I'm sure a Meh-ra-thon is forthcoming to rob us of our stimulus money

@PooltoyWolf I wonder if people’s perception of you would change if you either told us or admitted that your collection of inflatables included a women.

@Felton10 Halo Husky is the closest I have to that.

@mike808 Its against the Goat Code of Ethics to blame yourself. Already researched that.

@Felton10 @mike808 by April 15th, someone else will have the job, so blame away in adavnce.

@IndifferentDude Don’t forget your membership fee!

@IndifferentDude @mike808 don’t you mean meh-bership?

@IndifferentDude @mbersiam @mike808 cute that you think you can get one

@unksol If I’m unlucky enough to snag one, it’ll only be my 13th consecutive IRK!! (Can post proof if desired!)

@IndifferentDude @unksol That is impressive, but have you gotten anything worth bragging about?

@Felton10 @unksol Unfortunately, no bubble wrap, but I’ve had a few good items. Last month I received a new Cusinart 14-cup coffee maker in a dented but unopened box. Several other higher priced items but none as off-the-charts as your X-box score. Maybe this month I’ll score a Bitcoin in my IRK bag pocket! They’re currently going for over $60,000!!

@IndifferentDude @unksol I wonder if they are going to continue the trend they started of giving away expensive stuff that they don’t sell like the xbox and the ps5. I’m sure that would keep people coming back just on the off chance they might get one of those. At least it took the pressure off me re my wife complaining that getting these is a waste of money.

@FreePasta Only if they haven’t filed 2020 and there income is too high in 2019 and their income goes down in 2020 to a level where they can get some or all of it.

@Felton10

What if their income was never high?

(I’m tying this back to the people who are still waiting for their first 2 payments.)

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There’s no reason that they shouldn’t have received the previous payments, which is why they can claim them when they file the taxes now.

What, if anything, are they basing the 3rd round off, to try ensuring that people who were mistakenly left off from the previous rounds, get it now?

@Felton10 @FreePasta If you dig a bit, the IRS website:
https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus-tax-relief-and-economic-impact-payments
has actual information on how to file for missed previous payments, whether you had filed or not.

@FreePasta There are a lot of variables depending on the individuals.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/03/12/stimulus-payment-rollout-delays/

@Kidsandliz We all know that, but we are still here waiting breathlessly as the clock strikes 12 midnight to buy some shit we don’t need.

@Felton10 Well if you don’t need it feel free to put in my mailing address. I promise to send you any bubble wrap included LOL

@Kidsandliz That is a tempting offer, but I have to decline.

And OBTW I would LOVE a Mehrathon that had things I’m interested in, especially during the watered down late and lamented replacement for VMP hour, beyond getting an IRK. The last few there really wasn’t much aimed at buyers like me.

@duodec no one has proposed how to pay for it yet. But definitely no one has proposed touching retirement accounts. That is just not going to ever fly and they have contribution limits for that very reason.

If you are concerned about the checks for political reasons trump was wanting $2000 in the first place so. Meh.

Also pretty sure tons of people work over 40 hours a week because they have to. I’ve done it working two jobs. I’ve done it as a tech lead constantly cause salary. Some people have just been fucked over by a year of this.

I sincerely doubt your taxes have or ever will be impacted. I have watched CEOs treat their workers like crap, mess up the company, get a massive pay raise while doing layoffs, then get “fired” with 30 million dollar checks.

Just saying there’s a lot of room for improvement before you get to that “my hard work is paying for the lazy people” hook

@unksol There have been trial balloons about it. Plus talks about ‘wealth’ taxes, some of which include retirement accounts in their calculation. After all in some of the radical rhetoric, just being able to save for retirement is “winning life’s lottery” . And being fairly frugal in order to do it is also suspicious.

What do CEOs have to do with this?

Nobody said that everyone getting this handout is lazy.

@duodec unless you somehow managed to get 50 million in your retirement accounts, which would be insane considering contribution limits, I think you’ll be perfectly safe from any sort of net worth tax. Also they have almost no chance of passing that.

Same with taxing tax free retirement accounts people penny pinched to put funds in. Just. No t happening.

Over paid CEOs who often do nothing/are kinda psychopaths could use some reigning in. Just a counter point of a more likely place to look for tax revenue than you. Corporate tax rates. Etc.

And I didn’t say you said “lazy” but that “free money” is kinda. Eh. Rings of the whole I worked for this it’s mine/you didn’t rhetoric. Realistically if you had to be frugal to get there I highly doubt you’re going to be paying for any of this/your taxes would ever change because of it. Maybe a little if you did really really well.

I will readily admit I have met people who to me are just… Crazy in how they handle their money and make no effort to plan or save or get anywhere. basically just a series of constant bad decisions and no matter how much help given they aren’t going to change. Probably not the situation for most people although some might get a windfall out of this and then promptly burn it. Not saying this bill is necessarily how I’d like it to be either. But. It is now. So we’ll have to see how it shakes out.

@duodec @unksol
Why aren’t you worried about how we’ve been paying for forever wars over fossil fuels, or the reduction in the corporate tax rate from 35% to 20% (for companies that can’t afford offshore tax haven sandwiches - looking at you, Apple), or the 10 Trillion tax cut that 85% of the benefit went to the top 10%, or the treatment of “unearned” or “passive” income at a lower tax rate than the decimated middle class?

Jeff Bezos doesn’t need another “corporate” yacht tax write-off, which is a fancy word for “subsidy” or government handout, as long as we’re talking about “free money” (and maybe implying “lazy”, since we’re talking about “unearned” income and taxes).

We can easily pay for the 2T American Rescue Act by reinstating just 20% of the disastrous deficit balooning 10T taxpayer giveaway from the last administration. We can roll back more of that taxpayer scam to pay for the yuuuge deficit that 10T revenue loss created from the utter and complete lie to the American people that it would “pay for itself” in growth and jobs.

I say “we” because we are all in this together, “We” the People, and furthering systemic, institutionalized wealth disparity is not who “we” are as Americans. “We” can be better than tribalism and not be a bunch of selfish greedy fucks with a colonial “I got mine, fuck you” attitude.

@duodec @unksol

I will readily admit I have met people who to me are just… Crazy in how they handle their money and make no effort to plan or save or get anywhere. basically just a series of constant bad decisions and no matter how much help given they aren’t going to change.

Apparently, you’ve met the ex-wife.

@duodec @mike808

“I got mine, fuck you”

I assume this was not directed at @duodec. Just a general some of this is bullshit. Cause that’s definitely not how I read his post. I was more going at the general lie that if someone else gets help in a shit situation they are taking your money cause you pay taxes. I mean I don’t like them either.

If we had laws that didn’t let corporations treat people like crap we would have a lot less welfare in general. But there is still going to have to be some

@mike808 a "girlfriend"s entire family. They were… an epic train wreck. You feel bad but then you watch how they do things and just… Ugh. Idk. Some very basic things. Being dumb enough to get your electric or water shut off when I’d seen windows open and the heat on 85 in winter. Or the sprinkler/hose just running in the yard in summer. Some people are just…

@duodec @unksol Yes, the “Got mine, FU” was in the general sense, of what people mean when you strip out the dog-whistles and coded language we have been indoctrinated with and propagandized with (some state-sponsored, others corporate-sponsored, yeah, I’m looking at you, Rupert Murdoch and Fox News)for the last 4 years, er, the last 50 years, hell, the last 250 years of sanitized and glorified “American History”.

Such as “Manifest Destiny”, “The American Work Ethic”, “Pull yourself up by the bootstraps”, “Trickle Down”, “The filibuster protects the voice of the minority”, “Right-to-work”, “The self-made (white) Man (who inherited wealth)”, “Election Fraud”, “The Civil War was about agriculture and manufucturing”, “Constitutional Originalism”, and other fairy tales. Much of it promoted by a certain political party, for decades.

@unksol

Some people are just …

I think “deplorable” is the word you’re looking for.

@mike808 maybe dial it down. A notch lol. I don’t think he was saying. Any of that. And even if he was discussion not warpath

@givemeyoursoul Dentist said that with the bone loss to secure the implants and being where they are located, implants would be impractical.

@givemeyoursoul I’ve got 6 lower fronts that need crowns (because of cracks in the enamel) that the dental insurance claimed was “normal wear” and thus won’t cover. My (current) dentist wants to charge me “full price” to do those, which is more than the cost if my dental insurance would cover the work, i.e. a premium for paying cash. Time for a new dentist, sadly, as I love her to death, but not an extra $2K worth! The teeth/bone are okay, so no implants are called for. Why do these folks charge, effectively, a premium, for paying totally out of pocket?? (I’ve run across doctors who do the same thing - it seems totally counterintuitive to me.) I want medical/dental care, not insurance, dammit!!

@Felton10 @givemeyoursoul
I was going to ask @Star2236 if she had any issues with them. Of course it’s more likely we hear about the horror stories, it’s human nature, people will always bark louder about the negatives. I was born missing a few adult 2nd teeth, even though I really wanted to replace my bridges with implants, i’m steering clear!!

@cbl_wv @givemeyoursoul
Omg, that’s absurd to me! I’ve never had to pay out of pocket for medical or dental care and i’m totally uneducated on the subject, but isn’t it common sense that you’d get a “cash” discount? Especially for services like those! Having Dr’s you really like is “the best”, good luck with finding your new dentist!

@cbl_wv That’s insane. I just got a new primary care doctor, and if you pay cash you get a 50% discount. It’s insane they would charge a premium.

@Felton10 Fair enough. Good luck!

@cbl_wv @givemeyoursoul Its like the cost for medical procedures-if you look at any medicare statement as to what is charged, what is actually paid and what is written off, it will astound you. Any medical professional that tries to get full price from you rather than what they would get from insurance is trying to gouge you.

@Felton10 @givemeyoursoul @Lynnerizer
My actual implant no, I love it. I had a problem with the extraction of my root canal tooth, it was broken into million pieces and got infected. The maxillofacial surgeon said it was his top three hardest extraction he’d ever done.
The only thing about implants is that their really expensive. I think with the Anastasia, extraction, implant and everything it was about $4-5k. I was only 24 when my root canal went bad and the pain was so bad I couldn’t do hot or cold or eat on the right side of my mouth. So I justified the money for being able to chew for the rest of my life.
My father is 79 and had throat cancer and bc of the radiation that caused some back teeth to decay. The dentist tried to sell him on implants and we said no we’ll just pull the teeth when they get bad enough. At his age it’s not worth the money (he’s on a set income with a pension and SS).
It’s not something that happens in one day either. It takes about a year to complete and part of the time you’ll have just the metal post sticking out until the tooth is ready. Hope all my info helped.

@givemeyoursoul @Lynnerizer @Star2236 Definitely age is a major consideration which option to get as is cost to a lessor extent.

@yakkoTDI
I thought for sure by/on the 10th, but NOPE, not this month!

@Lynnerizer @yakkoTDI there’s always the forthcoming Ides of March…

@Star2236 I’ve used care credit before. The money wasn’t really the issue. Didn’t like the idea of the dentist having to pull out my four front teeth on the bottom. Also wanted to make sure I my dental insurance had the full $ 2,500 to be utilized as I had used up part of it in 2020 for a crown. Very protective of losing any parts of my body at my age. Up until about 4 years ago had all my wisdom teeth-even had one filled to avoid having it pulled.

@Felton10 @Star2236 Is it safe?

@Star2236 My hospital is in a huge implementation with CareCredit right now. it’s used for medical services (dental, vision, health) and even veterinary services for your pets.

@blaineg @Star2236 What care credit? Its been around for a long time and the dentist has to participate. Usually an interest free payback if done with in 12-18 months.

@blaineg @Felton10 @Star2236

@blaineg @Felton10
Yeah, I had absolutely no problem with it and what the above person said about it is true. Look into it, it’s a nice option for expensive dental work.

@blaineg @Felton10 @Star2236 I think you HAVE to mention a CRITICAL distinction. Carecredit’s promotional terms of service.

“With shorter term financing options of 6, 12, 18 or 24 months no interest is charged on purchases of $200 or more when you make the minimum monthly payments and pay the full amount due by the end of the promotional period. If you do not, interest is charged from the original purchase date.”

What they actually do is start calculating you interst at the very start. At a realitivly high interest rate(usually the default rate. Say 29%). And your minimum payment will probably be less than it would take to pay it off in time. If you do not pay it by the end of the term they turn around and smack you with all the interest they have been building since the start.

It’s not like some credit cards where it’s no interest for x months then they start charging on what’s left. It’s deferred, starts up front, and only forgiven if you pay in full by the end of term.

They are legit and an interest free loan is not a bad thing but you better be absolutely sure you will have it paid off at the end of term.

https://www.carecredit.com/health-and-money-articles/financial-education-101/understanding-promotional-financing/

@blaineg @Star2236 @unksol I do remember that from the one time I used them. Thanks for pointing that out.

@blaineg @Felton10 @Star2236 if you budget it as a one time and know you can pay it’s an interest free loan. It’s helpful. But they have to be making money somewhere and they do it (probably) via those terms of service or getting people to treat it as a medical credit card. Then hit with the high interest.

Just. Make sure you know what you are getting into.

@blaineg @Star2236 @unksol I am sure they get some kind of fee from the doctor/dentist for using it. If you charged that on a credit card, the doctor/dentist would pay a fee so it is just another cost of doing business.

@blaineg @Felton10 @Star2236 idk… It’s basically a high interest deferred credit card for medical expenses.

And they are saying that up front. If you read through/understand it. They are not trying to hide it it you understand what they are saying

But they are also putting a line of credit/card in people’s hands. Who might not fully understand the tricks played so…or might be forced to use it.

As far as what doctors would get out of it. They would get paid immediately, maybe at a reduced/negotiated rate and be done with it. That is basically how every insurance program works

Then it’s carecredit’s problem. Who could use the full charge and the interest if you don’t pay then call in debt collectors… Etc etc.

Not a dig at carecredit. Why we need it is a whole nother thing. But make sure you understand deferred interest

@blaineg @Felton10 @unksol
All I know is I used it, it worked when I had get an implant bc of a root canal gone bad. That’s why I mentioned it.

@blaineg @Felton10 @Star2236 it’s a good option. Just meant it as a heads up.