Dustin Chromers
Legend
Who could have predicted this response from this member. I would wager the farm you're not half as bold in person. Then again the keyboard is quite a handy shield.
Dismantling of the USFS
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Rob Allen
Life of the Party
Musk paid 48 million dollars in Federal taxes in 2023.
In 24 and 25 he had no cash income
He paid withholding taxes for his employees to the tune of 3.3 billion dollars per year
The problem is not rich people the problem is too much spending .
Tax musk at 100% per year and it doesn't even pay the i terest on our debt.
The end
In 24 and 25 he had no cash income
He paid withholding taxes for his employees to the tune of 3.3 billion dollars per year
The problem is not rich people the problem is too much spending .
Tax musk at 100% per year and it doesn't even pay the i terest on our debt.
The end
Wow, how did he pay for groceries
He had a compensation package of 56 billion dollars in 2024, tops 1 trillion in 2026 - let's not make it sound like he's doing us all a favor when he does pay taxes.
Based on reports analyzing Tesla's financial filings, the $48 million figure actually refers to the federal income tax paid by Tesla (the company) in 2023, not Elon Musk personally.
Tesla's 2023 Federal Taxes: According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) and Tesla’s financial reports, Tesla paid $48 million in federal taxes on $3.1 billion of U.S. income in 2023.
Context of 2023 Payment: While $48 million was paid in 2023, this represented a low 1.5 percent effective tax rate compared to the 21 percent statutory rate.
Tesla's 2023 Federal Taxes: According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) and Tesla’s financial reports, Tesla paid $48 million in federal taxes on $3.1 billion of U.S. income in 2023.
Context of 2023 Payment: While $48 million was paid in 2023, this represented a low 1.5 percent effective tax rate compared to the 21 percent statutory rate.
Dustin Chromers
Legend
The top 1 percent pay about 40 percent of federal taxes. The top 10 percent pay approximately 75 percent. What again is their fair share? How will taxing them more deal with a spending problem? I'm not in the habit of going to bat for the ultra wealthy but the idea they don't pay taxes is factually not true. The above does not take into account employment taxes, jobs created taxed, and the other multitudes if sales tax and fees it takes to legally run a business in this country. When is enough enough?
Not sure I was the one who said he didn't pay taxes... well, I am sure I wasn't the one. Nor did I say he didn't pay enough in taxes. Perhaps you should either direct your comment to the person who did say such things, or direct your comment to things I actually did say.
I agree with not spending so much, I would name a whole lot that could be cut, but that would get very political very fast.
What federal money flows when the state declares a state drought? Honest question, because I am pretty sure NRCS (the feds) has to declare drought to generate federal assistance.
State drought declaration means affected water suppliers and users can access state emergency drought funds. I can’t figure out how that helps the state or what the “incentive” is there.
There really have been a bunch of drought years in parts of Washington this past decade. Record low river levels in a number of basins in these years would seem to show the effects. I understand skepticism of state government and their motives but I don’t understand skepticism of what I think most of us see with our eyes.
Dustin Chromers
Legend
Not arguing there have not been drought years recently. It's obvious to anybody paying attention or working outdoors especially in natural resources.
As for federal money for declaring drought goes it's meant to be distributed to farmers and other affected industries. Which in itself I'm not blanket opposed to. What I am opposed to is that it sets up incentive to have federal money flow to the state by simply declaring it over zealously. It's honestly not that much money in the world of big government money (3 to 4.5 million) but I would bet that much of it doesn't do what it's supposed to do and is likely looked at by some as a nearly annual stipend.
Must be part of the conspiracy to relocate tax revenues from King County and other 'donor' counties in Western Washington to the 'taker' counties in Eastern Washington...socialism at the state level i guess.
Personally, I have no problem with it, as drought that causes agricultural problems affects everyone, and the farmers the most, so in favor of drought assistance to them as needed.Of course, the rugged individualists who decry big government are not required to accept such assistance, and so they could just decline it.
As Matt pointed out, there's no Federal Funds 'flowing' to the state at this point for the drought declaration.
Personally, I have no problem with it, as drought that causes agricultural problems affects everyone, and the farmers the most, so in favor of drought assistance to them as needed.Of course, the rugged individualists who decry big government are not required to accept such assistance, and so they could just decline it.
As Matt pointed out, there's no Federal Funds 'flowing' to the state at this point for the drought declaration.
This year the government passed the largest military budget in our country's history of 1 Trillion dollars and now 'they' want to increase the budget to 1.5 Trillion. Cuts in the USFS budget? 390 million.
As to the massive military budget:
As to the massive military budget:
- Difficulty Absorbing Funds: Pentagon officials have previously indicated they do not know how to efficiently spend such rapid increases in funding.
- Industrial Base Limitations: The defense industrial base faces bottlenecks, making it difficult to immediately spend hundreds of billions more on manufacturing, shipbuilding, and weapons production.
- Failed Audits: The Pentagon has not yet successfully passed a financial audit, raising concerns among lawmakers about the ability to manage a $1.5 trillion budget without immense waste.
- Economic Limits: With U.S. debt exceeding $39 trillion, this level of spending is entirely debt-financed, adding to the long-term fiscal pressure, as the the national debt hit $38 trillion in October 2025 and $39 trillion in March 2026, with an accumulation rate of nearly $1 trillion in five months.
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fatbillybob
Steelhead
Sad but this is classic government. Government is just to big pends too much. Even in cali just a single state they have spent billions on homelessness have almost nothing to show for it and have no clue where all the money went! Sounds like corruption or massive mismanagement at scale.
Dustin Chromers
Legend
Make no mistake I'm just as skeptical and untrusting towards those guys as well. Fact is this country is in debt to the point default is nearly imminent. Accountability where taxpayer money goes is non existent. I also have no illusions that the above isn't a good ol' boy network of cronies and contractors all feeding at the public trough. And those are the big numbers of the big numbers you've referenced above. In short my distrust is not prejudiced by party or facet of governmental waste. Again in short pigs can't be trusted to manage the slop or the shit.
charles sullivan
Life of the Party
He likely borrowed against his wealth in 24 and 25 rather than make any cash income. In doing so, he would avoid taxes since borrowed money is not income. He will pay interest but that rate is far below his tax rate. That's my understanding of one of the most common ways that the exceptionally wealthy (wealthy rather than high income) avoid being taxed. So as their wealth grows, wether it's stocks or any other investments, a wealthy person can extract money from their wealth via loans against it. They don't need to pay taxes on loans since it is not income. If done correctly, the wealth grows at a rate higher than the interest rate that they borrow at.
Wage earners tend to be taxed a lot more as a percentage of income. It's nearly impossible to avoid income taxes as a wage earner. Like the wage earners who paid the 3.3 billion dollars working for Musk owned companies. The companies may withold the money but the employee pays it. It's withheld from their pay.
As I get older, the "flat tax" makes more and more sense to me when it comes to income tax. It seems like the tax code has become a way to keep the have not's from becoming the have's.
charles sullivan
Life of the Party
Musk owned companies would pay into Social Security and medicare through witholding taxes.
Rob Allen
Life of the Party
Not opposed to a flat low tax rate. Funding the federal government at the current rate is not sustainable.
Rob Allen
Life of the Party
Let's just put it this way. Financially he has done more for America than everyone who has ever used this website 100 times over.. you may not feel that's his fair share but it is none the less true.
So the service of those of us on this website who are veterans was worth 1/100th of what Musk has done for our country?
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk, was a 2025 initiative aimed at slashing federal spending that ultimately failed, resulting in chaotic layoffs, canceled contracts, and increased costs. The project was plagued by inaccurate accounting, leading to claims of billions in savings being debunked, while dismantling agencies like USAID.
Key Aspects of the DOGE Fiasco:
- Failed Financial Goals: Despite promises of efficiency, DOGE's "successes" were largely based on inaccurate math. For example, a $3 billion savings claim was actually only $1.4 billion, and in one instance, a $8 million contract cancellation was reported as $8 billion in savings.
- Massive Disruptions: The initiative eliminated hundreds of thousands of jobs and triggered a lawsuit following the firing of over 300,000 federal employees, resulting in, rather than solving, government inefficiencies.
- Operational Errors: The team behind the initiative was criticized as unqualified, leading to errors like firing personnel involved in bird flu tracking and nuclear weapons security, and incorrectly targeting agencies.
- Premature Demise: DOGE was disbanded by late 2025 after a public feud between Musk and the administration, with reports showing that the chaotic cuts actually threatened to increase the federal deficit by forcing the rehiring of staff.
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Uhhh, OK.
I never said anything about what he has or hasn't done. Not sure why people keep trying to put words in my mouth, I really am quite capable of speaking for myself.
Paige
Wishing I was fishing the Sauk
I think you are oxygen deprived!
He has done absolutely nothing to improve any aspect of my life, and with the impacts form his traitorous acts with doge still yet to be revealed, I call bull shit!
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