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Preoccupations
Feb. 27th, 2025 01:56 pmThe political situation here in the U.S. is so awful—and degenerating incrementally every day—that I'm almost ashamed of paying any attention to my personal life at all. 'Cause what in my mundane little life can possibly compare with the chaos raining down?
Nonetheless, I continue to remain preoccupied with my mundane little life.
Like yesterday, I only did one tax return, but it was a tax return with many moving parts—including the dreaded credit for energy-efficient home upgrades. Morris & Roberta Salt. (Not their real names.) He—a retired union leader; she—a retired doctor who specialized in internal medicine.
Nicest people in the world! Religious Catholics but joyful, nonjudgemental Catholics. Laughed and bantered the entire three hours they were there. Had an excellent marriage, the type of marriage that turned even a banal errand like getting their taxes done into an adventure.
"Can I give you a hug?" Roberta Salt asked after I'd printed out their tax returns. "You are absolutely wonderful. I cannot thank you enough. You're stupendous."
This ringing endorsement should have been enough to wipe the image of a leering, crouching Linda from my brain—only it wasn't because I am far more susceptible to believing the negative things people think about me than the positive, and also, I was going home to an empty house—save for the kiskas—where no excellent husband awaited with whom to plan entertaining adventures.
###
I did go tromping. Five miles on the railtrail. When I got to TaxBwana at 10 am, the day was sunny & bright; by the time I left, it was gloomy & overcast with a northwest breeze blowing but still 55°, so I figured I should take advantage.
I wish I could say the immersion in nature cured my lingering melancholy.
But the trees were bare. There were huge patches of ice on the trail. So no, it didn't.
###
Meanwhile, Trump called Americans "bloated, fat, disgusting" yesterday.
Why this remark is not getting the publicity that Hillary Clinton's ill-timed "basket of deplorables" remark garnered is beyond me.
Trump seems to be pulling the choo-choo whistle on the Dementia Train so far as I can tell, but you're no longer seeing anybody referencing that.
The House of Representatives passed a budget bill yesterday that, when passed by the Senate—and it will be—is gonna shave $880 billion from Medicaid.
This will gut not only the people who otherwise wouldn't be able to afford healthcare & must depend upon the government to provide it for them but also the slightly better-off people who can afford ACA-provided healthcare so long as they get a small government subsidy towards it.
At least 38% of Trump voters depend upon Medicaid. The actual number is probably higher.
Since all sorts of public health safety guardrails are concurrently being dismantled, this is not a good situation. The CDC, the FDA, etc are all organizational eunuchs. That piece of shit RFK Jr wants to make childhood vaccinations voluntary. There is a sizeable tuberculosis outbreak in Missouri and a bigger measles outbreak in Texas. I wonder when polio is gonna make a comeback?
Trump is gonna throw some kind of pathetic tax break at the base. Maybe raise the standard deduction again. The base will get a few hundred dollars more a year! Most of them are too stupid to connect the dots with Medicaid, and for the few who aren't, buyer's remorse will come too late.
In more positive news, RTT made his official announcement via The Ithaca Voice
Nonetheless, I continue to remain preoccupied with my mundane little life.
Like yesterday, I only did one tax return, but it was a tax return with many moving parts—including the dreaded credit for energy-efficient home upgrades. Morris & Roberta Salt. (Not their real names.) He—a retired union leader; she—a retired doctor who specialized in internal medicine.
Nicest people in the world! Religious Catholics but joyful, nonjudgemental Catholics. Laughed and bantered the entire three hours they were there. Had an excellent marriage, the type of marriage that turned even a banal errand like getting their taxes done into an adventure.
"Can I give you a hug?" Roberta Salt asked after I'd printed out their tax returns. "You are absolutely wonderful. I cannot thank you enough. You're stupendous."
This ringing endorsement should have been enough to wipe the image of a leering, crouching Linda from my brain—only it wasn't because I am far more susceptible to believing the negative things people think about me than the positive, and also, I was going home to an empty house—save for the kiskas—where no excellent husband awaited with whom to plan entertaining adventures.
###
I did go tromping. Five miles on the railtrail. When I got to TaxBwana at 10 am, the day was sunny & bright; by the time I left, it was gloomy & overcast with a northwest breeze blowing but still 55°, so I figured I should take advantage.
I wish I could say the immersion in nature cured my lingering melancholy.
But the trees were bare. There were huge patches of ice on the trail. So no, it didn't.
###
Meanwhile, Trump called Americans "bloated, fat, disgusting" yesterday.
Why this remark is not getting the publicity that Hillary Clinton's ill-timed "basket of deplorables" remark garnered is beyond me.
Trump seems to be pulling the choo-choo whistle on the Dementia Train so far as I can tell, but you're no longer seeing anybody referencing that.
The House of Representatives passed a budget bill yesterday that, when passed by the Senate—and it will be—is gonna shave $880 billion from Medicaid.
This will gut not only the people who otherwise wouldn't be able to afford healthcare & must depend upon the government to provide it for them but also the slightly better-off people who can afford ACA-provided healthcare so long as they get a small government subsidy towards it.
At least 38% of Trump voters depend upon Medicaid. The actual number is probably higher.
Since all sorts of public health safety guardrails are concurrently being dismantled, this is not a good situation. The CDC, the FDA, etc are all organizational eunuchs. That piece of shit RFK Jr wants to make childhood vaccinations voluntary. There is a sizeable tuberculosis outbreak in Missouri and a bigger measles outbreak in Texas. I wonder when polio is gonna make a comeback?
Trump is gonna throw some kind of pathetic tax break at the base. Maybe raise the standard deduction again. The base will get a few hundred dollars more a year! Most of them are too stupid to connect the dots with Medicaid, and for the few who aren't, buyer's remorse will come too late.
In more positive news, RTT made his official announcement via The Ithaca Voice
