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dragonlady7I feel like Beavis. "Dammit, dammit, sonofabitch!"
Kerry, why didn't you stick to your guns that every vote counts? I thought every vote counted. And you know, it's not like there's nobody governing the country in the interim. It can wait. It's important. I mean it-- this is important.
Sigh.
Well, I guess I'm done, then. Time to come up with a plan. Hmmm... Leave?
Note: I'm calmer now so I'm not spewing obscenities, and I'm trying to address all this as academically and rationally as I can. Spewing rhetoric makes me no better than those I am spewing against.
added: here is the link to the journal entry I posted wherein I linked to that PIPA election report that suggested that the majority of Bush's supporters did not, in fact, understand Bush's actual position on a number of key issues.
I was discussing this in comments to an earlier entry-- http://www.livejournal.com/users/dragonlady7/445106.html?nc=2 -- I ended the entry by saying that my first thought was that we should secede.
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mother2012 expressed surprise at the predominance of that sentiment, including that she herself had briefly thought it as well.
But it's only a natural impulse. We tried our hardest to effect much-desired change using legitimate means, and we were out-tried by the opposition. We don't feel that the opposition is exercising democracy properly-- overwhelmingly, those among my friends who are Kerry supporters (or just Bush opponents) feel that Bush's supporters voted for him without fully understanding his position on all the issues, without fully considering the issues as we all felt we had, without really truly informing themselves as well as true citizens of a democracy must in order for it to function effectively. That's the prevailing feeling, and it makes the defeat especially bitter. They are not simply people with a different opinion, we feel-- they are people with an uninformed opinion, at a time when none can afford to be uninformed.
And so, denied (as we feel) legitimate expression, we feel that we now have nowhere to turn within the confines of this country's current government and law. We have no recourse. Just as before, we have no voice, even though we proved our commitment in massive numbers. All that, and the situation has only grown worse.
I doubt many of us will really truly turn to radicalism. The disappointment will fade and we will find legitimate ways to protect ourselves.
But for now, the hurt is sharp enough that it has driven even committed patriots who love their country deeply to consider abandoning it.
It just hurts. A lot.
On an entirely different note, Dave got a call from the IRS telling him he owes them $8k for his taxes last year.
He has less than $300 in savings left to get him through until February, when he'll have his degree.
He paid $10k in withholdings last year. He did his own taxes. By his figures, he owed $8k. Having already paid $10k, his math suggested that it was the IRS who owed him $2k. That's not exactly advanced calculus.
However. The IRS is sure that he still owes them $8k. Which would mean that he was paying a total of $18k out of a salary of $50k. That seems like an awful lot.
So he's found his tax documents from last year and is going to call them back.
Cross your fingers. We don't have any income and my savings are rapidly dwindling. We can't afford another $8k. We won't earn $8k this year, combined between the two of us. That's ridiculous.
And the thought is especially galling given that we both feel that we have no voice in the government this money is going to. (I hope this feeling fades because it is quite painful. It's just a feeling. Of course we have a voice. We were simply out-shouted. And that's legitimate. And that's democracy. But it always sucks to lose, and it sucks more when so much is at stake and the game wasn't even fun to begin with.)
Kerry, why didn't you stick to your guns that every vote counts? I thought every vote counted. And you know, it's not like there's nobody governing the country in the interim. It can wait. It's important. I mean it-- this is important.
Sigh.
Well, I guess I'm done, then. Time to come up with a plan. Hmmm... Leave?
Note: I'm calmer now so I'm not spewing obscenities, and I'm trying to address all this as academically and rationally as I can. Spewing rhetoric makes me no better than those I am spewing against.
added: here is the link to the journal entry I posted wherein I linked to that PIPA election report that suggested that the majority of Bush's supporters did not, in fact, understand Bush's actual position on a number of key issues.
I was discussing this in comments to an earlier entry-- http://www.livejournal.com/users/dragonlady7/445106.html?nc=2 -- I ended the entry by saying that my first thought was that we should secede.
mother2012 expressed surprise at the predominance of that sentiment, including that she herself had briefly thought it as well. But it's only a natural impulse. We tried our hardest to effect much-desired change using legitimate means, and we were out-tried by the opposition. We don't feel that the opposition is exercising democracy properly-- overwhelmingly, those among my friends who are Kerry supporters (or just Bush opponents) feel that Bush's supporters voted for him without fully understanding his position on all the issues, without fully considering the issues as we all felt we had, without really truly informing themselves as well as true citizens of a democracy must in order for it to function effectively. That's the prevailing feeling, and it makes the defeat especially bitter. They are not simply people with a different opinion, we feel-- they are people with an uninformed opinion, at a time when none can afford to be uninformed.
And so, denied (as we feel) legitimate expression, we feel that we now have nowhere to turn within the confines of this country's current government and law. We have no recourse. Just as before, we have no voice, even though we proved our commitment in massive numbers. All that, and the situation has only grown worse.
I doubt many of us will really truly turn to radicalism. The disappointment will fade and we will find legitimate ways to protect ourselves.
But for now, the hurt is sharp enough that it has driven even committed patriots who love their country deeply to consider abandoning it.
It just hurts. A lot.
On an entirely different note, Dave got a call from the IRS telling him he owes them $8k for his taxes last year.
He has less than $300 in savings left to get him through until February, when he'll have his degree.
He paid $10k in withholdings last year. He did his own taxes. By his figures, he owed $8k. Having already paid $10k, his math suggested that it was the IRS who owed him $2k. That's not exactly advanced calculus.
However. The IRS is sure that he still owes them $8k. Which would mean that he was paying a total of $18k out of a salary of $50k. That seems like an awful lot.
So he's found his tax documents from last year and is going to call them back.
Cross your fingers. We don't have any income and my savings are rapidly dwindling. We can't afford another $8k. We won't earn $8k this year, combined between the two of us. That's ridiculous.
And the thought is especially galling given that we both feel that we have no voice in the government this money is going to. (I hope this feeling fades because it is quite painful. It's just a feeling. Of course we have a voice. We were simply out-shouted. And that's legitimate. And that's democracy. But it always sucks to lose, and it sucks more when so much is at stake and the game wasn't even fun to begin with.)
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no subject
Date: 2004-11-03 07:16 pm (UTC)We don't feel that the opposition is exercising democracy properly-- overwhelmingly, those among my friends who are Kerry supporters (or just Bush opponents) feel that Bush's supporters voted for him without fully understanding his position on all the issues, without fully considering the issues as we all felt we had, without really truly informing themselves as well as true citizens of a democracy must in order for it to function effectively. That's the prevailing feeling, and it makes the defeat especially bitter.
I know it doesn't make much of a difference either way, but I've heard republicans make the same complaint against democrats here in my state.
I think it's easy to believe that those who think differently are just not thinking.
no subject
Date: 2004-11-03 08:35 pm (UTC)>IRS
Gah.
Yeah. Well, worst comes to worst: We have no money. Best of luck to them, but you can't get blood from stones. We're both unemployed and have had no income since (in my case) December, or (in his case) April. They can bill us all they want, but there's nothing to take. We don't even own any valuables.
I started off intending to go into freelance web copywriting, but I got only one gig, and got totally confused by the tax laws, among other difficulties. So I gave up. And the fellow never paid me for the one job I did, so I sincerely hope the IRS doesn't expect me to pay taxes on that.
>those who think differently are not just thinking
I based a great deal of that thought on this study:
http://www.pipa.org/OnlineReports/Pres_Election_04/Report10_21_04.pdf
which is a PDF of a report put together by PIPA based on several surveys conducted among American voters. In short, it explains that a marked trend toward cognitive dissonance exists among Bush's supporters, many of whom, for example, believe that the Duelfer report said that Iraq had WMD's (it didn't), or that Bush supports the international treaty on land mines (he doesn't).
It made me cry when I read it, and it still makes me cry when I read it.
I have not seen any reports that go the other way, and say that Kerry's supporters were as significantly out of touch with facts. But I don't know everything.
That's where my distress comes from. Perhaps that study is biased: I don't know. It seems to be borne out by anecdotal evidence among my circle of acquaintances. I am afraid to enquire too deeply because if you ask someone too intently about their political beliefs they get defensive, and it's impossible to have a decent conversation about it. Especially if you strongly, strongly disagree. (I have had limited success in one conversation so far: My opponent thanked me for responding thoughtfully, and then confessed he hadn't really considered the issue. !!!!!!!)
So, I'm not just saying that one must be mad to disagree with me because I'm right: I'm saying it upsets me to think that many who disagreed with me may have done so because they were misled to and lacked the inclination or resources to realize that they were being misled. It's all personal feelings, mind you, and that's all, but it's strong personal feelings.
I understand that having a more proportional democracy, where more than two parties exist and thus more citizens' interests are directly represented, makes for a much less stable government. (Think Italy, think Latvia [their government just fell again when a coalition dissolved], think-- even Britain.)
But I cannot help but feel intense frustration with the two-party system. Our checks and balances have all swung to one side now, and there is absolutely nothing left for fully 49% of the country. What can we do? We certainly cannot expect that the new administration will have any more consideration for their opponents than the last one did.
But now I'm just rambling, and I think I'd best go do something I'm qualified to do-- write some novel...
no subject
Date: 2004-11-03 09:07 pm (UTC)I would have preferred the document to begin by giving their interpretation of all those expert opinions and going from there. A lot of people interpreted the Senate Intelligence Report and the Dueffler (I know I spelled that wrong) differently. The wording in all those reports was carefully chosen to be vague and open to interpretation.
Also, having studied social sciences statistics a bit, I'm very skeptical of any of their attempt to draw conclusions from statistics, especially polling data. Even if polling numbers show some sort of interpretive disconnect, it does not follow that all Republicans are ignorant. Statistics just aren't capable of proving that, and such a statement would be horribly bigoted. (I know you aren't saying that, but I've heard it.)
In the end, unless we're George Soros or Michael Moore, there's not much we can do to affect the opinions and interpretations of others. The problem with democracy is that there's always the chance the majority is wrong.
no subject
Date: 2004-11-03 07:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-03 07:52 pm (UTC)(Why you would phone someone up to discuss this sort of thing when you didn't have the data, I cannot imagine. But, I don't work for them.)
Still, good to know.
Income averaging? I was fired in December of last year and have not been able to find a job since then, but when I filed my taxes I didn't think that mattered at all. I paid an ass-ton of taxes last year because I actually had my first full-time, salaried job. But since then I've had nothing. Are you saying that the IRS would actually care about that?
no subject
Date: 2004-11-03 08:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-03 09:29 pm (UTC)Morgan did some freelance gigs on the side for a couple years, and the first year of it I tried to do the taxes and came up with us owing. I went to Block and threw it all at them, and we got a refund. Definitely worth it to get help.
If you take a walk, I'll tax your feet
Date: 2004-11-04 02:51 am (UTC)The IRS people were actually pretty friendly [except, perhaps, for the first person who called me: 'Hey! You owe us $8000! Oh, the database is down. Call us back tomorrow, sorry for the heart failure, bye, click.'] and helpful. Go figure.
If it were any more complicated than that, I definitely would have brought it to Block on your recommendation. I've always prided myself on being able to do my own taxes, but if it saves more money than it costs, I might have them professionally prepared next time around. On the other hand, the only money I made this year was from turning the couch upside-down when we moved it, so it may be a moot point.
- Z
Re: If you take a walk, I'll tax your feet
Date: 2004-11-04 03:50 am (UTC)Re: If you take a walk, I'll tax your feet
Date: 2004-11-06 05:52 pm (UTC)I will look into having my taxes professionally prepared next year. If my finances are relatively boring, not to mention minimal, it should be fairly cheap, right?
- Z
Re: If you take a walk, I'll tax your feet
Date: 2004-11-06 05:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-03 11:05 pm (UTC)The federal tax withholding rate for a single person in the 50K income range is 25%; you also pay 7.6% in Social Security and Medicare and double that (15.2%) if you are self employed. Then you still have state taxes on top of that. You can deduct certain things though - what you pay in state tax and some other things if that was self employed income.
A tax person may aid you in finding all the deductions, and worse comese worst, helping you get on a payment plan (unfortunately I have a family member on that and they take an additional $600 a month out of her paycheck).