May 2018 Blog Topics
On Gun Control
A crisis is brewing in the U.S. There is the threat of confiscation, rounding up, and/or seizure of the lands, chattels, monies, fuels, and/or other personal effects of the citizenry in general. Today there is a lot of talk about confiscation of guns and weapons but tomorrow it could be something else such as food set aside for a disaster or emergency. We should not be depriving or punishing everyone for the misdeeds of a few. The secret to prevent this is to get out and take the time to vote in all primaries and midterms and general elections, and to vote Republican, even if the presidential choice they offer in 2020 is Donald Trump.
Prom Kings and Queens
A girl as prom king? This is absolutely impossible. A king by definition is male. The school can choose the prom king and prom queen in any fashion but if a girl ended up being chosen for the prom king position, she would be a prom queen. So it would be possible for there to be two prom queens and no prom king. Some 40 years ago there was a TV episode titled "My Son the Prom Queen." In actuality he would be a prom king. Decades ago, at most schools only a prom queen was chosen. In the last part of the 20'th century there were protests centering around the subject of sexism and also a few protests about sex discrimination. The answer to this back then was to also choose a prom king. If, today, the persons chosen for prom "king" and prom "queen" should be of the same gender, there should be no obligation to keep adding runners-up to the royal court until a person of each gender had been picked.
2018 Tax Reform
The latest tax reform doubled the standard deduction. But for most taxpayers the benefits will be minimal and many taxpayers will end up with a bigger tax bill. To see how small the benefts will be, just look at the "Who Must File" section at the beginning of the instructions. For 2017 a single person must file a tax return if his income was more than about $10000, which represents a personal exemption of about $4000, and the old standard deduction of about $6000, Taking the new standard deduction of about $12000, there is no personal exemption any more so the filing requirement is $12000, a scant $2000, more than before, Not the expected $16000, filing requirement For a married couple (filing jointly) the filing requiirement is about $24000. instead of an expected $32000 and compared with last year's $20000.
Last updated May 17, 2018
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