Protests in Hilo - Next on April 19th - and going on elsewhere in Hawaii

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

support for domestic terrorism has been allowed to stand in this thread.

Let’s compare damage to a car* and damage to a human being.  Can we agree both are wrong?

Would you consider canceling funds for Medicaid to be domestic terrorism, considering that many will die early without it, and live in pain without it?
Do you recognize that $ for Medicaid funding will be used to provide a multi trillion $ tax break, mostly for billionaires? Including one billionaire in particular who is pushing to cut Medicaid, which some would call a nudge nudge wink wink conflict of interest? Read the bill?

Who will be more affected in your day to day life, your neighbors in Puna on Medicaid, or your neighbors in Puna who are billionaires?

* Half disclosure: some time ago I once considered buying a Tesla
   2nd half disclosure: I’m glad I didn’t 

[Obie]

Why do you keep popping up with the latest news from MSNBC national news
Maybe chill out and wait for something that's verified as fact before setting your hair on fire.

[ironyak]

Punatang - Thanks Durian Fiend for being the adult in the room.  I'm disappointed that the wink wink nod nod support for domestic terrorism has been allowed to stand in this thread.
Not sure why you think there is any "wink wink nod nod" involved - every major social movement tends to have a radical wing that makes the moderate calls for reform more palatable. For every Frederick Douglass there is a John Brown, for Kue Petitions a Wilcox Rebellion, for Thoreau a Goldman, for MLK Jr a Malcolm X. Seems somewhat immature to not recognize this trend, maybe as naive as to deny that when you send chickens out in the Puna morning air from your coop, those chickens return that evening to your coop, not your neighbor's coop, and that never makes one sad, only glad (see fellow kids, that is how you wink and nod ;)

Durian Fiend - I'm also disappointed in a certain, fairly prominent politician sharing his glee publicly regarding Tesla's tanking stock value. Many people are glad to see it, including me, but in his position this sentiment is best kept private IMO.
But divestment is about making any association with or support for the target issue publicly undesirable. As Alex Winter has said, Tesla's investors could address this and pressure Musk to step down but the brand's value is closely tied to Musk's rep and hype (e.g. fully self-driving cars only months away for the last several years) so they may be tied to a sinking ship. Combine this public disdain for Musk with insurance costs for Teslas going up, some difficulties and cost with large repairs (even moreso with the cost of newly tariffed replacement parts) especially locally (car sent back to Oahu), and it's not a surprise that lots of people are publicly parting ways like Sheryl Crow.

Obie - Why do you keep popping up with the latest news from MSNBC national news
??? Must have missed Maddow - did she get a quote from Ron Vera? Maybe some coverage for Hawaii Senator Brian Schatz announcing he’s expanding his holds on White House nominees to include more names? Seems like a reasonable and very grown up form of protest, leaving the wrenching to the good and always curious monkeys.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

wait for something that's verified as fact

OK. It’s happened. How far back do we move the goalposts?

[Obie]

There have been no verified cuts to medicaid and the budget is yet to be brought to a vote.

All I have seen is a bunch of liberal talking heads speculating about cuts and what will happen.

Of course I don't spend all of my time listening to NPR and MSNBC.

[Durian Fiend]

How can the Energy and Commerce committee deliver on their goal to cut 880 billion in spending without cutting Medicaid? They've got to find a way to pay for those unnecessary tax cuts heavily biased towards the wealthy.

It's a big concern, that's why the Hawaii medical association sent a letter to congress last month asking them to spare Medicaid.

https://hawaiimedicalassociation.org/new...dicaid.htm

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

don't spend all of my time listening to NPR and MSNBC.

All you need is 30 seconds, electricity, internet, Google, “Medicaid cuts”

[leilanidude]

They've got to find a way to pay for those unnecessary tax cuts heavily biased towards the wealthy.
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It doesn't seem to have been an issue in the past, to "pay" for a tax cut?
Top earners pay more to begin with so of course they get a larger amount of any cut.

The AI response:
In 2022, the bottom half of taxpayers earned 11.5 percent of total AGI and paid 3 percent of all federal individual income taxes. The top 1 percent earned 22.4 percent of total AGI and paid 40.4 percent of all federal income taxes.

[Durian Fiend]

They've got to find a way to pay for those unnecessary tax cuts heavily biased towards the wealthy.
--------------
It doesn't seem to have been an issue in the past, to "pay" for a tax cut?
Top earners pay more to begin with so of course they get a larger amount of any cut.

The AI response:
In 2022, the bottom half of taxpayers earned 11.5 percent of total AGI and paid 3 percent of all federal individual income taxes. The top 1 percent earned 22.4 percent of total AGI and paid 40.4 percent of all federal income taxes.

Pay for a tax cut?  It's called balancing the budget.  You know, "fiscal responsibility".  If taxes are cut without concurrent spending cuts , the budget is no longer balanced.  

Of course it's not necessary for top earners to get a larger amount of any cut.   They could conceivably receive no cut at all. 

For example, Hawaii's top state income tax bracket earners pay 11% while the lowest pay 1.4%.    Once conceivable tax cut scheme would be to change the lowest bracket to .5% and leave the top bracket unchanged.

[loffelkopffl]

I think it's funny they always lie and say it's not going to add to the deficit, and of course it does, yet the sheep believe them