• Welcome to OGBoards 10.0, keep in mind that we will be making LOTS of changes to smooth out the experience here and make it as close as possible functionally to the old software, but feel free to drop suggestions or requests in the Tech Support subforum!

Biden/Schumer/Pelosi Accountability Thread

Pretty wild that there's been almost no talk about this relief bill. I mean holy crap guys. $1.9 trillion! A real, honest to god child allowance! Child poverty cut in HALF! ACA subsidy cliff, GONE! Plus tons of less sexy stuff like Covid funding, money for states and schools, etc. Always more work to be done, but I feel like it's worth it to take a beat and acknowledge how incredible and transformative this is.

I'll eat some crow and admit that the bill is impressive. It is very much the short term bandaid this country needs, however lets see if we have the fortitude to institute the long term changes that must accompany it.
 
Pretty wild that there's been almost no talk about this relief bill. I mean holy crap guys. $1.9 trillion! A real, honest to god child allowance! Child poverty cut in HALF! ACA subsidy cliff, GONE! Plus tons of less sexy stuff like Covid funding, money for states and schools, etc. Always more work to be done, but I feel like it's worth it to take a beat and acknowledge how incredible and transformative this is.

where is a good place to read about the child tax credits in more detail, tough to see how much we're gonna get based on about half an hour of googling
 
where is a good place to read about the child tax credits in more detail, tough to see how much we're gonna get based on about half an hour of googling

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/07/us/politics/child-tax-credit-stimulus.html

It's an increase of the $2000 credit you currently get when you file your taxes. It will be ~$3600 a year for a child under 5. Half of it will come in monthly checks of $300 starting in July. The other half when you file your taxes. The current bill is for 2021 only, but Dems want to make it permanent.
 
doesn't it phase out based on income? that's where i was looking for a bit of specificity.
 
we completed the adoption of our child last year so this is the year to claim it on taxes. will we be eligible for all the stimulus payments that have passed thus far? he was with us all of 2020. we're just waiting on getting his SSN issued before we file our taxes, hopefully that's coming any day now. everything's a damn process these days.
 
we completed the adoption of our child last year so this is the year to claim it on taxes. will we be eligible for all the stimulus payments that have passed thus far? he was with us all of 2020. we're just waiting on getting his SSN issued before we file our taxes, hopefully that's coming any day now. everything's a damn process these days.

That sounds like a law school hypothetical.

Hope there's someone in the government office you need as competent and helpful as those in the USPTO.
 
Not sure I'm working with the most recent text of the bill, and still could change a bit, but if I'm reading it right, if you and your wife combine for less than $150k, you get the full amount. The "extra" $1600 then phases out at a rate of $50 for every $1000. So at something like $182k, it reverts back to the old $2000 CTC, which phases out at something like $400k.

The disclaimer is I have no experience legislative text and I could be fucking this up completely.
 
That sounds like a law school hypothetical.

Hope there's someone in the government office you need as competent and helpful as those in the USPTO.

AOC was posting on Instagram Live answering questions like this and for any one she couldn't answer she said to conduct your member of Congress because there are caseworkers to help with this. Mine is...Madison Cawthorn. Doubt I'll get any help there.
 
AOC was posting on Instagram Live answering questions like this and for any one she couldn't answer she said to conduct your member of Congress because there are caseworkers to help with this. Mine is...Madison Cawthorn. Doubt I'll get any help there.

Sorry to hear that. I can empathize as Dana Rorabacher was mine for a couple of decades.
 
Not sure I'm working with the most recent text of the bill, and still could change a bit, but if I'm reading it right, if you and your wife combine for less than $150k, you get the full amount. The "extra" $1600 then phases out at a rate of $50 for every $1000. So at something like $182k, it reverts back to the old $2000 CTC, which phases out at something like $400k.

The disclaimer is I have no experience legislative text and I could be fucking this up completely.

Thanks, that's the conclusion I arrived at as well. I'll be interested to read how transformational this is for those it will help; reducing child poverty should be made a permanent part of our tax strategy.

Maybe we're just an edge case, but that extra $300 per month wouldn't do so much to defray the >$2k per month child care costs here anyway, even if we did qualify for it, which we wouldn't.

I remember like 10 years ago arguing with LK about how household income of $200k isn't middle class and should be considered wealthy and shouldn't qualify for tax breaks and blah blah and him saying that it's a comfortable living but nowhere near paying for private school like Wake, etc. Now here I am in a similar position and it'll be tough for a few years, especially if we have a second kid, to stomach paying what will amount to another mortgage to raise a kid in DC. But I don't think that's what this child care allowance is meant to address anyway, so I'm not saying it's a bad thing or bad policy design or anything. Just doesn't really address the cost of child care for my income bracket and the place we live.
 
we completed the adoption of our child last year so this is the year to claim it on taxes. will we be eligible for all the stimulus payments that have passed thus far? he was with us all of 2020. we're just waiting on getting his SSN issued before we file our taxes, hopefully that's coming any day now. everything's a damn process these days.

Congratulations
 
Gotta admin it irks me that my mother gets a $1200 stimulus check simply because she is old and doesn't work because she already has a giant pile of money. Meanwhile, with the Senate reduced income limits my wife and I finally in our lives made just barely enough to qualify for $0 this round despite having three young kids... oh and now I read we also will have a phased reduction to the increased child tax credit. Congrats you just spent a decade + working your ass off to get educated and climb the ladder while incurring a bunch of student loan debt and have to both work fulltime jobs during the pandemic to provide for 3 kids and daycare eats up 1/3 of salary. You don't need any more help, but retired boomers get another payday!

Its a shame there wasnt a way to take into account assets and student loan obligations when deciding who gets the $. Its fine if I don't but no way does my mom need a check. Would have made sense to give $1200 for anyone with a kid regardless of income IMO. I appreciate the loan payment pause, but the principal is still just sitting there haunting us. Glad I at least live where its cheap. Lots of folks in expensive locales getting left out this time who probably really could use some help.
 
Thanks, that's the conclusion I arrived at as well. I'll be interested to read how transformational this is for those it will help; reducing child poverty should be made a permanent part of our tax strategy.

Maybe we're just an edge case, but that extra $300 per month wouldn't do so much to defray the >$2k per month child care costs here anyway, even if we did qualify for it, which we wouldn't.

I remember like 10 years ago arguing with LK about how household income of $200k isn't middle class and should be considered wealthy and shouldn't qualify for tax breaks and blah blah and him saying that it's a comfortable living but nowhere near paying for private school like Wake, etc. Now here I am in a similar position and it'll be tough for a few years, especially if we have a second kid, to stomach paying what will amount to another mortgage to raise a kid in DC. But I don't think that's what this child care allowance is meant to address anyway, so I'm not saying it's a bad thing or bad policy design or anything. Just doesn't really address the cost of child care for my income bracket and the place we live.

The most important thing they might be able to do in a couple of years is to get rid of the Trump SALT (State and Local Taxes not Strategic Arms Limitations Treaty) limit. People who live in those states/district got a tax increase from Trump's "tax cut".
 
we completed the adoption of our child last year so this is the year to claim it on taxes. will we be eligible for all the stimulus payments that have passed thus far? he was with us all of 2020. we're just waiting on getting his SSN issued before we file our taxes, hopefully that's coming any day now. everything's a damn process these days.

Yup. We're in the same situation. I used H&R block software and the process was pretty easy. It calculates the total stimulus you were eligible for in 2020 (based on your 2020 AGI and dependents), it asks how much you actually received from the government, and then calculates how much additional money you're owed.
 
Not sure I'm working with the most recent text of the bill, and still could change a bit, but if I'm reading it right, if you and your wife combine for less than $150k, you get the full amount. The "extra" $1600 then phases out at a rate of $50 for every $1000. So at something like $182k, it reverts back to the old $2000 CTC, which phases out at something like $400k.

The disclaimer is I have no experience legislative text and I could be fucking this up completely.

This is my understanding as well.
 
Gotta admin it irks me that my mother gets a $1200 stimulus check simply because she is old and doesn't work because she already has a giant pile of money. Meanwhile, with the Senate reduced income limits my wife and I finally in our lives made just barely enough to qualify for $0 this round despite having three young kids... oh and now I read we also will have a phased reduction to the increased child tax credit. Congrats you just spent a decade + working your ass off to get educated and climb the ladder while incurring a bunch of student loan debt and have to both work fulltime jobs during the pandemic to provide for 3 kids and daycare eats up 1/3 of salary. You don't need any more help, but retired boomers get another payday!

Its a shame there wasnt a way to take into account assets and student loan obligations when deciding who gets the $. Its fine if I don't but no way does my mom need a check. Would have made sense to give $1200 for anyone with a kid regardless of income IMO. I appreciate the loan payment pause, but the principal is still just sitting there haunting us. Glad I at least live where its cheap. Lots of folks in expensive locales getting left out this time who probably really could use some help.

The student debt forgiveness conversation is really frustrating. I recently listened to a conversation with a couple researchers about it. Theoretically speaking, given that the feds own 90+% of student debt, it's essentially just another form of taxation, but one that's hopelessly regressive and punitive. I don't think Joe Bankruptcy Biden is going to address it. Delaware, the credit and lending state, would never forgive him.

And for people who just immediately jump to the "why should we forgive Harvard law grads' debt? They can afford to pay it back! This would be a giveaway to the rich...."

1) > half of student debt is owned by nonwhite women
2) for those overprivileged piece of shit harvard kids, why should we consign them all to go do soulless biglaw work? or anyone who can afford to pay their loan debt back, for that matter, at the usurious rates it was lent, with no way to discharge it?

It was only 100 years ago that high school was made free for all in the US, it feels like something akin to free public college has to be on the table in the next decade plus.
 
Back
Top