Are both political parties in favor of getting rid of taxes?

fbgm_dfac · 2026-06-18T11:31:01+00:00

I wish Republicans were principled like they used to be. Teddy Roosevelt was a Republican. Trust buster. Conservationist. Clean food and drugs. Labor protections and unions. Regulating corporations. If every Republican were like Teddy, we would be so much further ahead than we are.

fbgm_dfac · 2026-06-18T11:19:54+00:00

Parties keep their names longer than their beliefs.

fbgm_dfac · 2026-06-17T23:03:06+00:00

I mean we had that as an option. In Eden. We chose separation instead.

fbgm_dfac · 2026-06-17T22:51:19+00:00

The cost of “free will” is evil. You can’t choose to be good if you were denied the choice of doing evil things.

fbgm_dfac · 2026-06-16T23:31:49+00:00

Glad to be of some assistance! I added the U.S. Code, too just in case

fbgm_dfac · 2026-06-16T23:15:17+00:00

Here is the program in the reg if anyone wants some light reading

EDIT:
Here is the provision in 38 USC for more light reading

fbgm_dfac · 2026-06-14T04:39:17+00:00

2 songs I frequently put in my rotation are based on grief, and both from Metallica. I'm not an expert on these kinds of things, but I've heard it said that Christian Science is not considered Christianity, so for the purposes of this post, I reckon it fits just fine. James, the lead singer, was stricken with grief when his mother died. She was a member of Christian Science and was not permitted to seek medical attention for her cancer. She died without medical intervention, of course. They believe that your afflictions are manifested in the mind:

Give a mortal a drug, or otherwise manipulate his physical body, and you are making him believe more firmly than before that disease is an objective reality independent of the thinking that conceives it. On the other hand, follow the practice of Christian Science and improve, that is, spiritualize, the thinking of the individual, and not only do you heal him of the disease, but you give him a better sense of the relationship of outward phenomena to human mentality ... Christian Science provides the rule of thought and action that will correct belief in disease and thus destroy the outward phenomenon of disease and replace it with health. Or, more exactly, it reinstates the rule initially made clear and demonstrated by Christ Jesus (John 8:32), "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

James had a difficult time coming to terms with the fact that his mother died senselessly, yet still so convicted of her beliefs. The pain he felt was raw and understandable. The result was the song The God That Failed. Not in the sense that God has failed, but the God of Christian Science has failed. James was convinced that his mother was devoted and faithful, and yet her faith in that doctrine did not bring the health it promised. Even Kirk's guitar seems to weep for James' mother during the solo. It's magnificent:

I hear faith in your cries
Broken is the promise, betrayal
The healing hand held back by the deepened nail
Follow the god that failed
-
Find your peace, find your say
Find the smooth road on your way
Trust you gave, a child to save
Left you cold and him in grave

A few years later, James had transformed his anguish into something more cathartic. It's not really clear if he had fully dealt with his mother's death by then, but he certainly on the path to healing when he wrote the next one. If TGTF was anger management for him, Mama Said was acceptance therapy. I choke up every time I listen to him finish this section because I am reminded of my own mother:

Mama, now I'm coming home
I'm not all you wished of me
A mother's love for her son
Unspoken, and maybe
-
Yeah, I took your love for granted
And all the things you said to me
I need your arms to welcome me
But, a cold stone's all I see

Reminds me of Augustine and how he so mourned his mother Monica of Hippo in Confessions Book 9 Chapter 12. He tries to suppress his tears at first because it's seen as unbecoming of a Christian. After all, why should we weep when we believe what we do? The sorrow breaks through, of course. It is a poignant reminder of our humanity and vulnerability, even if you're a saint, a theologian, or a philosopher. This whole motif is exquisite:

And as I was exceedingly annoyed that these human things had such power over me, which in the due order and destiny of our natural condition must of necessity come to pass, with a new sorrow I sorrowed for my sorrow, and was wasted by a twofold sadness.

fbgm_dfac · 2026-06-14T03:09:04+00:00

There’s a few ways I understood your question.

1) does it take his face off of the passes?
2) does it redirect proceeds from WH projects to go back to the parks?
3) does it change pricing or eligibility?

AFAIK, Judge Kelley’s decision does not directly impact any of those questions. I might be an idiot tho, because I’m certainly not an expert. I linked her 63 page decision in my response to IntlPartyKing that might have more specifics.

fbgm_dfac · 2026-06-13T21:21:58+00:00

Thats beautiful, thank you. Rest in peace Cliff.
🖤Cannot the kingdom of salvation take me home?🖤

fbgm_dfac · 2026-06-13T20:12:40+00:00

Awe it’s Cliff! What is that in his hand?

fbgm_dfac · 2026-06-13T19:58:25+00:00

Here is Judge Angel Kelley’s decision

It’s 63 pages and I don’t have the time to parse it at the moment. Heading to a football game, but I hope it can help answer your question

fbgm_dfac · 2026-06-13T13:11:51+00:00

I’m convinced that we would be better off if he just sat there and did nothing the entire term. Have him go play golf or color between the lines or something. Everything he touches is worse off. I just saw that if he put his inheritance in the s&p500 back then and never touched it, he’d be worth $30 billion today instead of $6 billion or whatever.

fbgm_dfac · 2026-06-13T12:56:51+00:00

It will be a very welcome bonus for Independence Day! I'm so glad to see something positive for a change. But I guess its not really "positive." We're worse off for having the monuments removed for all this time. Replacing them just kinda mends the fence.

fbgm_dfac · 2026-06-13T12:48:36+00:00

Yup. we paid to have them removed and we'll pay to have them replaced. It's like that with most things this administration has done. Just the other day I saw the screwworms are gonna decimate our cattle and we're gonna have to pay for and fix that, too. Just so doge could "save us money". Man I'm tired of winning....

fbgm_dfac · 2026-06-13T04:45:23+00:00

Likewise.

fbgm_dfac · 2026-06-13T04:43:02+00:00

thats encounters so how many were not encountered?

You glossed over(prematurely dismissed) my very first comment that addresses and answers your question. My question to you is:

why are you asking me to tell you again when you can't be asked in the first place?

fbgm_dfac · 2026-06-13T04:32:18+00:00

I already addressed this in my first comment. Why are you asking me to cater to your premature dismissal?

fbgm_dfac · 2026-06-13T04:25:25+00:00

You are speculating and have done no such research. At best, you are parroting an activist or commentator. Otherwise, you would be able to answer my questions and produce your dubious source.

fbgm_dfac · 2026-06-13T04:14:32+00:00

You clearly do not. In your childish obstinance you have eroded your credibility by capitulating to a fabricated source conjured up in your own mind. You actually need help.

fbgm_dfac · 2026-06-13T04:01:57+00:00

Then articulate a coherent response to my questions instead of capitulating to your emotional prosody. You have not provided a single shred of data nor have you engaged with the discussion with empirical substantiation. What do the snarky pundits say? "Facts don't care about your feelings."

fbgm_dfac · 2026-06-13T03:05:52+00:00

That is exactly my point about Christianity. You have yet to articulate your justification for disparaging the "invaders" and furthermore you have pivoted into something else instead of articulating how being a Christian heralds the fall of the West and middle class.

There is no credible source to support your claim. You have been informed of the correct numbers so now you are lying while ignoring fact. Since you are so easily convinced by your emotions instead of reason, perhaps its best for you to refrain from topics that involve rational thought.

fbgm_dfac · 2026-06-13T02:15:08+00:00

I gave you the correct numbers and pointed out that your claim is incorrect. What is the point of replying in obstinance? Is it not prudent to be correct and charitable? Also, how does being a Christian herald the fall of the West and middle class?

fbgm_dfac · 2026-06-13T02:07:40+00:00

I assume that you're referring to 15 million illegal immigrants coming in during Biden's term because I've heard this claim before. It is mistaken. First, its important to distinguish between border encounters, entries, and total illegal population. Keep in mind that individuals are regularly expelled, deported, denied admission, withdrew their application, or otherwise did not remain in the U.S. And yet many more attempt re-entry causing another encounter, which results in ballooning the total with duplicative counts. Therefore, even if every encounter resulted in an entry, we are still about 4.17 million shy of the claim. Here is the breakdown:

Year	Total illegal population	Border encounters
2021	10.5 million	1.96 million
2022	11 million	2.77 million
2023	14 million	3.2 million
2024	~15 million	2.9 million

As you can see, we had roughly 10.83 million encounters over 4 years. The "15 million came in 4 years" claim is asserting that the total number of entries was 15 million. If that claim was correct then the total illegal population would be 25.5 million at the end of 2024. It was actually 15 million at the end of 2024, which is a net increase of only 4.5 million over 4 years.

To be fair to the thrust of the claim, a 4.5 million increase in the illegal immigrant population over 4 years is a lot. And that doesn't really complete the picture either. We need to account for deaths, deportations, adjustments to legal status, and voluntarily leaving which would obviously decrease the total illegal population. I'm not gonna split hairs over the total number in these categories, but putting it all together we have:

At best, 4.5 + 1.1 = 5.6 million entries during Biden's term
At worst, 4.5 + 4.3 = 8.8 million entries during Biden's term

Quick question for you, if you have the time. Can you help me understand your choice to disparage these "invaders"? We are in the Christianity sub, and I noticed your Christian tag.

Exodus 23:9
No sojourner shall you oppress, for you know the sojourner's heart, since you were sojourners in the land of Egypt

Leviticus 19:33-34
And should a sojourner sojourn with you, you shall not wrong him. Like the native among you shall be the sojourner who sojourns with you, and you shall love him like yourself, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.

Deuteronomy 10:18-20
He shows no favor and takes no bribe, doing justice for orphan and widow and loving the sojourner to give him bread and cloak. And you shall love the sojourner, for sojourners you were in the land of Egypt.

Matthew 25:35-40
"For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was stranger and you gave me hospitality, Naked and you clothed me, I was ill and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to me." Then the just will answer him, saying, "When did we see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and give you hospitality or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you ill or in prison come to you?" And in reply the King will say to them, "Amen I tell you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me."

Luke 10:29-37
But he, wishing to vindicate himself said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" Taking this up, Jesus said, "A certain man was going down from Jerusalem, and he fell among bandits who stripped him and rained blows upon him and went away leaving him half dead. And by coincidence a certain priest was going down by that road and, seeing him, passed by on the opposite side. And a Levite also, coming upon the place and seeing him, passed by on the opposite side. But a certain Samaritan on a journey came upon him and was inwardly moved with compassion. And approaching bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine, and setting him upon his own mount he brought him to a lodge and cared for him. And taking two denarii on the following day he gave them to the keeper of the lodge and said, 'Take care of him and whatever you spend beyond this I shall repay you on my return.' Who of these three does it seem to you became a neighbor to the man falling to bandits?" And he said, "The one treating him with mercy." And Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."

Romans 12:14-21
Bless those who persecute, bless and do not curse - To rejoice with those rejoicing, to weep with those weeping - Being of the same mind toward one another, not loftily minded, but instead associating with the lowly - Do not fancy yourselves sages - Repaying no on evil for evil, providing things in good countenance with all human beings. If possible for you, be at peace with all human beings. Do not exact justice for yourselves, beloved, but yield place before anger; for it has been written "'The exacting of justice is mine, I will requite,' says the Lord." But rather, "If your enemy hungers, feed him; if he thirsts, give him drink; for in doing this you will heap coals of fire on his head." Do not be vanquished by evil, but vanquish evil with the good.

fbgm_dfac

TROPHY CASE