Posted originally on the CTH on October 26, 2024 | Sundance
The leaders of the European Union are nervous about President Trump: (1) ending the war in Ukraine, and then (2) ending the Marshal Plan, thereby taxing their exports to the U.S as Trump demands tariff reciprocity; and lastly (3) forcing them to pay for their previous NATO commitments.
Brussels has set up a defensive office within the EU bureaucracy called “The Trump Task Force.”
BRUSSELS — Top European Union officials have met with the bloc’s ambassadors to talk through what it would mean if Donald Trump wins the U.S. election, 12 EU diplomats told POLITICO.
“They’re worried about trade but mostly [about] Ukraine,” one of the diplomats said, adding that Brussels foresees “abrupt changes on U.S. policy even before the inauguration.” The diplomat, like others quoted in this piece, was granted anonymity to speak candidly.
The conversations revolved around two areas of uncertainty should the Republican candidate reclaim the White House: Whether Washington would continue to support Ukraine and the prospect of higher U.S. tariffs for all incoming goods.
[…] The meetings come amid reports the bloc has set up a rapid reaction force to prepare for the fallout of the elections, colloquially known as the “Trump task force.” The EU wants to hit back hard on trade if Trump wins.
Trump has warned that he won’t defend “delinquent” NATO allies spending less than 2 percent of GDP on defense. And he has threatened to slap 10 to 20 percent tariffs on all imports to bring manufacturing jobs back to the U.S. On Thursday, Trump called the EU a “mini China.”
“They don’t take our cars, they don’t take our farm products, don’t take anything. You have a $312 billion deficit with the EU. You know, the EU is a mini — but not so mini — is a mini China,” he said.
Three of the diplomats said that the discussions also touched upon the EU’s relations with China, with Trump set to antagonize Beijing even more. The meetings involve six Commission departments and cover topics such as trade, energy and digital policy — areas that could experience turbulence if Trump returns to the White House. (read more)
Lady Liberty can stroll along the Champs-Elysées with a swagger befitting Mae West because without her arrival they’d be speaking German in the Louvre. Yet for the better part of the past two decades a group of intellectual EU something-or-others have been pushing an insufferable narrative that it’s better to be sitting around a campfire eating sustainable algae cakes and picking parasites off each other.
Enough.
When I hear Donald Trump say, “Let’s Make America Great Again”, I also hear the familiar echo “cowboy up” people.
It’s high time we stop being embarrassed about our exceptional nature, and start being proud of it again. Because when it matters most, when it really counts, when it’s really needed, there’s a whole bunch of people all around this world of ours that are mighty happy when swagger walks in to solve their problems.
Yup, “let’s make America great again”. Swagger on!
WATCH THIS:
WEF "agenda contributor" Ngaire Woods: "The good news is the elite across the world trust each other more and more… The bad news is that the majority of people trust that elite less."
"So we can lead, but if people aren't following, we're not going to get to where we want to… pic.twitter.com/HPquk3lgEQ
Victoria Nuland’s husband, Robert Kagan, has resigned as the Editor at Large from the Washington Post.
WASHINGTON – […] The Post’s newsroom and editorial team erupted in outrage. Robert Kagan, a neoconservative columnist and editor at large at the Post, resigned in response, he confirmed in a statement to POLITICO. A spokesperson for the Post declined to comment on Kagan’s resignation. (more)
Allow me to take you back two-years, to November of 2023 for a reminder.
CTH ARCHIVES – Everyone in/around U.S. politics knows the Washington Post, owned by Big Tech Amazon, is effectively the PR firm of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). No one inside the DC beltway does not understand this basic truth.
Therefore, when the husband of State Dept official Victoria Nuland, a man named Robert Kagan, writes an op-ed in the CIA newsletter, effectively calling for President Trump to receive the Julius Caesar treatment, the non-subtle message is for the CIA to repeat their Kennedy performance and kill President Trump.
As alarming as this acceptance might sound, there are no intellectually honest people who would deny it.
WaPo/CIA – Let’s stop the wishful thinking and face the stark reality: There is a clear path to dictatorship in the United States, and it is getting shorter every day. In 13 weeks, Donald Trump will have locked up the Republican nomination. In the RealClearPolitics poll average (for the period from Nov. 9 to 20), Trump leads his nearest competitor by 47 points and leads the rest of the field combined by 27 points. The idea that he is unelectable in the general election is nonsense — he is tied or ahead of President Biden in all the latest polls — stripping other Republican challengers of their own stated reasons for existence.
[…] Are we going to do anything about it? To shift metaphors, if we thought there was a 50 percent chance of an asteroid crashing into North America a year from now, would we be content to hope that it wouldn’t? Or would we be taking every conceivable measure to try to stop it, including many things that might not work but that, given the magnitude of the crisis, must be tried anyway?
Will those who balked at resisting Trump when the risk was merely political oblivion suddenly discover their courage when the cost might be the ruin of oneself and one’s family? (more)
Victoria Nuland’s husband, Robert Kagan, the Editor at Large for the Washington Post and the man who called for the assassination of President Trump, has now resigned because the CIA newsletter would not endorse Kamala Harris!
Posted originally on Oct 24, 2024 By Martin Armstrong
I reported how the US deficitreached the third-highest on record after surpassing $1.83 trillion. Instead of questioning why the deficit rose 8% in a single year, the government believes that the taxpayers should simply pay MORE into the failing system. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen declared that she is not concerned about the widening deficit. Why? The Internal Revenue Service will hunt down citizens to close the gap.
Yellen said that IRS agents plan to collect $2 trillion in unpaid taxes, surpassing the measly deficit. I do believe some think that statements like this mean the government is going to hunt down major corporations and billionaires. That would not be ethical either, but records show that the main group audited last year was the middle class. This way of thinking is extremely dangerous. The US government is desperate for funds and they MUST shake down their citizens to recover what they can. It’s a canon event in the rise and fall of civilizations – soaring taxes are a guarantee when dealing with the eventually fall of a nation.
“By making sure that we stay on a sound fiscal path and that does require deficit reduction over the coming years,” Yellen said. “I believe it’s very important that we remain focused on keeping the real net interest cost of the debt near historic levels and certainly under 2%.” Yellen praised the Biden-Harris regime for “giving the Internal Revenue Service the resources that they need to close what is estimated over the next decade to be a $7 trillion tax gap.”
The Inflation Reduction Act was never intended to reduce inflation or HELP Americans. Yellen said earlier that the act was passed to push forth climate change iniatives which are all a ploy to collect more taxes and control the global population. IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel praised the Inflation Reduction Act for giving the IRS the ability to hunt absolutely everyone. “With the help of Inflation Reduction Act funding, we are adding focus and resources to areas of compliance concern, including high-income and high-wealth individuals, partnerships and corporations,” Werfel said.
They call it underpayment. Even if you pay your taxes, they will punish you for paying too much or not enough. Either way, the IRS can successful extort money from any American. The Treasury declared that they “recovered” $1.3 billion in taxes last year rom the “wealthy.”
Last year, billionaire class was not targeted, as 80% of all audits were on filers earning under $1 million. Yes, there are far more taxpayers in the middle and lower brackets. However, the IRS merely claimed they would prioritize hunting higher earners; they never explicitly said they wouldn’t come after ALL Americans.
The entire hunt for taxation has been a war on the middle class, who is unable to file massive write-offs and cannot afford to continue paying Uncle Sam on every incoming and outgoing transaction, plus savings, income, and everything else from birth to death. Washington effectively lowered our purchasing power by fueling inflation through absurd fiscal and social policies, and now they are asking people to give them even more of whatever money that remains. Washington continues to spend taxpayer funds on initiatives that the people have never once voted on.
It will become far easier for governments to extort the people when they introduce CBDC. Uncle Sam will think you have hidden any cash on hand from him, cash that belongs to him, once they force us to digitize our dollars. They are also thinking of new ways to shake down the public. A tax on realized gains would destroy absolutely everyone. It is completely absurd that those in power believe the people could cover their spending. No one stops to take accountability. There are simply NO mirrors in Washington. Inflation will continue to rise above GDP and we will enter a period of stagflation. This is why I have warned countless times that private and tangible assets are a safer bet compared to cash as we move into 2028.
Posted originally on Oct 24, 2024 By Martin Armstrong |
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released new tax bracket information for 2025. Most tax thresholds increased by 2.8% compared to 2024. The report, released ahead of the election, claims these changes will prevent “bracket creep” where inflation propels taxpayers into higher brackets. However, the tax breaks imposed under former President Donald Trump come to an end after 2025 if no action is taken and this could be the lowest tax season for many years to come.
The bottom 10% level now applies to those earning up to $11,925 for single filers and $23,850 for married couples filing jointly. The top 37% rate covers incomes over $626,350 for single filers and $751,600 for married couples filing jointly. The standard deduction has risen to $15,000 for single filers, up from $14,600 in 2024, while married couples can claim $30,000, up from $29,200.
The 2.8% modification for 2025 is less than the inflation adjustments made in recent years when we saw an adjustment of 5.4% in 2024 and 7.1% for 2023.
Now, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017 enacted by Trump will expire next year if Congress fails to take action. If this legislation expires, we will revert to pre-2017 tax levels. The media highlights that the dreaded rich would be forced back into a 39.6% tax bracket compared to the 37% they now pay, but everyone could see a sharp rise in the money they owe Uncle Sam.
The state and local tax (SALT) deduction would also expire. This program currently places a $10,000 cap on state and local tax deductions. State and local governments would have the ability to raise taxes if this is repealed. Some agencies estimate reversing this measure would up federal revenues by $1.1 trillion over the next decade – they’re eager to destroy this provision.
A reversal of TCJA would bring standard deductions down to $16,525 for joint filers and the personal exemption rate would be $5,272. Small businesses were awarded a 0% deduction under TCJA for S-corporations, sole proprietorships, and partnerships. Twenty percent is significant for small businesses that are largely struggling to stay afloat in this economy.
Trump’s tax plan actually increased the child tax credit, doubling it from $1,000 to $2,000 not adjusted for inflation. Brookings Institute believes that repealing this measure would make the real value of this credit 25% lower than 2017 due to inflation.
Estate tax exemptions doubled under Trump’s tax plan. If this measure dies the exemption will be about $14.3 million for married couples and $7 million for individuals.
The government will become more totalitarian as it sees costs rise significantly in the face of war. Per usual, the people of the United States will be expected to foot the bill. The last revolution began through taxation. It is a matter of time before we see how the next one begins.
Marginal tax brackets for tax year 2025
Single filers
The table shows the income brackets for married couples filing jointly for the 2025 tax year.
Taxable income
Tax rate
$11,925 or less
10%
$11,926 to $48,475
$1,192.50 Plus 12% of amount over $11,925
$48,476 to $103,350
$5,578.50 Plus 22% of amount over $48,475
$103,351 to $197,300
$17,651 Plus 24% of amount over $103,350
$197,301 to $250,525
$40,199 Plus 32% of amount over $197,300
$250,526 to $626,350
$57,231 Plus 35% of amount over $250,525
$626,351 and above
$188,769.75 Plus 37% of amount over $626,350
Source: IRS
Marginal tax brackets for tax year 2025
Married filing jointly
The table shows the income brackets for married couples filing jointly for the 2025 tax year.
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This is a library of News Events not reported by the Main Stream Media documenting & connecting the dots on How the Obama Marxist Liberal agenda is destroying America