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 endless negotiations to get Senator Joe Manchin on board with a compromised reconciliation package, the Inflation Reduction Act is now in peril thanks to Arizona Senator (and notorious corporate shill) Kyrsten Sinema. As Democrats scramble to finalize details of the bill, reports indicate that Sinema is demanding Democrats strip provisions that would limit the scope of the carried interest loophole, which allows wealthy private … Continue reading Sinema’s Defense of Carried Interest is Indefensible
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?
This week, the country’s most exploitative corporations are getting a big win from Representative Henry Cuellar, who once again proved his allegiance lies with corporate America after his introduction of one of the most appalling bills of the year: the Orwellian named H.R.8442 – Worker Flexibility and Choice Act. This bill, which would exempt huge swaths of the workforce from federal minimum wage and overtime … Continue reading Rep. Cuellar’s Labor Bill is Blatantly Anti-Worker
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
This week all eyes have been on the JP Morgan market manipulation trial, where three former employees are accused of manipulating valuable metals futures to make a boatload of money for themselves and the bank. While ‘market manipulation’ sounds like some complicated white collar crime, it’s really just a business term for ripping someone off. These men would create the illusion of a larger demand … Continue reading Market Manipulation Is Just a Fancy Name for Fraud
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
Last week, Senator Manchin blindsided his Democratic colleagues when he reversed course on his previous demands that their agenda be focused on tax reform and declared that he would not vote to raise taxes on the rich or massive corporations. In doing so, he dashed Democrats’ hopes to pass any sort of meaningful tax legislation before November. He also ironically proved, by showing the country … Continue reading Joe Manchin Just Showed Why We Need the OLIGARCH Act
It’s been a big week for economic news. From drama in Congress over the Build Back Better negotiations to continued economic strife affecting working Americans to new tax benefits offered to the rich, our economy is steadily moving in further favor of the wealthy, and the federal government appears ill-equipped to rise to the occasion. This week, we’ll look into how our current economy, policies, … Continue reading The Economy is Bad. Congress Needs to Fix It
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
Although many do not realize it, pride doesn’t end in June–it rolls right into July with Disability Pride month! With more than 61 million Americans living with a disability, and many more likely to develop some form of disability throughout their life, this month is desperately needed. Unfortunately, this significant minority is often overlooked by society and grossly discriminated against in the labor field. Workers … Continue reading Understanding the Ableist Subminimum Wage During Disability Pride Month
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
If you didn’t already know the federal tax law is a loophole-ridden mess that lets the ultra-rich pay a fraction of what they should, you could figure it out from this recent ProPublica headline: The Great Inheritors: How Three Families Shielded Their Fortunes From Taxes for Generations. Or, better yet, this one: How Susquehanna’s Jeff Yass Avoided $1 Billion in Taxes. Of course, if you’re … Continue reading Time To End the Capital Gains Rate Giveaway
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
Throughout the history of the United States, people of color have had a diminished voice in politics when compared to their white counterparts, largely due to discriminatory policies like poll taxes, gerrymandering, and even outright bans on their right to vote. Although access to the voting box has drastically improved over the past decade, there’s still a long way to go. We cannot claim to … Continue reading The Racial Wealth Gap Makes Everything Worse, Even our Democracy
This Sunday, the country will commemorate the end of slavery in America by celebrating its newest federal holiday, Juneteenth. This is an important day for Black communities across America to gather and celebrate, but it’s also a moment to reflect on how far we still have to go. Black Americans still have significantly less wealth than white Americans, earn less income, and are held back … Continue reading For Juneteenth, Let’s Abolish the Subminimum Tipped Wage
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
With prices rising significantly for families across the United States, the federal government has made controlling inflation one of its top economic priorities. One of the most important ways the government has traditionally tried to limit inflation is through the Federal Reserve raising interest rates. Raising interest rates clearly can shrink inflation, but many Americans don’t understand that it does so by deliberately slowing down … Continue reading What Will Be the Effect of the Fed’s Efforts to Fight Inflation?
When we hear talk in Congress of investing in infrastructure or funding social services, the proposals always go hand in hand with squawking from deficit hawks. Republicans and even conservative Democrats (including notoriously recalcitrant Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia) fret about how spending money on improving our country will bring ruin by contributing to the national debt. They’re wrong. The truth is that fears … Continue reading Don’t Fall for Deficit Fear-Mongering