Posted on 09/25/2016 12:39:13 PM PDT by Be Careful
As most of you know, I had been endorsing Hillary Clinton for president, for my personal safety, because I live in California. It isn’t safe to be a Trump supporter where I live. And it’s bad for business too. But recently I switched my endorsement to Trump, and I owe you an explanation. So here it goes.
1. Things I Don’t Know: There are many things I don’t know. For example, I don’t know the best way to defeat ISIS. Neither do you. I don’t know the best way to negotiate trade policies. Neither do you. I don’t know the best tax policy to lift all boats. Neither do you. My opinion on abortion is that men should follow the lead of women on that topic because doing so produces the most credible laws. So on most political topics, I don’t know enough to make a decision. Neither do you, but you probably think you do.
Given the uncertainty about each candidate – at least in my own mind – I have been saying I am not smart enough to know who would be the best president. That neutrality changed when Clinton proposed raising estate taxes. I understand that issue and I view it as robbery by government.
I’ll say more about that, plus some other issues I do understand, below.
2. Confiscation of Property: Clinton proposed a new top Estate Tax of 65% on people with net worth over $500 million. Her website goes to great length to obscure the actual policy details, including the fact that taxes would increase on lower value estates as well. See the total lack of transparency here, where the text simply refers to going back to 2009 rates. It is clear that the intent of the page is to mislead, not inform.
So don’t fall for the claim that Clinton has plenty of policy details on her website. She does, but it is organized to mislead, not to inform. That’s far worse than having no details.
The bottom line is that under Clinton’s plan, estate taxes would be higher for anyone with estates over $5 million(ish). I call this a confiscation tax because income taxes have already been paid on this money. In my case, a dollar I earn today will be taxed at about 50% by various government entities, collectively. With Clinton’s plan, my remaining 50 cents will be taxed again at 50% when I die. So the government would take 75% of my earnings from now on.
Yes, I can do clever things with trusts to avoid estate taxes. But that is just welfare for lawyers. If the impact of the estate tax is nothing but higher fees for my attorney, and hassle for me, that isn’t good news either.
You can argue whether an estate tax is fair or unfair, but fairness is an argument for idiots and children. Fairness isn’t an objective quality of the universe. I oppose the estate tax because I was born to modest means and worked 7-days a week for most of my life to be in my current position. (I’m working today, Sunday, as per usual.) And I don’t want to give 75% of my earnings to the government. (Would you?)
3. Party or Wake: It seems to me that Trump supporters are planning for the world’s biggest party on election night whereas Clinton supporters seem to be preparing for a funeral. I want to be invited to the event that doesn’t involve crying and moving to Canada. (This issue isn’t my biggest reason.)
4. Clinton’s Health: To my untrained eyes and ears, Hillary Clinton doesn’t look sufficiently healthy – mentally or otherwise – to be leading the country. If you disagree, take a look at the now-famous “Why aren’t I 50 points ahead” video clip. Likewise, Bill Clinton seems to be in bad shape too, and Hillary wouldn’t be much use to the country if she is taking care of a dying husband on the side.
5. Pacing and Leading: Trump always takes the extreme position on matters of safety and security for the country, even if those positions are unconstitutional, impractical, evil, or something that the military would refuse to do. Normal people see this as a dangerous situation. Trained persuaders like me see this as something called pacing and leading. Trump “paces” the public – meaning he matches them in their emotional state, and then some. He does that with his extreme responses on immigration, fighting ISIS, stop-and-frisk, etc. Once Trump has established himself as the biggest bad-ass on the topic, he is free to “lead,” which we see him do by softening his deportation stand, limiting his stop-and-frisk comment to Chicago, reversing his first answer on penalties for abortion, and so on. If you are not trained in persuasion, Trump look scary. If you understand pacing and leading, you might see him as the safest candidate who has ever gotten this close to the presidency. That’s how I see him.
So when Clinton supporters ask me how I could support a “fascist,” the answer is that he isn’t one. Clinton’s team, with the help of Godzilla, have effectively persuaded the public to see Trump as scary. The persuasion works because Trump’s “pacing” system is not obvious to the public. They see his “first offers” as evidence of evil. They are not. They are technique.
And being chummy with Putin is more likely to keep us safe, whether you find that distasteful or not. Clinton wants to insult Putin into doing what we want. That approach seems dangerous as hell to me.
6. Persuasion: Economies are driven by psychology. If you expect things to go well tomorrow, you invest today, which causes things to go well tomorrow, as long as others are doing the same. The best kind of president for managing the psychology of citizens – and therefore the economy – is a trained persuader. You can call that persuader a con man, a snake oil salesman, a carnival barker, or full of shit. It’s all persuasion. And Trump simply does it better than I have ever seen anyone do it.
The battle with ISIS is also a persuasion problem. The entire purpose of military action against ISIS is to persuade them to stop, not to kill every single one of them. We need military-grade persuasion to get at the root of the problem. Trump understands persuasion, so he is likely to put more emphasis in that area.
Most of the job of president is persuasion. Presidents don’t need to understand policy minutia. They need to listen to experts and then help sell the best expert solutions to the public. Trump sells better than anyone you have ever seen, even if you haven’t personally bought into him yet. You can’t deny his persuasion talents that have gotten him this far.
In summary, I don’t understand the policy details and implications of most of either Trump’s or Clinton’s proposed ideas. Neither do you. But I do understand persuasion. I also understand when the government is planning to confiscate the majority of my assets. And I can also distinguish between a deeply unhealthy person and a healthy person, even though I have no medical training. (So can you.)
—
I will be live streaming my viewing of the debate Monday night, with my co-host and neighbor, Kristina Basham. Tune your television to the debate and use your phone or iPad with the Periscope app, and look for me at @ScottAdamsSays.
>>He’s a comic strip writer
He’s a comic strip writer like Trump is a reality TV star. People do more things than they are popular for doing. He’s not some idiot with drawing skills. Even his comic strip is a clever indictment of the inhumanity of corporate culture in America and not just some silly Family Circus kind of strip.
They were more rational than Muslims.
I didn’t read it like that. I think he said to let women take the lead on abortion legislation. That’s fine with me because there are millions of pro-life women in America. Let them do the heavy lifting. I’m sure Sarah Palin and Michelle Bachman could cobble something together ;-)
“And death tax increases have no affect on me”
Actually, it does; it affects everybody in tangential ways.
“With effective tax rates rising above 80 percent, the death tax discourages savings and investment, encourages the squandering of assets and allows the government to take most of whatever is left. IT SILENTLY STEALS FROM OUR COMMUNITIES THE INVESTMENT NECESSARY TO BUILD WEALTH AND CREATE JOBS.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2000/08/01/opinion/how-taxes-trickle-down.html?_r=0
It affects family farms, and when farms go under because of the inheritance tax, agriculture suffers and food prices increase.
The idea of Hillary taking care of a dying husband is certainly good for a chuckle.
Not happening.
Did you not read the explanation ... for his safety? Not for a second was he going to vote for her.
Actually, I know that traditionally polling has shown that men are more pro legal abortion than women. I don’t know if that’s changed in the last decade, though.
Government theft. That is why you should begin transferring wealth to your loved ones and dependents while you are alive. (Notice I said loved ones; because the unloved ones will haggle over your estate.) Offer to pay for dinners, for groceries, furniture, vacations and trips. Help pay for their cars and maintenance. Buy them nice presents for birthdays and Christmas. In other words, give some of your wealth while you are alive, it is legal and tax free (well, up to about $26G for a couple giving to each person per year). Have them build a nest egg of their own from your gifts.
I would much rather give to family than have the government steal it all. I have a trust, but know the government wants to take half of it when me and my wife die. Keep some of your wealth off the books in goods, and inform your adult children of how to find the goods.
Plank #3 of the Communist Manifesto: Abolition of all rights of inheritance.
RE #5, you don’t need to be an expert on “pacing and leading” to get what Trump is saying. Common sense tells you that when there are strong prevailing winds heading left, you have to aim well to the right to hit the target.
Any issue like this is going to need the support or objection of men to go anywhere.
Men need to be involved, and not sitting idly waiting for women to decide.
I don’t know those stats. You may be right.
I can tell you that men are more often than you think sad to see the kid destroyed.
Oops, amount went up to $28 thousand for a couple giving cash to each person per year tax free, up to $56 thousand for a couple giving to a couple. Looks like I need to give more to my adult kids.
Anyway, Mr Adams, let’s see what I can clarify with near total certainty.
These are some reasons I’m voting for Trump.
1. The Democrat/government/academic/media complex is profoundly, and possibly irreparably corrupt. I don’t know what Trump can do about it, but Hillary is its ultimate expression. This must change. Now.
2. Hillary will continue to participate in the suppression of Christian expression and beliefs. I don’t like this.
3. Hillary’s SCOTUS appointees are going to be Ginsburg clones. Trump cannot do any worse, and says he’ll do better.
4. OK, this isn’t rational, I’ll grant you, but Hillary just pisses me off at some deep limbic, even visceral level. Always has. Always will.
Any imagreenwith all od Adam’s points. Hillary will have as much with her glare of hatred on Putin as Obama did. I don’t think Putin gives a crap for either of these two.
Autocorrect butchered what should have read “And I’m in agreement with Adam’s other points” etc etc.
Party vs Wake. That alone is enough!
I didn’t say men should sit idly by. I said women should take the lead, with the vigorous support of pro-life people everywhere.
The number one thing you should do, is have a will.
Some states become owner if you don’t.
Very bad.
Life insurance policies are a good way to gift to the kids too, because they are non-taxable.
You have to know what you’re doing to set them up, load/no load. (money after tax or pre tax-from a TSA or the like.)
I question your judgement because you clearly missed his original endorsement of Hillary as sarcasm. (for my personal safety)
Good...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.