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The top 1% are currently making a minimum of about 800K per year. Whether they spend it on yachts or not, is up to them. In either case, they aren't hurting.

I'm not going to defend a position that I think is nonsense. And, to be clear, I think it's total nonsense to say that anyone calling for tax increases must also be demanding them for themselves. Nor am I interested in making it about me, or you. That's not a healthy way to try and figure out an...

The cool part is that both of us seem to be right. :-)

Ax to grind? We're talking about finding "$50B without breaking a sweat". I mean, ok? I guess? The rounding errors (50B is .7% of the federal budget) are probably pretty easy. Once you get into real money, "needs" are super important to understand in order to make good decisions. And, it's hard...

Absolutely. All depends on perspective. From the perspective of the poorest 1%, going to bed hungry and having kids that are diminished because their brains can't develop completely on a terrible diet seems like a pretty bad deal. From the perspective of the richest 1%, having to go without the...

Incorrect. There is nothing that requires me to propose that poor people pay more to somehow make rich people paying more seem equitable. That would always be true. But it's particularly true given that poor people have paid more for the past few decades while, at the same time, rich people have...

#truth

You really don't get it? That "wasteful" is not easy to define? That which 1% you choose to look at is going to dramatically change that definition? That the government often fills the gaps when capitalist (or libertarian, in warmi's example) approaches fail to provide for those in need? That...

So how do people with no money fit into this? How do they get housing, or water, or medicine, or heat, or transportation? Or is this only useful for optional items like super yachts?

Yes, it was gallows humor. Certain people get really, really offended if you even pause a moment after an assertion of "greatest country on earth", but you correctly point out that our system of government is quite broken. These are the effective rates. The actual burden.

We also have a distribution problem. My proposal was to let the 1% pay more since they have benefited more.

I feel like we should all be able to participate in some sort of a system where we can hire some people to figure that out while representing our interests and holding them accountable every few years if they aren't doing their jobs properly... And which 1% also. If the 1% notice because they...

No. Falcon 1 was part of the program, so you have to combine the two. IIRC you first claimed that the 9 was a clean sheet in 4.5 years for 300m. It wasn't. It was part of a larger program that took ten years and more money.

Especially since the USD hasn't been "the" world's reserve currency for a long time. It's currently about 59%, which is a lot. But others, especially the euro, are traded in large enough amounts to have plenty of liquidity and demand. That ship has already sailed. The only question is when the...

https://payloadspace.com/rocket-development-costs-by-vehicle-payload-research

And, yet, 75% are single rider or motorcycle at fault. Which is, at least, 'mostly'. I mean, that's the same percentage required to amend the constitution and people view that as being borderline impossible. It's more than is required to defeat a filibuster, which has basically prevented...

I've never seen a number that large. Do you remember where you read it? Motorcycle safety is mostly up the rider as well. Something like 75% of of motorcycle accidents are single vehicle or motorcycle at fault.

I mean, the "carnage" on the roads is still 5-10 times safer than small plane GA when talking about autos. Motorcycles are similar to GA and everybody thinks they are death machines. If that was your point, apologies for missing it.

The Falcon 9 was a great success, but not quite that good. NASA provided 278M, which I suspect is where the 300M came from, but in total was 423M (550M in 2024 dollars). And it took more like ten years, because the Falcon 1 was an R&D stepping stone to the 9. Further, since everyone is excited...

Worse, the joke is historically accurate. Slavery was a thing in south africa and then they kept oppression around longer than most nations via apartheid. The joke works. That other people did bad stuff also doesn't change that. So, even by the "comedy only works on a foundation of truth" rule...