Travis

cdrive said:

Driving from Columbus to Cincy

Farewell Transmission - Songs: Ohia 

Aw shit! You know that's right. Not so much the last couple of weeks but I have been doing a whole lot of Didn't It Rain and The Lioness in recent months. Man, they were so good.
*pours one out for Jason Molina*

I mean, I totally agree. What can I say? You're right. It just doesn't feel that simple to me. I know it should be and I know the Fox crowd is a lost cause, but they're just so good at running that BS narrative and it's so seductive. Also, most journalists I doubt are given the freedom to go about it the way someone like Cuomo does who basically spent 10 minutes with KAC arguing about 1 sentence and that seems to be what it takes. The biggest thing that I agree with is the media needs to get a lot more comfortable with the notion of calling Trump a liar, because he totally is and when you hedge that you take away from what a complete injustice that is. 100%. I am really surprised that this far in and how hard he has "pushed the truth" they are still grappling with this. When he knowingly puts out false truths, he's lying and he does that all the time. I don't see what is so hard about just saying it.

It's funny (well not "funny" funny, but... well you know), I've always seen "political correctness" as just basic "don't be a dick." You know who gets annoyed by "the oppression of political correctness?" Dicks! Just be cool and try not to step on people's feelings. I think that's a pretty reasonable standard for society, right? Also, it's not like people are being hauled off to jail for simply being assholes, so really it's just people fabricating outrage (or perhaps getting outraged) at the fact that people don't want to hang out with assholes who either just don't care about people's feelings or do so selectively (I suppose you can be sued for creating a hostile work environment and what not, but then you actually are stepping on the rights of others, and you like shouldn't do that and stuff). It's the exact same thing as the bogus "war on Christmas" and all of that nonsense. People just want to feel aggrieved about stuff so they whine on and on about how they used to have to care so much less about the impact of what they said on other people, and honestly that is probably just because the world of communication used to be smaller, or people weren't nearly as empowered as they are now to speak up so the world has become a bit more enlightened on the effects of what they say. In essence, you've always been a dick but you're just figuring it out now. 

Carrying it to the famous example: I'm sorry that we all took it for granted for so long, but it's a dick move to call your football team The Redskins. Now, obviously they have exercised their right to do so but by doing so they invite controversy and public awareness that it's a dick thing to do. So they are left with a choice, carry that baggage or change the name. They totally control their destiny, but they can't have it both ways. Political correctness simply comes down to how you want the world to see you, and with the fast spread of information and ability for people to gather and spread messages it creates more intense pressure now. If you don't want people to call you out for being a jerk, don't be a jerk, man. I've never got what all of the fuss is about.

Sorry it that was a little over-caffeinated, but it's been a stressful and very caffeinated type of day. I feel good now though. Yeah!

Just for shits and giggles, I said what if I just added $30,000 of qualified dividend income to the return. He did finally generate tax, but only $3,500 of it. He would have a tax rate of 3.6% on $99,000 of income (remember from before 0.0% on $70k). Sorry I'm ranting, but I feel like people don't know this and they should. This is real and it affects everybody and it's super messed up.

So, I have the perfect example of how our tax system is completely fucked. I just did what is my least favorite return of the year. It's a simple enough return and it isn't about the client. He's a perfectly nice guy. The thing that drives me absolutely nuts about this return is that the guy made about $110k and generated $0 in tax.

ZERO!

Sure he has a couple of kids and he itemizes, but dude has a "taxable income" of almost $70k and $0 tax. Look, he's a good dude and I wish him no ill. I actually just got off of the phone with him and he is a very pleasant and nice guy and I'm happy for him that he gets to pay no tax. I'm mad at the people who made these batshit rules. If he had W-2 wages in the same amount he would be generating around $9,300 in taxes (yes, busy as I am I'm so annoyed that I ran a quick model). It's messed up, man. Basically you get punished for working and rewarded for sitting back and letting your money grow on top of itself. I already know this to be true, but every year this return just punches me in the face with that reality. Makes me so goddamn mad.

EDIT: Dude has a $13k stock sale where the broker couldn't come up with the basis for it so for the statement he marked it as $0 and where I need to try to track some information down just to do my job, I mean what's the fuckin point? $13k dollars of income and not one penny of difference! He's got no tax! So this extra $13k of income may as well just stand. What difference does it make? Literally none! Our system is broken! All these rich investor types whining on and on about social programs and people mooching off the system. What a joke!