News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
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Re:Millions of Taxpayers Call the IRS for Help. Two-Thirds D... by silisili on Wednesday June 26, 2024 @02:33PM (#40803016)
Don't forget the USCIS. It takes a lot of time, patience, and skill to navigate the phone tree in a way that doesn't either end the call immediately, or tell you to visit the website and then end the call. I had a paper and pencil marking my choices so I'd remember what I'd tried, and it was nearly full by the end.
Re:Millions of Taxpayers Call the IRS for Help. Two-Thirds D... by gorbachev on Wednesday June 26, 2024 @03:06PM (#40803374)
You forgot the EPA.
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Re:Millions of Taxpayers Call the IRS for Help. Two-Thirds D... by fvrghl on Wednesday June 26, 2024 @02:14PM (#40802802)
A majority doesn't mean much these days. A supermajority is necessary to get things passed that the other side doesn't agree with [1].

The democrats haven't had a supermajority since 2011 [2].

[1] https://www.governing.com/context/how-did-the-senate-end-up-... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/111th_United_States_Congress

Re:Millions of Taxpayers Call the IRS for Help. Two-Thirds D... by lesuorac on Wednesday June 26, 2024 @07:46PM (#40805819)
Majority means as much as they want it to.

The Cloture Rule is just a rule and such is modifiable with a simple majority (>50%) and has been rather recently so that judicial appointments could be made without needing 2/3 to override a filibuster. If Democrats wanted to actually govern without needing 2/3 of the votes in the senate they could've; however, much like the Republicans they aren't actually a homogenous block so removing the Cloture Rule would just demonstrate they aren't in agreement and look embarrassing (akin to Republicans not being able to agree on a speaker of the house).

Re:Millions of Taxpayers Call the IRS for Help. Two-Thirds D... by davidw on Wednesday June 26, 2024 @02:11PM (#40802756)
Re:Millions of Taxpayers Call the IRS for Help. Two-Thirds D... by akkartik on Wednesday June 26, 2024 @02:14PM (#40802790)
(Off-topic but I like your username: https://akkartik.itch.io/carousel)
Re:Millions of Taxpayers Call the IRS for Help. Two-Thirds D... by lesuorac on Wednesday June 26, 2024 @07:47PM (#40805825)
Well, thats very close but I had a different carousel in mind when I reversed the spelling.

You're the first person (afaik) to have figured out the name without it being explained to them though.

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Re:Millions of Taxpayers Call the IRS for Help. Two-Thirds D... by mcmcmc on Wednesday June 26, 2024 @02:43PM (#40803143)
It’s almost like the parties don’t matter, and the ruling class relies on political circus as a distraction
Re:Millions of Taxpayers Call the IRS for Help. Two-Thirds D... by baseballdork on Wednesday June 26, 2024 @02:29PM (#40802948)
Honestly can't keep up with the conspiracies and euphemisms. Which party is deliberately sabotaging it and how are they cheating?
Re:Millions of Taxpayers Call the IRS for Help. Two-Thirds D... by ceejayoz on Wednesday June 26, 2024 @02:36PM (#40803063)
https://apnews.com/article/irs-treasury-tax-audit-income-7c1...

> Due to previous years of underfunding, the IRS had cut back on the auditing of wealthy individuals and the shifting of assets among partnerships and companies became common.

https://www.propublica.org/article/how-the-irs-was-gutted

> The effects of an explosion in tax cheating would be dire. The nation’s already soaring budget deficit would surge by hundreds of billions of dollars more, pushing it well past $1 trillion. Commissioners of the IRS, starting with President George W. Bush’s appointee, Douglas Shulman, have warned Congress about a crisis like this since the budget cuts began, in 2011. But after eight years, Republican lawmakers, who are chiefly responsible for the reductions, show no signs that they think the danger is urgent. By the time the danger becomes indisputable, immense harm will already have been done.