I refused to file my taxes last year after Trump had already started engaging in excursions from democratic norms. It’s like an abusive spouse demanding alimony during a contentious divorce.
More than $20bn. That’s roughly the cost of our military operation in Iran to date.
Tax day is a month away. If you’re like me, it makes your stomach turn to watch the US practice regime change in the Middle East – again. If you’re like me, the reckless murder of more than 150 little girls in the name of “liberating” Iranian women fills you with rage. The worst part? You and I literally paid for this.
Today, our government dollars at work look like the hellscape that was Tehran, where our military intentionally blew up oil storage facilities whose burning black rain will deliver cancer to generations to come. We are financing chemical warfare, a war crime, banned under the Geneva conventions. All of this, of course, against the backdrop of the ongoing genocide in Gaza, where up to 70% of the weapons come from the United States and the revolting and deadly paramilitary operations of our Department of Homeland Defense and ICE.
The American people did not sign up for this. Congress was neither consulted nor did it approve the opening attack on 28 February, contrary to the separation-of-powers bedrock our country was built upon. Most of us are fed up with unjustified conflicts and “forever wars”. In fact, 70% of voters opposed potential action in Iran before the first bombs fell. A majority continue to oppose the war now, and support will keep eroding as gas and food prices rise.
My income has always been low enough to qualify for the EITC (journalism, amirite?) … the problem is, I never participated in making another good wage slave, so I’m excluded from that credit.
…you don’t need to have kids to claim EITC.
I don’t have kids. or any other dependent.
That’s not what any tax prep software I’ve used over the years said. It was always a binary “do you have dependents? If no, you do not qualify for the EITC.”
Then you were getting scammed, or your income was above the threshold for 0 dependents to claim EITC. ( the threshold was 21,430 in 2021, for a childless non-joint filing adult)
Frankly I think they should probably raise that threshold to account for the vast amount of socially important but financially non-productive work there is in the country.
Yeah, in 2021, I had no income, but in 2020, I’d topped out at $48K. Twenty fucking years into my career. I was being paid shit wages, but not shitty enough.