chasfh

Just a reminder that if hostile foreign countries can and do so easily get kompromat on Trump, they can and will get kompromat on the deepest military secrets of the United States.

Some of you might remember me as the guy who started the thread "An Insidious Trend" on the MTS board, about tipping starting to run amok with the introduction of tip jars at restaurant takeouts. That was 15 years ago. When first I posted that, I was hammered by a few MTSers for being a grouch about tipping. Since then, I think most of us can agree that tipping culture has gone more or less nuts, especially with the swiveling iPad and the peering eyes watching what you're going to do. I hadn't thought through the Trump/Harris proposal regarding no taxes on tips, but Axios has, and what they say in their latest article about it seems to make sense: retail establishments and their employees humping you for tips is going to become more brazen and aggressive than it is even now. Tipping percentage has already exploded since it became so common. Some oldsters among us might remember 10% being the standard; I'm not so old, and I remember 15%. Nowadays, if you tip 15%, you're considered a ****ing asshole. You have to do 20%, minimum, and preferably more. A friend of mine judges me for giving less than 20%—he frequently goes 30% or more, which I have never understood. He thinks he's a hero. Who knows, maybe he is. But I seem to recall one of the reasons we are supposed to tip tipped workers in the first place is that they are paid far less than a living wage by their employers, and we the customers are supposed to make up the difference. There are all kinds of things wrong with that idea on its face, but setting that aside, now that Illinois is mandating that tipped workers be paid the same minimum wage of $15 as everyone else, I am playing with the idea of not tipping at all, which would make me an absolute pariah everywhere, including here, I guess. By the way: did you know that here in Illinois, employers may pay tipped workers as low as $9 an hour in wages, but must make up the difference to $15 if they are under-tipped? Or, more exactly, the way the law phrases it, "employers may take up to 40% credit for tips out of the employee’s wages." What this means is, if a tipped employee is paid $9/hour but gets no tips, the employer must make them whole to $15/hour. However, if the same employee is paid $9/hour and gets $6/hour in tips, the employer doesn't have to make them whole at all, but the employee gets the exact same hourly pay. In other words, for the first $6/hour, the customer is tipping not the employee, but the employer. Nice, huh? And I'll bet it works the same way in your state, too. And this doesn't even contemplate those pooled tipping jars which are certainly being skimmed or even outright stolen by certain employers. What do you think of tipping culture now? Anyhow, here's the Axios article in its entirety. Enjoy. What a "no taxes on tips" policy could mean for U.S. tipping culture Emily Peck If you think tipping culture is already out of hand, think about what would happen if workers no longer had to pay taxes on tips — something both Vice President Harris and former President Donald Trump are now proposing. Why it matters: Typically, ideas like these are tough to turn into reality, but next year when the Trump tax cuts expire, Congress will likely pass some kind of new tax bill. That creates an opportunity to put new policies in place, says Brendan Duke of the Center for American Progress Action Fund. The big picture: A no-tax-on-tips policy would incentivize workers to push harder for more tips. And their employers would be into it, happy to shift the burden of wages onto customers. Businesses, then, would have every reason to figure out more ways to push customers to tip. Where it stands: You can't buy something to eat or drink in these times without getting asked for a gratuity, often by an iPad screen. "As pervasive as things seem now, I have to imagine that it will only get even more pervasive should this pass," says Ernie Tedeschi, of the Yale Budget Lab, who recently wrote an analysis of the policy. The intrigue: Where things start to get wild is outside the restaurant industry, as Americans try to figure out ways to classify more of their income as tips. Think bankers' bonuses or sales commissions — or even pay for a Substack writer or freelance podcaster. The U.S. tax code already has different rules for different kinds of income — capital gains, for example, are taxed at a lower rate than payroll income. When those kinds of divides happen, you create enormous incentives for people to game the system, says Howard Gleckman, a senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center. Those kinds of shenanigans typically happen with higher earners — think of the carried interest tax loophole, for example. For the record: An official from the Harris campaign said the policy would include "strict requirements to prevent hedge fund managers and lawyers from structuring their compensation in ways to try to take advantage of the policy." Trump's campaign hasn't offered much in the way of detail. The bottom line: Knowing that tipped income isn't taxed, people might decide to give a little less money. "I'm a pretty religious 20% tipper," says Tedeschi, who until recently was chief economist at the White House Council of Economic Advisers. "But, quite frankly if my dentist started asking me for tips, I would be like, 'hell no'." Eliminating taxes on tips would not likely have a huge impact on tipped workers. A lot of these workers don't make enough money to owe federal income tax, though estimates vary. By the numbers: More than a third of tipped workers, including those working in restaurants, barbers and bartenders — didn't pay income tax in 2022, per an analysis of tax data from the Current Population Survey from Ernie Tedeschi, at the Yale Budget Lab. He didn't account for tax credits, which can give some of these folks a negative tax rate — or lower their tax liability. A separate analysis from advocacy group One Fair Wage, looked at different government survey data that included self-reported income, narrowed in on restaurant workers and found that two-thirds don't pay income tax. These proposals would only help a very small slice of workers. Tedeschi estimates that last year roughly 4 million workers were in tipped occupations — 2.5% of all employment. On top of that, the Harris campaign tells Axios that, if elected, she'd work to craft a proposal that has an income limit — cutting the number of potential beneficiaries even more.

They are giving other players every opportunity to push Javy out the door.

As far as they're concerned, the USA is the only country blessed by God to rule the world, and if a woman is elected to rule the USA, we will have abandoned God, or something like that. Not even Israel is blessed because, you know, Golda Meir.

A wrongful death lawsuit against Walt Disney Parks and Resorts is serving as a reminder to consumers of the importance of reading the fine print when signing up for a streaming service or smartphone app. The lawsuit was filed by the family of a New York woman who died after eating at a restaurant in Disney Springs, an outdoor dining, shopping and entertainment complex in Florida owned by Disney. Disney is arguing that the lawsuit should be dropped because the plaintiff, the woman’s husband, once signed up for a trial subscription of the Disney+ streaming service. That service, they argue, includes a subscriber agreement in which the customer agrees to settle any lawsuits against Disney out of court through arbitration. Such agreements, which customers quickly consent to by clicking “I agree” when downloading an app or a streaming service, are so stacked against the consumer that it’s often difficult to offer good legal advice, said John Davisson, director of litigation at the Electronic Privacy Information Center. “The consumer is presented with this contract and really doesn’t have an opportunity to negotiate the terms,”Davisson said. “It’s yes or no.”

Breaking news: Tork belongs in the majors.

Exactly. Industry can’t effectively price gouge unless they either collude to do so, or else they are allowed to consolidate through acquisition. And government officials too often look the other way because the payoffs they get from all of it is just so sweet. That’s a bipartisan problem that, frankly, I’m not sure has any solution that is not preceded by some cataclysm.

She’s going after the money. If that’s not Trumpian, nothing is.

This is what we are fighting against, and what MAGA is leaning into. We are a nation rooted in superstitious mythology. Please make it stop.

I think it does matter because the cult has already maxed out. Practically nobody is rushing toward it; if anything, the cult is probably losing ten people for every one it gains. Where it matters is that Trump needs non-cult members to vote for him so he can win (assuming a free and fair election), and with every utterance from his mouth, he is losing any chance of getting those people aboard. Because if you vote for Trump, you’re going to have to defend your support for his ideas, even if you believe they are not your ideas.

That was me!

We had papers delivered right to our house by Mr. Schornak because we were basically Paperboy Central. All seven of us kids were Free Press deliverers, plus a couple other kids in the neighborhood would come to our house to get their papers. This went on from 1969 into the early 80s. To pay for the papers, we would get our money order and put it in the envelope and in the mailbox Sunday morning for him to pick up when he delivered the Sunday papers.

I used to "collect for the Free Press" (my door call) on Thursday and Friday nights, then clean up the rest Saturday morning. I too had 40-ish customers, and as I remember, I did not take my book with me. I tried to keep it all in my head. I'm sure one or two got by me each week. I also used to be paid by some in these new-customer coupons, like 10¢ and 25¢, and for my first year I would throw them out, because nobody told me they were like cash that I could submit with my money order from Arnold's Drugs to pay for my week's papers. Call me stupid if you want, but what I was was ignorant, I was eleven years old, and I actually got yelled at for it as though I was supposed to just know by osmosis what they were for. When I started it was $1.05 daily/Sunday, and I got tipped a nickel or a dime by maybe two-thirds of people, maybe 20¢ by a handful of them, and stiffed by the rest. But once the cost went up to $1.25 daily/Sunday, I started getting stiffed by two-thirds of people. End of the year I would either get a dollar for my Christmas tip, or the change from two dollars, and I still got stiffed by at least a third of my customers even then. People in Warren just sucked.

"Fresh things to eat"? Obviously, your Kroger differs significantly from mine, where half the produce is left rotting past the due date and a quarter of the shelves are left empty while they await the disposition of the Albertson's merger.

It wasn’t as cold for you News boys working after 230pm with the sun overhead as it was for us Free Press boys working at 530am before the sun came up in the southeast.

That’s because the rest of the world isn’t people with lives like ours. The rest of the world is riches and spoils to exploit.

It’s not something you can structure an entire campaign around. It’s one of those things that works for a news cycle or two, to help build your story foundation, and then you have to move on.

The media will tire of Trump when you and I and everyone else stop driving revenue into their coffers by clicking on Trump headlines.

Trump world says: you had four years to do this so why did you wait until now? Hmmmmm??

True as this may have been at that time, it was also a very different, basically wild-west country in the early to mid-19th century, where everyone was expected to come here and make his own way on his own, take what he could get on his own, which almost guaranteed violence. There was no police or otherwise public safety regime at all. We are now a country of ubiquitous law and order, and vast majority people subsume their baser instincts to law and order, and that goes double for strangers in a strange land.

How long before Trump claims that Walmart is lowering prices because they believe he will be elected, and then they'll rasie prices back up if Kamala wins? 1 big thing: Doling out discounts By Nathan Bomey Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios Price cuts are back. Why it matters: The inflation crisis made discounts hard to come by, but that era is fading fast. State of play: Price cuts and value offerings are piling up in a variety of areas, including: Retail: Walmart, a bellwether discounter, said today it has cut prices on 7,200 products in a bid to maintain what it calls "competitive price gaps" with its rivals. Other retailers that have recently announced price cuts include Target, Walgreens, Aldi and Ikea. Autos: Dealers doled out an average of $3,383 per vehicle in discounts in July, up 59.1% from a year ago, according to Cox Automotive's Kelley Blue Book. That was the highest level of incentives in more than three years. Restaurants: The fast-food business has pivoted from price hikes to meal deals, aiming to lure back customers. Burger King, Starbucks and McDonald's have all announced value meals. The big picture: It's not just lower-income consumers who are looking for deals. Higher-income shoppers are becoming increasingly price sensitive, too. Walmart raised its full-year sales forecast today, crediting wealthier household customers with fueling market share gains. Yes, but: Price cuts won't wipe out the substantial increases that have taken place over the last few years. For example, the Consumer Price Index released yesterday showed that food at home is up 26.9% over the last five years. The bottom line: Consumers are regaining an edge. Axios' Kelly Tyko contributed to this story.

Loss of freedoms in exchange for slightly cheaper food in some cases? Yes, please.

Let Kamala be Kamala!

lol "Let Trump be Trump". You know, because the guy we've been seeing lately has been just too reserved. He needs to take the gloves off and go! That's what undecideds and swing voters want: maxed-out rage and grievance 24/7. This'll end well. 🤣 Also, how do you like the personal message to J.D. in that tweet? Nice touch ... 💀