GSA Eliminates 18F • Hacker News Board

Re: GSA Eliminates 18F

#491

Post by johnnyanmac » Tue, Mar 04, 2025, 8:05 PM UTC

cragfar wrote: post #475

jedberg wrote: post #472

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Again, for 80% of filers, none of this matters. They have their one W2 and take the standard deduction. The only thing the IRS needs to know is what's on the W2 and their marriage status, which they absolutely do have because if you get the marriage status wrong they send you a letter (and it's a matter of public record anyway). So for 80% of people, they would never have to fill out a tax form at all. They could jus…

You're missing that those 80% are not the same people every year. The IRS definitely doesn't keep a database of who is married or not, nor are they scouring every counties database for changes. I'm not sure where you're getting the "they will just send you a letter" part.

Sounds fine to me. Sometimes you have a simple W-2. Sometimes you need to report life changes. "Efficiency" means those 20% figure it out when they have to.

Re: GSA Eliminates 18F

#492

Post by johnnyanmac » Tue, Mar 04, 2025, 8:09 PM UTC

jedberg wrote: post #192

WorkerBee28474 wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why on earth would I say that?

That's what your comment implies. That taxes are being hidden because they aren't on the price tag.

They are "hidden" the same way manufacturing costs, labor, theft correction, psychological penny deduction, etc are hidden on your receipt, sure. You need to research to look all that up.

Meanwhile, you can simply check "VAT rate 20xx" and find that. It saves time doing the math for your state sales tax and then doing mental math to figure out what you leave the store with.

Re: GSA Eliminates 18F

#493

Post by esbranson » Thu, Mar 06, 2025, 10:21 PM UTC

Login.gov for example. No matter how much 18F built, the other agencies like the IRS were never going to implement them. You know, because of Trump. Tens of thousands of millions (ie billions) meant nothing. My biggest fear is that they stop firing people, leaving us with the worst of the worst.

Re: GSA Eliminates 18F

#494

Post by antonvs » Fri, Mar 07, 2025, 4:29 PM UTC

tac19 wrote: post #266

antonvs wrote: post #259

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We've been told for a long time that the USA is a racist, sexist, illegitimate nation, founded on slavery and stolen land. Would it have helped to instead be told that you have poor comprehension skills and limited understanding of nuance? Because that’s clearly the case if the above quote describes a conclusion that you reached.

Sure. But I can tell you that it was such messaging that helped elect Trump. You can dismiss me as stupid, and all of the electorate that voted for Trump too. But it's not exactly brilliant to configure your messaging only to be properly understood by people as brilliant as yourself.

No, that's nonsense. What you're essentially saying is that discussions of controversial issues should be held at no more than a 7th-grade level to avoid anyone getting the wrong idea.

People get the wrong idea because they want to. They're not turning into fascist racial and gender supremacists because someone was mean to them.

That's just who they were all along, and all it took was someone to come along and exploit that, and for others not to do enough about it.

Re: GSA Eliminates 18F

#495

Post by tac19 » Sat, Mar 08, 2025, 10:20 PM UTC

antonvs wrote: post #494

tac19 wrote: post #266

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure. But I can tell you that it was such messaging that helped elect Trump. You can dismiss me as stupid, and all of the electorate that voted for Trump too. But it's not exactly brilliant to configure your messaging only to be properly understood by people as brilliant as yourself.

No, that's nonsense. What you're essentially saying is that discussions of controversial issues should be held at no more than a 7th-grade level to avoid anyone getting the wrong idea. People get the wrong idea because they want to . They're not turning into fascist racial and gender supremacists because someone was mean to them. That's just who they were all along, and all it took was someone to come along and explo…

You're wrong. A great many of those same people voted for Obama. They are not bad people with evil motivations. They are people that have been abandoned by the Democratic Party, and who were set adrift looking for a new home.