• Dagwood222@lemm.ee
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    18 hours ago

    I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again.

    Trump could have held the Saudis up for $50 billion on Inauguration Day 2016. Five minutes with the ambassador and he could have walked away with plenty of loot.

    Yosemite Sam could have figured it out.

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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      18 hours ago

      Some of this is about accepting bribes. A lot more is simply ideology.

      Trump’s people do not believe the IRS should exist and they are trying to dismantle it. DirectFile is just low hanging fruit, intended to make people more frustrated with tax filing and more easy to radicalized in an attempt dismantle and replace with tariffs.

      Like, this is a real decades long project that goes way beyond Trump. Abolishing the income tax was Goldwater’s wet dream.

      • merc@sh.itjust.works
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        5 hours ago

        Add to that that Grover Norquist runs an organization called Americans for Tax Reform. GOP politicians all have to sign a pledge with them that they will never vote for a tax increase or for anything to make filing taxes easier.

        Supposedly, this is because if taxes are easy to file, Americans won’t hate them enough and it makes it easier for the government to raise taxes. But, it’s awfully convenient that this is exactly what Intuit, H&R Block, etc. all want too.

      • Dagwood222@lemm.ee
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        14 hours ago

        I agree with you that the Project 2025 folks are important, but I’m talking about Trump in particular.

        The shoes, the NFTs, and the crypto schemes are all about fleecing his own people.

        There was a lottery where the top prize was dinner at the white House with POTUS. They ran it for months and there was never a single winner.

        I think he really likes stealing from poor people. Either that or he’s too chicken to go toe to toe with someone who might hit back.