Election Day is here! If you haven’t already voted, we encourage you to make a plan to do so before the polls close tonight. Do your public duty. There’s a lot at stake, so for this week’s Closer Look, we are giving you a run-down of the key races and ballot initiatives we are watching. The Big Picture: You could very well say that the fate of … Continue reading What to watch this Election Day
Are America’s billionaires oligarchs? It’s a strange question for many who see oligarchs as a uniquely foreign problem. But the answer is, without a doubt, yes. We’ve heard a lot about oligarchs in the news over the last year, as Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine has sparked a fierce international backlash against the aggressors and brought attention to the inner workings of the Russian state. Along with a … Continue reading Are America’s billionaires oligarchs?
If you hadn’t heard, Elon Musk – Tesla and SpaceX CEO and the single richest man in the world – is just days away from closing his deal to buy Twitter for $44 billion. After a tumultuous, months-long legal drama, a judge finally gave Twitter and Musk an ultimatum: reach a settlement on your own by this Friday, October 28, or face trial in November. With the deadline … Continue reading Elon Musk and the Oligarch Takeover of America
Last week, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that consumer prices rose 8.2% over the past year through September. Inflation has cooled a bit since its peak in the summer, but not as much as most experts hoped. Prices are still rising at levels not seen since the 1980s. As prices for everyday essentials like food, gas, and rent continue to spiral out of control in America, … Continue reading Democrats need to get real with voters about inflation
It’s only Tuesday, but there have already been two big pieces of positive news for American workers this week. It’s not all good – CEO pay is on the rise, recent wage gains for workers have not kept pace with inflation, and billionaire Ken Griffin is bankrolling Republicans to the tune of $100 million in the 2022 midterms – but, for this week’s Closer Look, we want to focus … Continue reading Two positive developments for American workers
We normally use this space to talk about taxes, wages, and other issues from a purely American perspective, but this week we’re going to look across the pond to the UK, where Prime Minister Liz Truss’s disastrous tax cut proposal ended up being perhaps the biggest financial news in the world over the last week. Just 11 days ago, Kwasi Kwarteng, the Chancellor of the … Continue reading Taxing the rich is really, really popular…everywhere
Last week, we introduced you to our take on “The Tale of Two Billionaires.” For this week’s Closer Look, we want to take this story wider, and look at the billionaire class as a whole. There are only about 735 billionaires in the United States, but despite the fact that they could all fit on a single Airbus 380 jet, this group holds an immense amount of … Continue reading Don’t Trust the “Good Billionaires”
America is writing a new chapter in its history books that could be entitled: “A Tale of Two Billionaires.” On one side of the story is Yvon Chouinard, the founder of the popular outdoor apparel company Patagonia. Chouinard made headlines this week when he did what most billionaires would consider unthinkable: he gave his entire fortune away. Chouinard transferred ownership of Patagonia, valued at $3 billion, to … Continue reading A Tale of Two Billionaires
Today, President Biden gathered thousands of lawmakers, activists, and supporters for a celebration at the White House to recognize Democrats’ successful passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) last month. Our very own Chairman, Morris Pearl, was among the President’s honored guests applauding the IRA as a win for tax fairness and economic justice. Today’s event at the White House is a celebration of last month’s victory, … Continue reading IRA Support Bodes Well for Democrats in the Midterms
Yesterday, the United States celebrated Labor Day. First recognized as an official federal holiday in 1894, the day offers an opportunity for all of us to come together and celebrate the remarkable achievements American workers have made over the years. Labor Day also gives us a chance to reflect on how far we still need to go to protect and rightly reward workers in America. Unions … Continue reading Let’s value work over wealth in the tax code
Last week, The New York Times dropped a bombshell on the political world. The paper reported that one man donated an incredible $1.6 billion to a conservative nonprofit last year, giving an immense amount of unaccountable power to one of the conservative movement’s chief architects. For this week’s Closer Look, we want to tell you more about this donation and the faults that it exposes in both our campaign … Continue reading $1.6 billion reasons to fix our campaign finance and tax systems
Less than an hour ago, President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) – the Democrats’ new healthcare, climate, and tax reform package – into law. This is a historic and monumental achievement that will likely be remembered as one of Biden’s biggest legislative victories. One of the most important elements of the IRA is the $80 billion in additional funding that the bill allocates to … Continue reading 87,000 IRS agents are not coming for you
On Sunday, Senate Democrats voted to pass one of the most significant climate, healthcare, and tax reform packages this country has seen in decades: the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA). This bill now awaits a vote in the House (where it is extremely likely to pass) before it moves to President Biden’s desk to be signed into law. The passage of the IRA is cause for … Continue reading The Inflation Reduction Act is a very, very big deal
After over a year of dead ends, false starts, and frustrating negotiations, it looks like Democrats may finally be close to passing a reconciliation bill. Last week, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Joe Manchin reached an agreement on a new reconciliation package, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, a shocking development considering that Manchin publicly voiced his opposition to such a package just two weeks ago. … Continue reading Can Democrats finally rally behind the Inflation Reduction Act?
In case you missed it, this past Sunday (July 24), the United States reached a sad anniversary. It has now been thirteen years since Congress last raised the federal minimum wage to $7.25. $7.25 was already inadequate back in 2009, but today it is downright deplorable. Here are some key facts to put Congress’s failure on this issue into perspective: A full-time minimum wage worker … Continue reading 13 years of $7.25 is shameful
Last Thursday, West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin put what appears to be the final nail in the coffin of Congressional Democrats’ tax agenda by announcing that he would not support a new reconciliation package that includes climate spending and tax increases on the rich. His opposition comes after months of negotiations (focused on tax reform at Manchin’s own request) in an effort to get some of President … Continue reading Joe Manchin is Lying about Inflation
It seems like almost all the news about Congressional Democrats’ tax negotiations in the last few months has been negative. But last week, we finally got some major positive news about their plans to tax the rich. The Associated Press reported that Senate Democrats are planning to extend a 3.8% surtax that wealthy investors currently pay to wealthy owners of pass-through businesses as part of their new … Continue reading Rich Pass-through Owners Should Pay Their Fair Share
Last week, Bloomberg reported that Senate Democrats have re-engaged in negotiations with West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin over passing a “skinny” version of President Biden’s Build Back Better Act. Manchin was one of the primary reasons the original Build Back Better Act failed to advance through the Senate after passing the House, so if Senate Democrats can get him on board, there’s good reason to believe Biden’s would-be signature economic … Continue reading Dems can’t let Sinema kill their last chance to tax the rich
Last Wednesday, all 28 members of the Senate Finance Committee voted unanimously to advance The Enhancing American Retirement Now (EARN) Act. This is the Senate version of the retirement savings bill, SECURE 2.0, that the House voted to pass back in March. For decades now, lawmakers from both parties have proudly joined forces to pass retirement savings legislation that ostensibly makes it easier for workers to save for … Continue reading The EARN Act is a giveaway to the rich
This Sunday, the United States observed Juneteenth for the second time as an official federal holiday. We hope that you were able to take some time over the weekend to commemorate the day and reflect on the history of our nation and our aim toward a more just society for Black Americans. Juneteenth provides an opportunity for us all to reflect on how far we still have … Continue reading Honor Juneteenth by Closing the Racial Wealth Gap