RockRaines

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Jan 1, 2018 -> 02:48 PM) Michigan is not a good football team. Harbaugh is not the coach people thought he was.

If a trick play blows your QB's knee out you should have to blow your own knee out

QUOTE (greg775 @ Dec 28, 2017 -> 09:48 PM) How do you know what I experienced in terms of noticing a change? Do you say I'm flat out lying? Why would I do that on a message board. Do u suggest I am incapable of observation? How come some of you don't like to discuss issues just jump on the person (me) with the non-majority viewpoint? I wasnt talking about you.

QUOTE (illinilaw08 @ Dec 28, 2017 -> 12:51 PM) Greg - it's mainly that you think this is an important issue. The war on Christmas is a joke. There are Christmas trees everywhere, every year, there are Christmas lights and decorations all over the country, in stores and otherwise. TV shows have Christmas episodes. Networks still air Rudolph. Any "attacks" on Christmas are pushes for inclusion. Hey, in addition to a Christmas tree, let's have a Menorah! Instead of wishing a customer a Merry Christmas, let's wish them Happy Holidays in case they don't celebrate Christmas! Who is hurt by any of that? There are people in this country who are actually discriminated against. The fact that you (a) think people couldn't say Merry Christmas before; (b) think now people can say Merry Christmas; and © that this is all a victory for Trump is mind boggling. Literally nothing changed. It was a way to band together evangelicals against a common enemy. Just wait until those people want business closed on sundays, I wonder if THAT will get as much support.

Pre-paid my first half taxes. Lets all hope this actually works.

greg, where did you get the idea that there was a war on christmas and thats its now "ok" to say Merry Christmas? Honest question.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Dec 27, 2017 -> 02:07 PM) I just don't think someone's race, sex or religion is important to a conversation. If greg was a black muslim woman would it be okay for Balta to articulate that is why he doesn't understand something? if Greg was a black muslim would he be talking about the fictional war on christmas?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 27, 2017 -> 10:55 AM) It's not just that. It's the underlying issue that is bigger. He's a white, male, christian. He needs to be reminded constantly that he's better than everyone else. That his way of celebrating is better. That his holiday is more important. That's why he "gives credit" for fewer people saying "Happy Holidays" and more people respecting the importance of his celebration. If you even pay attention to New Years, you are a threat! People like this are the biggest safe-space demanding snowflakes. The very idea that anyone would celebrate different from them is a threat that they need to use the government to snuff out. People like that disgust me. Go to church if you want! Go to synagogue! I don't care. Just don't lecture me about why I need to celebrate and venerate your holiday in your way. The founding fathers purposefully tried to keep any reference to religion out of this government, why are the evangelicals trying so hard to force it in? Its weird to me. "in god we trust" wasnt added until the 1950's because of the same s***.

This stupid viewpoint keeps getting driven into a small population of people's heads by the alt right radio idiots. These are the same people that continue to make people believe that the USA was founded on christian beliefs.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Dec 23, 2017 -> 05:07 PM) Not at the rate Illinois has seen in recent years. It's pretty well documented that Illinois, Cook county specifically, has seen a trend with people leaving moreso that any other time. Cook county had the greatest decrease in population than any other county is the US. keep in mind that Cook County has a larger population than about 19 states.

QUOTE (JenksIsMyHero @ Dec 23, 2017 -> 08:52 AM) Ugh, of course I got out and there was a full recovery yesterday LOL, always buy more at the trench

QUOTE (greg775 @ Dec 26, 2017 -> 08:53 PM) I wouldn't say I'm offended by Happy Holidays. What I do is take notice of "Happy Holidays" when it's really close to Christmas. And sorry I have noticed a difference this year. And it's got to be because of Trump's stance, so I'm giving him credit on one little thing. I do realize he is a pathetic president and all around bad guy and all that. But I'm pretty sure SW Airlines and some of the stores I've been to wouldn't be saying "Merry Christmas" without Trump's edict. At any rate, I don't mind Happy Holidays so much. I just noticed this year when I actually said Merry Christmas to people the words sounded strange coming out of my mouth cause I don't dare go there. I basically don't care. I've made a personal decision to never say Merry Christmas lest I offend somebody. I don't get mad if somebody says happy holidays to me. I'm not a maniacal person. These are just my observations that Merry Christmas returned this year as a greeting and I saw fit to credit Trump. Your view is a direct correlation to what you listen to on the radio. Nobody has ever stopped saying Merry Christmas and Trump didnt "bring it back." The Obamas said Merry Christmas for 8 years. This viewpoint is entirely moronic.

QUOTE (buhbuhburrrrlz @ Dec 22, 2017 -> 12:34 AM) I remember when Blockbuster was a thing It makes me so sad my kids won’t experience a movie store. Even as a adult in the west loop I loved taking my dog there and walking around.

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Dec 22, 2017 -> 02:22 PM) Illinois lands 4 star Verdis Brown, former FSU commit and had a crazy finish line (Mizzou thought they got him). Lovie finally got a bagman!!

QUOTE (ptatc @ Dec 22, 2017 -> 09:15 AM) They do. But they still pay by far more than everyone else regardless of how much they bring the % down. Depends on how much its brought down. Many top earners can end up paying almost zero taxes. It's all in where you put the money.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Dec 21, 2017 -> 10:48 PM) Not sure what you're talking about. My comment was just that the people who have the highest taxable income (500,000 and up) pay the most into the IRS revenue. They do. They pay by far the most amount. Who can make all the other points you want but these people still pay the most into the revenues collected by taxes. Absolutely true. But also usually have the most ways to bring that percentage way down.

I love touting that ATT took 200k and gave it to employees as "giving it back." Thats literally less than 1 percent of what their windfall will be.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Dec 21, 2017 -> 09:27 AM) Trump the patriot, doesn't pay taxes anyways. Being able to hide everything in a corporation has its perks.

I'm thinking I have to make myself a passthrough corporation.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Dec 21, 2017 -> 09:00 AM) Yeah definitely check with an actual accountant instead of my second-hand understanding from accountants. It's a way to pay for the tax cuts for the wealthy, and that it punishes blue states is even better in their eyes. A couple of Republican Senators were even pretty explicit about their glee in punishing San Francisco and New York. Yeah, I guess the money they get back from investments and estates more than makes up for the smaller deduction on the taxes on their castles. That actually does make sense. And at the same time it hurts the middle class type folks in blue states or large democratic cities.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Dec 21, 2017 -> 08:46 AM) Maybe I'm missing something, but I think you can still deduct the full value of charitable deductions if you're still planning on itemizing. The expected decline is because a lot of people who currently itemize will instead be using the increased standard deduction, removing some incentives for charitable giving. The big change is that $10k state/local/property tax cap, which is going to push a lot of middle or upper middle class people out of itemizing and into the standard deduction. For more wealthy individuals with complex finances and taxes, they'll probably still be itemizing and could still take advantage of charitable deductions. I thought I saw they removed all 501c3 deductions. This is why I have an accountant. I also dont understand the 10k property tax cap. It just doesnt make sense to me. I know they want to punish blue states, but local governments have a lot to do with the property tax, and nicer areas tend to have higher taxes.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Dec 21, 2017 -> 08:06 AM) Estimates range from $10B to $15B or so in declines for charitable giving. Tax advice from my accountant: go ahead and front-load your planned 2018 contributions before the end of this year if you can so you can deduct it all from 2017 taxes if you won't be able to deduct them for 2018 taxes because you'll be switching to the standard deduction. Alot of that has to be rich people trying to get deductions, but locally it sucks that you cannot deduct what we donate. I spend a lot of my time with local charities and its going to be a harder sell now, especially for the larger donors. I just dont get it. Also the standard deduction sucks and the 10k cap on property taxes. Thats about half of my taxes.

So I will be making about half of the deductions I usually make once this is in effect. What is particularly disheartening is taking away tax deductions for charitable contributions.

Oh great. Now we get to be their revenge game.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Dec 20, 2017 -> 03:28 PM) I wonder how that would work. Say you are a 3 star guy, maybe a borderline 4 star, and OSU offers you now. Do you really want to go there? Sure you will win all the time, but will you get a legit shot at playing? You know some 5 starts are coming the next year, and there probably is a few 4 or 5 stars in front of you. Its like that way with 4 stars too. Many would prefer to play right away and not redshirt or work their way up on special teams. 3 stars who want to compete definitely can make an impact and several have been put into the NFL even with only one year of actual playing time. on this year's team there are 4 3 star players starting from the 2016 recruiting class, 4 3 star players from the 2015 class, one from the 2014 class and two from the 2013 class. Of the three stars dating back to 2012, 12 are playing or have played in the NFL and 5 were or are about to be first round draft picks.