The Trump Presidency 2.0

[Topkick]

if the Service Academies were actually about academics over athletics they'd be in D2

Or if they weren't, they might actually win championships. Kids still mostly don't go to West Point to just play sports.

 

[Devildoc]

Or if they weren't, they might actually win championships. Kids still mostly don't go to West Point to just play sports.

Service academies are a totally different breed, they try to have a foot in both worlds.

But nil has tentacles in every conference and team. There is a operation afoot to raise enough money to overcome a rookie NBA contract so Duke's Cooper Flagg can come back as sophomore year. Apparently they have also paid for next year starting quarterback the highest of any nil offer. Now, they still have to academically qualify, and they are a better school than Notre Dame, but it still stands.

Nil is here to stay, it ain't going anywhere. The next step is to have equity so everybody gets a piece of the pie and not just the big names or those who are headed to the pro's.

I am not a fan of it but I do understand the reality of where we are at with sports in college.

 

[TLDR20]

I've had to claw and fight for every inch I've gotten in my company because I'm not a hot chick or funny talker...I got a raise in 2023, but almost all of it was taken up in taxes. This year I got a better raise, but not as good as the funny talker who brings no value but I digress, this year's raise actually made a visible impact when I looked at my paycheck. A lot of it was absorbed by taxes...but there is a big difference from seeing $10 more to seeing $300 more a month.

At a certain threshold, right when you're below a bracket jump, you're incentivized to stay where you are unless the jump in pay compensates for what you will actually see in your checking account.

Yeah I thought this was well known. When you get above a certain point like 400k W2, the incentive becomes that you have to make 200 more to make 100 more take home. So another 100 isn’t worth the time it takes to make that much, I’d rather be on a vacation, or enjoying my time off than hustling for what will amount to not that much.

All of this only applies to W2 earnings though. If someone were to make money in a different way, there is more incentive to make more as you can hide it, take it as distribution, and other nifty things.

If the no taxes on overtime thing happens I will rejoice. I make most of my money via OT and no taxes on that would be huge for me personally.

 

[Devildoc]

400K lol. I'm barely sniffing 100K.

 

[GOTWA]

What really pisses me off about all these court cases that are destroying college sports is that current system has raised up hundreds of thousands of people, providing them access to education they could not otherwise afford or qualify for. But we somehow hate that because the less than 1% who go pro didn't get a few shekels? What about all these track athletes who are on 5% scholarship who may get their roster spot cut? Which means less in the future have access?

That's my point. That 5% wouldn't even matter if students weren't trying to offset the other shit the college is in deep with. Maybe we just make high school more difficult and two years longer and then cut out the colleges all together.

 

[Devildoc]

That's my point. That 5% wouldn't even matter if students weren't trying to offset the other shit the college is in deep with. Maybe we just make high school more difficult and two years longer and then cut out the colleges all together.

Or make it that pro athletics don't require any college time and allow high school athletes go straight to the pros. Then offer scholarships to those who want to play in college who likely won't go pro.

 

[SOSTCRNA]

Ok.

The Laffer curve describes a point at which taxes become so high there is no incentive to work, this was used heavily by Reagan in his trickle down economics policies.

Laffer Curve: History and Critique.

I also have personal skin in this one because I believe I posted somewhere that I chose to not make more money this past year because I was personally disincentivized to by taxes. When you make a certain amount of money, it becomes disadvantageous to make more, if you are W2 and cannot hide it. I personally make enough that at a certain point the money I make isn’t worth my time to pay the taxes on the money I make. I pay 6 figures in income taxes, and making another 100 grand would be easy but it isn’t worth it because I only actually see 40 of it, and my time is worth more than the 40k. Does this make sense? This is a pretty well known phenomenon, and one that many high earners utilize.

I can second your experience. My wife and I are both retired officers and CRNAs so we do well. We have our own LLC and do a lot of long term locum work in New Mexico where it is hard to fully staff anesthesia departments (its a shame because, politics aside, NM is a fantastic state). Anyway, last year we worked our butts off and paid our large quarterly income taxes, FICA taxes etc so we thought we were good. At the end of the year our accountant told us we owed well north of $100,000 in additional income tax. Fortunately we could pay it but this year we have cut way back even though companies are begging us to work. Why put in those extra hours and take more risk for so little return?

 

[TLDR20]

I can second your experience. My wife and I are both retired officers and CRNAs so we do well. We have our own LLC and do a lot of long term locum work in New Mexico where it is hard to fully staff anesthesia departments (its a shame because, politics aside, NM is a fantastic state). Anyway, last year we worked our butts off and paid our large quarterly income taxes, FICA taxes etc so we thought we were good. At the end of the year our accountant told us we owed well north of $100,000 in additional income tax. Fortunately we could pay it but this year we have cut way back even though companies are begging us to work. Why put in those extra hours and take more risk for so little return?

Yep.

 

[TLDR20]

400K lol. I'm barely sniffing 100K.

Gas market is wild brother.

 

[ThunderHorse]

Bangarang!!!

Invocation of the Alien Enemies Act Regarding the Invasion of The United States by Tren De Aragua

 

[Devildoc]

Gas market is wild brother.

My story is out there. My plan was to do crna. I shadowed a buddy who was a crna (trivially we worked together at Carolina AirCare, he was a flight RN, I was a flight medic, he was a former 18D, became a crna). I hated it. I knew in a couple hours it wasn't the life for me.

I love --LOVE--what I do, but it sure doesn't rain $.

 

[SOSTCRNA]

My story is out there. My plan was to do crna. I shadowed a buddy who was a crna (trivially we worked together at Carolina AirCare, he was a flight RN, I was a flight medic, he was a former 18D, became a crna). I hated it. I knew in a couple hours it wasn't the life for me.

I love --LOVE--what I do, but it sure doesn't rain $.

It’s definitely not for everyone. In the end, loving what you do is most important by far.

 

[TLDR20]

It’s definitely not for everyone. In the end, loving what you do is most important by far.

This^

I’ve never loved any job I’ve had as much as being a CRNA, and that includes being a green beret.

 

[Devildoc]

This^

I’ve never loved any job I’ve had as much as being a CRNA, and that includes being a green beret.

So part of my "issue" is my fault: mismatched expectations. By the time I had shadowed I had already intubated probably a couple hundred people, and had performed five surgical airways. I thought that's all it was. When I realized what it actually was, I realized it wasn't my bag.*

But it's true you have to find what you love. That just wasn't it for me. What I do now can be incredibly frustrating, but I really do love it.

* That's not minimizing it, it was again just mismatched expectations.

 

[Muppet]

Maybe I'm a retard but why are we bombing the houthis?

 

[Devildoc]

Maybe I'm a retard but why are we bombing the houthis?

Yes, you are a retard. Because they are bad

 

[ThunderHorse]

Maybe I'm a retard but why are we bombing the houthis?

About damn time I say.

 

[Devildoc]

In all seriousness, the Houthis have attacked both US Navy and civilian ships over the past several months. The tit-for-tat thing should be done. The US needs to annihilate them.

 

[Muppet]

In all seriousness, the Houthis have attacked both US Navy and civilian ships over the past several months. The tit-for-tat thing should be done. The US needs to annihilate them.

Just wondering. Because I don't trust news, I behind on some things.

 

[ThunderHorse]

Just wondering. Because I don't trust news, I behind on some things.

Well, we had a task force in the Red Sea shooting down their drones...instead of just bombing them we wasted missiles on shitty drones. Shipping continues to avoid the Suez Canal route and mostly go around the Cape of Good Hope. Which probably drives some inflation.