

• Raising the corporate tax rate to 28 per cent from 21 per cent
• Paring back tax preferences for so-called pass-through businesses, such as limited-liability companies or partnerships
• Raising the income tax rate on individuals earning more than US$400,000
• Expanding the estate tax’s reach
• A higher capital-gains tax rate for individuals earning at least US$1 million annually. (Biden on the campaign trail proposed applying income-tax rates, which would be higher)

An independent analysis of the Biden campaign tax plan done by the Tax Policy Center estimated it would raise US$2.1 trillion over a decade, though the administration’s plan is likely to be smaller. Bianchi earlier this month wrote that congressional Democrats might agree to US$500 billion.

The overall program has yet to be unveiled, with analysts penciling in US$2 trillion to US$4 trillion. No date has yet been set for an announcement, though the White House said the plan would follow the signing of the COVID-19 relief bill.

An outstanding question for Democrats is which parts of the package need to be funded, amid debate over whether infrastructure ultimately pays for itself -- especially given current borrowing costs, which remain historically low. Efforts to make the expanded child tax credit in the pandemic-aid bill permanent -- something with a price tag estimated at more than US$1 trillion over a decade -- could be harder to sell if pitched as entirely debt-financed.

[slimslob]

Re: The Shining City Upon a Hill

So, this lady is a Native Indian? Indians are good at one thing these days: Building Casinos on their land and paying no taxes. Blackjack, anyone?

Now Billy, I bet you personally know a few people of Native American decent but didn't realize it. Unlike lying liberal politicians they don't brag about it. Most that I personally know are strongly Conservative.

[BillyCarpenter]

Re: The Shining City Upon a Hill

Now Billy, I bet you personally know a few people of Native American decent but didn't realize it. Unlike lying liberal politicians they don't brag about it. Most that I personally know are strongly Conservative.

My grandmother is a full blooded Indian. I have a lot of Indian on the other side of my family, too. I was just joking around. I knew the libby's would get worked up.

[bsm2]

Re: The Shining City Upon a Hill

[bsm2]

Re: The Shining City Upon a Hill

[bsm2]

[bsm2]

[bsm2]

Re: The Shining City Upon a Hill

Thousands of American Airlines workers who recently received furlough warnings will no longer have to worry about their state of their jobs due to the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill that was passed by Congress Wednesday. American Airlines CEO Doug Parker and President Robert Isom made the announcement in a letter sent to 13,000 employees shortly after the bill was voted on.

[SalesServiceGuy]

Re: The Shining City Upon a Hill

The weakness of all electric vehicles is the mineral Lithium. It is a key component in most current forms of rechargeable batteries. Raw Lithium is in very high demand and it is not a plentiful resource with raw material prices spiking.

Canada has announced a new lithium mine and there is new technology afoot to extract the same from depleted oil and gas mines.

[SalesServiceGuy]

Re: The Shining City Upon a Hill

Brother of star witness in Trump's first impeachment set to be promoted by the Army




Army Lt. Col. Yevgeny Vindman, whose brother Alex was a star witness in the House impeachment inquiry, has been selected for promotion to colonel after overcoming alleged retaliation efforts by the Trump White House.

Vindman, an Army JAG attorney who served as the ethics counsel on the National Security Council during the Trump administration, said in a statement he is "deeply grateful for the trust and confidence the U.S. Army and the Judge Advocate General Corps have placed in me with selection for promotion to Colonel."

"They stood their ground despite intense pressure during the last Administration," Vindman said.

The promotion comes despite critical performance reviews penned by Trump political appointees in the wake of his brother's testimony before the House Intelligence Committee.

Vindman alleged in a complaint to the Department of Defense's Inspector General that those performance reviews and other actions by Trump White House officials were retaliation for concerns he raised internally about former President Donald Trump's 2019 phone call with Ukraine's President and his twin brother's testimony in the impeachment inquiry.
Vindman had also investigated allegations involving then-national security adviser Robert O'Brien and his chief of staff Alex Gray, according to a complaint he filed last year. The allegations, Vindman wrote, included "sexism, violations of standards of ethical conduct for employees and violations" of a law involving congressional appropriations, according to the Democrats' letter.

Vindman's Trump-appointed superiors had penned glowing reviews the year prior, according to quotes of the reviews in his complaint.

The Pentagon's Inspector General has not yet concluded its investigation into the allegations, but Vindman said he hopes that investigation "will lead to accountability for those who retaliated against me for making lawful disclosures of misconduct."