Tasteless Tangerine Tuesday

[miniroller]

Sen. Chris Murphy tweeted: BOMBSHELL REPORT. The "beautiful military equipment" Trump sold Saudi Arabia and UAE is now in the hands of Al Qaeda aligned militias. One group drives U.S. made armored vehicles now. This is what happens when you flood a war zone with more weapons.

Sold to an ally,
lost to an enemy
www.cnn.com/interactive/2019/02/middleeast/yemen-lost-us-arms/
The US shipped weapons and secrets to the Saudis and Emiratis. Now, some are in the hands of fighters linked to al Qaeda and Iran.

I feel like there would be congressional hearings in any other administration; currently, however, this will probably barely make the news cycle.

[isabel]

So, just so we’re clear, it’s a national security crisis that people fleeing violence and food scarcity in their countries are seeking asylum in the US, but it’s totes cool that Al Qaeda is now driving around in American military vehicles. Got it.

[carmenere]

Bringing this over from yesterday's thread (pixy0stix you're welcome)

Feb 4, 2019 20:12:52 GMT -5 sparrowsong said:

>@flotus is bringing a kid named Joshua Trump to the State of the Union. "Unfortunately, Joshua has been bullied in school due to his last name. He is thankful to the First Lady and the Trump family for their support.”

KAC was on NPR this morning and Rachel Martin pressed her hard on the hypocrisy of the Trumps claiming to care about bullying. It brought joy to my day. The best defense KAC could come up with was "he's a counterpuncher" and "well Maxine Waters said the word impeachment" 

[miniroller]

To no one’s shock since 45 relies on his “gut” for such decisions:
Top general says he wasn't consulted before Trump announced Syria withdrawal
thehill.com/policy/defense/428509-top-general-says-he-wasnt-consulted-before-trump-announced-syria-withdrawal?amp
"I was not aware of the specific announcement," U.S. Central Command (Centcom) commander Gen. Joseph Votel said. "Certainly we aware that he has expressed a desire and an intent in the past to depart Syria."

Pressed further by Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) on whether he was not consulted ahead of Trump's December announcement, Votel replied, "I was not consulted."

Votel was testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee, where he became the latest top official to warn that taking pressure off ISIS could allow the terrorist group to resurge.
——
Just joining the intelligence community in showing Congress that #45 is, once again, speaking the opposite of the truth.

[isabel]

Feb 5, 2019 11:16:24 GMT -5 carmenere said:

Bringing this over from yesterday's thread (pixy0stix you're welcome)

Feb 4, 2019 20:12:52 GMT -5 sparrowsong said:

>@flotus is bringing a kid named Joshua Trump to the State of the Union. "Unfortunately, Joshua has been bullied in school due to his last name. He is thankful to the First Lady and the Trump family for their support.”

KAC was on NPR this morning and Rachel Martin pressed her hard on the hypocrisy of the Trumps claiming to care about bullying. It brought joy to my day. The best defense KAC could come up with was "he's a counterpuncher" and "well Maxine Waters said the word impeachment" 

I listened to that and laughed. She didn't get flustered by much, but that bit about Trump and his cyberbullying rattled her.

[miniroller]

DC art exhibit features Ivanka Trump lookalike vacuuming up crumbs
thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/in-the-know/428371-dc-art-exhibit-features-ivanka-trump-look-a-like-vacuuming-up?amp
A new art exhibit allows visitors to toss crumbs at an Ivanka Trump lookalike, who swiftly vacuums them up with a smile on her face.

[downtoearth]

Feb 5, 2019 11:54:55 GMT -5 miniroller said:

DC art exhibit features Ivanka Trump lookalike vacuuming up crumbs
thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/in-the-know/428371-dc-art-exhibit-features-ivanka-trump-look-a-like-vacuuming-up?amp
A new art exhibit allows visitors to toss crumbs at an Ivanka Trump lookalike, who swiftly vacuums them up with a smile on her face.

So many levels to this. And that look alike mannequin seems less harsh than Ivanka - softer.

[miniroller]

Apologize if I’ve missed a mention or a thread, but has anyone else heard anything about people’s outrage after doing their taxes..? (Or personally experienced, of course) People on Twitter are IRATE! This article outlines some of the infuriated 45-voters who can’t believe how he screwed them 😐
www.rawstory.com/2019/02/trusted-trump-voters-seethe-realizing-theyre-getting-screwed-gops-tax-plan/

We have our’s done in February & usually about break even (owing or paying <$250); I feel completely defeated already. (& scared, I’m also kinda scared...)

[isabel]

Feb 5, 2019 12:34:12 GMT -5 miniroller said:

Apologize if I’ve missed a mention or a thread, but has anyone else heard anything about people’s outrage after doing their taxes..? (Or personally experienced, of course) People on Twitter are IRATE! This article outlines some of the infuriated 45-voters who can’t believe how he screwed them 😐
www.rawstory.com/2019/02/trusted-trump-voters-seethe-realizing-theyre-getting-screwed-gops-tax-plan/

We have our’s done in February & usually about break even (owing or paying <$250); I feel completely defeated already. (& scared, I’m also kinda scared...)

This makes me so happy. I don't care if I'm an asshole.

[prettyinpearls]

Feb 5, 2019 12:38:56 GMT -5 isabel said:

Feb 5, 2019 12:34:12 GMT -5 miniroller said:

Apologize if I’ve missed a mention or a thread, but has anyone else heard anything about people’s outrage after doing their taxes..? (Or personally experienced, of course) People on Twitter are IRATE! This article outlines some of the infuriated 45-voters who can’t believe how he screwed them 😐
www.rawstory.com/2019/02/trusted-trump-voters-seethe-realizing-theyre-getting-screwed-gops-tax-plan/

We have our’s done in February & usually about break even (owing or paying <$250); I feel completely defeated already. (& scared, I’m also kinda scared...)

This makes me so happy. I don't care if I'm an asshole.

Same. If it's going to screw us, at least it'll lose him voters in the process. 

I've actually heard from a few people (joint return, dual-income households, middle class, kids, mortgage, etc.) who have been pleasantly surprised with their tax return.  I'm terrified for ours, TBH.  But then again, I'm terrified every tax season. 

[ECB]

Feb 5, 2019 12:34:12 GMT -5 miniroller said:

Apologize if I’ve missed a mention or a thread, but has anyone else heard anything about people’s outrage after doing their taxes..? (Or personally experienced, of course) People on Twitter are IRATE! This article outlines some of the infuriated 45-voters who can’t believe how he screwed them 😐
www.rawstory.com/2019/02/trusted-trump-voters-seethe-realizing-theyre-getting-screwed-gops-tax-plan/

We have our’s done in February & usually about break even (owing or paying <$250); I feel completely defeated already. (& scared, I’m also kinda scared...)

a friend posted on FB. she’s PISSED. And she’s did NOT vote for trump. All those who voted for him? They’re idiots. This man does.not.care about the little guy. I don’t have an ounce of sympathy for any of them.

[eclaires]

So far we are getting back about $450 but I haven’t finalized everything. Last year we owed $300. We strive for breaking even but $450 doesn’t seem like a massive change. We didn’t change our withholding or anything. We were just like who knows! And decided we’d figure it out once it came about.

[downtoearth]

Feb 5, 2019 12:34:12 GMT -5 miniroller said:

Apologize if I’ve missed a mention or a thread, but has anyone else heard anything about people’s outrage after doing their taxes..? (Or personally experienced, of course) People on Twitter are IRATE! This article outlines some of the infuriated 45-voters who can’t believe how he screwed them 😐
www.rawstory.com/2019/02/trusted-trump-voters-seethe-realizing-theyre-getting-screwed-gops-tax-plan/

We have our’s done in February & usually about break even (owing or paying <$250); I feel completely defeated already. (& scared, I’m also kinda scared...)

We started ours - correction, I started ours. So far we have the max removed (claim 0 on W2's) and typically get a pretty good refund ($4k or above). This year, so far, I have about 3/4 done and we owe $250. Not at all like last year and nothing has really changed (3 dependents, married filing jointly, make about $140k, have a house, also a rental property that doesn't make much money - but a lot of equity, and max out the $5k dependent care pre-tax and then have about $5k after that that we pay post-tax, donate some money, but not a lot.) So, I feel like something is different and we're paying more now.

I'm not sure where that change is mostly happening since I was talking with my officemate and their family has almost the exact same details (3 kids, rental, house, etc.), except only one income (around $80k) and his is so far getting about $5k back.

[carmenere]

After all the things he's lied about, I don't know why anyone would think he was telling the truth about the tax plan. Wishful thinking, I guess.

My H got really excited when our withholdings went down after it passed. This year we owe for the first time, with no change in our tax bracket and only earning slightly more than last year. I really believe they manipulated the IRS withholding tables to make people feel like they were getting a boost to their paychecks ahead of the midterms.

[ECB]

In a Trump post from the past couple days- I know a couple people said that they've noticed trump signs disappearing from homes of Trump supporters. Disappearing in that the owners are taking them down. I took my dog on a longer walk yesterday than usual and there is one house I pass that had Trump signs in their front window. Yup... gone.

There will be his core who will never ever turn, but I knew that he'd impact enough of his voters that some of them would stop supporting him. He isn't doing ANYTHING to help ANYONE other than his rich friends. Eventually we'll all be hurt.

[isabel]

Feb 5, 2019 12:42:37 GMT -5 prettyinpearls said:

Feb 5, 2019 12:38:56 GMT -5 isabel said:

This makes me so happy. I don't care if I'm an asshole.

Same. If it's going to screw us, at least it'll lose him voters in the process. 

I've actually heard from a few people (joint return, dual-income households, middle class, kids, mortgage, etc.) who have been pleasantly surprised with their tax return.  I'm terrified for ours, TBH.  But then again, I'm terrified every tax season. 

My DH was unemployed for the first 6 months of 2018. We are getting a decent refund, but that is largely due to the fact that he is also a student and gets an education credit. Given our significantly reduced income, I am pretty surprised our return isn't higher. I think it would be if it weren't for the new tax laws. So I'm not really (personally) outraged since we at least don't owe, but I'm very aware of the implications that this had on us. Last year was very difficult and we're still digging our way out. A larger refund would have been very welcome.

I am glad that Trump voters are feeling the repercussions. The last two years have been painful for everyone who didn't vote for him. It's about time they felt some pain too.

[downtoearth]

Why can't I find "Executive Time" memes on the internet? Has nobody made one yet?

[taratru]

These people...man. I guess if this is the thing, then okay. Although, I suspect it won't be the thing when it comes down to it. They will vote for him again anyway, because libruls.

[downtoearth]

Wait... I found a couple... but they don't work for how I was trying to use them for work today in an email:

[isabel]

Feb 5, 2019 12:50:31 GMT -5 downtoearth said:

Why can't I find "Executive Time" memes on the internet? Has nobody made one yet?

I think the lawn boy one needs to be used for this. "This is my executive time, ok!?"

[Jalapeñomel]

Feb 5, 2019 12:49:18 GMT -5 downtoearth said:

Feb 5, 2019 12:34:12 GMT -5 miniroller said:

Apologize if I’ve missed a mention or a thread, but has anyone else heard anything about people’s outrage after doing their taxes..? (Or personally experienced, of course) People on Twitter are IRATE! This article outlines some of the infuriated 45-voters who can’t believe how he screwed them 😐
www.rawstory.com/2019/02/trusted-trump-voters-seethe-realizing-theyre-getting-screwed-gops-tax-plan/

We have our’s done in February & usually about break even (owing or paying <$250); I feel completely defeated already. (& scared, I’m also kinda scared...)

We started ours - correction, I started ours. So far we have the max removed (claim 0 on W2's) and typically get a pretty good refund ($4k or above). This year, so far, I have about 3/4 done and we owe $250. Not at all like last year and nothing has really changed (3 dependents, married filing jointly, make about $140k, have a house, also a rental property that doesn't make much money - but a lot of equity, and max out the $5k dependent care pre-tax and then have about $5k after that that we pay post-tax, donate some money, but not a lot.) So, I feel like something is different and we're paying more now.

I'm not sure where that change is mostly happening since I was talking with my officemate and their family has almost the exact same details (3 kids, rental, house, etc.), except only one income (around $80k) and his is so far getting about $5k back.

Standard vs itemized deduction


I was scared enough that I took out an additional $300 from both paychecks. I’m glad I did, because we are looking to break even (we owed last year even after purchasing a house).

[downtoearth]

Feb 5, 2019 13:05:22 GMT -5 Jalapeñomel said:

Feb 5, 2019 12:49:18 GMT -5 downtoearth said:

We started ours - correction, I started ours. So far we have the max removed (claim 0 on W2's) and typically get a pretty good refund ($4k or above). This year, so far, I have about 3/4 done and we owe $250. Not at all like last year and nothing has really changed (3 dependents, married filing jointly, make about $140k, have a house, also a rental property that doesn't make much money - but a lot of equity, and max out the $5k dependent care pre-tax and then have about $5k after that that we pay post-tax, donate some money, but not a lot.) So, I feel like something is different and we're paying more now.

I'm not sure where that change is mostly happening since I was talking with my officemate and their family has almost the exact same details (3 kids, rental, house, etc.), except only one income (around $80k) and his is so far getting about $5k back.

Standard vs itemized deduction


I was scared enough that I took out an additional $300 from both paychecks. I’m glad I did, because we are looking to break even (we owed last year even after purchasing a house).

I think you're right and that is the issue... multiple dependents doesn't get you as much anymore. I need to get the rest of my donation info in to confirm. Still pissed that "simplifying" taxes means that I get screwed.

[nessness]

We're getting an almost $5k refund, which I didn't expect, but we also bought a new house in 2017 (so this was our first full year paying higher property taxes and interest) and DH changed jobs, so I don't know how much of the refund was due to the new tax plan. But DH and I agreed we'd trade in our tax refund and more for a different president.

I have zero sympathy for the Trump voters who are paying more. It reminds me of the quote from that article we discussed a couple weeks ago where a Trump voter said he's not hurting the right people. They wanted and expected Trump to hurt people, they just didn't think it would be them.

[itsme]

Feb 5, 2019 12:49:18 GMT -5 downtoearth said:

Feb 5, 2019 12:34:12 GMT -5 miniroller said:

Apologize if I’ve missed a mention or a thread, but has anyone else heard anything about people’s outrage after doing their taxes..? (Or personally experienced, of course) People on Twitter are IRATE! This article outlines some of the infuriated 45-voters who can’t believe how he screwed them 😐
www.rawstory.com/2019/02/trusted-trump-voters-seethe-realizing-theyre-getting-screwed-gops-tax-plan/

We have our’s done in February & usually about break even (owing or paying <$250); I feel completely defeated already. (& scared, I’m also kinda scared...)

We started ours - correction, I started ours. So far we have the max removed (claim 0 on W2's) and typically get a pretty good refund ($4k or above). This year, so far, I have about 3/4 done and we owe $250. Not at all like last year and nothing has really changed (3 dependents, married filing jointly, make about $140k, have a house, also a rental property that doesn't make much money - but a lot of equity, and max out the $5k dependent care pre-tax and then have about $5k after that that we pay post-tax, donate some money, but not a lot.) So, I feel like something is different and we're paying more now.

I'm not sure where that change is mostly happening since I was talking with my officemate and their family has almost the exact same details (3 kids, rental, house, etc.), except only one income (around $80k) and his is so far getting about $5k back.

We're in a similar situation including income but minus the rental property.  We usually get $3k-$5k back but this year we owe.  H did make more money but his income has been increasing over the last few years and our refund gets a little smaller but we have never owed before.   

[isabel]

Feb 5, 2019 13:16:24 GMT -5 downtoearth said:

Feb 5, 2019 13:05:22 GMT -5 Jalapeñomel said:

Standard vs itemized deduction


I was scared enough that I took out an additional $300 from both paychecks. I’m glad I did, because we are looking to break even (we owed last year even after purchasing a house).

I think you're right and that is the issue... multiple dependents doesn't get you as much anymore. I need to get the rest of my donation info in to confirm. Still pissed that "simplifying" taxes means that I get screwed.

@@@

DH and I are both blown away by this. As well as the fact that the dependent care FSA is capped at $5k no matter how many kids you have. It doesn't make any sense.

[Jalapeñomel]

When people talk about $5k refunds, I wonder what we are doing wrong. 🤣

[downtoearth]

Feb 5, 2019 13:39:58 GMT -5 Jalapeñomel said:

When people talk about $5k refunds, I wonder what we are doing wrong. 🤣

Making too much money, owning your own business, or maybe not loaning the government $4k to hang onto since you're not bad at saving by yourself? Basically... I think you're probably doing it right if you're not getting a ton back, but are pretty even.

[hopecounts]

Feb 5, 2019 13:39:58 GMT -5 Jalapeñomel said:

When people talk about $5k refunds, I wonder what we are doing wrong. 🤣

DH intentionally sets his deductions to over pay with each paycheck so we are fairly certain to not need to pay come tax time.
He is risk averse and prefers that to the uncertainty of possibly having to pay.

Single income, mortgage on our house, 2 kids.
Our return is smaller this year and will be even smaller next year since this year we were saved by all our medical expenses and meeting the deduction threshold for that.

[EllieArroway]

We made about $10k more last year and overall paid in just over $2k less than the year before. Which is ridiculous because we are not in a demographic that needed a tax break.

My BIL is in the military and his family had to pay in significantly more this year than last. Their total household income is less than half of ours but they're paying more in taxes and we are paying less. So stupid.

[mbcdefg]

Secret Files Show How Trump Moscow Talks Unfolded While Trump Heaped Praise On Putin


Ahead of Michael Cohen’s testimony, read the original paper trail behind the campaign to build Europe’s tallest tower in Moscow — and how it played out alongside Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.


www.buzzfeednews.com/article/azeenghorayshi/trump-tower-moscow-the-secret-files-cohen-sater-putin?bftwnews&utm_term=4ldqpgc#4ldqpgc