[Hindsite]

SO

You should suggest he try to get a rebate on his tuition fees

The degree alone was worth every penny I paid. I am now receiving about $60,000 a year in retirement payments and own two homes and two cars with only $20,000 in debt. Praise the Lord.

[Drlee]

OK

Hindsite. You REALLY need a tax accountant. What you My wife and I fall into the 12% tax bracket.
- 12% (over $9,525 to $38,700; over $19,050 to $77,400 for couples)

The House and Senate bills nearly double the standard deduction. For single filers the Senate bill increases it to $12,000 from $6,350 currently; and it raises it for married couples filing jointly to $24,000 from $12,700.

The Senate plan would maintains the added standard deduction for taxpayers 65 and older. (The House plan would repeal this deduction. That is another $24,000 deduction under the Senate plan for a senior couple for a total deduction of $48,000.

You really need to get a tax accountant to help you. Your numbers are off by over 50% in your favor.

Read it and weep:

Here's how that math works. Let's say you are single with no dependents, and you have a moderate income. Currently, you get to take the standard deduction ($6,350) and one personal exemption ($4,050). If you are 65 or older, you also get to take an additional standard deduction ($1,250). That adds up to $10,400, or $11,650 if you're over 65.

The Republican plan would replace all these provisions with a single deduction of $12,000 ($24,000 for married couples.) That's a 15% increase — except for seniors, who get a 3% increase.

And then your first dollar of taxable income would be subjected to a 12% tax rate, instead of the current 10%.

If your personal taxes go down at all (and they might not) it will be an insignificant amount.

That would drastically reduce the number of people who opt to itemize their deductions, since the only reason to do so is if your individual deductions combined exceed the standard deduction amount.

But wait!

Eliminates personal exemptions: Today you're allowed to claim a $4,050 personal exemption for yourself, your spouse and each of your dependents. Both the Senate and House bills eliminate that option.

So knock off the personal exemption of $8100.00 and the $12K standard deduction increase is really only $3900.00 and the mortgage deduction that most of those who itemize deductions is far more than this.

So you may be in the small minority of people who actually get a couple of bucks but nothing like what you think you are going to get. And a great many individuals will do much worse under this bill. They will get an increase.

But you will be happy to know that people like me whose house is almost paid for will do very well as our mortgage deduction is small enough that the additional few thousand will give us a little tweak. The ones who will really suffer are parents. If you have three children for example, you will get less money because you can no longer claim the personal exemption for them. Good Christians will love this because it will encourage abortion as kids become more expensive to have.

Dude. You really need to study this shit. Clearly you are following a great American tradition here. You are voting for perhaps a few dollars (and not many) in your favor and happily screwing your fellow Americans. But selfishness is the great American dream. Right?

The take away for you is to realize that instead of increasing what you get for being over 65 they eliminated it entirely. You and your wife will pay a higher tax on your income than my wife (who is under 65) will. In fact, if you look a the share paid by age this is an increase on what seniors pay.

Now admit that your math was wrong. You won't. That is violating the first rule of trolling.

[Beren]

If it wanted to, the US could simply use sanctions to close down all off-shore tax havens immediately.

It would be even simpler and quicker if they did the same to them as they did to Grenada. After the first tax haven is Grenadised, the rest will close down immediately.

[mikema63]

“Part of me feels like a sucker now,” says Jason Furman, who served as chief economist to President Obama. “Part of me feels a bit like the next time Democrats are in power they shouldn’t pay for anything and shouldn’t use Congressional Budget Office scores. I try to resist that mentality. I don’t think we should chase people down to the bottom of a toilet. But it seems an awful lot of people are comfortable at the bottom of a toilet.”

Obama's chief economist on the GOP tax bill and Democrats taking concerns about the deficit seriously.

[jimjam]

The republican raid on the US treasury is almost complete. They will soon be able to pay their "donors" (owners) who will now be able to purchase their first (or second or third or ...) gold toilet. Hat's off to the Repubs. They have once again fucked the little guy in the ass while telling him what a great job they are doing for him.

[The Immortal Goon]

I’d say “You’re welcome,” for my giant tax hike since I can’t write off my student loans anymore, but it’s nothing compared to the trillion extra dollars of debt tacked on so the richest can continue to betray the republic.

[Drlee]

I am utterly stunned at the temerity of these people. Middle class republicans across the country just got this tax bill stuck right up their collective asses. And the amazing thing is that they are simply not intelligent enough to know it. And they will, in all likelihood never know. Their withholding will just increase and it will be invisible to them.

Look at Hindsite. He is just trolling. But there are tons of people out there who would write exactly what he did. How is Orin Hatch going to explain to his Mormon (read lots of kids) constituents that he just raised their taxes dramatically because they loose the personal exemption for their children in favor of some minimal tax credit.

I had lunch today with the publisher of a 6 newspaper chain. He is staggered at what his sources are telling him. Not only to the republicans not care that they have done serious damage to the economy, they are confident that their drones will not be able to figure it out. So they are actually, on camera, admitting that this bill is a pay back to big money contributors.

I am going to play this tune to the very limits of Rule 2. I not longer believe that this abortion is a result of a difference of political opinion. I believe it is a reflection of the ignorance or simple lack of intelligence of the followers of the republican party. They are, simply put, not smart enough to understand what was just done to them.

So right wing fellow POFO'ers understand. Bring your A game. If I can make you confront your own ignorance, I will. If not you have to own that you are simply not smart enough to understand the issue.

[Godstud]

I am going to play this tune to the very limits of Rule 2. I not longer believe that this abortion is a result of a difference of political opinion. I believe it is a reflection of the ignorance or simple lack of intelligence of the followers of the republican party. They are, simply put, not smart enough to understand what was just done to them.

AMEN, brother @Drlee ! Tell it like it is.

[Potemkin]

Americans seem determined to transform their nation into a banana republic as quickly as humanly possible. They already have a flamboyant, narcissistic caudillo (El Presidente Donaldo) in office, they are well on their way to being a majority-Spanish speaking society, and they are in the process of pauperising and stupefying their masses into penniless, illiterate peons. !Muy bien!

[Zagadka]

Owners of private jets got their tax break, finally! The system works!

[Godstud]

Definitely, @Potemkin Some Americans must have looked over at Russia and the Philippines and said, "We need a narcissistic tin pot dictator with delusions of grandeur, who will run the country like his own private casino, too."

[mikema63]

Americans seem determined to transform their nation into a banana republic as quickly as humanly possible. They already have a flamboyant, narcissistic caudillo (El Presidente Donaldo) in office, they are well on their way to being a majority-Spanish speaking society, and they are in the process of pauperising and stupefying their masses into penniless, illiterate peons. !Muy bien!

The few of us that are halfway sane are going to just have to take over and take care of things for the rest. They clearly can't be trusted with political power.

[skinster]

Point is that the poor are not getting poorer, they actually are getting richer.

Poor are getting richer, their lives are getting better.

Trickle down does work

Oxy

[Bulaba Khan Jones]

The few of us that are halfway sane are going to just have to take over and take care of things for the rest. They clearly can't be trusted with political power.

Mikema's progression towards socialism is proceeding apace. He finally acknowledges the need for a vanguard of the proletariat to kick-start the process of advancing the cause of the working class.

Next up: Mike admits to the ideological necessity of forced-labor reeducation camps for enemies of the working class.

End goal: Mike admits that Dr. Assad is more of a humanitarian than Hillary.

[mikema63]

[skinster]

[Beren]

The few of us...have to take over and take care of things for the rest. They clearly can't be trusted with political power.

And the people who think the exact same and can act accordingly are:

[redcarpet]

I am going to play this tune to the very limits of Rule 2. I not longer believe that this abortion is a result of a difference of political opinion. I believe it is a reflection of the ignorance or simple lack of intelligence of the followers of the republican party. They are, simply put, not smart enough to understand what was just done to them.

So right wing fellow POFO'ers understand. Bring your A game. If I can make you confront your own ignorance, I will. If not you have to own that you are simply not smart enough to understand the issue.

Remember that in medieval times the aristocracy were opposed to universal education and literacy of the 99% peasant majority. Why? Because of the dangers of politicisation of the masses. They WANTED to keep the 99% in ignorance, to avoid social-economic policies to level the playing field. They delayed the welfare state up to the 19th century in Europe.

[Hindsite]

OK
You really need to get a tax accountant to help you. Your numbers are off by over 50% in your favor.

I was giving an estimate based on best case of the combined bill with it going into effect in 2018 instead of 2019. However, it may be that they may do the personal deductions in the old manner. If that is the case, then the $48,000 figure would be incorrect. But I have used tax preparation software for over ten years and have never needed an accountant.

Read it and weep:
If your personal taxes go down at all (and they might not) it will be an insignificant amount.

You can't put much faith in your figures because the combined bill is not finalized. We really don't know for sure yet. However, I believe the Republicans will do the right thing by us, if they pass the combined tax cut bill, and I am confident that President Trump will make sure that they don't screw the middle class.

But wait!
So knock off the personal exemption of $8100.00 and the $12K standard deduction increase is really only $3900.00 and the mortgage deduction that most of those who itemize deductions is far more than this.

No, I do not believe they will eliminate the personal exemption, because that has always been different from the standard or itemized deductions. I saw no place that they said they would do that. But even if they did the $24,000 is still better that the $23.200 deduction I got last year. And with a lower tax rate, I will still get a bigger return than last year, but not as much as I hope.

So you may be in the small minority of people who actually get a couple of bucks but nothing like what you think you are going to get. And a great many individuals will do much worse under this bill. They will get an increase.

Stop believing those Democrats that don't know their ass from a hole in the ground.

Now admit that your math was wrong.

Like I said before, I was only guessing. But we do know that the Standard deduction will be double what it is today. If I guessed wrong on the personal deductions, then my math would be off. Now are you happy?

[Tainari88]

Americans seem determined to transform their nation into a banana republic as quickly as humanly possible. They already have a flamboyant, narcissistic caudillo (El Presidente Donaldo) in office, they are well on their way to being a majority-Spanish speaking society, and they are in the process of pauperising and stupefying their masses into penniless, illiterate peons. !Muy bien!

Don't you insult the Latin American banana republics Pote. Everything that happens in Latin America has always happened in Gringolandia. The difference being that in LA they don't have laws supporting the craziness and making it legal. They just ignore the laws and do the corruption scene. The Americans make the crazy shit legal.

Nepotism? Bush. Trump. Adams. Kennedys.

Presidential assassinations? Quite a few in the USA. Plots galore.

Pay offs and mafiosos? They exist in the USA.

Drug dealing and drug profits? Drug Culture USA.

Prostitution rings with long lists of wealthy patrons creating La Casa Chica? Madams and black books and Ashley Madison leaks....

Gambling dens and legal prostitution? Las Vegas ring a bell?

I mean hell Potemkin, don't you think the Americans got the corner on corruption, nepotism, scandals and payoffs and gawdy, crass freaky stuff refined to a T?

Latin America has had true hard left leaders, poor people's campaigns and movements, more true one man and one woman votes without electoral college no popular vote win bullshit laws....and various women presidents already. The Americans got a lot of fake democracy.

Don't you insult the Banana Republics. We got that name due to the hated United Fruit Company takeover of Guatemala and how they killed off the leftist Arbenz government. Every time the USA corporations bust a move in Latin America they send in the crows and the eagles and the military and the CIA and every damn thing. And still the pueblo keeps on trying to get out of the problem.

I say we fight more. We got a fighting spirit.