Every time I turn on the financial news, I see that the stock market (on average) has been rising for a record amount of time (3,453 days as of the writing of this piece). Every program trumpets this consistent rise in value as an incredible positive for the American people. But who’s it really helping? It’s been working for me. I made about $18,000 today … Continue reading I Made Money Today
One of the ills of American capitalism is the growing concentration of wealth in the hands of a few. At this very moment, the gap between rich and poor has never been wider, and it is only growing. As we are unable to even broach the discussion of maximum wages, we frequently argue over raising the minimum wage. These conversations quickly turn to ad hominems … Continue reading We Don’t Need or Want an Underclass to Look Down On
We may not be able to fix or eliminate inequality through our tax code, but let’s not make it worse.
When we discuss economics there are, very broadly, two types of people: First, there are regular people. They mostly need to work, and a lot of them try to save enough so that they can retire someday. Some of them succeed, but increasingly, many do not. Being a regular person means spending most of your income. Some live very well, and some live very poorly. … Continue reading My Tax Philosophy
I haven’t always been politically active. I spent most of my life working and helping raise my children, and I hated paying taxes just like most people. But two events in my life changed my attitude toward politics and taxes, and when I found Patriotic Millionaires I realized I had found a way to act on these new values.
I’m an investor, researcher, and the great-grandson of the meatpacker Oscar Mayer. I’m deeply concerned by the extreme inequalities of income, wealth and opportunity that have opened up in U.S. society.
Last week the Wall Street Journal Published an opinion piece by Michael Saltsman decrying San Francisco’s minimum wage hike.
It is absurd to think that corporations, particularly large, multi-national corporations who pay millions in stockholder dividends and corporate bonuses, should pay a lower tax rate than most working Americans.
I am outraged. “45” spent his entire campaign claiming that he would stand up for everyday Americans, and yet his recent tax proposals are nothing more than thinly disguised handouts for the wealthy. Not the wealthy…the super wealthy!
We have a wage problem in the United States. Our current system is not working. It is harming our economy and money is not going to those who need it most but to the wealthiest.
This morning the Patriotic Millionaires took to the streets once again to fight for a fair minimum wage. Vice-chair Stephen Prince spoke at a rally to raise the minimum wage alongside Senators Bernie Sanders, Patty Murray, and Chuck Schumer.
The purpose of the American minimum wage is to ensure that all Americans are able to earn enough money to provide for the basic needs of themselves and their family.
The United States has the highest level of income inequality in the developed world. Economists think our wealth inequality is even greater. It is inherently unfair, even immoral, for me and many others to live in opulence while millions of Americans struggle just to get enough to eat.
“Make America sick again,” goes the chant of Democrats around the country to resist the Republican repeal and replace agenda for the Affordable Care Act.
Representative Rick Mulvaney, Trump’s pick to head the Office of Management and Budget, is under fire for failing to pay more than $15,000 in payroll taxes for a nanny he employed between 2000 and 2004.
Furthermore, we allowed the strengthening of these neoliberal economic policies while globalization and technological advances accelerated the advance of inequality–in wages and in wealth. So now we have inequality which has risen to peak levels, and in the US it is worse than in any other developed country.
In these meetings, the non-partisan Patriotic Millionaires demanded Democrats and Progressives draw a firm line in the sand in negotiations with President-elect Trump and GOP leadership around taxes and minimum wage.
Exclusionary policies that disproportionately affect minorities, women, or people of the LGBTQ community, only further detract from the American economic potential.
Companies with employee partners don’t bother with phony empowerment — offering low-paid employees titles like “associate” or “team leader.” They share real wealth and power.
Worstall argues that raising the minimum wage in Washington DC to $15 an hour will hurt low income workers because — get ready for it — Walmart can’t come to town.