I HAVE THE BEST LISTENERS And they send me the BEST news stories and boy howdy do I have some today.
FIND VINCE THE SIGN GUY And all his wonderful jokes by clicking here.
CAN ANYONE ANSWER THIS QUESTION ABOUT THE HEALTH MARKETPLACE AND TAXES? A couple sent me this email this weekend:
Hello Mandy,
How are you? I am panicked but fine otherwise.
My husband and I had a shock from our tax preparer a couple of days ago, we owe a ton of money to the IRS. In 2022, we had some bumps in the road we were trying to get out from under. We had enrolled in the Health Care MarketPlace for the required health insurance while I was looking for a better job. When I got a better job with a health insurance program, we cancelled the MarketPlace program about mid-year, 6-30-22 to be exact. Our tax preparer is explaining that a major portion of the $3,000.00 we owe is due to the cancellation of this program. Wait, what?!!!
Our household income is maybe the bottom border line of the middle-class. It seemed ridiculous to us to continue to pay for 2 kinds of health insurance. Is it possible that there is a loophole in the "Obama" health care plan that you can check in but never leave? Our tax preparer also mentioned she has heard of other folks caught in this dilemma as well. Can you help us verify this? I don't have very many resources available to me to check this out. I do enjoy your show, and very much respect your opinions.
Or could you direct me to resources that would help us verify this crazy upside down way of doing business?
Thank you for your time,
R and S
Can any of your CPAs out there help answer this question? I know if they had a subsidized plan and made more money they would have been dinged for the subsidies that they were getting on the marketplace, but this seems ridiculous.
WOMAN FEELS DISCRIMINATED AGAINST BY DELICIOUS CHICKEN This story is yet another sign of the apocalypse if you ask me. A woman and her partner went to a KFC in the UK to get a bucket of chicken for her family and a vegetarian something for her because she only eats fish. The KFC she went to no longer has vegetarian items because no one was ordering them. She feels discriminated against because the place whose name literally means fried meat could not accommodate her so of course she called the news. Thank goodness she's notified others that the place that sells fried animal parts doesn't carry vegan options. My question is, who effing cares, lady? She goes on to say how KFC is really missing out by no longer carrying the items no one was ordering. The fact that she felt the need to complain to the news that a fast food place didn't have anything to accommodate her dietary needs is absurd. And can we talk about the word "partner" to mean romantic partner? I HATE it so very much. It's the least romantic way to refer to your loved one. Are you business together? In a law firm? I do not love this new trend.
AS WE MOVE TO GIVE RENTERS ALL THE RIGHTS IN DENVER You should expect stories like this one to happen here. A criminal in Chicago simply moved into a home that was left deserted by the death of its owner. He changed the locks and told police and the home's owner he lived there now and he has rights. In Chicago, it can take six to eight MONTHS to evict a squatter. Oh and the city says the $1300 water bill is THE OWNER'S responsibility. This is what's coming to Denver.
TRUMP CALLS FOR MADNESS, MCCARTHY CALLS FOR CALM I am genuinely hoping Donald Trump is NOT indicted for a few reasons. First, it will cement his victim status in the eye's of his cult-like followers and perhaps insure he is the GOP nominee in 2024. Second, I don't think there is much of a case here. He paid off a porn star he banged while his wife was pregnant (great guy) and unless it is proven it came from campaign finance funds, that is his choice. Speaker Kevin McCarthy called on Trump's fans to NOT protest even as he also said the same thing I just said, that this case is not a felony and the prosecutor is just looking for air time. Trump on the other hand demanded on Truth Social Sunday that his minions rise up in protest. He doesn't care about this country, he will burn it all down if he's not in charge.
STORMY DANIELS IS NOT GOING QUIETLY INTO THE NIGHT The porn star at the center of the Trump issue has been taking to Twitter to light up the former President who she has nicknamed "Tiny". You can guess why. See her mad tweets here.
DO YOU HAVE A WELL STOCKED PANTRY? YOU'RE A RACIST Proving once again that there is so little racism in our society that it must be created somewhere, now a well stocked and pretty pantry has been tagged "racist" by some social justice warrior. A Loyola professor says that those perfectly organized pantries full of clear plastic labelled containers are simply another form of racism. Read her logic:
“Storing spices in coordinated glass jars and color-coordinating dozens of sprinkles containers may seem trivial. But tidiness is tangled up with status, and messiness is loaded with assumptions about personal responsibility and respectability,” the professor stated. Cleanliness has historically been used as a cultural gatekeeping mechanism to reinforce status distinctions based on a vague understanding of ‘niceness’: nice people, with nice yards, in nice houses, make for nice neighborhoods. What lies beneath the surface of this anti-messiness, pro-niceness stance is a history of classist, racist and sexist social structures.”
So black people aren't neat and tidy is what she's saying? I'm genuinely confused because the black people that I know have neat and tidy homes AND pantries. How is this not racist by implying they aren't? By the way, the Loyola professor is white, in case you didn't guess. If everything is racist, nothing is racist.
BLAKE STREET TAVERN IS CLOSING And the reason isn't quite clear, although the manager says that owner Chris Fuselier "isn't doing well" and that the decision to close was his. She also says rising crime wasn't a part of the decision. I reached out to Chris and haven't heard back but will keep trying. I sure hope he can overcome whatever issue he is going through. The Tavern will be open for Opening Day before closing April 9th.
A SIX FIGURE SALARY DOESN'T GO FAR IN DENVER AND AURORA Which isn't surprising to anyone I'm guessing. Read exactly how much that translates into take home pay here.
GOT OLD DRUGS TO GET RID OF? Now you can take them to your local Safeway to their Safe Disposal boxes. Putting them down the sink or dropping them into the trash means they will end up in micro doses in our water supply so this is a much better option.
HOW BAD DID THE FEDERAL RESERVE SCREW US ALL? Bigly, to quote our former President. This column outlines just how bad the Fed under the 'leadership" of Jerome Powell missed the mark when it came to inflation that even I saw coming. It's as if the people running this thing don't understand what causes inflation when they are the ones doing it. The writer is a former Fed member and he offers a simple plan for the Fed to dig itself out of the problem it created.
ABOUT WHITE PRIVILEGE This girl does a beautiful job helping this young white man realize white male privilege is just nonsense.
REMEMBER THE JUSSIE SMOLLET LIE? This bit on the involvement of two Nigerians who helped him perpetrate a complete fraud on everyone. Watch this.
NEED TO UNDERSTAND WOKE? You really should watch this speech by Konstantin Kisin given to Oxford.
SO HOW IS IRAQ DOING NOW? This is a long article (and it may be paywalled though they give you a freebie) about what Iraq has become since we toppled Saddam Hussein years ago. If this doesn't make you reconsider American involvement in toppling other governments nothing will. Such a disappointment and what a horrible things we've inflicted on the Iraqi people. You can't gift people democracy, they have to demand it and then protect it for themselves.
THE FALL OF SVB HAS EXPOSED THE FOLLY OF THE ELITE This is very reminiscent of the Dot Bomb at the end of the 20th century. The tech world loves new and shiny objects even as they have a zero percent chance of ever coming to fruition. Read this for more.
ARE WE AT THE DEATH OF CAREERS? I'm not sure I agree with this. I think most people would love to find something they enjoyed and then worked to excel at it, although I agree that companies have certainly made doing that more challenging. Watch below or click here.
WE MAY BE ABLE TO FREELY SPEAK WITH ANYONE ANYWHERE SOON This new AI can take about three seconds of a voice recording of your voice andt then recreate it to speak in any language. This is a really big deal, although Google translate often makes hilarious mistakes trying to translate one language to another. But of course there is a dark side to this technology that has yet to really come to fruition but I'm sure it will. I just hope it doesn't happen to me.
SPRING TRAINING SHENANIGANS ARE GOOD And I approve of this prank by the Padres. Watch below or click here.
YOUR NATURAL BORN LEADER IS JUST BOSSY That's the message one teacher says is all about the "code" teachers use when talking to parents. I get why they do it, because teachers are notoriously conflict resistant, but if you actually TOLD parents their kids never shut up they may be able to help. Just saying.
THIS FAMILY IS HILARIOUS The sons are constantly doing dumb crap to their parents and each other. This is a good one.
THE ONLY WAY TO EAT A CUPCAKE This is how I always eat cupcakes, but I usually scrape off half the icing first. The only time it doesn't work is if you get a filled cupcake. Watch below or click here.
WELL THIS IS AWKWARD Watch below or click here. I want to know what she has on her pizza.
BUT WHO IS GOING TO PAY FOR IT? This is magic.
I'M PRETTY SURE THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO WOULD BUY THIS Watch below or click here.