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Tax refund amounts down more than 8% this year, thanks to T-rump's tax scam


For the first full week of tax season (Janaury 28 - February 1) American taxpayers saw their tax refunds drop 8.4% from refunds compared to the first week of tax season last year. That's because this represents the first full year of the T-rump tax scam which was pushed through congress in late 2017. The average taxpayer refund so far has been $1865, down from $2035 in the same period of 2018.

Said Edward Karl, vice president of taxation for the American Institute of CPAs, “There are going to be a lot of unhappy people over the next month. Taxpayers want a large refund."

Karl says that the average refund for the season last year was about $3,000 for 71% of tax filers, the biggest single cash transaction for most Americans last year. They count on that money to pay off student loans, car loans, credit card debt, etc. They're in for quite a surprise this year.

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Bump to keep the current news current and trigger Bosdog.

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when you keep more of your income paycheck to paycheck you pay less in taxes which means you receive less in a refund. your goal for tax refund is $0.

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I agree with you on this 100%.

However, not many people pay attention to this, have way too much taxes taken out each week, and do get hefty refunds.

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Trump Promised to Bring Back $4 Trillion in Offshore Cash. He Missed by $3.3 Trillion

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-03-27/trump-s-offshore-cash-promise-falters-as-665-billion-returns
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Corporate America brought $664.9 billion of offshore profits back to the U.S. last year, falling short of the $4 trillion President Donald Trump said would return as a result of the 2017 tax overhaul.

Companies repatriated $85.9 billion in the fourth quarter of 2018, the lowest sum for the year and down from $100.7 billion the previous quarter, Commerce Department data showed Wednesday. Corporations brought back $579 billion in the first three quarters of 2018, upwardly revised from $571.3 billion in the prior report.
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Companies kept much of their overseas profit offshore because a 35 percent tax kicked in only if they brought the cash back to the U.S. But the Republican tax law set a one-time 15.5 percent tax rate on cash and 8 percent on non-cash or illiquid assets, regardless of the country where the profits sat.

In touting the tax overhaul, Trump predicted that more than $4 trillion would return to the U.S., which he said would create jobs and spur investment. Investment banks and think tanks have estimated that U.S. corporations actually hold $1.5 trillion to $2.5 trillion in offshore cash.
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Instead, companies have been plowing the tax cut cash into stock buybacks. Earlier this month, data from Citigroup Inc. showed that companies in the S&P 500 repurchased more than $800 billion of shares last year, surpassing the amount they invested in new or upgraded equipment. That’s the first time that buybacks have been larger than capital expenditures, despite a change in the tax law that give companies immediate write-offs if the buy machinery. Capex was slightly more than $700 billion, according to the Citigroup data.
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Dang the control DT has over 100% of privitized entities in the US is not working out ...

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If someone makes impossible claims we should still hold them accountable for them even if they were too stupid to realize they were impossible.

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Dang the "Trump is my Dictator!" meme is real, Hillary Clinton won 48.18% of the vote, Trump won 46.09% of the vote, only in your mind did Trump won 100% of the vote

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ROFL

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I get a big chuckle when liberals talk economics, like they actually understand it. You have to have a job to pay taxes and get a refund......usually.

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It's a real knee slapper when conservatives not in the top 1% vote against their better interests thinking they benefit from policies that benefit the ultra elite. It's hilariously delusional how they think they are elite when in fact they are closer to being homeless compared to the actual elites.

The vast majority of conservative voters, ~97%, are tricked into thinking conservative economic policy benefits them.

Who doesn't understand what?

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Clueless. Typical. And presumptive.

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Ya keep voting for inheritance tax relief that benefits the top 200 families in your state and costs the state $100s of millions.

That helps the majority, yourself included!!

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You don't get it. It has nothing to do with how it benefits ME. Liberals keep talking about "fair share" but we're far from it and what you really want is even further from it. What you want is to punish those who are more successful and have more than you because you're a petty and jealous child. The last statistics from the IRS that I read, the top 2% of earners in the United States were making 19% of the income but paying 37% of the income tax. Is that what you'd call "fair"? I want things to be FAIR and EQUAL for ALL. Not picking and choosing some to protect at the expense of others. No special considerations and extra opportunities for people just because they're not white, not male and not straight. People think "white privilege" is a real thing. All it REALLY means is that you HAVE to pay your own way. What we're experiencing now is that people got their "equality" and they found it wasn't what they thought. They found out that what it really means is equal opportunity, not equal outcomes. they found out that people didn't automatically have it easy because they were white and male. They had to earn it. So what you dummies are doing right now is trying to punish those who earned what they have to give it to those who did not earn it. It's an illusion. All you want is to trade one injustice for another. Where does it end? I'll tell you, it ends in economic collapse and the destruction of the American dream.

Specifically to inheritance tax. If my father works his ass off all his life and actually has something to pass down to his children, why should we be burdened with an insurmountable tax debt that requires us to sell off much of the inherited assets just to receive them? It's extortion and it's bullshit.

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"I want things to be FAIR and EQUAL for ALL"


Great, how about a 100% inheritance tax then?
Because that's the only way to ensure that everyone has the same chances of succeeding in life. Your parent's wealth should not matter.

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So the idea that you can create a better life for your children than you had for yourself should not be possible? That basically, you work hard all your life and whatever is left at the end gets seized by the state? What an infantile and tyrannical concept.

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Actually, that's what true capitalism is all about. Only your own competence and hard work should matter in achieving success. Otherwise, you are just another freeloader just like the socialists you so despise. The source of the privilege doesn't matter. It still gives you an unfair advantage.

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No it isn't. The idea that a person's property becomes the property of the state at the time of their death? Go back to Google and look up government and economic systems until you find one that fits that description. That's the argument of a child. A jealous, spiteful, envious, lazy and vengeful child.

It's also idiotic and will affect far more than just the "rich people" you're trying to hard to demonize. Around these parts, most property is several generations deep. Poor farmers who are able to own some property passing it down through generations. Grow up and get a clue.

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Maybe it's you that should get a clue from the founding fathers you worship so much:

https://www.economist.com/lexingtons-notebook/2010/10/14/you-cant-take-it-with-you

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You know you have to subscribe to read that article?

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You can sign up and read 5 articles per month for free.

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You know you have to learn how to read multi-syllable words, first ?

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Do you ever have anything of any substance to say. I'm not going to waste my time if all you have are childish insults. I'm sorry but you're about 30yrs too late for those to have any effect.

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You're missing the point. The rebups like to package their fiscal policies to make the average Gomer think it benefits him. The policies actually hurt the average Gomer, but average gomer still votes for it because it's so obfuscated he has no idea what he's actually voting for. "Citizens United" & "Right to Work" are prime examples.

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Yep, sure. Versus the ignorant mob that votes for idiotic liberal policies with no understanding of them or their long term ramifications? Gimme a break.

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The difference is, liberal policies actually aim to help the majority at the expense of the ultra rich, whilst conservative policy is designed to help the ultra rich at the expense of the majority.

I understand long-term performance just right. If you look back conservative policy has always hurt the majority

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Liberal policies make losers feel better at the expense of others. Liberal policies perpetuate this ignorant class war and divide the population. Liberal policies ensure that a certain segment of the population will always be dependent on the system. Liberal polices only work for those who reap the benefits. Everyone who pays taxes loses as the bill for entitlement grows and grows. It's a bottomless pit. Here's a newsflash, those "rich people" you love to demonize, most of them earned it. They did not rob it from the poor. The poor are usually there of their own doing.

Liberals are notoriously short-sighted, never consider the big picture or long term consequences. They also never take ownership of their failures. That such moronic ideas as perpetually raising the minimum wage has the opposite effect of what they expect. Never learning from history's lessons.

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How many economic books have you read?

From the looks of it, not many if any at all.

Faux and friends is not your friend

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Hmmm, someone clueless about economics says I'm clueless about economics. Must be doing something right. Tell me again how raising the minimum wage helps people? Oh yes, liberals love to say that anyone who disagrees with them does so because they've been brainwashed by Fox News.

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Those at minimum wage actually need a raise to have a decent standard of living.
The increase is actually spent in the domestic economy.

Giving tax cuts to the rich hoping for the "trickle down" effect doesn't work. The rich just offshore their increased profits and use it to buy villas in exotic locals.

Again what do you base your understanding of economics on? I myself have read countless books on the subject. More than someone with an undergraduate degree specializing in the subject

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That's the theory but in reality, it doesn't work that way. Minimum wage was never meant to be decent living. It's "minimum". Raising minimum wage is giving low skill, low output workers a raise they did not earn. Which seems to be the liberal modus operandi. Giving people something they should earn by their own effort. Not only do you rob the individual of the satisfaction or earning something but you also take away the incentive to do better. This, coupled with rampant welfare, is having a disastrous effect on the workforce. By forcing employers to pay their employees more for effort they did not receive, full time employees either get put on part time and their benefits cut or people get laid off entirely. So those people you tried to help either have less than they did before or are on welfare. Look at the fast food business and specifically in Seattle, where the minimum wage was raised to a ridiculous $15. People were laid off and now the fast food chains are trying to automate the process as much as possible and reduce the workforce. Who does that help? All it does is prove that the more the government is involved, the more it gets screwed up. Same with unions. They once served a purpose. Now the only purpose they serve is to perpetuate their own existence. The industries they are involved in suffer tremendously. Why is Detroit a ghost town? Why is so much manufacturing moving to right to work states? Because unions have run industries out of business. You can see it on every scale.

What do I base my understanding on? Running two successful businesses. Fact, the more money I have, the less I pay in taxes, the more employees I can afford. It's a basic principle but we have a generation of idiots who know nothing they didn't read in a book who think they know better. What do you really know about "the rich"? Do you actually know or are you just spewing ignorant prejudices? Who does that sound like?

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Typical
conservative rhetoric.

Rail against social systems unless they benefit their corporate overlords.

The US is a welfare state, just one for corporations and not the tax payers.

Your "experience" means nothing to me. Vague and unfounded. I work for a small business and the owner is a moron who is running the business into the ground but it's still technically successful.

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Typical liberal response. You're full of generalizations and throw around a lot of them but you really don't have a clue what you're talking about.

Has not a goddamned ting to do with corporate overlords. I don't believe in giving people something they should earn for themselves for multiple reasons. First, it creates dependents and reduces incentive. They get on and never get off because it's too easy to sit on your ass and collect a check. It never has the effect you want it to and it keeps people in poverty. Second, it's not fair to the hard working taxpayer to be supporting freeloaders. If you want to give YOUR check to someone who didn't earn it, fine. Just don't vote for politicians to extort money from me to pay for it. Third, it creates another level of corruption and abuse. I have no problem with welfare for those who truly need it and only use it temporarily but those are the minority. Far too many abuse the system. Anyone tries to fix it and dumbasses like yourself cry "racism".

No, you people are never impressed. Perpetual critics who never actually do anything.

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Republicans just don't understand this. These are people who voted T-rump in as their candidate, impressed with his faux inflated wealth.

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You obviously don't have a clue why we voted for Trump. Had nothing to do with being impressed with his wealth. Although one can argue that a successful businessman has a lot better chance at running government leaner than a "community organizer" or career politician who never accomplished a thing in his life. No, it had to do with being tired of status quo. Tired of lying career politicians, on both sides. Tired of liberal idiots getting their way. Tired of the tyranny of political correctness and all it seeks to control. Tired of government waste and endless foreign wars. Tired of getting the shit end of the stick on foreign aid and trade. Tired of dumb liberals electing morons as a fashion statement. Whether it's because they're black or female, with utter disregard for their qualifications.

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"Although one can argue that a successful businessman has a lot better chance at running government leaner than a "community organizer" or career politician who never accomplished a thing in his life."

Fair argument. Maybe some day you can prove that to be true, too. But you would first need a successful business man and go from there. That's not what you got in T-rump.

"Tired of lying career politicians, on both sides. "

LOL! And we all see how well that turned out! In his first two years in office, T-rump told over 8,000 confirmed lies. Over 8,000! Yeah - good choice on getting rid of those 'lying politicians'.

I'll stop there, so I don't further embarrass you.

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Never-ending stream of bullshit.

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This is rich. You voted for trump because politicians are liars.

Trump is the biggest most frequent liar to ever hold political office. This is documented fact, but facts don't matter I guess

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It's not documented fact. It's your idiotic liberal agenda. Just like all the nonsense about him being a racist or sexist, there's nothing to support it. Only wishful thinking. People call him a homophobe for putting a stop to the military paying for sex changes, completely ignoring the issue itself. You idiots are all about labels so you can discredit/slander people and avoid the actual issues.

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Trump is an incessant liar. So much so that he even claimed to make Canadians "nice". Ya I'm pretty sure they were nice before trump

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"It's not documented fact."

President Trump has made 9,451 false or misleading claims over 801 days:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/?utm_term=.60c1bcaee67f

Also:
https://www.factcheck.org/person/donald-trump/

https://www.politifact.com/personalities/donald-trump/statements/byruling/false/

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Oh well if the Washington Post says so, it must be true!

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Same newspaper that broke the Watergate story! A paper with a very long history of great investigative journalism.

I hope you don't believe Trump's lie about turbine noise from windmills causing cancer.

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Well excuse me, I guess if they were a valid news outlet 40 friggin' years ago, then surely that hasn't changed. Or something.

Wind power is one of Obama's big, expensive turds that no one wants to talk about.

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How much money did Obama lose on Solyndra? Yikes.

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40+ year reputation for excellent investigative journalism and multiple Pulitzers and other awards.

Meanwhile, you fear answering the question about windmills which means you know Trump is a liar. Trump also hired illegals and used campaign donations to payoff his mistresses.

Wind turbine service technician earns $52,000 on average. Minimum entry-level salary is $46,000. With overtime, workers can earn as much as $70,000, even $90,000, after a couple of years.

Over 100,000 workers in the U.S. alone and providing 6% of electricity in the country.

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And an undeniable liberal agenda.

Yeah, wind power is huge joke and a huge failure. They are exorbitantly expensive to produce and install. Their maintenance costs are also exorbitant. They only work part of the time and it costs more in pollution to produce the massive things than they'll ever save. Not to mention that they look like ass scattered across the landscape and kill thousands of birds every year. Just another liberal feel-good measure that doesn't actually do shit.

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You sound like someone who doesn't mind being lied to, beaten, raped, stolen from or killed as long as the perpetrator is a Conservative Republican. That makes you a fool whose been blinded by prejudice based on ideology.

Obviously, you're aware Trump is a liar and a crook. Any newspaper reporting such information is the truth unless you want to defend windmill noise causing cancer, his hiring illegals and his stealing campaign money to give to his mistresses.

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Drama queen. You wouldn't know the truth if it fell out of the sky, landed on your face, squirted all over you and wiggled.

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And when people don't have an intelligent response, they reply with insults.

What I previously wrote stands unless you want to try again - this time with intelligence.

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No. Sometimes you have to just let it go. If you think you're getting the unfiltered truth from sources like the Washington Post, go forth and be merry.

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Factual Reporting deemed high is fine with me: https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/washington-post/

WP is one of many papers I read. After all the internet provides a practically limitless news resource.

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CraigC = Hypocrite troll.

"It's your idiotic liberal agenda."

"You idiots are all about labels so you can discredit/slander people"

"You idiots"

"are all about labels"

How much more hypocritical and ironic can you get, troll?

Another one bytes the dust.

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You are idiots. I reach that conclusion based MY interaction with YOU as an individual. I, however, am not a racist, fascist, bigot, homophobe, elitist, sexist, or whatever the label of the week is, that liberals use to demonize and dehumanize others, just because I disagree. Hypocrisy is your modus operandi.

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When is Mexico bringing the pesos over for the wall T-rump promised they would build and pay for?

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How many billions does our open southern border cost us every year? THAT is how Mexico was going to pay for the wall. You simpletons are too dense to understand that and thought Trump meant that Mexico was going to write a check for it.

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How many billions does our open southern border cost us every year? THAT is how Mexico was going to pay for the wall. You simpletons are too dense to understand that and thought Trump meant that Mexico was going to write a check for it.


Not even T-rump believes that.

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Where did the money go?

Probably funneled into a secret off shore account belonging to the Trumps.

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I'm self employed and pay my taxes at the end of the year so I never get a refund. I look at tax as a percentage of my net income. My income went up for 2018 and my tax rate went down by 4%.

Standard deductions doubled for 2018.

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When I was self-employed (1987-2011) I paid quarterly estimated taxes to both the state and the feds based on my net income the previous year. Of course, each year varied based on income, deductions and new tax laws which took effect each year. Some years I paid too much each quarter, some years I paid too little.

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The point being that you idiots keep insisting that Republican tax cuts only affect the "super rich".

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We never said “ only affect” the super rich. We point out constantly it affects everyone yet favors the super rich / very wealthy and not the working class. This has been going on for 40 years since We were introduced to Reaganomics- which Bush 41 rightly called “ voodoo economics “ in 1979.

Get your facts straight.

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I know, you people think the top and bottom are not connected. Two questions, what exactly do yo consider "rich" or "super rich"? Who do you think create jobs?

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Two questions, what exactly do yo consider "rich" or "super rich"? Who do you think create jobs?


Two answers:


1. The 'super rich' are the members of Mar-A-Lago whom T-rump informed back on December 22, 2017 "I just made all you very wealthy". Those are the CEOs of major corporations who lay-off thousands each year, cut benefits down to nothing, and do not pay a living wage - just so their quarterly earnings keep rising off the backs of their hard-working employees, and they can buy another home in The Hamptons. These generous tax cuts for them are considered "corporate welfare", and Republicans want to cut medicare and food stamps to help support these tax cuts. These CEOs are protected by bankruptcy laws (ask T-rump), and tax loopholes so they don't have to pay their fair share of any taxes. Again, as Bush 41 called it - 'voodoo economics'.

2. Who do I think creates jobs? Well for 24 years, I know I created plenty of jobs as a small business founder-owner-operator. I offered my staff competitive wages and benefits, and gave them the training they needed as first-time employees (college students) or potential entrepreneurs. I paid my vendors (something T-rump and his ilk are notable for not doing), my employees (ditto), my rent (ditto), my taxes and licenses (ditto), my business loans (ditto), my professional service team (lawyers, accountants, etc). YES, that was me who created all those jobs and kept those people employed - with no government welfare, and no loopholes to escape into.

Any other questions?

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WOW! You shut down pretty quickly on this topic.

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I have better things to do than engage people like yourself. You have your twisted view of reality and nothing will change that.

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Well there's a classic Republican response if ever there was one!

What you actually mean is: "You shut me down with your factual response, since we republicans don't know how to respond to facts and logic."

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People who itemize deductions were screwed. Apparently you don't own a house.

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I own two and was able to take more itemized deductions this year than least year.

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refunds are down because more money was given to people on there paychecks. the taxable liability of most americans went down. ur just spewing propaganda

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