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Rubio/Lee Tax plan

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Ryan

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USCFootball.com War Room Post - October 12th, 2012

Welcome back to the War Room. I'll begin the session with the ground rules so everyone knows what we are doing here. Everything that is reported in the War Room must stay in the War Room and can be talked about in The Peristyle. Sometimes the info is sensitive enough that it simply does not need to be passed on beyond the doors of this thread.

This is a special feature for subscribers only. The reason why it is posted on the premium board is because it's the only way to ensure that the info stays exclusive to Trojan fans. This will only work if everyone helps make it work and so far we haven't had any problems.

Our wet and wild edition of the War Room is coming at you from Seattle. Get the inside scoop on USC commits taking visits, Matt Barkley's idea of a big game, the latest on Devon Kennard and plenty more.

Let's get down to it…

Kitt Not It

Tyrone (Ga.) junior wide out Demarre Kitt decommitted from Georgia Thursday, saying, "I just think I did it too early. Schools are recruiting me hard and I want to give them a shot." USC was mentioned by Kitt as a school of interest, but sources tell USCFootball.com that the Trojans may no longer be an option.

While USC did verbally offer Kitt a scholarship last May, Trojan assistant coach Tee Martin made a visit to Sandy Creek High School during the bye week to see the junior star receiver in person. The buzz from that evaluation has USC going in a different direction for 2014 wide outs. With so much early hype around recruits these days, verbal offers are simply a bookmark for schools trying to make an impression with players who may end up being big time prospects.

The wide out class of 2014 will be very important for USC. The Trojans will be losing Robert Woods and possibly Marquise Lee, so Lane Kiffin will look to hit at least one home run. The more accolades Woods and Lee get, the more receivers will want to look at USC. It's also important to note that USC already has two top quarterback prospects lined up for the future in five-star Max Browne and 2015 commit David Sills. That's another plus in courting a top wide out for 2014, so USC will be very picky. At this point, Kitt was the only receiver USC had offered a verbal scholarship to in the 2014 class.

South Bend but don't break

USC commits Chris Hawkins and Max Redfield will both officially visit Notre Dame this weekend as the Stanford Cardinal come to town. As usual, Brian Kelly has decided to go feast or famine with recruiting trips. After inviting two dozen official visitors to South Bend for their game/debacle against USC last year, Notre Dame is making the Stanford week another recruiting extravaganza.

The Irish will only have three uncommitted players on hand Saturday with several committed recruits and underclassmen, including Oaks Christian 2014 quarterback Brandon Dawkins. Seeing that Stanford could very easily make Notre Dame look silly, the feeling in South Bend appears to be the Irish have nothing to lose with Redfield and Hawkins. Both are solid commits to USC, and it's plausible Hawkins will do a better job recruiting for the Trojans this weekend than the Notre Dame assistant coaches will do for the Irish if Saturday's game doesn't go to plan.

Last weekend, Louisville (Ky.) four-star defensive end commit Jason Hatcher was scheduled to officially visit Ohio State, but he canceled that trip due to a work obligation. It was reported Smyrna (Tenn.) five-star cornerback commit Jalen Ramsey would unofficially visit Florida last weekend, but that visit was never planned according to his father. Needless to say, Ramsey was at home last weekend.

Husky commits could still get a look

While USC's 2013 class is pretty much finalized, don't expect Lane Kiffin to be naive enough to put all of his eggs in the baskets of his verbal commitments. USC is still recruiting several local prospects and it would not be a shock if the Trojans offered a couple of players late in the process. San Clemente (Calif.) three-star offensive lineman Sean Harlow is a player that continues to hear from USC despite being committed to Washington. Moreno Valley (Calif.) four-star wide out Demorea Stringfellow is another U-Dub commit that says he is still in communication with USC. Stringfellow was our No. 1 receiver prospect in California coming into the year, but he would now sit at No. 2 behind Alemany's Steven Mitchell, who has been phenomenal this season.

So yeah, beating the Huskies this weekend still has some recruiting ramifications for USC.

CHawk visits the Big C

Chris Hawkins officially visited Cal last weekend with his step brother, Armond. As we alluded to earlier in the week, the post visit scoop was that Cal was not a player for Chris. According to a source close to his recruitment, the trip was more about getting Armond some one-on one-time with Cal's coaches. For Chris, that one-on-one time was a waste of time. We've been told several times that the only way Hawkins does not end up at USC in January is if Lane Kiffin pulls his ride.

While USC has given no indication of backing off Hawkins, other schools have told other commits that Hawkins may be wavering from USC. The main negative pitch this year to USC commits has been that the Trojans will run out of rides and that will send the class into a tailspin. As an early enrollee, Hawkins doesn't have to worry about USC running out of rides on signing day.

Who wants to visit?

Here's a tentative list of players expressing interest in officially visiting USC. Dates are subject to change. Note, Rancho Cucamonga (Calif.) four-star safety Tahaan Goodman remains high on USC, but he states he does not want to visit USC or UCLA officially.

QB
Commits: Max Browne (Dec. 14)

RB
Commits: Justin Davis (Dec. 14), Ty Isaac (Dec. 7)

WR
Commits: Steven Mitchell (Feb. 2), Eldridge Massington (Dec. 7), Sebastian LaRue (TBA)

OL
Commits: Nico Falah (Feb. 2), Khaliel Rogers (Dec. 14)
Targets: Laremy Tunsil (TBA)

DL
Commits: Kenny Bigelow (Dec. 14), Eddie Vanderdoes (Feb. 2), Kylie Fitts (Dec. 7), Jason Hatcher (Feb. 2), Torrodeny Prevot (Feb. 2)
Targets: Montravius Adams (TBA), Carl Lawson (TBA), Derrick Calloway (TBA), Tim Williams (TBA), Keith Bryant (TBA), A'Shawn Robinson (TBA)

LB
Commits: Michael Hutchings (Feb. 2)
Targets: Matthew Thomas (TBA), Trey Johnson (Jan. 18)

DB
Commits: Chris Hawkins (Dec. 7), Su'a Cravens (Dec. 14), Max Redfield (Feb. 2), Jalen Ramsey (TBA)
Targets: Leon McQuay III (TBA), Mackensie Alexander (TBA)

Kennard Update

Devon Kennard's plans for the rest of the 2012 season and beyond are becoming much clearer. Though he says rehab is going well and the injured pectoral is improving, likely to the point he would be physically be able to play this season, It appears very likely he will redshirt. Indications are that Kennard has been given a lot of freedom by the coaches to have a large say in this.

This decision is one that should benefit both parties. USC has found surprising depth on its defensive line and Kennard's presence isn't as essential as it once seemed. With the emergence of Morgan Breslin and Wes Horton entrenched at his spot, Kennard would have a tough time cracking the starting lineup. Instead, he'll be the logical choice to step in for Horton next year and will have a full season to play and improve his NFL draft stock while providing veteran leadership to the D Line.

Banner Figure

One of the largest presences at USC practice of late, both literally and figuratively, is that of Lincoln Kennedy. For those familiar with his relationship with biological son Zach Banner, this may come as a surprise. Kennedy was almost completely absent from Banner's childhood and Banner has been hesitant in the past to even discuss Kennedy.

Though Banner has been blessed to have an ideal father-son relationship with his stepfather, it's nice to see that Kennedy is at least attempting to reconcile being absent from Banner's life for so long.

More on Kennedy and Banner later...

And the definition of a big game is . . .

It was just a throwaway line from Matt Barkley, after a few minutes of talking about big games, where they're played, and his first outing in Seattle after missing as a freshman with a knee injury when Aaron Corp got his lone start.

And sure, he likes the idea. His girlfriend plays college soccer in Seattle. The man who recruited him for USC, and started him as a freshman, Pete Carroll, coaches the Seahawks there. And he's never played there, alone of all the Pac-12 places to play.

But it's no big deal, Barkley kept saying. A game is a game. "Just another game to us," Barkley said Tuesday of the Washington game. "I'd be fine playing it in the parking lot."

So what would Barkley's definition of a big game, something that would make him think twice about it?

"The national championshp game," he said quietly. "It's the biggest game."

And that got us to thinking. What if . . . ?

What if after all those years, maybe three anyway, when USC had as good or better argument for making "the biggest game" as anyone and didn't, certainly in 2003 and 2008, and now . . . What if this year, when it looks like no way, no shot after the Stanford loss, there actually is one.

What if these Trojans, who have yet to play anything close to a full game deserving of a trip to the national title game, get there when it doesn't look like they would, could or should?

What if it all breaks the way it looks like it could? West Virginia can't negotiate the rest of a difficult five-game run through the Big 12? And USC gets Oregon twice at home as well as Notre Dame. And it just all falls into place.

And it's the rest of the college football world that understands how USC felt those years. Because this looks like one of those years where no team is all that good. Certainly none all that complete. No really finished product.

And the more we thought about Barkley's comment, the more we realized he's got it right. Because if USC doesn't start improving right now, this week in Seattle, and start getting off to good starts and finishing strong and not leaving points, and double-digit flags, all over the place, the Trojans can forget it.

So maybe it's a good thing to have Barkley thinking about what still might be. And what has to happen to make it be. And somehow it comes to USC at a time when the Trojans had just kind of given up thinking about it and talking about it.

Except for Barkley. Who clearly has not. But there it is, for the Trojans' taking. Right there, if they can run the table and take care of business.

CEO . . . unplugged

He is a great deal of fun, never forget it. Leaving Howard Jones Field Wednesday, Ed Orgeron noticed a gaggle of sports writers wearing, well maybe eight out of 10 of them anyway, shirts of varying shades of blue -- not one of CEO's favorite colors.

"Hey Tim [Tessalone], is this media light blue shirt day?" he called out to USC's sports information director. "Did I miss the memo?"

One memo we hope CEO hasn't missed is what's happening this weekend in Seattle -- the day after USC's game at Washington. Cortez Kennedy, one of CEO's early D-line pupils at Miami who credits Orgeron for getting him off to the start that put Kennedy in the NFL Hall of Fame, is having his jersey retired Sunday at the Seahawks game against New England.

Another Kennedy, this one Lincoln

Another top NFL lineman, Lincoln Kennedy, father of USC freshman Zach Banner, was saying the other day at practice how he realizes his son could be following the Fox sports talker (Sundays, 4-7 p.m. in LA on 570 AM) into a second profession as a media guy.

If there was any doubt, the voluble Banner resolved it with his strategizing of how he'd get an interview with the closed-mouth Morgan Breslin, whose personality he described "as the polar opposite" of his own.

"I'd ask him about what he's going to have for lunch," Banner said. "He'd see you were different. Just have a regular conversation with him."

It's something not many have had the experience, but Banner says he has. "Behind closed doors, he's a funny guy," Banner said, after getting to know Breslin, and nearly coming to blows, in the offense-defense drills that often matched them up.

It's KO time

You knew this was coming. So did we. Kevin O'Neill is here and talking Trojan basketball and saying some of the same kinds of things -- but with a much different-looking team. And no, the filter isn't exactly on. If KO thinks it, he says it.

* His team of nine transfers he describes as "a lot of guys (who) are in their second chances . . . and last chances." Himself included, although he's well past that "second chance" designation and much closer to the "last chance."

* KO has "14 guys I'd feel comfortable starting," he says, a year after going 6-26 with barely two who should have started at this level. "I've never had that before."

* He has three seven-footers on the roster. Not sure any other team in America can make that claim. But his late-arriving transfer from Rice, Egyptian native Omar Oraby, at 7-foot-2 and 270 pounds, would be among the seven biggest players (out of 455) in the NBA this season -- and he has a 7-foot-8 wingspan. And even better, he might be eligible if his NCAA transfer hardship waiver goes through although who knows if that will come through.

* Said if 7-foot Dewayne Dedmon doesn't continue to improve, Oraby could displace him. But if he does, the two could play together. "Absolutely,"

* Says Jio Fontan is 100 percent healthy after knee surgery and could be an NBA first-round pick if all goes well for the 6-foot senior point guard. Said that's exactly what he was the two games he played last year in Brazil before his knee injury. Says: "Every NBA guy knows about him."

* Says Eric Wise, the 6-foot-6 UCI transfer, has lost 45 pounds and at 232, is by far the team's best shooter in every situation.

* Which is saying something considering the two offensive hotshots who started college at Wake Forest -- 6-3 guard J.T. Terrell, a 24.4 scorer in junior college last year, and 6-7 Ari Stewart, who started at Wake as a freshman, have never met a shot they didn't like.

* Says Byron Wesley has come back much fitter and has firmed up his jump shot after a summer of hard work.

* As to whether the program is back, or could be, KO could not be more optimistic: "We have good players we've recruited, we have good players coming back, we at last have a nucleus to replace those two blank classes, I think we're there right now."

* But the Trojans have a schedule to match that includes Illinois, Texas and either North Carolina, Marquette, Michigan State or Butler in Maui, road games at Nebraska, New Mexico and Georgia and home games against San Diego State, Minnesota and Dayton. KO says "I think it'll help when we get to the Pac-12."

* And maybe help in another way: "It depends on whether you win or lose," KO says. "Your perception is weekly."


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This post was edited on 10/12 6:50 AM by Ryan
 
Sounds like a wet dream for the wealthy.

Elimination of taxes on capital gains and dividends. Check

Reduction of the corporate tax rates. Check

Reduction on the tax rate of pass through income. Check

Removal of a host of low and middle income tax deductions like college tuition costs and student loan interest. Check.

It does include an increased child tax credit, but removes income restrictions so it applies to the wealthy. Check.

It has been estimated to add a trillion dollars to the deficit, but Rubio says that, using dynamic scoring, it will pay for itself. Sure it will.

http://news.yahoo.com/rubio-lee-tax-plan-rewards-investors-parents-businesses-173908074--finance.html
 
Originally posted by theiacowtipper:

Sounds like a wet dream for the wealthy.

Elimination of taxes on capital gains and dividends. Check

Reduction of the corporate tax rates. Check

Reduction on the tax rate of pass through income. Check

Removal of a host of low and middle income tax deductions like college tuition costs and student loan interest. Check.

It does include an increased child tax credit, but removes income restrictions so it applies to the wealthy. Check.

It has been estimated to add a trillion dollars to the deficit, but Rubio says that, using dynamic scoring, it will pay for itself. Sure it will.
Pay for itself! hahahhah.
 
Is "dynamic scoring" the new term to sell trickle down AKA voodoo economics?
 
Wasn't dynamic scoring used for Obamacare?



This post was edited on 3/5 9:46 AM by 86Hawkeye
 
Originally posted by 86Hawkeye:
Wasn't dynamic scoring used for Obamacare?



This post was edited on 3/5 9:46 AM by 86Hawkeye
No for obamacare we found basic lies were used to sell it.
Posted from Rivals Mobile
 
Originally posted by 86Hawkeye:
Wasn't dynamic scoring used for Obamacare?



This post was edited on 3/5 9:46 AM by 86Hawkeye
Oh, good one!
3dgrin.r191677.gif
 
I was just checking to see what the oldest post was... the first post must have been severely edited...
 
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