Kind of retrograde thinking, Tom. The billionaires got their taxes with Reagan and continued to grow their wealth and control of government ever since. The GOP General Assembly has been happy to oblige them. Simply restoring the old tax rates would boost revenue. And resentment of the Epstein Class is stronger than ever. Putting a leash on the oligarchs is a strong message for the opposition party.
I agree that proposing programs Senator Bernie Sanders advocates will not be good for Democrats in elections. Stick with commen sense programs that bring consensus.
Robert Reich posted on Bluesky yesterday, “A history of the top marginal tax rates of the wealthiest Americans:
1940: 81%
1950: 84%
1960: 91%
1970: 72%
1980: 70%
1990: 28%
2000: 40%
2010: 35%
For 50 years, corporate backed politicians in Congress have slashed taxes to line the pockets of their wealthy donors.”
Since trump, we’ve seen it go crazy. There have been a lot of forces at work to put us in this topsy-turvy situation we’re in now. While the needs will be many if we survive trump’s rampage throughout our country and its laws, we’re all going to have to come to grips with the thorough damage that he has done. More of us than not will be facing hard decisions about so many things. The poor and marginalized have been having to do this for a number of years. More of us will be facing these same decisions as time and circumstances change. Now would be a great time to start thinking about a greater good, if we can still do that; if we haven’t gotten so jaded that we give in to our baser selves. We cannot afford to cruise along as we have been. Let’s start finding and fielding our legislators and leaders with vision of a better future for all of us-not just the rich.
I guess it works if we expand our tax brackets five-fold, but it wouldn’t under today’s tax structure. There were more than 20 tax brackets during the period listed. I’m not opposed to that. I’m just saying that compared to Northern European countries, the middle class here pays very little taxes.
You’re right but we were built on the bitching about taxes philosophy and with good reason in the 18th Century when we had our giant beef with King George III. But times and needs change with growth. We’ve gotten spoiled. Some of us have even gotten a bit smarter enough to realize that to live in this particular society, the basic needs have to be changed. This is how we moved into a safer 20th Century by getting rid of child labor, embracing science and realizing that working people shouldn’t be starving to death after they have to quit working. When we know better, the ideal goal is to do better. That is what we’ve failed to do. When the likes of Warren Buffet admit that his administrative assistant pays more in taxes than he does, that’s a pretty good clue that the tax code is upside down.
I’ve been reading for years now and have never been moved to comment, but this installment left me reeling. I’ve been voting Democrat since Reagan/Carter and I can honestly say that Obamacare is really the only major gain I’ve experienced in those 45 years. The rest was basically holding off what Republicans wanted to do. In other words, maintaining the status quo. If the current administration has taught us anything, it’s that everything is possible, and always has been. I’ve always been a pragmatic democrat but I’ve been moved to become a full blown progressive. I’m sick of safe, incremental change, just DO it! And if current dems don’t wanna do it, primary them from the left. We’re sick of half a century of the same ol’ same ol’, we want healthcare and we want it now. That’s just a start, but the left is angry, much more angry than you seem to realize. We don’t want to just put Humpty Dumpty back together again. Since it’s already been destroyed we want real and permanent change.
I agree that we need better health care, to expand social security, and access to the child care. That’s not what these Democrats are offering. They are offering to cut taxes for the middle class. You can have tax cuts or you can have services. You can’t have both.
What’s wrong with taxing the rich? There are way too many billionaires in this country who have more money than they’ll ever be able to spend. Btw, the US has over 300 billionaires which is many times more than the Scandinavian countries combined.
Meanwhile we have terribly expensive healthcare and no subsidies for childcare. Food, gas, and housing costs are way up. Something’s got to give. More of the same from either party isn’t going to work anymore.
Tom, you are right the Republican floor is still unknown. A shrinking identification base, combined with retirements and internal fractures, suggests that the party may be entering a period of contraction. BUT, that dose not add up to victory.
New polling out of Catawba College and YouGov puts Roy Cooper ahead of Michael Whatley 48-34. I was willing to write off the last poll as a one-off from a new pollster, but Catawba’s local and they’ve been doing this a while. And YouGov is relatively new but a quality poll. I’m still not ready to give Cooper a Full-Stein rating, but this may signal a drag on Whatley’s had placed on him by his “complete and total endorser”. I didn’t think anybody not running against Mark Robinson could pull off a 15-point win, but if anybody *could* it would be Cooper. The questions:
Taxing billionaires is actually a great idea. The USA has 900+ billionaires worth 7 trillion dollars. A 10% tax would generate $700 billion which could easily pay for middle class tax relief, improve the social safety net and provide funding for new programs that other countries have had for years. Run the numbers before you discount "socialist" ideas.
If billionaires would pay the taxes they owe we wouldn’t feel compelled to tax them to oblivion. If they paid the taxes they owe they’d still be billionaires.
I agree. Google “tax gap”. The difference between taxes owed & taxes paid is officially $600-700 Billion. It isn’t just billionaires not paying their taxes, but they comprise a large portion of that. Think what we could do with $600 billion.
Kind of retrograde thinking, Tom. The billionaires got their taxes with Reagan and continued to grow their wealth and control of government ever since. The GOP General Assembly has been happy to oblige them. Simply restoring the old tax rates would boost revenue. And resentment of the Epstein Class is stronger than ever. Putting a leash on the oligarchs is a strong message for the opposition party.
I agree that proposing programs Senator Bernie Sanders advocates will not be good for Democrats in elections. Stick with commen sense programs that bring consensus.
What programs seem like common sense to you?
Robert Reich posted on Bluesky yesterday, “A history of the top marginal tax rates of the wealthiest Americans:
1940: 81%
1950: 84%
1960: 91%
1970: 72%
1980: 70%
1990: 28%
2000: 40%
2010: 35%
For 50 years, corporate backed politicians in Congress have slashed taxes to line the pockets of their wealthy donors.”
Since trump, we’ve seen it go crazy. There have been a lot of forces at work to put us in this topsy-turvy situation we’re in now. While the needs will be many if we survive trump’s rampage throughout our country and its laws, we’re all going to have to come to grips with the thorough damage that he has done. More of us than not will be facing hard decisions about so many things. The poor and marginalized have been having to do this for a number of years. More of us will be facing these same decisions as time and circumstances change. Now would be a great time to start thinking about a greater good, if we can still do that; if we haven’t gotten so jaded that we give in to our baser selves. We cannot afford to cruise along as we have been. Let’s start finding and fielding our legislators and leaders with vision of a better future for all of us-not just the rich.
I guess it works if we expand our tax brackets five-fold, but it wouldn’t under today’s tax structure. There were more than 20 tax brackets during the period listed. I’m not opposed to that. I’m just saying that compared to Northern European countries, the middle class here pays very little taxes.
You’re right but we were built on the bitching about taxes philosophy and with good reason in the 18th Century when we had our giant beef with King George III. But times and needs change with growth. We’ve gotten spoiled. Some of us have even gotten a bit smarter enough to realize that to live in this particular society, the basic needs have to be changed. This is how we moved into a safer 20th Century by getting rid of child labor, embracing science and realizing that working people shouldn’t be starving to death after they have to quit working. When we know better, the ideal goal is to do better. That is what we’ve failed to do. When the likes of Warren Buffet admit that his administrative assistant pays more in taxes than he does, that’s a pretty good clue that the tax code is upside down.
I’ve been reading for years now and have never been moved to comment, but this installment left me reeling. I’ve been voting Democrat since Reagan/Carter and I can honestly say that Obamacare is really the only major gain I’ve experienced in those 45 years. The rest was basically holding off what Republicans wanted to do. In other words, maintaining the status quo. If the current administration has taught us anything, it’s that everything is possible, and always has been. I’ve always been a pragmatic democrat but I’ve been moved to become a full blown progressive. I’m sick of safe, incremental change, just DO it! And if current dems don’t wanna do it, primary them from the left. We’re sick of half a century of the same ol’ same ol’, we want healthcare and we want it now. That’s just a start, but the left is angry, much more angry than you seem to realize. We don’t want to just put Humpty Dumpty back together again. Since it’s already been destroyed we want real and permanent change.
Totally agree.
I agree that we need better health care, to expand social security, and access to the child care. That’s not what these Democrats are offering. They are offering to cut taxes for the middle class. You can have tax cuts or you can have services. You can’t have both.
What’s wrong with taxing the rich? There are way too many billionaires in this country who have more money than they’ll ever be able to spend. Btw, the US has over 300 billionaires which is many times more than the Scandinavian countries combined.
Meanwhile we have terribly expensive healthcare and no subsidies for childcare. Food, gas, and housing costs are way up. Something’s got to give. More of the same from either party isn’t going to work anymore.
Taxing the rich is the only path forward!
The middle class needs billionaires to pay more and also to benefit from the reduction of excessive Pentagon pillage.
Tom, you are right the Republican floor is still unknown. A shrinking identification base, combined with retirements and internal fractures, suggests that the party may be entering a period of contraction. BUT, that dose not add up to victory.
New polling out of Catawba College and YouGov puts Roy Cooper ahead of Michael Whatley 48-34. I was willing to write off the last poll as a one-off from a new pollster, but Catawba’s local and they’ve been doing this a while. And YouGov is relatively new but a quality poll. I’m still not ready to give Cooper a Full-Stein rating, but this may signal a drag on Whatley’s had placed on him by his “complete and total endorser”. I didn’t think anybody not running against Mark Robinson could pull off a 15-point win, but if anybody *could* it would be Cooper. The questions:
Is this just noise, or are we seeing a pattern?
Does this gap translate to other races?
Taxing billionaires is actually a great idea. The USA has 900+ billionaires worth 7 trillion dollars. A 10% tax would generate $700 billion which could easily pay for middle class tax relief, improve the social safety net and provide funding for new programs that other countries have had for years. Run the numbers before you discount "socialist" ideas.
Write on!
If billionaires would pay the taxes they owe we wouldn’t feel compelled to tax them to oblivion. If they paid the taxes they owe they’d still be billionaires.
I agree. Google “tax gap”. The difference between taxes owed & taxes paid is officially $600-700 Billion. It isn’t just billionaires not paying their taxes, but they comprise a large portion of that. Think what we could do with $600 billion.