- cross-posted to:
- politics@beehaw.org
- cross-posted to:
- politics@beehaw.org
For years, conservative billionaires have treated Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas to opulent vacations and trips on their private jets. If these were anything other than disinterested gifts, then they’re taxable — and Thomas owes the IRS a huge bill.
When Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas flouted longstanding ethics laws by refusing to disclose billionaire gifts, he avoided public outrage for years. Based on new revelations about the potential motivations behind those gifts, he also may have avoided laws requiring Americans to pay taxes on such donations, legal experts say.
Recent reporting from ProPublica revealed that Thomas was showered with luxury gifts from wealthy benefactors, including vacations, private flights, school tuition, and even a loan for a high-end RV. Though Thomas has insisted the gifts were just the innocent generosity of friends, many came after he threatened to resign over the justices’ low salaries — and one of Thomas’s vacation companions said the money was given to supplement the justice’s “limited salary.”
According to experts, if these benefits were given to Thomas as a way to buttress his regular pay and keep him on the court, they could be considered a taxable transaction rather than a gift. By refusing to publicly disclose such transactions, Thomas made it impossible for watchdog groups to alert tax-enforcement officials about the potential issue in real time.
Hercules did not throw away the Nemean Lion, and we should not either. We need this anger. It is the energy source of a movement for something better. There will always be stray calls of violence and badly pointed half-jokes. But never call for someone to quell the spark that transforms the world around you. That spark always starts with something thats not right and a fiery will that seeks to change it. We are not like the Maggats chanting for death. Good is less subjective in this context than nuance would have you believe.
Look at pretty much any political Lemmy thread. That’s exactly what you are. Hell, look at the grandparent to your own post.
The guy legitimately “proposed” killing a supreme court justice.
In no fucking world is something like that okay. Don’t legitimize killing people.
You’re no better than the very thing you hate.
The same Supreme Court Justices who have sentenced countless women and children to death and despair with the removal of Wade vs Roe? The same nefarious judges who accept bribes and are the most corrupt to ever take a seat on the highest court in the land? Those judges? Yes, threats are uncivilized. But theres a difference between this anger and the bigotry of the fascist right. We are angry our rights and protections are stripped. They are angry because trans people exist. We are not the same.
The same judges who did something they had a right to do.
I don’t support what they did, but they had the right to do it.
Blame the lawmakers for not codifying basic human rights, blame the people who didn’t vote, hell, blame the judges for making a retarded decision.
But if you care, don’t threaten to kill any of them. Felons can’t vote last time I checked.
Thats logical, but not how real life emotions work. People see that they shot it down, and now they are angry at them. Thats how it goes. Now we can use that anger, and point it in tbe direction of progress and reforms. We can use this anger and get together to sign petitions and take all the official routes, and we should. But don’t throw it away, and don’t let anyone tell you anger is useless. You have to get angry about the bad parts of our society to change them. Like I said, there will be stray calls of violence, it does not mean you should throw away your anger towards the fucked up shit in the world.