We have all of this fake news information coming across the news = what’s up?
A good example of leftie media reporting of Democrats info. How can anyone take these people seriously?
If you look online, you’ll find a gazillion recipes for how our country lost its way.
Didn’t DOGE prove that the Democrats were corrupt/stole and hid our money and lost the 2024 election by a gazillion votes and now the media with the Democrats help continue acting like lost children and continue the wasting print of news.
It is time to use the print for real problems instead of manufactured/make believe stories.
s//www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/kerr-county-kerrville-officials-give-update-on-deadly-flooding/vi-AA1Ihoac?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=b07fc949253c492f840f92bdcacdad5e&ei=6 (Add http to the above if Google erases the first site.)
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Google has worked to stop information from being sent out. Just like this blog.
Google would you please take a hike and quit interfering with my blog. Stop blocking me. What is your problem?
All owners/home owners of properties up and down the Guadalupe River need to check their property line along the river to see if they have any flood debris left over on your banks.
This is my home town and we were all planning our holiday even though it was raining; but, we didn’t envision that a peaceful river stream could turn so deadly. When we drive over the river bridge the water is clear and you can see the sandy bottom. We are still praying and hoping that other victims will be found alive. Our home is not that far from the river; but, thankfully, not in its path and looking down at the city area at a distance.
What was supposed to be a weekend of celebration and unity in Kerrville has transformed into a scene of survival and heartbreak. Devastating floods have torn through the city, sweeping away homes, campsites and a sense of safety for many residents.
For some, what began as a fun-filled Fourth of July weekend has now become a fight to stay alive.
Heartbreak and Heroism Amid Flooding
The floodwaters that surged through Kerrville early Friday morning caught many residents by surprise, sparking a scramble to evacuate and find shelter. Arcadia Live, a popular event venue that was set to help host the city’s July 4th celebration, quickly became a lifeline for the community. What was meant to be a night of music, food, and fireworks, instead turned into an impromptu shelter and reunification center.
People would have been out there celebrating the 4th of July
KENS-TV San Antonio
Kerrville strong: Residents turn Fourth of July tragedy into community triumph
“The first call I got about the flooding, I had a feeling in my gut,” said Libbie Horton, assistant director of Arcadia Live. “I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, the park.’”
Over the past 24 hours, Arcadia Live has taken on a new role, coordinating donations, offering food, clothing, and most importantly, providing a place for evacuees to find comfort in the chaos.
“Kerrville Strong”
For many residents, the morning of the flood felt like a nightmare. As the river rose and power lines snapped, evacuations were necessary — some by boat, others by navigating live power lines and rising floodwaters.
Zerick Baldwin, a Kerrville resident, had made plans to stay the night at a campsite at Flat Rock Park along the Guadalupe River. But a last-minute decision to leave, he said, might have saved his life.
“I told my family I was going to stay the night and fish, but if I would’ve slept in my truck or something, I would have been gone,” Baldwin said. “The waters came so quickly. If I had stayed, I wouldn’t have even known what hit.”
Baldwin had originally planned to attend the city’s July 4th celebration, even seeing the stage, bar, and festive signs set up Thursday. By Friday morning, all of it was wiped away without a trace, swallowed by the floodwaters.
“Yesterday they had everything set up — the stage, the food trucks. Now there’s not even a sign that it was there.”
Kerrville-Schreiner Park, another area heavily impacted by the flooding, had been fully booked for the holiday weekend. Chris Huber, a park host volunteer, described the damage. “We had to cancel all reservations. We were expecting a full house. Now, the eight cabins by the river are destroyed. They’ll need to be replaced.”
Despite the devastation, Huber and other residents remained hopeful.
Candice Taylor, an evacuee, described her frantic escape from rising floodwaters. “We had to drive over live power lines to get out of here because the only other way we could go was underwater,” she said. “This wasn’t forecasted. Possible flooding, yes. Flash flooding, yes. Aerial flooding, no. Anybody who says anything like, ‘This was forecasted. Why didn’t you watch the news?’ That’s callous.”
Officials noted that the floodwaters have reached levels not seen since 1978. With the recovery efforts underway, Arcadia Live remains open as a donation center and shelter for those in need. The nearby Louise Hays and Kerrville-Schreiner Parks have been closed indefinitely due to damage, and recovery will take weeks, if not months.
In times of crisis, Kerrville’s residents have always found ways to come together. Libbie Horton of Arcadia Live expressed the unity the community has shown, even in the face of disaster. “If there’s anything we can celebrate today, it’s the fact that our community is strong, and the love is immense.”
Local volunteers and evacuees alike shared one common sentiment: Kerrville is strong, and the city will rebuild. “Whenever there’s a family in need or a house burns down, the community is there for them,” said Baldwin. “I know we’ll make it through this. Kerrville’s got it.”
Recovery and Cleanup in Progress
As of now, the city is in the midst of recovery efforts. Both Louise Hays Park and Kerrville-Schreiner Park remain closed while crews assess the damage. Arcadia Live is being used to shelter evacuees, distribute donations, and coordinate relief efforts through makeshift Google spreadsheets.
Power outages persist across Kerrville, with many still without electricity. Kerrville-Schreiner Park is without water due to a water main break close to the river.
Despite the loss and destruction, the resilient spirit of Kerrville remains strong.
“We’re all out here worrying about everyone’s safety now,” said Preston Quaife, one of the evacuees. “This was supposed to be a celebration. Now, we just want to make sure everyone is okay.”
Though the waters rose, the community’s resilience stood taller.
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May those souls who were taken from us – rest in peace.
Taxes can get you thinking about fairness. For instance, when I’m calculating deductions on my salary and watching a decent chunk go to Uncle Sam, I can’t help but wonder: What if the ultra-wealthy paid the same percentage of their income in taxes that regular people do?
So I decided to ask ChatGPT a simple question: “What would happen if billionaires paid taxes at the same rate as the middle class?” The AI’s response was more nuanced than I expected — and revealed some surprising truths about how our tax system really works.
First, ChatGPT corrected a common misconception I had. Based on actual data from PolitiFact and ProPublica investigations, the 25 wealthiest Americans currently pay an average federal income tax rate of 16% under existing law.
Meanwhile, households earning $50,000-$100,000 (where most teachers, firefighters and other middle-class workers fall) typically pay an effective tax rate between 0% and 15%.
Federal Income Tax on Tips?
So contrary to what I’d heard, billionaires don’t actually pay less than teachers under current tax law. But here’s where it gets interesting.
How Wealth Grows vs. How Wages Work
ChatGPT explained that the issue isn’t necessarily the tax rates themselves, but how different types of income get taxed. This is where the system becomes genuinely unfair.
“Billionaires benefit from tax strategies that lower their effective tax burden compared to what ordinary income earners face on wages,” the AI explained. “The current system taxes work more than wealth.”
Here’s what that means in practice: When I get my salary, taxes come out immediately. When a billionaire’s stock portfolio increases in value by millions, they don’t pay taxes on that growth until (or unless) they sell those stocks.
Here’s how it works: Billionaires borrow money against their stock holdings (which isn’t taxed), live off those loans and then pass their assets to heirs largely tax-free when they die. Meanwhile, regular people like me can’t defer taxes on our paychecks or borrow against our retirement accounts without major penalties.
The AI used ProPublica data to illustrate this: “The top 25 billionaires saw their wealth grow by $401 billion from 2014-2018, but paid just $13.6 billion in federal income taxes — an effective rate of 3.4% on wealth growth.”
That 3.4% figure is what really stung. While they’re paying their legal tax obligations on realized income, their actual wealth is growing at a rate that’s taxed far below what middle-class workers pay on their salaries.
What If We Changed the Rules?
ChatGPT ran the numbers on what would happen if billionaires paid taxes at the same rate middle-class families do — around 15%-22%.
Using the ProPublica data, if those top 25 billionaires had been taxed at a 20% rate on their wealth growth, they would have paid around $80 billion instead of $13.6 billion.
“Extrapolate that across approximately 1,000 billionaires?” the AI asked. “You’re talking hundreds of billions in added revenue annually.”
Where That Money Could Go
The AI outlined several ways this massive revenue increase could transform government services:
Healthcare: We could expand Medicare and Medicaid, potentially moving toward universal coverage.
Education: Fund universal pre-K or make community college free for everyone.
Infrastructure and climate: Invest seriously in clean energy projects and fix our crumbling roads and bridges.
Debt reduction: Actually pay down the national debt instead of adding to it every year.
ChatGPT noted that this extra revenue could “stabilize the economy by boosting the spending power of everyday Americans.” Basically, reducing inequality in a way that helps everyone, not just those at the bottom.
What Surprised Me Most
The most eye-opening part was learning that the problem isn’t necessarily that billionaires are breaking the law or even paying lower rates on their taxable income. The issue is that our entire tax system is designed around taxing work rather than wealth.
“Middle-class families can’t defer taxes on wages or borrow against stocks tax-free,” ChatGPT pointed out. This creates a fundamental unfairness where people who work for their money get taxed immediately, while people whose money grows through investments can delay or even avoid those taxes entirely.
What We Need To Think About
After diving into ChatGPT’s analysis, I realized the conversation about billionaire taxes is more complicated than simple rate comparisons. Under current law, wealthy Americans do pay their required taxes. But the system allows their wealth to grow in ways that are largely untaxed, while regular workers pay taxes on every dollar they earn.
The AI concluded that if we could successfully tax billionaires more like middle-class workers, the results would mean hundreds of billions in additional revenue annually and potentially better funding for health, education and climate programs. What’s more, it could have the power to reduce inequality and improve public trust in the tax system.
Maybe the real question isn’t whether billionaires should pay more taxes, but whether our entire approach to taxing work versus wealth makes sense in an economy where most billionaires’ fortunes come from asset appreciation rather than traditional income.
As ChatGPT put it: “The U.S. could significantly reshape its fiscal and social landscape” — if we can figure out how to make it work in practice.
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Maybe we need to plug up some of the gapping loop holes – like – if you work you have to take a salary and pay a tax like other workers – and, then, if you need additional funds for investments – you can work off your dividends or borrow from your stocks. This would put everyone positioned at the same gate post.
It is time for the Democrats to understand that government benefits are suppose to be for citizens of our country, not illegals. There isn’t any country outside the U.S. where healthcare benefits cover foreigners, As usual, they do not have any common sense. Our country is broke due to their lack of common sense and giving money away we don’t have. It has to stop and now is a good time for DOGE to part the waves of stupidity. Hard choices have to be made.
The government has to correct our debt which has been put in place by the Democrats. If we continue on this spending path we will end up where the country is broke. Hard choices have to be made and now is the time. Some people have to be hurt to correct the system. People who can work should work to receive benefits until they can retire on good benefits.
So stop complaining and help bring our country back.
Republican Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (TN) attempted to justify his support for the 2026 budget bill, which includes cuts to Medicaid, as ultimately benefiting his state.
Speaking to CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, Fleischmann said that if Republicans can “grow the economy” with President Donald Trump’s tax cuts, it can trickle down to the poor.
“We have a situation that if we reduce taxes on corporations, on hardworking Americans, on senior citizens, they will go out and work harder,” said Fleischmann. Most senior citizens retire in their late 60s, rather than “work harder.
Fleischmann explained that he has a “belief” that the U.S. will see “money come into the treasury.”
He went on to acknowledge that “at some point in time,” they must examine spending to reduce the national debt.
“These are things that even as an appropriator, 75% of the federal budget is mandatory spending programs, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, [and] interest on the national debt,” said Fleischmann. He then added 85% for the Affordable Care Act and other programs, bringing the total to 160%.
Blitzer hammered him on the impact of Medicaid cuts, which will result in the loss of healthcare for nearly 300,000 people in his state, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Meanwhile, the bill also dramatically increases the national debt, the host noted.
“You’ll agree with me on that,” Blitzer asked.
But Fleischmann refused, sticking to his claim that tax cuts to the top percentage of wage earners would trickle down and help the economy.
“Not necessarily. If we have the growth and growth of revenue because of reduced access,” claimed Fleischmann. “Remember, in my ethos, reduced taxes on hardworking Americans will ultimately mean more money for the treasury, because people will be incentivized to go out and work more.”
He then promised Medicare “was not touched. It is safe. It is going to be safe for our seniors,” and those claiming otherwise are just trying to scare people. As for seniors who might lose Medicaid funding, CBS News reported that as much as a quarter of all nursing homes could fa”But a lot of folks in Tennessee are going to lose Medicaid right now. You know that, right?” Blitzer asked.
Fleischmann disputed that fact, claiming that it was only “illegals” who were going to lose coverage.
“Not necessarily. A lot of illegals will. And a lot of people who perhaps all across the country can actually work what this bill does, and I fervently believe this, it actually makes a situation where if somebody is truly needy, it actually protects their benefits,” he promised.
KENS-TV San Antonio
kommonsentsjane 