pudgygroundhog
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,643
Location: The Grand Canyon
Jun 25, 2014 20:18:39 GMT
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Post by pudgygroundhog on Sept 30, 2020 5:21:38 GMT
I agree with so many of the above posters and there are many things I could write about. And for me, I still consider the impact even though they might not directly affect me. For instance, I am very concerned about the rise of home grown white supremacy terrorism.
So I will pick one of the issues that has the most direct impact on me - health insurance. We have health insurance now, but we will need to depend on the ACA for health insurance when we retire, then Medicare after that. The GOP and Trump have shown they will do everything they can to gut the ACA without any kind of program to replace it. And adding trillions to the deficit triggers cuts in Medicare/Social Security, as well as what he's playing at with the payroll tax, so I am concerned about what Medicare will look like when we need it. And more immediately, I am concerned about my parents and MIL that depend on Medicare.
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schizo319
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,030
Jun 28, 2014 0:26:58 GMT
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Post by schizo319 on Sept 30, 2020 11:59:28 GMT
Other than the soul-crushing pessimism and existential dread that I wake up with every single day?
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Post by lisae on Sept 30, 2020 12:05:07 GMT
After last night's debate, I'm reminded of another important thing the Great Pumpkin has cost me - an actual enjoyment of the presidential election every 4 years. I don't always know who I'm going to vote for so I go into the debates eager to make my choice. Even when I know as I did in 2008 and 2016, I enjoy the strategy and the sparring. I watch them all. I will not be doing that this year. There was nothing about last night I want a repeat of. I'll watch Harris and Pence and then I'm done.
I love Presidential history and I like talking politics with others but that just can't happen anymore.
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Post by hop2 on Sept 30, 2020 12:08:54 GMT
My taxes have gone up. No idea how, we are solidly middle class. In four years, we’ve gone from getting small refunds, to paying in. My husband hasn’t had a pay rise in three years - so I really don’t know how that’s happened. just wait until the pulling little personal tax ‘break’ expires in 2025 BTW the corporate tax ‘break’ ( windfall ) does not expire there has to be a new law passed to change that.
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Post by hop2 on Sept 30, 2020 12:10:28 GMT
After last night's debate, I'm reminded of another important thing the Great Pumpkin has cost me - an actual enjoyment of the presidential election every 4 years. I don't always know who I'm going to vote for so I go into the debates eager to make my choice. Even when I know as I did in 2008 and 2016, I enjoy the strategy and the sparring. I watch them all. I will not be doing that this year. There was nothing about last night I want a repeat of. I'll watch Harris and Pence and then I'm done. I love Presidential history and I like talking politics with others but that just can't happen anymore. Do not insult the great pumpkin by calling Trump that. Your going to soul crush Linus again.
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Post by SockMonkey on Sept 30, 2020 12:15:49 GMT
The greatest impact has been his total mishandling of the COVID crisis, which has led to having to totally revamp my work, our students having to learn from home, and derailing the awesome progress we'd been making in our PD program. It's also meant I haven't seen some of my family members since Christmas of last year. It didn't have to be like this for this long.
I've also cut some people out of my life whose values were not as evident until he came to power, when they felt emboldened to say racist, horrible shit. Bye.
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Post by gar on Sept 30, 2020 12:55:47 GMT
I'll watch Harris and Pence When does that happen please?
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Post by crazy4scraps on Sept 30, 2020 13:04:13 GMT
My taxes have gone up. No idea how, we are solidly middle class. In four years, we’ve gone from getting small refunds, to paying in. My husband hasn’t had a pay rise in three years - so I really don’t know how that’s happened. just wait until the pulling little personal tax ‘break’ expires in 2025 BTW the corporate tax ‘break’ ( windfall welfare) does not expire there has to be a new law passed to change that. Fixed that for ya.
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Post by lisae on Sept 30, 2020 13:05:13 GMT
I'll watch Harris and Pence When does that happen please? October 7
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Post by gar on Sept 30, 2020 13:13:51 GMT
When does that happen please? October 7 Thanks. I've seen a few clips of the trump/Biden debate on the news here and won't go looking for more but I would be interested in the VP debate
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Deleted
Posts: 0
May 5, 2024 7:19:01 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2020 15:28:27 GMT
Taxes went down Husband's business is booming I have more tax clients because of changes to the tax law My income went up (from my employer, not just side gig)
The one effect is that it it is not safe or prudent to have political discussions - there is such divisiveness. No room for civil discussion.
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Post by gar on Sept 30, 2020 15:30:48 GMT
No room for civil discussion. No, trump showed that very clearly last night.
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Post by mikklynn on Sept 30, 2020 16:35:37 GMT
It has shown my a side of America I didn't know was so prevalent. At least now the racists are easier to see. I had no idea how many people are unable to tell truth from fiction and outright lies.
It's opened my eyes to issues of racism in law enforcement I didn't see before. Or, at least the level of it.
I want Trump to stop saying the suburbs will disappear. Does he think they are all white? I am in a suburb of Minneapolis. My neighbors are black, white, Asian, immigrant - all of the colors. They are all wonderful people.
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Post by flanz on Sept 30, 2020 17:05:29 GMT
Among a lot of other things you ladies have said I have experienced and increase of racism and feeling less safe due to the color of my skin. I am truly, deeply sorry that you and so many others without my privilege of living in a white body are in this despicable state. And I truly, deeply wish I had the power to singlehandedly fix it. I care. (((HUGS)))
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Post by flanz on Sept 30, 2020 17:18:04 GMT
After last night's debate, I'm reminded of another important thing the Great Pumpkin has cost me - an actual enjoyment of the presidential election every 4 years. I don't always know who I'm going to vote for so I go into the debates eager to make my choice. Even when I know as I did in 2008 and 2016, I enjoy the strategy and the sparring. I watch them all. I will not be doing that this year. There was nothing about last night I want a repeat of. I'll watch Harris and Pence and then I'm done. I love Presidential history and I like talking politics with others but that just can't happen anymore. Lisa, I am really appreciating the daily Letters From an American posts by Boston College history prof Heather Cox Richardson. You might want to check her out. She is devoting an unbelievable amount of time daily to reading news from many sources and compiling it for her readers, along with historical context. She also creates one hour videos on Tuesdays where she answers questions submitted to her, and on Thursdays where she has been teaching a history of the Republican party. I've enjoyed some Tues videos, haven't seen any of the Thursday ones, and try to read her writing every day.
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Post by crimsoncat05 on Sept 30, 2020 18:05:00 GMT
As strongly as I am anti trump, my DH is that strongly for him. It has caused division in our marriage. My DH is better than this. I don't understand. this is me, too. among other things already mentioned.
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Post by Darcy Collins on Sept 30, 2020 18:27:18 GMT
It was a colossal mistake for the government to change the withholding tables when the tax legislation passed. The vast majority of people only look at their refund/amount owed and not total withholding. People are paying less taxes. That's just a fact. If you are higher income and live in a high tax state, you may be the exception as the limit on state and property taxes hurt those folks, but if your TAXES doubled (not what you owe/got back), something is very, very wrong with your taxes. This analysis goes through different incomes and how the average amount of actual taxes paid dropped by income group - it also talks about how the amount of peoples refunds/owed caused mass confusion. Now there's the whole other argument about the impact on the deficit - how the trade wars impacted the economy exacerbating consumer confidence and exacerbated the budget deficit - even before the pandemic. I for one want to ditch the entire tax code in the Potomac. Absolutely no deductions of any kind period - no credits - absolutely nothing. I am a fan of progressive rates where everyone pays something - even if it's 0.5% - but would settle for first $20,000 0% and then progressive from there. Hell, I'm at the point of throwing out the entire corporate tax code as well and putting a tiny percent tax on revenue instead of profits just to stop the freaking nightmare of congress screwing around with "incentivizing" people/companies which is just an opportunity for kick backs and unintended consequences. www.marketwatch.com/story/this-is-how-much-american-workers-saved-during-the-first-year-after-trumps-tax-reform-2020-03-03
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Post by flanz on Sept 30, 2020 18:28:24 GMT
As strongly as I am anti trump, my DH is that strongly for him. It has caused division in our marriage. My DH is better than this. I don't understand. I can't even begin to wrap my brain around how horribly difficult that would be. I know I've lost respect for T supporters in general, not sure how I could be married to one. Huge hugs to you!
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Post by sabrinae on Sept 30, 2020 18:34:51 GMT
It was a colossal mistake for the government to change the withholding tables when the tax legislation passed. The vast majority of people only look at their refund/amount owed and not total withholding. People are paying less taxes. That's just a fact. If you are higher income and live in a high tax state, you may be the exception as the limit on state and property taxes hurt those folks, but if your TAXES doubled (not what you owe/got back), something is very, very wrong with your taxes. This analysis goes through different incomes and how the average amount of actual taxes paid dropped by income group - it also talks about how the amount of peoples refunds/owed caused mass confusion. Now there's the whole other argument about the impact on the deficit - how the trade wars impacted the economy exacerbating consumer confidence and exacerbated the budget deficit - even before the pandemic. I for one want to ditch the entire tax code in the Potomac. Absolutely no deductions of any kind period - no credits - absolutely nothing. I am a fan of progressive rates where everyone pays something - even if it's 0.5% - but would settle for first $20,000 0% and then progressive from there. Hell, I'm at the point of throwing out the entire corporate tax code as well and putting a tiny percent tax on revenue instead of profits just to stop the freaking nightmare of congress screwing around with "incentivizing" people/companies which is just an opportunity for kick backs and unintended consequences. www.marketwatch.com/story/this-is-how-much-american-workers-saved-during-the-first-year-after-trumps-tax-reform-2020-03-03My tax payments taking into account withholdings and refunds went up just about $1000 under the new tax codes. I looked very closely and did a year by year comparison of what we actually paid after getting a refund. Our tax liability increased without any increase in our income. The increase in the standard deduction didn’t balance what we lost in other deductions. ETA: I’m not in a highly taxed state either in property taxes or on income. And we’re not wealthy by any definition.
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Post by Darcy Collins on Sept 30, 2020 18:47:00 GMT
It was a colossal mistake for the government to change the withholding tables when the tax legislation passed. The vast majority of people only look at their refund/amount owed and not total withholding. People are paying less taxes. That's just a fact. If you are higher income and live in a high tax state, you may be the exception as the limit on state and property taxes hurt those folks, but if your TAXES doubled (not what you owe/got back), something is very, very wrong with your taxes. This analysis goes through different incomes and how the average amount of actual taxes paid dropped by income group - it also talks about how the amount of peoples refunds/owed caused mass confusion. Now there's the whole other argument about the impact on the deficit - how the trade wars impacted the economy exacerbating consumer confidence and exacerbated the budget deficit - even before the pandemic. I for one want to ditch the entire tax code in the Potomac. Absolutely no deductions of any kind period - no credits - absolutely nothing. I am a fan of progressive rates where everyone pays something - even if it's 0.5% - but would settle for first $20,000 0% and then progressive from there. Hell, I'm at the point of throwing out the entire corporate tax code as well and putting a tiny percent tax on revenue instead of profits just to stop the freaking nightmare of congress screwing around with "incentivizing" people/companies which is just an opportunity for kick backs and unintended consequences. www.marketwatch.com/story/this-is-how-much-american-workers-saved-during-the-first-year-after-trumps-tax-reform-2020-03-03My tax payments taking into account withholdings and refunds went up just about $1000 under the new tax codes. I looked very closely and did a year by year comparison of what we actually paid after getting a refund. Our tax liability increased without any increase in our income. The increase in the standard deduction didn’t balance what we lost in other deductions. ETA: I’m not in a highly taxed state either in property taxes or on income. And we’re not wealthy by any definition. Well if your deductions exceed $30,000 you're not exactly in a low tax state either.
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Post by aj2hall on Sept 30, 2020 19:54:50 GMT
Our taxes, the amount we pay, definitely increased. We live in a high property tax state and the cap on property taxes negatively affected us.
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Post by sabrinae on Sept 30, 2020 20:13:17 GMT
My tax payments taking into account withholdings and refunds went up just about $1000 under the new tax codes. I looked very closely and did a year by year comparison of what we actually paid after getting a refund. Our tax liability increased without any increase in our income. The increase in the standard deduction didn’t balance what we lost in other deductions. ETA: I’m not in a highly taxed state either in property taxes or on income. And we’re not wealthy by any definition. Well if your deductions exceed $30,000 you're not exactly in a low tax state either. I last looked when I did our taxes so I don’t remember the specifics, but what I recall is the lack of personal exemptions vs the child tax credit change combined with lack of other deductions ended up with us paying about $1000 more. The standard deductions is 24,400 but we lost all personal exemptions of $4150 x 4 people.
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Post by Darcy Collins on Sept 30, 2020 20:55:58 GMT
Well if your deductions exceed $30,000 you're not exactly in a low tax state either. I last looked when I did our taxes so I don’t remember the specifics, but what I recall is the lack of personal exemptions vs the child tax credit change combined with lack of other deductions ended up with us paying about $1000 more. The standard deductions is 24,400 but we lost all personal exemptions of $4150 x 4 people. The loss of the personal exemption for MOST people was offset by doubling of the children tax credit and adding a credit for other dependents, but there are exceptions and if your dependents aren't minors you could be one of them. My comment was that study after study and real data from the IRS has shown that over 70-87% of people of middle income received a tax cut and those that didn't in general saw no change. But as they adjusted the withdrawal tables, most believe that their taxes went up.
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Post by sabrinae on Sept 30, 2020 21:04:51 GMT
I last looked when I did our taxes so I don’t remember the specifics, but what I recall is the lack of personal exemptions vs the child tax credit change combined with lack of other deductions ended up with us paying about $1000 more. The standard deductions is 24,400 but we lost all personal exemptions of $4150 x 4 people. The loss of the personal exemption for MOST people was offset by doubling of the children tax credit and adding a credit for other dependents, but there are exceptions and if your dependents aren't minors you could be one of them. My comment was that study after study and real data from the IRS has shown that over 70-87% of people of middle income received a tax cut and those that didn't in general saw no change. But as they adjusted the withdrawal tables, most believe that their taxes went up. I believe that. We’re just we’re unlucky enough to be in they 13-30% of middle income people that saw an increase or no change. My dependents are minors so we got the 2000 per kid but that still is 2150 less than the personal exemption for each kid. I wouldn’t be so irritated about it if the money went to something helpful for society as a whole besides giving wealthy individuals and corporations additional tax cuts.
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Post by slowrunner70 on Sept 30, 2020 21:14:08 GMT
without reading any of the replies.... it may not seem like much, and it may not seem important, but Trump and his joke of a presidency have destroyed friendships in my life. And I was the one who ended them, because I cannot in good conscience be friends with someone who supports a president who divides, who lies, who hates, who cheats..... I could go on and on.
I can't even begin to imagine the negative impact he has had on the lives of our friends of color, our friends in the LGBTQ community, undocumented people, the list is endless.
Lives lost due to his irresponsible handling of the coronavirus.
I know you asked for personal stories.
And I don't know the full scope of it yet.
I do know that I had to cancel my trip home. It may seem ridiculous and privileged, but I haven't seen my Mom & Dad, my sisters, nieces and nephew, in almost two years.
The pain and heartache his lack of leadership and accountability, not to mention his lack of empathy and compassion, has caused will stay with us and affect us for a very long time.
My heart hurts for all those who have lost their life because of his inability to take responsibility. My heart hurts for their families. My heart breaks for people of color, for the minorities, who are fearing for their lives every day, because he refuses to condemn racism and the racist white supremacist groups that are just waiting for him to give them the "okay" to hunt and kill the people they hate. The way it affects me personally is that it makes me feel hopeless and sad. But that is no comparison to how those Trump and his followers hate must be feeling.
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Post by Darcy Collins on Sept 30, 2020 21:25:18 GMT
The loss of the personal exemption for MOST people was offset by doubling of the children tax credit and adding a credit for other dependents, but there are exceptions and if your dependents aren't minors you could be one of them. My comment was that study after study and real data from the IRS has shown that over 70-87% of people of middle income received a tax cut and those that didn't in general saw no change. But as they adjusted the withdrawal tables, most believe that their taxes went up. I believe that. We’re just we’re unlucky enough to be in they 13-30% of middle income people that saw an increase or no change. My dependents are minors so we got the 2000 per kid but that still is 2150 less than the personal exemption for each kid. I wouldn’t be so irritated about it if the money went to something helpful for society as a whole besides giving wealthy individuals and corporations additional tax cuts. FYI- the personal exemption was a deduction while the 2,000 was a credit - so accounted for differently. For example - in the 22% bracket - the exemption would shield $16,600 in income thereby reducing your taxes by 3,696 while the credit directly reduces your taxes by that amount - so 2 children would be $4,000 less in taxes - so in that bracket with 2 kids you're still better off with the credit.
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pyccku
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,817
Jun 27, 2014 23:12:07 GMT
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Post by pyccku on Sept 30, 2020 21:35:26 GMT
So I will pick one of the issues that has the most direct impact on me - health insurance. We have health insurance now, but we will need to depend on the ACA for health insurance when we retire, then Medicare after that. The GOP and Trump have shown they will do everything they can to gut the ACA without any kind of program to replace it. And adding trillions to the deficit triggers cuts in Medicare/Social Security, as well as what he's playing at with the payroll tax, so I am concerned about what Medicare will look like when we need it. And more immediately, I am concerned about my parents and MIL that depend on Medicare. This is what will affect us personally. We plan to retire to Europe in a couple of years. While we could retire and stay here, the cost of health insurance would be prohibitive. So we will need to leave for at least 13 years - and if Medicare goes away, we would need to stay away even longer. Most Americans don't have the option of leaving, so I am grateful that we are in a situation where we can do so. But one thing I like to have is options - and knowing that staying isn't really an option because of health insurance is pretty crappy. The other nations on earth somehow have figured out how to provide health care for their citizens and residents, but it's simply too difficult for America to do so. American exceptionalism at its finest.
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edie3
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,466
Jun 26, 2014 1:03:18 GMT
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Post by edie3 on Sept 30, 2020 21:36:20 GMT
I can't even begin to wrap my brain around how horribly difficult that would be. I know I've lost respect for T supporters in general, not sure how I could be married to one. Huge hugs to you! He is a good person, a wonderful father and husband. Not sure how he got the kool aid.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
May 5, 2024 7:19:01 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2020 21:44:48 GMT
It has shown my a side of America I didn't know was so prevalent. At least now the racists are easier to see. I had no idea how many people are unable to tell truth from fiction and outright lies. It's opened my eyes to issues of racism in law enforcement I didn't see before. Or, at least the level of it. I want Trump to stop saying the suburbs will disappear. Does he think they are all white? I am in a suburb of Minneapolis. My neighbors are black, white, Asian, immigrant - all of the colors. They are all wonderful people. This is the best thing about this disaster. The festering wound of racism and stupidity is out in the open. You know the old saying "First, you have to admit you have a problem". For decades, Americans stupidly believed we are 'post-racism' and that people behave rationally. Nope.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
May 5, 2024 7:19:01 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2020 21:47:01 GMT
His recent tax cuts have essentially defunded social security, Medicare and Medicaid. If reelected Trump has promised to permanently defend these programs. This affects me and my DH directly. Same here. (I feel your worry @restless Spirit). We're both disabled and rely on Medicare + social security and it's getting tougher and tougher to get by. We live in an apartment, so it's not as though we're living the lush life.
Cost of living expenses and everyday pricing keeps increasing, but our SS payments barely increase. I fear that if he remains in office, we'll be homeless. I think it's his goal to gut everything.
ETA: epeanymous : I also have insomnia now. Nothing helps. I have ambien and it allows me to sleep for about 3 hours. Between the worry about our democracy (since the day he got in office), I've been obsessed with someone, somewhere, calling him out for being so heinous. The fact that he is even breathing makes me sick every single day. And, like many NY Peas, I knew horrible things about him for decades. Seeing him "win" in 2016 broke my heart. I keep waiting for someone to haul him off in cuffs (with his family and everyone in crime with him).
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