2016 Presidential Horse Race

[wizards8507]

He's talking about that specific check, not the aggregate at year end. Payroll systems are constantly trying to estimate your full year earnings based on the current paycheck it is processing and then estimating the total amount of taxes you will need withheld for the year. In Grahambo's situation, they would take the gross earnings on the paycheck (which is now back pay + regular pay) and multiply it by the rest of the pay periods for the year to estimate the full year earnings. So that one paycheck would be taxed higher than normal because it would be estimating much higher year end earnings.

C'mon, CPA...

I understand what he said, which is why I called it "misleading," not "incorrect." My point is just that he didn't end up with any less money when all was said and done. It's a timing variance.

 

[woolybug25]

I understand what he said, which is why I called it "misleading," not "incorrect." My point is just that he didn't end up with any less money when all was said and done. It's a timing variance.

Why is it misleading when he specifically said exactly what he meant and I reiterated. Where in this comment, does he refer to year end tax liability? In fact, he clearly states that he gets the money eventually.

Do we get the money eventually? Sure. But then they bump us up into a higher tax bracket. So, when we did get the back pay, a few weeks later, we all noticed we got less then what we should've gotten on a normal cycle.

If you missed a couple pay checks, would you be okay with waiting until your tax return to receive the extra taxes they took?

 

[Grahambo]

Okay I'm a CPA, and that's extremely misleading. Your tax liability for the year has nothing to do with the timing of how you're paid. If a weekly fluctuation makes your department's payroll system *think* you're in a higher tax bracket than you really are, you'd get the exact equivalent refunded at tax return time (or you'd owe less if you enter tax season with a payment due).

*This does not constitute tax, legal, accounting, or other professional advice.

What's extremely misleading with going 3 solid weeks without a paycheck but having to work?

He's talking about that specific check, not the aggregate at year end. Payroll systems are constantly trying to estimate your full year earnings based on the current paycheck it is processing and then estimating the total amount of taxes you will need withheld for the year. In Grahambo's situation, they would take the gross earnings on the paycheck (which is now back pay + regular pay) and multiply it by the rest of the pay periods for the year to estimate the full year earnings. So that one paycheck would be taxed higher than normal because it would be estimating much higher year end earnings. Sure, he will get it back in his tax return (hypothetically), but that doesn't help him pay the bills he's been sitting on since his last paycheck.

C'mon, CPA...

Yu so smrt.

I understand what he said, which is why I called it "misleading," not "incorrect." My point is just that he didn't end up with any less money when all was said and done. It's a timing variance.

I'm sure my wife appreciated the timing variance in missing an on-time paycheck which caused some issues. Oh, the companies we owed money to also appreciated the timing variance; they really 'understood' our situation.

Why is it misleading when he specifically said exactly what he meant and I reiterated. Where in this comment, does he refer to year end tax liability? In fact, he clearly states that he gets the money eventually.



If you missed a couple pay checks, would you be okay with waiting until your tax return to receive the extra taxes they took?

I mean, my wife really loved the part when the money we earned in October '13 showed up in March '14. She also loved the two week period when I had to work non-stop and didn't get paid for it on time.

All because of politics.

Oh, coincidentally enough that was also when I almost got ran over by the lady and it was plastered all over the news. Good times.

 

[phgreek]

I know this was yesterday's discussion but two interesting articles on climate change covering opinions from two President Obama supporters who are both highly respected physicists.

Top Physicist Freeman Dyson: Obama ‘Took the Wrong Side’ on Climate Change

Nobel-winning physicist who backed Obama: Prez 'dead wrong' on global warming - Washington Times

Whoa now that is definitely racist...specifically calling out the president to disagree with on a policy matter...of his.

Besides Freeman Dyson and Ivar Giaever don't have a "jingley" name like Bill Nye the science guy, and I know they wouldn't be funny on Bill Maher's show...so "LUNATIC DENIERS".

(neither man has actually denied there is an issue per se, but dared to question the severity and response)

 

[MJ12666]

He's talking about that specific check, not the aggregate at year end. Payroll systems are constantly trying to estimate your full year earnings based on the current paycheck it is processing and then estimating the total amount of taxes you will need withheld for the year. In Grahambo's situation, they would take the gross earnings on the paycheck (which is now back pay + regular pay) and multiply it by the rest of the pay periods for the year to estimate the full year earnings. So that one paycheck would be taxed higher than normal because it would be estimating much higher year end earnings. Sure, he will get it back in his tax return (hypothetically), but that doesn't help him pay the bills he's been sitting on since his last paycheck.

C'mon, CPA...

While the above is true, most payroll systems also allow you to adjust the amount to be withheld so if you know that you are going to get an one time increase you can reduce the amount withheld and then go back in after the event and return withholding to the previous amount.

 

[GoIrish41]

While the above is true, most payroll systems also allow you to adjust the amount to be withheld so if you know that you are going to get an one time increase you can reduce the amount withheld and then go back in after the event and return withholding to the previous amount.

Not if the government is shut down. The people who would make these changes are at home during a shut down.

 

[Grahambo]

Not if the government is shut down. The people who would make these changes are at home during a shut down.

It was a fun time. Just a great, great time really. So much fun and excitement. Just awesome experience. haha

 

[ND NYC]

I take care of the guys that work for me by making sure their bonuses don't come on same day that their regular salary checks do.
the payroll software we use used to do exactly what wooly describes above, and to my knowledge this is the only work around to prevent the overinflating of the annual earnings if theey get a lump sum (bonus/commission) on top of their regular salary in same check cycle.

 

[GoIrish41]

It was a fun time. Just a great, great time really. So much fun and excitement. Just awesome experience. haha

I was right there with you, my friend. Just sucked!

 

[Grahambo]

I take care of the guys that work for me by making sure their bonuses don't come on same day that their regular salary checks do.
the payroll software we use used to do exactly what wooly describes above, and to my knowledge this is the only work around to prevent the overinflating of the annual earnings if theey get a lump sum (bonus/commission) on top of their regular salary in same check cycle.

The govt goes out of their way to make sure they lump everything together as best as they can. For example, when I joined the USSS, I got a $3k signing bonus and was told lump sum after training. Well, when it came time to sign for it, it was then told to us that it was getting split in half. 1st half paid now and the 2nd half paid in 3 years after our probationary period is over. On top of that, its attached to your regular paycheck and not separate so you're really not even getting $1500 at all.

I was right there with you, my friend. Just sucked!

 

[IrishinSyria]

Americans hate the government in the abstract. But the often love what the government does. See the "keep your government hands off my medicare" and Craig T. Nelson ("I've been on food stamps and welfare, anyone help me out? No.") crowd.

Most people have a libertarian streak, but only for certain things.

Most people have a libertarian streak until a government program actually effects them. Tiny programs that deal with far away issues like foreign aid? Shut it down. Giant programs that pay for healthcare or retirement? Better not touch them.

 

[IrishinSyria]

I know this was yesterday's discussion but two interesting articles on climate change covering opinions from two President Obama supporters who are both highly respected physicists.

Top Physicist Freeman Dyson: Obama ‘Took the Wrong Side’ on Climate Change

Nobel-winning physicist who backed Obama: Prez 'dead wrong' on global warming - Washington Times

Mr. Giaever, a Norwegian, was one of more than 70 Nobel laureates in science who signed a letter in 2008 endorsing Mr. Obama’s presidential campaign, but has since taken a more skeptical view of the so-called scientific “consensus” on climate change.

He resigned from the Advanced Physical Society in 2011 over its statement that “the evidence is incontrovertible” that “global warming is occurring.”

See my early arctic circle nation theory.

 

[woolybug25]

This is the kind of hate that Trump is fueling, imo.

Pig's head left at Philadelphia mosque - CNNPolitics.com

Pork and pork byproducts are haram, or forbidden, in Islam.

Ibrahim Hooper, national communications director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, told CNN that his group has seen a spike in violence and anti-Muslim sentiment since last month's terror attacks in Paris.

"The anti-Muslim atmosphere we've been seeing in recent weeks is, in many ways, worse than it was after the 9/11 attacks," he said. "After 9/11, the anti-Muslim rhetoric was on the fringes. ... Now it's at the mainstream."

In his experience, mosque spokesman Marwan Kreidie told CNN that the incident involving the pig's head is unusual. He described the neighborhood where the Al-Aqsa Islamic Society is located as tolerant and diverse.

When asked about Trump, he said that "words have consequences," but stressed that the problem is not contained to one person.

"Unfortunately, there appears to be an audience for this," said Kreidie.

What are the chances that Trump even makes mention of anything like this?

 

[IrishLax]

This is the kind of hate that Trump is fueling, imo.

Pig's head left at Philadelphia mosque - CNNPolitics.com



What are the chances that Trump even makes mention of anything like this?

Smells like a false flag.

 

[woolybug25]

Smells like a false flag.

Really? Well I suppose the FBI will find that out right?

Why is that your first thought, btw? Do you think that muslims aren't targeted in this fashion? That there aren't hateful people that want to express themselves in this manner?

 

[IrishinSyria]

Really? Well I suppose the FBI will find that out right?

Why is that your first thought, btw? Do you think that muslims aren't targeted in this fashion? That there aren't hateful people that want to express themselves in this manner?

Yeah, what do they have to gain from this?

 

[IrishLax]

Really? Well I suppose the FBI will find that out right?

Why is that your first thought, btw? Do you think that muslims aren't targeted in this fashion? That there aren't hateful people that want to express themselves in this manner?

Because like the last five times I've been like "OMG THAT'S HORRIBLE!" 24-48 hours later the thing I reacted to turned out to be a hoax.

The black tape on black professor photos at Harvard people lost their shit over... people realized it was the same tape that a black protest group had used on a sign right before.

The poop swastika and other stuff at Missouri... turned out there's actually no concrete record of any of it happening, and certainly no certifiable link to anti-black racism.

The person at that Ohio university that made a twitter talking all kinds of racist stuff and about killing black people... was investigated because it was a threat, turned out to be a black person that made the twitter.

Rachel Dolezal -- the white woman pretending to be black that was head of that local NAACP chapter in Washington -- sent herself hate mail and committed all other kinds of "anti-black" hate crimes against herself so she had things to point to as racism.

And on and on. I'm just done taking this stuff at face value for the time being. Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me a half dozen times, well I'm just a gullible idiot I guess. To me, it seems more probable than not that if someone wanted to send a message or vandalize a mosque or whatever they wouldn't have done some obscure thing like leave a pig's head there. Just my opinion, no info.

Then again, if I'm not being a skeptic this kind of thing HAS happened before: Four jailed for throwing pig's head into Blackpool mosque in Lee Rigby aftermath | Daily Mail Online

And the incident was caught on surveillance camera (of course without any kind of identifiable plates, but they can probably get the make of the vehicle). So yeah, I'm probably wrong. Probably.

 

[Polish Leppy 22]

It's pretty difficult for him or anyone to be offended by the Nazi characterization when, within a week, he plucks a page out of the Hitler playbook. I didn't like the Kasich ad either, but his rhetoric is giving the concept credibility.

This just goes beyond the line. Trump has lost me and I'm out in terms of his campaign, but throwing him in the Hitler aisle is going too far. Hitler is responsible for the deaths of millions.

 

[Grahambo]

Because like the last five times I've been like "OMG THAT'S HORRIBLE!" 24-48 hours later the thing I reacted to turned out to be a hoax.

The black tape on black professor photos at Harvard people lost their shit over... people realized it was the same tape that a black protest group had used on a sign right before.

The poop swastika and other stuff at Missouri... turned out there's actually no concrete record of any of it happening, and certainly no certifiable link to anti-black racism.

The person at that Ohio university that made a twitter talking all kinds of racist stuff and about killing black people... was investigated because it was a threat, turned out to be a black person that made the twitter.

Rachel Dolezal -- the white woman pretending to be black that was head of that local NAACP chapter in Washington -- sent herself hate mail and committed all other kinds of "anti-black" hate crimes against herself so she had things to point to as racism.

And on and on. I'm just done taking this stuff at face value for the time being. Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me a half dozen times, well I'm just a gullible idiot I guess. To me, it seems more probable than not that if someone wanted to send a message or vandalize a mosque or whatever they wouldn't have done some obscure thing like leave a pig's head there. Just my opinion, no info.

Forgot about the teacher from North Texas incident too.

 

[Polish Leppy 22]

Are you suggesting that the 1 billion Muslims in the world are all "waging a global jihad against the western world?" That is what Trump and ISIS would like everyone to believe because it gives them both more power and influence. I reject that line of thinking. The vast majority of Muslims in the world want peace and do not support the violence of ISIS.

Clueless. Wizards touched on this a bit and corrected you, but there's data to show that most Muslims are "peaceful." Doesn't mean they don't empathize with Al Qaeda or ISIS, doesn't mean they don't condemn terrorist attacks, doesn't mean they support suicide bombings, doesn't mean they aren't supporting these groups financially.

And I'm not talking about just the Middle East. Those polls about Muslims' attitudes toward these radical Islamists/ terrorist attacks in the UK, Canada, and the US should open your eyes just as much as climate change.

 

[woolybug25]

Clueless. Wizards touched on this a bit and corrected you, but there's data to show that most Muslims are "peaceful." Doesn't mean they don't empathize with Al Qaeda or ISIS, doesn't mean they don't condemn terrorist attacks, doesn't mean they support suicide bombings, doesn't mean they aren't supporting these groups financially.

And I'm not talking about just the Middle East. Those polls about Muslims' attitudes toward these radical Islamists/ terrorist attacks in the UK, Canada, and the US should open your eyes just as much as climate change.

I am highly skeptical of the anti Muslim statistics thrown around here though too. Are you honestly going to tell me that the 150M muslims in Bangladesh, or the 2M in Bosnia-Herzegovina, or the 23M muslims in China really give a crap about Jihad? The fact that people think you can accurately poll the 1.6 BILLION muslims across the world and come up with a unified message of hate between them is preposterous.

Here is a good article showing how those statistics, particularly the twisting of facts by Ben Shapiro (who many use as an expert opinion on the topic, even on this site), are completely incorrect.
Ben Shapiro says a majority of Muslims are radicals | PunditFact

Shapiro said that a majority of Muslims are radicals. To make his numbers work, he had to cherry-pick certain results from public opinion surveys. Given the choice between two possible percentages, he chose the higher one. Shapiro also relied heavily on the idea that anyone who supported sharia law is a radical.

Some of the best polling work shows that Muslim beliefs are much more nuanced. Some countries where high percentages of Muslims support Sharia law show low support for suicide attacks on civilians. Large fractions of Muslims that endorse sharia law do not want it imposed on others. The meaning of Sharia law varies from sect to sect and nation to nation.

Shapiro’s definition of radical is so thin as to be practically meaningless and so too are the numbers he brings to bear.

What's surprising to me is that you guys will immediately disregard any hate crime as a probable "false flag" but almost search out pew information that fits the anti-muslim agenda. I could sit here all day and match stat for stat with any of you regarding this, but the reality has set in that some of you may already have your mind made up?

 

[Polish Leppy 22]

I am highly skeptical of those statistics. Are you honestly going to tell me that the 150M muslims in Bangladesh, or the 2M in Bosnia-Herzegovina, or the 23M muslims in China really give a crap about Jihad? The fact that people think you can accurately poll the 1.6 BILLION muslims across the world and come up with a unified message of hate between them is preposterous.

Here is a good article showing how those statistics, particularly the twisting of facts by Ben Shapiro (who many use as an expert opinion on the topic, even on this site), are completely incorrect.
Ben Shapiro says a majority of Muslims are radicals | PunditFact



What's surprising to me is that you guys will immediately disregard any hate crime as a probable "false flag" but almost search out pew information that fits the anti-muslim agenda. I could sit here all day and match stat for stat with any of you regarding this, but the reality has set in that some of you may already have your mind made up?

1) Where did I say the polls included all 1.6 billion Muslims? They're just like polls we do here in the US...a sample size. Regardless, the numbers are still eye opening and they're not just from the Middle East.

2) I didn't cite Ben Shapiro.

3) My mind is made up on this: most Muslims don't pose a problem. Reality is that this "problem" we have is serious and isn't going away anytime soon. The enemy started waging this war against the West decades ago. None of us paid attention until 9/11.

 

[GoIrish41]

1) Where did I say the polls included all 1.6 billion Muslims? They're just like polls we do here in the US...a sample size. Regardless, the numbers are still eye opening and they're not just from the Middle East.

2) I didn't cite Ben Shapiro.

3) My mind is made up on this: most Muslims don't pose a problem. Reality is that this "problem" we have is serious and isn't going away anytime soon. The enemy started waging this war against the West decades ago. None of us paid attention until 9/11.

This is the very point you were arguing against just a few posts back. You even highlighted my post and bolded the part that said the same thing as I bolded above. Perhaps I am as you say "clueless" because I have no idea what your point is if you restate the same point and call me clueless for making it in the first place. Nobody is saying it isn't a problem. They are saying Trump's plan to solve it is immoral, unconstitutional, bigoted and against the essence of what America is all about. He has done the impossible ... Made Hillary and the likes of Dick Cheney, Paul Ryan, and nearly the entire Republican Party establishment join in condemnation of his remarkably offensive and destructive proposal. His plan makes ISIS stronger not weaker.

 

[Polish Leppy 22]

This is the very point you were arguing against just a few posts back. You even highlighted my post and bolded the part that said the same thing as I bolded above. Perhaps I am as you say "clueless" because I have no idea what your point is if you restate the same point and call me clueless for making it in the first place. Nobody is saying it isn't a problem. They are saying Trump's plan to solve it is immoral, unconstitutional, bigoted and against the essence of what America is all about. He has done the impossible ... Made Hillary and the likes of Dick Cheney, Paul Ryan, and nearly the entire Republican Party establishment join in condemnation of his remarkably offensive and destructive proposal. His plan makes ISIS stronger not weaker.

We are past the Trump thing. We both agree it's stupid.

You think these radical jihadists are a small number. What you're not taking into account is the millions who either empathize with the cause, support the cause, or contribute to the cause. You either don't want to believe it or just haven't taken a little time to do the homework on it. Not hard to find.

 

[IrishLax]

I said this in another thread, but 20% of Muslims in the United States admitted to liking Al Qaeda in a 2011 poll. Think about that... 20% of Muslims in this country were willing to publicly admit to having a favorable view of a terrorist organization that slaughtered thousands of innocent citizens. That's 500,000+ Muslims already living here that are pro-terrorism.

The vast majority of Muslims are not extremists and are not a threat. But you have to be very politically correct to ignore the sizable portion of their population that is a potential problem.

 

[NDgradstudent]

Nobody is saying it isn't a problem. They are saying Trump's plan to solve it is immoral, unconstitutional, bigoted and against the essence of what America is all about.

So what is your plan to solve the problem? Holding their hands and quoting some kitsch from the Statue of Liberty plaque?

 

[NDbrbkny]

On a lighter side, who are ben carson's advisers? he should be taught the difference between hamas vs hummus
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjsaMgM6Xhg

 

[Goldedommer44]

I understand the Muslim talk but this is not a problem that will go away by bombing the hell out of them or by banning them from our country.

What I want to know is how republicans can say that abortion should be illegal but then they don't want anything to do to help those kids or mothers after they are born. They want to cut welfare and every other social service program that may help those kids have a little better life because they are born into a family that doesn't want them.

If you are pro life you should be pro life throughout the entire life not just while you are in the womb.

 

[IrishinSyria]

On a lighter side, who are ben carson's advisers? he should be taught the difference between hamas vs hummus
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjsaMgM6Xhg

O, they've tried. Apparently he just has absolutely no ability or interest in learning about foreign policy . I mean, the more embarrassing thing from that clip was that he was talking about Fatah and Hamas at all like he was teaching a kindergarten class about Palestinian politics 101.

“Nobody has been able to sit down with him and have him get one iota of intelligent information about the Middle East,” said Duane R. Clarridge, a top adviser to Mr. Carson on terrorism and national security. He also said Mr. Carson needed weekly conference calls briefing him on foreign policy so “we can make him smart.”

 

[IrishinSyria]

I said this in another thread, but 20% of Muslims in the United States admitted to liking Al Qaeda in a 2011 poll. Think about that... 20% of Muslims in this country were willing to publicly admit to having a favorable view of a terrorist organization that slaughtered thousands of innocent citizens. That's 500,000+ Muslims already living here that are pro-terrorism.

The vast majority of Muslims are not extremists and are not a threat. But you have to be very politically correct to ignore the sizable portion of their population that is a potential problem.

This is false.

Muslim Americans: No Signs of Growth in Alienation or Support for Extremism | Pew Research Center

As in 2007, very few Muslim Americans – just 1% – say that suicide bombing and other forms of violence against civilian targets are often justified to defend Islam from its enemies; an additional 7% say suicide bombings are sometimes justified in these circumstances. Fully 81% say that suicide bombing and other forms of violence against civilians are never justified.

A comparably small percentage of Muslim Americans express favorable views of al Qaeda – 2% very favorable and 3% somewhat favorable. And the current poll finds more Muslim Americans holding very unfavorable views of al Qaeda than in 2007 (70% vs. 58%).