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The IRS has been used as a weapon by politicians. IMO there should be more user fees and fewer taxes. I laugh at the progressives’ argument that the wealthiest need to pay “their fair share”. They already pay the most and half of the country pays zero. It’s ridiculous that tax policy is used for wealth redistribution. Why reward those that refuse to live within their means?

BTW, POTUS hitting corporations with the proposed oppressive tax hikes will be a slow burn to US companies that are now competing and creating jobs. The US corporate rate would be one of the highest in the developed world. Fools can’t see this and want to punish American success.
 
The IRS has been used as a weapon by politicians. IMO there should be more user fees and fewer taxes. I laugh at the progressives’ argument that the wealthiest need to pay “their fair share”. They already pay the most and half of the country pays zero. It’s ridiculous that tax policy is used for wealth redistribution. Why reward those that refuse to live within their means?

BTW, POTUS hitting corporations with the proposed oppressive tax hikes will be a slow burn to US companies that are now competing and creating jobs. The US corporate rate would be one of the highest in the developed world. Fools can’t see this and want to punish American success.
What kind of user fees. I think of fees to visit a National or State Park. Also fees paid by trucks to use highways, destroying some. Cars pay in the form of a gas tax. I think TN has a small tax on EVs.
What other kind of user fees you referring to?
 
I'd argue that it is designed even more to affect behavior/social engineering than it is to collect revenue. If it was primarily a revenue collection mechanism, then the tax code would be much simpler. Instead, it is defined by different tax treatment for doing (or not doing) certain things.
True. Also as political favors. Often to large donors.
I've used the "designed to collect tax" when clients complained about their tax bill. I miss hearing people complain about making too much money. Nope!
 
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What kind of user fees. I think of fees to visit a National or State Park. Also fees paid by trucks to use highways, destroying some. Cars pay in the form of a gas tax. I think TN has a small tax on EVs.
What other kind of user fees you referring to?

It’s more applicable at state and local levels. But the users of services tend to not be able to pay for them.

At the federal level, companies and their leaders that are caught cheating should be fined heavily. However, enforcement tends to create bigger and bigger government departments.
 
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Large tariffs on companies that domicile outside the country or won’t invest in the US that want access to US consumers. Send bills to countries that are benefiting from the US military’s protection. Make the CCP pay for the damage they’ve done by releasing COVID on the world.
 
New play is $CLDR. I think it's bottomed out and I'm looking for retracement. Average TP of $15.71. Very nice growth during the pandemic and it's recent drop seems to be caused by weak guidance during their earnings call. I'm also liking the technology sector to continue to heat up like it has been over the last month. It also has a gap to fill back to $14.50
 
The IRS has been used as a weapon by politicians. IMO there should be more user fees and fewer taxes. I laugh at the progressives’ argument that the wealthiest need to pay “their fair share”. They already pay the most and half of the country pays zero. It’s ridiculous that tax policy is used for wealth redistribution. Why reward those that refuse to live within their means?

BTW, POTUS hitting corporations with the proposed oppressive tax hikes will be a slow burn to US companies that are now competing and creating jobs. The US corporate rate would be one of the highest in the developed world. Fools can’t see this and want to punish American success.

Federal Sales Tax. Abolish the income tax. Problem solved.
 
Federal Sales Tax. Abolish the income tax. Problem solved.

The problem is that once government initiates a new tax, it never goes away. The left was arguing loudly for a state income tax in the 1990s and their math was that total taxes would be lower on the poorest when cuts in the state sales taxes were factored in. No way were they going to keep the TN income tax rate at the initial, low level. Income taxes started as just a percent or two and now the leftists don’t think that taking half from some is enough.

That said, I do favor a federal sales or value added tax instead of higher and higher income taxes.
 
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The problem is that once government initiates a new tax, it never goes away. The left was arguing loudly for a state income tax in the 1990s and their math was that total taxes would be lower on the poorest when a cut in the state sales taxes were factored in. No way were they going to keep the initial TN income tax rate at the initial, low level. Income taxes started as just a percent or two and now the leftists don’t think that taking half from some is enough.

That said, I do favor a federal sales or value added tax instead of higher and higher income taxes.

The way I look at it, a federal sales tax gives Americans their money to spend as they wish and no one can hide their income or find loopholes to avoid tax. I would make basic items like food not taxable but everything else. Also you could dismantle the IRS down to bare bones which would save the government millions a year. Makes too much sense.
 
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The way I look at it, a federal sales tax gives Americans their money to spend as they wish and no one can hide their income or find loopholes to avoid tax. I would make basic items like food not taxable but everything else. Also you could dismantle the IRS down to bare bones which would save the government millions a year. Makes too much sense.
At this point, there is simply a lot of inertia that ensures the IRS/income tax will never go away. In addition to the aforementioned reasons. The IRS employs 75,000 people and who knows how many millions more have jobs because a complex income tax exists (accountants, etc.). There's an entire industry built around it that employs millions, just like the military-industrial complex.

The problem is that once government initiates a new tax, it never goes away. The left was arguing loudly for a state income tax in the 1990s and their math was that total taxes would be lower on the poorest when cuts in the state sales taxes were factored in. No way were they going to keep the TN income tax rate at the initial, low level. Income taxes started as just a percent or two and now the leftists don’t think that taking half from some is enough.

That said, I do favor a federal sales or value added tax instead of higher and higher income taxes.
Same thing will occur if/when a "wealth tax" is instituted. The Elizabeth Warrens/Bernies of the world say it'll be instituted "only on the 1% of the 1%." As you said they said the same thing about the income tax and the AMT. Within 20 years, I'd predict that everybody with a positive net worth will be paying something.
 
That sounds crazy to me. It's a dull company, making good money, growing, asking for market protection and they got it. I don't know why we'd expect anything real volatile. Upgraded to strong buy an hour ago and guess what - nobody cares, just as you'd expect.

It looks like get rich slow to me. I hope I'm wrong. holding 100 shares.
 
morganstanley dot com:

Investors should keep an eye on policy actions and on potential for higher interest rates and inflation.
Some pundits are saying that 2021 is starting to look a lot like 2013. That year, having shaken off the last vestiges of the Great Recession, U.S. markets settled into a “Goldilocks” period of low interest rates, stable but not stellar economic growth and steadily rising markets. For many companies and investors, that was great while it lasted.

Fast-forward to 2021: U.S. stocks hit all-time highs in the first quarter as new fiscal stimulus and progress on vaccinations boosted profit outlooks. Longer-term interest rates rose too, with inflation-adjusted, or “real,” 10-year Treasury yields climbing from -1%, up to -0.65%. For many market participants, these conditions suggest that a short-lived growth spurt for the economy will soon give way to a more moderate expansion, lower-for-longer rates and benign inflation, much like it did eight years ago.

We view things differently. Far from a repeat of 2013, we expect this expansion to run hotter and shorter than the last one, bringing higher rates and inflation—with significant implications for investors. Here’s why:
  • Aggressive policy response has driven a rapid recovery. The massive fiscal and monetary response to the pandemic has left consumers with the healthiest household balance sheets in years. And for companies, excess cash and profits as a share of assets are near historic highs. Even without a full rebound in employment, economic activity is poised to get back to 2019 levels, which would make this recovery the fastest since the 1970s. We expect GDP to grow 2 to 3 times faster in the next two years than in 2013-14.
New infrastructure spending should further fuel growth. Legislation calling for another $2 trillion for infrastructure upgrades, if passed by lawmakers, would mark the most radical shift in U.S. government spending priorities since the 1980s. We think such an infrastructure package will get done in Washington and will super-charge the next cycle of capital spending, dominated by upgrades in cybersecurity, 5G communications and clean energy.
  • Inflation is poised to come back as the economy fully reopens in the second half of 2021. Not only do we begin this business cycle with goods inflation and rising commodity prices, but higher wages are also likely. Employment should be back to where it was before the pandemic by year-end, with more than a million jobs being added per month, which should put upward pressure on wages.
This hotter but shorter cycle will likely bring elevated interest rate volatility along with headwinds for both stocks and bonds. We recommend keeping an eye on policy actions that could help drive economic growth, inflation and employment. Investors should consider re-tooling portfolios away from long-duration and rate-sensitive sectors and toward pro-cyclical allocations, emphasizing short duration, value and quality in equity and fixed income.

This article is based on Lisa Shalett’s Global Investment Committee Weekly report from March 29, “The ‘Real’ Deal.” Ask your Financial Advisor for a copy or find an advisor.
 
Thoughts on Palintir as a long term play? I love it. The world is increasingly driven by data management... they seem to be the best at it.
 
^^^^^ makes me think about Martin Marietta Materials (MLM), Verizon (VZ), Qualcomm (QCOM?), Palo Alto, etc. but not necessarily home builders. Builders have benefited from the historically low interest rates as much as any industry.

Inflation might be a different animal this time IMO. Based on how houses are being bid up to crazy levels and new pickup trucks running about $50k I feel that high end inflation will be more prevalent. Perhaps consumer staples don’t inflate to crazy levels. Petro has already had a big run. Food could stay reasonable. There will be a lot of competition for vacation and leisure spending. But on the other hand the pent up demand must be huge.
 
Thoughts on Palintir as a long term play? I love it. The world is increasingly driven by data management... they seem to be the best at it.

The smaller software companies scare me. I’m not sure about current valuations, but I like the well entrenched mid-caps or smaller large caps. SalesForce and WorkDay are good LT software securities IMO. They keep expanding their customer bases and are not easy to switch away from. I’d like to see names of pure play internet builders. The planned infrastructure spending includes delivering broadband into underserved areas. It’s not a pure play, but I like Verizon as a beneficiary of internet expansion. I think that Akamai will make another run, but they could quickly get crushed by a mega-tech name. Like Microsoft erasing Novell. Akamai was slammed a decade ago when Amazon WS took that business in house. I would think that Qualcomm will be a beneficiary of the government promoting 5G (but that pesky CCP will continue to steal their technology).
 
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Thoughts on Palintir as a long term play? I love it. The world is increasingly driven by data management... they seem to be the best at it.
My biggest fear with owning them would be that someone like Google decides to eat their lunch one day. They already have all the data to do it.
 
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^^^^^ makes me think about Martin Marietta Materials (MLM), Verizon (VZ), Qualcomm (QCOM?), Palo Alto, etc. but not necessarily home builders. Builders have benefited from the historically low interest rates as much as any industry.

Inflation might be a different animal this time IMO. Based on how houses are being bid up to crazy levels and new pickup trucks running about $50k I feel that high end inflation will be more prevalent. Perhaps consumer staples don’t inflate to crazy levels. Petro has already had a big run. Food could stay reasonable. There will be a lot of competition for vacation and leisure spending. But on the other hand the pent up demand must be huge.
There is a shortage of both houses and vehicles. You can't raise prices of homes fast enough in Nashville. Supposedly there is a shortage of parts for vehicles. Ford had to shut down a plant for a few days. Inability to get parts was the reason given.
We want a new Avalon(old folks car). I don't think there is a dealer in the country that has more than 5 on their lot. They make that many trim levels so they might have only one of what we are looking for.
Petro? Gas goes up and down. Up after the extraordinary cold blast in Texas caused a supply problem, and now they are coming back down. It's always like that. I think OPEC has also loosened supply..
I have noticed several new cars in my neighborhood. I suspect several people have used their stimulus check to make a down payment. Used cars seem to be selling at a very small discount to new cars.
I do think we will have significant inflation. Too much money put in the system and very low interest rates. Sadly the Fed seems obsessed with propping up the stock market.
 

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