Maybe once they tackle this they can figure out a way to just send me a fucking bill every year instead of forcing me to do their work to then send them money.
They’ve actually been trying to do this for years. There were actually a couple years of tests out in California I think. However, there are two big lobbies that always put a halt to it, tax preparation services (H&R Block, Intuit, etc.) and groups that want taxes to be a pain in the ass so we’ll all bitch about them.
Check out this episode of Planet Money if you want to learn more:
TLDR: Our government is for sale and two corporations apparently give instructions to the entire IRS and tax system because they pay a “subscription fee” to our politicians.
Protip: just fill out the paperwork! It walks you through it and takes no more time than making a pathfinder character. Tbh the whole act of doing it reminds me of making a ttrpg character: you get a template sheet and a booklet that walks you through it.
I should be able to just stuff what I think is the right amount of gold coins in an envelope and label it “to IRS” and they can figure out if I need another coin or two.
And then I get one thing wrong and get a bill years later that I can’t fight with interest payments or they cut out the middleman and just email my employer and demand they take it out of my pay.
if the free ones would automatically populate for free I would totally use them just to not do the data input. But since they are all bs and don't actually do it for free I do the free fillable forms. Real pro tip is use a spreadsheet to add things up for wierd forms that don't do stuff for you. I put my 1099's in a spreadsheet and copied and pasted from it and it just made the whole thing easier to look over and verify. will do the same anytime I have multiples of the same form and then also for things like ira nonfillable pdf.
I’ve been using the Cash App one and it’s totally free. It was formerly Credit Karma’s before TurboTax bought them and they were forced to divest the free tax program. I usually will run the same numbers through TurboTax and the results end up being the same.
I don’t think sending you a bill would work for most people, since they don’t know how much you owe until you tell them whether you’re married, have dependent kids, have a mortgage, etc. These are things they need to verify every year, so you will always need to send them something every year.
That said, they could certainly make the process simpler.
The government already knows all that information about you. You give your family information to your employer which passes it on to the government. Your mortgage company (and any other financial institution for that matter) sends the government information about your loans/accounts. That’s how they know you filled out your taxes correctly to begin with.
You give your family information to your employer so they can estimate your taxes. But you’re not required to keep them up to date.
So for instance if you tell your employer that you’re single and then get married, you are not required to update your employer. Same is true of having a child, etc. Hence the need for an official annual update, which goes directly to the IRS.
I think they already do in a sense; that’s the standard deduction. If you want to maximize your returns you might be better off itemizing though, and that option is what makes everything complicated (I suspect they’d have a hard time sending you a bill for everything you itemize… I don’t know that they really know everything you could itemize; I think that really only comes up when it’s suspicious/you get audited).
i.e., if they did that, you’d basically get fewer options, and maybe less money back(?)
Even when you take the standard deduction, only had one job in one state for the tax year, and have no investments or other income (ie. the only way your taxes could be simpler is if you don’t have any income and someone else pays all your bills), it’s still complicated to file taxes manually. Many other developed countries will automatically calculate the most common scenarios for most taxpayers, and only people with unusual situations have to do any manual calculations (or pay a tax preparer).
87% of people take the standard deduction. Just give people a bill (or I dunno, take out the correct amount to begin with) and allow people to contest or do an itemized deduction if they disagree.
Several countries have already figured this out, ot isn’t rocket surgery. The government has a pretty good idea what you owe, and send you a bill. If you want to take another route, you’re free to submit your own taxes, but the vast majority don’t need to do anything like that. There’s no reason we couldn’t use the same system, if it assumes standard deduction that would cover the vast majority of people. Anyone who wants to itemize would be free to, it just wouldn’t be automatic, so essentially, nothing would change for them. Well, almost nothing, the difference is if they take too long they have a safety net standard deduction already filed and done I guess.
He compared the 2021 insurrection to the protests in Minneapolis and other cities in 2020 following the death of George Floyd by Minneapolis police and to more recent protests at the Capitol last week by demonstrators opposed to the war in Gaza. Trump falsely claiming that no one was arrested in those other demonstrations and that only his supporters were targeted.
As Trump made the comparison, a man in the back of the room shouted out: “Sir, have you no shame?”
Oh, I’m sorry. Maybe they stopped offering it (it could have been a limited run of shirts) or maybe I was wrong about where I bought mine. But I went to their action page based on an interview with a couple of the employees who were helping to organize locations more than a year ago, so who knows what could be different in that time. Sorry to mislead you.
If big business liked her she wouldn’t be doing her job. I saw her on Jon Stewart and she’s smart AF! I kinda gotta low key thing for her now. Should I tell my SO?
The modern GOP don’t have a platform. They run on grievance. That’s why they’re freaking out about the fact that Joe Biden dropped out. They had been running “against Joe Biden” rather than running a campaign based on a platform or issues.
To be fair the Democrats don’t have a platform other than: not Republican/Trump/ diverse coalition. Ok, they didn’t want to backslide, which is good, but the things they want to accomplish don’t help the working class a whole lot.
I’m for it, but increasing the size requires a Congressional majority. Sadly, we’re not there. FDR took a run at it and fractured the party. The fear is that if Democrats are able to do it, then the next Republican majority will do the same. I don’t think this consideration has merit. They are likely to do it anyway should they have the ability when the court doesn’t have a right bias.
I think there are better ways to go about it. The whole structure is flawed as it concentrates a wealth of power to small amount of people. Something like using a lottery composed of the federal appellate court judges for each case. In theory, many cases could be tried simultaneously as there are about 180. Those bringing the cases would also not have insight as to the court’s composition. They’d have to rely solely on the merit of their case.
I like this item. It’s a bit dated, and the source leans left; but so does reality:
I used “refused” in the past tense. I’m pretty sure that route is gone. Democrats will never have the majorities they need because this Court has made so many anti-democratic and pro-corruption rulings as to render the electoral process into a joke.
Gratuities are legal now! It is now legal to give a politician money as thanks for passing legislation. It’s not “bribery” because it occurs after the act, you see, and so therefore it’s just protected speech. I’m sure Clarence Thomas is happy about that one.
But! Dems could still run on the issue as a way to sway voters! But they’re too scared because, as you said, then Republicans will just do it too and it’ll probably lead to a civil war. So. Uh. Whatever I guess, country is fucked.
Do you mean the Raimondo decision? That has no direct bearing. At worst, it means the FTC rule is more susceptible to challenge. But if you look at the actual court cases, it is being upheld. One judge in Texas temporarily delayed the ban for a small number of employers, and that is the biggest challenge so far.
That’s quite a leap. You inferred something, I didn’t imply it. I simply posted a link to the Democrats platform which laysout their vision and policy and a link to the Republican platform which lays out their vision and policy. Any inference is entirely in your head.
We’re very lucky that the Republicans published a detailed 900 page roadmap for turning the US into a fascist theocratic dictatorship. It’s impossible to deny, now, since everyone can see it with their own two eyes.
I mean democrats categorically support unions, support reproductive rights, support protecting the environment… They do have a platform that isn’t “not Republican”. It’s just that republicans know their platform (project 2025 really) is so wildly unpopular they have to focus not on that, they have to focus on tearing down the opposing candidate.
In terms of helping the working class: taxing the wealthy and wealthy corporations more will help the working class. Improving access to low cost / affordable healthcare will help the working class. Having strong unions will help the working class.
The problem is that “access to low cost / affordable healthcare” is such a limp dick policy. Yeah, I can “afford” healthcare, but it still costs me thousands of dollars every year and I’m tied to my employer for it. Then I’m still not getting very good care and I have a chronic mental health disorder. That cop just executed that schizophrenic woman in Illinois and I’ve been arrested and mistreated due to my own mental health. Nobody is helping people like me and her. Local jails are filled with people who are there because of the lack of mental healthcare. I’m lucky that I get to see a p-doc for 5 minutes a month without paying full price. Full price is $200 per visit, just to get a refill on a prescription that makes me feel like shit all the time. I got my appointment mixed up one time and couldn’t get a refill until I saw the doc a week later and had to restart on a lower dosage. Nobody wanted to help me get a refill, I talked to multiple people at the office and at the pharmacy and couldn’t get it and kept getting different answers from different people. The doctor told me I should have came in to see him without the appointment. I was afraid to do that because I didn’t want to get kicked out and lose access to my doctor. The healthcare system in this country is a mess and a joke due to shitty scum sucking MBAs taking over every aspect of it. They’re working for the private healthcare industry and doing nothing to help us.
No, that’s just ‘‘I’m rubber your glue’’ bullshit. It isn’t so. Just like CNN isn’t FoxNews for Liberals, and there’s absolutely no cult of personality for Unkie Joe, as you can see from him stepping down, and left wing engagement went WAY up.
It’s not enough to simply claim there’s no platform, there is, it’s not just ‘‘Trump bad’’. But to be fair, he is promising to create a dictatorship and end our country in order to remake it in his image.
Yeah, I saw her speech to the DNC the other day. She used a bunch of weasel words like “affordable” healthcare, “middle class” , assault weapons ban, etc. These things range from meaningless to barely a move in the right direction. Y’all got tricked into thinking the conservative corporate candidate is so progressive because she is compared to the fascist option. It’s a bunch of B.S.
It’s almost as if they’re saying things like universal healthcare can’t win elections and instead need to seize power from the top down. Which really undersells the appeal of these programs.
I’m saying I want universal healthcare and Dems won’t do it. They want to give health insurance companies and private hospitals a shitton of taxpayers money and keep insurance tied to employment. It’s a crock of shit.
You’re wrong. Some wisdom for you: If you’re always wrong about something, and only people who hold precisely the exact same viewpoints as you agree, you should consider looking into it yourself. Because the question is no longer whether you’re right, it becomes about who is the most correct, and whether you personally care enough and are brave enough to challenge your own viewpoint.
Yeah, we are a bit of a microcosm here. However, when it comes to people on the left you can at least trust that most of us will go around correcting one another, often to our own detriment.
College costs and student loans for themselves and maybe their children, must younger people can’t afford children. Medical costs Housing costs Ability to retire at a reasonable age Cost of living
Kind of hard to see how they want to fix those issues when they’re taking money from those industries and using private health insurance companies to administer Medicare/Medicaid plans and still paying sky high prices to private hospitals. Private health insurance is a huge gift to employers as well. It keeps people from easily leaving and they get huge tax breaks.
Global warming is the issue that supersedes all issues and the Dems are much better on that. Literally everything you listed gets worse with climate change everything gets more expensive.
By Missouri state law, this is kidnapping. Anyone involved with the non-release should be charged, tried, convicted, and imprisoned for up to four years (class E felony).
I don’t know if Missouri also has enhancements for people abusing their badge or office, but every state should.
I don’t think your advocating for or celebrating violence, but this comment is probably going to be taken that way and deleted. I totally agree with your point though, a failed assassination attempt is probably the worst thing you can do to a guy who wants to destroy democracy.
All things being equal, I am glad that the assassin failed. I am no fan of Trump by any measure. I wish, every day, that Trump would just go away and stay out of politics.
I feel that assassinating someone like Trump would only intensify the right-wing’s rhetoric and make things worse in the long run. I also feel that whomever would replace Trump would be far much worse than Trump himself. It’s a lose-lose either way.
No, the appropriate thing to do is to vote these bastards out of office. I fear the worst, that maybe we’re going to fail doing that; we’re what, 4 months away from the election and we’re talking about replacing Biden, but NOBODY has said with whom? Yeah that’s confidence inspiring.
My doomer mentality aside, I do still hope I’m wrong, and that democracy and justice will prevail. But dammit if the “good guys” aren’t bending over backwards to make that hard to believe.
we’re talking about replacing Biden, but NOBODY has said with whom?
People have said over, and over, and over that it would be Harris. She is beating both Trump and Biden in the polls, is able to take over the Biden-Harris campaign funds with minimal legal dispute, she appeals more to women, independents, black voters etc.
It’s not a question. She’s not ideal, but she actually stands a chance to beat Trump. Biden does not, especially now. It would be Harris. Now you know.
I have heard that mentionedonce or twice, but never concretely. Most of what I’ve been seeing is that “Biden should step down,” and nothing more.
Either way, the last thing the Democratic Party needs right now is more fragmentation. If they’re going to replace Biden, just fucking do it already. If not, shut the fuck up about it. Time is ticking, and it’s not on our side.
4 months is not a long time to campaign. We’re already halfway through July. This should’ve been figured out long ago.
I have heard that mentionedonce or twice, but never concretely. Most of what I’ve been seeing is that “Biden should step down,” and nothing more.
Because that’s the order of operations. But if you having only heard it twice is because you’re not paying attention, not because people haven’t been talking about it.
Biden has already fragmented the party, he simply cannot win. It’s not viable. No one can force him to leave. And no, people should not “shut the fuck up about it” since doing so means Democrats will lose for sure. Democrats will unify more behind any candidate who is not as polarizing and alienating as Biden. If he stays in past the convention then you can start telling people to shut the fuck up, but until the convention is over people should be doing everything they can to convince him to leave.
It’s going to mobilize his violent base anyway. We have some rough times ahead of us. I fully expect rampant domestic terrorism to increase as a result of this.
I feel that assassinating someone like Trump would only intensify the right-wing’s rhetoric and make things worse in the long run.
I hear that a lot, but I honestly don’t see how. The man is toxic to the core, he consistently takes all the sanity out of public conversation. An America without him is just less crazy and less angry.
There’s always a chance, it’s just very small. These corrupt justices are the end game for the republican party, the odds of any of them breaking ranks to convict is very low.
That said, it’s almost certainly not about conviction, so much as upholding the rule of law and creating political pressure and support for something like packing the court.
Ever played Suzerain? There’s a timeline where this is possible, but you gotta play it right.
That said, this speech would make a big impact in that game. But it’s obviously fictional and based in the beginning of a the Cold War within the Eastern Bloc, so it’s more realistic in expected outcomes than the reality of 2024 United States. Maybe they can make a hardcore mode DLC based on those societal and political conditions.
In truth, regardless of camps, all Americans should be livid if they are those that refer to themselves as real Americans—honestly, patriotic conservatives the most, in protection of the constitution. Unfortunately that unity is gone, so the words will get washed away by a torrent of bias before they can be pondered on.
Kind of. The genre is hard to explain. You would like it if you’re into grand strat. I’ve done four playthrough and two DLC,.each time taking on different tactics and stances.
It is functionally a well written and presented ‘choose your adventure’ political drama.
There are elements of randomness and gameplay systems, but it is not really a grand strategy game with a whole extremely complex simulation engine undergirding it, the way Paradox games are.
I would say that it does count as a strategy game in the sense that navigating toward outcomes you want does take a good bit of understanding how power politics works within basically the Cold War era, particularly from the standpoint of a non aligned nation.
Maybe you could say its like the Paradox games, if they stripped most of the numbers mechanics, made them less complex and not the focus, and were left with mainly narrative events and focus trees, but those were done in great detail.
Note
I played this game basically right when it came out, several years ago, and it may have changed since.
it is not really a grand strategy game with a whole extremely complex simulation engine undergirding it, the way Paradox games are.
This might actually be a plus for me, for as much as I want to love those games, I always ultimately get bogged down in that shit.
I haven’t played in a while, but I have over 100 hours in EU4, with at least a half a dozen of the dlc, and I can say that I still don’t truly know how to play those games “properly.” The level of detail is simultaneously insane and dumb (sometimes their approximations of real life things are understandably absurd). I love the idea of them though.
I just got a new PC with a little more juice, and picked up Victoria 3 and have been debating if I should start watching tutorial videos or not…
Completely and wildly different genre, but I’ve been very intrigued so far with Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic as a city builder with a pretty impressive amount of detail. It’s unique among the genre as the main goal isn’t financial, but more focused on the well-being of your citizens. Lots of public housing, public transport, walking paths… There are two currencies, and if you choose to deal with the West you have to use a separate currency.
I feel like if I’m going to put the time into a complex “simulation” game at this point, it might be that one.
I’m not advocating for it, but like, if they are dead they can’t really speak up about their opinions. Again, not condoning murder, but just thinking through the logic on this.
Not a non-zero possibility, considering how often Biden is confusing names now. Just present his name in a brochure that seems to talk about the middle east and needing to assassinate a target, that gets it an automatic human right’s pass.
The motion will get assigned to a committee, run by Republicans, where it will die. Even if there is a sympathetic Republican on that committee, all House members are up for re-election in November, and voting for this is a sure way to get the MAGAs all up in their grill and would likely lead to that person losing a ton of MAGA support, and likely losing their job.
AOC knows this and is doing this to help Democrats in vulnerable districts, to help turn the House in the next Congress. “Elect us into the majority, and we will actually look into this.”
You are arguing that Republicans are, ”To busy keeping their job to do their job”. While that may be true in some cases, I fear that for some of them, breaking the Supreme Court like this was the goal all along.
None, but what matters is getting voting records so that later this year or in 2026 during House races, they can show who made an attempt to punish the traitors to our democracy, and who is in full support.
They have 86 million people just giving them piles of money. They use that money to lend and invest and then reap all the profits. They incentivize those people to take loans from them and get credit cards through them, because when you already have millions of people entrusting you with their life savings, it’s easy to upsell them.
And now, just because they have caps on their bullshit fees, they want to charge people for the privilege of handing over all that free money? Fucking genius right there. No way that will backfire.
Banks are awful, find a credit union, never deal with this kind of bullshit again (probably).
In the states most all of your credit unions are part of a co-op network and will allow you to “withdraw for free” from any other atm at a credit union. However most credit unions will also cover the atm fee you pay at other ATMs. Check with them as you apply. If you’re in California and have a way to join it, I’d recommend Schools Credit Union.
It is the best. Also, in the event someone gives you misinformation. Credit union accounts are insured as well for up to 250,000 just like regular banks, however they’re insured through NCUA rather than FDIC. even my parents who are well off and very intelligent even thought that credit unions weren’t properly insured. 🙃
Not for me, either. BECU in Washington state. In fact, they reimburse my fees from out-of-network ATMs, so more flexible than a bank – I can use the crummy ATMs in the corner in the 7-11.
They’re being petulant and looking to punish their customers. They’re hoping the next time the “Gub” tries to regulate them people will remember rates went up after and push back on government regulation.
They make money hand over fist. How DARE someone “take something from them” when they’re owed everything!
This is the guy who’s dad – upon hearing that his son shot up a gay club – immediately thought that his son might be gay and was worried about that, but then was relieved that the son had only killed gays.
In a series of interviews, Aaron Brink told San Diego’s CBS8 that when he first received a telephone call from his child’s public defender, his first reaction was to question why his child was in the club.
“And then I go on to find out it’s a gay bar. I said, ‘God, is he gay?’ I got scared, ‘Shit, is he gay?’ And he’s not gay, so I said, ‘Phew …’”
I thought, surely this is out of context right? the next quote:
Brink, a mixed martial arts coach, told CBS8 that he had taught his child to fight, saying he had offered praise “for violent behavior really early. I told him it works. It is instant and you’ll get immediate results.”
Took my daughter to Inside Out 2 the other day. I really appreciate all these films and shows that put such an emphasis on feelings and kindness.
I feel so bad for the children out there with such shitty parents. The Oxford shooter’s parents come to mind.
I kid you not, the dad has been on the show Intervention for meth addiction, Divorce court as a result of his continued meth addiction, and does gay porn to pay for his meth addiction. He’s enormously homophobic, but he’ll do gay sex for drugs.
I don’t know whether to hate him, or pity him. He must hate himself quite severely.
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