Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #TaxScam
Most recents (24)
It's hard not to feel powerless. The rich are getting richer, the middle class is disappearing, and poor people are evermore exposed to labor abuses, predatory finance, police violence, and food-, fuel- and housing-insecurity. 1/ 
If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
pluralistic.net/2022/07/07/col… 2/
pluralistic.net/2022/07/07/col… 2/
Our cities are increasingly segregated into the haves and have-nots, and the haves hoard the parks, schools and clean air:
nytimes.com/2022/07/06/us/…
The rich don't just own all the good stuff, they also own the political process. 3/
nytimes.com/2022/07/06/us/…
The rich don't just own all the good stuff, they also own the political process. 3/
Here's something weird: in the wake of Roe v Wade in the 1970s, the Southern Baptist Convention repeatedly passed resolutions affirming the right to abortion and rejecting government interference in the decision to bear a child to term:
text.npr.org/734303135 1/
text.npr.org/734303135 1/
If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
pluralistic.net/2022/06/25/roe… 2/
pluralistic.net/2022/06/25/roe… 2/
Back then, white evangelicals were deeply suspicious of people who opposed abortion. Getting too worked up about the issue was a sign of crypto-papacy, and back then, white evangelicals *hated* Catholics:
doctorow.medium.com/schizmogenesis… 3/
doctorow.medium.com/schizmogenesis… 3/
Wells Fargo is America's third-largest bank. It used to be the largest, but it committed a string of terrible frauds that it was never truly punished for (it made more from crime than it paid in fines).
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If you'd like an unrolled version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
pluralistic.net/2021/09/29/jub…
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pluralistic.net/2021/09/29/jub…
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Its crime spree DID result in one meaningful punishment: Wells was forced to downsize to #3, with a mere $1.77 trillion in assets.
Have no fear: @WellsFargo is down but not out, and despite its reduced stature, it is still engaged in egregious acts of fraud.
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Have no fear: @WellsFargo is down but not out, and despite its reduced stature, it is still engaged in egregious acts of fraud.
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The latest in @propublica's #SecretIRSFiles reporting is a crossover episode, combining leaked tax-returns of America's ultrawealthy with campaign contribution data to reveal the incredible return on investment the rich reaped from Trump's #TaxScam.
propublica.org/article/secret…
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propublica.org/article/secret…
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If you'd like an unrolled version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
pluralistic.net/2021/08/11/the…
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pluralistic.net/2021/08/11/the…
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You may remember how Trump's "Tax Cuts and Jobs Act" (AKA the "big, beautiful tax-cut") was a shambles of amendments and annotations, whose final draft was literally covered in hand-scribbled changes that handed millions to donors.
usatoday.com/story/news/201…
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usatoday.com/story/news/201…
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Senate Dems deliver.
The Senate passed a $3.5 trillion budget resolution along party lines 50-49. It's is a blueprint to be fleshed out in committees for a spending bill.
It's a massive investment in the future, and much-needed repairs for today.
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npr.org/2021/07/14/101…
The Senate passed a $3.5 trillion budget resolution along party lines 50-49. It's is a blueprint to be fleshed out in committees for a spending bill.
It's a massive investment in the future, and much-needed repairs for today.
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npr.org/2021/07/14/101…
I'll steal text from the linked article, so you can read it here.
Your taxes will NOT be increased, if you make less than $400,000/year, but it IS paid for, and the sources of revenue are spelled out.
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Your taxes will NOT be increased, if you make less than $400,000/year, but it IS paid for, and the sources of revenue are spelled out.
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The article not only tells us what's in the package, but which committees have to write which peices.
It contains massive investment in education, including paid community college tuition, universal pre-K, and spending for HBCU's.
Also a commitment for immigration reform.
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It contains massive investment in education, including paid community college tuition, universal pre-K, and spending for HBCU's.
Also a commitment for immigration reform.
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Remember when a group of establishment Congressional Democrats vowed that they would add means-testing to the emergency relief checks so that "the money wouldn't go to people who didn't need it?"
washingtonpost.com/business/2021/…
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washingtonpost.com/business/2021/…
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(If you'd like an unrolled version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:)
pluralistic.net/2021/04/28/ine…
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pluralistic.net/2021/04/28/ine…
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The argument that federal relief should target the 99% and not the 1% is a familiar - and defensible - one. The Trump #taxscam handed trillions to the richest Americans, triggering stock buybacks:
cnn.com/2019/01/23/bus…
and a superyacht bubble:
propublica.org/article/supery…
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cnn.com/2019/01/23/bus…
and a superyacht bubble:
propublica.org/article/supery…
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My younger brother, who is way smarter than me (if I'm Sherlock, he's Mycroft) had a series of realizations about McConnell's threats regarding the filibuster.
First, you have to understand what Mitch is threatening, which is to withhold "unanimous consent."
1/26
First, you have to understand what Mitch is threatening, which is to withhold "unanimous consent."
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See, everything that happens in the Senate is supposed to happen on unanimous consent. When the Chair decides there should be a half-hour recess so everyone can have lunch, the recess is simple declared, and they all agree.
That's "unanimous consent."
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That's "unanimous consent."
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It is =possible= for a Senator to object to such everyday items, but that never happens, because it forces a rollcall vote. Every one of 100 Senators (or however many are there) needs to vote on the question, and that takes about an hour.
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Today's Twitter threads (a thread).
Inside: Opsec and personal security; Australian predictive policing tool for kids; A textbook grift; Labor and large firms; The power of procurements; Guatemala's guilltoines; and more!
Archived at: pluralistic.net/2020/11/23/ops…
#Pluralistic
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Inside: Opsec and personal security; Australian predictive policing tool for kids; A textbook grift; Labor and large firms; The power of procurements; Guatemala's guilltoines; and more!
Archived at: pluralistic.net/2020/11/23/ops…
#Pluralistic
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Opsec and personal security: Runa Sandvik and Window Snyder on the Attack Surface Lectures.
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Australian predictive policing tool for kids: Digital phrenology vs racialized kids.
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In most of the world's democracies, tax prep is really easy: the government uses its own employer-supplied payroll records to estimate your taxes, fills in a tax return for you and mails it to you.
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If it looks good, you sign it and return it. If not, you amend it (or hire an accountant to do so).
But not in the USA: here, the tax-prep industry makes billions charging Americans to gather information the IRS already has and send it to the IRS (again).
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But not in the USA: here, the tax-prep industry makes billions charging Americans to gather information the IRS already has and send it to the IRS (again).
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Naturally - this is America ca. 2020, after all - the tax-prep industry is highly concentrated, with a few megafirms capturing nearly 100% of the business, and when industries are that concentrated, they get to write their own rules.
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It's been 13 years since @NaomiAKlein's Shock Doctrine described the neoliberal playbook: crises are seized as a moment to smuggle in policies that could not pass public muster under normal circumstances, ratcheting private gains at public expense.
tsd.naomiklein.org/shock-doctrine…
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tsd.naomiklein.org/shock-doctrine…
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In March, Congress pass the CARES Act, sweeping law that nominally offered relief to Americans. It was the opening salvo in a fusillade of interventions whose workings are poorly understood - which have served to make the already wealthy immeasurably wealthier.
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If you've wondered how the stock and bond markets could be soaring even as unemployment has also climbed to apocalyptic levels, as an eviction crisis looms, as Americans form mile-long lines for food banks -- this is how.
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Happy #BookBirthday to @StephanieKelton on the publication of her long-awaited "The Deficit Myth," a book that could NOT be more timely in this moment of massive structural unemployment and trillions of free money for the wealthiest among us.
stephaniekelton.com/book/
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stephaniekelton.com/book/
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Kelton is one of the leading proponents of #ModernMonetaryTheory, which describes how money actually works, as a series of accounting flows, and makes some profound observations about the implications of understanding how government spending actually works.
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I've written about Kelton's work before:
pluralistic.net/2020/05/14/eve…
But here's the shortest possible summary I can give:
Money ISSUERS (sovereign states) have a different relationship to money and debt than money USERS (everyone else: people, companies, local governments).
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pluralistic.net/2020/05/14/eve…
But here's the shortest possible summary I can give:
Money ISSUERS (sovereign states) have a different relationship to money and debt than money USERS (everyone else: people, companies, local governments).
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AT&T epitomizes the failure of America's corporate regulation. After the company spent millions on dirty tricks to help @AjitPaiFCC kill Net Neutrality, it went on a stock-buyback spree while reducing its network improvement budget.
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Capex continued to suffer, even after the company got a $20B tax cut from the #TaxScam.
One thing the company DID spend on was acquisitions, going on a buying spree that included acquiring Time-Warner and Dish.
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One thing the company DID spend on was acquisitions, going on a buying spree that included acquiring Time-Warner and Dish.
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Randall Stephenson, the CEO who oversaw this plan, got paid $32m for his trouble, even as the company haemorrhaged money and subscribers, as his plan to "synergize" telcoms and entertainment failed spectacularly.
pluralistic.net/2020/03/13/go-…
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pluralistic.net/2020/03/13/go-…
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If Trump and his cadre of mustache-twirling villains have a saving grace, it's that they lack administrative competence. A con-artist succeeds by running across the river on the backs of alligators, moving so quick that none of them can take a leg.
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A competent villain plays the long game, gets into the minutiae, buries the con in the fine-print. Their superpower isn't their fast-thinking gab, it's their ability to both endure and inflict boredom while they make out like bandits.
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But while trumpites like @stevenmnuchin1 are just gabby muggers, others, like his protege Justin Muzinich, are champions in the dull, detail oriented mass ripoffs.
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#ModernMonetaryTheory is an economic lens for understanding how money works. It starts from the commonsense assertion that national governments are money-issuers, and the rest of us are money users, and that money works differently when you are in charge of creating it.
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But this challenges accepted wisdom, like the idea that national deficits cause inflation and saddle our descendants with debt. If governments are the source of money, then they don't tax us in order to spend. They spend (which puts money into the economy) and then tax back.
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If the government runs a "balanced budget" that means it's taxing as much money of out existence as it is spending into existence, leaving behind no money for the rest of us to save or spend. Balanced budgets starve the private sector of the money it needs to operate.
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You may have heard telcoms shills declaring that America's internet is holding up during the pandemic while Europe's is collapsing, and it's all thanks to @AjitPaiFCC's murder of #NetNeutrality. As @karlbode writes, "This entire narrative is fantasy."
techdirt.com/articles/20200…
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techdirt.com/articles/20200…
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Generally networks have help up well in most places because they're managed by engineers who are good at their jobs. The EU's request to streaming companies to lower their video resolution by 25% was a pre-emptive precautionary measure, not a response to actual problems.
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The actual data reveals that, irrespective of Net Neutrality policies, most networks are generally performing at the same level.
That level is...not good, overall. After the FCC killed Net Neutrality, the carriers' network investment plummeted.
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That level is...not good, overall. After the FCC killed Net Neutrality, the carriers' network investment plummeted.
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.@CookPolitical just shifted the North Carolina Senate race between @CalforNC and Trump-enabler @SenThomTillis from LEAN-R to TOSS UP. Let's talk about that.
Tillis votes with Trump 93.1%. So, it's no surprise that a new poll has Cunningham leading him 46-41. publicpolicypolling.com/polls/democrat…
Tillis voted for a cover-up. newsobserver.com/news/politics-…
Impeachment hearings won't stop Trump's crimes.
Articles of Impeachment won't stop Trump's crimes.
A Senate trial won't stop Trump's crimes.
A "not guilty" verdict won't stop Trump's crimes.
Even removal won't convince President Pence to stop Trumpish crimes.
Articles of Impeachment won't stop Trump's crimes.
A Senate trial won't stop Trump's crimes.
A "not guilty" verdict won't stop Trump's crimes.
Even removal won't convince President Pence to stop Trumpish crimes.
Impeachment won't stop Trump's crimes.
But after we've impeached and the Senate declares Trump "Not Guilty!" and the media hammers home "totally exonerated from a partisan Democrat stunt!" we won't be able to use Trump's crimes as campaign issues.
But after we've impeached and the Senate declares Trump "Not Guilty!" and the media hammers home "totally exonerated from a partisan Democrat stunt!" we won't be able to use Trump's crimes as campaign issues.
A full exoneration in the Senate and Trump doing a victory dance all the way to a landslide reelection where we lose the House and usher in a century of fascist dictatorship does not "uphold our constitution."
What about getting GOP Senators "on record"?
What about getting GOP Senators "on record"?
1. Largely hidden from public view is a buried 6 page Trump/GOP #taxscam provision that has triggered an obscene feeding frenzy among the super wealthy -enormous construction tax breaks for developers & their investors in newly created "Opportunity Zones". nytimes.com/2019/08/31/bus…
2. While billed as helping poor communities, Trump's "Opportunity Zones" (OZ) has instead spawned the construction of luxury high rises in areas that are already prosperous. Guys like Kushner are gorging themselves on this lucrative tax-free buffet. nytimes.com/2019/08/31/bus…
3. Here's how it works- OZ allows the super wealthy to avoid paying 15% on their capital gains by redeploying capital gains tax free into OZ construction projects. THEN sell in 10 yrs TAX FREE, eliminating depreciation recapture on the depreciation they deducted fr their taxes.
Cohen's testimony starts in one minute...
Stay tuned for live tweets.
Stay tuned for live tweets.
Shhhhh, Rep. Cummings is about to speak...
Gaveled in.
@MarkMeadows is already trying to stop the hearing, accusing the dems and Cohen of purposefully delaying the revealed testimony.
A repud complaining about the rules in a house committee. 🙄😄
Gaveled in.
@MarkMeadows is already trying to stop the hearing, accusing the dems and Cohen of purposefully delaying the revealed testimony.
A repud complaining about the rules in a house committee. 🙄😄
Now @MarkMeadows is using cable TV as his evidence, of COURSE.
Motion to table the hearing voted down.
Oh FFS they're trying HARD.
This is ALREADY great.😄
Motion to table the hearing voted down.
Oh FFS they're trying HARD.
This is ALREADY great.😄
The concept of Retail Arbitrage is new to me, & it seems like an interesting way to get ahead... So let's break away from Politics for a few minutes & check this out..In the post #TaxScam economy this could help people! #SundayMorning
washingtonpost.com/business/econo…
washingtonpost.com/business/econo…
2-"With their two young kids in tow, Juston and Kristen Herbert drove to a Target near their home outside Scottsdale, Ariz. It was time to get to work. The Herberts were on the hunt for all of the Contigo water bottles the store had in stock, and kept the camera rolling for their
3-"6,400 YouTube subscribers. Within minutes, an employee pulled out 32 two-packs — sold on clearance for $5 each — from a back storage room. For two people who recently left their jobs in finance, the blue-and-black plastic bottles might as well have been made of gold.
Johnsonville (Sausages) LLC's N600JV 1/13/19 Porto-Damman-Dubai 1/19/19 Dubai-Jeddah (flight to Porto missing) 1/20/19 Porto-Nalpes, FL en route
Johnsonville won't let a "little" thing like #KhashoggiMurder affect on their travels
"Brat or not? WI plitics"
isthmus.com/opinion/opinio…
Johnsonville won't let a "little" thing like #KhashoggiMurder affect on their travels
"Brat or not? WI plitics"
isthmus.com/opinion/opinio…
Sawaris family's (Orascom Group) M-ASRI 1/20/19 London-Teterboro
Sawiris built North Korea's main cellphone network and invested in a bank there. Why aren't they sanctioned?
"Need a North Korean Missile? Call the Cairo Embassy"
nytimes.com/2018/03/03/wor…
Sawiris built North Korea's main cellphone network and invested in a bank there. Why aren't they sanctioned?
"Need a North Korean Missile? Call the Cairo Embassy"
nytimes.com/2018/03/03/wor…
VistaJet's (charter) 9H-VJO 1/20/19 New Delhi-Helsinki (refueling)-Newark
Dumb Jr getting visitors from India?
"Donald Trump Jr.’s tour through India is staggeringly corrupt"
vox.com/world/2018/2/2…
Dumb Jr getting visitors from India?
"Donald Trump Jr.’s tour through India is staggeringly corrupt"
vox.com/world/2018/2/2…
Illinois ratified the ERA in June, leaving just One state needed to change constitutional hurdles to ratification.
The 14th & 19th aren’t enough.
The ERA ensures equal rights regardless of gender, was passed in 1974 - 44 years ago. Why is this still even a thing?
#RatifyERA
The 14th & 19th aren’t enough.
The ERA ensures equal rights regardless of gender, was passed in 1974 - 44 years ago. Why is this still even a thing?
#RatifyERA
The ERA is also an economic issue. It’s proven that when women earn the same as their male colleagues it stimulates the economy.
Gender equality will boost the economy over $4.3 trillion in a decade.
Reminder: the GOP #TaxScam will cost $1.9 trillion in the same time.
#RatifyERA
Gender equality will boost the economy over $4.3 trillion in a decade.
Reminder: the GOP #TaxScam will cost $1.9 trillion in the same time.
#RatifyERA
73% believe the #ERA is part of the Constitution. It’s not.
It was passed in 1974 but 44 years later it still hasn’t been ratified.
Even guns have a constitutional amendment.
The only guarantee women have in the Constitution is the 19th amendment-The right to vote.
#RatifyERA
It was passed in 1974 but 44 years later it still hasn’t been ratified.
Even guns have a constitutional amendment.
The only guarantee women have in the Constitution is the 19th amendment-The right to vote.
#RatifyERA
There is a very important meeting happening within the Democratic Party right now. Here are my thoughts about it. 1/
The question on the table is what kind of a Democratic Party is going to govern the House of Representatives. Will it be progressive? Or moderate? Will it pursue #MedicareForAll? Will it repeal the #TaxScam? How bold will its agenda be? 2/
The answer to these questions depends in large part on the shape of the leadership of the Democratic caucus in the House. And there are negotiations going on right now to figure out who will be in leadership and who will key committee seats. 3/
@realDonaldTrump Responds to @MichelleObama’s Criticism, Saying He'll 'Never Forgive' @BarackObama. The American people have a few things we will never forgive the @potus, @gop, @HouseGOP and @SenateGOP for too.
people.com/politics/donal…
people.com/politics/donal…
We will never forgive @realDonaldTrump, @GOP, @SenateGOP and @HouseGOP for colluding with Russia to steal the election.
