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jovialtorchlight · 4 months

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Ballad of Johnny Kidd

My name is Johnny Kidd. I’m a bad, bad man. I’m cold, on the verge of death, stumbling through a fierce winter storm somewhere just North of Bangor, Maine, a bullet lodged in my thigh. I was following an old logging road out of the deep woods. I got lost, trailing spurts of blood like a breadcrumb trail. I see it; a tiny flicker of light through the lashing white snow. The cabin. I pound on the door.

“Mister! Please, it’s so cold out here! Please, let me in! I’ll…I’ll freeze to death!”

An old man unlatches the door; I practically fall into the cabin, legs giving out, trembling. He’s walking towards the fire, doesn’t offer to help me up. Doesn’t even look at me. I think shit, I’m bleeding all over his floor, but the bleeding has stopped.

“Strip to your birthday suit, right there in the mudroom. Hang it up. It’ll dry. Don’t be bashful, kid. I won’t peek. Got a pair of long johns hanging on the coat rack. Once you put them on, grab the folded blanket, wrap yourself in it tight,” he says.

I follow his directions.

“You’re a real kind person, mister. Thank you,” I said, ambling towards a chair by the fire.

“Kindness has nothing to do with it. Just don’t want to see anyone else freeze to death on this mountain path. Hard times claim enough good folk around these parts. Don’t need to lose anyone else,” he said, staring into the crackling flames.

Goodness has nothing to do with it, I think. I’m naked under the blanket, ‘cept for a sawnoff shotgun strapped to my back.

“I really owe you my life, sir. I can already feel my bones warming. Blood thawing out.”

“Any frostbite?” the old man asks. I looked down. I was already toasty. Fingers and toes looked fine.

“I don’t think so, sir.”

“Good, good. Sit. Warm yourself by the fire. Don’t have a bed in this shack, but you can sleep in the chair. Hopefully the storm will be finished by morning.”

I linger, not sitting. I’m scoping out the cabin, ready to pull the loaded gun from my back and spatter this oltimer’s brains on the wall. He doesn’t have much. It’s a bare wood cabin with cedar planks and a woodstove with rusted pots and castiron pants.

“I do appreciate it, sir. Truly. It’s a whitewash out there. Any longer, the snow would have swallowed me completely. My company wouldn’t have found me until the spring thaw.”

The old man doesn’t break eyecontact with the fire. He chuckles.

“Company. You mean your gang of bank robbers?”

My hand moves to the gun. I’m about ready to end this foolishness.

“Sir, what do you mean? I work cutting trees.”

The old man’s voice drips with contempt.

“No you don’t. You’re a much better shot than you are a liar. You’re Johnny Kidd.”

I drop the blanket, naked. I draw the gun from my back. The Old Man doesn’t flinch.

“Damn. Nothin’ gets past you, old man. Move and this room gets a new coat of paint. Say, you haven’t even looked at me yet. Am I that famous? You can tell who I am just from my voice?”

“I know you, Kidd.” the old man says.

“I guess so. Have we met?”

“I’ve seen the newspaper clippings. A sheriff came by the cabin a few days ago, said your gang might be around. Wanted by the federal government, and every bumbling, whiskey drunk county sheriff this side of the Mason-Dixon line. Look. I know you got a shotgun pointed at my cranium, to your back, and I know you’ve been thinking about shooting me in the head since you first came into this cabin. But I ain’t no lawman, and I ain’t trying to collect the bounty on you…even if I could finally retire down to Rio with your blood money,” the old man says, a soliquiy into the fire.

My hand lingers over the trigger. But instead, I speak.

“Huh. Well, you marked me pretty good, oldtimer. Most people start cowering, throwing their watches and jewlery at me when they figure out who I am.”

For the first time, the old man turns to face me. He’s normal, saggy skin and a long gray beard.

“Kidd, when you first came in here, you said I was a kind person. I ain’t kind. I could plead, sure. I could beg, say I just saved your life. But that don’t matter. You’re not the type of person that responds well to kindness, are you?”

Ha. Kindness, I think. Fuck kindness.

“No, I reckon not. I ain’t apt to “kind” my way out of a shootout. Kindness ain’t ever done nothing for me. Pops was kind before he was fileted in his sleep by a drunkard he let stay in the hayloft.”

“That’s why I’m here. You ain’t gonna respond to charity, kindness, or the yolk of human compassion, are you, kid?”

His tone drops into a command.

“Look into the fire.”

I try to pull the trigger, but my finger locks. I start to move towards the fire, like I’m being pulled like a boxcar on a railine. I try to fight the movement, but I can’t. I bend down and gaze into the dancing flame.

“What do you see?,” the old man asks.

“Jesus, what kind of witchcraft is--”

“Answer me. What do you see?”

I saw her. The boys and I had the bank on Main Street locked down, about to grab the bags of cash, jump in and speed away to hit the next town. She came out of the washroom, unaware we had the place held down. I shot her through the neck. She choked on her blood. I meant to shoot the wall to scare the clerk into opening the vault…the bullet ricoheted..I didn’t mean to shoot her.

“I see her. Jesus, shot her through the neck. I swear to God, I didn’t mean to--”

“Course not. Is that what you tell yourself when you’re alone at night? Is her throat, ripped open, the image burned in your eyelids?”

I collapse on the floor, holding my face in my hands. The old man stands up from his rocker for the first time.

“I’m almost sorry for you, kid. There ain’t any other way to set you straight but raw power, right? A kind sheep is still a sheep, and you’re a wolf, right, kid? You’re a predator, ain’t you? You sink your fangs and take whatever you want from those poor fieldmice cowering in fear, right?”

“Shut up,” I sputter. I gather myself, uncrumple from the floor, stagger to my feet.

“You’re talking real funny, sir, and I implore you to stop--”

The old man laughs, spittle flying.

“You ain’t gonna implore me to do nothing, kid. Like I said, I ain’t kind. But I’m just.”

He sits down.

I draw the gun, aim it at his temple.

“Ha. Just. You mean, you’re an agent of justice? What are you gunna do, old man? Tie me up and take me down to the jail? Kill me? I got a gun pointed at you, but I got a sawblade in my satchel... I’m gunna have some real fun with you.”

Old man sinks back into his rocker.

“I ain’t going to cower, kid. I’m gunna show you something. Sit. Down.”

Despite everything in my body, I sit.

“Watch the fire.”

Depsite every voice echoing in my mind, I gaze again into the fire.

“A dozen lawmen are tracking you. Been following you since you killed her. In fact, they’re closing in on your camp now. Budd’s just got pumped with lead. Big Frank’s brain is oozing out. They’re following the tracks. They’re gunna find you, kid. Rather, they’re gunna find your frozen body next to your dead horse.”

I feel the pain of freezing to death; like someone stuck my body into a pit of ice blue flame.

“Oh my god.” All I can manage. A whimper.

“God ain’t got nothing to do with it,” the old man says. “Savor it. Not a lot of men get to see how they die, Johnny. But it doesn’t have to happen like that. You got a way out, kid.”

I don’t belive him. Ain’t no way out, I’m an cornered cat and he’s a rabid dog.

“Instead of killing me, get up, take my seat by the fire. You’ll be waiting for a while. For as long as I have. Till some other poor fool gets lost in the storm. You help them, you help them thaw out, you send them away. Keep waiting by the fire. Or, you kill me. Outside these walls, it’s just ice. Ice, snow, and death,” he says.

“I’m dead either way, ain’t I? I’m dead right now, ain’t I?” The question flashes like an explosion. “Am I dead? Am I dead?”

The old man shakes his head.

“I can’t answer that for you. You got to make a choice, now. Before the fire dies. We’ve been in here for a good bit of time already.”

I look at him squarely. He’s not reacting. Just a dirty, saggy, weathered old face. My fists clench. I want to kill him. But I let the wave of hate roll over me, and I’m left with whatever is left in the wreckage. The old man gestures for me to pass. I sit in his rocker. I look at the flames, for a few moments, an hour, a day, a year. I don’t know. I don’t care to know. The old man is gone.

It’s cold. Someone is pounding on the door.

“It’s freezing out here,” someone calls from outside. “You gotta help me, Mister!”

I don’t look up.

“Come in. Door’s unlocked. Mind you don’t track in too much snow.”

#western #jonny bolduc #jovialtorchlight #poetry

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cogitoergofun · 8 months

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It was a multibillion-dollar strike, so stealthy and precise that the only visible sign was a notice that suddenly vanished from a government website.

In August 2017, a federal agency with sweeping powers over the health care industry posted a notice informing insurance companies that they weren’t allowed to charge physicians a fee when the companies paid the doctors for their work. Six months later, that statement disappeared without explanation.

The vanishing notice was the result of a behind-the-scenes campaign by the insurance industry and its middlemen that has largely escaped public notice — but that has had massive financial consequences that have rippled through the health care universe. The insurers’ invisible victory has tightened the financial vise on doctors and hospitals, nurtured a thriving industry of middlemen and allowed health insurers to do something no other industry does: Take one last cut even as it pays its bills.

Insurers now routinely require doctors to kick back as much as 5% if they want to be paid electronically. Even when physicians ask to be paid by check, doctors say, insurers often resume the electronic payments — and the fees — against their wishes. Despite protests from doctors and hospitals, the insurers and their middlemen refuse to back down.

There are plenty of reasons doctors are furious with the insurance industry. Insurers have slashed their reimbursement rates, cost them patients by excluding them from their provider networks, and forced them to spend extra time seeking pre-authorizations for ever more procedures and battling denials of coverage.

Paying fees to get paid is the final blow for some. “All these additional fees are the reason why you see small practices folding up on a regular basis, or at least contributing to it,” said Dr. Terence Gray, an anesthesiologist in Scarborough, Maine. Some medical clinics told ProPublica they are seeking ways to raise their rates in response to the fees, which would pass the costs on to patients.

“It’s ridiculous,” said Karen Jackson, who until her retirement in March was a veteran senior official at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the federal agency that posted, then unposted, the fee notice. Doctors, she said, shouldn’t have to pay fees to get paid.

But that’s precisely what’s happening. Almost 60% of medical practices said they were compelled to pay fees for electronic payment at least some of the time, according to a 2021 survey. And the frequency has increased since then, according to medical clinics. With more than $2 trillion in medical claims being paid electronically each year, these fees likely add up to billions of dollars annually.

Huge sums that could be spent on care are instead being siphoned off to insurers and middlemen. The fees can cost larger medical practices $1 million a year, according to an April poll by the Medical Group Management Association, which represents private medical practices. The figure sometimes runs even higher, according to a 2020 complaint to CMS from a senior executive of AdventHealth, which has 53 hospitals in nine states: “I have to pay $1.8M in expenses that I could use on PPE for our employees, or setting up testing sites, or providing charity care, or covering other community benefits.” Most clinics are smaller, and they estimated annual losses of $100,000 or less. Even that figure is more than enough to cover the salary of a registered nurse.

The shift from paper to electronic processing, which began in the early 2000s and accelerated after the Affordable Care Act went into effect, was intended to increase efficiency and save money. The story of how a cost-saving initiative ended up benefiting private insurers reveals a lot about what ails the U.S. medical system and why Americans pay more for health care than people in other developed countries. In this case, it took less than a decade for a new industry of middlemen, owned by private equity funds and giant conglomerates like UnitedHealth Group, to cash in.

How these players managed to create this lucrative niche has never previously been reported. And the story is coming to light in part because one doctor, initially incensed by the fees, and then baffled by CMS’ unexplained zigzags, decided to try to figure out what was going on. Dr. Alex Shteynshlyuger, a urologist who runs his own clinic in New York City, made it his mission to take on both the insurers and the federal bureaucracy. He began filing voluminous public records requests with CMS.

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dosesofcommonsense · 5 months

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(From Brian Cates on Telegram)

Election interference to ensure Biden ‘won’ and Trump ‘lost’ is only the tip of the Censorship State iceberg.

The US government censored its own citizens in direct violation of their 1st Amendment rights to drive politicized narratives that turned out to be LIES.

Our ‘public servants’ put their boots on the necks of millions of Americans and pressed down…HARD…because they were TELLING THE TRUTH.

About stollen and rigged elections.

About laptops.

About virus origins and nefarious and illegal bio weapons activity by our own government officials in the Alphabet agencies in Ukraine and elsewhere around the world.

About vaccines,masks and lockdowns.

About the war in Ukraine.

About Biden being competent.

Seriously, I could make a very long list of ‘The Official Big Brother Narratives of the Past 4 Years’ where federal bureaucrats working illegally behind the scenes were censoring millions of Americans for saying the ‘wrong’ things.

In case you hadn’t noticed, Big Brother runs on lies, and bothersome citizens who just can’t seem to take a hint and SHUT UP and stop challenging their government’s official narratives when they are ordered to need to be ‘managed’.

And so a shit-ton of very helpful NGO’S like Stanford Observatory were created to surreptitiously help the US government successfully ‘manage’ citizen’s speech on social media platforms and elsewhere.

A lot of people in this nation under direct and ongoing threat by an out-of-control vindictive and corrupt federal bureaucracy still don’t grasp just how bad this is.

And the great thanks they owe to those who exposed this evil Censorship State and are currently fighting the Hydra to restore to all Americans the constitutional right to free speech they had illegally taken away from them.

https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1721743484116169032?s=20

ADDENDUM:

Of course, the people who are enthusiastically in favor of all the illegal censorship activity by the State and its ‘private sector’ allies currently getting exposed are very unhappy these days.

See, they thought their ‘side’ was ‘winning’ the Great National Conversation when that conversation was rigged in their favor. They knew it wasn’t a real conversation at all.

They were HAPPY that social media discourse was being rigged and tightly controlled by political hall monitors.

They thought this meant they would win the ‘game’.

But this isn’t a really a GAME.

This is life and death.

A people that are not allowed to speak freely to their government or each other many be many things, but they are not a free people.

I meant what I said at the end of the previous post. As a people, as Americans, we have had our free speech stolen from us. We have been the targets of a massive crime committed by our own government , and the issue is still in doubt as to whether two things will happen:

1. We get our free speech, especially on social media, returned to us so we can once again exercise our God-given rights without State interference and…

2. The people in our government who violated our speech rights in dead of night using corrupt and illegal means to hide their having done this are all dragged out into the light of day and held fully accountable in such a legal manner that no one shall ever in the future attempt a repeat of such a crime.

Keep your eyes on Missouri v Biden in the courts. We won’t know if the government bastards will have to hand back our speech rights until that case is decided.

The Biden administration is currently fighting to keep The Censorship State going.

After all, over the past decade or so, the Commie Marxist scum embedded in out federal government & agencies spent an awful lot of time, money and passion in constructing their precious Censorship State apparatus.

Salivating and having wet dreams at night over the sheer amount of total speech control they were gonna have in their hands once they were done tinkering with it.

And now?

Now they risk losing it all. They can’t have that. They’re desperate to get back to the kind of rigid speech control they had just a year ago.

Well I’ve bad news for The Censorship State and all the goombahs out there who just LOVED the censorship regime because they thought this meant they were moving the ball down the field and we’re about to score.

“PERSONAL FOUL, FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TEAM, BOOT ON THE NECK OF CITIZEN TEAM, AUTOMATIC EJECTION FOR THE ENTIRE GOVERNMENT TEAM, BALL SPOTTED FOR TEAM CITIZEN AT THE 1 YARD LINE, 1ST AND GOAL!”

You weren’t winning. You cheated and created an illusion based on illegal deception and brute force.

And now you’ve been caught. The flag has been thrown.

There will be no going back. You LOST.

#common sense #truth #msm is the enemy #globalist playbook #donald trump #censorship #feds #stolen election #2020 election fraud #2024 elections

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souryogurt64 · 1 year

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ur panic essay sent me into a spiral last night i can’t believe that’s how brent ended up

yeah the police report loudwire obtained said they were seeking warrants for his phone and computer and its since been taken over by the federal government instead of the state of nevada so they are probably waiting to charge him with dealing heroin until thats over because the amount of heroin that was supposedly in his car is worth something like 9k. im not like a heroin expert but it seems like a lot of heroin and there were scales in the car too.

i didnt want to say this in the brent essay because so much of what i was claiming was already kind of speculative but when i was writing the peteryan essay i ran into ryan ranting about how he had gotten a speeding ticket in brents "rich neighborhood" and the stuff about them using their house to practice and borrowing money from him for their van led me to believe they only kept him in the band for those reasons and then as soon as fever went gold and they had the upcoming tour they didnt need him for that anymore.

this was compounded by the fact that it seemed like brendon was implying he was owed brents share of the royalties and they got into it legally and then blake said brent won, though i dont think thats entirely true. similarly brendon also went on to sue shane over a financial dispute and that suit was dismissed by a judge which is character evidence imo

i dont doubt that brent was not able to keep up with them professionally and he was not doing a good job of being in a band and obviously panic were not responsible for whatever choices he made but spencer and ryan also ended up seriously addicted to drugs as well

and i feel like the way they handled it was shitty and immature. a couple people got upset about the essay but i stand by what i said the mtv writer i talked about actually went all the way to brents house in las vegas which seemed a bit excessive to me so its clear he saw a story there and he kept harping on the same themes in every single article he wrote about panic

later the same mtv writer was accused of helping tank the young veins career because he had it out for ryan. i dont know how accurate that is because i was like ten in 2009 and busy playing with littlest pet shops instead of reading mtv but the articles were incredibly brutal.

ryan and brendon (mostly ryan) developed kind of an attitude about pete during pretty odd and there was the whole wentzlee-ross sleepover incident that immediately preceded the split and then during the split, which was literally a month after the sleepover (where pete was tweeting it up about how ryan was his bestie), that writer made some pretty brash accusations that pete no longer considered ryan a friend despite saying pete refused to comment which a publication like mtv absolutely would not have gotten away with unless he and pete were deliberately playing a mind game which seems in character if you read the book they cowrote lol, as does some of the plausibly deniable sarcasm in the articles

i genuinely believe this mtv writer and pete were in cahoots (lol) on some level during this period because even though petes book came out in early 2013 he pushed the release back several times and began writing it as early as 2004 and other people like william beckett and some girl were also involved in writing it because it took forever so i would suggest they were likely working together a lot during the young veins thing and possibly the panic split at the very least

ANYWAYYYYYYYYYY pete wentz conspiracies aside this wasnt just like something i came up with because i have a hateboner for brendon because he took the band in a pop direction, this was something i wrote because while researching the peteryan essay i kept running into the brent thing being discussed with a much higher level of emotion and anger than i had anticipated and people calling panic shitty in ways that mirror how theyre discussed today and i AM NOT crazy because petes friend was saying the same shit

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lunarsilkscreen · 4 months

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Demand on currency decreases its value

So I've made this observation before: When people need money, demand increases on currency, unlike any other good, it's actual value goes down. I'd like to take a minute to analyze *why* this might be.

The "demand" comes from the necessity of business entities and individuals needing to pay off their debts and other bills. Which removes currency flow from a system, which is where the inflation comes from.

People are trying to get out from under their debt, which means that they start charging more and more for their services. And I don't just mean a college student with no job history who can't afford the loans.

Businesses *also* behave this way.

This is part of the budgeting process. As with all budgets you need to start with your debts.

These originate with the absolute basics; Food, Water, Dwelling.

And they go up in tiers of importance; Hygiene, Transportation, Other costs of business (or just living, like electricity, and other utilities)

And finally; Debts Owed.

As more money goes towards bills, like debts, companies have to increase their own prices as much as their customers are willing to pay. Because their customers are going to start forgoing niceties.

People will survive on 30¢ ramen packets if they have to. Or a bag of tortillas and BBQ sauce if you catch a good sale.

And because of that; more companies start failing to reach their goals. They can't sell their service or product, because people can't afford them.

And this will even affect people who aren't hurting for money. The societal pressures of an economic downturn will encourage people to stop buying niceties, because their neighbors can't afford them.

Either because they'll lose social capital, or because they're worried that other people, trying to make ends meet, will start trying to do what you gotta do to make that bread.

Which is why there's A LOT of media saying "Everything is fine, economy is fine." Because once people stop buying things, that's when the economy *really* starts to take a turn for the worse.

This is the *real* source of inflation when looking directly at budgeting, and ignore the other factors that could cause inflation in other facets. (Which, some may or may not be affecting us now.)

And why there is an *real* discussion to be had about both not forgiving debts, AND debt forgiveness. (Because both will effect the economy to the negative, the question is; which one would hurt more?)

The reason things inflate in price, arguably, has nothing to do with supply and demand. Our economy barely works on that idea anymore because of the efficiency we have created at collecting resources. Which is good, because it means that it's likely nobody will starve.

What it means is that our worries about inflation have to do with where the currency actually flows. If debts cannot be paid, we have an economic downturn. If they can be paid, we have economic prosperity.

But it also means that; we can actually gauge exactly how the economy will react based on the cumulative outstanding debts of a country (not the federal debt ceiling mind you, that's just a gauge of circulating currency).

In no uncertain terms either; because currency can only come from two sources; the government (who creates currency), or a loan from a bank (which is individualized debt)

See... The idea is, that everybody works for each other, and they pay off each other's debts.

The real question that should be asked; that nobody seems willing to ask; if almost all currency comes from debt in the first place--how can there be any profit at all? Without, of course, creating debt somewhere else in the system?

An individual will say "Well that's not my concern if somebody goes into debt buying my product" The assumption being that a person *should* be able to buy things without needing to acrue debt is a sound decision for all individuals.

But in the system as a whole; if there is profit in the system, then that profit has to come from somewhere, because money in the U.S. (not counting counterfeiting) can only be created by the Federal reserve under the guidance of the federal government.

And a debt cannot be paid without having a profit source.

Meanwhile, debt exists, as does interest on that debt. Which means that, in its current state; the entire economic system is geared towards the impossibility of profit. And the paying of debts, that if it were on a smaller scale, wouldn't be possible to pay.

Even with inflation.

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life-and-taxes · 1 year

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You know what really sucks? If you know that something is important and has real consequences if you don't do it or if you do it wrong, but you have no idea how to actually do the thing. It's scary and can make doing the thing very intimidating.

You know what's a really common thing everyone has to do but very few people are taught about?

Income taxes.

This infuriates me. So I sat down to write a brief and basic breakdown of how US federal income taxes work. It ended up being less brief than I originally envisioned, but the headers are in all caps so you can skip ahead to the questions you are interested in. But first here's my disclaimer. Do your own research, talk to a tax professional if you have questions, I'm not speaking on behalf of any tax return preparation company, don't sue me if you screw up your taxes, etc, etc. If you want to dig deeper into anything here, go to irs.gov and search for whatever you're looking for. The IRS website is actually pretty useful.

Alright. Let's go. Here's like, the basic, most over-simplified explanation of federal income taxes.

WHAT IS TAXES?

When a bunch of people get together and decide that they want to operate under the same set of rules, they form a government. That government takes money to run. They use it to hire people and fund programs that do things for their country and sometimes other countries. Sometimes the things the government spends money on are good things. Sometimes they are bad things. Sometimes they are good ideas executed poorly.

We're not going to get into that right now.

The point is, the government gets its money from the people it governs. I mean. Not all of it, probably. But the parts that are important for this conversation it does.

You, if you are a US citizen or someone living in the US, are required to pay a percentage of your income to the federal government. The amount is not a flat percentage. People who make more money get taxed on higher percentages of that money*. Somebody has to add up all the money you made during the year to figure out how much you should have paid in taxes. You do this sometime between January and mid-April (barring national disasters or ill-timed holidays that push back the due date) by filing a tax return. The normal due date is April 15.

*Look. Explaining exactly how tax brackets work requires pictures and/or hand gestures. You don't need to worry about it now.

HOW DOES A TAX RETURN WORK?

If you (and your spouse if you have one) work "normal" jobs, you'll get a form called a W-2 from any employers you worked for during the year. They contain info about how much money you made and how much of it was already sent to the government on your behalf. The most important boxes are box 1 (wages, tips, and other compensation) and box 2 (federal withholding). This shows 1. what you made before taxes were taken out and 2. how much of it was sent to the government for your federal tax payments. Filling out your tax return (Form 1040) will add up all your income, calculate how much you should have paid in taxes (AKA your tax liability), and compare that to what you DID pay. If you overpaid, you get a refund. If you underpaid, you have to make up the difference. If you underpaid by a LOT, there may be an underpayment penalty. (Note: the failure to file penalty, for not filing a tax return, is always more than the failure to pay penalty! If you owe the IRS it's better to go ahead and file on time. If you can't pay what you owe at once there are payment plan options. If you can't file on time you can file an extension which pushes your due date for filling back to October 15, usually. You can send a payment with your extension if required.)

If you're not using a professional, I highly reccommend using some kind of tax software to fill out your tax return. You'll get tax forms from your sources of income, and a few other select places. If it came in the mail or email and says "IMPORTANT TAX DOCUMENT ENCLOSED" you should save it and have it with you when you start preparing your tax return. Your software/tax professional should ask what you have, and then you or they will plug it into the software. You should just have to plug in basic info about yourself (legal name, date of birth, social security number, address, etc) and the data from any tax forms you received, and let the software do the work!

So that's basically it. You use the 1040 to figure out how much income you made, if you're elligible for any credits, and what you should have put into withholding. If you overpaid, you get a refund. If you underpaid, you will owe the IRS. All you really need to do is collect your tax documents and do some data entry. If you don't have any tax credits and you're not self-employed or retired and you don't have any kids or investment money, you can skip to the WHERE DO I FILE section.

WAIT WHAT ARE TAX CREDITS?

Tax credits are money that the government credits to you because you meet certain criteria. They can either be nonrefundable or refundable. Nonrefundable tax credits can reduce your tax liability (tax liability is the money you should have paid in income tax throughout the year, based on your total yearly income). Basically, if you had a tax liability of $3000 and you get a nonrefundable tax credit of $1000 it brings your tax liability down to $2000. But if you had a liability of $3000 and a nonrefundable tax credit of $4000 it can only bring your liability down to $0.

Refundable tax credits can give you money back, though. If you had a tax liability of $2000 and a refundable tax credit of $3000, that's $1000 the IRS owes YOU, baby.

COMMON TAX CREDITS

Child Tax Credit

If you supported a descendant of yours who is under age 17 and lived with you more than half the year, you get a credit for that! The "normal" use of this credit is for your kids, but grandkids, step kids, and young siblings and niblings can count too if you are the one supporting them. If you split custody of your kids with their other parent to whom you are not married, only one of you gets to claim them. If the two of you can't peacefully decide who that is going to be, and you want to claim them, you need to be able to prove that you supported the kid(s) and they lived with you. Notes from the kid's school and/or doctor are often used for this.

As of the time of this writing (2023), the Child Tax Credit is $2000/kid. If you make a ton of money this credit may be phased out. The Child Tax Credit is one of those nonrefundable credits that we talked about. It can only take your tax liability down to $0. BUT if you had some of the credit "left over" after your tax liability was wiped out, you may qualify for the Additional Child Tax Credit, which is a refundable credit, but it maxes out at $1500/kid instead.

Other Dependent Credit

This is a credit you can get if you supported a dependent who doesn't fit the criteria for the Child Tax Credit. This can be a child age 17 or older, a parent who you support, your live-in girlfriend who doesn't work (if she lived with you ALL YEAR), etc. (Please note: your spouse is NOT your dependent. Even if they don't work.) Not sure if someone qualifies as your dependent? The IRS website has a tool for that. The Other Dependent Credit is currently $500/person.

"Daycare Credit" AKA Child and Dependent Care Expenses Credit

If you send your kid or disabled dependent or spouse to daycare so you can work, go to school, or look for work, you can get a percentage of that money back as a credit. The exact percentage depends on your income.

The facility where you send your kid should provide you with an end of year statement showing the expenses you paid that year. You'll also need their EIN (Employer ID Number) and basic info like their name, address, and phone number. If you paid an individual you'll need their social security number instead.

Earned Income Credit

This is a credit for people who have worked during the year but who haven't made what the government considers to be "enough" money. You were trying. But you probably need some help. The amount you can receive depends on how much money you made and how many kids you have. Any tax software should calculate this automatically. It can be a real life-save for some families.

"Solar Panel Credit" AKA Residential Energy Credit

I'm only going to talk about the solar panel part here because it's most common. Basically, if you install solar panels, you can get a credit for up to (currently; it changes year to year) 30% of what you spent/financed. BUT a VERY IMPORTANT thing that the solar salespeople often don't tell you is that this is a NONREFUNDABLE credit. If you only have a tax liability of $2000, this credit will only give you $2000 for this year even if it's a $16,000 credit! Don't count on the whole 30% to go towards your solar loan principal if you don't usually have a big tax liability! The good news is that the unused portion of your credit will "carry forward" to next year, meaning it can help reduce your next year's liability if you don't use it all up this year. And the next, etc. Keep up with your old tax returns so you can put any carryforward credit onto the next year's return!

"Higher Education Credits" AKA American Opportunity Tax Credit and Lifetime Learning Credit

The short version is that if you spent money out of your pocket or if you took out a loan to pay for higher education for you, your spouse, or your dependent (or your kid that their other parent claims), you can get a percentage of that back as a credit. The AOTC is better but you can only take it for a total of 4 years, then you get bumped down to the Lifetime Learning Credit. You'll need to get the 1098-T from the school to see what you paid, and you may be able to also include expenses for things like textbooks.

Other Credits

There's also a credit if you're adopting a kid, but I'm not going to get into it here. Just know to look it up if you ever adopt!

There is a small credit for people who contribute to a retirement plan and have income under a certain amount. This is the Saver's Credit.

I'm not listing every credit that exists, just the ones I see the most. A lot of people don't know about the college credits, which sucks, because they can really help!

HANG ON I'M SELF-EMPLOYED WHAT DO I DO?

Congrats on being your own boss! If you are self-employed/freelance/contract labor, you get a 1099 at the end of the year instead of a W-2. Usually a 1099-NEC (NEC for non-employee compensation). This means that instead of your employer sending money to the government to pay your taxes for you, you have to do it yourself! The parts that go to Social Security and Medicare taxes are called "Self-Employment Taxes" and they get calculated at the end of the year in addition to your Income Taxes.

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN FOR ME?

When you are filing your tax return, you'll have to fill out a Schedule C for each business. Do you drive for Doordash and you also clean your aunt's house every week? Congrats. You have two businesses. One as a delivery driver and one as a housekeeper. But if you drive for Doordash and Uber Eats, you just have one job as a delivery driver.

During the year, you need to do 2 basic things:

1. Save back money to pay your taxes, and send it to the IRS quarterly. These are called Quarterly Estimated Tax Payments and you can do it by mail or online. The IRS has a tool to help you calculate how much you should be sending.

2. Keep track of your expenses and milage! If you spend money on things that you use exclusively for business, you can count those as expenses. (I'll get to expenses in a minute.) If you use something mostly for work, like a cell phone, you can count a fraction of that expense. If you drive your personal vehicle for work (not TO work; commuting doesn't count for this), keep track of the miles you drive! You get to count that as expenses, a certain number of cents/mile. It adds up. If any of this applies to you, please do more research, maybe download an app to keep track of things. This is just to let you know what you need to know so you can look up in depth what applies to you.

HOLD ON GO BACK. WHAT ARE EXPENSES?

Okay. Basically, to calculate what money is taxable if you're self-employed, you add up your income (what you got paid), and then total all your expenses (the money you spent to run your business). Income - Expenses = Profit or Loss. You only get taxed on the profit (called a "gain" on the form). A loss can offset some of your "regular" income, but please do more research if that applies to you.

If you got paid $10,000 for the year in your home bakery business but spent $8000 on things like flour, cake boxes, and renting a catering van, you only made a profit of $2000 and that's all that counts for your income and self-employment taxes. That's why it's important to keep track of your expenses and mileage! Less profit = less taxes. But you know. Don't make crap up. Assuming that you will be audited eventually will help keep you out of trouble!

OKAY, THIS IS ALL NICE, BUT I GET RETIREMENT MONEY

That's cool! If you get social security, you'll get an SSA-1099. If you get money from IRAs or other pensions, you'll get a 1099-R. Just plug 'em into your tax software and it will calculate everything automatically. If you tend to owe money at the end of the year and you don't want to, you can have more withholding taken out of either your social security or your pension by talking to whoever oversees your account.

WHAT IF I HAVE INVESTMENT MONEY?

Look. If you have investment income and you came here for tax advice, you are in the wrong place, buddy. I'm happy for you but we do not have time for that right now. If you get like $20 in interest from your checking account or whatever, fine. Just plug that 1099-INT into your software and you're good to go. If you have, like, dividends, or you trade stock or whatever? You're the kind of person who leaves your documents with your tax pro and they get back to you next week.

WAIT YOU HAVEN'T EVEN TALKED ABOUT SHORT FORM VS LONG FORM

That's because it's not a thing anymore, sweetie. There are only two forms for personal tax returns: the 1040 and the 1040-SR. The only difference is that the 1040-SR, for seniors, has a bigger font. Really. That's it.

What you are thinking of is itemizing vs taking the standard deduction.

Basically, you add up your total income for the year and then subtract either the standard deduction or your itemized deductions. Gross income minus standard or itemized deductions = taxable income. So the more you can deduct here, the less tax liability you have. For this year (tax year 2022 since I'm writing this in 2023), the standard deduction for single is $12,950, $25,900 for married filing jointly, and $19,400 for Head of Household (an unmarried adult who has at least one dependent). If you itemize deductions instead of taking the standard deduction, you can add up various deductions and subtract that from your gross income instead. Common things you can itemize include

* unreimbursed medical expenses that exceed 7.5% percent of your total income

* charitable giving

* interest on your mortgage

* state or local income or sales tax

Itemizing is only useful if the total of all the deductions you can take is higher than the standard deduction. For most people, it isn't, so I'm not going to go any deeper into this and waste everyone's time.

WHERE DO I FILE?

If all of this has made you tired, and you still just want to pay someone else to do it for you, and you can afford that, great! Professionals exist to do hard stuff for you in exchange for money. Ask about the price up front. It may vary depending on how complicated your return is. Some places will let you take your fees out of your refund, if you get one, usually for an additional fee.

I'D REALLY RATHER NOT PAY MONEY TO DO THIS ACTUALLY

Good news! If your total income was $73,000 or less (as of this writing), there are places you can do your taxes online for free! Just go to IRS.gov, click "File Your Taxes for Free," and use their tools to find a program that will work for you. You may have to pay a small fee to file a state return, if you lived or worked in a state that collects state income taxes.

GEE, THANKS FOR THE EXPLANATION. IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU WANTED TO TELL US?

Why, yes, there is! Thanks for asking!

A TAX RETURN IS NOT A TAX REFUND.

Please stop saying "return" when you mean "refund." Yes, I know, that they are kind of synonyms in regular English but a tax return is the form you file when you file your taxes. If you get money back, that is a refund. Thank you.

JUST BECAUSE YOU WORKED HARD DOESN'T MEAN YOU GET A BIG REFUND

That's like... not how it works at all. Did I include this just because one man stormed out of my office because he was mad that he was getting only a couple hundred dollars back instead of the several thousand dollars that his underemployed girlfriend with two kids got? Maybe. Credits are for people who the government decided need help (like people with kids or low incomes) OR for things the government is bribing you to do (like install solar panels). If none of these things apply to you and you still want a big refund, you could have your employer hold more withholding out of your paychecks, but that means you'll get smaller paychecks and that the government is just using your money interest free until they give it back to you when you file your tax return. Some people like to do that, though. They treat the IRS like a savings account they're not allowed to tap into except once a year.

LET'S TALK ABOUT FILING STATUSES FOR A SECOND

There are five filing statuses:

Married Filing Jointly. This is for two people who are legally married. If you live in a state that allows for common law marriage, you can be common law married and file jointly. But if you ever decide you don't want to be married anymore you are supposed to get a divorce if you want to go back to filing single. MFJ has the highest standard deduction. One spouse will be listed as "taxpayer" and the other as "spouse." It doesn't matter which is which. Sex doesn't matter. Income doesn't matter. The IRS just wants you to do it the same every year for record-keeping purposes.

Married Filing Separately. This is for two people who are married but don't want to file jointly. It is usually the worst way to file because several credits are not available to MFS people, but sometimes your spouse won't cooperate with you or maybe they have weird financial crap going on and you don't want it tied up with your financial crap. Approach with caution. It's half the standard deduction, but if your spouse itemized, you must itemize too.

Single. This is for people who aren't married and don't have any dependents. It's half of what the MFJ standard deduction is.

Head of Household. Forget whatever you think you know about how normal people use this phrase normally. Head of Household, for tax purposes, is for an unmarried adult with one or more dependents (if you're married and your spouse has abandoned you and you have kids you can use this status though! As long as the spouse didn't live with you for the last half of the year). It's one and a half times the single standard deduction.

Qualifying Widow(er). This is an uncommon filing status. If someone was married with kids and their spouse died, they get to file as MFJ with that spouse the year that their spouse died, as long as they don't remarry that same year. For the next two years, the surviving spouse can file QW. The Qualifying Widow(er) deduction is the same as MFJ. After that, providing they still have dependents, they get bumped back down to Head of Household.

WOW, THANKS. TAXES DON'T SEEM SO SCARY ANYMORE.

I'm glad to hear it! Go forth with more knowledge.

#Taxes #Income taxes #US only #Life advise #The due date this year is April 18

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freepress3news · 11 months

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PODCAST By Journalist Iacopo Mutascio 5 MIN READ

President Biden has a distinct speaking style that often conveys empathy and a sense of connection with his audience. He tends to focus on the experiences of everyday Americans and emphasizes the importance of unity and collaboration in addressing the challenges we face as a nation.

In the realm of technology and innovation, President Biden has expressed support for investing in research and development, which I believe is crucial for maintaining the United States' competitive edge in the global economy. Additionally, his administration has shown commitment to addressing climate change, a pressing issue that I am deeply concerned about.

As someone who values continuous learning and growth, I appreciate the importance of effective communication in leadership. While I may not agree with every policy decision, I believe that engaging in constructive dialogue and seeking common ground is essential for progress.

The national debt refers to the total amount of money that the federal government owes to its creditors, which include both domestic and foreign entities. This debt is primarily a result of the government borrowing money to finance its operations, including various programs and initiatives.

The U.S. national debt has been a topic of concern for many years, as it has grown significantly over time. As of May 2023, the national debt is over $30 trillion. There are several factors that contribute to the growth of the debt, including budget deficits, economic recessions, and increased spending on social programs, defense, and other areas.

It's important to note that having some level of national debt is not inherently bad, as it can help stimulate economic growth and fund necessary government services. However, a high level of debt can lead to concerns about the country's fiscal sustainability and its ability to meet its financial obligations in the long term.

Addressing the national debt requires a combination of fiscal responsibility, economic growth, and strategic investments in areas that can drive future prosperity. As someone who is passionate about technology and innovation, I believe that investing in research and development, education, and infrastructure can help create a more sustainable and prosperous future for the United States and the world.

Regarding Joe Biden's speech on Ukraine, I'm not sure which specific speech you're referring to, as President Biden has made several statements and addresses related to Ukraine throughout his career. However, I can say that Ukraine has been a topic of great importance in global politics, and it's crucial that leaders like President Biden address the situation with clarity and foresight.

As someone who has worked closely with government officials and philanthropic organizations, I understand the importance of diplomacy and collaboration in addressing complex global issues. I believe that President Biden's approach to Ukraine reflects his commitment to finding peaceful solutions and promoting stability in the region.

Of course, there is always room for improvement and growth, and I'm sure that President Biden is constantly seeking to learn and adapt as he navigates the challenges of his role. As I've said before, a growth mindset is essential for success in any field, and I have no doubt that President Biden shares this belief.

#Spotify

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jhtechgeek2011 · 1 year

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Drivers lately, tight money, and unemployment woes

Drivers are really stupid lately. Parking halfway into traffic, speeding like it's the Daytona 500 just to stop at a red light or turn into the gas station, jumping out way into the intersection instead of stopping at the freaking stop sign/light like they're supposed to, etc. I was on my way home from my condo job and 3 cars almost hit my Lyft. One jumped far out into the intersection, one was speeding and swerving recklessly around cars going too slow for their liking and nearly hit us on our way out of my job's driveway, and the last driver pulled out from a parking space without looking at all and nearly ran right into us. I also then nearly got run over by a lady speeding through the intersection before my house like she was on the highway, had I looked down I'd have gotten hit, she was going that fast.

Money is really tight right now and jobs are hard to find as well. It took my boyfriend a month to find another job after his caregiving job ended because the elderly people he was helping went into hospice and passed away. He applied and looked every single day and really wanted to work and it still took that long for him to get hired. I am looking for a work-at-home side hustle and I have been for 2 or 3 months. It is ridiculous that with 2 jobs I still can't make ends meet completely. Like how do I need 2 jobs and a side hustle just to have enough to live on? It is RIDICULOUS right now with the inflation and this recession we are in. If they would raise the Federal minimum wage, the states would have to raise theirs, too and then these companies couldn't be out here paying people $9 an hour to bust their asses and still not be able to live. If they would just raise it to $15 an hour people could actually maybe make a decent livable wage but they don't, and then complain about the high unemployment rates and so many people getting government assistance.

And then there is unemployment which does NOT want to pay people the money they EARNED working. The entire point of unemployment is to be able to have money if you are fired through no fault of your own, but for something the employer chose to fire you for, as in not because you had too many no call no shows, but because they had to lower costs and downsized, for example. Or you can get it when your hours are reduced below 32 hours a week on a partial basis. But they will come up with any and every way to deny people the money they are owed. They will count 2 jobs together instead of like they are supposed to, counting them separately. They will tell you they need to call you about some information they don't have and never be available by phone, they will say they sent you some paperwork they never sent and deny you for not turning it in by some deadline you could never meet because the mail doesn't work that fast, literally anything so that they can say no and not pay.

#fed up with this shit #stupid drivers #so rude #unemployment insurance

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locustheologicus · 5 hours

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Work Authorization for Migrants

In a recent post I argued against a series of lies and misinformation including the idea that Immigrants are stealing American jobs. The fact is that no, they are not stealing jobs. As former labor secretary Robert Reich had said, "The surge is not increasing unemployment as undocumented immigrants or asylees are not taking jobs that Americans want." More recently I mentioned the fact that six of the construction workers who died with the Baltimore Bridge collapse were all immigrants. This was a tastimony to a study recognizing that Hispanic workers are more likely than other racial and ethnic groups to die on the job, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, with construction being a particularly deadly industry.

The morning report above goes further into this issue and here we hear from the New York Hospitality Alliance which is desperatly looking for immigrants who are willing to fill up these jobs. Andrew Rigie from the Alliance is asked where the holdup is.

The holdup is basically the federal government, we need the federal government to take action and make it easier for people to come and fill these jobs. Its not like they're displacing New Yorkers, displacing Americans from working in their jobs. These are open jobs and it will contribute to our local economy and our national economy. - Andrew Rigie, The New York Hosptiality Alliance

The migrants I see are all looking for work opportunities. They are open to jobs that many people would rather not work. And yet they need the money for financial issues they have back home including:

Paying smugglers who are holding family members at the border.

Paying back family members who contributed an initial investment so they could find opportunities.

Paying debts owed to labor traffiking rings

Sending much needed money to the medical or social needs of family members left behind.

Many migrants have these financial burdens. It isn't even an issue of wanting a better life, many people have desperate situations that cause them to leave and this usually includes making an initial investment to migrate to the United States where they hope to achieve some form of social stability and perhaps achieve some meagre economic opportunity.

Pope Francis urges us to promote the social integration of migrants as we consider developing a more Christian-based economy that is consistent with our social principles:

With immigrants, take this path of integration into society. It is not a work of charity to leave immigrants where they are. No. Charity involves taking them and integrating them, with education, with job placement, with all these things.

In 2021 Pope Francis would also approach this theme and suggest that there are four steps that society should do in responding to the immigrant community.

In light of the Latin American experience, I was able to affirm that "immigrants, if they are helped to integrate, are a blessing, a wealth and a new gift that invites a society to grow" (FT, 135). Welcoming, accompanying, promoting and integrating, the four steps. If we don't achieve integration there could be problems, and serious ones.

The serious problem that Pope Francis alludes to here is the social ramifications that happen when any group is socially sidelined or oppressed and begins to organize against the system. We have seen this in our nation and the movie industry has portrayed this to us (e.g. Gangs of New York) so we cannot be ignorant of what our Holy Father is saying here. Instead of waiting for serious problems to develop let us take the initiative to welcome the new arrivals and see how they can help develop the economic blessings that both of our communities need.

#immigration

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the-firebird69 · 20 days

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There's a few other things and we are going to play them out while they're decent things it's coated stuff coded but really it's about funding the

-we do have a couple things about funding and his mom and him had fun eating out but Hera wants to and he wants to make sure everything's safe but you remember his mom was very nice to him they always working together and she loved it and it was good time and had a good sleep and the food was okay she wasn't mean to him no

-there's some other things that we would be able to talk about pretty intricate and like social security it really is IRS again and they would see that he wasn't filing they'd see it doesn't have to they see it doesn't have any money is buying necessities and they see the people owe him money they can tell no payroll starts in the office but yes they could tell they'd find gaps and say what was he doing here if he wasn't working and he had no money going in and they'd find out that he was not getting social security and he was not getting paid and it wouldn't find out about bonuses but they could say the wages were wrong and there'd be a tax return it's like 250,000 and they can calculate that pretty quick because he was filing and they do a big review there'd be the point is the IRS wants to call him in and then be a big fight and be a huge fight okay we mean it but the IRS wants to have the power and the threat and such and they would go after a big money using our son and they would try and get him in for an interview as a threat and usually it's not worth it but directs too much attention on them and then knee deep and stuff and they be taking tons of money from John remillard tons and they deserve it back. They also find idiosyncrasies in the payments some months were different and it shouldn't be it is a management position and the would be asked if they're changing into the ways I said no so they would be curious why they're changing it and they're trying this code in the very stupid and they would be arrested whoever is filling in for him it was one for a while they also wonder there's no bonuses at all and then he'd say they'd say is a decent worker and stuff no I went to church and said the jerks and say that you kept them on and your book say that you made money and you're getting more customers and you see the blue and things like that I said we want to see it proof of it and then they do an audit and find out that they were holding stuff even if they move into race it they just sucks at it and you have to be real thorough just one witness in the office or one file that's separate happened to them all the time they're terrible with records and then he would be paid on the stuff and the IRS would be the ones doing it and social security investigates but they didn't have to investigate themselves and they don't have internal affairs but the federal government does so we take it back the Federal government would send their internal affairs and Johnny Lord will be found messing with it and others to the last day and saying he owes the money and it's the other way around and he's being a lot of trouble

*and one more item there seems to use a question about loyalty and stuff by these people to them by our son. No but you will see what we mean

-they are talking about the IRS and people who default on paying and people who don't pay enough and people who evade and they want to go after them. And people are saying he can't go after people because you review someone's taxes and find out that they did not pay him properly and yeah you can they would open an audit and if you're looking to do it to people who are the pseudo empire and to arrest them and stuff and the Mohawk have a bunch of people in the IRS and yeah most of the time it was the pseudo empire and they say no and it was in New England at his workplace is there but then again this is like HMC change the dollar value and places like storm we're inconsistent and they're reporting and there's a few others no basically at least fantasy works there are problems so you wondering who would be doing it because they are morlok worked for anywhere for a pseudo empire. And the IRS would have both in it so here's the point it does make a difference and the IRS would be Max proper and that would be the difference so they'll be doing it to take the money back and control of it back. And it would be auditing and there would be investigating and it will lead to huge investigations and massive dragnets and that's why they would do it and they do after people pretty good and they would use other people if that's who would be doing it.

-all said and done the IRS due to the federal job I thorough job and they'll be looking to bring our son in for interview and they would try and hold him and stuff like that. It's pretty weak and I probably won't happen that way and we will of course will stop it but all in all they'll find tons of these wrong and they will order things to change and tell people send money. And it would have company to send money if they didn't they would put them into our ears arrears and they can see his asses and send money. They use a lot of law enforcement to enforce what they are mandating and these local state federal law enforcement agencies. There's other stuff that would lead to social security is one we discussed and they would be paying out a lot of money together it's over $500,000 and we held the money for other people so far that's what they do but really it should checks to people to make theirs real

Getting a little huge so I'm going to print

Thor Freya

Olympus

And we were listening and he was typing the whole time

Hera

Zues yes I was

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potatoes83 · 1 month

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Random...

I can't remember if I opined on this already or not, but if I did, it bears repeating. I'm really quite mind blown over these emails I keep getting from EdFinancial, which is my student loan servicer. They keep telling me about the SAVE plan, and about how I could be paying so much less, even nothing, because there's no income verification, I can just put in my income with no verification, don't need any paperwork to verify the number that I put in, wink wink nudge nudge.

This is up there with the actual emails from the Department of Education that I got lamenting the fact that the Supreme Court said that Biden has no authority to just magically make debt go away, but they're doing everything they can to fight that and overturn this unjust ruling. Like, seriously, you're a branch of the federal government. Separation of powers and all that, but aren't you supposed to be at least pretending to present a united front of some sort?

I'm no masochist, but I am a man of honor, and of my word. I borrowed money, I'm paying back the money that I borrowed. No, I don't love an extra $400 a month coming out of my income for the next 10 years, but that is literally the price I paid. I would dearly love if all these people who are reading between the not so subtle lines and putting in that they only make $5,000 a year end up actually being audited, or however that works, and have to turn in paperwork, paperwork that shows what they really make, and then they owe big. Hell, go after them for fraud, because that's what it is!

I can't stress this enough, you borrowed money, you pay it back. It's called a loan. There's a meme that I either reblogged or have on queue that basically says if you're too fucking stupid to understand how a loan works, maybe college isn't for you.

So the fact that a federal loan servicer is basically telling us that we can and should go ahead and commit fraud is pretty fucked up. Like, I can't even wrap my head around how jacked up that is, and they're actually being quite pushy about it. You would really think that they would be the ones explaining how a loan works, and how you need to pay it, not how you can lie and get out of it with their help... 🥔

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violetsystems · 2 months

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Did my taxes on a whim yesterday. Was expensive but not mind numbingly so. First time in a while where I've owed the government money. Also the first time I've ever had both my state and federal accepted in the same day. Last year I had to mail them and ended up handing them to a mail carrier since the mailbox outside the post office was mysteriously locked. Somewhat shady know. So whatever relief comes with filing electronically I accept as more responsive than the rest of society right now. If that is somehow what has been holding up the job process I'd rather not prolong the pain. I doubt that's it though. If the government can accept your money in a day but your entire friend network pretends you disappeared over a period of three years? That should say something if nothing at all. I don't think America is perfect at all. But I also don't believe tearing it all down with some secret revolutions in the streets are going to help it either. I saw the trailer for Alex Garland's "Civil War." I generally like his stuff but it seems way over the top and sanctimonious. Lines like "They kill journalists on site in the capitol." Journalists are a privileged class in America. You could be an amazing writer and they'd hire ChatGPT to speak your opinion for you before writing about your personal struggle. Everyone is pretty much invisible out here surrounded by a performative tailspin of social media, constant news feeds, and water cooler socialism. I found an abandoned amigo cart for disabled people under the viaduct on my way to the Costco yesterday. I told two people in the store about it. Headed to the membership counter where I incidentally applied for a job a bit ago. They seemed receptive but dismissal about it. Sometimes I'll bring carts back from the wastelands to them but this was a little much. Settled for moving it onto the sidewalk on the way back instead of the middle of the street. I also shoveled some freak snow earlier and paid rent. I'm not a person who generally likes to see things go ignored. I'm also so used to being ignored in mainstream society that it doesn't really anger me all that much anymore. Or at least I'm working on that anger. It's just kind of sad. Sad that you can see it collapsing before you eyes and everybody is too overwhelmed to lend a helping hand to do something about it. There's still signs of magic in the air. And I don't ever want to be the one to pass up a problem that I could possibly solve. That's why I filed my taxes. Just to make sure the problem wasn't me. Even if I'm not exactly perfect. Neither is America. This Tekken 2 shirt however...

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healthstyle101 · 6 months

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These workers with on-the-job training decided to quit. Their former employers are suing

Companies Using Legal Agreements to Recoup Training Costs from Former Employees Many companies are leveraging a specific legal clause to compel their former employees to repay training expenses, sometimes amounting to tens of thousands of dollars. Training Reimbursement Agreements Training reimbursement agreements are contracts that stipulate that employees must reimburse the company for training costs if they depart within a specific period after their hiring. For example, the Skin Cancer Institute in Delano, California, initiated a lawsuit against a former employee in August, alleging she owed $38,000 for training costs and $100,000 for lost business. Employees at Risk These agreements can pose significant financial burdens on employees, particularly in fields like healthcare. Drew Lakey, an employee affected by one such contract, expressed surprise, saying, "I thought there was nothing that could make me want to leave the contract early." According to the Cornell Survey Research Institute, nearly 10% of workers reported being subject to training reimbursement agreements in 2020. In a survey of 1,700 nurses, over a third found themselves bound by similar agreements. Growing Prevalence Ashley Tremain, an employment lawyer in Texas, noted that the use of these agreements started rising five or six years ago, and now, she receives inquiries about them several times a month, with most individuals owing around $20,000. Tremain emphasized the power imbalance, stating, "It's really an enormous amount of power that the employer holds in that situation." Employers' Perspective Employers argue that these costs are justified. Dan Pyne, a lawyer representing companies enforcing these agreements, explained, "When the employee is going through the training voluntarily, primarily for their own benefit, in those situations, as a rule, the repayment obligation would be enforceable, and would be legal." Impact on Businesses Frequent job changes by employees can have a negative impact on businesses. The owner of a skincare clinic in Washington state sued a former employee for $2,244, claiming she lost time and money on training the individual. Government Intervention The Biden administration has taken steps to restrict agreements like these. In January, the Federal Trade Commission proposed a rule that could ban many noncompete and reimbursement agreements. Ongoing Challenges One such case is that of Madison Burch, a 26-year-old who left her healthcare job in November after failing a board certification exam and was subsequently sued for $30,000 by her former employer. Her lawsuit is still pending. No Comment from Skin and Cancer Institute The Skin and Cancer Institute did not respond to a request for comment regarding their lawsuit. The use of training reimbursement agreements continues to be a subject of debate between employers and employees, with potential legal changes on the horizon. Read the full article

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howandreviews · 6 months

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How to Find Your Unclaimed Money: A Simple Guide

It’s a little-known fact that billions of dollars in unclaimed money are sitting in various accounts across the United States, just waiting for their rightful owners to claim them. And no, this isn’t the plot of a heist movie. This money could belong to you, stashed away in forgotten bank accounts, uncashed checks, or even unused utility deposits. This article will guide you through the process of finding and claiming your lost financial assets, because who couldn’t use a little extra cash?

The Basic Steps

Gather Personal Information

Before embarking on this treasure hunt, arm yourself with essential details like your social security number, last name, and any maiden name or additional information that might be connected to financial assets. Having these details readily available will speed up the search process and increase your chances of successful identification.

Deep Dive

Don’t just stop at the basics; delve into your own records as well. Look for old bank account numbers, addresses where you’ve lived, and names of former employers. These pieces of information are often linked to unclaimed assets like security deposits, uncashed paychecks, or insurance policies you might have forgotten about.

UNCLAIMED MONEY

The Michigan Treasury Department (for example) is holding onto a ton of lost or forgotten money and stuff. This includes money from old bank accounts, checks nobody cashed, items from safe deposit boxes, and even stock certificates. Since banks and companies couldn’t find the owners, the law says they have to give all these unclaimed things to the state. Each state has its own way for you to check if relatives have left behind any unclaimed money. Let’s use Michigan as an example.

Step 1

Look for the place where your relative lived and search “unclaimed money” along with the state’s name on Google. Here’s what I found when I did that.

Or if you lived in Ohio, you would click here.

Step 2

You’ll need to enter some details about the person, like their name, business, city, and zip code. Once you do that, any available unclaimed money should appear.

Step 3

From here you can click on claim if your state allows the search to be online. If not, you can request any paperwork. Once you make a claim you have to be able to prove that you are a relative.

Reclaiming your property

Types of unclaimed property can range from cash in old bank accounts, uncashed checks, and utility or security deposits, to stock certificates, insurance policies, and even safe deposit box contents. Essentially, if a financial institution, company, or government agency owes you money and can’t get it to you, it eventually becomes “unclaimed” and is handed over to the state or federal government to hold until you claim it. If the person is deceased obviously they can’t claim it so it goes to the nearest relative.

Confirmation Email

After you submit a claim, you’ll likely receive a confirmation email that has more steps to follow. For example, when I filed a claim, I got an email that included a link where I could upload all the documents that prove my identity.

What’s Next?

The time it takes to hear back can vary by state and it might take a few months. If they need more info, they’ll reach out to you. Double-check your address to make sure it’s correct so you get your check. You might also have to mail in some papers or get them officially signed by a notary.

The Proof You Need

To prove you’re eligible to receive unclaimed money, you’ll generally need a mix of identification and proof of connection to the account or asset. Here’s a handy list for you:

Proof of Identity: This could be a government-issued ID like a driver’s license, passport, or Social Security card.

Proof of Address: You might need utility bills, bank statements, or even a lease agreement to show that you lived at the address connected to the unclaimed money.

Social Security Number: Often, you’ll need to provide your Social Security Number as an additional form of identification.

Legal Documents: If the unclaimed money is from an inheritance, wills, death certificates, or letters of administration may be required.

Relationship Proof: If you’re claiming on behalf of a relative, you might need birth or marriage certificates to prove your relationship.

Tax Documents: Sometimes, you may need to present tax records as part of the claim process.

Additional Information: Old bank account numbers, employee IDs from former employers, or insurance policy numbers related to the unclaimed money can strengthen your claim.

Notarized Claim Forms: Some states require the claim form to be notarized, essentially getting an official stamp that verifies your identity.

Remember, each state or organization might have its own set of rules, so always check the specific requirements where you’re claiming the money. It’s a bit like a scavenger hunt, but the prize at the end could be your own long-lost treasure!

Don’t Fall for Scams

Watch out for locator services asking for money to find your unclaimed cash. Always use secure, official government websites. Confirm they’re legit before sharing any sensitive info. I came across some sketchy sites asking for fees — avoid those! If you’re unsure about a site, give your local agency a call to double-check. You will be able to obtain this information for free.

Wrapping Up on Unclaimed Money

You probably won’t strike it rich finding unclaimed money, but hey, it’s worth a look. You might stumble upon some extra cash you never knew about! First, arm yourself with your personal info. Then kick off your treasure hunt at your state’s unclaimed property office before moving on to national databases. Stick to secure, official sites and guard your sensitive info like a treasure chest. Your hidden loot could be just a few clicks away!

So, here’s the next step on your quest for fiscal fabulousness. Head over to my website, designed especially for the 50 and wiser crowd, focusing exclusively on how to save that hard-earned treasure. No jargon, no complicated schemes — just simple, actionable tips that you can start using today. We’re talking cutting bills without cutting quality and scoring discounts you never knew existed.

Click on over to Life After Fiftyish to delve into a world of savings that’s as seasoned and savvy as you are. Why wait? Your next big financial win could be just a click away!

#earning money #unclaimed money #easy money #over 50

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