GOP Liars я Us Troika: Class in Session “My Way or the Highway”
Introduction with a Medical Twist (Def. Compulsive Lying Disorder): This is frequently confused with pathological lying,
but it’s important to recognize the difference between the two.
1. Compulsive
liars: Defined as someone who engages in dishonesty because it is their
automatic response to any question in any situation.
2. Pathological
liars: Defined as someone who lies in order to manipulate other people and
achieve their goals with complete disregard for the feelings of others.
Note: Both compulsive and pathological liars are also associated with
antisocial personality disorder, more commonly known as “psychopathic
behavior.”
Sociopathic Liars: Defined as someone who lies continuously in an attempt to get their
own way, without showing care or concern for others. They are goal-oriented. Even though it might seem hard to believe,
lying is focused – they are focused on getting their own way. Sociopaths don’t have a lot of respect or
regard for the feelings and rights of others. They tend to be charismatic and
charming, but they will use their exceptional social skills in a self-centered
and manipulative manner.
Compulsive Liars: Defined as someone who continually lies from sheer habit, and tends to
be their normal manner of responding to any questions from others. They will
always bend the truth, regardless of how small or large the question is. For
them, telling the truth doesn’t feel right. They are uncomfortable whenever
they tell the truth, while lying makes them feel right. Their lying is often
thought to manifest during childhood, due to being put into situations and
environments where lying became a necessity. Most of the time, compulsive liars
aren’t cunning or manipulative, rather they only lie because it has become such
a habit for them.
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With that rather long introduction in mind, here is
the focus for today: Donald J. Trump, his documented hundreds and hundreds of lies and this simple question: Why
does anyone so easily, or so it seems, brush aside his blatant and obvious and
proven lies with a childish: “Oh, well, that’s who he is.”
Case in Point: Traveling to ND to address and push for his tax reform, Trump
bemoaned that the United States is the most heavily taxed nation on earth in an
early morning tweet:
“Will be going to North Dakota
today to discuss tax reform and tax cuts. We are the highest taxed nation in
the world – that will change.” @realDonaldTrump
Ding – totally false - a blatant lie (again).
This statement is completely
false. According to 2015 data from the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development
(OECD), taxation accounted for 26.4
percent of the United States’ gross domestic product (GDP). Ours is lower than the average for the 35 nations in the OECD
(34.3%) and in some cases far lower than comparable countries (e.g., 45.5% in
France).
In April 2016, the Pew
Research Center concluded that U.S. tax bills are below the average for
developed nations by examining OECD data dating back to 2001. They calculated “national-level income taxes
plus mandatory social-insurance contributions as a percentage of gross
income” for four different family types: (1) a single working parent, (2) a
single working person without children, (3) a married couple with two children
where both parents work, and (4) a married couple with two children where only
one parent works. In all cases, the U.S. was below the average, and further:
PolitiFact rated Trump’s claim that the U.S. is “the highest taxed country in the
world” as false in February 2016 after a Republican primary debate. The
fact-checking website concluded that the U.S. “is far from the most taxed
nation in the world, whether it’s an advanced industrialized economy or not.” They
also repeated that same assessment on after this latest Trump tweet.
Additionally about Trump’s other false claim about U.S.
has the highest corporate taxes in the world:
The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a public-policy think tank, also rated Trump’s claim
as false: “Notwithstanding our high corporate tax rate, the U.S. is not close
to being the highest-taxed country in the world.” That tax rate in the U.S. is
high, at 35% but the effective rate — after accounting gimmicks, loopholes, and
other deductions — it stands at about 18.6%, according to the
Congressional Budget Office (CBO).
Finally this informational tidbit on how to determine which country has the highest tax
rate is complicated and depends on the data researchers examine.
Using data
from OECD, Investopedia reported that Portugal has the highest tax rate for people with high incomes (61.3 %);
Belgium has the highest level for average-earning single people without
children (at 42%); and Turkey has the highest levy for average-earning
married couples with two children where only one spouse works (at 25.8%).
Ponder
this: According to the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report,
Argentina’s total tax rate is an extraordinary 137.3%.
My basic question in closing: Why do we accept such lies from this president?
Indeed, why and almost daily? American politics, our national honor and values
and such are now nothing but worthless 140 character tweets…
Trump is totally incomprehensible – yet his many followers find him
refreshing… what a conundrum?
The way I see Trump supporters after they honestly (not possible, really) review his trail of lies (joke for the day):
Oh, yeah, what are we going to do about such a man? Seems apparently
nothing.
That is the national shame. Thanks for stopping by
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