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Can you detail exactly how the OPM, GSA, and USAid are working against my interests?

• a12k 2y ago
  GSA houses 18F which created Direct File, which lets people file their taxes for free. This takes money out of the pockets of companies like Intuit, in which my portfolio is heavily invested. Although their stock is up 50% since the introduction of Direct File, I believe it would have been up even more without Direct File. This is taking alpha out of my portfolio and thus food out of my children’s mouths.
  • tines 2y ago
    Ah, excellent, my mistake. Carry on. --- I actually just looked up the arguments against Direct File, and the Republicans who oppose it argue that the IRS has no incentive to make sure that you pay the least taxes possible, while third parties do (in order to win your business). I believe this relies on the assumption that the tax code is so complicated that not even the IRS knows what you owe, what with all the special exemptions, tax discounts, etc. and therefore it takes a market to incentivize doing the work to navigate the tax code to get the biggest discount possible. My reply to that would be that what this really means is that the tax code is too complicated, and keeping the market involved is killing the incentive to simplify it. If it were too simple, TurboTax et al. would go out of business. If Direct File were instituted and people found that they were charged more than they should owe, then this is a pressure to simplify the tax code so that the IRS can definitively tell you the minimum taxes you should pay. What's your take on it?
    • a12k 2y ago
      I have personally found that when the government wants more of your money through taxes, they tend to raise taxes or lower credits or do something to incentivize behavior. They don’t tend to try to confuse people into not knowing what they owe and thus only private companies can get me the lowest taxes. So I don’t find that argument persuasive. I do think the tax code is too complicated, but don’t think that’s a conscious choice by some government official or office. It’s a result of small changes by many generations of people over long periods of time. It does seem like it could be simplified, yet the IRS also seems to know how much most people owe because it’s reflected in forms like W-2s and 1099s and such. So maybe they should just send most people a transmission telling them how much the IRS thinks they owe, and provide the refund or a bill accordingly, and whoever disagrees with the assessment can file.
    • test6554 2y ago
      If Direct File takes away too much revenue from Intuit by handling all of the simple cases, then people with more complex taxes will have to pay quite a bit for their tax software. It might not even make sense to continue producing it. Or at least that could be what Intuit lobbyists are furiously telling republican congressmen.
• krainboltgreene 2y ago
  I don't agree with any of this, but USAID has been involved in many global attempts at colonization and ethnic cleansing. One specific one you could look into is the colonization of Eelam Tamil.
  • tines 2y ago
    Can you provide a source for that? I can't find anything in a casual Google search.
    • krainboltgreene 2y ago
      Sure: https://thuppahis.com/2022/07/28/the-mahaweli-project-the-mother-of-all-development-schemes-in-sri-lanka/ https://thuppahis.com/2022/07/28/the-mahaweli-project-the-mo... > One underlying motive of the settlement pattern was to change the demographics of the Eastern Province, and it was clearly UNP policy laid down by JR and energetically implemented by Gamini. In Systems H and C 90% of the settlers were Sinhala and 10% Muslim – there were no Tamils although the land was in the Eastern Province, a majority Tamil province. It's one of the many dark parts of our history.
  • lawn 2y ago
    Colonization? Like the rethoric around Panama, Greenland, and Canada?
    • krainboltgreene 2y ago
      What? No I mean actual colonization. You can look up the Mahaweli Development programme, it was specifically designed (under the guise of creating fertile land/pastures) to colonize more of the Sri Lankan region. "Somehow" there ended up being cities that were 94% Sinhalese and only Sinhalese-language was used in USAID made documents/guides/brochures, despite being the least used language among 3.
      • JohnHaugeland 2y ago
        USAid wasn’t even in existence for six months after the program you’re talking about. That had nothing to do with us.