U.S. Tax Preparation, special interests making our life miserable

I posted the following comment to “Filling taxes in japan is a breeze, why not here?”, T.R. Reid, New York Times, 2017-04-17.

When we lived in Italy and Sweden (1968-1974) we filled out four-page forms for those countries' taxes. And then we had to at least fill out a two-page form for the U.S. But we didn't have much investment income then.

I have tried tax software, but their question format takes longer than doing my own spreadsheet. I tried the Free-Filer that the IRS site links to, but it doesn't provide instant recalculations like my spreadsheet does.

Maybe I shouldn't say this because some lobbyist will get Congress to take this benefit away: the IRS does provide fillable PDF forms that you can fill out offline instead of handwriting the data.

I should have added to my comment the old adage: We have the best Congress that money can buy!

Political speech or bribery?

If I give money to a politician or a bureaucrat to get him or her to do something for me, it is called bribery.  Said bribery can result in a fine or a prison term, for both me and the politician or bureaucrat.

However, if I give money to the political campaign of a politician, in the expectation that he will act in my interests, it is now called "political speech".

A real Republican's Senate career was ended when it was revealed that he was given a Minneapolis condo at discount rates.  I don't remember the details, but I think it was a shame that real Republicans like David Durenberger, Bob Packwood, and Edward Brookes went down in flames because they did things that were small misdeeds compared to the shenanigans that go on now in both parties.

Remember that those who throw millions at elections so far have just as many votes as you do – one!

Please also pass on to all your friends:

Always vote because all votes count.  The only votes that don't count are those not cast.