Tea at Trianon: "Affordability"

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Monday, December 8, 2025

"Affordability"

From Tierney's Real News:

Trump has stopped massive immigration at the border and is deporting millions of people responsible for driving up prices and driving down wages. He has put in place tax policies which will kick in next year and provide refunds and incentives for the lower and middle classes.
President Trump signed the largest middle-class tax cuts in American History, including No Tax on Tips, No Tax on Overtime, and No Tax on Social Security.
If you file a 1040 in early 2026, with the Federal Government, for 2025 income you will be able to pay NO federal tax on tips, overtime and social security (with limits of course.)
That will be reflected in your adjusted gross income.
Let’s say you’ve been paying withholding on ALL your income for 2025.
Let’s use this example. Let’s say you earned $25,000 in overtime, tips or SSI in 2025 and are in the 10% tax bracket. If so, you will save $2,500 in taxes on a Federal level. You will receive a refund of $2,500 in 2026 for 2025 taxes.
Let’s say you live in a blue state that charges an 8% state tax and they disallow that $25,000 Federal exemption for their calculation purposes.
Therefore you will pay 8% of $25,000 to the state because they want to penalize you - or $2,000 in tax - because the blue state wants to screw you and defy Trump.
HOWEVER, the blue state will NOT be able to reverse the $2,500 that the IRS will send you for your Federal return. Got it?
In other words, the entire savings would be $4,500 but the blue state just took $2,000 of that away from you to screw Trump.
BTW - this is a good example of why President Trump wants to get rid of income tax altogether and go with tariff revenue for America. So they can’t play these games and screw We the People. He’s already brought in almost $400 BILLION in tariff revenue in just 7 months! (Read more.)