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The Official Thread of Existing While MAGA

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Jason

Jason

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4 minutes ago, mclumber1 said:

Mine are composite (plastic) toe instead of steel, because my company requires them to be super electrically safe.  

 

Pffft. Then how are you supposed to get supposed to get supposed powers?

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Tao 2.0

Tao 2.0

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I was wondering if there was a thread in here on the tax return situation. I find it kind of sad and kind of hilarious and I'm going to write many words about it now because this is how I plan on releasing steam after a longstanding embargo of talking politics on any of my own social medias.

 

So! I'm not even going to "I told you so" GOP supporters on this, because, frankly, all working class people are in the same boat and we all got fucked by the new tax law. And that's me fully aware that tax refunds and total taxes paid are not the same thing. I'm just honestly surprised the Pols in Power, who only got into power thanks to their +12 Broadsword of Insincere Populism, didn't realize that the majority of Americans still think refunds = taxes.

 

When I read a year ago that they were planning on messing with IRS withholding tables to try and "fake" wage increases and create support for the tax package before the midterms, I couldn't help but think "Hah, rookie fucking mistake." Classic out-of-touch rich people error, thinking in terms of percentages and not real money, and not having anyone on staff to tell them how regular people view their finances. The GOP is perplexed that the average tax-payer isn't breaking down any TCJA increases to their paychecks, averaging it against health insurance increases and/or decreased deductions, projecting it over four fiscal quarters and then figuring out what the gross increase was before adding in whatever interest gains they prospectively could have gotten if they had invested that $1.50 a week in the private market, which the plan would technically allow them to do, rather than leaving it with a zero-interest IRS withholding account just to get back a year later? Seriously?? I'm bored by that sentence and I just wrote it!

I mean, does it make sense on paper? Arguably (could still debate/hate the finer shit-fuck points of the tax law, but just taking the perspective of GOP lawmakers). Do 75% of Americans care? Hell no, they only care about the number they see on the check of the one big financial windfall they get each year (remember, we're not talking about people who by-and-large receive stock dividends, or Christmas bonuses, or fat annual commission checks based on corporate profit).

 

It's the same attitude when Wilbur Ross said he doesn't understand why federal workers were on bread lines during the government shutdown instead of taking out a low-interest loan from a credit union and ask their grocery store to just front them Cheez-Its and diapers on an IOU. That's what someone says who has never lived paycheck to paycheck and doesn't understand how being broke works.
 

That said, while it may pale in comparison to the administration's other offenses, this is the kind of accessible flashpoint that actually can unite both sides of the middle class and hopefully convert more than a few voters. I say this as someone who came from a family of right-wingers who only ever voted that way because TAX CUTS, and nothing else. For a lot of Republican voters, tax cuts are the beginning and the end of the appeal, taking on almost mythical properties. And for many, that number is based on what they see in their refund each year. It's one of the few things that actually defies spin, in a way, because no politician can tell Jerry from Ohio that he has money he doesn't see. Dems actually have an opportunity here to get outraged with everyone who feels they got screwed (whether they did or not), and use it as the most tangible evidence to prove to them that they got conned by Ryan/McConnell et al.

 

Now we just get to see if they use it or fuck it up. [Edited for typos.]

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SuperSpreader

SuperSpreader

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1 hour ago, Tao 2.0 said:

I was wondering if there was a thread in here on the tax return situation. I find it kind of sad and kind of hilarious and I'm going to write many words about it now because this is how I plan on releasing steam after a longstanding embargo of talking politics on any of my own social medias.

 

So! I'm not even going to "I told you so" GOP supporters on this, because, frankly, all working class people are in the same boat and all got fucked by the new tax law. And that's me fully aware that tax refunds and total taxes paid are not the same thing. I'm just honestly surprised the Pols in Power, who only got into power thanks to their +12 Broadsword of Insincere Populism, didn't realize that the majority of Americans still think refunds = taxes.

 

When I read a year ago that they were planning on messing with IRS withholding tables to try and "fake" wage increases and create support for the tax package before the midterms, I couldn't help but laugh and think "Rookie fucking mistake." Classic out-of-touch rich people error, thinking in terms of percentages and not real money, and not having anyone on staff to tell them how regular people view their finances. The GOP is perplexed that the average tax-payer isn't breaking down any TCJA increases to their paychecks, averaging it against health insurance increases or decreased deductions, projecting it over four fiscal quarters and then figuring out what the gross increase was before adding in whatever interest gains they prospectively could have gotten if they had invested that $1.50 a week, which the plan would technically allowed them to do, rather than leaving it with the as zero-interest IRS withholding account just to get back a year later? Seriously?? I'm bored by that sentence and I just wrote it!

I mean Does it make sense on paper? Arguably (could still debate/hate the finer shit-fuck points of the tax law, but just taking the perspective of GOP lawmakers'). Do 75% of Americans care? Hell no, they only care about the number they see on the check of the one big financial windfall they get a year (remember, we're not talking about people who by-and-large receive stock dividends, or Christmas bonuses, or fat annual commission checks based on corporate profit).

 

It's the same attitude when Wilbur Ross said he doesn't understand why federal workers were on bread lines during the government shutdown instead of taking out a low-interest loan from a credit union and ask their grocery store to just front them Cheez-Its and diapers on an IOU. That's what someone says who has never lived paycheck to paycheck and doesn't understand how being broke works.
 

That said, while it may pale in comparison to the administration's other offenses, this is the kind of accessible flashpoint that actually can unite both sides of the middle class and hopefully convert more than a few voters. I say this as someone who came from a family of right-wingers who only ever voted that way because TAX CUTS, and nothing else. For a lot of Republican voters, tax cuts are the beginning and the end of the appeal, taking on almost mythical properties. And for many, that number is based on what they see in their refund each year. It's one of the few things that actually defies spin, in a way, because no politician can tell Jerry from Ohio that he has money he doesn't see. Dems actually have an opportunity here to get outraged with everyone who feels they got screwed, and use it as the most tangible evidence to prove to them that they got conned Ryan et al. Now we just get to see if they use it or fuck it up.

All of this.

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