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
Last week, the House committee investigating the January 6th attack on the US Capitol began a series of public hearings in prime time. If you missed them, you can check out an ongoing list of highlights here. As expected, Donald Trump’s election fraud lies and threats of violence have taken center stage at the hearings as direct causes of the violence that unfolded on January 6th. … Continue reading Money in politics is dangerous to democracy
In recent months, employees at a number of big-box corporations – most notably Starbucks, Amazon, Apple, REI, and Trader Joe’s – have taken historic first steps in organizing unions. For far too long, these and other companies in the service industry have treated their employees poorly, so it’s great to see workers all over the country join forces to fight back. As it happens though, these brave employees leading unionization efforts … Continue reading Gig workers deserve better
Yesterday, President Joe Biden penned an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal that outlines his three-part plan to fight inflation. We encourage you all to read it here if you haven’t already. For today’s Closer Look, we would like to highlight one of the three parts of Biden’s plan that rarely gets the attention it deserves when policymakers are talking about solutions for inflation: taxing the rich. … Continue reading Biden’s inflation strategy? Tax the rich
This week, nearly 2500 world leaders are gathering in Davos, Switzerland for the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting – better known as simply “Davos.” This is the first time since the start of the pandemic that international elites have gathered together in person for the annual conference. At Davos, some of the world’s richest and most powerful people gather in exclusive private meetings to discuss how to … Continue reading Earth to Davos! Tax the Rich
Yesterday, The Wall Street Journal released a new bombshell report on the record-breaking rise in CEO pay. For this week’s Closer Look, we want to highlight some of the report’s biggest findings and the ways in which they underscore the urgent need to tackle excessive CEO pay and wealth in America. According to the report, median pay for CEOs at American S&P 500 companies rose to … Continue reading We need to tackle excessive CEO pay and wealth
In case you missed it, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its April jobs report last week. For today’s Closer Look, we’d like to highlight both the good news and the bad news from the report and offer our take as to what can be done about the bad news. The good news is that the economy continues to rebound from the pandemic. Last month, no … Continue reading Want to keep workers around? Pay them more
Rising inflation continues to dominate headlines at home and around the world. There is simply no getting around the fact that prices for rent, groceries, gas, and other everyday essentials continue to rise and break records. As our wallets feel the squeeze at the grocery store and the gas pump, it’s easy to be misled by pundits providing convenient scapegoats like a “red-hot labor market” and … Continue reading Corporations are bragging about inflation price-gouging
Yesterday, Twitter accepted a $44 billion buyout offer from Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX and richest man in the world. The buyout will take one of the world’s largest and most popular social media platforms private. The news has dominated headlines around the world since it broke. While politicians and media pundits have largely been discussing how the move will impact the future of Twitter itself … Continue reading Musk’s Twitter buyout is all about billionaire power
In case you missed it (and we hope you didn’t), yesterday was Tax Day in America. It was the last day for millions of Americans to file their federal, state, and local tax returns for the 2021 fiscal year. Most Americans dutifully pay their fair share in taxes by the tax filing deadline every year but, unfortunately, there is one group of people that notoriously … Continue reading This Tax Day, It’s All About Billionaires
In case you missed it, Forbes released their 2022 World’s Billionaire List last week. According to their research, there are now 2,668 billionaires around the world who boast a collective wealth of $12.7 trillion. The United States is home to 735 of them, with a combined worth of $4.7 trillion. It’s obvious that America’s billionaires are really wealthy, but it can sometimes be difficult to appreciate just … Continue reading So who are the wealthy in America, anyway?
Yesterday, President Biden and the White House unveiled their $5.8 trillion budget request for the 2023 fiscal year. There are many parts of the budget that are garnering headlines, but the most exciting is clearly Biden’s “Billionaire Minimum Income Tax” proposal. The Billionaire Minimum Income Tax would institute a 20% minimum tax rate on incomes for households worth $100 million or more. It would only affect the top 1% … Continue reading Manchin needs to get behind the Billionaire Minimum Income Tax