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mallorys_cameraIt almost feels like the only way to have a private life these days is to resolutely ignore everything that’s happening in the World At Large because what’s happening in the World At Large is so fucking ghastly that if you thought about its implications for even two seconds, you couldn’t think about anything else.
To wit! This morning, we discover that:
• The U.S. & the UK are bombing Yemen
• In its ongoing battle against sexual content, Florida has banned Webster’s Dictionary and Thesaurus for Students, Merriam-Webster’s Elementary Dictionary, the American Heritage Children’s Dictionary, and nine other lexicons & encyclopedias.
• Trump is set to win the first Republican primary (though that one’s a caucus, so maybe it doesn’t really matter.)
###
Of course, I’m biased ‘cause I like looking at taxes!
But so far as I can tell, the really big (i.e. non-stylistic) difference between the Republicans & Democrats careening into this year’s elections is their attitudes toward the 2017 Trump administration tax cuts, many of which are set to expire at the end of 2025.
If they do expire, the standard deduction will shrink, gift & estate taxes will shoot back up, and marginal tax rates will soar.
(Trump also cut corporate tax rates, but I believe those are not set to expire.)
Nobody wants to pay more taxes at a time when the actual purchasing power of money is down.
And even if you’re civic-minded, do you really want to pay more taxes knowing that tax money is not spent wisely? Pandemic jobless benefits fraud likely topped $60 billion. $50 to $80 billion worth of military equipment was left in Afghanistan. Eighty-two billion doses of COVID vaccine were thrown out. Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. There is no accountability.
Republicans haven’t started playing the tax card yet from what I can see.
But when they do, I don’t see how the Dems can possibly refute it.
###
Meanwhile, my private life is excruciatingly dull because all I’m doing is laboring away at an exceedingly formulaic Remunerative assignment.
It has been sunny! Which has dialed my mood up to “comparatively sanguine” from “broody & dark.”
I was able to tromp yesterday. I’ll be able to tromp today.
But starting tonight, the weather turns frigid & stormy, so I’ll be stuck inside and no doubt in full angst.
To wit! This morning, we discover that:
• The U.S. & the UK are bombing Yemen
• In its ongoing battle against sexual content, Florida has banned Webster’s Dictionary and Thesaurus for Students, Merriam-Webster’s Elementary Dictionary, the American Heritage Children’s Dictionary, and nine other lexicons & encyclopedias.
• Trump is set to win the first Republican primary (though that one’s a caucus, so maybe it doesn’t really matter.)
###
Of course, I’m biased ‘cause I like looking at taxes!
But so far as I can tell, the really big (i.e. non-stylistic) difference between the Republicans & Democrats careening into this year’s elections is their attitudes toward the 2017 Trump administration tax cuts, many of which are set to expire at the end of 2025.
If they do expire, the standard deduction will shrink, gift & estate taxes will shoot back up, and marginal tax rates will soar.
(Trump also cut corporate tax rates, but I believe those are not set to expire.)
Nobody wants to pay more taxes at a time when the actual purchasing power of money is down.
And even if you’re civic-minded, do you really want to pay more taxes knowing that tax money is not spent wisely? Pandemic jobless benefits fraud likely topped $60 billion. $50 to $80 billion worth of military equipment was left in Afghanistan. Eighty-two billion doses of COVID vaccine were thrown out. Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. There is no accountability.
Republicans haven’t started playing the tax card yet from what I can see.
But when they do, I don’t see how the Dems can possibly refute it.
###
Meanwhile, my private life is excruciatingly dull because all I’m doing is laboring away at an exceedingly formulaic Remunerative assignment.
It has been sunny! Which has dialed my mood up to “comparatively sanguine” from “broody & dark.”
I was able to tromp yesterday. I’ll be able to tromp today.
But starting tonight, the weather turns frigid & stormy, so I’ll be stuck inside and no doubt in full angst.
Death
Date: 2024-01-12 08:24 pm (UTC)Even in my tiny business, you threw stuff away at the end of a job because it cost too much to store and sort it, which requires you to pay for labor and space and it wouldn't be a job's worth anyway. Etc.
no subject
Date: 2024-01-12 10:43 pm (UTC)Sure. But I didn't do a deep dive. These were all just things off the top of my head. There are many, many more—-trust me. The fed govt's wastefulness is staggering. If it's wastefulness. Personally, I suspect there's a lot of profiteering going on—-in the Biden administration and, of course, in every administration.
The big deal about the aircraft, vehicles, munitions, guns, etc, the U.S. ended up leaving in Afghanistan is that the U.S. essentially ended up spending between $50 and $80 billion arming the Taliban. I don't see that as a wise expenditure of tax revenues.
no subject
Date: 2024-01-13 11:14 am (UTC)I'm seeing the craziest stuff; I've got a couple of US FB friends who are so anti-Trump and beyond that anti-Republican they almost sound hysterical, as though they are afraid that the Dems will lose. I won't describe the situation here or I'll be boring you for paragraphs. I think many incumbent governments right now look shaky because they can't deliver prosperity beyond the already rich. It's all a bit Weimar with added microphones.
no subject
Date: 2024-01-13 02:55 pm (UTC)Yes, Weimar with a 24/7 news cycle. Discouraging, to say the least.
no subject
Date: 2024-01-14 09:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-01-14 06:00 pm (UTC)But right now, it's the economy that's killing him. Yeah, inflation numbers are down, but those are lag indicators. People are unlikely to see any change in their own personal financial situations for some months–by which time the next administration—be it Trump II or Biden II—will take credit for it.
His age plays into it, too. Gotta say, I think he seems befuddled in his personal appearances. That doesn't matter to me that much; as I've said before, I think the Biden administration has done many good things, and I don't particularly care if he's just a figurehead. It does become important for a second term, 'cause I think he'll die in office, and I wouldn't support a Kamala Harris Presidency at all. I deeply dislike Harris.