The Official 118th Congress 2023-24 Thread

[Js1 85342]

You voted for those rules, you dumb cunt

Edited January 11, 2023 by Js1

[Pig Bellmont 8719]

On 1/9/2023 at 11:26 PM, PenelopeWitherspoon said:

It does.  But it shows that for all the GQP says they want to control spending and the debt, they don’t.

They sold their souls to Grover Norquist back in the aughts 

[Neonmoon 38129]

11 hours ago, Js1 said:

You voted for those rules, you dumb cunt

Let me get this straight. If a Democrat is bored, they can just motion to vacate the speaker and force a stupid vote just to fuck with McCarthy?

[atomheartbevo 89674]

32 minutes ago, Neonmoon said:

Let me get this straight. If a Democrat is bored, they can just motion to vacate the speaker and force a stupid vote just to fuck with McCarthy?

[Js1 85342]

1 hour ago, Neonmoon said:

Let me get this straight. If a Democrat is bored, they can just motion to vacate the speaker and force a stupid vote just to fuck with McCarthy?

Yes. But Dems probably don’t want to be the ones to grind the House to a halt and take that heat. But someone like Swalwell needs to keep baiting the HFC on Twitter so they do it 

[horn4life 3760]

Here is the basic problem.  The only power you EVER have negotiating ANYTHING is simply the ability to say NO!

No, I won't accept that salary, those hours, that severance package, or as in Congress the terms of any deal.  This power is honestly exactly why the framers of our constitution were so brilliant with checks and balances.  Little levers to in essence "say no" to legislation, the legality of legislation, the limits of executive power, etc.  

The GOP is the party of NO and they are going to exercise their power.  It is honestly about the only thing the GOP does well.  The other thing the GOP does exceptionally well is have absolutely and completely no shame.  If you are parent, and your kids are worth a shit, one of the best tools in your toolbox to guide them in life quite frankly is shame.  I for example can remember nearly 50 years ago, faking being sick so that my Dad would bring me home a G.I Joe. That lie ate at me, and I was compelled to tell my parents the truth.  While perhaps at some point in the lives of the elected members of the Republican Congress, this may have been a possibility, but you simply cannot say that today.  There is no shame at all in standing up and telling a lie that you KNOW to be a lie.  There is no shame in taking completely hypocritical stances again and again and again. There is no shame, when a newly elected congressman with a completely fraudulent resume gets elected, because you need his vote. You have no shame it proclaiming from the top of your lungs that something is about a "principle" when in reality you are devoid of any principles at all.

When you combine this lack of shame, with the ability (and dare I say glee )to say no in controlling our government, it is a very, very dangerous spot to be in.  Then you combine that with a Speaker who will say yes to literally anything to remain speaker, and the power of no becomes even more powerful.  This is going to be the biggest cluster fuck of a congress we have ever seen.  About the only thing that I can think of that would reign in the extremists of the GOP is economic collapse.  And that is unbelievably scary, as I see not a single reason to think that the GOP bomb throwers empowered my McCarty's unwillingness to simply say no and use his only negotiating power has proven he can't lead.  I pray in the end that cooler heads prevail and some sort of compromise is reached.  But I see nothing that tells me than anything but the pressure of actual default and the aftermath that could make this GOP controlled Congress act patriotically. Again, this should scare the shit out of all of us! Because it's designed to, that's the tool of terrorists.

 

Edited January 11, 2023 by horn4life

[956 Worldwide 34715]

There are many GOP members of this Congress that are actively trying to help Russia win, or that would welcome a Russian victory if it scored political points. Like J.D. Vance.

The point of this request is to get a report he will not be satisfied with. He’s disingenuous and a liar from the start- “We have zero idea where this money is going” while farther down in the article there is information about specific equipment and numbers that is going to Ukraine. He complains about no information for funding that’s going to “countries affected by Ukraine,” although all that funding is subject to a congressional note that goes to the Hill at least 15 days before State distributes.

in short: They are liars and frauds but please understand they are happy to be liars and frauds for Vladimir Putin and to watch Ukrainian citizens die. 

[Nice Guy Eddie 13512]

14 hours ago, Neonmoon said:

Cool cool cool 

 

no senate negotiations unless the Senate agrees with the House on everything.

[Gatorubet 30239]

4 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

no senate negotiations unless the Senate agrees with the House on everything.

[956 Worldwide 34715]

 

[Nice Guy Eddie 13512]

Freedom caucus looks to be all-in in gutting social security.

[Guest]

10 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

Freedom caucus looks to be all-in in gutting social security.

Dems need to hit them with it. If they are going to hound Dems for CRT, Socialism, and getting rid of gas stoves, then rub their nose in the Social Security issue.

[Nice Guy Eddie 13512]

5 minutes ago, FirstTimeCaller said:

Dems need to hit them with it. If they are going to hound Dems for CRT, Socialism, and getting rid of gas stoves, then rub their nose in the Social Security issue.

They will use the same arguments: Privatize SS to earn investment returns. Allow people to opt out. Start to phase out benefits. Lower SS taxes.

Which all of the above could be implemented but they will also all create more older people on welfare.  The real solution is one that everyone hates but is necessary: slowly raise the SS tax up from 6% to 8%.

[TexasHooch 5122]

[SubliminalHorn 6794]

IRS focused on customer service? It’s not fucking Walmart 

[Biff Tannen 45688]

10 minutes ago, TexasHooch said:

Not how this works AND, ironically, a large part of that 87,000 was for jobs like customer service.  But do carry on, representative.  

[atomheartbevo 89674]

8 hours ago, horn4life said:

This is going to be the biggest cluster fuck of a congress we have ever seen.  About the only thing that I can think of that would reign in the extremists of the GOP is economic collapse.  And that is unbelievably scary, as I see not a single reason to think that the GOP bomb throwers empowered my McCarty's unwillingness to simply say no and use his only negotiating power has proven he can't lead.  I pray in the end that cooler heads prevail and some sort of compromise is reached.  But I see nothing that tells me than anything but the pressure of actual default and the aftermath that could make this GOP controlled Congress act patriotically. Again, this should scare the shit out of all of us! Because it's designed to, that's the tool of terrorists.

The HFC is pretty clearly wanting to wreck the economy, wreck Social Security, and wreck Medicare.  When they say they want to do something, people should listen to them, especially when they aren't being particularly subtle about it.

However, there are more than enough Republicans in the House who will be turbo-fucked if the HFC were to take down Social Security, Medicare, and the economy in general, that they would side with Democrats to keep that from happening.

And thankfully the HFC wants credit for trying to fuck over SS, Medicare, etc., and are very public about it, so it won't be too hard to use against them.  

[Hmbre97 6308]

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRgHFD8h/

[Satchel 6938]

7 hours ago, TexasHooch said:

Chuckle, no you didn’t.

[956 Worldwide 34715]

 

[956 Worldwide 34715]

On 1/9/2023 at 2:29 PM, Nice Guy Eddie said:

From a detached standpoint, the conflict between Ukraine and Russia is teaching the US crucial lessons about contemporary warfare. Not to mention it provides us with logistical operations training and we’re sending over older equipment to be replaced by new.

When we send over $50B, most of that is being returned to the American defense industry.

now should we also be pushing for a ceasefire? 100%.

No, we should be helping Ukraine to win the war and to destroy Russian equipment and kill Russian soldiers until they all go back to Russia. It is good and cool to fight this war and win it.  Fire will cease when Russia is back in Russia. 

[Pods 7552]

1 hour ago, 956 Worldwide said:

No, we should be helping Ukraine to win the war and to destroy Russian equipment and kill Russian soldiers until they all go back to Russia. It is good and cool to fight this war and win it.  Fire will cease when Russia is back in Russia. 

Exactly. A ceasefire only gives Russia time to re-arm, reload and wait for Putin's agents to stop Western support for Ukraine.

Now is the time to amplify that aid and bury the Russians. 

[hornmpa96 2618]

17 hours ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

They will use the same arguments: Privatize SS to earn investment returns. Allow people to opt out. Start to phase out benefits. Lower SS taxes.

Which all of the above could be implemented but they will also all create more older people on welfare.  The real solution is one that everyone hates but is necessary: slowly raise the SS tax up from 6% to 8%.

The real solution is take away the income cap on FICA.

[PenelopeWitherspoon 19101]

1 hour ago, hornmpa96 said:

The real solution is take away the income cap on FICA.

No.  Sorry, but no.  If you do that, then we should get to deduct social security taxes paid from overall income taxes.  Also, bring back my SALT deductions.  

[Guest]

1 hour ago, hornmpa96 said:

The real solution is take away the income cap on FICA.

Take away or raise. 

[Nice Guy Eddie 13512]

Removing or drastic increases to the FICA cap will piss off people on both sides. 

EDIT: I would raise the tax rate on everyone and increase the cap. But do both relatively slowly over 10 years. Give people and businesses the time to adjust.

Edited January 12, 2023 by Nice Guy Eddie

[GenXer 2878]

16 hours ago, SubliminalHorn said:

IRS focused on customer service? It’s not fucking Walmart 

Surprisingly, I’ve had very good customer service when I’ve spoken with the IRS. 

Several years ago, someone filed a false return using my info. It took some time and a number of calls to get everything sorted out with the IRS; they were patient, organized, consistent, and provided clear instructions on next steps. Compare that to some private industry sectors like the airlines (looking at you, Southwest).

During those discussions, the IRS said they spent like 80% of their time on resolving false filings. Not that I’m endorsing the move to tax on consumption, but at first glance that would solve the false filings to get refunds. The consumption tax would open up a whole other set of problems.

[Nice Guy Eddie 13512]

Mind boggling that the average person would care about an increase in the # of IRS workers. the average person earns a W-2 salary and most likely takes the standard deduction. Short of them amateurishly faking information, they will never come into contact with an IRS agent investigating them. 

But we all know this is only a talking point for the GOP in that we need to stop big govt. 

[elfenix 34243]

1 hour ago, PenelopeWitherspoon said:

No.  Sorry, but no.  If you do that, then we should get to deduct social security taxes paid from overall income taxes.  Also, bring back my SALT deductions.  

 

if you want to say that social security should just be funded out of general revenue then i'd listen to that argument, but i don't think that's where you're going. 

Edited January 12, 2023 by elfenix

[High Plains Drifter 11049]

On 1/8/2023 at 4:39 PM, Earl Haffler said:

 The US does not have a responsibility to address crime, genocide, etc around the world. 

 

wrong

 

[Js1 85342]

9 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

Mind boggling that the average person would care about an increase in the # of IRS workers. the average person earns a W-2 salary and most likely takes the standard deduction. Short of them amateurishly faking information, they will never come into contact with an IRS agent investigating them. 

But we all know this is only a talking point for the GOP in that we need to stop big govt. 

And half their base is rich and thinks they’re victims. But they donate so….

[Neonmoon 38129]

McCarthy is Pure Gaslighting and reporters are too stupid to ask follow up question 

 

[WhatTheBuck 28783]

42 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

Mind boggling that the average person would care about an increase in the # of IRS workers. the average person earns a W-2 salary and most likely takes the standard deduction.

The Republicans don’t represent the interests of the average person. They represent the interests of the wealthy few who are much more likely to be concerned about the IRS looking into their taxes. 

[Nice Guy Eddie 13512]

10 minutes ago, WhatTheBuck said:

The Republicans don’t represent the interests of the average person. They represent the interests of the wealthy few who are much more likely to be concerned about the IRS looking into their taxes. 

It's the perfect issue for the GOP.

1. Their wealthy donors do not want competent and well-staffed IRS. (Note: wealthy Dem donors don't want those either)
2. The much larger GOP base is fearful of "big govt"
3. The passionate, conspiracy minded folks believe the govt is after them.

[hornmpa96 2618]

2 hours ago, PenelopeWitherspoon said:

No.  Sorry, but no.  If you do that, then we should get to deduct social security taxes paid from overall income taxes.  Also, bring back my SALT deductions.  

You want the policies but aren’t willing to pay for them. If the cap goes away, then I understand my tax burden will increase but I believe that Social Security should provide a safety net for those who are less fortunate. It’s the same argument for the state and local tax deduction.

Personally, I would also means-test for social security as it’s crazy that the government is sending checks to those who don’t need it.

[PenelopeWitherspoon 19101]

10 hours ago, elfenix said:

 

if you want to say that social security should just be funded out of general revenue then i'd listen to that argument, but i don't think that's where you're going. 

So, originally, social security was tax free.  You put in, and you get it back.  You do not get a deduction. But at some point, they decided that social security should be taxed.  So, if you have to pay tax on your social security income, then you should get a deduction for the amount paid in.  That would align treatment with retirement income.

[Satchel 6938]

10 hours ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

It's the perfect issue for the GOP.

1. Their wealthy donors do not want competent and well-staffed IRS. (Note: wealthy Dem donors don't want those either)
2. The much larger GOP base is fearful of "big govt"
3. The passionate, conspiracy minded folks believe the govt is after them.

Most audits are done on those making 25k annually because working class people, unlike the GOP’s wealthy donors, are easy marks and compliant.

[elfenix 34243]

1 hour ago, PenelopeWitherspoon said:

So, originally, social security was tax free.  You put in, and you get it back.  You do not get a deduction. But at some point, they decided that social security should be taxed.  So, if you have to pay tax on your social security income, then you should get a deduction for the amount paid in.  That would align treatment with retirement income.

oh i see.  another thing we can thank ronald for. 

[CTC2 2797]

12 hours ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

Mind boggling that the average person would care about an increase in the # of IRS workers. the average person earns a W-2 salary and most likely takes the standard deduction. Short of them amateurishly faking information, they will never come into contact with an IRS agent investigating them. 

But we all know this is only a talking point for the GOP in that we need to stop big govt. 

Just wait until they try to raise the age to be eligible to draw SS and Medicare to 70. 

[SKJ 1311]

14 hours ago, hornmpa96 said:

 

Personally, I would also means-test for social security as it’s crazy that the government is sending checks to those who don’t need it.

Ha ha ha fucking means testing.

Let's make everything harder so we can have the appearance that we're going to stop the 1% of fraud that's going to happen anyway.

Fucking means testing

[Old Freak Nasty 821]

7 hours ago, Satchel said:

Most audits are done on those making 25k annually because working class people, unlike the GOP’s wealthy donors, are easy marks and compliant.

I can believe this, but is there publicly available reporting or data to suggest this figure?  I'd be curious to read it.

[Bullneck 19095]

16 minutes ago, Old Freak Nasty said:

I can believe this, but is there publicly available reporting or data to suggest this figure?  I'd be curious to read it.

I've heard this before -- most targets are lower income people who do their taxes incorrectly or insufficiently in one way or another.  

If you're going to search and report back the best way might be to look at percentage of persons audited who have CPAs doing their taxes.

[Ghost of LL 15531]

So McCarthy says he's willing to "expunge" Trump's impeachment.  Nevermind that that's not a thing.  There's no constitutional mechanism for that, and it really doesn't make any sense.  But whatever, Kevin--go ahead and lash yourself to the mast of that particular sinking ship.

[Neonmoon 38129]

Welp, here comes the shitshow 

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/13/us-will-hit-its-debt-limit-thursday-start-taking-steps-to-avoid-default-yellen-warns-congress.html

[Brisketexan 105144]

34 minutes ago, Neonmoon said:

Welp, here comes the shitshow 

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/13/us-will-hit-its-debt-limit-thursday-start-taking-steps-to-avoid-default-yellen-warns-congress.html

Remember how every last one of the Trumpkins shouted "but muh 401k!" as a core reason for their support of Trumpism?

Now, that exact same movement will happily destroy the entire global financial system, destroying everyone's 401k, all to own tha libz, and these EXACT same guys will cheer that on as well.

We are not a stupid country.  But we are ravaged by a cancer of stupidity that is going to kill the entire body.  If your body is 30% cancer -- and ours is -- you die.

[Neonmoon 38129]

Yellen says we should have enough money until June, so clowns have to increase or suspend debt ceiling by then. I’m glad I just bought 3 month Tbills 

[Brisketexan 105144]

3 minutes ago, Neonmoon said:

Yellen says we should have enough money until June, so clowns have to increase or suspend debt ceiling by then. I’m glad I just bought 3 month Tbills 

I foolishly invested in 3 month T-tops, but that should be long enough for me to crank up some Sammy Hagar and get some babes....

[Old Freak Nasty 821]

I've always thought one of the strangest long standing misconception about the two parties was that the GOP was always polled as the stronger party on the economy.  It's stood through fallacy after fallacy being shattered to pieces.

Will this crisis finally prove to independent and centrist leaning voters that this consensus is horseshit?

[SimonBolivar 10958]

24 minutes ago, Old Freak Nasty said:

I've always thought one of the strangest long standing misconception about the two parties was that the GOP was always polled as the stronger party on the economy.  It's stood through fallacy after fallacy being shattered to pieces.

Will this crisis finally prove to independent and centrist leaning voters that this consensus is horseshit?

Lol no of course not.

[Nice Guy Eddie 13512]

8 hours ago, Bullneck said:

I've heard this before -- most targets are lower income people who do their taxes incorrectly or insufficiently in one way or another.  

If you're going to search and report back the best way might be to look at percentage of persons audited who have CPAs doing their taxes.

here an 2019 IRS breakdown by a category they label total positive income: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-utl/statement-for-updated-audit-rates-ty-19.pdf

• the 5-10m and 10+m categories had audit rates of 1% and 2%.
• next highest categories look to be $0 total income people. I would assume these are individuals where the IRS has info that income exists but it wasn't reported. 
• They highlight that the # of audits have dropped drastically since 2010.