So stop trying to deny that first part.
Apr 16, 2026
The Tyranny Of Percentages
Yay for that. This is a good thing.
Problem:
The cost of gas, and groceries, and other goods is increasing (inflation is up around 3.3% now), and that means we're going to pay more in sales taxes.
That's kinda how percentage works.
At a total Sales Tax Rate of 6% (a low-ish average nationwide), my usual $110 in groceries costs $116.60.
Inflation pushes the cost of my groceries to $113.63, which is $120.45 with tax.
If that new total of $116.60 is what I spend every 5 or 6 days, then the $6.40 in extra tax means I'll spend almost $390.00 more this year than I did last year, and - obviously - that eliminates any gain in my tax refund, and equates to a hit on my $65,000 average income of almost a full percent.
So a "tax cut", (minus inflation, minus tariffs) means my annual income goes down - and that's just looking at the food that I can't not buy. Wanna talk about clothing? Wanna talk about having a child or two? How 'bout maintenance on your car and your house?
Meanwhile, people making over the magic threshold of $400,000 will likely not see any discernible change at all.
And don't get me started on Parasite Billionaires.
Another Mr Global
"We" are not going to make a lot of money, in spite of what Mr Trump tries to tell us.
The Dirty Fuels Cartel will make a lot of money, because they own a controlling share of our coin-operated politicians.
We - you and me and our friends and neighbors - will not make that money.
We will go broke filling the pockets of the plutocrats.
Mr Global
BOTH
SIDES
DON'T
Leavitt tried to articulate some kind of moral superiority, but she only further debased the whole sorry fucked up mess.
And the kicker:
She needs us to think about how sick and twisted and disgusting it is for Democrats to have known about Swalwell and said nothing about it until the story broke, without the slightest hint of irony or self-awareness about Republicans who're still actively engaged in covering up for Trump.
And she's right, in a perverted way. The whole stupid Washington game of collecting bargaining chips to use for, or against somebody "when the time comes", and the difference in how the parties are playing that stupid game now - that's where the real disgust ultimately belongs.
Democrats aren't exactly pure as the driven snow, but Republicans are like that ugly gray-brown slush on the streets when a heavy snow starts to melt.
The Right Kind Of Fuckup
"The purpose of the separation of church and state is to keep forever from these shores the ceaseless strife that has soaked the soil of Europe in blood for centuries."
So the whole point of the Freedom of Religion clauses in the first amendment, is aimed at the two basic points:
- Keep the government from dictating what religions have to be and do
- Keep the god-knobbers from dictating government policies
I've said I'll vote for just about any candidate who says they'll close down the White House Faith Office, and the Office Of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. I don't want my government to give one lousy dime of my money to some bible-thumping Jesus freak. Ever.
There are much better ways to help "the needy".
One look at Paula White* and it has to be obvious what a stupid thing it is to hand her millions of taxpayer dollars and let her do whatever she sees fit with it.
So when Trump spits on the Pope, and Hegseth delivers fire-n-brimstone "Christian Soldier" screeds, and then tries to pass off a "quote" from Pulp Fiction as something from the bible - all of which ends up accumulating into a massive "fuck you" to Christians in general - well - you know - Trump always makes things worse for Trump.
* (Google)
AI Overview
Whether Paula White is considered a "fraud" is a matter of intense public debate and perspective, largely centered on her promotion of prosperity theology and her fundraising methods. While she is a prominent televangelist and a spiritual advisor to Donald Trump, she has faced significant accusations from critics regarding her practices. Accusations and Criticism:
- Fundraising Practices: White has been criticized for her, at times, relentless solicitation of donations, often promising divine returns for financial "seed" money, which critics characterize as exploiting low-to-middle income followers.
- Financial Scrutiny: Her ministry, "Without Walls," previously went through a bankruptcy, and her lavish lifestyle has drawn scrutiny in contrast to her solicitation of donations.
- Accusations of Exploitation: Critics, including the Freedom From Religion Foundation, have accused her of engaging in "spiritual exploitation" and promoting a "grift" rather than providing genuine religious support.
- Political Controversy: Some observers, including legal experts, have accused her of running a "ponzi scheme" and "prophetic" scams for profit, particularly when she was connected to her role as a White House spiritual advisor.
White is a proponent of "prosperity theology," which claims that financial blessing is the will of God for Christians and that donations to the church will bring financial returns.
This theology is frequently criticized by other religious leaders as heresy, unbiblical, and exploitative.
Defense and Position:
This theology is frequently criticized by other religious leaders as heresy, unbiblical, and exploitative.
Defense and Position:
- Supporters see her as a legitimate spiritual leader who has successfully navigated a male-dominated field of televangelism.
- She has maintained a close relationship with high-profile political figures, notably Donald Trump, and has defended her teachings, framing her work as ministry.
Apr 15, 2026
Mathing It Out
Yes, the top 1% pay about 40% of the taxes.
A better way to put it is that the top 1% pay $880 Billion a year in taxes, while controlling - and living on - more than $53 Trillion.
And an even better way to put it:
$880,000,000,000 ÷ $50,000,000,000,000 = 1.7%
The elite 1% are parasites.oo
GIGO
Disclaimer: Everything I'm saying here is from my own limited knowledge and experience of what it takes to "program" a computer.
And as each AI thingie keeps eating everything put out by all the other AI thingies, there's a fair likelihood that we're going to get a kind of closed-loop information track that eventually leads to what we used to call Machine Psychosis.
ie:
10 print: Help, I'm stuck in a loop!20 go to: 10
One of the problems right now is that everybody and his fuckin' uncle has been putting up an AI thingie, and they're all pretty much feeding on each other. So if some random yahoo throws some totally bogus info into cyberspace, it's going to get swept up and included in practically everybody's output.
So the big problem, as I see it, is that most AI engines haven't been taught any great skills of discernment - kinda like most Americans haven't. Not yet anyway.
Oops
We all have to know that the Doordash Grandma thing was just a stunt, intended to show off Trump's "genius idea to get Americans out from under their horrendous tax burden" - and it flopped.
Tax season was supposed to bring big refunds. So far they're less than expected
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Early spring means the return of warm weather and … taxes. On a recent weekend, Dan and Glynna Courter were enjoying the sun with friends over a picnic of blueberries and Cheez-Its at Birmingham's Railroad Park.
When the topic moved to how they're feeling about their tax refunds, nearly everyone at the gathering responded with a chorus of lukewarm just fines.
The lack of enthusiasm was surprising considering everyone on the picnic blanket received sizable refunds, including about $10,000 for the Courters combined. But Glynna thinks their refund wasn't that much different from last year. The couple withhold the maximum taxes from their paychecks, which helps them avoid the risk of owing taxes and leads to a bigger refund.
"We might go to a nice restaurant," Dan added, after Glynna said they'd use the refund for savings.
This is not the vibe Republican lawmakers were planning for this tax season. The White House had already declared this the "largest tax refund season in U.S. history," and so far it's on track to be, due to the Republicans' signature tax and spending law, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The White House projected the average refund "to rise by $1,000 or more this year."
But that extra refund bump has fallen short of that projection.
So far, the average refund has totaled about $350 more than last year. By early April, the average tax refund sat at $3,462, which is 11.1% higher than the same point last year, according to the IRS.
And Americans appear to be shrugging their shoulders at the tax changes. A recent survey by the Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington think tank advising on federal policy, found 62% of respondents either thought the tax changes harmed them or made no difference. Even among Republicans, only 35% said the changes favored them.
"There's a bit of a disappointment in how much those refunds are," said Tom O'Saben, the director of tax content and government relations at the National Association of Tax Professionals. "People are quietly, perhaps, happy but not to the extent where I would call it significant."
Americans who owe taxes could be seeing a bigger slice of the savings
One possible explanation for the lower refunds is that the benefits from the tax law changes could be showing up more for Americans who don't receive refunds, but owe taxes. The IRS data on tax refunds this season does not factor in how much less Americans owed compared to last year.
Wealthier filers so far seem to have received larger benefits from the tax changes.
"Higher income taxpayers are much more likely than lower income taxpayers to report significantly higher refunds this year," said Andrew Lautz, director of tax policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center.
That's due in part to the increase in the SALT, or state and local tax, deduction cap raised by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Filers can now deduct up to $40,000 for property, sales and income taxes paid to state and local governments. The deduction primarily goes to wealthier Americans who own homes with big mortgage payments.
Since they traditionally are more likely to procrastinate sending in their returns, that could cause this year's average tax refund to grow later on, but likely still fall short of the additional $1,000 mark, Lautz said. "It is unlikely that we will see that kind of boost by the end of this."
Refunds are getting eaten up by higher gas prices
Part of the tepid response to refunds could be related to the extra cash Americans are spending at the pump.
The war with Iran has brought the average price for a gallon of regular in the U.S. well above $4. Data from the Bank of America Institute and PNC shows consumers have continued spending on gas, and depending on how long gas prices stay elevated, all of the benefits Americans received from the 2025 tax and spending bill could go solely to staying fueled up.
It flopped in large part because, like I said, it was recognized as a stunt, but also because we found out the lady has to drive Doordash to pay the mortgage and the ridiculous healthcare bills that are piling up from her husband's cancer treatments.
Anyway, speaking of tax burdens, we were told that everybody's tax refunds this year would be nice and plump, and they'd all be rollin' in dough that they could use to buy that new car, or put the kids through college, or take that special vacation, and blah blah blah.
Well - no - not so much.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Early spring means the return of warm weather and … taxes. On a recent weekend, Dan and Glynna Courter were enjoying the sun with friends over a picnic of blueberries and Cheez-Its at Birmingham's Railroad Park.
When the topic moved to how they're feeling about their tax refunds, nearly everyone at the gathering responded with a chorus of lukewarm just fines.
The lack of enthusiasm was surprising considering everyone on the picnic blanket received sizable refunds, including about $10,000 for the Courters combined. But Glynna thinks their refund wasn't that much different from last year. The couple withhold the maximum taxes from their paychecks, which helps them avoid the risk of owing taxes and leads to a bigger refund.
"We might go to a nice restaurant," Dan added, after Glynna said they'd use the refund for savings.
This is not the vibe Republican lawmakers were planning for this tax season. The White House had already declared this the "largest tax refund season in U.S. history," and so far it's on track to be, due to the Republicans' signature tax and spending law, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The White House projected the average refund "to rise by $1,000 or more this year."
But that extra refund bump has fallen short of that projection.
So far, the average refund has totaled about $350 more than last year. By early April, the average tax refund sat at $3,462, which is 11.1% higher than the same point last year, according to the IRS.
And Americans appear to be shrugging their shoulders at the tax changes. A recent survey by the Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington think tank advising on federal policy, found 62% of respondents either thought the tax changes harmed them or made no difference. Even among Republicans, only 35% said the changes favored them.
"There's a bit of a disappointment in how much those refunds are," said Tom O'Saben, the director of tax content and government relations at the National Association of Tax Professionals. "People are quietly, perhaps, happy but not to the extent where I would call it significant."
Americans who owe taxes could be seeing a bigger slice of the savings
One possible explanation for the lower refunds is that the benefits from the tax law changes could be showing up more for Americans who don't receive refunds, but owe taxes. The IRS data on tax refunds this season does not factor in how much less Americans owed compared to last year.
"The evidence is stronger that more tax relief is relatively flowing to those who otherwise would owe when they file," said Don Schneider, deputy head of U.S. policy at the investment bank Piper Sandler.
But Schneider points out that owing less money is harder to notice than getting cash in hand.
"Getting it in a refund is probably more impactful, more easy to understand than having a reduction in what you otherwise would owe," Schneider said.
Higher-income procrastinators still have to file
But Schneider points out that owing less money is harder to notice than getting cash in hand.
"Getting it in a refund is probably more impactful, more easy to understand than having a reduction in what you otherwise would owe," Schneider said.
Higher-income procrastinators still have to file
Wealthier filers so far seem to have received larger benefits from the tax changes.
"Higher income taxpayers are much more likely than lower income taxpayers to report significantly higher refunds this year," said Andrew Lautz, director of tax policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center.
That's due in part to the increase in the SALT, or state and local tax, deduction cap raised by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Filers can now deduct up to $40,000 for property, sales and income taxes paid to state and local governments. The deduction primarily goes to wealthier Americans who own homes with big mortgage payments.
Since they traditionally are more likely to procrastinate sending in their returns, that could cause this year's average tax refund to grow later on, but likely still fall short of the additional $1,000 mark, Lautz said. "It is unlikely that we will see that kind of boost by the end of this."
Refunds are getting eaten up by higher gas prices
Part of the tepid response to refunds could be related to the extra cash Americans are spending at the pump.
The war with Iran has brought the average price for a gallon of regular in the U.S. well above $4. Data from the Bank of America Institute and PNC shows consumers have continued spending on gas, and depending on how long gas prices stay elevated, all of the benefits Americans received from the 2025 tax and spending bill could go solely to staying fueled up.
"The tax refund season might be very good, but it's also being offset by this price in gasoline," said Michael Pearce, chief U.S. economist at Oxford Economics.
Bob Jones, a retiree in Birmingham, is satisfied with his refund. He benefited from an extra deduction of $6,000 for a lot of seniors 65 and up. But the war with Iran has him worried about what that means for the price of gas, so he's put it all in savings.
"You need the savings simply for gas," Jones said.
Bob Jones, a retiree in Birmingham, is satisfied with his refund. He benefited from an extra deduction of $6,000 for a lot of seniors 65 and up. But the war with Iran has him worried about what that means for the price of gas, so he's put it all in savings.
"You need the savings simply for gas," Jones said.
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