Thank You, President Trump!

A few weeks ago, around 8:45 A.M., I announced to Mr. AOW: "I'm headed upstairs to work on our tax return."

Mr. AOW replied in a downcast voice: "I won't be seeing you till tonight.  And you'll be in a terrible mood."

That pattern — work on taxes for hours on end (data entry into Quicken, into customized categories for both my business and our medical expenses), followed by becoming the grouch of the year — has held for over a decade.

That is, until the tax reform law that President Trump sponsored took full effect.

At 11:45 A.M., I joyfully danced down the stairs.  Mr. AOW was in shock — pleasant shock. I was ecstatic.  I love that provision for the increased standard deduction.

Thank you, President Trump!

Another reason to thank President Trump... Public charge': Trump enforces rule linking immigrant welfare use to green card chances. Excerpt below the fold (emphases mine).

Video: Who Owns You?

Hat tip to my dear friend Mustang, who emailed me the link to the video below:


How, then, should we proceed? What, then, should we do?

Your thoughts?

"The Narrative"?

Is the term the narrative actually a euphemism for the latest political lie harped upon ad nauseam?

Pick any "narrative." Is that narrative aligned by political party or is that narrative not aligned by political party?

Recent narratives...

Democrats: "The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 will hit the middle class hard and panders to the rich."

Republicans: "The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 gives tax breaks to the middle class, and the tax breaks for the rich will stimulate the economy."

Is not one of the above so-called narratives an outright lie?  Hmmmmm?

WHAT IS TRUTH?

Additional reading and worth your time: Trump's Tax Plan and How It Would Affect You.

Rachel Maddow's "Revelation"

Evidently, there's no there, there. But I have a few questions at the bottom of this blog post.

From CNBC (dated March 14, 2017):

On her Tuesday show, Rachel Maddow teased a scoop: She had Donald Trump's 2005 tax returns. It was the first time his federal returns would be released.

Small digression: MSNBC's Maddow didn't have them. Investigative reporter David Cay Johnston got them, and went on her show to talk about it.

Anyway, when she finally revealed what was in the taxes, it was not a huge deal. Trump earned about $150 million in income in 2005, and paid $38 million in taxes....

Read the rest HERE.

According to today's Drudge Report:

TRUMP PAID HIGHER TAX RATE [25%] THAN MSNBC COMCAST [24%]... MUCH HIGHER THAN OBAMA [19%]... AND BERNIE [13%]

According to this source:

...“It is totally illegal to steal and publish tax returns. The dishonest media can continue to make this part of their agenda, while the president will focus on his, which includes tax reform that will benefit all Americans,” the White House said in a statement.

Maddow, however, said that “for the record, the First Amendment gives us the right to publish the return.”...

Read the rest HERE.

According to Time, the two pages released are stamped "Client Copy."

Question 1: Who leaked documents stamped as "Client Copy"?  Trump himself?  His accounting firm?

Question 2: Is it actually legal to leak a person's tax return documents or any portion thereof without that person's consent or without a subpoena?

Amnesty Bonuses

From the Weekly Standard: ‘Amnesty Bonuses’ in Tax Code: Illegal Immigrants to Receive Earned Income Tax Credit: Could cost ‘more than $24,000 to those who receive deferred action’.

Excerpt below the fold (emphases mine).

Housing UAC's

UAC's is the government term for Unaccommpanied Alien Children.

Where to house them?

From Fox News:

Nincompoopery Poll

(Nincompoopery — and worse — abounds! This edition of "Nincompoopery" offers five links, and readers have the option of taking a poll as to which story they find the most outrageous. Discussion available in the comments section)

Links to read:

ONE: IRS CANCELLED Contract with Email-Storage Firm Weeks After Lerner’s Computer Crash

TWO: France: Muslims attack man for eating ham sandwich?

THREE: Here's where $14 billion of taxpayer money for Medicaid went

FOUR: Federal Tax Revenues Set Record Through May; Feds Still Running $436B Deficit

FIVE: Doctors Warn of Looming Health Crisis Due to Flood of Young Illegal Immigrants


Please cast your ballot in the poll, which closes on Tuesday:

survey software

Tax Freedom Day 2014

(Two posts today. Please scroll down)

[link with more information]
Tax Freedom Day 2014 for the state where you live may differ from the national average. What is your state's Tax Freedom Day 2014?

Curing Income Inequality

Consider the following excerpt from Were your parents rich? Maybe you should pay more in taxes, published in the Washington Post on March 28, 2014, and written by Yo Jeremijenko-Conley, a freshman at Stuyvesant High School in New York City, and Dalton Conley, a professor at New York University:

Always The Last Place!

(If you must have politics, please scroll down)

Was I ever in a state of agitation this morning! For at least thirty minutes, I was in an absolute frenzy.

I couldn't find the vouchers needed to pay the April 2014 federal estimated tax payment! I knew that our accountant had provided the papers, but they were nowhere to be found.

Nincompoopery — And Worse

(Weekend roundup post somewhat shorter than usual as explained in my post of October 11 and my post of October 18. For the definition of nincompoop, see THIS in the Urban Dictionary. Commenters are encouraged to post links that tell of more nincompoopery)

Links to read (more possibly added as the weekend progresses):

Exclusive [Reuters]: U.S. official in July feared HealthCare.gov 'crash'

Too Funny: DNC Praises Obama For Pledging To Protect Americans From Obamacare

Honesty doesn't pay off for ex-homeless man

[London] police arrest two over genital mutilation of baby girl who was only around FIVE WEEKS old

Muslim convert [in London] heard chanting that he wanted to kill non-Muslims before trying to kill policemen and firefighters in knife rampage

Woman who Helped UK Soldier Murdered by Muslims, Targeted by Muslims and Police

Nincompoopery — And Worse

(Weekend roundup post somewhat shorter than usual as explained in my post of October 11 and my post of October 18. For the definition of nincompoop, see THIS in the Urban Dictionary. Commenters are encouraged to post links that tell of more nincompoopery)

Links to read (more possibly added as the weekend progresses):

Whopping 932,000 Americans Drop Out Of Labor Force In October; Participation Rate Drops To Fresh 35 Year Low

At fancy St. Regis dinner, Obama tells supporters he never said, 'If you like your plan you can keep it'

Des Moines imam argues sex charges violate religious freedom

Next Big Shoe to Drop: Over 100 Million to Lose Insurance When ObamaCare Exemption to Employers Ends

Nincompoopery — And Worse

(Weekend roundup post.   For the definition of nincompoop, see THIS in the Urban Dictionary. Commenters are encouraged to post links that tell of more nincompoopery)

Links to read (more possibly added as the weekend progresses):

[UK] The state school where girls are forced to wear hijabs in classrooms AND outside school

Nigeria (September 29, 2013): Jihadists murder at least 50 agricultural students as they slept in dormitories

USC students say Obama deserves his Nobel Peace Prize because he's "mellow" — or something [video]

Iran drama obscures concerns over Obama approach to Mideast

California college bars student from handing out copies of Constitution [on Constitution Day, September 17]

Obama’s Long List of Broken Promises

Your tax dollars pay off federal workers school loans

U.S. disability rolls swell as jobs vanish

Nincompoopery

(Weekend roundup post.   For the definition of nincompoop, see THIS in the Urban Dictionary. Commenters are encouraged to post links that tell of more nincompoopery)

Links to read (more possibly added as the weekend progresses):

DC ambulance breaks down while transporting shooting victim to hospital

Georgetown Alumni Petition Cardinal to Remove School's Catholic Status

Obamacare to Raise Californians' Individual Premiums 64% to 146%

HHS Chief Sebelius: Obamacare Will Favor Gays Over Straight People

Preferential Treatment By The IRS

One group, one with delinquent tax filings from 2007-2011 and terrorist connections, certainly didn't testify before Congress's recent hearings regarding IRS's targeting of certain groups with the word "tea" and "patriot" in their names when those groups filed for 501(c) status.

The group that received preferential treatment? CAIR. CAIR supports the criminalization of speech critical of Muslims.

From this source:

Nincompoopery

(Weekend roundup post.   For the definition of nincompoop, see THIS in the Urban Dictionary. Commenters are encouraged to post links that tell of more nincompoopery)

Links to read (shortened list for Memorial Day Weekend):

Obama promotes State Department official who scrubbed Benghazi talking points of references to Al-Qaeda

IRS sued for seizing 60 million medical records

Neurosurgeon's study indicates that high tech gadgets are making people dumber

Non-deportation rate drops — to 99.2 percent [policy relating to childhood arrivals]

Tax Breaks For Illegal Immigrants

As you file your 2012 tax return, remember the mind-boggling information below (hat tip to Asylum Watch, citing this source):


As Asylum Watch points out:

US tax laws allow illegal immigrants to claim tax credits for children who DO NOT LIVE in America.

To the tune of $4.2 billion a year.

Meanwhile, Tax Freedom Day 2013 is April 18, five days later than Tax Freedom Day 2012. Furthermore:

Americans will spend more on taxes than they will on food, housing, and clothing combined in 2013.

More information HERE.

Nincompoopery

(Weekend roundup post.   For the definition of nincompoop, see THIS in the Urban Dictionary. Commenters are encouraged to post links that tell of more nincompoopery)

Links to read (more possibly added as the weekend progresses):

Ladies of the Democratic Party Pose For Photo on Capitol Steps (or, how not to dress)

Liberal columnist calls for killing NRA members and declaring group a terrorist organization

Obama picks his favourite photos of himself for 2012 (not that he likes to show off)

State Department who "resigned" after Libya findings never left

Health Care Tax Hikes for 2013 May Be Just a Start

Murderers 'ask for fertility treatment on NHS so they can father children from behind bars'

About The Fiscal Cliff

Possibly of interest (hat tip to American Power):


Of course, WE THE PEOPLE are powerless in all this negotiation relating to the fiscal cliff. WE THE PEOPLE had our say on November 6 and will have to live with the consequences.

Obama's Green Energy Failures

The complete list and all taxpayer funded, of course (hat tip to Randy's Roundtable):