I think we've had this discussion before. I would say I'm a fiscal conservative with more liberal social policies. More than anything, I applaud good governance by competent people. The current government in Argentina is a good example. Center-right with highly competent technocrats at the wheel of different ministries and the central bank. I didn't much like Obama, nor Bush before him. Both were too partisan, especially Obama, while Bush was also a bit of a buffoon (although Trump makes him look poised and considered!).

Bloomberg was an excellent mayor of NYC and would likely have made a good president, imo.

This sentence completely negated everything that proceeded it.

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Civilize the mind, but make savage the body.

- Chinese proverb

For his faults, Bloomberg was a very successful mayor. He turned a large deficit into a significant surplus, lowered crime and jail populations, regenerated derelict parts of the city and waterfronts. On education, he improved schools and overall education levels, opened charter schools and sought to fire ineffective teachers. He governed with facts and truly sought to improve the quality of NYer's lives, which he largely did. I have lived or worked in NYC for 18 years, so I have a pretty good idea.

De Blasio, in contrast, has been a disaster.

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Thanks for the take on Bloomberg. Impressive list, and just the bolded would be a good accomplishment (well, unless you were taking them out back and deurte-ing them).

Another analysis of just what happened...interactive too

https://www.investopedia.com/...rm-what-can-be-done/

My tax accountant's advice was correct. I can deduct the full amount of my 2018 property tax if paid before noon on 29 Dec, which I have done. Not so for the town next to mine though. It is strange how these rules can be determined at such a local level.

I'm on record saying I love the drop in the corporate tax rate, but the rest of this bill is a clusterfuck. They went from filing taxes on a postage stamp to a million sunset rules and date-based conditions on to of the already overwhelming complexity of the existing code, who the hell thought that was smart? What happened to creating a system that people could understand and digest? This looks more like a system that only computer programs could possibly handle, even tax accountants will have no idea where to start with all this shit.

Per usual, leave it to Congress to take a good idea and turn it into an absolute shitshow. Now the Dems will have a chance to blame the Pubs, after the Pubs got their shots in with the shitshow that was the ACA. Round and round we go...