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[MetalSlimeHunt]

It would probably be prudent to also link Rolling Jubilee.

This is probably one of the more important things Occupy has done. Every dollar donated will eliminate twenty dollars of debt.

I've heard more than one story about people in debt suddenly getting notification letters from RJ that their debt has been nullified.

[scriver]

That is awesome!

It is stuff like that which will silence the "have they actually done anything" crowd (yes, I know I was one of them, but I live in another country and doesn't hear stuff), and more importantly, the kind of things that will stay with people - and history - even if Occupy was to suddenly loose momentum for any reason.

I have no idea how one dollar turns into twenty but I suppose they use economancers of some skill. Even dark magics can be used for good!

[Scelly9]

That is awesome!

It is stuff like that which will silence the "have they actually done anything" crowd (yes, I know I was one of them, but I live in another country and doesn't hear stuff), and more importantly, the kind of things that will stay with people - and history - even if Occupy was to suddenly loose momentum for any reason.

I have no idea how one dollar turns into twenty but I suppose they use economancers of some skill. Even dark magics can be used for good!

Places sell debt for much less than it is actually worth if they don't want to go to the trouble of actually collecting it. Example: someone owes me $1000 in medical bills. I could either employ debt collectors, who may or may not be able to collect that $1000 or I could sell the debt to someone with the resources to collect it for a small percentage of the actual worth. While I may not get as much money, it's better than never getting any at all.

[10ebbor10]

Yup, that 1 penny debt is also called zombie debt. It keeps circulating in the system, but the chances of it being collected are small.

[Scelly9]

Yup, that 1 penny debt is also called zombie debt. It keeps circulating in the system, but the chances of it being collected are small.

It still totally fucks your credit though.

[Lagslayer]

It would probably be prudent to also link Rolling Jubilee.

This is probably one of the more important things Occupy has done. Every dollar donated will eliminate twenty dollars of debt.

I've heard more than one story about people in debt suddenly getting notification letters from RJ that their debt has been nullified.

That is awesome!

It is stuff like that which will silence the "have they actually done anything" crowd (yes, I know I was one of them, but I live in another country and doesn't hear stuff), and more importantly, the kind of things that will stay with people - and history - even if Occupy was to suddenly loose momentum for any reason.

I have no idea how one dollar turns into twenty but I suppose they use economancers of some skill. Even dark magics can be used for good!

This seems actually genuinely good. I'm not one to praise OWS in general, but this was a really good idea.

[Nadaka]

The way they take 1 dollar to eliminate 20 in debt is this: they pretend to be a scumbag bill collector and buy the debt from someone who has given up hope of collecting for about  5 cents per dollar. They then write off the debt as forgiven.

I would note that if they are doing this 100% in compliance with the law it can cause some minor inconvenience to the person getting their debt payed off because the IRS considers forgiven debt to be income, potentially raising the persons tax burden the next year.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

The way they take 1 dollar to eliminate 20 in debt is this: they pretend to be a scumbag bill collector and buy the debt from someone who has given up hope of collecting for about  5 cents per dollar. They then write off the debt as forgiven.

They aren't really pretending, anyone can buy debt packages.

I would note that if they are doing this 100% in compliance with the law it can cause some minor inconvenience to the person getting their debt payed off because the IRS considers forgiven debt to be income, potentially raising the persons tax burden the next year.

As listed in the FAQ, Rolling Jubilee is a non-profit 501c4 and thus does not file a 1099-C with the IRS related to debt cancellation. (Or, in English, they're a non-profit social welfare organization, not a charity, so the IRS does not consider the forgiven debt income.)

[scriver]

Bureaucracy prevails again! Huzzah!

[Truean]

The way they take 1 dollar to eliminate 20 in debt is this: they pretend to be a scumbag bill collector and buy the debt from someone who has given up hope of collecting for about  5 cents per dollar. They then write off the debt as forgiven.

They aren't really pretending, anyone can buy debt packages.

I would note that if they are doing this 100% in compliance with the law it can cause some minor inconvenience to the person getting their debt payed off because the IRS considers forgiven debt to be income, potentially raising the persons tax burden the next year.

As listed in the FAQ, Rolling Jubilee is a non-profit 501c4 and thus does not file a 1099-C with the IRS related to debt cancellation. (Or, in English, they're a non-profit social welfare organization, not a charity, so the IRS does not consider the forgiven debt income.)

Actually, under IRS Code 64(a)(4) it is always income if debt is forgiven. You are rightly pointing to the practical difficulty of tracking that in the absence of a 1099C form. However, in any event IRS Code 108(d) deals with insolvency provisions for debt forgiveness. Also, this is a nasty surprise of some bankruptcies as I understand it.

Intellectually, loans aren't income because though you get something, it has to be paid back. Remove the payback and it's income....

Practically, the reason they enacted this rule was because rich people were abusing the daylights out of the situation. They would "loan" their kids large sums of money, sometimes in the millions of dollars range, and then simply "forgive" it. Thus, they would avoid paying any taxes, estate, capital gains, etc.... Now, if the IRS could be persuaded to grant an exception limited in the number of times and dollar amount of forgiveness, or limiting the source of such forgiveness to non profits and disinterested parties, that might work. Who knows.

[Levi]

Figured you might find this interesting.  There was a massive leak of offshore accounts details, which is apparently got lots of juicy info in it.  http://www.icij.org/offshore/secret-files-expose-offshores-global-impact

http://www.icij.org/blog/2013/04/highlights-offshore-leaks-so-far

[Duuvian]

Figured you might find this interesting.  There was a massive leak of offshore accounts details, which is apparently got lots of juicy info in it.  http://www.icij.org/offshore/secret-files-expose-offshores-global-impact

http://www.icij.org/blog/2013/04/highlights-offshore-leaks-so-far

Nice, very well done and my appreciative thanks. At least 1/3 of the world's wealth is stagnating in bank accounts seemingly doing nothing useful, huh. No wonder I can't find a job.

[SalmonGod]

Figured you might find this interesting.  There was a massive leak of offshore accounts details, which is apparently got lots of juicy info in it.  http://www.icij.org/offshore/secret-files-expose-offshores-global-impact

http://www.icij.org/blog/2013/04/highlights-offshore-leaks-so-far

Nice, very well done and my appreciative thanks. At least 1/3 of the world's wealth is stagnating in bank accounts seemingly doing nothing useful, huh. No wonder I can't find a job.

That's why one of Occupy's main messages has been that inequality is the problem.  When somebody has so much wealth that they literally have no use for it other than hoarding it for its own sake, everyone else suffers for their obscene mental compulsion.

I haven't read the article myself, yet, but I think I'll get around to it today.

[Reelya]

Figured you might find this interesting.  There was a massive leak of offshore accounts details, which is apparently got lots of juicy info in it.  http://www.icij.org/offshore/secret-files-expose-offshores-global-impact

http://www.icij.org/blog/2013/04/highlights-offshore-leaks-so-far

Nice, very well done and my appreciative thanks. At least 1/3 of the world's wealth is stagnating in bank accounts seemingly doing nothing useful, huh. No wonder I can't find a job.

That's why one of Occupy's main messages has been that inequality is the problem.  When somebody has so much wealth that they literally have no use for it other than hoarding it for its own sake, everyone else suffers for their obscene mental compulsion.

Don't banks invest money on behalf of their investors (account holders)? Just because there's money in an account, doesn't by itself tell us the "money is doing nothing useful".

The money sitting idle in the bank is a symptom of the problem, though, not the problem itself. Unutilized money ceases to have any economic meaning. e.g. if you had 1 billion dollars and bury it in a hole in the ground, that's 1 billion that's no longer in circulation. Too much aggressive investing could actually be inflationary / a bubble, e.g. you might prefer the money sits in the bank rather than everyone drives property prices through the roof for "investment properties", and regular people can't buy or rent a house.

[scriver]

Hehe. Remember that video that someone posted which compared how people want it to be, how people think it is now, and how it actually is? Occupy should focus on how the wealthy lower upper class will still get more money with more financial equality. Somebody get that O'Reilly guy on the phone right now!