it’s a HUGE step towards disassembling predatory cpas and tax software.
Its a regular sized step, as its targeted primarily at simple filers. But the cutoff is incredibly low. You can’t use it if you’ve got retirement savings through an IRA, if you’ve got deductions for college expenses, or if you’re claiming the child care deduction. I’d wager that’s at least half the people who bother to file returns.
Definitely good news for folks that H&R Block likes to fleece - anyone collecting EITC or Child Tax Credits and not much else. But hardly universal.
President Joe Biden promised Black voters Wednesday that he would appoint progressives to the US Supreme Court if elected to a second term, suggesting he expects vacancies on the high court over the next four years....
Obviously, the problem with the SCOTUS is that there’s too many of them. If we were to make John Roberts the singular all-powerful Supreme-ist justice, that would fix everything.
It’s quick, convenient, and explicitly designed to rub all the right parts of your palette. Besides, the worst part of the fast food menu is the soda and fries. The rest of the meal is marginal.
Realisticly it’s always been the worst and often most expensive choice.
Its consistently worse than home cooking. But not everyone has the luxury of a functional kitchen or a stocked fridge or the time to prepare the meal. And as to “most expensive”… hardly. I remember getting Chipotle on campus, when a burrito was $8 and came in at around 1000 calories. Very hard to name another restaurant that offered that kind of value, speed, and convenience.
A lot of what fast food restaurants are banking on today is this over-reliance on their convenience making them an inelastic good. No more home economics classes, teaching young people how to cook. Lots of gig work means people are always on the road. Lots of people living alone. Lots of shitty apartments where major appliances simply don’t work.
You’re stuck, dude. Now give me $15 for a sandwich.
Ones who are informed but would rather vote 3rd party
Or not at all. The Biden first term has been deeply depressing and demotivating. At some point, people have to live their lives and can’t be entirely subsumed in politics.
If they’re struggling to make rent, if they can’t get health care after picking up the Long COVID or caring for a relative to did, if they’re still crippled by student debts that never got relieved, if they’ve got loved ones abroad or in border detention centers who are being brutalized by US foreign policy, if they can’t afford a new car because Biden just slapped a giant tariff in cheap new imports, or who are simply too overworked and underpaid to afford the luxury of a political fixation, I can see people tuning out this election cycle as another media circus.
If Biden’s truly changing the lives of millions of people with his public policy, maybe none of that will matter. Maybe there will be legions of staunch Biden-heads bellying up to the polls in support of their savior. But I see a step gulf between what Democrats say is happening and what people sick of this administration are experiencing. I suspect that gulf will be what sinks him in November.
You find lots of defectors in homogenous states. Texas is flush with libertarian conservatives who believe they aren’t served by the GOP. California has it’s fill of socialists disgusted with corporate shills in the “liberal” party.
Swing states have to play friendlier with these types of voters, producing lots of oddball candidates like Dennis Kucinich and Ilhan Omar. One reason Dem Senators are running so far ahead of Biden is due to their moderate appeal in their states relative to his extremist views.
On Trump’s tenth instance of contempt he said that he didn’t want Trump to go to prison. I suspect the judge will issue the maximum fine allowed and no jail time.
Judge Meachum is explicitly on record saying he doesn’t want to put Trump in prison.
Even past that, “we got Capone on tax evasion” is a more oblique way of saying “the local and state governments were too corrupt to successfully prosecute Capone, so we needed a federal department to get involved”.
I would say the Capone case is ALSO a classic example of the deep flaws in the American justice system. Its just more focused on how wealthy crooks can manipulate local prosecutions.
The Rolling Stones concert in Houston was fantastic. My man Mic Jagger still got it. And his younger crew are all stellar performers. Chanel Haynes absolutely blew me away in “Gimme Shelter”
House Republican Lauren Boebert is polling 14 points behind potential Democratic rival Ike McCorkle in a hypothetic matchup for Colorado’s 4th Congressional District according to a survey conducted on behalf of his campaign....
The Republican bench is getting weirder with every cycle, as normal people no longer consider the job particular prestigious or even that lucrative. Its very possible for Dems to lose the Presidency, hold the Senate, and retake the House as the dark red gerrymandered seats attract people too weird even for the GOP base vote.
The Gaza Protests were only peaceful from the pro-palestine side. It was an orgy of violence from the Israeli side.
I suspect we’ll see this pattern repeat itself, as cops stand shoulder to shoulder with fascists and their sympathizers, in stocastic terrorist campaigns.
The active registered voters with the Florida Democratic Party fell by 467,337 voters or nearly 10 percent. The active registered voters with the Republican Part of Florida decreased by 153,369 or approximately three percent....
State media reported that a grouping of ships from Russia’s Pacific Fleet, led by the Varyag cruiser, arrived at the Iranian port of Chabahar on Monday ahead of the drills that will see representatives from the navies of Azerbaijan, India, Kazakhstan, Oman, Pakistan and South Africa act as observers....
Protesters disrupted Pelosi’s appearance in Seattle on Thursday to call for an end to Israel‘s assault on Palestine. Vocal demonstrators have also been appearing regularly at President Joe Biden’s events. Pelosi said that she would like the FBI to investigate whether Russia is financing these groups....
Israeli forces bombed an ambulance in Rafah, killing two Palestinian paramedics on a rescue mission, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS)....
Update: IRS successfully launches their own free Direct File - now ALL of my fellow 'murcans are eligible for 2025 (sh.itjust.works)
Source...
Biden pledges to name progressives to the Supreme Court, suggesting he expects vacancies (www.cnn.com)
President Joe Biden promised Black voters Wednesday that he would appoint progressives to the US Supreme Court if elected to a second term, suggesting he expects vacancies on the high court over the next four years....
"but- But- inflation go brrrr 🥺👉👈" (lemmy.world)
Biden camp warns Trump could still get re-elected with ‘unhinged campaign of revenge’ (www.independent.co.uk)
Crime (lemmy.world)
Felonies, gotta catch 'em all (leminal.space)
Fan suing Madonna for ‘forcing’ them to watch sex acts during concert (www.independent.co.uk)
The American Justice System (lemmy.world)
More than 90% of chickenpox cases in New York City outbreak among unvaccinated people (abcnews.go.com)
Just 1.4% of cases were among people who received two vaccine doses.
US Presidents ranked by felony convictions (lemmy.world)
Lauren Boebert 14 points behind Democrat opponent in Colorado poll (www.newsweek.com)
House Republican Lauren Boebert is polling 14 points behind potential Democratic rival Ike McCorkle in a hypothetic matchup for Colorado’s 4th Congressional District according to a survey conducted on behalf of his campaign....
Trump supporters call for riots and violent retribution after verdict (www.reuters.com)
Meltdown
1 million voters have been purged from Florida's rolls as number of registered Democrats drops by nearly 10% while Republicans only lose 3% of registered voters (www.dailymail.co.uk)
The active registered voters with the Florida Democratic Party fell by 467,337 voters or nearly 10 percent. The active registered voters with the Republican Part of Florida decreased by 153,369 or approximately three percent....
China, Iran and Russia hold joint war games in Gulf of Oman in response to threats to coastal trade (www.aljazeera.com)
State media reported that a grouping of ships from Russia’s Pacific Fleet, led by the Varyag cruiser, arrived at the Iranian port of Chabahar on Monday ahead of the drills that will see representatives from the navies of Azerbaijan, India, Kazakhstan, Oman, Pakistan and South Africa act as observers....
Pelosi Wants FBI to Investigate Pro-Palestine Protesters for Financial Ties to Russia (www.rollingstone.com)
Protesters disrupted Pelosi’s appearance in Seattle on Thursday to call for an end to Israel‘s assault on Palestine. Vocal demonstrators have also been appearing regularly at President Joe Biden’s events. Pelosi said that she would like the FBI to investigate whether Russia is financing these groups....
Israeli jets kill two paramedics in Rafah after ‘deliberately’ bombing ambulance (www.middleeasteye.net)
Israeli forces bombed an ambulance in Rafah, killing two Palestinian paramedics on a rescue mission, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS)....
House passes bill that could lead to TikTok ban in broad bipartisan vote (www.cbsnews.com)
www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/…/7521...
How police officers preyed on teens in the Boy Scouts’ police Explorer program (www.nbcnews.com)
The last known person to see Sandra Birchmore alive was a police officer....