6 ms·

I guess this is why some voters are eager for someone like Elizabeth Warren to get in office and stop some of this anti-competitive behavior. It's odd to me bec

I guess this is why some voters are eager for someone like Elizabeth Warren to get in office and stop some of this anti-competitive behavior. It's odd to me because TurboTax is good software (at least when I used it) and it saves time. So to me it's worth the money. But to force someone who as a job and no real deductions to not simply file a 1040 EZ online is just a rent seeker making sure they get paid.

cat199 7y ago
Your statement: > ... it saves time. So to me it's worth the money. is (unless I'm missing some alternative), based a in comparison to paper-based forms, which are in turn a horribly inefficient way for the IRS (which all taxpayers pay for) to operate. The question is not only the anti-competitive behavior of entrenched 'supported electronic filing services', but that these are 'required' and facilitated due to horribly inefficient processes that the IRS refuses to fix properly by simply creating a way for individuals to e-file in the first place.
Accujack 7y ago
>Elizabeth Warren to get in office and stop some of this anti-competitive behavior. Warren is a run of the mill middle of the pack Democrat. She only looks good because at present the GOP looks so bad. The government needs to be reformed, electing one party or another President isn't going to change much, unless you set the bar really low (Trump)
- untog 7y ago
  Based on recent history Warren certainly isn't a run of the mill middle of the pack Democrat. Her positions on banking, big business, healthcare and big tech companies is a leftward lean even when compared to Obama's tenure. > The government needs to be reformed, electing one party or another President isn't going to change much And pontificating about how "the system is broken" doesn't change anything. There are no actual concrete steps to reforming government that doesn't involve elections and gradual process, or revolution and sudden progress. If you think the latter is in any way likely then you're deluded.
  - zajd 7y ago
    > Based on recent history Warren certainly isn't a run of the mill middle of the pack Democrat. Her positions on banking, big business, healthcare and big tech companies is a leftward lean even when compared to Obama's tenure. Obama is a conservative democrat (or a liberal republican, you can't really tell these days) so you're not putting the bar high.
  - hannasanarion 7y ago
    Obama held almost all those positions during the primary in '08. Why do you trust Warren to follow through when Obama didn't?
    - untog 7y ago
      He didn't, though. He advocated improving healthcare, but not to the extent that Warren does. And he castigated the banking industry but never proposed anything at the level Warren is proposing. Besides, this isn't even the question. The OP said that Warren is a middle of the road Democrat. Compared to the positions held by the average Democrat Senator/Congressperson she isn't at all. Whether she'd follow through on those promises when elected is a valid question (though much like Obama, it wouldn't be under her sole control), but that doesn't mean she isn't left-leaning.
      - hannasanarion 7y ago
        To what extent does Warren advocate improving healthcare? She went from "medicarefor all" to "actually medicare is just a framework" in just a month. On her platform page she seems to have abandoned single-payer entirely. How can you trust a candidate who changes platform from progressive to milquetoast centrist so quickly? How can you trust a candidate who said several months ago that she wants to eliminate billionaires, and yet who continues to get major contributions from at least twenty billionaires? I find it very hard to believe that Warren is genuinely left-leaning. Based on her behavior, it seems to me much more like she is a centrist candidate wrapping centrist ideas in left rhetoric.
    - cure 7y ago
- JibJabDab 7y ago
  Well, that run-of-the-mill democrat helped make CFPB a reality and that's pertinent to what OP was trying to say. She's much more vocal about these anti-competitive practices than most other politicians.
- CobrastanJorji 7y ago
  Okay, fine, but "your taxes are automatically filed for you" is a specific campaign issue for Elizabeth Warren, and in addition she's introduced legislation specifically aimed at this issue (https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/912 https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/912). Pointing her out as a potential solution in a thread about this particular issue is appropriate. On the other hand, "everybody in every party sucks and it doesn't matter who anyone votes for because it won't change anything" is a comment that could go on any post about any aspect of politics and doesn't contribute to a productive conversation.

cat199 7y ago

Your statement: > ... it saves time. So to me it's worth the money. is (unless I'm missing some alternative), based a in comparison to paper-based forms, which are in turn a horribly inefficient way for the IRS (which all taxpayers pay for) to operate. The question is not only the anti-competitive behavior of entrenched 'supported electronic filing services', but that these are 'required' and facilitated due to horribly inefficient processes that the IRS refuses to fix properly by simply creating a way for individuals to e-file in the first place.

Accujack 7y ago

>Elizabeth Warren to get in office and stop some of this anti-competitive behavior. Warren is a run of the mill middle of the pack Democrat. She only looks good because at present the GOP looks so bad. The government needs to be reformed, electing one party or another President isn't going to change much, unless you set the bar really low (Trump)

untog 7y ago
Based on recent history Warren certainly isn't a run of the mill middle of the pack Democrat. Her positions on banking, big business, healthcare and big tech companies is a leftward lean even when compared to Obama's tenure. > The government needs to be reformed, electing one party or another President isn't going to change much And pontificating about how "the system is broken" doesn't change anything. There are no actual concrete steps to reforming government that doesn't involve elections and gradual process, or revolution and sudden progress. If you think the latter is in any way likely then you're deluded.
- zajd 7y ago
  > Based on recent history Warren certainly isn't a run of the mill middle of the pack Democrat. Her positions on banking, big business, healthcare and big tech companies is a leftward lean even when compared to Obama's tenure. Obama is a conservative democrat (or a liberal republican, you can't really tell these days) so you're not putting the bar high.
- hannasanarion 7y ago
  Obama held almost all those positions during the primary in '08. Why do you trust Warren to follow through when Obama didn't?
  - untog 7y ago
    He didn't, though. He advocated improving healthcare, but not to the extent that Warren does. And he castigated the banking industry but never proposed anything at the level Warren is proposing. Besides, this isn't even the question. The OP said that Warren is a middle of the road Democrat. Compared to the positions held by the average Democrat Senator/Congressperson she isn't at all. Whether she'd follow through on those promises when elected is a valid question (though much like Obama, it wouldn't be under her sole control), but that doesn't mean she isn't left-leaning.
    - hannasanarion 7y ago
      To what extent does Warren advocate improving healthcare? She went from "medicarefor all" to "actually medicare is just a framework" in just a month. On her platform page she seems to have abandoned single-payer entirely. How can you trust a candidate who changes platform from progressive to milquetoast centrist so quickly? How can you trust a candidate who said several months ago that she wants to eliminate billionaires, and yet who continues to get major contributions from at least twenty billionaires? I find it very hard to believe that Warren is genuinely left-leaning. Based on her behavior, it seems to me much more like she is a centrist candidate wrapping centrist ideas in left rhetoric.
  - cure 7y ago
JibJabDab 7y ago
Well, that run-of-the-mill democrat helped make CFPB a reality and that's pertinent to what OP was trying to say. She's much more vocal about these anti-competitive practices than most other politicians.
CobrastanJorji 7y ago
Okay, fine, but "your taxes are automatically filed for you" is a specific campaign issue for Elizabeth Warren, and in addition she's introduced legislation specifically aimed at this issue (https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/912 https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/912). Pointing her out as a potential solution in a thread about this particular issue is appropriate. On the other hand, "everybody in every party sucks and it doesn't matter who anyone votes for because it won't change anything" is a comment that could go on any post about any aspect of politics and doesn't contribute to a productive conversation.