President Donald Trump

[Redbirds Fan]

I was looking through some of these threads last night, especially the health care thread and this one. I'm guessing many here have household incomes which put them in the top 15%, some in the top 5%. From this perspective, we spend a great deal of our time arguing about what the top 1% are doing to the bottom 30%. That may be the natural way of things in a representative democracy, but it just occurred to me that we are primarily passionate pundits. (Due respect and empathy to our brothers and sisters here whose personal situations are such that medical/insurance conditions have created intolerable hardships. Those exceptions should remind us how fortunate and blessed most of us are.)

Some things are different, as when we talk about the environment, which will affect all of us eventually, or at least our kids and grandkids. Sometimes I think that debate winds up falling upon party lines, although I would love to see a psychological study done on the basis of immediate/delayed gratification personalities.

I'm not saying we are like an all-white people panel discussing Bill Maher's use of the 'n' word, but maybe a little bit.

[Bernie Brewer]

I was looking through some of these threads last night, especially the health care thread and this one. I'm guessing many here have household incomes which put them in the top 15%, some in the top 5%. From this perspective, we spend a great deal of our time arguing about what the top 1% are doing to the bottom 30%. That may be the natural way of things in a representative democracy, but it just occurred to me that we are primarily passionate pundits. (Due respect and empathy to our brothers and sisters here whose personal situations are such that medical/insurance conditions have created intolerable hardships. Those exceptions should remind us how fortunate and blessed most of us are.)

Some things are different, as when we talk about the environment, which will affect all of us eventually, or at least our kids and grandkids. Sometimes I think that debate winds up falling upon party lines, although I would love to see a psychological study done on the basis of immediate/delayed gratification personalities.

I'm not saying we are like an all-white people panel discussing Bill Maher's use of the 'n' word, but maybe a little bit.

Dude, get outta my head!

[heyelander]

I'm not saying we are like an all-white people panel discussing Bill Maher's use of the 'n' word, but maybe a little bit.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/10/opinion/sunday/stop-pretending-youre-not-rich.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-left-region&region=opinion-c-col-left-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-region&_r=0

The rhetoric of “We are the 99 percent” has in fact been dangerously self-serving, allowing people with healthy six-figure incomes to convince themselves that they are somehow in the same economic boat as ordinary Americans, and that it is just the so-called super rich who are to blame for inequality.

...

There’s a kind of class double-think going on here. On the one hand, upper-middle-class Americans believe they are operating in a meritocracy (a belief that allows them to feel entitled to their winnings); on the other hand, they constantly engage in antimeritocratic behavior in order to give their own children a leg up. To the extent that there is any ethical deliberation, it usually results in a justification along the lines of “Well, maybe it’s wrong, but everyone’s doing it.”

...

Progressive policies, whether on zoning or school admissions or tax reform, all too often run into the wall of upper-middle-class opposition. Self-interest is natural enough. But the people who make up the American upper middle class don’t just want to keep their advantages; armed with their faith in a classless, meritocratic society, they think they deserve them. The strong whiff of entitlement coming from the top 20 percent has not been lost on everyone else.

[heyelander]

[heyelander]

Trump is obvious, he's not subtle, real grifters you don't see coming until it's too late. I've met my share of en during my careers in the Gaming industry and to a different extent, show biz.

You mean like everyone writes them off as a joke until the day after they are elected President? I mean, FFS... either the guy is well qualified to be president or he's a pretty decent con man. I know which side I'm falling on. Maybe if he was actually good at it he'd be the intergalactic emperor now? I guess we can set that as your standard.

[Redbirds Fan]

This table doesn't provide much useful information, as it uses the "mean" for each population/income quintile. This makes it somewhat misleading.

It only takes a household income of about $100,000 to get into the top fifth (20%). A household income of $188,000 will put you right at the top 5%. The income it lists as the 'mean' for the top five percent includes LeBron James, Bill Gates, etc. They bring up the average a bit.

There is a tool on the NYT web site that will tell you what percentile you are in based upon your household income, both in the U.S. and regionally.

[DMT]

This table doesn't provide much useful information, as it uses the "mean" for each population/income quintile. This makes it somewhat misleading.

It only takes a household income of about $100,000 to get into the top fifth (20%). A household income of $188,000 will put you right at the top 5%. The income it lists as the 'mean' for the top five percent includes LeBron James, Bill Gates, etc. They bring up the average a bit.

There is a tool on the NYT web site that will tell you what percentile you are in based upon your household income, both in the U.S. and regionally.

Yea I read the article and while it makes some interesting points, much of his argument gets derailed because you can see his agenda by using 'mean' rather than 'median'.

[heyelander]

This table doesn't provide much useful information, as it uses the "mean" for each population/income quintile. This makes it somewhat misleading.

It only takes a household income of about $100,000 to get into the top fifth (20%). A household income of $188,000 will put you right at the top 5%. The income it lists as the 'mean' for the top five percent includes LeBron James, Bill Gates, etc. They bring up the average a bit.

There is a tool on the NYT web site that will tell you what percentile you are in based upon your household income, both in the U.S. and regionally.

I assume the listed Upper Limit for one level is the floor for the next. So that puts the income to get into the top quintile as a little over 112k.

[Hi.I'm.Mandy]

I assume the listed Upper Limit for one level is the floor for the next. So that puts the income to get into the top quintile as a little over 112k.

What page is that on ?

[heyelander]

What page is that on ?

27. Fourth Paragraph down.

[Judge Jude]

What page is that on ?

and why would you care, Mandy? you said it was all about my blue eyes......

[GwynnInTheHall]

You mean like everyone writes them off as a joke until the day after they are elected President? I mean, FFS... either the guy is well qualified to be president or he's a pretty decent con man. I know which side I'm falling on. Maybe if he was actually good at it he'd be the intergalactic emperor now? I guess we can set that as your standard.

He won without being either. Not saying he couldn;t con the really dumb or willingly ignorant, but anyone with half a brain could see through his charade, they still can and as for being fit for office..........

Trumps election happened for many reasons, a perfect storm of them, but being fit for the job and a good con aren't part of that equation.

[cardboardbox]

27. Fourth Paragraph down.

thank you for being helpful when someone asks for a little help.

[Redbirds Fan]

Team Trump seems to be working hard now on two fronts:

1. Furiously spinning that our dear leader is not just a Great President, but in fact the Greatest President; and

2. Laying a propaganda foundation to support firing the Special Counsel.

The latter takes a particular skill set, since people like Newt who lauded the appointment of Bob Mueller are now trying to come up with excuses why it it is a terrible thing.

Shades of Nixon.

[TranaGreg]

authours ... who needs 'em ... (this was an exchange this am) ...

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Trump has blocked me from reading his tweets. I may have to kill myself.</p>&mdash; Stephen King (@StephenKing) <a href="https://twitter.com/StephenKing/status/874646427091251201">June 13, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I still have access. I'll DM them to you. <a href="https://t.co/MhibEYDBTg">https://t.co/MhibEYDBTg</a></p>&mdash; J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) <a href="https://twitter.com/jk_rowling/status/874646794436739072">June 13, 2017</a></blockquote>
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