by People's Action | Nov 17, 2017 | Breakfast
GOP Tax Plan Universally Disliked, But Still May Pass Everybody hates the Trump tax plan. NYT: "G.O.P. tax 'reform,' especially the Senate version, which would raise taxes on most individuals, especially in the middle and working classes, and add around 13 million...
by Jeff Bryant | Nov 17, 2017 | Blog
When Democrats win big like they did in last week’s elections, Republicans understandably get nervous. But there's another political faction that has something to fret about: folks who've aligned themselves with what's come to be called "education reform”: the embrace...
by Richard Eskow | Nov 17, 2017 | Blog
Nominating Alexander Azar to run Health and Human Services is like pinning a sheriff's badge on Billy the Kid. For all his polish and small-town charm, when it comes to pharmaceutical predation, the mild-mannered Azar puts blowhard "pharma bros" like Martin Shkreli to...
by People's Action | Nov 16, 2017 | Breakfast
House Posed To Pass Tax Cuts House poised to pass tax bill in major step toward overhaul. NYT: "The House is poised on Thursday to pass a sweeping rewrite of the tax code along party lines, advancing a critical effort by Republicans to enact legislation that cuts...
by Jeff Bryant | Nov 15, 2017 | Blog
"Top-down class warfare" is what economist Paul Krugman calls the new Republican tax plans being drawn up in Congress, because both plans in the House and Senate propose "huge tax cuts to corporations and the wealthy" and eliminate scores of "credits and exemptions...
by Robert Borosage | Nov 15, 2017 | Blog
Sweeping victories in last Tuesday’s elections provided a bracing tonic for Democrats. “In case there was any doubt,” tweeted former Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau, “the Resistance is real.” Tuesday’s victories should buoy Democrats but not mislead them. The reaction...
by People's Action | Nov 15, 2017 | Breakfast
Senate Insists On Obamacare Repeal In Tax Plan Senate plans to end Obamacare mandate in revised tax proposal. NYT: "Senate Republicans have decided to include the repeal of the Affordable Care Act’s requirement that most people have health insurance into the sprawling...
by Sam Pizzigati | Nov 15, 2017 | Blog
The voters of New Jersey just elected a former Wall Street banker as their new governor. Just what America needs, right? Many onlookers are undoubtedly thinking that the last thing our country needs at this troubled time another well-heeled Wall Streeter in a powerful...
by Tim Wilkins | Nov 14, 2017 | Uncategorized
Sessions Questioned On Russia Ties Sessions questioned at House Judiciary hearing. WaPo: "Attorney General Jeff Sessions is scheduled to testify Tuesday before the House Judiciary Committee, where he is likely to again draw sharp questions about his and other former...
by Richard Eskow | Nov 14, 2017 | Blog
The base is critical to victory — and it wants to move left. If you're a Democrat, there's a name for that unfamiliar emotion you were feeling last Tuesday night. It's called happiness. But there is a serious risk that the party will draw the wrong lessons from last...
by People's Action | Nov 13, 2017 | Breakfast
GOP Strives To Push Through Tax Cuts Congressional GOP moves closer to tax-cut plan. WaPo: "Congressional Republicans face critical decisions this week as they move within striking distance on a major legislative package to cut taxes, an achievement party leaders say...
by Richard Eskow | Nov 13, 2017 | Blog
The concentrated wealth of the global plutocracy is the dark matter of the world economy: it is rarely glimpsed and difficult to measure, yet it reshapes everything around it. Two recent reports – the UBS/PwC report on the "new Gilded Age" of the international...
by Jeff Bryant | Nov 11, 2017 | Blog
There are a lot of differences of opinion on charter schools, but one thing objective observers can agree on is they are divisive. As charter schools have grown more numerous, they've become increasingly unpopular, across political ideologies, and in community after...
by People's Action | Nov 10, 2017 | Breakfast
Senate Makes Bid For Tax Cuts Senate tax plan diverges from House version, highlighting political pressures. NYT: "Senate Republicans outlined their vision on Thursday for overhauling the tax code, proposing a one-year delay in President Trump’s top priority of...
by Bernie Horn | Nov 10, 2017 | Blog
In the wake of the Las Vegas mass shooting, authorities and interest groups have put on a master class in how to bamboozle the media and whitewash unpleasant truths. It's time to talk about what's really happening with guns and gun violence in our country. As we all...
by People's Action | Nov 9, 2017 | Breakfast
GOP Barrels Ahead On Tax Cuts In Senate Tax drama moves to Senate as Trump takes aim at House bill. WaPo: "House Republican tax writers are still holing up in Room 1100 of the Longworth House Office Building, racing to finish their work on a sprawling rewrite of the...
by Laurel Wales | Nov 9, 2017 | Blog
What a difference a year makes! Waking up after Election Day in 2017 is incredibly different from last November, when we faced the prospect of a misogynist-in-chief in the White House, starring in a four-year reality show of his own creation at our expense. Trump and...
by People's Action | Nov 8, 2017 | Breakfast
Trumpism Trounced In Tuesday’s Elections Trumpism Trounced In Tuesday’s Elections. OurFuture.org: "Tuesday's winners include bold progressives and a voter-led push to expand Medicaid in Maine, overriding the state's Trump-like governor. Defeated was a Virginia...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Nov 8, 2017 | Blog
Trumpism was trounced Tuesday night in Virginia, New Jersey and Maine. The rejection of President Trump's agenda that grabbed the most headlines was the surprisingly sound defeat of longtime Republican operative Ed Gillespie in the Virginia governor's race by the...
by Jeff Bryant | Nov 8, 2017 | Blog
Ralph Northam's big win for the Democratic party in the Virginia governor's election is being hailed as a "rebuke of President Trump." But it's also a rebuke of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. The race, which was called a "bellwether" and a "must win" for Democrats,...
by People's Action | Nov 7, 2017 | Breakfast
Governors' Races in NJ and VA 5 things to watch in the Virginia and New Jersey governors races. Politico: "The premier election of 2017 could steel Democrats’ spines Tuesday night — or break their hearts. A win in the tight, closely watched Virginia governor’s race...
by Robert Borosage | Nov 7, 2017 | Blog
The House Republican tax bill has been introduced, packaged beautifully with lies. Now House Republicans will push to pass, in one week, a 500-page bill written in secret that transforms the tax code. Powerful special interests will spend millions for and against....
by People's Action | Nov 6, 2017 | Breakfast
House Begins Markup Of Tax Bill House begins revising Republican tax bill to quell dissent. Reuters: "Facing pockets of discontent in their own Republican ranks, tax negotiators in the U.S. House of Representatives will seek this week to brook differences over their...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Nov 6, 2017 | Blog
Americans for Tax Fairness has just published "Nine Terrible Things About the Republican Tax Plan." All are good reasons for you should get on the phone with your member of Congress and tell them to vote against this travesty of a tax bill. The number to call is...
by Richard Eskow | Nov 5, 2017 | Blog
Democrats are fighting again. The trigger this time is former Democratic National Committee Chair Donna Brazile's forthcoming book, which says that Hillary Clinton's campaign was given significant control over the DNC long before she became the party's nominee. It's...
by People's Action | Nov 3, 2017 | Breakfast
Corporations Win Big In GOP Tax Plan Republican plan delivers permanent corporate tax cut. NYT: "Republican lawmakers unveiled a sweeping rewrite of the tax code on Thursday, outlining a $1.5 trillion plan that will deliver a significant tax cut for corporations and...
by Miles Mogulescu | Nov 2, 2017 | Blog
Donald Trump leaves this weekend for a 12-day trip to Asia, including stops in South Korea and China. Unless advisors keep a tight muzzle on him, there’s reason to worry that aggressive rhetoric could increase the risks of escalating into a deadly war with a...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Nov 2, 2017 | Conservatism, Health, Tax Reform
House Republicans have released their long-awaited tax giveaway plan. It's as bad as those of us who have been resisting the Trump administration and Republican efforts to hijack our economy and democracy have long feared it would be. People's Action joins Americans...
by Jeff Bryant | Nov 2, 2017 | Blog
There's a lot that's bad in the tax scheme Republicans are cooking up on Capitol Hill right now, but one particularly odious ingredient is a proposal to eliminate the deduction for state and local taxes (SALT) which could end up undercutting funding for education,...
by People's Action | Nov 2, 2017 | Breakfast
Americans Don't Buy Tax Cuts, Polls Show Polls: Americans aren't buying key White House arguments for tax overhaul. NPR: "As Republicans scramble to assemble a tax overhaul bill, Americans aren't even sure that Congress should be focusing on reshaping the tax system....
by People's Action | Nov 1, 2017 | Breakfast
GOP Tax Plan Delayed House GOP delays tax bill rollout. Politico: "House Republicans postponed the much-anticipated rollout of their tax reform proposal Tuesday night, an ominous sign for a direly needed legislative accomplishment for President Donald Trump and his...
by Robert Borosage | Nov 1, 2017 | Blog
With passage of their budget framework, Republicans in Congress have embarked on a preposterous mission of passing—in three weeks—a tax bill that still hasn’t been released to the public as of this writing. They plan to pass the bill, which is likely to end up near...
by Jeff Bryant | Nov 1, 2017 | Blog
"Here we go again," was what many left-leaning folks likely felt after seeing a recent announcement about a new effort by wealthy donors to rescue the Democratic Party from its electoral doldrums. Backed by $20 million, the "New Blue" campaign, coming from politically...
by People's Action | Oct 31, 2017 | Breakfast
Mueller Russia Probe Arrests The ghost of Paul Manafort haunts the White House this Halloween. WaPo: "Unveiling the first batch of criminal allegations to come from probes into possible Russian influence in the American political system, Robert S. Mueller III proved...
by Richard Eskow | Oct 30, 2017 | Blog
A new poll shows most Democratic voters want their party to move left, with new people in charge. In other words, they want a political revolution. They've got the right idea. If the party establishment thinks Robert Mueller's investigation will save it, it's probably...
by People's Action | Oct 30, 2017 | Breakfast
Indictment May Blow Hole In Trump's Big Week Looming indictment threatens Trump's big week. Politico: "An expected indictment Monday from the special counsel probing Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election leaves President Donald Trump facing a politically perilous...
by Joe Mangino | Oct 28, 2017 | Blog
I’m Joe Mangino, and I live with my family in the Jersey Shore town of Beach Haven West. Five years after Hurricane Sandy, we’re still on the long road home. Sandy took away my house and my livelihood. Like many of our neighbors, the Mangino family was knocked down....
by Leo Gerard | Oct 27, 2017 | Blog
Congressional Republicans are selling a trickle-down tax scam times two. It’s the same old snake oil, with double hype and no cure. A single statistic explains it all: one percent of Americans – that is the tiny, exclusive club of billionaires and millionaires – get...
by People's Action | Oct 27, 2017 | Breakfast
House Budget Vote Fast Tracks Massive Tax Cuts 216 GOP House Members Just Voted to Destroy the Safety Net and Deliver a Trillion-Dollar Tax Cut to the Rich. Common Dreams: "The GOP-controlled House of Representatives on Thursday narrowly passed a Senate-approved...
by George Goehl | Oct 27, 2017 | Blog
GOP lawmakers are laughing into their hats as they head home from Capitol Hill, thinking tax cuts for the rich – the ones they’ve wanted for so long – are finally within reach, if they can hold on a little longer. There’ll be smiles all around the Thanksgiving table,...
