This week, over 2,700 world leaders are attending the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland – better known as simply “Davos.” Every year, elites from business, politics, and civil society meet at this annual conference held at an exclusive and luxurious Swiss ski resort to discuss humanity’s most pressing problems. And every year, they fail to make any real change because they refuse to … Continue reading Survival of the Richest
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
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
In the days following Labor Day, a time to celebrate all that American workers have done for the prosperity of our nation, the undue power that the rich hold over our country has become all the more glaring. The ultra-rich would have you believe otherwise, but it’s important to remember that our nation is great because of the contributions of everyday, hardworking Americans – not … Continue reading America Should Reward Workers, Not the Rich
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
It’s been just over 48 hours since President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) into law, and Republican pundits and lawmakers are already making it Target #1 in their efforts to take back Congress this November. Despite the fact that the IRA is a fantastic piece of legislation that makes our climate, healthcare system, and tax code better, conservatives want the American people to … Continue reading The IRA – Fact vs. Fiction
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?
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
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
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
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
This past Monday was Tax Day, which is undoubtedly no American’s favorite holiday. But the pain of Tax Day is not shared by all. While the typical American pays a good amount of every paycheck in taxes and hopes to get a refund after submitting their return, the ultra-wealthy have a variety of tools at their disposal that allows them to keep Tax Day virtually … Continue reading Why Billionaires Don’t Stress About Tax Day
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?