@karlauerbach@sfba.socialOh my. FFOTUS' "Highway to US Bankruptcy Bill" has even more hidden gifts to the uber-wealthy:
I've done several start ups and have had founders shares. I have had gains of 6000000%
This bill would have eliminated my Federal income tax (actually "Alternative Minimum Tax") on those gains.
Now-a-days, it is often the case that only a very few founders (and investors) get true shares. Many employees get "stock equivalents". I would sus…
@servelan@newsie.socialCBO: $500 billion Medicare cut possible over next decade
https://thehill.com/business/budget/5454945-trump-tax-law-medicare-sequestration/
@arXiv_csCL_bot@mastoxiv.pageUsing Large Language Models for Legal Decision-Making in Austrian Value-Added Tax Law: An Experimental Study
Marina Luketina, Andrea Benkel, Christoph G. Schuetz
https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.08468
@cdarwin@c.imTrump’s tax law includes a $40,000 SALT cap. Here’s who qualifies.
The new GOP tax law quadruples how much people can deduct in state and local taxes off their federal returns, offering significant relief to high earners in many Democratic-led states by partially undoing a big change in President Donald Trump’s 2017 law.
That 2017 law, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, limited the deduction to $10,000 a year, imposing a cap for the first time as a way of reducing the bill’s overall cos…
@Mediagazer@mstdn.socialFOIA docs: Illinois news entities operating 120 outlets are receiving a combined $4M in 2025 state tax credits under a new law for employing local journalists (John Volk/Local News Initiative)
https://localnewsinitiative.northwestern.e…
@kurtsh@mastodon.socialTaxes on Social Security are hardly affected by Trump's bill.
But the increase in the "State & Local Tax" deduction (SALT) from $10k to $40k?
That's a big deal for Californians.
✅ How the New Tax Law Will Actually Affect Your Tax Bill - Retirement Nerds
https://youtub…
@cdarwin@c.imTrump’s newly signed tax and spending law, eviscerated Biden-era incentives for clean technologies such as wind and solar power.
Now Democrats aim to flip the usual partisan energy debate
by portraying Republicans as the party of electricity shortages and rising prices.
Their targets would include the moderate Republicans who spent months urging Congress to preserve the Biden tax breaks because of their projected economic gains for GOP-held districts
— only to fold a…
@memeorandum@universeodon.comTrump signs big tax cut and spending bill into law in July Fourth ceremony (Scott Wong/NBC News)
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/trump-signs-big-tax-cut-spending-bill-law-july-fourth-ceremony-rcna216753
http://www.memeorandum.com/250704/p59#a250704p59
@tiotasram@kolektiva.socialSpeculative politics
As an anarchist (okay, maybe not in practice), I'm tired of hearing why we have to suffer X and Y indignity to "preserve the rule of law" or "maintain Democratic norms." So here's an example of what representative democracy (a form of government that I believe is inherently flawed) could look like if its proponents had even an ounce of imagination, and/or weren't actively trying to rig it to favor a rich donor class:
1. Unicameral legislature, where representatives pass laws directly. Each state elects 3 statewide representatives: the three most-popular candidates in a statewide race where each person votes for one candidate (ranked preference voting would be even better but might not be necessary, and is not a solution by itself). Instead of each representative getting one vote in the chamber, they get N votes, where N is the number of people who voted for them. This means that in a close race, instead of the winner getting all the power, the power is split. Having 3 representatives trades off between leisure size and ensuring that two parties can't dominate together.
2. Any individual citizen can contact their local election office to switch or withdraw their vote at any time (maybe with a 3-day delay or something). Voting power of representatives can thus shift even without an election. They are limited to choosing one of the three elected representatives, or "none of the above." If the "none of the above" fraction exceeds 20% of eligible voters, a new election is triggered for that state. If turnout is less than 80%, a second election happens immediately, with results being final even at lower turnout until 6 months later (some better mechanism for turnout management might be needed).
3. All elections allow mail-in ballots, and in-person voting happens Sunday-Tuesday with the Monday being a mandatory holiday. (Yes, election integrity is not better in this system and that's a big weakness.)
4. Separate nationwide elections elect three positions for head-of-state: one with diplomatic/administrative powers, another with military powers, and a third with veto power. For each position, the top three candidates serve together, with only the first-place winner having actual power until vote switches or withdrawals change who that is. Once one of these heads loses their first-place status, they cannot get it again until another election, even if voters switch preferences back (to avoid dithering). An election for one of these positions is triggered when 20% have withdrawn their votes, or if all three people initially elected have been disqualified by losing their lead in the vote count.
5. Laws that involve spending money are packaged with specific taxes to pay for them, and may only be paid for by those specific revenues. Each tax may be opted into or out of by each taxpayer; where possible opting out of the tax also opts you out of the service. (I'm well aware of a lot of the drawbacks of this, but also feel like they'd not necessarily be worse than the drawbacks of our current system.) A small mandatory tax would cover election expenses.
6. I'm running out of attention, but similar multi-winner elections could elect panels of judges from which a subset is chosen randomly to preside in each case.
Now I'll point out once again that this system, in not directly confronting capitalism, racism, patriarchy, etc., is probably doomed to the same failures as our current system. But if you profess to want a "representative democracy" as opposed to something more libratory, I hope you'll at least advocate for something like this that actually includes meaningful representation as opposed to the current US system that's engineered to quash it.
Key questions: "Why should we have winner-take-all elections when winners-take-proportionately-to-votes is right there?" and "Why should elected officials get to ignore their constituents' approval except during elections, when vote-withdrawal or -switching is possible?"
2/2
#Democracy
@Techmeme@techhub.socialSilicon Valley is pushing senators to follow the House in reviving a favorable tax benefit that disappeared because of a US tax law Section 174 change in 2017 (Axios)
https://www.axios.com/2025/06/20/silicon-valley-big-tech-tax-benefit
@memeorandum@universeodon.comCash Windfall From Trump's Tax Law Is Starting to Show Up at Big Companies (Jonathan Weil/Wall Street Journal)
https://www.wsj.com/finance/investing/cash-windfall-from-trumps-tax-law-is-starting-to-show-up-at-big-companies-6b519fc9
http://www.memeorandum.com/250804/p113#a250804p113
@rene_mobile@infosec.exchangeSo, the #Austrian Parliament ignores all expert opinion and ratifies a law to allow #statetrojan #spyware to be bought and used, making the whole population less safe while spending tax money on…
@cdarwin@c.imHouse Republicans who voted to pass Donald Trump’s tax bill last week
💥know it’s going to slash the federal Medicaid program by $1 trillion
🔥and kick millions of people off of their health care.
But that sounds bad.
And people already hate this law.
So instead of saying that,
Republicans are trying out a new way of talking about the bill they all voted for:
👉They just pretend they voted to increase Medicaid spending!
@brichapman@mastodon.socialNew policy in Florida makes solar installations easier and potentially saves thousands. Don't miss out on the 30% federal tax credit before 2025. #climatechange #climatesolutions #climate
@timbray@cosocial.caPretty amazing. And yet, the majority of Americans won’t see this story because the truth is paywalled but the bullshit is free. Which feels more and more to me like one of the world’s most important problems.
https://masto.ai/@Nonilex/114580574368958399
@cdarwin@c.imThe irony of Trump’s signature tax legislation:
Many of its biggest beneficiaries fiercely oppose the president
— and oppose policies he is pushing that will make them richer.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/07/25/trump-tax-law-rich-li…
@cdarwin@c.imGOP tax bill includes a $6,000 ‘senior deduction.’ Here’s who qualifies.
Under current law, most taxpayers claim the standard deduction of $15,000 (or $30,000 for couples)
to reduce their tax liability,
though the GOP tax bill would increase those amounts slightly.
Additionally, seniors already qualify for an additional deduction of $2,000 (or $3,600 for couples).
The Senate bill would create a third category that gives seniors an additional $6,000 (or $12,000) off…
@cdarwin@c.imWith the Trump’s domestic policy law signed,
states will have to administer many of the cuts
and decide how much they can spend to keep their citizens insured and fed.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/04/us/poli
@memeorandum@universeodon.comMusk forms new political party after split with Trump over president's signature tax cuts law (Michelle L. Price/Associated Press)
https://apnews.com/article/elon-musk-political-party-92353942308fee929a937b17113e077e
http://www.memeorandum.com/250706/p35#a250706p35
@cdarwin@c.imIn a vote of 218-214, Republicans passed Trump’s megabill,
sending it to the president’s desk by his self-imposed Independence Day deadline
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2025/jul/03/trump-big-bill-…
@memeorandum@universeodon.comGOP wants to cut waste. Critics say SNAP exemption could do opposite. (Mariana Alfaro/Washington Post)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/07/20/snap-tax-law-error-rate/
http://www.memeorandum.com/250720/p7#a250720p7
@cdarwin@c.imLoser: U.S. factories
When Democrats in 2022 created and expanded a slew of federal tax breaks for electric vehicles, solar panels, wind turbines, batteries,
they designed them to encourage companies to use components made in the United States.
That spurred a manufacturing boom, including solar-panel glass recyclers in Georgia and electric-vehicle assembly lines in Kentucky.
The new law could derail many of those factories.
The old tax credit for solar power, for…
@cdarwin@c.imThe fate of Trump’s megabill could come down to a fight over clean energy tax credits,
as a handful of Senate Republicans stage a last-minute rally to preserve wind and solar incentives from Democrats’ 2022 climate law.
Conservatives thought they secured a major win ahead of floor action on their megabill when Trump convinced Senate Majority Leader John Thune to crack down on tax credits for wind and solar energy from the Inflation Reduction Act.
Sens. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.),…
@cdarwin@c.im"Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom."
The announcement from Musk comes after Trump signed a tax-cut and spending bill into law on Friday, which the billionaire chief executive officer of Tesla fiercely opposed.
Musk said previously that he would start a new political party and spend money to unseat lawmakers who supported the bill.
@cdarwin@c.imIf a sitting president can direct the IRS to investigate political enemies, revoke nonprofit status from dissenting institutions, or selectively enforce tax law to reward loyalty,
the agency no longer serves the public.
It serves power.
The slow hollowing of the IRS through funding cuts, staff attrition, and the erosion of norms yields the same result:
a weakened institution unable to enforce the law, uphold equity, or hold the powerful to account.
And when th…
@cdarwin@c.imThe Johnson Amendment is not exactly a difficult law to parse.
To keep their sweet tax-exempt status, religious groups can’t endorse political candidates.
But evangelicals want to have their cake and eat it too. -- They don’t want to pay taxes, but they do want ministers to be able to climb into the pulpit and tell their flock who to vote for.
The "Alliance Defending Freedom", the hard-right law firm with a truly staggering track record of getting the United St…
