Tax Plan: People Will Start Seeing Benefits In Their Paychecks As Early As February

The Hill thinks this is going to be really super difficult for the Internal Revenue Service, per the headline

Trump’s tax law creates new challenges for IRS

Oh noes, challenges!

The Republican tax bill is the law of the land — but for federal officials, the work is just beginning.

The Treasury Department and the IRS now have a mammoth task on their hands as they seek to turn the sweeping tax provisions passed by Congress into new rules and regulations.

Good grief, they might have to do some actual work!!!!!

The people working for the IRS don’t seem too concerned

The most pressing tax for the IRS is to issue new guidance on tax withholdings from people’s paychecks. The agency said it expects to put forth guidance in January that “will allow taxpayers to begin seeing the changes in their paychecks as early as February.”

Withholdings are currently based in part on taxpayers’ personal exemptions, but those are eliminated under the new law. Some tax and payroll experts had been concerned that employees would have to complete new W-4 forms in 2018, since workers fill them out to have the correct amount of taxes withheld from their pay.

However, the IRS said the new guidance “will be designed to work with the existing Forms W-4 that employees have already filed, and no further action by taxpayers is needed at this time.”

So, just like at any private entity that makes changes, the IRS is just going on with business. But, hey, let’s go back to that first paragraph

The most pressing tax for the IRS is to issue new guidance on tax withholdings from people’s paychecks. The agency said it expects to put forth guidance in January that “will allow taxpayers to begin seeing the changes in their paychecks as early as February.”

People will start seeing those changes as early as February, whereby they are keeping more of their own money. Too bad Congress didn’t slip in a provision where the final year end check would say “you saved $X money this year due to the Trump/GOP tax cut which all Democrats voted against. Or, better yet, have that message in the first October paycheck, so people can think about it as the November elections approach.

A few of the provisions in the tax law are retroactive to 2017, including a lower threshold for the medical expense deduction. The IRS will need to incorporate these smaller changes in their forms for the upcoming filing season.

The Trump tax bill even helps people for their 2017 filings? Awesome!

The IRS does have a lot of work to do over the next year in implementing the new law, but, hey, that’s why they get paid the big bucks.

Meanwhile, liberals love the GOP/Trump tax plan when positioned as if it was Bernie Sanders’

Crossed at Right Wing News.

Read: Tax Plan: People Will Start Seeing Benefits In Their Paychecks As Early As February »

GOP Looks To Put Smackdown On Vulnerable Dems Over Tax Reform

Despite all the bleating from Democrats and their compliant comrades in the media, the GOP tax reform is going to let people keep more of their own money, and help the economy. And it looks like the GOP will use this

(The Hill) The Republican National Committee (RNC) is gearing up to launch a multimillion-dollar effort at the start of 2018 aimed at vulnerable Democrats who voted against the GOP’s tax bill.

In January, the RNC will institute the second phase of its data-focused field program to reach voters about details of the tax overhaul. There will also be a major digital ad component targeting Democrats on the ballot over opposition to the bill. (Snip)

The RNC will focus on the 10 Democratic senators up for reelection in states that Trump carried in 2016. Republicans have a slim 51-seat majority in the Senate and will be looking to unseat those red-state Democrats since the party is largely on offense next year.

“We’re going to remind every voter that Republicans gave the American people a historic pay raise while Democrats stood in the way,” RNC chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel said in a statement provided to The Hill.

It may be polling poorly now, but, by the time the mid-terms roll around and people see the positives, things could go poorly for Democrats. Most people do not care if someone else got to keep more of their own money: they care how something like the tax bill will effect themselves. More money in their own pocket will be a big motivator to vote against people who refused to vote for that pocket money increase.

They tried the class warfare thing, and it didn’t work in getting Hillary elected. It hasn’t helped with Congress during Obama’s years.

Read: GOP Looks To Put Smackdown On Vulnerable Dems Over Tax Reform »

If All You See…

…is snow which will soon be a thing of the past, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Diogenes’ Middle Finger, with a post on the Democrats stink of weakness and defeat.

Read: If All You See… »

TDS: How Trump Totally Stole Christmas (Or Something)

The Trump Derangement Syndrome is strong in this one, young Padawan

(Dallas News)  A home in central Austin makes no apologies for its politically themed Christmas display that equates President Donald Trump’s handling of hot-button issues with a certain green-furred holiday icon.

“‘Twas a few days before Christmas, decorations on display; and some are custom-made, but to many’s dismay, this one jumps into the political fray,” KVUE-TV reporter Brandon Jones said, wasting no time getting into the Dr. Seuss-inspired spirit of things.

The decoration depicts the Grinch — sporting Trump-like bushy hair and eyebrows — making off with some “Christmas gifts” in the form of the Affordable Care Act, DACA, the Paris climate accords and net neutrality.

Interestingly, when some had anti-Obama yard displays, the media pretty much refused to cover them, and those few that did castigated those who put them up.

Read: TDS: How Trump Totally Stole Christmas (Or Something) »

‘Climate Change’ Puts Santa’s Delivery System At Risk Or Something

On the 9th day of Christmas, the Warmists gave to me, more Cult of Climastrology insanity

Global warming puts Santa’s delivery system at risk

It is proving extremely difficult in the aviation sector to find technological solutions to greenhouse gas emissions that influence climate change. As a result, flying may be the last sector staying with fossil fuels.

However, Christmas each year tests an alternative approach. The sleigh driven by Santa Claus is powered by nine reindeer. Like cows, reindeer are ruminants: when they digest grass and lichen, they emit methane gas. Unfortunately this is a very powerful greenhouse gas. On the face of it, this would appear to be a black mark against reindeer-powered sleighs.

However, we should also consider how much greenhouse gas is emitted per tonne of payload per kilometre travelled, and how that might compare with alternative modes of travel. Given that the sleigh is believed to traverse the entire globe over the course of just one night, the number of kilometres travelled is very high.(snip)

While this Christmas delivery service has been in business for aeons, global warming is putting its future at risk. Research shows that the extent of Arctic ice in the winter is rapidly declining each year, due to the continual rise in temperature in these regions driven by climate change. While still adequate for sleighs to take off and land today, in 20 years time this may no longer be possible. As the depth of ice is reduced by global warming, the take-off weight for sleighs in Arctic regions may be steadily reduced under international aviation regulations.

This could give rise to serious disappointment in future years as deliveries will have to be curtailed.

Increasing desertification, combined with the loss of polar ice, could put pressure on Santa to switch to camel-powered flight. This could be seen as unfair double-jobbing, given camels already have a role in bearing gifts and wise men. Taxes on emissions could, however, help fund redundancy payments for Rudolf and friends.

But maybe the best Christmas gift of all for today’s and tomorrow’s children could be effective action to tackle climate change through implementing the Paris Agreement. May all our North Pole Christmases be white.

Read: ‘Climate Change’ Puts Santa’s Delivery System At Risk Or Something »

Team Trump Considers New Method To Discourage Illegal Border Crossings

Ever since Mr. Trump took office, the rhetoric of his administration has been harsh on illegal immigration, which has worked very well to discourage people from crossing the border illegally. The numbers for border crossings are way down. Paired with allowing law enforcement to actually enforce the laws on illegal aliens, they’ve done a great job on this issue. Then, you add in how the media and Democrats have freaked out all throughout the year, talking about fear among illegals and stuff, and there’s even more disincentivizing of people coming illegally. Really, the media has done Trump a big service by keeping the issue at the forefront for much of the year. But, numbers in November, so

To curb illegal border crossings, Trump administration weighs new measures targeting families

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen is considering a series of measures to halt a new surge of Central American families and unaccompanied minors coming across the Mexican border, including a proposal to separate parents from their children, according to Trump administration officials with knowledge of the plans.

These measures, described on condition of anonymity because they have not been publicly disclosed, would also crack down on migrants already living in the United States illegally who send for their children. That aspect of the effort would use data collected by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to target parents for deportation after they attempt to regain custody of their kids from government shelters.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has previously considered some of these proposals, but there is renewed urgency within the administration to address an abrupt reversal of what had been a sharp decline in illegal immigration since Trump took office in January .

In November, U.S. agents took into custody 7,018 families, or “family units,” along the border with Mexico, a 45 percent increase over the previous month, the latest DHS statistics show. The number of Unaccompanied Alien Children, or UACs, was up 26 percent.

Those numbers are well below most Obama era numbers, but, whether or not this report is real (it’s repeated at the NY Times and other outlets with the same us of anonymous sources), the idea is to scare those who might come illegally, along with those who are here illegally.

Trump administration officials described the measures as an unpalatable but necessarily tough series of policy options to discourage Central American families from embarking on the long, dangerous journey to the border — or hiring smugglers to bring their kids north.

“People aren’t going to stop coming unless there are consequences to illegal entry,” one DHS official said.

Unlike the Obama administration, which encouraged people to come here illegally (particularly from Central America. Numbers from Mexico were and still are way down), Team Trump is doing all they can to discourage illegal entry. You don’t have to spend the time and money catching and deporting if fewer attempt to come illegally.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

Read: Team Trump Considers New Method To Discourage Illegal Border Crossings »

Illegal Alien Hiding In Church Feels Like He’s In Jail Or Something

Uh huh

https://twitter.com/WilliamTeach/status/943642104986730496

From the link

Jose Chicas spends a lot of time on a porch of a home run by St. John’s Baptist Church in Durham, looking out on a street where he dares not walk.

Chicas fled a civil war in his native El Salvador three decades ago and has lived in the U.S. ever since. Earlier this year, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement told him he had to leave the country. He said he believes ICE’s stance is linked to his convictions for impaired driving and domestic violence 20 years ago.

Instead of leaving, however, he sought sanctuary in late June at the church on Onslow Street. ICE policy is not to arrest people on church property, so Chicas feels safe as long as he stays at the church and the house it has.

“I cannot go outside in the streets. I just stay over here in the parking lot or the house or go a little bit outside and come back inside again,” he said. “[If] ICE see me in the street, he can catch me. I don’t want to go back to my country.” (snip)

“(It’s) very, very difficult. This is like jail,” he said. “It’s a house, but it’s like jail.

And he goes on to Blame Trump

“The new [Trump Administration] policy decision to simply remove people and separate them from their families is an act of violence we want to stand against,” he said.

This situation is strictly his own fault. He wasn’t forced to come here illegally. He wasn’t forced to stay here all these years illegally. He wasn’t forced drive while impaired or commit domestic violence. Any issues that this causes for him and his family is strictly on him.

But, tell you what: if he stays in that “jail” for the next, say, three years without leaving, then let’s give him legal status. Not citizenship. Just permanent resident status. If he wants citizenship, he can go through the system just like other people do.

Read: Illegal Alien Hiding In Church Feels Like He’s In Jail Or Something »

If All You See…

…is dark skies covered with carbon pollution, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is The Last Refuge, with a post on a former FBI assistant Director saying something is about to happen.

Read: If All You See… »

Twas The Night Before Christmas Is All About ‘Climate Change’ Or Something

Members of the Cult of Climastrology just can’t help themselves

Here are all the environmental lessons packed into ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas poem

This year I sent Christmas cards with pictures of our two electric cars with the text: “Electrify Your Christmas” and an exhortation to make 2018 your greenest year ever (by making your next car electric).

Here’s my holiday-themed environmental reminder set to select stanzas of “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” with apologies to Clement Clarke Moore:

‘Twas the night before Christmas … night, the best time to save energy by turning off lights and using only energy-efficient LED light bulbs. On Jan. 1, the 125-year-old incandescent bulbs won’t be sold because the state energy standard, which is three times more efficient, kicks in. Did you know there are 250 million sockets in California still with the higher-energy use bulbs? If all are replaced with LEDs, it will save $1 billion a year on electric bills. Plus, they are just as bright and last 25 times longer.

OK, in all fairness Steve Scaulzillo does make a few good points about real environmental concerns, like using rat poison, using fireplaces to burn wood in sunny southern California, and how lawns are silly and water intensive in a place like southern California.

More rapid than eagles his coursers they came, and he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name … bald eagles are an environmental success story. After the EPA banned DDT, bald eagles came back. I did a story on the first nesting pair found in Los Angeles County two years ago and I believe mom and dad eagle are still there.

And now wind turbines are literally cleaving them out of the sky.

A wink of his eye and a twist of his head soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread … sometimes I find myself dreading the effects of climate change, what future we are leaving our children and grandchildren.

Read: Twas The Night Before Christmas Is All About ‘Climate Change’ Or Something »

Trump Threatens To Cut Aid For Those Nations Who Vote Against U.S. Jerusalem Move

If nations do not like the way we do things, maybe they should stop receiving the money taken from U.S. taxpayers

(Fox News) President Donald Trump’s threat to cut off U.S. funding to countries that oppose his decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital has raised the stakes in Thursday’s U.N. vote and sparked criticism at his tactics, which one Muslim group called bullying or blackmail.

Trump went a step further than U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley who hinted in a tweet and a letter to most of the 193 U.N. member states on Tuesday that the U.S. would retaliate against countries that vote in favor of a General Assembly resolution calling on the president to rescind his decision.

Haley said the president asked her to report back on countries “who voted against us” — and she stressed that the United States “will be taking names.”

At the start of a Cabinet meeting in Washington on Wednesday, with Haley sitting nearby, Trump told reporters that Americans are tired of being taken advantage of and praised the U.S. ambassador for sending the “right message” before the vote.

“For all these nations, they take our money and then vote against us. They take hundreds of millions of dollars, even billions of dollars and then they vote against us,” Trump told reporters at the Cabinet meeting. “We’re watching those votes. Let them vote against us.”

“We’ll save a lot. We don’t care,” he said, alluding to U.S. aid.

It’s long past time that America gets payback and respect for all the money we pump into the United Nations and countries around the world, many which would collapse without our help. And long past time that the Israel and Jew hatred in the United Nations is stomped on.

Read: Trump Threatens To Cut Aid For Those Nations Who Vote Against U.S. Jerusalem Move »

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