*Prompter Thread* (NO personal attacks, NO trolling)

[MDPrompter]

Originally Posted by daveshookme

Or progressives don't just look out for their own and want everybody to be getting money.

Nah. Progressives just love to eat their own.

[BTBaboon]

Originally Posted by daveshookme

Or progressives don't just look out for their own and want everybody to be getting money.

*except when they propose “eat the rich” proposals

*which I am in favor of
**I am also in favor of giving stimulus to everyone, forget means testing of any kind

Originally Posted by TheLastStop123

Gotcha. Also don’t forget that half of the country are single filers, and the phaseout for singles is $80k. Using $160k doesn’t really paint the full picture.

I assume it’s fairly similar for individual at 50% of the household income. An individual making $80K is probably near that same tier for individual income percentile as a household at $160K.

[BTBaboon]

Originally Posted by cazzie34

Joe asked for 1.9 trillion.

Joe got 1.9 trillion.

Caucus whipped. Dems not in disarray.

And I think I’d argue that the Senate version is an improvement on the House bill/Joe’s proposal, even if they’re all pretty much the same. The tax forgiveness on UI and the 100% premium subsidy for COBRA are huge wins, and the quicker phasing - with that money appearing to be reinvested - is a relatively small compromise to get this through.

Originally Posted by Erich

Brian Tyler Cohen
@briantylercohen
While Trump was president, EVERY Democrat voted for the $2 trillion CARES Act, even though doing so helped Trump.

While Biden is president, ZERO Republicans voted for the $1.9 trillion American Relief Plan, because hurting Biden is more important than helping Americans.

https://twitter.com/briantylercohen/...97120231387138

Added perspective really helps put this all into context

[jcc522]

Just watched some body cam footage of George Floyd.

One officer checks for a pulse multiple times(doesn’t find on) and doesn’t get Chauvin off Floyd’s neck. All the had to do was roll down the window of that cruiser, too.

[smokew11]

Dems added that any student loan forgiveness wouldnt be taxable income?? How on Earth did they get that through? I love it, but that is the epitome of a "dem wish list" item whcih doesnt have much to do with COVID, unless loan forgiveness was part of the stimulus

[daveshookme]

Originally Posted by smokew11

Dems added that any student loan forgiveness wouldnt be taxable income?? How on Earth did they get that through? I love it, but that is the epitome of a "dem wish list" item whcih doesnt have much to do with COVID, unless loan forgiveness was part of the stimulus

Saw the first $10,200 fed UI is non-taxable too.

HUGE gift. Arguably better than the UI increase itself.

[scrock25]

It’s not, just read up about it. They’re making student loan forgiveness non-taxable through like 2025 but not canceling any student loans

Decent foreshadowing though.

[Useliteski]

i was taxed to fucking hell for collecting Unemployment this summer. good thing that they were able to right that wrong for people that collect in the future.

[BTBaboon]

Originally Posted by smokew11

Dems added that any student loan forgiveness wouldnt be taxable income?? How on Earth did they get that through? I love it, but that is the epitome of a "dem wish list" item whcih doesnt have much to do with COVID, unless loan forgiveness was part of the stimulus

American Rescue Plan

Sounds like rescuing Americans to me!

Another element of this bill that’s awesome! Good thing they passed it so we could see what’s in it!

It keeps getting better!

Originally Posted by scrock25

It’s not, just read up about it. They’re making student loan forgiveness non-taxable through like 2025 but not canceling any student loans

Decent foreshadowing though.

This would be huge for my wife and I if they make it permanent (they should). We’re currently on path of filing separate, making the income drive payment from her income, and saving up for a massive tax bill 18 years from now.

It would be a godsend if we don’t need the $50K or so we are anticipating in tax from forgiveness.

It’s also clear they plan SOME level of forgiveness to be granted to all borrowers in the near term. This covers them from a big tax bill in the event of EO on loans.

[BTBaboon]

Originally Posted by Useliteski

i was taxed to fucking hell for collecting Unemployment this summer. good thing that they were able to right that wrong for people that collect in the future.

Not just in the future - you will be eligible to get that taxed portion back (on up to $10,200 of benefit).

Assume you paid the taxes up front? Have you filed your 2020 taxes yet?

[scrock25]

Can somebody give me Fla. data?

[DMBstandUP1984]

Originally Posted by scrock25

Can somebody give me Fla. data?

https://www.wsj.com/articles/vindica...is-11614986751

No idea but I saw Tapper retweet this, I didn’t read it

[drakan]

Originally Posted by DMBstandUP1984

https://www.wsj.com/articles/vindica...is-11614986751

No idea but I saw Tapper retweet this, I didn’t read it

Seriously? Florida did terrible. Almost as many per capita cases as NYC and more than California and it got hit later so of course deaths look better. It's deaths per capita is higher than California. No excuses for Florida opening up early.

[BTBaboon]

Originally Posted by scrock25

Can somebody give me Fla. data?

It’s currently middle of the road in cases per 100K, as of 3/3/21

https://www.beckershospitalreview.co...es-july-1.html

[daveshookme]

Originally Posted by BTBaboon

Not just in the future - you will be eligible to get that taxed portion back (on up to $10,200 of benefit).

Assume you paid the taxes up front? Have you filed your 2020 taxes yet?

wait so UI from 2020 isn't taxable?

[DMBstandUP1984]

Originally Posted by drakan

Seriously? Florida did terrible. Almost as many per capita cases as NYC and more than California and it got hit later so of course deaths look better. It's deaths per capita is higher than California. No excuses for Florida opening up early.

My post are not endorsements

[scrock25]

Originally Posted by BTBaboon

It’s currently middle of the road in cases per 100K, as of 3/3/21

https://www.beckershospitalreview.co...es-july-1.html

So based on that it looks like, relatively speaking, they’re doing the same as NY while basically being fully open?

[drakan]

Originally Posted by DMBstandUP1984

My post are not endorsements

yeah I should have been more clear.

[drakan]

Florida has done worse than New York State but slightly better than NYC. I must be the only one who worries about the spring/summer air conditioning season coming soon down south.

[BTBaboon]

Originally Posted by scrock25

So based on that it looks like, relatively speaking, they’re doing the same as NY while basically being fully open?

FWIW, I’m not sure that’s necessarily a good thing. NY isn’t a good thing to be on par with. NY got hit incredibly hard to start and that they’re only middle of the road themselves says a lot about how shitty other states did with TONS of advance notice.

I think Washington is one stat that’s pretty impressive. They were hit early, in a major metro area, but avoided catastrophic outbreaks - their per-capita cases are about 50% of NY, FL, CA, etc.

[scrock25]

Originally Posted by BTBaboon

FWIW, I’m not sure that’s necessarily a good thing. NY isn’t a good thing to be on par with. NY got hit incredibly hard to start and that they’re only middle of the road themselves says a lot about how shitty other states did with TONS of advance notice.

I think Washington is one stat that’s pretty impressive. They were hit early, in a major metro area, but avoided catastrophic outbreaks - their per-capita cases are about 50% of NY, FL, CA, etc.

No no, right. I’m not saying it’s a good thing, just trying to understand the data.

[daveshookme]

I haven't filed my 2020 returns yet (still waiting on a 1099 from Instacart), can I expect TurboTax to flip my tax bill to a tax refund and calculate correctly?

[drakan]

Originally Posted by BTBaboon

NY got hit incredibly hard to start and that they’re only middle of the road themselves says a lot about how shitty other states did with TONS of advance notice.

That's what I don't get. Most states saw what happened in the Northeast so I thought they would take it seriously. And they did for about 6 weeks and then all the idiots down south started opening up. I really don't understand it. So DeSantis was right they aren't like NY, they are worse.

[BTBaboon]

Originally Posted by scrock25

No no, right. I’m not saying it’s a good thing, just trying to understand the data.

I think the other element you’re looking at is the economic impact

In Dec 2019, FL had an U3 rate of 2.9%, and in Dec 2020 it was 6.1%; an increase of 110%. This is the same % increase as NY. Compared to a state that was relatively strict and not an early hit state - say, Michigan - where the U3 was 3.9% in Dec 2019 and 7.5% in Dec 2020; an increase of 92%.

https://www.bls.gov/news.release/laus.nr0.htm

So I’m not sure there’s enough to say (yet) that’s there’s a necessary correlation between states with more vs less restrictions. The economic impact is fairly widespread and very few states in the middle of the pack of cases are better off than any other. Conversely, you have South Dakota, where the U3 rate is actually LOWER than in Dec 2019, but they are 2nd worst in cases per 100K.

I think we need to see how states rebound to make definitive judgements on how these states handled things and the economic impact. We have some evidence from Spanish Flu to suggest states with tighter restrictions actually saw swifter economic recovery. So some remains to be seen here.

[BTBaboon]

Originally Posted by daveshookme

I haven't filed my 2020 returns yet (still waiting on a 1099 from Instacart), can I expect TurboTax to flip my tax bill to a tax refund and calculate correctly?

I wouldn’t count on it to be a quick change, but I imagine they will adopt it.

I imagine tax deadline is likely to be pushed back, but it’s getting close so hopefully we see action next week on that

[daveshookme]

Babs, can you try to convince me that taxing UI income is sensible or reasonable or rational? Like, at all?

It just seems so dumb.

"Oh, you got paid. We need some of that, to provide services to Americans."
"Oh, you're out of a job, good thing we collected part of that paycheck, we can give you some until you get back on your feet! HOORAY!"
"Hey, so that money we gave you? We need some of that back."

[BTBaboon]

Originally Posted by daveshookme

Babs, can you try to convince me that taxing UI income is sensible or reasonable or rational? Like, at all?

It just seems so dumb.

"Oh, you got paid. We need some of that, to provide services to Americans."
"Oh, you're out of a job, good thing we collected part of that paycheck, we can give you some until you get back on your feet! HOORAY!"
"Hey, so that money we gave you? We need some of that back."

No, I can’t convince you it’s sensible or reasonable - and worse, it’s inefficient as hell to send it pre-tax to anyone just to ask they either auto deduct or ask for a portion back at a later date. If a state (or the federal government) can only afford $X in net benefit, just pay the $X upfront instead of $X + tax %.

Glad they fixed the federal UI (up to $10,200) but states should adopt this, too. All it does is make it overly complex and put excess burden on government revenue collection that are usually understaffed/underfunded.

[cazzie34]

I’m happy that my bill with @SenatorMenendez to make any student loan forgiveness tax-free was included in the COVID relief bill. This clears the way for President Biden to #CancelStudentDebt without burdening student borrowers with thousands of dollars in unexpected taxes.

https://twitter.com/SenWarren/status...802864643?s=19

Didn't know this was in the bill. Nice.

[jcc522]

UI is mythical to me

[BTBaboon]

Originally Posted by jcc522

UI is mythical to me

I do have to ask - since you appear to have issues with your EIP and UI...you sure it isn’t a “you” problem?