Elephants and Jackasses...

Fucking taxes, how do they work?

 

JNCO sales just shot through the roof. But the sensible, not-so-wide ones. Middle America isn’t gonna go hard just yet.

 

faygo on their flannel shirts

 

It's like this: you work really hard to make money, then the IRS forces you to give some of it to them, so that the government can waste it on stupid bullshit.

The amount you have to pay can vary greatly. The IRS knows exactly what that amount is, but they won't tell you. Instead, they make you guess, and if you guess wrong, they will take EVEN MORE of your money, and they may actually throw you in prison.

Also, these rules don't apply to rich people.

In other news Tulsi Gabbard has taken her mask off, and defected to the GQP.

 

I think it's interesting that this bothers you, but you voted for Harris. I'm not judging - just most people who say those things typically vote for the Republican candidate.

I see this comment a lot, both from voters and campaigners. As a voter, what is your definition of "rich" people in this comment? Annual income? What's that line for "rich," if you make over $100k / year or over $1 million / year or what?

Taxfoundation.org (according to them) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit group. The most recent stats they publish is from 2021, so I'm not sure if the numbers are a little different now . . .

- The average income tax rate in 2021 was 14.9 percent. The top 1 percent of taxpayers paid a 25.9 percent average rate, nearly eight times higher than the 3.3 percent average rate paid by the bottom half of taxpayers.

- The top 1 percent’s income share rose from 22.2 percent in 2020 to 26.3 percent in 2021 and its share of federal income taxes paid rose from 42.3 percent to 45.8 percent.

- The top 50 percent of all taxpayers paid 97.7 percent of all federal individual income taxes, while the bottom 50 percent paid the remaining 2.3 percent.

 

can you imagine what the government would look like if lobbying (in the traditional, paid-for sense) wasn't a thing?

 

I keep going back to the role the media has played during Trump's movement, and one of the things that worries me is just how much more lucrative it's been. I remember when C-SPAN was a televised quaalude: you'd be asleep even if they were talking about nuking gibbons with AIDS. Now, it's a reality show, that's non-stop, 24/7. Somehow, it's news when a candidate cancels an appearance, which happens ALL the fucking time. The sheer volume of money Fox News has made is staggering, and despite every rational inkling of accountability, that flow has never been threatened.

The media is looking for the next reality tv show fuckwit to drive the political cycle to new heights, and Musk might fit the bill. I think the sheer volume of money they've made since 2015 means we're not getting back to normal politics, even after Trump is dead or out of the picture. Fox's Murdoch might be getting ahead of the accountability by shifting out of his role, and certainly some of the major players (Murdoch, Trump, Biden, McConnell) will be too old to reprise roles in the next cycle, and some of these folks (with any luck Cruz, Abbott, DeSantis, etc.) will just straight up be washed out. But the media machine will need to fill the void with Trump's replacement and it will come in the form of some fuck-fidget that can suck all of the oxygen out of the room and fill it with outrage, on one side or another.

That's the main issue with this. The blatant and obvious truth is after January 6, Trump shouldn't be eligible. A slew of folks should be in prison. The things Trump has said shouldn't be headline news, they should be mentioned deep in an article as to why he's not worth consideration. The media, across the board, has become addicted to the clicks, likes and ensuing dollars, and there's no way to divorce it now.

Trump may disappear, but his replacement will be coming front and center soon thereafter.

 

Voting for Trump means more tax cuts and handouts to the wealthy, while the middle and lower class get fucked.

Say, Rush, how's that Trump tax plan working for you?
BECAUSE I GOT FUCKED. It eliminated most deductions, so instead of a $1,500 rebate, I got $250, even though I was taking home the same amount. This wasn't just one year, either.

Let's say, for argument's sake, that $400k annual number that they were talking about last year.
And I don't want to hear "Akshully, Bandit, that's not a lot of money in some places!"

That's enough to live very comfortably in most parts of this country.
But seriously, millionaires and billionaires need to be taxed more. They aren't starving. They also need to have the Social Security cap raised on them.

So then do you mean to tell me that if the top 1% just paid a little more, we could eliminate income taxes on the lower and middle class?
Because that's what it sounds like.

Do you have any idea whatsoever how much it would stimulate the economy if average people had extra money to spend?*

You know all those articles about how "Millennials are Killing ______ Industry!", and it actually amounts to "Millennials are too broke to spend their money on ____ product/ service"? Imagine if they were able to keep that extra 15% of their money.

*Unless you asked Janet Yelen, in which case consumers are causing inflation. Dumb swamp-hag.

 

Thanks for taking the time to answer. I was genuinely interested in your opinion.

Unless someone is say, under age 25, I don't really care who they decide to vote for. I am not trying to change anyone's mind, because I assume that they, like me, have spent their lifetime living, researching, listening, and dealing with real bills, real family, and real life. They are voting for who they think best aligns with their platform of experience, and will govern in a way that make whatever issues they're concerned about closer to their preferences.

So, cheers. If Harris wins, I hope you'll see the change you're hoping for.

 

Damn right. They should eliminate the cap altogether.

 

Given the income disparity, and the absolute dearth of resources for funding retirement, I'd say that's inevitable. However, given how our legislature has handled SS over the years, it'll be 20 years too late, and some bizarre surplus will be used to fund a decade's worth of "security interventions" in Iraq.

Fuck. My dad retired YESTERDAY, and I have no idea how he plans on funding it.

 

There's a real life juggalo in the waiting room at work right now. He's wearing a hat that says Midwest Juggalo and a flannel and is carrying a purse that looks like an old book. No faygo to be seen, unfortunately, but a pervasive smell of weed. Should I ask him if Violent J's recent remarks had any impact on his political views?

 

I can't really - it wouldn't be appropriate. But he took off his flannel and many pounds worth of interesting jewelry to get weighed and he's also wearing an ICP t-shirt. The commitment to the brand is strong.

 

I saw some article saying that Mark Halperin knows of some bombshell story that will “end trump’s presidential bid completely”…but also he thinks it’s not true. Which makes sense, since we’ve heard all the bad shit already, and if nobody brought it up four years ago, it must be totally unbelievable. Or it’s just an attempt to make the knowledge of a story the story, so some anonymous sources can be quoted with the details.

 

If I'm reading the rumors right, it sounds like there's video of Trump groping (David Sacks?)'s underage daughter at a recent fundraiser. While I would be approximately 0% surprised if this turns out to be true, I also expect approximately 0% of Trump voters to abandon him after video evidence of him molesting children is released. So I'm not exactly holding my breath.

 

There's nothing short of death that would cause Trump to quit the campaign this close.
However, it's going to be REALLY fucking interesting if Harris wins and a bunch of people are suddenly confronted with alignment to a pedophile on tape assaulting a minor.

Not to mention....I dunno press charges against a former president for sexual assault? Given the E. Jean Carroll verdict, I could see this being an easy path to that young person making a few easy millions. Even given the Stormy Daniels shit, hush money isn't out of the question...