1. It's not increasing the tax bill, anymore than reducing your withholding would be. Your tax liability is your tax liability. If parents are choosing to not take the check and leave the money in the hands of the Treasury till April, that is their choice.

2. The bill expands the overall tax credit, even for those who pay no or few taxes.  The intent of the law is to raise families with children out of poverty.  One could argue whether that needs to be done or whether Tax credits are the best choice, it is an effective way to get cash into families hands, and most younger families can use it.

15 minutes ago, Nature Boy 2.0 said:

Yes we need more people to be tolerant like the left

Well with you and I representing the middle of the road here, it's clear that this is not an affliction of one "side" or the other. But as the mor guy, you knew that.

It's pretty bad as a country where the narrative is you feel you have to pull up stakes, or not live somewhere because your neighbor doesn't share your world view.

IMO we are doing it wrong. It's not that hard. 

10 minutes ago, Fobosdaemios said:

Did they ask to see your sponsor/joint sponsor's IRS transcripts?

We were married, so both for the year we were married, just the sponsor for the other years. 

1 hour ago, Fobosdaemios said:

Hello everyone,

 

Im currently printing out the joint sponsor most recent 3 years tax returns (pdf version). He lost the original documents so he asked his accountant to send a pdf version. I just realized it the page that required signatures doesn't show the signatures on it. Do you guys think it will be alright?

 

Thanks!

You might want to check but when we went for our interview we brought the IRS transcripts and no actual tax return. You can download your transcripts on IRS.GOV

1 hour ago, Nature Boy 2.0 said:

I love the smell of Draconian in the morning. God help but I do

I was going with another Duvall character.

 Speaking of the Darwin effect..............

Canada could let fully vaccinated US citizens enter the country by next month

https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/16/americas/canada-covid-us-visitors-trudeau/index.html
 

19 hours ago, LIBrty4all said:

A friend of mine, who has been in his house for years, received no less than 5 ballots; two for him and his wife, and three for strangers.  One of which had lived at that address somewhere around 20+ years prior.

But the reality is, none of it matters, when mass-mailing of ballots was allowed to happen.  It did more to hurt the integrity of the recent election than anything since the Civil War.

 

And here's some interesting FACTS coming out of Georgia:

 

https://rumble.com/vjsxlb-must-watch-auditors-uncover-fraudulent-vote-counts-in-georgia.html

What state do your friend live in that doesn't purge the voter roles

6 minutes ago, Dashinka said:

Effective and efficient are relative terms.  Like I said, I am not sure all other states are ready to adopt something like that.  Looking at the stats from Washington and Ohio from for a presidential election it is 78% vs 71% for 2016 (2016 was the latest data from Wash SOS).  Mid-terms shows a bigger difference with WA being higher than OH.  It is interesting that the stats for WA did not increase very much over the years, so the full vote by mail did not drive more participation (1952 80.1%; 2016 78.8%) in presidential elections, or mid-terms (1958 70.2%; 2018 71.8%).  Again, this is a state by state decision.

 

 

Again, the issue to be addressed is the perception of fairness for all parties having equal access (geographic and timewise) to the polls. Mail in ballots address that issue. A working parents should not have to stand in line for hours and pay for daycare, while a retiree at the lake cabin gets to use mail in "absentee" voting. If you want examples of rural counties with no poll for miles and no transportation options, they are out there

Most Secretary of State are all over this issue, it's when governors and legislators get involved in avoiding modern best practice to push some perceived agenda that things get very unfair.

11 hours ago, laylalex said:

I used to prefer going to vote in person whenever I could -- I liked the community aspect of it, the sense of ceremony, chatting with poll workers and seeing my neighbors. When I moved up to Berkeley I accidentally ticked off the permanent vote by mail box when I registered to vote. I was skeptical when it came in the mail, and for a few elections I still went and dropped the ballots off in person. I wanted to see it drop in a box.

 

When I got back down here, I registered as permanent vote by mail again, because I had the option to always walk it to one of the voting centers. For the primary last year, I finally just dropped my ballot in the mailbox across the street and crossed my fingers because voting in person seemed like a not so great idea. The next day I got a text from the registrar confirming the ballot had been received by USPS. Then another when it got to the registrar, and another telling me my vote had been counted. That's more than I ever got voting in person except for a little paper stub and an "I Voted" sticker.

 

Plus this past year they gave me TWO "I Voted" stickers with the ballot for the general election, they have a permanent permanent mail in customer here! What can I say, I'm a sucker for stickers.

Two 'I voted" stickers? That is proof positive of voter fraud!

It sounds like the California system is even better than Washington on the communication about processing. I can, though,  look at my application from mailing to processing on the web.

Several years ago I forgot to date my ballot. They informed me that my ballot had not been processed and would I please sign the affidavit? A few years ago they flagged my ballot as not having a signature match and asked my to sign a new signature card in person at the courthouse. That is to say, mail in ballots are not a loose ship and reasonable controls are in place.

1 hour ago, Dashinka said:

Not sure every state is ready to adopt the Washington voting method, and regardless it is up to them and not the Feds.  Personally, I feel more confident voting in person, where I put the ballot in the machine myself and not relying on the postal system or some other process to handle my ballot.  But to each their own.  Regardless, the new laws are not restricting absentee voting with no reason, so those that like you wish to vote that way can.  

In Washington state you can drop your ballot in the neighborhood election box, prepaid in the mail or you can go down the week of and vote at the county seat by requesting a ballot, it's up to you.  We didn't need the Fed's to tell us that effective and efficient voting systems make for an effective democracy. Washington, Idaho, Oregon, Utah , Colorado and now even California figured it out, I am not sure why this seems so hard. 

44 minutes ago, Dashinka said:

Narratives are just that.  The laws that Joe Biden is calling the worst threat to our country actually expand voting access to almost anyone.  These laws were needed in order to codify the best things that were done last year and eliminate the things that aren’t needed.  Do we really need 24hr polling places?  In all the stories I see about this issue, no one can seem to elaborate why increasing voting access restricts anyone’s ability to vote.  If we let the Feds take over elections, it will just be another huge bureaucracy that we cannot afford.

We have had this debate before to no avail, there is no need for polling places when your mail in voting system is mature.

On 7/13/2021 at 2:10 PM, laylalex said:

Yes, that's true. Not everywhere, but a number of managers are requiring or warning of adjustments. The rationale is why should I pay you NYC money when you're living in Skokie?

I have a friend at Google that is being told that moving from SF to San Jose will cut their salary. It only matters because Google is not onboard with the work from home movement.

you can split hairs about running with a mask or a virtual signalling

Summer setback: COVID deaths and cases rising again globally
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/health/summer-setback-covid-deaths-and-cases-rising-again-globally/

COVID-19 deaths and cases are on the rise again globally in a dispiriting setback that is triggering another round of restrictions and dampening hopes for an almost normal summer of fun.

The World Health Organization reported Wednesday that deaths climbed last week after nine straight weeks of decline. It recorded more than 55,000 lives lost, a 3% increase from the week before.

Cases rose 10% last week to nearly 3 million, with the highest numbers recorded in Brazil, India, Indonesia and Britain, WHO said.

The reversal has been attributed to low vaccination rates, the relaxation of mask rules and other precautions, and the swift spread of the more-contagious delta variant, which WHO said has now been identified in 111 countries and is expected to become globally dominant in the coming months.

At some point it will become apparent, as it is to many people in the country already, that the Republican party is not interested in more people voting. Not specifically people of color, or liberals or Democrats ( although there are some factions that are driving for the hoop on those items) just everyday people.  

The reason for that is simple math. Older people vote and tend to favor conservative views and candidates.  Off cycle elections favor conservative and Republicans, because, retired folks have the time and inclination to vote. 
The demographic tsunamis are going to upset that applecart for Republicans.  The Republicans who understand that and are trying a broader appeal on the issues, are being shouted down by super "patriots", tea partiers and dirty tricksters.  The true leaders in the Republican party have to go along or get primaried/censured.  The attack on Liz Cheney, no socialist there, is exhibit A in how desperate and down the toilet the Republican party is.

IPAs going off the hook in the Seattle area with a race to the "bottom" IMO.  A little dab will do on the hops.  

But what do I know, I love Carlsberg.

1 minute ago, Cyberfx1024 said:

Hey, I don't want to see Xena Lucy Lawless ok..... We need to see more Spartacus Lucy Lawless instead. 

Reminder: This is a family friendly forum

5 hours ago, laylalex said:

I contributed some money to the ACLU of Minnesota last year. I think we can all agree it's my fault and I bailed everyone out in Oregon and Washington.

I am Washington and still incarcerated, so maybe you missed someone?

9 hours ago, TBoneTX said:

On what basis is this concluded, please?

Well I agree, I am not there first hand to observe that their rights have not been abridged. You must have some credible information that shows they are being persecuted.  

On 7/9/2021 at 12:17 PM, TBoneTX said:

Hmm... a 4-hour unarmed event warrants suspension of legal protections?

Every one is getting their day in court. No rights have been abridged. 

On 7/10/2021 at 3:13 PM, Nature Boy 2.0 said:

If only we could get them to be this proactive on prosecuting the many 1000s of BLM protestors that looted and burned our cities for months, including many federal properties 

Portland, Seattle, "your city"? 

On 7/9/2021 at 1:41 PM, Nitas_man said:

Unbelievable number of people are saying it’s space lasers

There was somuch love, a bigly amount, and if Nancy Pellohsee had not underestimated the amount of love these, I mean it was beautiful, these people had, there would not have been, I mean it was totally justified, did you see what they tweeted?, there would have not have been the violence. 

On 7/10/2021 at 6:05 AM, moxy said:

There's probably a Charlie murder board for that explanation too.

No he's busy on the legal team

More response:

When you bring your packet to cross the border and "break the seal" you start your LPR status. I would recommend you import your car at that visit unless you are using a service.  There is no reason you cannot go back to Canada and finish packing and move. If you cross the border back into the US, remember that where you live "where's home" is your new UD address.Keep the covid constraints in mind coming back to Canada..