27 Comments
User's avatar
QSAT's avatar

Republicans who do pay taxes have no idea how many of their peers do not. Fox News doesn’t tell them. One of my Republican friends lamented how much he pays in taxes, and I joked that he should hire Trump’s accountants, because Trump paid only $750. He had no idea. He also didn’t believe me, because I learned it through the NYT. Once again, the people who need to know the truth will be the same people who are least likely to hear it, so we should brace ourselves for the coming fight. Republicans would rather blame the poor for our country’s financial problems than adopt reasonable measures to ensure that we all share the cost burden equitably.

SPW's avatar

You can’t talk sense to a baby, a drunk or a bought-in trumper. There are few if any differences.

Phil's avatar

Biden's doing a fantastic job. His proposals seem nuanced, practical, and focused on results. I couldn't be happier with the job he's doing - he's a lot more sophisticated than mass media was giving him credit for.

Joseph Mangano's avatar

Like you said, this wouldn't level the playing field, but it would give the IRS a fighting chance. Let's hope the corporate Dems in Congress don't try to undermine this modest proposal.

Jake G.'s avatar

How in the world do republicans garner any support? They lie about everything and their constituents are too dumb to realize it. A vote for a republican is a vote for lawlessness and the wealthy. Why any average person would ever vote republican is beyond me.

SPW's avatar

It’s either ignorance or the belief in the party that’s selling them down the River.

Not that Nick's avatar

“If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you.”

― Lyndon B. Johnson

SPW's avatar

Sad but very true. Trump has been proving this for years.

SPW's avatar

This just shows that for the most part, today’s republican members of Congress that swept in on the bloody red wave in 2010 is an unethical lot, hell-bent on sinking the current way our government has run for two plus centuries. This is all thanks to Grover Norquist, ALEC and the rest of the uber-huge lobbiests working for their uber-huge businesses busily sucking the life out of their workers and the country. They want us to become the US of China, plain and simple.

Hazel's avatar

LoL. I will put my money on the US of Russia. Nation run by Oligarchs (the Rich) paid off politicians like Mitch and Rand, etc paying lip service to the worker who owes his soul to the company store.

Lib's avatar

Republicans are going to squeal like stuck pigs over this

Hazel's avatar

Listening to NPR on the way home, they already are.

Deborah Ruf's avatar

Simply excellent story today, Judd. Stodd, an earlier commenter, made excellent points. There is so much lying and gaslighting going on that good people simply do not realize they are being scammed. Anyway, I love your sourcing of topics and find ways to use the information in everyday conversation.

Eric Linn's avatar

Great article. The wealthy and corporate cheats continue to amass wealth at the expense of others who are doing the right thing. I find it amazing how many blue collar workers are more than willing to be part of a group that celebrates making the rich more wealthy. The republican party doesn't care about the working class, they care about money.

Jackson's avatar

Actually, power. Money is just a means to an end.

Jinx's avatar

Without power to back them up laws are useless: "The IRS has little recourse to push back" What is the point in auditing Americans making less than 20K? The audit costs more than the potential tax collection which is more likely to be the inability to deal with IRS than fraud.

Hazel's avatar

I have thought about this all morninh while driving for my job. I think the little guy and middle class guys are going to get clobbered and the rich guy who can afford lawyers and tax accountants will emerge victorious. Why do I think this.

Having dealt with estates, individuals and my own luck through the years, I find you never get the same answer from the IRS. Through an estate's calls, I got six different answers and ended up hiring a tax accountant and let's not discuss how long it took, cost, but what eventually happened didn't match any of the six answers.

Easy way out has been the rule of thumb in my dealings as a reporter with Government Agencies in general. It will be the path to least resistance I fear. And the rich guys will resist the most because they can afford to and our government will look for easier kills. And that will be those already feeling from the Pandemic chaos, etc, etc.

SPW's avatar

Sad isn’t it Cathy?

Hazel's avatar

Yes it is. I don't have same sense of elation other folks here have. My experience hasn't given me the way fuzzies about our government and it's workers. Someone paid off Brent Kavanaugh's debts and that had huge tax consequences. No media, no watch dogs no IRS, DOJ or FBI have investigated it. Someone other than him in the citizens pool would not be so lucky. I could say worse, but I won't. LoL

SPW's avatar

So much garbage got shoveled under the Justice Department and the White House’s doormats that it will undoubtedly take time for Merrick Garland’s Justice Department to get up to speed sorting it all out. It did hearten me to see what went down with Rudy baby and di Genova’s wife today. My next question now is how much will Bill Barr eventually pay for sitting on so many potentially active investigations begun by SDNY or other investigative body(Mueller, Congress)during trump’s rape and pillaging spree?

Hazel's avatar

Bill Barr ought to turn States evidence and sing like a bird.

SPW's avatar

I sure would. He should have had his law license jerked years ago

Hazel's avatar

Warm Fuzzies. This phone.

SPW's avatar

She posted this yesterday. Long but very detailed in her analysis. I posted it to FB.