1697

It does not, it is net of those contributions.

1698

AGI is more or less income minus deductions. I’m sure there are some carveouts and such that don’t count, but for the most part that’s the deal IIUC.

1699

I thought AGI was the figure before one started (in the pre-TY 2018 days) itemizing deductions on Schedule A for property taxes, mortgage interest, charitable giving etc.

As I recall, though, the figure is lower than the gross figure of all the pay you’ve earned.

1700

Oh, maybe. Income - pretax deductions, not income - { standard deduction or Schedule A }.

1701

Yup, that.

1702

Well, it’s more this.

I support it in this case, I just worry that the day will come when we become the baddies. It’s not something we might be able to worry about right now- but I feel like if civility can get restored, the filibuster should return.

I think Manchin’s ideas might be sufficient- mostly because Republicans don’t have the stamina to do it, and I think Democrats would. That’s the form the filibuster should take.

To be fair, I have low hopes on civility returning- the left will eventually fight fire with fire to do what is needed, and the more the Republicans go fash, the more that stance will become popular, even with the suburban moms.

I just don’t want a situation where we can’t be defeated fairly when the time comes.

1703

a) Bro.

b) I feel like we should ask all of our parliamentary democracy friends how they’d feel if their systems tomorrow changed so that you had to get 60% (or whatever supermajority) to form a government.

1704

Regarding the filibuster, Obama had it exactly right months ago, it’s a relic of the Jim Crow era, and not something the founders ever intended even in a fever dream. It was created as a tool to suppress black representation.

1705

I was not aware of this thing, is there a link?

1706

He said it at the memorial for John Lewis.

1707

Mmmmmmm. Thank you.

1708

It was definitely used that way, but per the article on Wikipedia it was sort of accidentally created way back near the founding by Aaron Burr of all people, when I don’t think black representation was even a glimmer in the eye of anyone in the Senate.

1709

It started out that way, but it became a throttle on black voting rights all too soon.

The Southern filibusters were serious, well-organized power plays designed to defeat any attempt to extend equal rights to black people. For decades, the House passed bills to outlaw discrimination and protect the right of black citizens to vote, only to watch the bills killed by filibusters in the Senate. In an era when white mobs frequently lynched black people with impunity, Southern senators used filibusters to defeat anti-lynching bills in 1922, 1935, 1938, 1948 and 1949.

While filibustering to deny rights to minority groups, Southern senators had the gall to tout the filibuster as a tool to protect minority rights—meaning the right of a minority of senators to prevent the majority from voting on civil rights bills.

“Without the filibuster,” said Sen. Theodore Bilbo of Mississippi, “the minority would be at the mercy of the majority.”

“The filibuster is the last defense of reason, the sole defense of minorities,” said Sen. Lyndon Johnson of Texas, while filibustering against a 1949 civil rights bill.

Sen. Millard Tydings of Maryland took the argument even further: “It was cloture,” he said, “that crucified Christ on the cross.”

Not surprisingly, the longest solo filibuster in history was an anti–civil rights monologue. It came in 1957, when Lyndon Johnson was the Senate majority leader. Johnson wanted to become president but he calculated that he could never win the Democratic nomination if he was associated with the Senate’s infamous filibusters. So he carefully crafted a civil rights bill so toothless that his Southern colleagues agreed not to filibuster against it. But one senator broke that agreement—Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, who was worried about reelection.

Thurmond’s marathon broke the filibuster record set by Sen. Wayne Morse in 1953, when the Oregon maverick denounced an oil bill for 22 hours and 26 minutes. “I salute him,” Morse said of Thurmond. “It takes a lot out of a man to talk so long.”

But Thurmond’s Southern colleagues didn’t salute. They were livid when Strom’s publicity stunt sparked a barrage of phone calls and telegrams from angry segregationists back home, who demanded to know why they weren’t helping Thurmond fight for white supremacy.

“If I had undertaken a filibuster for personal political aggrandizement,” said Richard Russell of Georgia, the leader of the Southern caucus, “I would have forever reproached myself for being guilty of a form of treason against the South.”

1710

tl;dr:

“Why does [terrible thing] exist in America today?”

“Racism.”

1711

There is a line on the tax form 1040, that explicitly says here is your adjusted gross income… I think it’s line 11 or 13; it’s on the earlier part of the form. Anyway if you look at a prior years tax form you can see what your AGI is for that year. And if you start doing your taxes this year or using TurboTax or whatever you can get to your AGI pretty quickly if you are curious whether it is upper down from the prior year.

1712

I learned that the 2nd amendment was enshrined to allow volunteer Slave Hunters to carry guns, which later became Militias.

So, even the second amendment is for Racists.

1713

re the filibuster - think it should definitely be altered but not eliminated

first 1-2 weeks of a bill - requires 67 votes to defeat filibuster
next 1-2 weeks - requires 60 votes
next 1-2 weeks - requires 55 votes
after that requires a talking filibuster to avoid a simple majority vote for closure on a bill

This would allow the minority to delay a bill but not completely stop it in its tracks if it doesn’t have the 60 votes like it is now (except for reconciliation which can only be used once every budget year).

1714

My god.

Why not just say that every bill requires a 4 or 6 week debate, after which a simple majority may pass it?

1715

Reminds me of my brother’s genius plan to fix government: All laws (ALL LAWS) should sunset after like five years or something.

Because there are too many laws, you see. So by forcing the government to reaffirm them every so often, we something something underpants gnomes PROFIT!

1716

What do you see as the benefit in delaying a bill that will eventually get passed? In the context of today’s GOP specifically, where they vote in a bloc and oppose basically all legislation from the other party?

I’m sincerely asking the question, in case the tone of the post is unclear.