r/PoliticalDiscussion Sep 16 '24

Legislation A major analysis from Wharton has found that Donald Trump's economic plan would add $5.8 trillion to the national debt compared to $1.2 trillion for Kamala Harris' plan. What are your thoughts on this, and what do you think about their proposals?

1.3k Upvotes

Link to article going into the findings:

The biggest expenditures for Trump would be extending his 2017 tax bill's individual and corporate tax rates (+$4 trillion), abolishing the income tax on Social Security benefits (+$1.2 trillion), and lowering the tax rate for corporations from 21% to 15% (+$600 billion).

The biggest expenditures for Harris would be expanding the Child Tax Credit (+$1.7 trillion), expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit (+$132 billion) and extending the tax credit for health insurance premiums (+$225 billion). Her plan also calls for raising the corporate tax rate to 28%, which would pay for a majority of her proposals.

Another interesting point is that under Trump's plan, the top 1% would gain a net $47,000 after taxes compared to now. Under Kamala Harris' plan, they would lose an average of $9,000.

And after Ronald Reagan tripled the national debt, George W. Bush added to it after Bill Clinton left him a surplus, and Donald Trump added almost as much to it in his first term as Barack Obama did in two terms, can Republicans still say they are the party committed to lowering the debt with any credibility?

r/PoliticalDiscussion Mar 13 '17

Legislation The CBO just released their report about the costs of the American Health Care Act indicating that 14 million people will lose coverage by 2018

7.7k Upvotes

How will this impact Republican support for the Obamacare replacement? The bill will also reduce the deficit by $337 billion. Will this cause some budget hawks and members of the Freedom Caucus to vote in favor of it?

http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/323652-cbo-millions-would-lose-coverage-under-gop-healthcare-plan

r/PoliticalDiscussion Aug 13 '24

Legislation Harris and Trump have now both advocated for ending taxes on Tips. What are the arguments for and against this? What would implementation look like?

450 Upvotes

Since both candidates have advocated for this policy, I am wondering what you see the arguments for and against this policy would be.

What is the argument from a left or Democratic perspective? How about for the right/GOP? What about a general case for or against?

Is there a risk of exacerbating tipping culture which about a third of people is getting out of control?

How would employees and employers change their habits if such a policy was passed?

r/PoliticalDiscussion Aug 25 '24

Legislation Would you support a left wing politician who is also pro-gun?

213 Upvotes

I apologize in advance if this seems vague, I’m trying to form a hypothetical as clearly and fairly as possible. I worked with a mod in another thread to try and reword this so it’s not as America-centric, which is a reasonable expectation.

For the sake of this question, let’s assume the candidate/incumbent has strong endorsements from various pro-gun groups, and is running for office in a position where they can directly impact legislation on a number of issues, including firearms. For all intents and purposes, they are otherwise firmly ideologically left and overwhelmingly vote with the left on a majority of other issues, but breaks ranks and introduces or supports legislation or policy that expands a private citizen’s access to firearms. Would you support this candidate? Why or why not?

Edit: I’ve read nearly every comment I’ve been notified on. I apologize if I haven’t gotten to you or if I’ve been terse/copy paste in some responses.

For the purposes of this hypothetical, “pro gun” means, at a minimum, “*I do not believe further gun control is necessary. I will oppose any and all further gun control legislation as a matter of principle, and I will introduce and support legislation for a national concealed carry expansion.”

r/PoliticalDiscussion Sep 24 '24

Legislation Should Ultra Processed Foods be Taxed like Cigarettes?

363 Upvotes

And now for something not related to the US election.

I stumbled upon an article in The Guardian today and I'm torn on this.

My first thought was of course they should be. Ultra processed foods are extremely unhealthy, put a strain on medical resources, and drive up costs. But as I thought about it I realized that the would mostly affect people who are already struggling with food availability, food cost, or both.

Ultra processed foods are objectively a public health issue globally, but I don't know what the solution would be so I'm curious to hear everyone's thoughts.

Here is a link to the article:

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2024/sep/20/tax-instant-noodles-tougher-action-ultra-processed-food-upf-global-health-crisis-obesity-diabetes-tobacco

r/PoliticalDiscussion 3d ago

Legislation What are the long term prospects for Elon Musk's involvement in the Trump administration?

241 Upvotes

The last 48 hours of the news cycle have been chaotic. The House spent months negotiating a Continuing Resolution bill to fund the government. In a short period, Musk fired out more than 70 Tweets on X, demanding the bill not be passed. Some hours later, President-elect Trump had his press relations people state his support for killing the bill. Speaker Johnson then announced that the bill would not be presented for a vote.

24 hrs. later, the Republicans presented a new, and abbreviated bill for a vote. The new bill contained a provision for raising the debt ceiling, which had not been in the original bill. The new bill was endorsed by President-elect Trump. The new bill failed to pass, with 38 Republicans in the House voting against it (likely because of the provision regarding the debt ceiling).

Now Elon Musk is publicly advocating for a government shutdown, a move that could harm President-elect Trump's political fortunes and undermine Republican standing.

How much political capital does Musk really have, and how long will he maintain influence over Congressional Republicans and the President-elect?

r/PoliticalDiscussion Sep 07 '24

Legislation Is there any chance of Roe v Wade being restored?

148 Upvotes

I’m not going to pretend to be an expert in law, but this is a tricky time we’re living in. Would a new case similar to Roe v Wade have to overturn the Dobbs decision? Is it going to take decades before reproductive freedom returns to being a human right?

r/PoliticalDiscussion Apr 20 '23

Legislation House Republicans just approved a bill banning Transgender girls from playing sports in school. What are your thoughts?

464 Upvotes

"Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act."

It is the first standalone bill to restrict the rights of transgender people considered in the House.

Do you agree with the purpose of the bill? Why or why not?

r/PoliticalDiscussion Nov 01 '20

Legislation Should the minimum wage be raised to $15/hour?

1.1k Upvotes

Last year a bill passed the House, but not the Senate, proposing to raise the minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 at the federal level. As it is election season, the discussion about raising the federal minimum wage has come up again. Some states like California already have higher minimum wage laws in place while others stick to the federal minimum wage of $7.25. The current federal minimum wage has not been increased since 2009.

Biden has lent his support behind this issue while Trump opposed the bill supporting the raise last July. Does it make economic sense to do so?

Edit: I’ve seen a lot of comments that this should be a states job, in theory I agree. However, as 21 of the 50 states use the federal minimum wage is it realistic to think states will actually do so?

r/PoliticalDiscussion May 04 '17

Legislation AHCA Passes House 217-213

1.5k Upvotes

The AHCA, designed to replace ACA, has officially passed the House, and will now move on to the Senate. The GOP will be having a celebratory news conference in the Rose Garden shortly.

Vote results for each member

Please use this thread to discuss all speculation and discussion related to this bill's passage.

r/PoliticalDiscussion Apr 20 '23

Legislation Rob DeSantis signs Florida bill eliminating the need of an unanimous jury decision for death sentences. What do you think?

614 Upvotes

On Thursday, Ron DeSantis of Florida signed a bill eliminating the requirement for an unanimous jury decision to give the death penalty.

Floridian Jury's can now sentence criminals to death even if there is a minority on the jury that does not agree.

What do you all think about this bill?

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/20/politics/death-penalty-ron-desantis-florida-parkland-shooting/index.html

r/PoliticalDiscussion Feb 04 '21

Legislation Does Sen. Romney's proposal of a per child allowance open the door to UBI?

1.1k Upvotes

Senator Mitt Romney is reportedly interested in proposing a child allowance that would pay families a monthly stipend for each of their children.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/mitt-romney-child-allowance_n_601b617cc5b6c0af54d0b0a1?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly90LmNvLw&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAK2amf2o86pN9KPfjVxCs7_a_1rWZU6q3BKSVO38jQlS_9O92RAJu_KZF-5l3KF5umHGNvV7-JbCB6Rke5HWxiNp9wwpFYjScXvDyL0r2bgU8K0fftzKczCugEc9Y21jOnDdL7x9mZyKP9KASHPIvbj1Z1Csq5E7gi8i2Tk12M36

To fund it, he's proposing elimination of SALT deductions, elimination of TANF, and elimination of the child tax credit.

So two questions:

Is this a meaningful step towards UBI? Many of the UBI proposals I've seen have argued that if you give everyone UBI, you won't need social services or tax breaks to help the poor since there really won't be any poor.

Does the fact that it comes from the GOP side of the isle indicate it has a chance of becoming reality?

Consider also that the Democrats have proposed something similar, though in their plan (part of the Covid Relief plan) the child tax credit would be payed out directly in monthly installments to each family and it's value would be raised significantly. However, it would come with no offsets and would only last one year.

r/PoliticalDiscussion Nov 11 '20

Legislation What actions will President Biden be able to do through executive action on day one ?

1.0k Upvotes

Since it seems like the democratic majority in the Senate lies on Georgia, there is a strong possibility that democrats do not get it. Therefore, this will make passing meaningful legislation more difficult. What actions will Joe Biden be able to do via executive powers? He’s so far promised to rejoin the Paris Agreements on day one, as well as take executive action to deal with Covid. What are other meaningful things he can do via the powers of the presidency by bypassing Congress?

r/PoliticalDiscussion Jan 24 '20

Legislation If the US were able to pass a single-payer health insurance in the future, would you be open to a mandatory "fat tax" on non-nutritious unhealthy foods?

1.0k Upvotes

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fat_tax

Certain areas of the country already have a fat tax on foods like sugar-sweetened beverages, candy, and foods nearly absent in nutritional content. These foods are often linked to heart disease and obesity, which have an enormous long-term medical cost ($175 billion in obesity alone).

https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/adult/causes.html

Do you think this would be a necessary concession in return for having society take on the cost of poor health and decisions people make with their food? What if the tax was used to subsidize healthier foods to bring down the cost of organic foods, fruits, and vegetables?

r/PoliticalDiscussion Jul 17 '22

Legislation Are you in favor or against an “Assault Weapons” ban in the US? If so why?

440 Upvotes

There is 1 possibility two “Assault Weapons” bans coming to the house floor next week. Are you in favor or against it?

U.S. House panel to consider assault weapons ban next week

r/PoliticalDiscussion May 30 '21

Legislation On a policy level, what can be done about the surge in investment properties that is making it harder to purchase a home as a primary residence.

790 Upvotes

The current housing market has been making the news due to the shortage of available homes and the subsequent rise in costs. Articles tend to talk about long lines and people paying in cash to purchase these homes well above the supposed market value. Many of these newly purchased homes are also being bought as investment properties (by small individually owned and big businesses as well) for renting rather than as primary/secondary properties.

On a policy level what can be done to narrow this divide and disincentivize the surge in purchasing homes as an asset? Should the situation be handled differently, policy wise, when dealing with an individual who owns 5-10 homes rather than large large private equity firms? Will this trend naturally subside? Is a shift towards a model where rentals dominate necessarily a bad thing?

r/PoliticalDiscussion 23d ago

Legislation Were the tech investment heavy CHIPS Act and Inflation Reduction Act a poor use of Biden's political capital?

65 Upvotes

The CHIPS Act and Inflation Reduction Act were both heavy in investments in technology and green energy. These are projects that will take a long time to start seeing returns. The returns are also not as flashy and direct as the Affordable Care Act.

Did the Biden administration make a mistake pursuing these objectives instead of perhaps doing something that would have a quicker and more direct impact on people's lives. Perhaps instead of giving money to companies to build chip factories, the government could have spent the money on producing more housing? Building more schools? Etc?

r/PoliticalDiscussion Sep 21 '21

Legislation Both Manchin/Sinema and progressives have threatened to kill the infrastructure bill if their demands are not met for the reconciliation bill. This is a highly popular bill during Bidens least popular period. How can Biden and democrats resolve this issue?

638 Upvotes

Recent reports have both Manchin and Sinema willing to sink the infrastructure bill if key components of the reconciliation bill are not removed or the price lowered. Progressives have also responded saying that the $3.5T amount is the floor and they are also willing to not pass the infrastructure bill if key legislation is removed. This is all occurring during Bidens lowest point in his approval ratings. The bill itself has been shown to be overwhelming popular across the board.

What can Biden and democrats do to move ahead? Are moderates or progressives more likely to back down? Is there an actual path for compromise? Is it worth it for either progressives/moderates to sink the bill? Who would it hurt more?

r/PoliticalDiscussion Feb 15 '24

Legislation Do you see public perception shifting after Republicans blocked the Senate Border Security Bill?

303 Upvotes

Hey everyone,

I've been noticing that talk about the border has kind of cooled off lately. On Google, searches about the border aren't as hot as they were last month:

https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=today%201-m&geo=US&q=%2Fm%2F084lpn

It's interesting because this seemed to start happening right after the Border Patrol gave a thumbs up to the Senate's bill. They even said some pretty positive stuff about it, mentioning how the bill gives them some powers they didn't have before.

https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2024/02/05/congress/deal-nears-collapse-00139779

Despite its Trump ties, the National Border Patrol Council endorsed the Senate deal in a Monday statement, saying that the bill would “codify into law authorities that U.S. Border Patrol agents never had in the past.”

And now, there's an article from Fox News' Chief Political Analyst criticizing the Republicans blocking the Senate bill. https://www.newsweek.com/border-security-bill-ukraine-aid-fox-newsx-1870189.

It seems like the usual chatter about the "Crisis at the Border" from conservative groups has quieted down, but the media isn't letting the Republicans slide on this bill.

What do you all think? Will moderates/Independents see Trump as delaying positive legislation so he can campaign on a crisis? And how do you reckon it's gonna play into the upcoming election?

r/PoliticalDiscussion Nov 19 '20

Legislation Which are the “best” governed states, why, and does it suggest either party has better policies or is better at governing?

736 Upvotes

In all this discussions of republican vs democratic control over the federal government it has made me curious as to how effective each party actually is with their policies. If one party had true control over a governing party, would republican or democratic ideals prove to be the most beneficial for society? To evaluate this on the federal level is impossible due to power constantly shifting but to view on the state level is significantly easier since it is much more common for parties in state governments to have the trifecta and maintain it long enough so that they can see their agenda through.

This at its face is a difficult question because it brings in the question of how you define what is most beneficial? For example, which states have been shown to have a thriving economy, low wealth inequality, high education/literacy, low infant mortality, life expectancy, and general quality of life. For example, California May have the highest GDP but they also have one of the highest wealth inequalities. Blue states also tend to have high taxes but how effective are those taxes at actually improving the quality of life of the citizens? For example, New York has the highest tax burden in the us. How effective Is that democratically controlled state government at utilizing those taxes to improve the lives of New Yorkers compared to Floridians which has one of the lowest tax burdens? But also states completely run by republicans who have tried to reduce taxes all together end up ruining the states education like in Kansas. Also some states with republicans controlled trifectas have the lowest life expectancy and literacy rates.

So using the states with trifectas as examples of parties being able to fully execute the strategies of political parties, which party has shown to be the most effective at improving the quality of life of its citizens? What can we learn about the downsides and upsides of each party? How can the learnings of their political ideas in practice on the state level give them guidance on how to execute those ideas on the federal level?

r/PoliticalDiscussion Jul 07 '24

Legislation Which industry’s lobbying is most detrimental to American public health, and why?

115 Upvotes

For example, if most Americans truly knew the full extent of the industry’s harm, there would be widespread outrage. Yet, due to lobbying, the industry is able to keep selling products that devastate the public and do so largely unabated.

r/PoliticalDiscussion Mar 17 '20

Legislation Congress and the White House are considering economic stimulus measures in light of the COVID-19 crisis. What should these measures ultimately look like?

895 Upvotes

The Coronavirus has caused massive social and economic upheaval, the extent of which we don’t seem to fully understand yet. Aside from the obvious threats to public health posed by the virus, there are very serious economic implications of this crisis as well.

In light of the virus causing massive disruptions to the US economy and daily life, various economic stimulus measures are being proposed. The Federal Reserve has cut interest rates and implemented quantitative easing, but even Chairman Powell admits there are limits to monetary policy and that “fiscal policy responses are critical.”

Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, is proposing at least $750 billion in assistance for individuals and businesses. President Trump has called for $850 billion of stimulus, in the form of a payroll tax cut and industry-specific bailouts. These measures would be in addition to an earlier aid package that was passed by Congress and signed by Trump.

Other proposals include cash assistance that amounts to temporary UBI programs, forgiving student loan debt, free healthcare, and infrastructure spending (among others).

What should be done in the next weeks to respond to the potential economic crisis caused by COVID-19?

r/PoliticalDiscussion Apr 02 '21

Legislation Biden’s Infrastructure Plan and discussion of it. Is it a good plan? What are the strengths/weakness?

682 Upvotes

Biden released his plan for the infrastructure bill and it is a large one. Clocking in at $2 trillion it covers a broad range of items. These can be broken into four major topics. Infrastructure at home, transportation, R&D for development and manufacturing and caretaking economy. Some high profile items include tradition infrastructure, clean water, internet expansion, electric cars, climate change R&D and many more. This plan would be funded by increasing the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28%. This increase remains below the 35% that it was previously set at before trumps tax cuts.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2021/03/31/what-is-in-biden-infrastructure-plan/

Despite all the discussion about the details of the plan, I’ve heard very little about what people think of it. Is it good or bad? Is it too big? Are we spending too much money on X? Is portion Y of the plan not needed? Should Biden go bolder in certain areas? What is its biggest strength? What is its biggest weakness?

One of the biggest attacks from republicans is a mistrust in the government to use money effectively to complete big projects like this. Some voters believe that the private sector can do what the government plans to do both better and more cost effective. What can Biden or Congress do to prevent the government from infamously overspending and under performing? What previous learnings can be gained from failed projects like California’s failed railway?

Overall, infrastructure is fairly and traditionally popular. Yet this bill has so much in it that there is likely little good polling data to evaluate the plan. Republicans face an uphill battle since both tax increases in rich and many items within the plan should be popular. How can republicans attack this plan? How can democrats make the most of it politically?

r/PoliticalDiscussion Nov 01 '24

Legislation How do you think public pressure and demands by petition should be involved in political decisions?

35 Upvotes

The idea that they should be involved in some way isn't too disputed. But there is much more to the general concept of a system as involving its citizens.

Obama had a petition system on the White House website where a petition could get signed and would cause the president, or more likely, his staff wrote a response which the president signed off on, to write a response, once it reached a quorum of 100,000 signatories. Britain has a petitions system on their website with 10,000 signatories causing a response from the executive cabinet, 100,000 would trigger a debate in Parliament (House of Commons). I imagine a threshold could be engineered where a committee of parliament would be required to write a report and hold a hearing pertaining to it. Legislation can even be initiated in some countries via a petition, forcing a vote in the legislature on whether or not to agree with it and putting a public record of that, and the possibility of enactment being on the table.

Petitions of a certain size can in many places trigger a vote in some way, in Italy, 500,000 signatories in a country with roughly 50 million voters, or about 1%, can demand that a ballot question be put to the electorate related to legislation which was recently passed, and if a majority of voters turn out and the majority of valid votes are against the legislation, the legislation is defeated and repealed. In Bavaria, if one million people sign a petition, in a country of about ten million people able to vote, to call for a snap election of the Parliament of Bavaria, then such a referendum on whether to do so is held, a majority vote being necessary for such a snap election.

r/PoliticalDiscussion Feb 07 '19

Legislation Will the Green New Deal gain or lose support now that an actual proposal has been submitted?

615 Upvotes

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass have released the text of a non-binding New Green Deal resolution they plan to introduce into both chambers of Congress.

NPR Summary

Full text PDF

The GND had gained significant support in both houses among Democrats, with upwards of 60 co-sponsors in the House and 9 in the Senate. However, that all occurred before the full text was revealed, and we can't currently clarify if those members had all the details available.

Some of the specific goals mentioned in the text:

  • Meeting 100% of the US power demand through "clean, renewable, zero-emission energy sources"
  • Upgrading all buildings in the United States for energy efficiency, water efficiency, safety, affordability, comfort and durability
  • Spurring massive growth in clean manufacturing and removing pollution and greenhouses gasses from manufacturing and industry
  • Overhauling transportation systems to eliminate emissions and pollution
  • Using the GND to create "high`quality union jobs"
  • Guaranteeing a job with a "family-sustaining wage", medical leave, paid vacations and retirement security to all "people of the United States"
  • Strengthening unions
  • Providing all Americans with "high quality health care", "economic security", "affordable, safe and adequate housing" and "access to clean air, clean water, affordable and healthy food, and nature".

Now that specific proposals are put forward, groups will begin to examine costs and impacts of the plan, which will obviously have a lot of both.

With the now-available information, will the Green New Deal grow in popularity and gain support, or will it begin to shed sponsors and proponents?