What does Warren Buffet understand that Donald Trump doesn't?

February 26, 2018

By Alexandra Wilts

President Donald Trump’s tax law (click here) that was passed by Republicans with breakneck speed last year is ridden with typos and glitches. 

Mr Trump and administration officials continue to tout the benefits of the $1.5 trillion tax cut that he signed into law in December. But what’s missing in Mr Trump’s rhetoric is any mention of the snafus that could end up costing the federal US government big money, experts warn.

Legislation often contains a few errors, but not of this magnitude, experts have been quick to point out.

The glitches are not just typos. A lot of the discrepancies revolve around actual tax policy questions where there is disagreement between Democrats and Republicans, meaning the errors will be much harder to fix, according to John Wonderlich. Mr Wonderlich is the executive director of the Sunlight Foundation, a nonprofit which advocates for open government.

“The amount of errors and unintended consequences in the tax bill is far beyond normal,” he told The Independent. He said that eleventh-hour changes to the legislation and the non-transparent process used to pass it contributed to this result....

...For example, the bill enables wealthy money managers to avoid a crackdown on lucrative tax breaks, allowing them to pay lower taxes on some of their income than ordinary wage earners....

The Buffett Rule is part of a tax plan proposed by President Barack Obama in 2011. The tax plan would apply a minimum tax rate of 30 percent on individuals making more than one million dollars a year. According to a White House official, the new tax rate would directly affect 0.3 percent of taxpayers.

Just one of the differences between those with a conscience and those obsessed with greed.

Someone needs to clarify with Republicans if they intend to FIX the new tax law.

What is going on in Turkey? Child soldiers?

The child and her parents should be removed from Turkey for political asylum, immediately if not sooner. The USA or if NATO care to act in protecting innocent children in Turkey, now is a good time.

Erdogan should not be leading Turkey if martyrdom is a reality within that country. This flies in the face of any type of NATO policy. 

February 26, 2018

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey with Amine Tiras, 6, in Kahramanmaras on Saturday. “Maroon berets don’t cry,” he told her.

Istanbul — From a stage where he led a raucous rally (click here) exhorting Turks to support their soldiers in Syria, the Turkish president spotted a 6-year-old girl cadet in the crowd, dressed in military-style camouflage and wearing a maroon beret. Her lips trembling, she stood ramrod-straight as she gave a salute.

Beckoned by the president, the girl was lifted into the air and toward the stage to meet with him. But she looked hesitant, and eventually began crying, as the president went on to say that she would be honored if she were killed in combat.

Video clips of the encounter between the president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and the first grader, Amine Tiras, ricocheted across the internet over the weekend. While Turkish news agencies focused on the girl’s emotions — portraying her as brave and resolute — some online commentators said she had been used as a political prop and called it inappropriate.

At the very least, the themes of military service, patriotism and martyrdom seemed rather mature for a first grader....

Has there been an investigation to the coupe attempt and the effects on the country. The coupe was crushed, but, what is going on in Turkey? Child soldiers is out of the question. There is a war within NATO?

25 February 2018
By Kareem Shaheen

The US and Turkey have released opposing accounts (click here) of a phone call between Donald Trump and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, highlighting deepening tensions between the two countries amid a Turkish military campaign inside Syria last weekend.

According to the White House readout of a call between the two leaders, Trump relayed “concerns” over the escalating violence in the Kurdish enclave in Afrin and urged Turkey to “de-escalate, limit its military actions and avoid civilian casualties”. Trump also called on Ankara to avoid actions that risked conflict with US forces, which have provided arms and air cover for the Kurdish militias Turkey is now battling in Syria, the White House said.

However, a Turkish official said the White House readout did not accurately reflect the content of the call. Trump did not raise concerns about escalating violence in Afrin, the official said, and the two presidents had simply exchanged views on the operation.

The official also denied that Trump had “expressed concern about destructive and false rhetoric coming from Turkey”, as mentioned in the White House readout, saying Trump had instead stressed that open criticism of the US in Ankara was raising concerns in Washington....

Erdogan has become paranoid.  Scaparrotti needs to call up the soldiers Erdogan has taken out of the military and give them political protections in another NATO country. This is ridiculous.

I think Erdogan is paranoid about the holy man in the USA. Recruiting children is an unbelievable human rights violation by Turkey.

December 7, 2016
By Aurthur Beesley

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s purge of alleged coup plotters (click here)
in Turkey’s armed forces has “degraded” Nato’s command operations by removing experienced senior officers, the alliance’s top general has said.

As many as 150 high-level Turkish personnel were detained, recalled from Nato or retired from active service after the failed military coup in July, said General Curtis Scaparrotti, Nato’s supreme allied commander in Europe.

“These officers served well here in Nato . . . I had talented, capable people here and I’m taking a degradation on my staff for the skill, the expertise and the work that they produced,” Gen Scaparrotti said as Nato foreign ministers met at the headquarters of the alliance in Brussels....

...The removal of Turkish Nato officers comes as the relationship between Ankara and the EU has become increasingly tense, with Brussels hardening its stance on Mr Erdogan while the Turkish president has warned that he could allow 3m refugees into Europe....

The refugees continue to be a focus with Europe and Turkey. The refugees must be allowed to return to their homeland with fighting reduced. Assad is having the effect he wants from Turkey. Assad is playing Erdogan like a fine fiddle. The more refugees into Turkey, the more tensions exist with NATO.

Assad is only interested in settling the Shi'ites into Syria. That is not realistic and will cause increased problems for the region. The refugees have a right to return and should do so as soon as possible.

Ireland is not that big a country. It is limited to the extent it can absorb refugees. The refugee issue must be solved, but, is best solved by returning them to their country. Assad is not the leader of Syria if he continues to kill the very people most weary of war.

February 24, 2018
By Sorcha Pollak

Nearly 50 Syrian refugees (click here) have arrived in Ireland from Greece this week under the Government’s relocation programme.

Twenty refugees arrived in Ireland on Wednesday followed by a further 29 people from Greek refugee camps on Thursday. These are the first Syrian refugees to arrive in Ireland so far this year.

Their arrival brings to 859 the total number of women, men and children who have arrived in Ireland from Greece under the Irish Refugee Protection Programme.

A spokesman for the Department of Justice said another 155 people were due to arrive in Ireland from Greece in the coming weeks.

The latest commitment comes as a new wave of bombs struck Syria’s eastern Ghouta district on Friday causing further devastation and civilian casualties in the area. An estimated 462 people have been killed this week, including nearly 100 children, during a week of bombing by government forces in eastern Ghouta....

Assad is no longer fighting Daesh, he is parlaying the instability to further ethnic wars.

February 27, 2018

...What is happening? (click here)

Siege: Eastern Ghouta has been under siege by the Syrian government since 2013, and is the last rebel stronghold near the capital.

Chronic food and medicine shortages have devastated Eastern Ghouta with severe cases of malnutrition.

De-escalation zone: Turkey, Russia and Iran agreed in 2017 to designate Eastern Ghouta a "de-escalation zone", in which Syrian and Russian fighter jets were expected not to fly.

Relentless bombing: On Sunday, February 19, Syrian forces backed by Russian warplanes escalated the offensive on Eastern Ghouta with a relentless bombing that killed hundreds of people within days. 

The bombing, which Amnesty International said amounted to war crimes, has damaged or destroyed six hospitals and medical centres across the city, residents say.

UN resolution: On Saturday, February 25, the UN Security Council - including Russia - voted in favour of a resolution calling for a 30-day ceasefire "without delay"....

...The 104-square-kilometre district is home to about 400,000 civilians, half of whom are children under the age of 18.

In March, the civil war in Syria will enter its 8th year, with more than 465,000 Syrians killed and over 12 million displaced from their homes....

Pro-regime forces

Opposition forces

Kurdish forces

Turkey

Jarabulus

Afrin

Manbij

Aleppo

Idlib

Syria

Latakia

Hama

50 km

50 miles

Assad is afraid of the children over 14 and their ability to be weaponized against him and Damascus. The refugees, especially children, need to return to the land and begin rebuilding. If they are rebuilding they won't be seeking power to engage in still yet another civil war.

Assad needs to de-escalate his attacks and allow a return of refugees to the land.

Easier said than done.

February 26, 2018

President Trump told the nation's governors (click here) Monday that he would have rushed in to aid students and teachers during the deadly mass shooting at a Florida high school.

"You don't know until you're tested but I think, I really believe, I'd run in there even if I didn't have a weapon, and I think most of the people in this room would have done that too," Trump said at a White House meeting.

He again found fault with the officers who didn't stop the gunman who carried out the massacre. "They really weren't exactly Medal of Honor winners," he said....

Police are trained to be effective. Mr. Trump obviously doesn't appreciate training at all. I dare say he hasn't had training in any capacity he managed to wrangle in life.

We hear of heroics all the time. Some Americans die in the process of saving lives in a burning building or jumping into freezing water to save another. But, for most police officers, they would recognize the need for assistance and was wise to wait until it arrived. 

I find it outrageous a president of this country proposes for any unarmed person to run into a building with a man with an automatic weapon. That in any definition is suicide. I expect most Americans would react in 12 seconds, but, I doubt they would be effective against a 19 year old man with an AR-15. What purpose does that serve? Another dead person?

Mr. Trump speaks out of political need to be flamboyant, but, it hardly reflects life in the USA in any reality that is important. I do not expect officers to be superheroes. I expect them to serve and protect. Their ability to carry out that directive is highly hampered by assault weapons.

The school shootings and deaths across this country only reflects the selling of ideas rather than the real answers. The Executive Branch of the USA is negligent in protecting children.

And, this is called corruption. The Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle should be investigated for contributions by the NRA that destroys effective laws and policies. I want to know why the large fuel allowance to Delta in the first place and why all of a sudden the NRA is to benefit from it, too.

February 27, 2018
By Marwa Eltagpouri

Days after Delta Air Lines (click here) announced it would stop offering discounted fares to National Rifle Association members, a top Georgia Republican retaliated, vowing to kill legislation that would hand the airline a lucrative tax break.

Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle (R), who leads the Georgia State Senate, demanded on Monday that Atlanta-based Delta, one of the state’s largest employers, make a choice: Stop punishing the NRA, or watch Republican lawmakers strike down a $50 million sales tax exemption on jet fuel, of which Delta would be the primary beneficiary.

“I will kill any tax legislation that benefits @Delta unless the company changes its position and fully reinstates its relationship with @NRA,” Cagle tweeted. “Corporations cannot attack conservatives and expect us not to fight back.”...

Delta had a substantial fuel subsidy in 2015. Why the taxes paid on jet fuel isn't directly deductible anyway really is a curiosity to me. But, I sincerely believe Delta doesn't need the subsidy in lieu of saving lives and having children travel on their airlines.

11 January 2018
By Leslie Josephs

Delta Air Lines (click here) on Thursday posted fourth-quarter earnings that beat Wall Street's expectations, and it raised its 2018 guidance about 20 percent.

Fueling Delta's upbeat forecast was its ability to increase how much it generates from each seat it flies per mile, a key revenue metric. This rose 4 percent in the three months ended in December from a year earlier.

Passenger revenue increased in every region, though trans-Atlantic travel was a standout in the quarter with 9 percent growth on the year. Cargo revenue also surged, as consumer demand grew for speedy deliveries.

Delta's shares surged after the report and outlook from the airline's executives, adding 4.8 percent to close at $58.52. Its rivals Americanand United rose 4.9 and 4.6 percent, respectively.

For the quarter ended Dec. 31, the second-largest U.S. airline posted net income of $572 million, or 80 cents per share, a decline of 8 percent from the year-earlier period....

I find the entire subsidy to Delta by Georgia rather curious actually.

Jet fuel is required for jets to fly. In that is an expense that comes off the revenues of the airlines immediately. The taxes on such fuel when it is a business cost is automatically a deduction to Delta. I don't know why airlines would be charged tax actually. I can understand how that might be a tax on luxury, private jets and planes, but, commercial airlines have taxes on their fuel? Really?

I realize one of Delta's main hubs is in Atlanta. There is another in Cincinnati I believe. Does Delta think a hub elsewhere in the USA more beneficial to it's customers?

I don't call Cincinnati a window to the west coast for Delta, either. So, what gives? Is Delta being pressured for the purpose of Republican politics or is there something larger at work here that Georgia is trying to overcome?

In the U.S. Census Bureau's just-released 2013 American Community Survey, Georgia had a median household income of $47,829 in 2013, inflation-adjusted dollars. The state ranked 34th out of 50 states and the District of Columbia, with Maryland the highest at $72,483, Mississippi the lowest at $37,963.

Perhaps the customer base in Georgia is weaker than another city in the USA.

I sincerely believe the Republicans in Georgia are looking for a quid pro quo for political donations by subsidizing Delta. That is fascinating, because the subsidy is provided by the electorate of Georgia. It is easy for Republicans to dole out money to cronies; it isn't their money.