Increased government spending via taxes for the "other guy" is literally the most overused con in politics.  Locally, it's recent raid of the TAT by the state, a tax which was supposed to be a "temporary" and used only to build the convention center.  Nationally, progressives want you to believe only the rich and corporations will pay for this bloated government fleece.  In the end every middle class Joe will end up paying more because the last time I checked, you can't tax wealth derived from stock value unless that paper is sold.  Billionaires don't get W-2's with ten zeros, they avoid taxation with creative ways around tax law.  Corporations on the other hand will simply pass this along to you and I, just like cigarette companies did when they lost their billion dollar class action law suite.  Case is right to want to dig into this bill and cut the fat, there is always fat even when Hawaii benefited in the Inouye days.  There are so many pet projects that Pelosi & Schumer have buried in this bureaucratic novel that it should not only be thoroughly vetted so we know the details of everything we will be stuck with paying for.

wailani1961 · 1 year ago

$3.5 billion over ten years represents well under 2 percent of GDP, and will be paid for by taxing billionaires and those earning more than 400k and corporations that currently pay little or no tax through closing loopholes and a modest tax increase in line with corporate tax in other developed countries. The proposed Build Back Better investment will tackle the most urgent needs: the climate crisis, an under-educated populace, starting with pre-school and better k-12 through post-high school community and technical college, renewable energy, decreasing ever widening income disparities….these are moderate, not radical proposals. What we now term "progressive" was not so long ago middle of the road.  

Nonna · 1 year ago

Deep on many levels. "Gullible" simple and honest Gulliver, who expects to be treated the same on his travels, but sadly not? Going from giant to tiny and visa versa? Happy voyager to stranded by his fellow crew? Yahoos who are human appearing but beast like inside? Animal appearing folk who act more human? Satire on the irrational political/religious conflicts he encountered? A man of reason and science to a play thing of women he encounters in Brobingnag (or something like that- I got to search that one) travels? So I recall parts of the story. Very deep and complex; far beyond the simple cartoon on its face; true even back when Swift penned the original literary work to plague contemporaries with their own contradictions on both sides of every issue. Nice job showing a plethora of complex issues out of a single drawing! Swift would congratulate you!

CKMsurf · 1 year ago