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Warhawk

Warhawk

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Capt. Factorial said:
Since two moderators have already chimed in on this, I feel I should point out that the latter doesn't seem to follow from the former. The self-filing method seems silly to me too. But if the government knows how much you should pay, it should also know how much the ultra-wealthy should pay, so I don't see how they get away paying less under the self-filing method.

I suppose you could argue that the wealthy may have "hidden" income that the government doesn't know about - but if that's the case, the self-filing method would result in MORE revenue to the government. Why? Because in the government-bill method, if the government doesn't bill you for your income, then you know they don't know about it and you can get away with not paying taxes on it. In the self-file method at least you have to wonder if the government might know about your "hidden" income and you might declare it just to be safe.

Now, if the self-file method were a true "honor system" then you'd be right, but since by your former assertion it's really more a "trap system" the idea that it's designed to let rich people get off seems...unlikely.
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I think the difference is that most folks (like us) don't have a lot of complicated financial situations where the ultra-rich can use these occasions to pull tax-reducing tricks and not pay their "fair share". While the government knows what we (and they) earn through W-2 forms, etc., the complicated tax laws and sophisticated money-hiding or tax reduction schemes aren't typically available to all and play to the advantage of those already with an advantage. It's not on the "earnings" side as much as the "owing" side of the equation.

As such, if the tax laws were simplified to the point where it could indeed be automated (simplified tax brackets, reduced or eliminated write-offs, etc.) I do think that the ultra rich would indeed be paying a more representative "fair share".
 
pdxKingsFan

pdxKingsFan

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#6,002
#6,002
Capt. Factorial said:
Since two moderators have already chimed in on this, I feel I should point out that the latter doesn't seem to follow from the former. The self-filing method seems silly to me too. But if the government knows how much you should pay, it should also know how much the ultra-wealthy should pay, so I don't see how they get away paying less under the self-filing method.

I suppose you could argue that the wealthy may have "hidden" income that the government doesn't know about - but if that's the case, the self-filing method would result in MORE revenue to the government. Why? Because in the government-bill method, if the government doesn't bill you for your income, then you know they don't know about it and you can get away with not paying taxes on it. In the self-file method at least you have to wonder if the government might know about your "hidden" income and you might declare it just to be safe.

Now, if the self-file method were a true "honor system" then you'd be right, but since by your former assertion it's really more a "trap system" the idea that it's designed to let rich people get off seems...unlikely.
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Well I think that capital gains and un-earned income are a lot harder to track which is why those people don't get caught unless they are audited. Then throw in "business expenses" that only the top 10% have.

I would say the majority of turbotax users and the like buy the "basic" version, or anyone who can do a 1040EZ.

When it comes to capital gains just the day you buy/sell can make a huge difference on your tax liability. I think there is an honor system to it and if you don't get too cheaty you are fine. If you move an item between brokerages or you inherited some assets, the brokerage may not always have the correct tax basis to use for reporting. If you sell your primary home, the government probably doesn't know how much improvements you've put in to offset the gains allowance. Nobody but me my AC guy know we did an AC install a few years back, for example. No permits were pulled.
 
pdxKingsFan

pdxKingsFan

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so speaking of the topic du jour I just finished my taxes with Turbotax and found an item in there that saved me a decent chunk of change on my state return that I have never seen in my whole life but definitely would have applied over the last 4 years. Not mad but don't trust it just popping up out of nowhere either.
 
pdxKingsFan

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Old timers may remember the day I brought him home, just happy to say my son graduated 8th grade today and I couldn't be more proud of him.

He's already begun practicing football at his new school and I'm looking forward to the next 4 years and seeing where it takes him next.
 
Mr. S£im Citrus

Mr. S£im Citrus

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pdxKingsFan said:
Old timers may remember the day I brought him home, just happy to say my son graduated 8th grade today and I couldn't be more proud of him.

He's already begun practicing football at his new school and I'm looking forward to the next 4 years and seeing where it takes him next.
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It's so wild that we're the same age, and your son is just starting high school, and my son graduated high school eight years ago.
 
pdxKingsFan

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Mr. S£im Citrus said:
It's so wild that we're the same age, and your son is just starting high school, and my son graduated high school eight years ago.
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I walked over to the 8th grade brunch this morning with two dads in the class who graduated high school class of 1980!

I'm glad I can't overthink this too much, I look forward to his eventual adulthood but damn if I wasn't a very young 34 (emotionally) when he was born.
 
pdxKingsFan

pdxKingsFan

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whaatt?

Pat is kinda a smug little jerk but it's hard to imagine anyone else hosting the show and yet Ryan feels like he at least looks the part.

I hope they have Ed Grimley on the final show.
 
pdxKingsFan

pdxKingsFan

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#6,014
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LMFAO I tried to watch the Johnny Knoxville prank show on Hulu and fell asleep and Claim to Fame came on after.

I turned it off but I gotta watch now.
 
pdxKingsFan

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Considering taking delivery of a new car in South Carolina at the end of summer and driving back to Portland.

the only other time I drove across country was when I moved back to CA from Boston 25 years ago and I pretty much did it Cannonball Run style, but not getting any younger so I figure sight seeing is on the agenda this time.

100% non optional I plan to see Graceland on the drive back if this happens. Curious for folks who have road tripped across the USA what must sees I can do to make my trip across the heartland more worth while? I am not committed to any route, just probably have ~5-7 days to do so. Only other caveat is its and EV so realistically I expect 220-240 miles tops between charges.
 
Capt. Factorial

Capt. Factorial

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pdxKingsFan said:
Considering taking delivery of a new car in South Carolina at the end of summer and driving back to Portland.

the only other time I drove across country was when I moved back to CA from Boston 25 years ago and I pretty much did it Cannonball Run style, but not getting any younger so I figure sight seeing is on the agenda this time.

100% non optional I plan to see Graceland on the drive back if this happens. Curious for folks who have road tripped across the USA what must sees I can do to make my trip across the heartland more worth while? I am not committed to any route, just probably have ~5-7 days to do so. Only other caveat is its and EV so realistically I expect 220-240 miles tops between charges.
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Heck if I know where EV stations are on the route, but it looks like your options are pretty much to either finish off the trip on the Salt Lake City - Boise route or on the Montana - Spokane route. Of those, I'd probably choose the latter, because I went through Coeur d'Alene as a kid and remember it being beautiful, would really like to see it again. The Montana route would also naturally line up with Mt. Rushmore, which is another one on my list. So if it were me, I'd seriously consider hopping north out of Memphis, swinging through corn country to take in a meal at @iowamcnabb's place and then taking the northern route from there, but I can't really pretend to have been a big roadtripper. Will admit that the roadtripping I've done has me biased against doing it through desert lands, which is another strike in my mind against the SLC route (or anything south of that).
 
Warhawk

Warhawk

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pdxKingsFan said:
Considering taking delivery of a new car in South Carolina at the end of summer and driving back to Portland.

the only other time I drove across country was when I moved back to CA from Boston 25 years ago and I pretty much did it Cannonball Run style, but not getting any younger so I figure sight seeing is on the agenda this time.

100% non optional I plan to see Graceland on the drive back if this happens. Curious for folks who have road tripped across the USA what must sees I can do to make my trip across the heartland more worth while? I am not committed to any route, just probably have ~5-7 days to do so. Only other caveat is its and EV so realistically I expect 220-240 miles tops between charges.
Click to expand...
I've done a lot of driving in the US, especially in the west (however, including three drives all the way across the country, but all of them about 25 years ago).

Our family went on a drive in 2019 from Denver to Boise via Mt. Rushmore, Deadwood, the Geographic Center of the US (Belle Fourche), Devil's Tower, Little Big Horn, Cody, Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Jackson Hole, Atomic City, and the Craters of the Moon. Fantastic trip. I would recommend catching any or all of that, as time allows! :)
 
pdxKingsFan

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#6,018
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Capt. Factorial said:
Heck if I know where EV stations are on the route
Click to expand...
The nice thing is there are apps that will do that part for me. I just need to pick 4 or 5 destinations that are a day or so apart and have adequate charging every few hours along the route (I'll get 30 mins free at one brand which should take me from 10-80% or so if this is all not one big lie).
 
pdxKingsFan

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I mapped out Northern and Southern routes, heading to Dodge City after Graceland.

Looks like going to Mt. Rushmore and heading home is considerably less driving than seeing the Grand Canyon.

Still I made a map of every recommendation I've gotten so far just in case anything compelling comes up.

Not listed are numerous "largest ball of twines in the world", which I guess if I hit Dodge City and Grand Canyon could complete some kind of Griswald Trifecta.

 
Warhawk

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pdxKingsFan said:
I mapped out Northern and Southern routes, heading to Dodge City after Graceland.

Looks like going to Mt. Rushmore and heading home is considerably less driving than seeing the Grand Canyon.

Still I made a map of every recommendation I've gotten so far just in case anything compelling comes up.

Not listed are numerous "largest ball of twines in the world", which I guess if I hit Dodge City and Grand Canyon could complete some kind of Griswald Trifecta.

Click to expand...
If you are indeed considering the southern route, we took a vacation that way back in 2010 (our "Great Southwest Hole-in-the-Ground Tour", as we affectionately named it), including:
  • Route 66 (Barstow, Kingman, the route on the south side of the Grand Canyon, etc.)
  • Hoover Dam
  • Las Vegas (if you've never been there, just to say you have - my wife and I are definitely not "Las Vegas" people)
  • Grand Canyon Caverns / petrified forest
  • Meteor Crater
  • Sedona
  • Mesa Verde
  • Arches National Monument
  • Bryce Canyon
  • Zion National Park
  • Calico Ghost Town
A few other places we didn't hit on that particular trip but are also recommended:
  • Death Valley
  • Four Corners Monument
  • Mono Lake
  • Yosemite
  • Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument
Hope this helps and doesn't just complicate your trip planning!

Edit: Forgot to add Bodie State Historic park on that list - just north of Mono Lake. Neat gold mining ghost town similar to Calico. And this list completely ignores everything in the LA basin. We aren't huge fans of the LA area (and that would likely add even more time to your trip!), but there are obviously LOTS of things you could do or see in that region.
 
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63royals

63royals

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#6,021
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My wife and I had a unique 4th of July experience a number of years ago. We had a flight from Atlanta to Sacramento that left late in the afternoon. As a result, we got to watch fireworks displays all the way across the country.

Happy 4th
 
M

mrlaze

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#6,022
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I'm just here to complain about twitter now requiring an account to view posts. Sometimes the preview hete would cut off parts and you could only see them by going to the post on Twitter. Now theres a new account wall to see anything.
 
Fear the Putin

Fear the Putin

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#6,023
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Anyone here is or know anyone that is a collections attorney in Sacramento? I have been here since 2005, so not a newbie.This is pertaining to fake tickets that were being sold during the Kings playoff run. Will elaborate in DM if someone is open to hearing me out.
 
pdxKingsFan

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Warhawk said:
If you are indeed considering the southern route, we took a vacation that way back in 2010 (our "Great Southwest Hole-in-the-Ground Tour", as we affectionately named it), including:
  • Route 66 (Barstow, Kingman, the route on the south side of the Grand Canyon, etc.)
  • Hoover Dam
  • Las Vegas (if you've never been there, just to say you have - my wife and I are definitely not "Las Vegas" people)
  • Grand Canyon Caverns / petrified forest
  • Meteor Crater
  • Sedona
  • Mesa Verde
  • Arches National Monument
  • Bryce Canyon
  • Zion National Park
  • Calico Ghost Town
A few other places we didn't hit on that particular trip but are also recommended:
  • Death Valley
  • Four Corners Monument
  • Mono Lake
  • Yosemite
  • Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument
Hope this helps and doesn't just complicate your trip planning!

Edit: Forgot to add Bodie State Historic park on that list - just north of Mono Lake. Neat gold mining ghost town similar to Calico. And this list completely ignores everything in the LA basin. We aren't huge fans of the LA area (and that would likely add even more time to your trip!), but there are obviously LOTS of things you could do or see in that region.
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So I really want to do route 66 but I don't think I have the time to dedicate proper. It might be something to do with my son in a year or two (need to look into the rules about whether we could do this while he's on a learner's permit and get some drive time in for him next summer). But we'd probably do the whole route from Chicago to Santa Monica and then visit family and friends on the way back to Portland.

Right now it's starting to shape up as SC to Memphis - this is a 10 hour drive plus two hours of charging I think, so odds are I have to stop somewhere. Possibly Knoxville so I could see Ruby Falls before heading out. I think this is scenic highway too.

Then it's possible I can book an afternoon at Graceland, though I might miss out on Sun and Stax and the Memorial Park cemetary, so maybe I stay the night in Memphis, all the sudden I'm like 4-5 days in to the trip after accounting for a day to fly and the track day in SC and have 2/3rds of the country to go. I DO NOT want anything to do with another I-80 trip :D which I think is the speediest voyage.

So from there I'll head to KC, try to take in a scenic route (Ozarks?), see the Negro League museum and possibly the WWI museum and from there head up through the Black Hills to meet up with I-90. At that point how many stops I can make will depend how soon I have to be back at work or if I can stall by working remotely a day or two. But at minimum I can do the simple things like see Rushmore in person and if I have more time for a hike or exploration work those in.

Either way its starting to shape out.
 
Warhawk

Warhawk

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pdxKingsFan said:
So I really want to do route 66 but I don't think I have the time to dedicate proper. It might be something to do with my son in a year or two (need to look into the rules about whether we could do this while he's on a learner's permit and get some drive time in for him next summer). But we'd probably do the whole route from Chicago to Santa Monica and then visit family and friends on the way back to Portland.

Right now it's starting to shape up as SC to Memphis - this is a 10 hour drive plus two hours of charging I think, so odds are I have to stop somewhere. Possibly Knoxville so I could see Ruby Falls before heading out. I think this is scenic highway too.

Then it's possible I can book an afternoon at Graceland, though I might miss out on Sun and Stax and the Memorial Park cemetary, so maybe I stay the night in Memphis, all the sudden I'm like 4-5 days in to the trip after accounting for a day to fly and the track day in SC and have 2/3rds of the country to go. I DO NOT want anything to do with another I-80 trip :D which I think is the speediest voyage.

So from there I'll head to KC, try to take in a scenic route (Ozarks?), see the Negro League museum and possibly the WWI museum and from there head up through the Black Hills to meet up with I-90. At that point how many stops I can make will depend how soon I have to be back at work or if I can stall by working remotely a day or two. But at minimum I can do the simple things like see Rushmore in person and if I have more time for a hike or exploration work those in.

Either way its starting to shape out.
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Hope you have a blast! I love road trips. I've never been to the Nashville/Memphis/Carolinas areas and that is something I'd like to do at some point.
 
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