Volume 92/Issue 2
February 4th, 2019
THE
ANCHOR
Rhode Island College’s Independent Student Newspaper Since 1928
The hard hits of tax return season in a Trump driven nation
Erica Clark Assistant News Editor As Americans start to file taxes, they may consider: How will the government shutdown affect tax returns and refunds? For starters, President Trump is refusing to sign a
spending deal that doesn’t agree to include five billion dollars for a wall at the US-Mexico border. This resulted in the month-long government shutdown. The IRS (Internal Revenue Service) planned to keep 12.5 percent of its employers, which is lower than 10,000 workers.
While 46,000 employees were being called back to work without pay, many did not show up. The tens of thousands of additional IRS employees were disallowed, so they were no longer getting paid or obligated to show up to work for the time being. Many tax-
payers calling with concerns faced delays of over an hour. While many employees returned to their jobs this past Monday morning, it will take time to get parts of the IRS running smoothly again. Many workers’ time on the clock could be brief, with this shutdown being a temporary measure funding the government expires in just two weeks. If Republicans and Democrats are unable to reach an agreement by Feb. 15, President Trump indicated that he, without doubt, would shutdown the government once again, or declare a national emergency, which the White House argues is necessary for the security of America. A lot of big questions emerged about the 2019 tax season. The $1.5 trillion tax
overhaul that took part in 2018 lowered individual income tax rates and capped many tax breaks, such as both the state and a local tax deduction. Overall, this overhaul causes a vast amount of confusion over the exact amount to withhold in advance from workers’ paychecks. The actual impact of those changes will only be confirmed once the returns are processed. The bank’s economists expect an approximate $62 billion in additional tax refunds attributable to change from the tax overhaul. This, in total, would be a 26 percent increase over the last year. Usually, three-quarters of tax filers receive refunds. Last year, more than 102 million See “Tax season”, page 5
“Kingdom Hearts 3”: Government Shutdown: Why long-standing Will history repeat itself? franchises can mean so much
Enrique Castaneda-Pineda Senior Layout Editor
In December 2005, I was eight years old, without a care in the world. That Christmas, I was unaware that being gifted “Kingdom Hearts” would leave such a lasting impression on me into 2019. Throughout the years, media has continuously evolved into something people can latch onto for entertainment. Whether it is the older generation still excited about “The Young and the Restless” or the younger generation excited about the next Marvel film. For me and many others, this month marked an important milestone for gaming, with the release of “Kingdom Hearts 3.” Released in 2005, “Kingdom Hearts 2” the game was exciting for an eight-year-old like me who was familiar with the crossover Disney characters that
were in it. I received a Playstation 2 with both “Kingdom Hearts,” which I proceeded to play for days. After spending hours on the games, I realized that I went into the games excited for Disney and came out loving the original characters. Explaining to someone the idea of “Final Fantasy” characters and Disney characters in a full-fledged story together is crazy enough; the fact that it works well is even crazier. Thirteen years later, the next full installment has been released, while the last sub-game was released in 2012. Fans have been clamoring for a new release to push the overarching narrative to its next chapter, while it was confirmed that this game will finalize the “Dark Seeker Saga.” Announced in 2014, the knowledge of a new game and the finale for this story led fans aching for the See “Kingdom Hearts 3”, page 12
Aaron Isaac Anchor Staff In the whirlwind of media coverage it can be difficult to understand the whys and hows of the government shutdown. Never fear! That’s why The Anchor is here. On Dec. 22, the Senate failed to pass a spending bill after President Donald Trump insisted on including $5.7 billion to add fencing to the US-Mexico border. This resulted in the most recent shutdown. However, because some other spending bills had already passed and other programs are legal-
Photo Courtesy of CNBC ly protected, like Social Security, only about a quarter of government operations shut down. National parks, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Food and Drug Administration were all defunded as a result of the shutdown and cutback on their inspections. After the Democrats officially claimed the majority in the House of Representatives on Jan. 3, they offered a spending package with $1.3 billion for border See “Government Shutdown”, page 7