Politics And Current Events

[NTP66]

My same friend was on FB yesterday whining that they already paid his wife's loans off. This is a guy that gets about $35k a year in tax-free VA disability, happily accepted all those stimulus checks during COVID, and brags every year about the massive tax refund he gets because of his two kids. One of those kids gets to go to college for free because he didn't use his GI Bill.

But, yeah, someone else might get much-needed help so he is being persecuted.

People who get massive tax refunds are doing it wrong.

You know, the process for figuring out withholding is not very straight forward. I do my best to get my return to 0, but when I use the calculator on the IRS website, it says I'm withholding too much. But then I get a fat tax return. Not going to complain about the return, but would rather have it now than the government holding on to it for me.

Using an accountant was the best thing for this, IMO. We are now consistently within $500 of what we are supposed to owe.

[count2infinity]

It shouldn't be that difficult.

[dodint]

I'm hoping to get better at it once my wife gets a full year in with a steady job. Except she picked up two 1099 gigs on the side, so probably not.

[robbiestoupe]

It's probably because my wife doesn't have a typical 9-5 job working 40 hours a week. Also, I don't remember there being any area where you can add childcare expenses as a deductible. Maybe it's changed since the last time I used it

[Troy Loney]

My wife likes to do things in a way that always makes tax return time a mystery.

We had to do separate bank accounts in order to survive being married. There's usually some odd collection of 1099/1099Rs that I collect in January and choose not to look at until mid April. Last year was blessed as she didn't take anything out of the IRA she inherited, so we ended up with a 3K return.

[King Colby]

Some people basically give the feds a free loan because they are incapable of saving money for big purchases, so then they get a fat check in March for those purchases

[eddy]

Nope, it’s for wealthy elites.

All the rich kids on my social media are complaining because they didnt have loans. Mommy and daddy paid for their school.

These **** Canaans know exactly what they are saying, they want everyone fighting over the peanuts

[nocera]

If Jim Jordan is worried about "Real America" maybe he should introduce some legislation that would help them out? Let's take a look at his policies thanks to his Wiki. He opposes the Affordable Care Act, opposes vaccines, opposes anything that combats climate change, opposes abortion and supports the defunding of Planned Parenthood, cosponsored a resolution to amend the US constitution to ban same-sex marriage, he voted to prevent the certification of the Electoral College in at least one state, and was one of the 139 representatives who voted to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Congress on January 7.

Jordan doesn't give a **** about real america.

[Viva la Ben]

Thinking scotus handed key races in the northern swing states to the dems.

The GOP really **** up.

[crusherstasiak]

The hysterical gesticulating from the the GOP over this is pretty funny. Get ****!

heard some dude named 'spike' is all pissed off

[bhflyhigh]

This is why I like UBI. No squabbling over who is entitled to what.

While I think in the future moving to a UBI would be a positive for humanity in general... I don't know how we get there? We've seen how inflation can be over the last year. Part of me would be really worried what would happen to the cost of goods and services. Wouldn't they just increase in price to compensate for the additional amount of currency that would be available? I haven't looked too much into how it would work. Just my first thoughts when I think about it.

[Viva la Ben]

Did they ever find who leaked the dobbs draft or naw?

[CBear3]

Libertarians don't believe the government (to the extent a government even exists in the first place) should be in the business of helping anyone at the expense of others. Neither would it be the government's job to relieve people from the consequences of their own decisions, such as the voluntary decision to take out a student loan. While I certainly believe both, I haven't bothered to argue either of those angles because I already know the posters here won't agree. Any good lawyer knows not to bother arguing a point that the court is guaranteed to reject.

You lost that battle over a century ago. The federal government has been subsidizing certain behaviors since its exception, at the expense of those that don't exhibit that behavior. You're looking for a whole different country.

I mean, I acknowledge your viewpoint and see its validity, but we're so far past that it's unreasonable to fight that fight at this point in history in my opinion.

[dodint]

This is why I like UBI. No squabbling over who is entitled to what.

While I think in the future moving to a UBI would be a positive for humanity in general... I don't know how we get there? We've seen how inflation can be over the last year. Part of me would be really worried what would happen to the cost of goods and services. Wouldn't they just increase in price to compensate for the additional amount of currency that would be available? I haven't looked too much into how it would work. Just my first thoughts when I think about it.

There are a lot of conceptual issues, for sure. I'm not sure how much it would impact prices. The idea isn't so much to make people comfortable but to enable them to have their basic needs met which frees them up to follow pursuits that they couldn't while they were struggling just to survive. For some that will be binge-watching Netflix, others it might be contributing to society artistically, and many will become innovators that advance society.

[mikey]

Nah, if they get UBI, they'll go back to school, and then later get their student loans forgiven for useless degrees...it's the ultimate pinko double-dip...

[King Colby]

If UBI is in place of rather than in addition to, it shouldn't make "more money available to be spent" right?

[meow]

What’s with all the Upper-Body Injury talk?

[dodint]

If UBI is in place of rather than in addition to, it shouldn't make "more money available to be spent" right?

In a way, it's less because UBI should shutter the myriad of agencies that currently administer the hodgepodge of entitlements that currently exist.

[mikey]

Yes ^

[RonnieFranchise]

What’s with all the Upper-Body Injury talk?

Sid’s out for 4 months.

[count2infinity]

If UBI is in place of rather than in addition to, it shouldn't make "more money available to be spent" right?

In a way, it's less because UBI should shutter the myriad of agencies that currently administer the hodgepodge of entitlements that currently exist.

Yup... this week's freakonomics podcast episode discusses making public transportation free. I don't recall what town/city it was... St. Louis, maybe? They looked into and made public transportation free. They lost $30 million in revenue from that, but saved $29 million in overhead. So it was sort of a wash. Not to mention the fact that it sped everything up because riders didn't need to spend time fumbling for cash to get on a bus.

I'd imagine the same thing here. Get rid of all the overhead and just give money to people.

[King Colby]

But then how would the politicians line their pockets with kickbacks

[mikey]

$29 million in overhead...? Do you recall what that was largely composed of, broadly...?

[count2infinity]

$29 million in overhead...? Do you recall what that was largely composed of, broadly...?

I just did a ctrl+F "29" on the transcript: https://freakonomics.com/podcast/should ... t-be-free/

It was a pilot program in a Boston area...

"In some ways, there’s an elasticity question: How much are more people riding because the price has changed? The estimate across the entire bus system previously was that it would be about a $30 million cost for revenue replacement just for bus fares. And the M.B.T.A. system has separately estimated that it would be a $29 million cost savings in the fuel and all the efficiencies from speeding along bus service with all-door boarding."

So I'm not sure exactly where the savings are, but they link the $29 million to here: https://mass.streetsblog.org/2021/06/08 ... on-budget/

[robbiestoupe]

$29 million in overhead...? Do you recall what that was largely composed of, broadly...?

I just did a ctrl+F "29" on the transcript: https://freakonomics.com/podcast/should ... t-be-free/

It was a pilot program in a Boston area...

"In some ways, there’s an elasticity question: How much are more people riding because the price has changed? The estimate across the entire bus system previously was that it would be about a $30 million cost for revenue replacement just for bus fares. And the M.B.T.A. system has separately estimated that it would be a $29 million cost savings in the fuel and all the efficiencies from speeding along bus service with all-door boarding."

So I'm not sure exactly where the savings are, but they link the $29 million to here: https://mass.streetsblog.org/2021/06/08 ... on-budget/

This doesn't make sense to me. Are they saying it's a net zero cost/revenue situation? How do they operate and maintain the system without revenue?