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[-] TheDoctorDonna@lemmy.world 119 points 11 months ago

As someone who has to pay back half of my COVID relief but so many rich people and corporations don't- I feel this deep in my black soul.

$7000 on top of my student loans👍

[-] STRIKINGdebate2@lemmy.world 40 points 11 months ago

Quick question? How come you gave to pay half of it back? On what grounds?

[-] TheDoctorDonna@lemmy.world 43 points 11 months ago

They "reassessed" my account and that's all the reason they gave.

[-] InternetCitizen2@lemmy.world 12 points 11 months ago

On what grounds? It keeps the rent pigs in line. /s

But also not /s

[-] FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world 29 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

I made a $10,000 payment to close out mine a few years ago. Turns out I was right that Biden wouldn't do anything meaningful on that front, and I was tired of being gouged on the interest.

I still support cancellation though. I wish we were spending 200 billion on that instead of another country's war.

[-] BossDj@lemm.ee 90 points 11 months ago

You should take a second to look up who is in the way of that happening, because it sure as hell isn't Biden.

[-] crusa187@lemmy.ml 10 points 11 months ago

It isn’t Biden, who single-handedly struck a deal as a congressman to ensure students couldn’t declare bankruptcy due to crushing student loan debt? Huh.

[-] doctorcrimson@lemmy.today 12 points 11 months ago

I don't think the above users meant 1976 when they were talking about Biden's actions on Student Loans. Just a hunch. Also, technically, Student Loans are dischargeable by Bankruptcy starting 5 years into repayment or sooner in the case of undue hardships.

[-] SeducingCamel@lemm.ee 6 points 11 months ago

That was a long time ago so it isn't relevant to Biden now /s

[-] 1847953620@lemmy.world 9 points 11 months ago

well they sure as fuck stopped trying

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 26 points 11 months ago
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[-] asteriskeverything@lemmy.world 12 points 11 months ago

Dude you know they were referring to covid relief and not LOANS. "On what grounds" they said, obviously that's not referring to paying back a loan and instead on what grounds would you have to pay back RELIEF funds.

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[-] rubythulhu 82 points 11 months ago

We should subtract from the military’s budget anything they can’t explain on an audit.

[-] Potatos_are_not_friends@lemmy.world 37 points 11 months ago

"Why do we have to explain a $880,000 missile that bombed a villiage full of brown people? Or a $72,000 drone made out of consumer parts but the company is owned by my cousin?"

[-] gardylou@lemmy.world 56 points 11 months ago

That 'we don't know where 2 trillion went' is a myth--that number represents accounting reconciliations between their myriad of different archaic and highly secured systems. It doesn't mean that actual resources are missing or can't be accounted for.

[-] maryjayjay@lemmy.world 31 points 11 months ago

I remember reports of literal pallets of cash going missing during desert storm

[-] diffcalculus@lemmy.world 14 points 11 months ago
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[-] uriel238 9 points 11 months ago

It's an infestation of unconnected dots that could hide countless incidents of corruption. Were we to connect them all and compute the sum of adjustments, the discrepancy could be smaller or greater, exponentially.

The problem is our government favors the DoD like a prodigal son and is not eager to facilitate an audit that might reveal trillions in corruption. It already doesn't like the published records of trullions in bad investments while leaving our troopers with insufficient armor and a DVA that leaves IED victims to the streets and the elements.

So until I see otherwise, I'm going to assume that's trillions going to defense contractor lobbyist junkets and bribes.

[-] bobthened@feddit.uk 9 points 11 months ago

That doesn't really matter though. The point still stands regardless of if it's explained by money literally disappearing into a hole or huge rounding errors and inefficiencies in their accounting systems.

They are still allowed much much more leniency with much larger amounts of money (aren't they aren't ever properly held to account for it) than regular people are allowed with comparatively tiny amounts of money.

[-] Knightfox@lemmy.one 6 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

A big part of it is reporting requirements, despite what some people think different portions of the government have different requirements. The reason a person gets inquiries about Venmo payments is because the IRS requires corporations to report that information to them and it's a mainly automated process.

Regulatory reporting requirements of Corporations to the IRS can't be copy pasted onto Pentagon spending reconciliation.

A better comparison, that is still not accurate, would be a cash business that has to report income to the IRS and has trouble getting granular details organized.

Complaints about transparency and accountability on the Pentagon budget are a valid complaint, but this is a poor example.

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[-] phorq@lemmy.ml 42 points 11 months ago

They know exactly where it went. Operation Freedom, abbreviated OF on the ledger...

[-] ThatFembyWho 27 points 11 months ago

Ha you can't even receive $50 of digital payments (venmo, cashapp, whatever) without passing an invasive KYC check. Fuck big brother.

[-] Thermal_shocked@lemmy.world 22 points 11 months ago

I'm not reporting that someone sent me their share of the mortgage through an app rather than cash. Get fucked.

[-] ApathyTree@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 11 months ago

That’s a personal transaction and not business so you don’t have to claim it anyway.

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[-] Zipitydew@sh.itjust.works 19 points 11 months ago

Sorry to be that person but this doesn't make sense for a couple legitimate reasons.

https://sh.itjust.works/comment/6179467

For sure BS the DoD isn't really improving. Yet this is an apples to oranges comparison.

[-] rockSlayer@lemmy.world 28 points 11 months ago

It's not about taxes, not really. It's the hypocritical and one-sided scrutiny of citizens vs corporations and the military industrial complex.

[-] Zipitydew@sh.itjust.works 11 points 11 months ago

It's still wrong. Even when not about taxes directly.

It demonstrates either ignorance about government responsibilities, ignorance about GAP, or combination of both.

People passing this around should do better to come up with an applicable comparison regarding oversight the IRS has. There are many examples.

But the IRS isn't the GAO. Auditing the DoD will never be something the IRS handles.

[-] rockSlayer@lemmy.world 20 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Ok, so where is the missing 2 trillion dollars? You seem to be missing the forest for the trees. It's about hypocrisy, not the highly specific functioning of an inept governmental office.

Edit: I'll spell out the hypocrisy. What happens when you fail an audit? You're forced to pay back the money. What happens when the Pentagon fails their audits? Literally nothing. The 1990 bill has no penalties for failing, none.

[-] Zipitydew@sh.itjust.works 9 points 11 months ago

Ok, so where is the missing 2 trillion dollars?

That's for the GAO to figure out. Not me or the IRS. The IRS is already understaffed and funded as is. And both the IRS and DoD are Executive branch. That's why the audit authority rests with Congress to provide checks against Executive authority.

You seem to be missing the forest for the trees. It's about hypocrisy, not the highly specific functioning of an inept governmental office.

If it's only about hypocrisy there are still better examples. The DoD doesn't generate revenue so there isn't anything to tax. Meaning the IRS shouldn't be involved.

If to call out the DoD make it about how they expect this level of accountability with their own suppliers and staff that they're failing. If to call out the IRS it could go with numerous options unrelated to the DoD.

As is it doesn't make sense.

[-] rockSlayer@lemmy.world 11 points 11 months ago

The DoD doesn't generate revenue so there isn't anything to tax. Meaning the IRS shouldn't be involved.

I don't know how else to say this. It's not about specific agencies applying what penalty or anything else like that. It's the fact that there are no penalties for the DoD for failing an audit.

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[-] brbposting@sh.itjust.works 11 points 11 months ago

My reading: Uncle Sam’s Ledger Logic:

$2 trillion vanishes into the Pentagon void? “Oops, slipped through the cracks!”

Your $600 Venmo transfer? “Caught you red-handed! Now, where’s our cut?”

[-] paultimate14@lemmy.world 9 points 11 months ago

On the other side of the meme, why shouldn't money obtained via a 3rd party platform need to be reported to the IRS? I don't understand the complaint.

Is your business suddenly special and tax-exempt just because you sell your custom knick-knacks on Craigslist on or accept venmo for your at-home dog grooming service or whatever?

[-] TonyTonyChopper@mander.xyz 11 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

The joke is that they hold taxpayers to ridiculously high standards, to the point where the concept of $600 of unreported income is something the government will harass you for. While they can just accept billions of their own spending going unaccounted for without a second thought.

And yes someone running their own small business struggling to survive is not worth taxing. Even if they were paying "what they owe" they would contribute nearly nothing compared to the rich people. And suffer far more for it.

[-] scottywh@lemmy.world 17 points 11 months ago

I'm honestly pretty upset about having to report "income" on reselling random old used shit out of my closet and garage on ebay all of the sudden.

Taxes have fucking been paid. This shit is not the same as wages and shouldn't be treated the same.

[-] AncientFutureNow@lemmy.world 12 points 11 months ago

The $600 paypal/venmo/etc reporting thing has been postponed and is not a thing for this coming tax season.

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[-] samus12345@lemmy.world 7 points 11 months ago

Now, my advice for those who die

Taxman!

Declare the pennies on your eyes

Taxman!

[-] FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world 6 points 11 months ago

"We don't know where 2 trillion went" is a headline similar to the ones we'll be seeing a few years after this debacle in Ukraine.

[-] Whelks_chance@lemmy.world 25 points 11 months ago

Weird example, as you're saying pretty explicitly exactly where the money went, and plenty of people would be fine with it

[-] Chakravanti@sh.itjust.works 5 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Well Gary Webb would have had a good argument about the CIA's history of exactly that but he commited suicide by shooting himself in the head. Twice. Two weeks before he was going to court as a journalist with evidence that the CIA was dealing cocaine to America.

[-] Chakravanti@sh.itjust.works 6 points 11 months ago

And everyone is gonna downvote me for mentioning Monero as the real fucking solution.

[-] southsamurai@sh.itjust.works 12 points 11 months ago

No, I down voted you because you brought up votes at all. Begging for down votes is just as lame as begging for ups.

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[-] Spacehooks@reddthat.com 5 points 11 months ago

It's all Stargate wars obviously.

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this post was submitted on 12 Dec 2023
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