Reply #112: People are being unrealistic about the negotiating position [View All]

[sweetheart]

Its hardly like "progressives" are leading this tax reform effort to
start with, but in DU fiction, authors can rewrite the present, that
"we" have a majority in both houses, AND the white house, that all of
"us" are bent on simplifying a progressive income tax structure.

The negotiating position is hardly that strong. It is rather one that
will, when giving the least ground in a sinking island, would best
preserve "the" palm tree.

The tax code needs drastic reform, and anyone who can watch C-span for
even a microsecond, clearly can gain that there is no impulse to change
the corporate tax breaks. It worries me that some of the democratic
ilk, are rather given towards an alternate fundamentalist utopianism
little different than the end-of-times folks. Facts and realpolitik
are ignored in favour of biblical visions of "how it should be."

People that make more money form corporations, and use the corporate
vehicle to "write off" expenses. Some corporations save hotel money
by keeping a flat in paris, as hotel rates in Paris are rather high.
If you want a flat in paris, then best form a corporation and pay for
it with corporate funds as a corporate flat. This sort of thing is the
de-facto normal use of the tax system by the corporatocracy, and
progressive tax rates do NOTHING to change this whatsoever. The flat
tax, is when the corporate conservatives come clean and are ready to
put something back by making an honest recommendation... as they've
already defeated the tax system.... only the poorly advised pay the
full burden, and inevitably this is the lowest income brackets.

Realpolitic for a democrat these days must be in mapping out negotiable
ground, and some ground cannot EVER be sold, like abortion, womens
rights, and civil rights. Rather than focus on the high ground
people want to take the whole cake home, and, gosh, it just ain't
gonna happen. Hillary Clinton is making this resolve appearant in
her centrist and "right" consensus approach, that her best and
brightest cannon fodder stay dry.

I guess talk is cheap in one sense, and we can natter about anything
without ever having to touch ground, reality or any concept of how
things will actually be passed in to law.

One consensus IS clear, however, and that is a universal sense that
the existing tax code is WAY way to complex and riddled with
inconsistency and giveaways. Would that we could move from that
consensus towards an actual simplification and steal the thunder of
our political opposition.