Althouse: At the Monday Night Café...

April 8, 2019

At the Monday Night Café...

... you can talk about whatever you want.

49 comments:

Churchy LaFemme: said...: Got back the zero interest loan I made to the feds today.

Hoo Hah!; 4/8/19, 9:56 PM
stephen cooper said...: Good luck tonight to everyone who seeks truth or accuracy or just a memory of the hundreds of people who cared about you, no matter how many of them you have forgotten. I remember, and you can easily remember too.; 4/8/19, 10:02 PM
Bay Area Guy said...: Let's go Texas Tech!; 4/8/19, 10:11 PM
iowan2 said...: Got back the zero interest loan I made to the feds today.
Me too. Them rotten revenuers had $107 of my dollars!

I see today the msm is reviving their story of a month ago about people being upset. They thought they were getting a tax break, but their refunds are less, or they have to pay in. Waiting til the end of the block to mention in passing 80% of the earners are paying less taxes, and the problem is filling out your W-4. The media lies about everything.; 4/8/19, 10:19 PM
Be said...: I love this song. Tangentially, it reminds me of a few commenters here.

https://youtu.be/gAYL5H46QnQ; 4/8/19, 10:20 PM
Churchy LaFemme: said...: Well, here's a suprising (not) take on today's news:

CNN: Half the women are gone from Trump's Cabinet

Just when you think the beclowning can go no further..; 4/8/19, 10:26 PM
Be said...: iowan2: or people are just stupid in general. (Most commentary on major new sites re: this so called travesty has been pushback on the idiots for not having changed their deductions.); 4/8/19, 10:27 PM
iowan2 said...: Championship game is in OT; 4/8/19, 10:31 PM
wildswan said...: What no Dems making idiots of themselves, no episode 700 of Mueller Time, no outrageous outrageousness to be outraged about or to snicker at. One beautiful day, a few flowers, crocus, trout lily, siberian squill, dozens of snowdrops, a giant sun sank slowly in the west. It's so hard every winter to believe that those dry dead sticks outlined against snow will bud leaves outlined against grass, yet here it is happening again, here it is, spring again.; 4/8/19, 10:35 PM
narciso said...: They lay down for Ahmadinejad

https://www.meforum.org/58151/mef-vs-columbia-univ-pr; 4/8/19, 10:36 PM
iowan2 said...: Be: Wide swath of the population is innumerate in general and wholly ignorant of the time/value of money. Why people set themselves up for a $5000 tax refund is beyond my understanding. People I work with do it. I explain they can fill out a form with our employer and have your paycheck deposited in your checking account, and/or savings account. So you can in fact set it as your money and never know its there. You can do this, and adjust your W-4 to Short the Govt every paycheck, and then pay the taxes due, out of your savings at the end of the year. Borrowing the money from the govt interest free, instead of the other way around. Life is hard. Harder if you're stupid.

Virginia up by 6 with 17 seconds left.; 4/8/19, 10:46 PM
Bay Area Guy said...: Well, Virginia was humiliated last year by losing in Round 1 to some scrub team from Baltimore, and now they've bounced back to win the championship. Well done, Cavaliers!; 4/8/19, 10:53 PM
David Begley said...: Tony Bennett - a native Badger - wins the national championship.; 4/8/19, 10:54 PM
Churchy LaFemme: said...: Guess he's gone from rags to riches!; 4/8/19, 10:59 PM
mockturtle said...: Phooey! My daughter missed winning the office pool in OT.; 4/8/19, 10:59 PM
David Begley said...: Tony’s dad Dick took the Badgers to the Final Four. Son took it one step further.; 4/8/19, 11:00 PM
effinayright said...: Suck on this, will you, Inga:

https://amgreatness.com/2019/04/07/all-the-progressive-plotters/

"Is it now permissible in 2020 for Trump’s FBI director to insert an informant into the campaign of the Democratic presidential nominee?

If Joe Biden is the 2020 nominee, will the Trump Justice Department seek FISA warrants to monitor the communications of Biden’s campaign team—in worries that Biden son’s business practices in the Ukraine had earlier compromised Biden who had intervened on his behalf by threatening to cut off aid to Ukraine?

Will they investigate Biden’s propensity to hug and kiss under-aged girls? Will Trump’s CIA director contact foreign nationals to aid in spying on Biden’s aides?

Will National Security Advisor John Bolton request that the names of surveilled Biden campaign officials become unmasked as a way of having them leaked to the media?

Will Trump hire a British ex-spy to gather together rumors and gossip about Biden’s previous overseas trips and foreign contacts, especially in the Ukraine, and then see them seeded among the Trump CIA, FBI, Justice Department, and State Department?

Is that the sort of country we have now?"

Is it, Inga??? IS IT?; 4/8/19, 11:02 PM
effinayright said...: Tonyy Bennett - a native Badger - wins the national championship.

***************

He's updated his trademark song:

"I left my turrrdds...in San FranCISco..."; 4/8/19, 11:10 PM
narciso said...: Eight points is past the spread right?; 4/8/19, 11:16 PM
Pianoman said...: @iowan2: I asked a friend of mine about that once. He insisted on having around $5K extra withdrawn during the year so that he could get "a big refund" in April, and take his family on a nice vacation for spring break.

I pointed out that he was giving the IRS an interest-free loan, and he just gazed at me blankly. I may as well have been speaking Mandarin.

Two possibilities occur to me. One: People don't think it through. Two: They are so happy with what they're doing, they don't want to know the truth.; 4/8/19, 11:22 PM
Gahrie said...: Two possibilities occur to me. One: People don't think it through. Two: They are so happy with what they're doing, they don't want to know the truth.

For some people this is the only way for them to save, because they don't have the self-discipline otherwise.; 4/8/19, 11:25 PM
DannyBoyThePipes said...: I like the idea of Socrates’ “beware the emptiness of a busy life” but, while I’ve found extreme yet incomplete fullness in “just being,” I’ve found considerable fullness + confidence in a busy life. They each have different qualities but I’ve deduced that the context of modern life (get ahead or get behind) + my personality (need to accomplish and be social + be introverted and anchor to the present) makes me far more at ease getting a shitload done every day. I tried living out the “be here now” to the greatest extent possible whilst living in society whole in my 20s and I just ended I broke, vulnerable and with more anxiety.

So, I’ve decided to accomplish a shit-ton, not have anxiety or societal powerlessness every day, leave it all on the field, and feel comfortable and satisfied when I’m on my way out.

Just putting it out there.; 4/8/19, 11:29 PM
Pianoman said...: For some people this is the only way for them to save, because they don't have the self-discipline otherwise.

I'm sure that's true, but I wonder what percentage of people who do this have just "always done it that way", and are in fear that if they change anything, they'll get audited?

FUD is a powerful motivator, especially where the IRS is involved.; 4/8/19, 11:30 PM
cubanbob said...: Pianoman I was about to reply to you but Gahrie said it first. One thing a lot of people complaining about getting a smaller refund is that they are probably on some Obamacare subsidy plan and low and behold, the subsidy has been pulled back and they are getting taxed on the subsidy they had. That was built in into Obamacare.; 4/8/19, 11:33 PM
Pianoman said...: There's also the $10K limit to state/local taxes. I'm in CA, so I butted right up against it. Anyone with high property tax in CA (which would be mostly younger families) is going to pay more overall because there's less to deduct.

That assumes that these young families aren't just taking the $24K std deduction, of course.

It doesn't matter anyway ... I was assured that anything related to taxes that's Bad is Orange Man's Fault, and anything that's Good is Because Obama Was The Lightbringer.; 4/8/19, 11:38 PM
walter said...: Dan Crenshaw
‏Verified account @DanCrenshawTX
Apr 6

Another great jobs report. Wages rising.

And yet: we keep hearing from Dems that taxes should be raised, & more socialist control of the economy is needed.

This is wrong and dangerous.

Vote for opportunity and prosperity in 2020. Defend this success.

<

Dan Crenshaw
‏Verified account @DanCrenshawTX
Apr 3

Dan Crenshaw Retweeted Bernie Sanders

Oh this is an easy one.

Because your plan costs $32 trillion, and bankrupts my generation.

It takes away private employer plans from tens of millions of Americans.

But at least you recognize that Obamacare has not worked. We need more freedom and choice, not less.

Bernie Sanders
‏Verified account @BernieSanders

Bernie Sanders Retweeted People's Policy Project

Those who oppose Medicare for All need to explain why our failed current system should be allowed to continue bankrupting the American people.; 4/9/19, 12:14 AM
Crazy World said...: I have to pay the feds this year (every year actually just more this year) because GASP we hardly paid any all year and our income increased as well as our 401 k contributions. What a wonderful world.; 4/9/19, 12:22 AM
mccullough said...: California is an expensive state. Housing illegal immigrants, providing them medical care, and sending them to school until they drop out at age 15 isn’t cheap.; 4/9/19, 12:29 AM
Pianoman said...: Moron: "My taxes went up, and it's all Trump's fault"
Sanity: "It's because your income went up. You're actually making more money this year."
Moron: "......"
Sanity: "You need to look at the bottom line, and not just one individual stat."
Moron: "......."
Sanity: "(pause) You *do* understand that, right?"
Moron: "ORANGE MAN BAD!"; 4/9/19, 12:29 AM
readering said...: Orange man bad. Put it on a t-shirt.; 4/9/19, 1:29 AM
Humperdink said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 4/9/19, 5:10 AM
Humperdink said...: Mayor Buttie: "saying that if Pence has "a problem with who I am, your problem is not with me -- your quarrel, sir, is with my creator."

Mayor Buttie needs to expand his horizons, as in getting beyond the superficial understanding evangelicals. But it plays well in the media.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/08/politics/pete-buttigieg-mike-pence/index.html; 4/9/19, 5:11 AM
Josephbleau said...: If Buttigieg has a problem with Trump, his quarrel is with Trump’s Creator.; 4/9/19, 5:27 AM
rhhardin said...: I can't believe basketball is still going on.; 4/9/19, 5:39 AM
rhhardin said...: The news is interested in clicks from the people who just dealt with a smaller refund, is all. Their regular audience.

It's a story because people click on it. They test market these things.; 4/9/19, 5:41 AM
stevew said...: It is really simple: if you are due a REFUND from the government it is because you OVERPAID your taxes during the year.

You folks are correct, people that rejoice in getting a refund are willfully ignorant of the facts. I choose not to piss on their joy, giving them a smirk in response instead, the sort with one corner of my mouth upturned.; 4/9/19, 6:03 AM
Nichevo said...: Rh, you've already had it explained to you why your charitable, neutral, objective, and/or bottom-line-oriented take on news strategies is wrong. Several ways by several different people. It would be human of you to acknowledge and respond.; 4/9/19, 6:05 AM
Tommy Duncan said...: Tony Bennett's uncle, Jack, won 2 NCAA Division 3 titles at UW Steven's Point. Tony, Dick and Jack Bennett are all driven and intense people. Type A on steroids.; 4/9/19, 6:06 AM
Big Mike said...: I hav read that South Bend’s murder rate per 100,000 population is approximately the same as Chicago’s. In fact, if you run it out another decimal place, it’s higher. Nice piece of city governance, Mayor Pete!; 4/9/19, 6:12 AM
Tommy Duncan said...: Regarding tax refunds: Now that nearly everyone uses Turbo Tax or a tax service to prepare their income taxes the understanding of tax obligations is minimal. The DNC/media preys on that misunderstanding.

The DNC/media don't want you to understand the realities of taxes, abortion, illegal immigration, welfare, affirmative action or healthcare.; 4/9/19, 6:16 AM
AllenS said...: Oh, boy, here we go again --

St. Paul and Minneapolis are likely to see at least 8 inches of snowfall between Wednesday night and Friday morning, according to Brent Hewett, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Chanhassen.

“There is time for things to change, but confidence is pretty high that we’ll see significant snow in the Twin Cities,” Hewett said. “Worst case scenario, some places see 12 to 15 inches.”; 4/9/19, 6:54 AM
Paco Wové said...: "They thought they were getting a tax break, but their refunds are less, or they have to pay in."

I was expecting a smaller refund this year, but the damn thing got larger.; 4/9/19, 7:04 AM
narciso said...: You expect the press is interested in the truth:

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2019/04/09/breaking-court-filing-reveals-numerous-comey-memos-including-investigative-meetings-sources-methods-and-contacts/#more-162301; 4/9/19, 7:24 AM
Ralph L said...: I can't believe basketball is still going on.

NBA playoffs start Saturday and end in June 2020.; 4/9/19, 7:36 AM
Leslie Graves said...: Goodbye “moderators,” hello “audience voice reporters”: Here’s how The Wall Street Journal is refocusing the comments to incentivize better behavior.; 4/9/19, 7:39 AM
wildswan said...: Swalwell Runs
Campaign Slogan - Nuke America First; 4/9/19, 8:03 AM
Freeman Hunt said...: "Regarding tax refunds: Now that nearly everyone uses Turbo Tax or a tax service to prepare their income taxes the understanding of tax obligations is minimal."

My experience with TurboTax was the opposite. It made my tax obligations and the factors that affected them very clear. You could say one gets a surge of extra-conservative feeling when using TurboTax.; 4/9/19, 8:59 AM
mockturtle said...: Because I haven't itemized for the past couple of years, my tax return was bigger due to the higher standard deduction.; 4/9/19, 9:25 AM
Saint Croix said...: Two really interesting articles I read this morning:

Harvard's Glass Menagerie

In Defence of the Bad, White Working Class; 4/9/19, 10:32 AM