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Posted

 

Abbott and Texas and DPS making BP fascists look like the good guys. The guys who pour out water left in the desert for dying immigrants are the good guys. Those humorless fucks who ask you if you are a US citizen on the way back from El Paso, and who will search your car for hours if you look sideways at them, are the good guys. 

 

I don't believe in an afterlife, but I wish Hell did exist so Abbott can burn it for eternity. 

 

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Posted (edited)
22 hours ago, Horn Under a Bad Sign said:

 

 

 

 

 

Quote

School voucher supporter gave Gov. Greg Abbott $6 million in December

The contribution is the largest single campaign donation in Texas history, according to Abbott’s campaign.

BY PATRICK SVITEK

JAN. 16, 2024 UPDATED: 20 HOURS AGO

Gov. Greg Abbott received a $6 million campaign contribution last month, which his campaign is calling the “largest single donation in Texas history.”

The check came from Jeff Yass, a national Republican megadonor whose priority issues include school vouchers. Abbott spent 2023 unsuccessfully pushing for a voucher program and is now targeting state House Republicans in the March primary who thwarted his agenda.

Abbott accepted the $6 million donation — dated Dec. 18 — in a little-used account, suggesting he was setting it aside from funds raised for his reelection campaign.

Yass is a billionaire from Pennsylvania who is co-founder and managing director of the Philadelphia-based investment firm Susquehanna International Group. He is also a top proponent of “school choice,” or programs that allow parents to use taxpayer dollars to subsidize private school costs.

The Texas Tribune thanks its sponsors. Become one.

Abbott has long been known as a fundraising powerhouse, but the $6 million contribution takes him to a new level. Abbott has previously made headlines for getting single donations of $1 million.

He raised $19 million total over the last six months.

Yass has been called the richest man in Pennsylvania, with an estimated net worth of nearly $29 billion, according to Forbes. His firm was an early investor in TikTok, the social media platform that Abbott banned on state phones and computers in 2022.

When it comes to politics, Yass has also been a multimillion-dollar donor to the Club for Growth, the national anti-tax group that has boosted Texas Republicans like U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and U.S. Rep. Chip Roy of Austin.

The $6 million is not Yass' first donation to Abbott. Yass previously gave Abbott $250,000 in October, as Abbott was still battling for school vouchers in the Legislature.

Abbott identified “school choice” as his top legislative priority for 2023, and spent months traveling the state trying to build public support. But he kept encountering resistance in the House. After a measure failed in the regular legislative session in May, he called two special sessions for lawmakers to hear voucher proposals. The fight came to a head in November, when 21 House Republicans joined Democrats to strip a voucher initiative out of a broad education bill.

Abbott has since endorsed primary challengers to seven of the anti-voucher House Republicans who are seeking reelection.

In addition to giving a total of $6.25 million to Abbott in 2023, Yass also cut a $500,000 check last month to AFC Victory Fund, a pro-voucher super PAC that is expected to be similarly active in the primaries.

The Dems need to call out this Yass fellow like they do Soros.  They are both Jewish billionaires who donate heavily to political entities.  One on the right, one on the left.  

Politics do make strange bedfellows, but you have to wonder how many of Abbott's staunch supporters would appreciate his taking funding of this size from some guy in Pennsylvania.  

Quote

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jeff Yass
Born    Jeffrey S. Yass
1956 (age 67–68)
Nationality    American
Education    Binghamton University (BA)
NYU
Occupation    Money manager
Known for    Co-founder and MD, Susquehanna International Group
Political party    Republican
Board member of    Cato Institute
Spouse    Janine Coslett
Children    4
Jeffrey S. Yass (born 1956) is an American billionaire business magnate. According to Forbes' list of the richest people in the world in 2023, Yass has a net worth of $28.5 billion, placing him as the 48th richest person in the world.[1]

He is the co-founder and managing director of the Philadelphia-based Susquehanna International Group (SIG) and an early investor in TikTok. In 2001, he joined the executive advisory council of the Cato Institute.

Yass is considered the richest man in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. An influential political figure, he is one of the 10 largest political donors in the United States. [2]

According to Israeli newspaper Haaretz, he is a major supporter of Israeli right wing think tanks.[3]

Early life
Yass grew up in a middle-class Jewish family in Queens, New York.[4] He is the son of Gerald Yass, and his "childhood sweetheart" Sybil, who was at his bar mitzvah.[5][6] Gerald has a sister, Carole.[6] Gerald graduated with a BS from LIU Brooklyn in 1951, and worked as an accountant, rising to chairman of Datatab Inc. He later co-founded Philadelphia Trading, which became SIG.[6] As of 2018, he still worked for SIG, as a senior executive and advisor.[6]

Jeffrey Yass was educated at public schools in Queens.[7] He earned a BS in mathematics and economics from Binghamton University.[8][9] He pursued graduate studies in economics at New York University,[9] but did not graduate.

Career
While at the State University of New York at Binghamton in the 1970s, Yass and five fellow students became friends and later co-founded Susquehanna International Group (SIG), the largest trader of liquid stocks in the US.[5][10]

The billionaire trader Israel Englander sponsored Yass for a seat on the Philadelphia Stock Exchange, and SIG was initially run from an office at the Exchange.[5] His father, Gerald Yass, also helped to found the company.[5] Prior to this, Yass was a professional gambler.[11]

Political activities
Yass became a member of the board of directors of the libertarian Cato Institute in 2002[12][13] and now is a member of the executive advisory council.[14] In 2015, Yass donated $2.3 million to a Super PAC supporting Rand Paul's presidential candidacy.[15] In 2018 he donated $3.8 million to the Club for Growth, and $20.7 million in 2020.[16]

Yass and his wife, Janine Coslett, are public supporters of school choice, with Coslett writing a 2017 opinion piece for The Washington Examiner in support of then-incoming Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos's views at school choice.[17]

In November 2020, it was reported that Yass had donated $25.3 million, all to Republican candidates, and was one of the ten largest political donors in the US.[2]

In March 2021, an investigation in Haaretz said that Jeff Yass and Arthur Dantchik were behind a large portion of the donations to the Kohelet Policy Forum in Israel.[18][3]

In November 2021, he donated $5 million to the School Freedom Fund, a PAC that runs ads for Republican candidates running in the 2022 election cycle nationwide.[19]

In June 2022 ProPublica claimed Yass has "avoided $1 billion in taxes" and is "pouring his money into campaigns to cut taxes and support election deniers".[20]

 

Edited by pyrohornIII
Posted

So Greg is on board with the "ignore SCOTUS" contingent, and claims Biden's government is violating its collective oath in not protecting our borders.  (Narrator:  Greg never said this about Trump.)

Let's take a look at border arrests by year, shall we?  Oh, you mean they're at an all-time high?  How would that constitute a dereliction of duty?  Well,  you see, that's tricky.

image.thumb.png.1f0c8c6c33e03f56b45068f3694b2122.png

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Posted
On 1/14/2024 at 9:50 AM, atomheartbevo said:

Abbott would frame that and hang it in his office as proof that the librools hate him.  He’s probably sent a copy to Trump campaign HQ.   

Someone should ask around about why Hot Wheels stopped sending busses to Portland. 

Posted (edited)
On 1/13/2024 at 9:30 PM, atomheartbevo said:

If the Republicans in the GQP truly want to make a dent in immigration, then let's fucking do this:

Let's start shutting down operations that hire illegal immigrants, starting with the largest companies.  Take for instance, Tyson Foods - they've been busted many times over the years hiring a shitload of undocumented folks.  Better yet, we can let ICE/CBP start visiting the large agricultural and construction developments here in Texas and checking for papers.  And we can run undercover operations to go after individuals who are hiring these folks to mow their lawns, clean their pools, clean their houses, etc. without verifying that they are here legally.

We'll fine invidiuals who are hiring those folks to clean their houses, pools, do their yards, their roofs, etc., say $2,000 for the first offense of not verifying that they are here legally.  Then make it $5,000, and then just keep doubling it.

If a company is found to have more than say 10-15 individuals who are not here illegally, I think we can safely say they are not doing their due diligence to hire American workers or workers who are here llegally, and we can just shut them down for...we'll start with 6 months.  Do it again, we'll make it 2 years and we'll jail the owners or managers.

Dry those jobs up and a shitload of people south of the border will stop hearing about all of the jobs in the US that anybody can cross the border and do.  Yeah, lawns may grow tall, and maybe not as many houses and buildings are built, and maybe produce grown in Texas gets a lot more expensive, but I'm sure all the Republicans will be on board with that.

Do you really think that would impact the average Middle Class Citizen voter?   Food, housing,  transportation, maintenance on our home costs is already through the roof...As far as the threat of having to clean our own pool, mow our own lawn, and clean our own house, I think most of us already do that.  I'd rather save the money for a vacation.

I'm just saying most of those threats may not have the same sting they once had..

Edited by Azbadlands
Posted
6 hours ago, Azbadlands said:

As far as the threat of having to clean our own pool, mow our own lawn, and clean our own house, I think most of us already do that. 

Maybe. But don’t fuck with the rich.

Posted (edited)
3 hours ago, Al Bundy's Napoleon Hand said:

You don't think shutting down meat and poultry processing plants would effect your average middle class voter? Ok.

The price of it going up would hurt for sure, but does it sting as bad as not getting the thousands of dollars I used to get in tax return at the end of the year that I don't get anymore?  i don't know...I mean at this point I feel like I'm just working to pay 60 % or more of my income in taxes anyway to pay for all these government decisions.

The middle class can't win for shit..We are used to getting screwed.

Edited by Azbadlands
Posted
1 minute ago, tx 3 putt said:

 

See....here's the thing.  Not only is the GQP not AGAINST rape, they are actively FOR it.  After all, women are just chattel.  That 12 year old succubus was asking for it, and if she didn't want to get pregnant, she shoulda kept her legs closed, and she should listen to and obey her male master.

Sure, there's some hyperbole in what I just typed.  But not nearly as much as you'd hope for.  Rape is not an actual concern for Republicans because women are not an actual concern for Republicans.

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Posted
Just now, Brisketexan said:

See....here's the thing.  Not only is the GQP not AGAINST rape, they are actively FOR it.  After all, women are just chattel.  That 12 year old succubus was asking for it, and if she didn't want to get pregnant, she shoulda kept her legs closed, and she should listen to and obey her male master.

Sure, there's some hyperbole in what I just typed.  But not nearly as much as you'd hope for.  Rape is not an actual concern for Republicans because women are not an actual concern for Republicans.

wake up handmaid GIF by HULU

Posted
54 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

 

 

51 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

See....here's the thing.  Not only is the GQP not AGAINST rape, they are actively FOR it.  After all, women are just chattel.  That 12 year old succubus was asking for it, and if she didn't want to get pregnant, she shoulda kept her legs closed, and she should listen to and obey her male master.

Sure, there's some hyperbole in what I just typed.  But not nearly as much as you'd hope for.  Rape is not an actual concern for Republicans because women are not an actual concern for Republicans.

 

48 minutes ago, DigglerontheHoof said:

This makes me murderously angry.  Goddamnit. 

It's disgusting beyond all words, but let's please be more careful about tweets. This one's misleading in that it implies the case was in Texas with the mention of Abbott. It was not - although I wouldn't be surprised if there were cases like this here.

But this happened in Michigan.

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Posted
4 minutes ago, bolverk said:

 

 

It's disgusting beyond all words, but let's please be more careful about tweets. This one's misleading in that it implies the case was in Texas with the mention of Abbott. It was not - although I wouldn't be surprised if there were cases like this here.

But this happened in Michigan.

It also happened in 2017 and the judge reversed the order after new shit came to light.  Just a clickbait post unfortunately.

Quote

CRIME 

Judge rescinds order granting rapist joint legal custody of victim's child

October 17, 2017 / 5:45 PM EDT / CBS/AP

SANDUSKY, Mich. -- A Michigan judge has rescinded a controversial order he gave last month granting a convicted rapist joint legal custody of the child conceived when he attacked a 12-year-old girl in 2008.

Sanilac County Judge Gregory Ross ruled Tuesday that 27-year-old Christopher Mirasolo won't have any parental rights in connection to the 8-year-old boy. But he's still on the hook for child support.

Michigan Supreme Court spokesman John Nevin told The Associated Press last week that Ross didn't know 27-year-old Christopher Mirasolo had two criminal sexual conduct convictions, including one concerning the woman.

 

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Posted
9 minutes ago, Js1 said:

Why did Greg fly to India if our state is being invaded and in the midst of a crisis?

 

ED junket.

Interpret that as you will.

Posted
5 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

There’s a legit chance Trump isn’t on the ballot in November. Abbott has the backing and $$$ to snipe that nomination from hailey and/or be her vp

 

oh you and your cute fanfic

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Posted
9 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

There’s a legit chance Trump isn’t on the ballot in November. Abbott has the backing and $$$ to snipe that nomination from hailey and/or be her vp

 

Good. Would be a landslide victory for Joe

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Posted
On 1/17/2024 at 2:43 PM, Satchel said:

 

More fucking lies. That asshole knows that most of the voucher money in those other states went to people who already had kids in private schools. He knows the same would happen here. That's the entire point of the bill, and he knows it. 

CALL HIM OUT ON THE LIES. 

Posted
11 hours ago, Azbadlands said:

clean our own pool, mow our own lawn, and clean our own house, I think most of us already do that.

Loooolllll... I don't know about you but most middle to upper class neighborhoods, you have a bunch of lazy asses who can't be bothered to mow their own lawn and have to pay a service to clean their pool, mow, rake their leaves. 

I mow my own lawn.  I'm one of two people on my street who mows his own lawn.  

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Posted
2 hours ago, Azbadlands said:

The price of it going up would hurt for sure, but does it sting as bad as not getting the thousands of dollars I used to get in tax return at the end of the year that I don't get anymore?  i don't know...I mean at this point I feel like I'm just working to pay 60 % or more of my income in taxes anyway to pay for all these government decisions.

The middle class can't win for shit..We are used to getting screwed.

Umm...what?

Posted (edited)
27 minutes ago, mchookem said:

wait, wait, go back...someone in this country is claiming to pay 60% or more in taxes??

 

soprano-get-the-fuck-outta-here.gif

Yeah, I claimed that, please educate me on how I'm not?  Between State and Federal income tax, sales tax, real estate tax, and whatever other tax they wanna stick to us, i'm paying a shitload of tax, and I claim 2 dependents for income tax and this past year I got exactly 0 for a tax return.  Everything I got back from the state for a tax return, went straight to the Fed to pay what I supposedly still owed them...

Edited by Azbadlands
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Posted
1 minute ago, Azbadlands said:

Yeah, I claimed that, please educate me on how I'm not?  Between State and Federal income tax, sales tax, real estate tax, and whatever other tax they wanna stick to us, i'm paying a shitload of tax, and I claim 2 dependents for income tax and this past year I got exactly 0 for a tax return.  Everything I got back from the state for a tax return, went straight to the Fed to pay what I supposedly still owed them...

You're going to need to break that down. It seems unrealistic. 

Posted (edited)
12 minutes ago, FirstTimeCaller said:

You're going to need to break that down. It seems unrealistic. 

Really?  I need to breakdown for you how the government taxes the shit out of the working class in this country in any way that they can?  Why do you think there was a mass exodus in California in the past few years?  If the high taxes haven't hit your state yet, I envy you..

Edited by Azbadlands
Posted
Just now, Azbadlands said:

Really?  I need to breakdown for you how the government taxes the shit out of the working class in this country in any way that they can?

Yes. I honestly don't see how you can arrive at 60% taxation. 

I'm self-employed and pay around 20-25% in income taxes, which includes a double dip for social security. Say we spent $100K each year (we spend less) and all that was subject to sales tax -- that's $8,250. In reality, it's much lower. Property taxes, which are high in Texas, are about $7,000 for our home.

So if I made $100,000, then I'm hitting a max of 40% (25% + 8.25% + 7%) of my income in taxes. Fortunately, we're doing better and our total tax rate is lower.

I guess if you owned an expensive home and made a modest amount of income, that could do it, but I think that's a rare case for most.

 

 

 

Posted

I actually find taxes in the form of insurance more burdensome. Paying out of pocket for health insurance is wild. Then add one homeowners. Then add on auto. I spend a fortune on insurance.

Posted
11 minutes ago, FirstTimeCaller said:

Yes. I honestly don't see how you can arrive at 60% taxation. 

I'm self-employed and pay around 20-25% in income taxes, which includes a double dip for social security. Say we spent $100K each year (we spend less) and all that was subject to sales tax -- that's $8,250. In reality, it's much lower. Property taxes, which are high in Texas, are about $7,000 for our home.

So if I made $100,000, then I'm hitting a max of 40% (25% + 8.25% + 7%) of my income in taxes. Fortunately, we're doing better and our total tax rate is lower.

I guess if you owned an expensive home and made a modest amount of income, that could do it, but I think that's a rare case for most.

 

 

 

You forgot the “whatever they stick to us” tax. 

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Posted
3 minutes ago, FirstTimeCaller said:

Yes. I honestly don't see how you can arrive at 60% taxation. 

I'm self-employed and pay around 20-25% in income taxes, which includes a double dip for social security. Say we spent $100K each year (we spend less) and all that was subject to sales tax -- that's $8,250. In reality, it's much lower. Property taxes, which are high in Texas, are about $7,000 for our home.

So if I made $100,000, then I'm hitting a max of 40% (25% + 8.25% + 7%) of my income in taxes. Fortunately, we're doing better and our total tax rate is lower.

I guess if you owned an expensive home and made a modest amount of income, that could do it, but I think that's a rare case for most.

 

 

 

For one thing, I live in a state where I have state income tax unlike Texas, and it keeps inching up.  I also live in a state that seems like overall things cost more than several other states, like gas, food, real estate, services, etc..Just going off of places I've visited, or what people I know out of state tell me.  I don't own a home, my wife and I rent, but we own land that we pay taxes on.    We both make a fairly decent income, but don't really have a lot of write offs. We both probably make a little more than the national average income, but not wealthy by any means.   I claim 2 dependents and she claims none.   We used to get maybe 5 to 6,000 in tax returns a year but this previous year we got exactly 0...Even owed money to the Fed, which was paid for by the return we got from the state so ended up with nothing.

Posted
57 minutes ago, texasdago said:

I mow my own lawn.  I'm one of two people on my street who mows his own lawn.  

Ugh... those years mowing my parents lawn growing up in Houston was enough for me to not ever want to do that again.

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Posted (edited)

You're not really spelling it out. In fact, now you're saying it's the cost of things and not taxation. Don't get me wrong, taxes are a major portion of a budget and money gets eaten up fast when you get hit will all the stuff we seem to have to spend on these days. But saying it's all tax just isn't correct. 

Say you make $150K as a household. Here's the tax calculator:

image.png.cc1a6554aa74870b67362c24260206f6.png

So that's 27.3% in taxes. AZ (where I assume you are) has an average property tax of around 0.75% from what I find. Say your land is worth $200K -- that's $1,500 in property taxes, which would bump the total tax rate to $42,455 or 28.3% effective.

Unless you're spending about $510,000 per year that incurs sales tax at 8.3%, then you aren't anywhere near 60% in taxes.

Edited by FirstTimeCaller
Posted
1 minute ago, FirstTimeCaller said:

You're not really spelling it out. In fact, now you're saying it's the cost of things and not taxation. Don't get me wrong, taxes are a major portion of a budget and money gets eaten up fast when you get hit will all the stuff we seem to have to spend on these days. But saying it's all tax just isn't correct. 

Say you make $150K as a household. Here's the tax calculator:

image.png.cc1a6554aa74870b67362c24260206f6.png

So that's 27.3% in taxes. AZ (where I assume you are) has an average property tax of around 0.75% from what I find. Say your land is worth $200K -- that's $1,500 in property taxes, which would bump the total tax rate to $42,455 or 28.3% effective.

Unless you're spending about $510,000 per year that incurs sales tax at 8.3%, then you aren't anywhere near 60% in taxes.

 

You must have missed the lede.  He probably doesn't give a shit about all your calculations; he's bitching because he no longer gets a refund each year and is stumped by that.

 

 

 

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Posted

I don't see comparison of past tax refunds to current tax refunds for an individual as a very clear way to make an argument about who is taxing the middle class and for what. It sounds like rhetoric out of a time machine to the Reagan years.

Posted
Just now, Francisco 2.0 said:

 

You must have missed the lede.  He probably doesn't give a shit about all your calculations; he's bitching because he no longer gets a refund each year and is stumped by that.

Like many of us, Trump and the GOP raised our taxes with his 2018 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. 

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Posted

Yeah, the "I no longer get a refund" angle is meaningless.

Beyond that, I always get a chuckle out of the "I pay state income tax and you Texans don't" hysteria.  Sure, granted.  You also don't pay 2.3% or more in property taxes.

Posted
1 minute ago, jimmyjazz said:

Yeah, the "I no longer get a refund" angle is meaningless.

Beyond that, I always get a chuckle out of the "I pay state income tax and you Texans don't" hysteria.  Sure, granted.  You also don't pay 2.3% or more in property taxes.

I likely come out ahead with property tax, but I fucking hate it. I'd much rather have an income tax. Just seems fairer than a situation where 1) you never "own" your property (sorry old folks!) and 2) the county seemingly arbitrarily decides a value of your property to tax you on. Oh yeah, did I mention that same county gets more money if they appraise your property higher? 

The amount of time and effort that goes into the appraisal + protest is silly. 

Posted
3 minutes ago, FirstTimeCaller said:

I likely come out ahead with property tax, but I fucking hate it. I'd much rather have an income tax. Just seems fairer than a situation where 1) you never "own" your property (sorry old folks!) and 2) the county seemingly arbitrarily decides a value of your property to tax you on. Oh yeah, did I mention that same county gets more money if they appraise your property higher? 

The amount of time and effort that goes into the appraisal + protest is silly. 

And while some in CA complain about their income AND property tax, I believe their property is only re-evaluated during a sale or major renovations. We get hit every year with value increases.  But to be fair, in the ~20 years that I’ve owned my home, Harris County has kept the value the same 2 or 3 times. Let’s say the value goes up 75% of the time.

Posted
14 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

Yeah, the "I no longer get a refund" angle is meaningless.

If you don't have a problem with it, you can sponsor me and pay my 5 to 6,000 extra a year to the Government...I feel like I pay enough already.  

Posted
1 minute ago, Azbadlands said:

If you don't have a problem with it, you can sponsor me and pay my 5 to 6,000 extra a year to the Government...I feel like I pay enough already.  

What matters is your total tax bill relative to your income, not whether or not what was withheld was sufficient.

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