'Biden's Education Department just wiped out $1.74 billion of student debt for 22,000 borrowers...'

[Nealithi]

"What have the Romans done for us lately?"

Please provide context and relevance for this remark.

Even when Biden removes debt, you know people are going to whine about it.

Aww I wanted to mention the aqueducts.

[Fuzzy Necromancer]

"What have the Romans done for us lately?"

Please provide context and relevance for this remark.

Even when Biden removes debt, you know people are going to whine about it.

1) If Trump had done the same thing you would have found the same amount of people moaning.

You know damn well that we wouldn't be whining about that. The same number of people would not complain, you're just positing a bad faith hypothetical scenario and acting as if you can use your imagination as evidence.

[CharlesPhipps]

You know damn well that we wouldn't be whining about that. The same number of people would complain, you're just positing a bad faith hypothetical scenario and acting as if you can use your imagination as evidence.

There's a lot of people who genuinely believe no one cares about the issues and it's all Red vs. Blue.

[Fuzzy Necromancer]

I have too much respect for Clearspira to think he believes that.

[ProfessorDetective]

You know damn well that we wouldn't be whining about that. The same number of people would complain, you're just positing a bad faith hypothetical scenario and acting as if you can use your imagination as evidence.

There's a lot of people who genuinely believe no one cares about the issues and it's all Red vs. Blue.

Ah, that classic Right-wing projection.

'They want me dead/enslaved! I want them dead/enslaved, so they must want me dead/enslaved!'

[McAvoy]

I have too much respect for Clearspira to think he believes that.

That is an big endorsement for this forum.

If Trump at any point in his presidency did what Biden did now, the same people who are happy with Biden would actually be happy with Trump. True reluctantly.

The difference would be Trump would lose his fan base whereas Biden wouldn't lose his voting base.

[Mickey_Rat15]

"What have the Romans done for us lately?"

Please provide context and relevance for this remark.

Even when Biden removes debt, you know people are going to whine about it.

The federal government cannot remove debt. All it can do is socialize it, if it even has the legal authority to do so.

[clearspira]

Half of all politics is blind tribalism. Biden does this so it's good/bad, Trump does this so it's good/bad. That is just the way it is. You assume too much of the public if you think the country at large votes on policies or actions.

And that is the greatest weakness of democracy. It is a system that works only as well as the people whom vote in it.

[Mickey_Rat15]

Abusing statutory authority to transfer the debt of people with relatively high paying, secure jobs to the general taxpayer. Yeah, great job.

Taxes don't fund federal spending. Read some Modern Monetary Theory.

That is more like Modern Magical Thinking.

However, if taxes do not fund federal spending then the federal tax code should be eliminated, as that is the only just argument to have federal taxes.

Modern Monetary Theory is based on Chartalism. Under Chartalism, taxes exist to create demand for money and spending creates supply of money. If this seems ridiculous, imagine a post-apocalyptic world where a gang demands everyone pay them a hundred dollars in monopoly money or they'll be killed. With the utility of monopoly money well defined by a tax, then said gang could trade monopoly money for whatever fits their wants/needs, whatever those may be.

If the monopoly money becomes a medium of exchange because of that, it would be because of the threat of violemce if it is not used, not because it is a tax, and the value would be set by the people using it exchange it for real goods and services, which would be only indirectly related to what the gang demands. The premises of why money exists seems to be unimaginatively top down. It does not account for the fact that a medium of exhcange is a useful tool to have whether taxes exist or not and may spontaneously emerge because of it without an overarching authority mandating it.

Though I find it interesting that your hypothatical jibes with the theory of the origin of governments as stationary bandits.

[Mickey_Rat15]

Abusing statutory authority to transfer the debt of people with relatively high paying, secure jobs to the general taxpayer. Yeah, great job.

Taxes don't fund federal spending. Read some Modern Monetary Theory.

That is more like Modern Magical Thinking.

However, if taxes do not fund federal spending then the federal tax code should be eliminated, as that is the only just argument to have federal taxes.

There are plenty of good reasons to have federal taxes. To incentivize or disincentivize certain practices is one. To keep a check on inflation is another.

If we want to pretend taxes fund federal spending, however, then can I ask what dog you have in the fight and exactly how you think it will materially affect you?

To incentivize behaviors is social engineering to justify theft. It also tends to create black and grey markets. It ultimately also results in police choking out a guy for doing things like selling loosie cigarettes.

I have a dog in that fight because I pay taxes, because other people and institutions paying taxes has an effect on their behavior that will have an effect the economy which has an effct on me.