US Politics Mega-thread - Page 3381

On March 18 2016 04:36 Mohdoo wrote:


And this overly simplistic view of society is probably playing a role in the slow demise of the party.

If you’ve got money to burn, get into politics—as a donor giving millions to the big-money groups known as super PACs.

Rich donors have transformed politics since the 2010 Citizens United Supreme Court decision cleared the way for unlimited spending on behalf of favored candidates. Super PACs spent $609 million in the 2012 presidential election, with even greater spending expected in 2016. Most candidates feel it’s essential to woo 1 percenters and spend considerable time persuading them to give big.

But a fat bank account doesn’t automatically buy victory, a lesson being hammered into wealthy donors this year. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker was one early favorite of big donors—especially Wall Streeters—yet he flamed out last August months before voting ever began. Jeb Bush raised more super PAC money than anyone, yet he quit in February without winning a single primary. Many rich donors then turned to Marco Rubio, who won just one state—Minnesota—before he bailed out on March 15.

All told, GOP donors have spent more than $200 million on super PACs supporting candidates who are out of the race. That money bought essentially nothing. Most donors realize they’re gambling with their money, since there can only be one winner in a presidential race and most candidates are destined to lose. But the popularity of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders—who have both eschewed super PACs—shows that ordinary voters still matter, at least a little.

On March 18 2016 04:34 KwarK wrote:

Our AGI was $35,999. When my wife told her financial adviser he laughed. The cutoff point for the full $2000 on the Saver's Credit is $36,000. We both know people who desperately need things like the Saver's Credit but don't get it because the system is reactionary. You go to the H&R Block at the end of the year and tell them what you did and then they tell you what you get. What people need to do is go there at the start of the year and tell them what they want to get and then be told what they have to do. But that's not how the system is built. If you know the system well enough to pull a stunt like a $35,999 AGI the chances are incredibly low that you actually need the Saver's Credit.

Those most in need of help are almost always those least able of taking advantage of the systems put in place to help them. The primary design factor in creating these programs should always be accessibility because without that they're nothing but tax dodges for people who don't need them.

On March 18 2016 04:49 ticklishmusic wrote:


H&R Block and all the others are ripoffs. Go get your tax done for free at your public library or use the free software online if you make under 50K.

Tax is hard, but the amount of people who are absolutely terrible with personal finance is quite sad really. I know people who literally thought credit cards were free money.

On March 18 2016 04:49 ticklishmusic wrote:


H&R Block and all the others are ripoffs. Go get your tax done for free at your public library or use the free software online if you make under 50K.

Tax is hard, but the amount of people who are absolutely terrible with personal finance is quite sad really. I know people who literally thought credit cards were free money.

On March 18 2016 04:36 Mohdoo wrote:


And this overly simplistic view of society is probably playing a role in the slow demise of the party.

On March 18 2016 04:40 Plansix wrote:

The west wing put it best: “No where did the founders say you didn’t have to pay for stuff you didn’t like. Lots of people don’t like tanks. Even more don’t like congress.”

On March 18 2016 04:56 wei2coolman wrote:

Pretty sure a lot of people like tanks.

On March 18 2016 04:39 Nyxisto wrote:


The military isn't protecting anybody on a personal and communal level, universal healthcare on the other hand has some direct communal impact. I'd argue you can make the conservative argument the other way around, the problem is that conservatism has somehow devolved to corporate jingoism to a degree that other forms of it in the US now don't seem to exist.

On March 18 2016 04:53 Mohdoo wrote:


I just used Turbotax up until now. But I now make significantly more than 50K. But I don't own a house or any complicated shit. I basically just go about my life as usual. I just buy more shit I don't need and save a ton of money. Is your 50K mark representative of someone usually also buying a house and other shit? Or is there a reason 50K is distinct in another way?

On March 18 2016 04:54 trulojucreathrma.com wrote:
Well the candidates have to show the investment was wellmade the moment they get president. And usually it pays off.

Wall Street got a 15 trillion bailout with barely any strings attached. Calculate the return on investment there.

On March 18 2016 04:53 Mohdoo wrote:
I just used Turbotax up until now. But I now make significantly more than 50K. But I don't own a house or any complicated shit. I basically just go about my life as usual. I just buy more shit I don't need and save a ton of money. Is your 50K mark representative of someone usually also buying a house and other shit? Or is there a reason 50K is distinct in another way?

On March 18 2016 04:56 KwarK wrote:
Even if you're good with personal finance you have to really be pretty into the game to win it.

If you asked someone on the street whether the Saver's Credit influenced their decision to contribute to an IRA you're very unlikely to get a yes because most people just don't think about tax in a proactive way. It's not a game to be won, it's a burden to be endured. The system is built with incentives but those incentives are not effectively communicated or understood so they fail. It's all built on a false assumption that you can help people by building conditional incentives for good behaviour into the tax system.

If they simply switched to the UK system they could scrap all those tax credits and still help most people by giving them a larger pay check each month, saving them the cost of the tax preparer and giving them money for their monthly budget rather than for a new car stereo system in March.

Hell, I'm going to sound like a conservative at this point but just because a system is built on good intentions and helping the needy does not shield it from criticism resulting from shitty implementation. That pretty much covers the entire American tax system.

On March 18 2016 05:10 puerk wrote:
why won't somebody think of the poor mom and pop multibillion multinationals having to pay millions for their tax preparation and filing?

On March 18 2016 05:06 CannonsNCarriers wrote:
If you only have W2 income, why would you use anything other than the free software? Even high W2 income is easily handled by software. You need small business income for it to get weird.