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GSA Eliminates 18F
141–150 of 495 posts
Re: GSA Eliminates 18F
#142We need to help our 18F friends find work and get back on their feet. Open up your teams, your HR hiring processes, and let’s help these folks.
Re: GSA Eliminates 18F
#143Is there any meaningful reason that states couldn’t start their own equivalent 18F at the state level?
I live in Massachusetts and I know a bunch of socially conscious techies who’d love to help out in this manner.
I have no idea if there is need for 18F at the state level, but I could see something like this working OK in MA, CA, and maybe NY.
Re: GSA Eliminates 18F
#144Earlier quoted context omitted.
The right wants everything related to taxes to be as difficult and painful as possible, in the hopes it will encourage the government to lower them.
I have heard of this argument many times but it doesn't make sense to me. Most often, the ways to lower taxes come from things like finding new deductions and credits that you didn't know apply to you. This is what the difficult part is. Otherwise, taxes are simple if you just have some W-2 and 1099-INT or 1099-DIV, and claim the standard deduction. Indeed if taxes are too difficult or painful, a reasonable person wo…
Taxes aren’t hard but people have been encouraged to talk about it like it’s a colonoscopy by Roto-rooter. Someone can have all W-2 income and only take the standard deduction, but thanks to that messaging they’ll act like filing your own taxes is incredibly dangerous with a high chance of ruining you for life (I know someone whose parent worked for the IRS as an auditor and they noted that many people ended up neutral or even getting a refund because an audit for someone who wasn’t trying to cheat would usually find deductions that they hadn’t claimed).
That’s not accidental: the rich have been funding anti-tax messaging since the introduction of the income tax, and it’s heavily promoted by the media voices they fund. The tax preparation industry is similarly biased since it’s with so profitable for the median voter to think that they need to pay hundreds of dollars every year to fill out a couple of forms.
Re: GSA Eliminates 18F
#145Not a problem - they can learn to mine coal.
Re: GSA Eliminates 18F
#146Earlier quoted context omitted.
no, the right wants you to keep paying Turbotax.
This is commonly repeated but incorrect. The Nyquist pledge is a far more powerful force keeping tax filing complex than Intuit lobbying. This is not a conspiracy theory, this is a stated practice of Americans for Tax Reform, the anti-tax conservative group.
*Norquist
Re: GSA Eliminates 18F
#147Amazing how the idea of being able to file tax returns online, without paying for a commercial service to do it, is considered far-left extremism in the US. You’d think that simplifying tax returns and reducing costs in the taxation system would be something the right could get behind?
They claim that if the government could calculate taxes for you, then it would be too easy for the left to add new taxes that you wouldn't notice. The real kicker of course is that if you don't file your taxes, they actually do calculate your taxes for you, and send you a bill. It just includes the non-payment penalty and doesn't include donations.
Is non-payment cheaper than donations?
Re: GSA Eliminates 18F
#148Earlier quoted context omitted.
> They are also some of the most vocal extreme left-wing activists I've known well. Can you give a few examples of the vocal extreme left-wing activism?
18F wrote a slack bot to police "non-inclusive" language. You know, "hey guys" etc. https://technical.ly/software-development/18f-using-slackbot... https://github.com/18F/18f.gsa.gov/blob/master/_posts/2016-0...
I sure don't agree that constitutes extreme activism of any kind, but anyway, my question is for Ancapistani and it's about the personal friends referenced in their message.
Re: GSA Eliminates 18F
#149Earlier quoted context omitted.
It absolutely believes in a federal government. It just does not believe in a federal government that it is not in control of.
who, exactly, is in control of independent agencies if Congress never corrects their power and the Executive isn't in charge? For example: the perennial fight over "net neutrality" was because Congress absconded their duty to write regulation and handed it off to the Executive to figure out in a vague way that allowed for flip flopping policies with the force of law every time the administration changed. You know wha…
The purple fringes of the congressional GOP would be crucified by their constituents if they were doing this shit, which is why it is sitting back and letting the executive do everything that the party always wanted, but couldn't, while they keep their hands free.
The legislature could stop this, yes. But it won't, because he is carrying out the program the GOP always wished it could have done, but couldn't. Once this all goes to shit, they will of course, blame him, while keeping their own hands clean.
And given just how fucking fast a dedicated executive can destroy anything it doesn't like, there's literally nothing the Dems could have done to prevent this. It doesn't matter what laws they passed when they had control of government, when the current executive simply doesn't follow the law.
And the only people who could compel it to follow the law don't want it to.
The only cure to this is never voting red, under any circumstances, for any position, in any race. It's been fully compromised, and is unsalvageable.
Re: GSA Eliminates 18F
#150Amazing how the idea of being able to file tax returns online, without paying for a commercial service to do it, is considered far-left extremism in the US. You’d think that simplifying tax returns and reducing costs in the taxation system would be something the right could get behind?
Heavy lobbying by Intuit/TurboTax for years.[1]
[1] https://www.opensecrets.org/search?q=TurboTax&type=site#gsc....