• Rhaedas@fedia.io
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    2 months ago

    Yes, but corporations pay into the system in other ways. Take for example the time Duke Energy had a big coal ash spill into a river. They took the income resources they had and not only paid a fair fine price, cleaned up the…

    Wait. No they didn’t. They passed on all the costs to their customers. Fortunately those customers were able to use the free market and choose another provider…

    Wait. No, they can’t. Huh. That IS a freeloader.

  • undergroundoverground@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Its funny how much owning a successful business sound exactly like being a lazy, work-shy layabout who does nothing while living off of other people’s hard work.

  • haui@lemmy.giftedmc.com
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    2 months ago

    Racism is either a symptom or a tool:

    Those who cant make sense of their situation being unsatisfactory may fall prey to it to soothe themselves.

    Those who hoard all of the worlds wealth use it to distract from that fact.

    • danc4498@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Worth noting that a lot of the people raging about immigrants don’t see themselves as racist.

      • haui@lemmy.giftedmc.com
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        2 months ago

        I have a quote that fits this situation well:

        When you‘re dead, you do not know you are dead. Its only painful and difficult for others. The same applies when you are stupid.

        • Zorque@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          It’s not about inability to understand, mind, it’s about unwillingness to understand.

          There are plenty of people who have mental deficiencies who are well aware of that, and how much trouble they have understanding the world around them. But they at least try.

          The same can not be said for those who are perfectly capable of understanding, yet simply choose not to.

      • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        Or themselves as immigrants, for that matter.

        A German settler calling a Hispanic migrant “illegal” really says something about the legal and social zeitgeist.

      • masquenox@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        If you apply liberal’s superficial understanding of what white supremacism actually is hard enough it’s very easy to end up in a situation where nobody could possibly be a white supremacist.

  • DandomRude@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Posts like this are important, but unfortunately in vain, I’m afraid. Those who still don’t understand it will never understand it. I think they don’t want to. I don’t get it.

    • warbond@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      I’d say it’s still important to post and talk about, not for the people who know and don’t care, but for the people who don’t know and do care.

      • DandomRude@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        Yes, I think so too. I just can’t understand why so many people aren’t able to hold those who are to blame for their misery to account. Instead, they allow themselves to be duped by their own enemies. It is incomprehensible to me how people can be so stupid.

        • Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          Oh yes. For the individual, very few costs can be deducted from taxes, and investments are not considered costs.

          There’s also different tax rates and subsidies available to businesses that individuals can’t access.

          But my point stands. People always get angry about large revenues which are not taxed. Changing the system so that a tax is also levied above the line is not impossible.

  • TimLovesTech (AuDHD)(he/him)@badatbeing.social
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    2 months ago

    Reading about The Bracero Program seems kind of wild in today’s anti-immigrant US climate.

    The Bracero Program (from the Spanish term bracero [bɾaˈse.ɾo], meaning “manual laborer” or “one who works using his arms”) was a U.S. Government-sponsored program that imported Mexican farm and railroad workers into the United States between the years 1942 and 1964.

    • Schadrach@lemmy.sdf.org
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      2 months ago

      Temporary agricultural worker visas are one of the types of work visa with no limit, and actually have more protections than a lot of regular US workers. They still hire illegals because illegals are cheaper.

  • emerald@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    2 months ago

    I’d actually be willing to bet that we (the US taxpayer) paid those corporations for the privilege of their continued existence

    • wunami@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Durrr. We need them to trickle down on some workers cause otherwise there wouldn’t be any jobs.

      • beebarfbadger@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        Indeed, they could simply choose to bunker their wealth in a tax oasis and just keep taking and taking without ever giving anything back. And according to studies they do exactly that.

        Anyway, what was I talking about? Oh yes, the precipitations that they do decide to shower those beneath them with are then obviously worth their weight in gold. A golden shower, if you will.

  • Lojcs@lemm.ee
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    2 months ago

    How is the government getting taxes from people it doesn’t know exist?? I thought you had to file your taxes yourself in America, why or how would the migrants even do that? Or if the employer is doing that, who do they say they are doing it for??

    • Ibaudia@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Undocumented migrants still pay taxes that are built into systems we interact with, like sales, rent, mortgage, etc. They also frequently have payroll taxes taken out, and even file taxes using an ITIN instead of SSN. They also can’t capitalize on govt. programs like section 8 or social security, so they are only able to contribute to these funding pools. Undocumented migrants generate billions per year in taxes for the US.

    • s38b35M5@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Filing taxes is how we get refunds for overpaying in the US.

      Paying taxes is done for us, through withholding out of our paychecks (don’t need a SS#, as a TIN will do here), sales tax on purchases of goods, and in other ways, like connected to housing, etc.

    • SomeoneSomewhere@lemmy.nz
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      2 months ago

      While immigrants in the country without authorization do not have Social Security numbers, they can file taxes using an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, or ITIN.

      Reports about 3m people file using an ITIN each year, and the number of people expected to legally use them is very small.

      Also says they see about $12B more paid into social security by illegals than paid out.

      As Al Capone found, the government is would rather you pay tax on illegally earned money.

      • Lojcs@lemm.ee
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        2 months ago

        Every couple months I learn of another way the us government interacts with ‘undocumented’ migrants. I find it supremely silly that these people have identification numbers, pay taxes, are counted for the census and participate in elections but they’re still referred to as ‘undocumented’?? They clearly are documented, wtf does ‘undocumented’ mean then?

        • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          It’s a nicer way of saying they’re here illegally. Despite all evidence that immigrants are hard working people with lower than average crime and social problems; we insist on criminalizing them because they didn’t ask permission to cross the border.

      • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        As Al Capone found, the government is would rather you pay tax on illegally earned money.

        That was more an end run around accidentally indicting all the state and federal officials who’d gotten wrapped up in his corruption.

        Capone should have gone down for murder years earlier, but too much of the early Hoover Era FBI was willing to turn a blind eye to Capone’s mafia exploits or rat out informants before they could go to trial.

        • SomeoneSomewhere@lemmy.nz
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          2 months ago

          Yes. But my point is that the IRS has a process for declaring and paying tax on income that you got illegally, whether it’s from being a mobster or working without the right visa.

          Capone didn’t follow that process, so got done for tax evasion.

          These illegal immigrants are paying their taxes, and therefore a) they aren’t exposed to prosecution for tax evasion, and b) the IRS won’t rat them out to ICE.

          • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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            2 months ago

            These illegal immigrants are paying their taxes

            The vast majority of them are earning under the standard deduction and don’t actually owe anything. Individuals don’t owe taxes on income under $29.2k and the cheap labor migrants provide mean they often earn far less. Since they aren’t eligible for any refundable credits, this means there’s no incentive to file.

            Where they pay their taxes is typically on the consumer end - sales, real estate, gas/utilities taxes, etc.

      • Lojcs@lemm.ee
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        2 months ago

        Is sales tax included in prices? I’ve seen people online saying it’s often not since it varies from place to place?

        • edgemaster72@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          Correct, sales tax is not included in pricing in the US. I learned that at a fairly young age when I wanted to spend $20 I had from my birthday on a $20 Lego set when whoops, need another dollar (thankfully my mom was there to cover it)

      • T00l_shed@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        I mean, at the base of it all, do they not buy things? If they buy stuff, they pay taxes.

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      How is the government getting taxes from people it doesn’t know exist??

      Going to the store and handing over my money for the stuff. There’s a % sales tax at the bottom of my receipt, but how is this possible?! I didn’t tell the government I was going shopping today.

      Drive back home to my apartment, where I pay my rent for the month. My landlord forward a chunk of that money to the city as real estate taxes. But I never formally registered my citizenship at this address, so how can that be?

      Heading to the bar where I earn my living. Most of my income is in tips, which my boss collects and skims the business tax rate off of before distributing the balance. But there’s no bartender’s license to work here, so how did he know to do that?

      Omw home, I’ve got to remember to re-register my car and buy more gas-taxed petrol and damn it feels like there’s a lot of ways for a government to collect tax money from me.

      • Lojcs@lemm.ee
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        2 months ago

        Could you not write this less condescending? I’m sorry I’m not from the US. When I heard people say that sales tax isn’t included in the price and that you need to file your taxes every year I assumed that was how the tax was collected.

        • Landless2029@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          In the United States there is federal corp tax taken from documented workers and paid to the national government (federal tax) by businesses. State tax is also taken the same way and paid to the state.

          This just income tax, but there are many other forms of taxes. Vehicle tax, gas tax, food tax, clothing tax, restaurant tax, etc. These all go to the state and vary in amount depending on the state.
          This is also why our prices don’t include tax. So apple/amazon can show a single price and your state tax gets tacked on at checkout.

          So this “undocumented Immigrants paid X in taxes” is them paying taxes on good but not income. Businesses can pay these people in cash under the table and not paying taxes or benefits for them.

        • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          I’m sorry I’m not from the US.

          Sales, real estate, and other consumption taxes aren’t unique to the US.

          When I heard people say that sales tax isn’t included in the price and that you need to file your taxes every year

          You’re hearing bullshit. There was a historical loophole by which online merchants asserted that sales taxes needed to be collected from the individuals purchasing the goods rather than the businesses selling them. That loophole has long since been closed.

          But virtually nobody paid the tax. Few people even know how or what they might owe. And even if they had, you don’t need to be a citizen to buy something online.

    • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Income taxes are withheld from the paycheck. The filing is largely unnecessary in the modern day and most people are getting refunds. The IRS offers tax ID numbers to people who don’t have social security numbers and they generally don’t care if you’re a citizen unless you try to claim something like the earned income tax credit. They literally just want to get paid.

  • Kaeru@slrpnk.net
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    2 months ago

    Stupid question: If undocumented, how are they verifiably paying anything close to this figure in taxes? Pls respond

    • microphone900@lemmy.ml
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      2 months ago

      They can request and may be assigned an individual tax ID number (ITIN). Having an ITIN may allow them to open a bank account. It also makes it so they pay taxes which a surprising number want to do. Since they want to stay in the country, having a long history of paying taxes is a way to show you don’t want to cause trouble and you just want to work. Hell, a lot of them probably know they got Al Capone on tax evasion and don’t want to end up like him. Here’s a report I just Googled, and possibly the source of the number which is an estimate.

      On the other side is how much tax funding is used on them. Here’s a report from the House of Representatives which states they use more in services (Medicare, WIC, sending kids to school, etc) than they pay. I can’t speak to how accurate the report is considering the makeup and views publicly expressed by members of the committee. I’m personally leaning towards ‘they don’t, and can’t, use as more than they contribute’ because they’re not eligible for many benefits.

      • A7thStone@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        I love how in your last article it’s a human centipede ouroboros

        Macgregor said that “every alleged asylum seeker, illegal migrant pouring in through the border in Texas or wherever else” is given a monthly payment of $2,200.

        Gheen added that ALIPAC “did not make the original claim about the $2,200,” pointing to Carlson’s interview with Macgregor as its source.

        Macgregor cited an article published by a Houston radio station on its website to support the claim he made during the interview, which quotes Gheen and the ALIPAC release. The article was published a week after his interview.

    • digdilem@lemmy.ml
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      2 months ago

      Sensible question. Nobody even knows how many undocumented people are in a country - because they’re undocumented.

      This has to be a made up figure. The sentiment might be correct but the data is dubious.

      • zarkanian@sh.itjust.works
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        2 months ago

        It’s explained upthread. You can get an ITIN to pay taxes if you don’t have a Social Security Number. The estimate is from the amount collected by the IRS from people with ITINs.

    • AeonFelis@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Just because you’re undocumented doesn’t mean the IRS will give up on taking your money.

  • Mango@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Freeloaders are the people taking up dramatically more resources than the value one human can produce.

  • OpenStars@discuss.online
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    2 months ago

    Trump is not a free-loader though!? And now that I’ve planted that thought… can you remind me why not exactly - asking for a friend? :-P

      • AA5B@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        He’s not a freeloader because he pays his fair share of taxes…. Wait a minute

        He’s not a freeloader because he takes on the risks of a job creator, including any financial losses…. Crap, nope

        He’s not a freeloader because when he contracts put work he pays on time what was agreed …… can you see the pattern?

        • OpenStars@discuss.online
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          2 months ago

          img

          - “conservatives” Republicans

          img

          Oh wait my bad that’s 1 Thessalonians 5:21, oh well nobody seems to care.

  • Overshoot2648@lemm.ee
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    2 months ago

    I don’t think they care. I think they just say they are free loaders because what they really feel is hate towards people of other races and ethnicities, but they can’t say it out load or often even admit it to themselves.

    • Madison420@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      More often than not they’re ashamed their wic is funded in large part by illegals. Pride is dangerous as fuck.

  • sumguyonline@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    the US Constitution puts the ENTIRE TAX BILL as the responsibilty of corporations, this was illegally changed during WW2. This is why prior to WW2 there was no income tax. We are living in a fascist hell hole because we are not following the legal Constitution. We are following a partial fake. The full text of the original Constitution is available when you read the Constitution, then turn it upside down and read the additional text which is in Latin. Democrats and Republicans are fully aware and refuse to reinstate the Full Constitution. They are both Traitors to the Republic.