Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Tribeca Film Festival
I firmly believe that Michael Jordan still makes $100 million a year (more than his cumulative $94 million playing career salary) in large part because social media wasn’t around during his reign. We still buy Jordans because there’s still a mystique about him. Marlon Brando is still an icon because he never showed his dick in a tweet or let us know him too intimately. Role models are created in our heads. That’s why they say to never meet your heroes.
I watched Baby Driver last night and couldn’t enjoy it because I could only focus on how big of a scumbag Kevin Spacey turned out to be. And now, albeit to a much lesser degree, Pam from The Office has debuted on my ‘Shaking My Goddamn Head’ list.
Pam, born Jenna Fischer, took to Twitter to take exception to the new $1.5 trillion tax overhaul bill that was signed into law by President Trump on Friday. In summary, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, the bill will lower taxes for the middle-fifth of taxpayers by $800 per year on average but people in the top 1 percent will enjoy an average cut of $55,000.
What was not affected, however, was the teachers’ school supplies deduction. It was $250 before the bill, and remains $250. Fischer seemed to think teachers will now be forced to buy their own supplies, and spread the false information to her nearly 750,000 followers.
https://twitter.com/jennafischer/status/944609878349246464
The $250 deduction has been the standard for fifteen years and was made “permanent” in 2015.
Pam was put in her place real quick but despite it’s inaccuracy, the tweet was retweeted more than 65,000 times.
Please don't spread half-truths! Teachers will still have up to a $250 deduction for supplies with the new plan! It's not enough but it is still something.
— M Campbell (@mcampbell77) December 23, 2017
It’s been $250 for years. Nothing changed.
— Jason Ensley (@JasonKensley) December 24, 2017
This deduction was not eliminated in the bill that passed. Given that you have hundreds of thousands of followers, don’t you have a responsibility to make sure you’re not giving them false information?
Please consider at least deleting and tweeting a correction.
— AG (@AGHamilton29) December 24, 2017
https://twitter.com/BoiseFreedom/status/945056929922945024
https://twitter.com/HMan0860/status/945271412096299009
Attention, teachers: You can keep your deduction for classroom supplieshttps://t.co/eiQnE1nRul
— Kerry 🇺🇸 (@K1erry) December 24, 2017
Fischer eventually kinda sorta acknowledged her error, but then shifted her disdain on the amount of the deduction:
It was capped at $250 which is woefully insufficient especially considering they shouldn't have to go out of pocket at all. #iloveteachers
— Jenna Fischer (@jennafischer) December 24, 2017
Pam, I love a woman who can own up to her mistakes.
Thanks for your tweets! I had some facts wrong. Teachers surveyed by Scholastic in 2016 personally spent an average of $530 on school supplies for students. Teachers who worked at high-poverty schools spent an average of $672. The tax deduction was capped at $250.
— Jenna Fischer (@jennafischer) December 25, 2017
Marry me.