News, Opinions & Events
Sunday, February 8, 2026
Settler violence stokes peak West Bank displacement since October 2023: UN – AJ
Israel’s war on Gaza’s healthcare continues in full force under ‘ceasefire’ – Dr. Mads Gilbert/Al Jazeera
“Missiles and gunfire continue to target Gaza’s medics while tens of thousands of patients remain trapped without treatment as the world looks away.“
How a pro-Israel super PAC made a losing bet to open Democratic primary season – NBC
AIPAC Coordinates Donors in Illinois House Primaries – American Prospect
“Three Democratic candidates are benefiting from dark-money super PACs, and they share hundreds of donors who have previously given to AIPAC and its subsidiaries.”
Four Big Tech Companies Avoid $51 Billion in Taxes in Wake of One Big Beautiful Bill Act – ITEP
“…The annual financial reports recently released by Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, and Tesla disclose that these corporations collectively reported $315 billion in U.S. profits for 2025, and collectively paid just 4.9 percent of that amount in federal corporate income taxes—with Tesla paying exactly zero.”
That’s enough money to put a few hundred dollars in an IRA or 401(k) for every American worker why now has zero or minimal retirement savings. Scroll down for how to create and fund a universal retirement savings system.
Lawsuits Push Back on Trump’s Attack on Child Care – Capital & Main
“Unions, small businesses, states sue to stop the administration from punishing blue states by withholding $10 billion in funding.”
“Subsidized child care in California was already in an uncertain place. Even though Gov. Gavin Newsom had promised to continue an expansion of the program that began on his watch, his budgets haven’t funded that growth for the past two years. The upshot is that while almost 370,000 California children are enrolled in subsidized care, the number of those who actually qualify is closer to 2.1 million, and stories abound of families stuck on waitlists for years.
“The need is acute. According to the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC), the median cost of full-time child care in the state runs from $9,000 to $24,000 a year… A recent Los Angeles Times report put the median cost in Los Angeles County at $1,209 a month in a family child care home setting and $1,818 at a child care center.”
More Unions Are Saying ‘ICE Out’ – Labor Notes
“In Portland, Oregon, the state labor council and two dozen unions backed a “Labor Says ICE Out!” march and rally January 31. Thousands of people turned out, many wearing union gear and carrying their union banners. The Northwest Labor Press reported that marchers filled the streets for nine blocks.
“Though the march was family-friendly, with plenty of kids and elders participating, when some protesters approached the ICE facility the police attacked with teargas and projectiles. The gassing was so intense that the effects lingered in the air for days, even indoors in nearby buildings, including a hospital…”
Militarized Policing Is at the Root of the Minneapolis Mayhem – Reason
“Thanks to a lack of hiring standards, purposeful federal policy, poor training, and a lack of accountability for bad behavior, ICE is eroding safety and liberty for all Americans.”
Retirement in America: An Analysis of Retirement Preparedness Among Working-Age Americans – NIRS
“Conclusion: Preparing for retirement in America remains a challenge for many workers. While Social Security’s nearly universal coverage forms a solid foundation, its replacement rates drop off quickly and many middle- and upper-income workers will need additional sources of income in retirement. The lack of a universal savings system leaves workers exposed to the patchy coverage of the private savings system. (Emphasis added.) Certain categories of workers, such as those with lower levels of education or lower incomes, are especially likely to be left out and, therefore, fall behind in saving for retirement.”
Working individuals who have positive DC savings had median savings of $40,000 in December 2022. Across all workers, including those with no savings, the median amount saved was only $955.
By including the “zeros” — workers with no retirement savings — this study does a public service by showing that about half of workers have zero or very small accumulations. Many other studies don’t and report average amounts only, particularly studies done by the employee benefit industry which obscure the fact that half the population is left out of the system:
CCSE work on this issue:
Jeff Bezos Just Taught Liberal Elites How Oligarchy Really Works – Matt Stoller/BIG
The formula: Replace the comfortable old guard with fewer, cheaper, harder-working, younger reporters less likely to bellyache about sloppy editing and reframing articles to fit the publisher’s policy leanings. (Over the past couple years, how many Post stories have featured headlines that don’t match the reporting with the main point (lead) surfacing near the last paragraph?)
Affordability or tax hikes? Spanberger agenda caught in political crossfire – Virginia Mercury
“Republicans seize on dormant Democratic tax bills to attack the new governor, even as lawmakers advance measures aimed at lowering costs…”
Virginia Democrats introduce flood of new tax proposals despite running on affordability – WJLA
Opinion | Virginia raising income tax amid a surplus would not be ‘affordable’ – WaPost
The Case for More Progressive State and Local Tax Systems, in Charts – ITEP
“Nearly every state (41 of 50) taxes the top one percent of taxpayers at lower rates than working- or middle- class families. In large part this is because many states rely heavily on regressive sales and excise taxes without sufficiently strong graduated personal income taxes or refundable credits. Some state policymakers want to go even further down that road with even deeper cuts to the taxes that are paid by high-income households, like personal and corporate income taxes – cuts that are often offset by increases in taxes paid by working families.”
Minnesota Stands Out for Its Moderately Progressive Tax Code – ITEP
How do taxes affect income inequality? – TPC
“The US federal tax system mitigates income inequality. High-income households pay a larger share of their income in total federal taxes than low-income households (figure 2). State and local taxes, which are not included in this analysis, are much less progressive and some, such as sales taxes, are regressive (low-income households pay a higher share of their income in sales taxes than high-income households).”
Immigrants cut the deficit by $14.5 trillion over 30 years: Analysis – Fiscal Times
“…Overall, immigrants pay more taxes than average, because they work at higher rates than non-immigrants. They cost less as retirees, in part because they are less likely to retire, but also because some pay into Social Security but are unable to claim benefits due to their lack of citizenship. Immigrants cost school systems less than average, too, because so many arrive after school age.”
BREAKING: Chattanooga Volkswagen Workers Reach Tentative Agreement on 1st Contract – Payday Report
“Late tonight, the UAW announced that it has reached a tentative agreement with Volkswagen in Chattanooga. If ratified by the union’s membership, it would represent a victory in the UAW’s 13-year conquest to win a union contract at Volkswagen Chattanooga. It could also open the door for more organizing in the South.”
Teachers union leaders spent thousands at swanky resorts – WaExaminer
Front page story: DHS is routinely accessing Americans’ online information outside the normal judicial process under authority of its own secret subpoenas:
Homeland Security is targeting Americans with this secretive legal weapon – msn/WaPost
“Google hadn’t provided him a copy of the subpoena, but it wasn’t the conventional sort. Homeland Security had come after him with what’s known as an administrative subpoena, a powerful legal tool that, unlike the ones people are most familiar with, federal agencies can issue without an order from a judge or grand jury. Though the U.S. government had been accused under previous administrations of overstepping laws and guidelines that restrict the subpoenas’ use, privacy and civil rights groups say that, under President Donald Trump, Homeland Security has weaponized the tool to strangle free speech…
“Homeland Security is not required to share how many administrative subpoenas it issues each year, but tech experts and former agency staff estimate it’s well into the thousands, if not tens of thousands. Because the legal demands are not subject to independent review, they can take just minutes to write up and, former staff say, officials throughout the agency, even in mid-level roles, have been given the authority to approve them…”
Noem and Co. can access what you see and say online. Does this practice violate protections laid out in the 4th amendment of the Constitution? The 1st amendment?
Gov. Tim Walz raises alarm over ICE tracking public school staff – Knewz
The Predatory Hegemon: How Trump Wields American Power – Foreign Affairs
…To be sure, the United States is not about to face a vast countervailing coalition or lose its independence—it is too strong and favorably positioned to suffer that fate. It will, however, become poorer, less secure, and less influential than it has been for most living Americans’ lifetimes. Future U.S. leaders will operate from a weaker position and will face an uphill battle to restore Washington’s reputation as a self-interested but fair-minded partner. Predatory hegemony is a losing strategy, and the sooner the Trump administration abandons it, the better.”
State sued over new rule that restricts access to HIV/AIDS medication for low-income patients – wlrn
Free HIV drugs save lives. Why one state is restricting access for thousands. – Yahoo/WaPost
“Now, Floridians earning up to 400 percent of the federal poverty line, about $64,000, qualify for the drug assistance program. Starting March 1, only people earning up to 130 percent – about $21,000 – will be eligible.”
How eligibility criteria for unemployment benefits can penalize lower earners – Niskanen
“…The penalty on low-income workers stems from state use of earnings requirements. In those states, workers with lower wages must work more hours than higher-wage earners in order to qualify. Two states — Washington and Oregon — offer an alternative: an hours-based standard regardless of income…”
Trump has already matched Nixon’s self-destructive mania with years to go: column – Raw Story
‘Radical Left flamethrower’: Trump blames Massie’s wife for senator’s disloyalty – Washington Times
Greene: MAGA ‘was all a lie’ – Hill
“…On Wednesday, she said the people who truly benefit from backing Trump are financial benefactors, telling Iversen: ‘Those are the people that get the special favors. They get the government contracts, they get the pardons, or somebody they love or one of their friends gets a pardon.’ …
“Greene criticized the favoritism for Trump’s wealthy allies and also slammed the president for focusing on foreign policy rather than problems at home in her interview. ‘It’s the foreign countries. They are running the show here. It’s the major big corporations and what is best for the world. That’s really what MAGA is. We are seeing war on behalf of Israel, we are seeing the people in Gaza, innocent people in Gaza, hundreds of thousands of them completely murdered so that they can build some new real estate development. Money can pour in and everybody can get rich there in the new Gaza,’ … “
Wealth inequality and the ‘K-shaped’ economy are more striking than ever, data shows – CNBC
- The K-shaped economy is as apparent as ever, and isn’t going away anytime soon, economists said.
- It’s now seen as more of a facet of the modern U.S. economy than a passing fad.
- This disparity can help explain to success of politicians focused on messages around affordability.
“…Reduced migration will dampen growth in the labor force, consumer spending, and gross domestic product (GDP).”
It’s Monday: Back in “Jungle USA”:
Monopoly Round-Up: Why the Epstein Files Won’t Go Away – Matt Stoller/BIG
“The GOP loses in a Trump-heavy Texas district, as voters get angrier and angrier at elite misbehavior…”
Sunday, February 1, 2026
‘Junglekeeper’ Review: To Roam the Rainforest – WSJ
Should this small part of the “last great jungle” be preserved? Or opened up to the “free market”?
Never-before-seen footage of uncontacted tribe warriors – Paul Rosolie and Lex Fridman
“‘There’s also a human culture that will cease to exist, that will be exterminated if we don’t protect them’…Loggers, narcos, and miners ‘will kill them…'”
Before judging the warriors’ preemptive threats and acts of violence, remember that the superpowers of the civilized world are hard-wired for mutual destruction should Putin or Trump decide to launch nuclear warheads. Do indigenous people living in these 300,000 square acres have less, or more, chance of passing along their genes than city dwellers in the US and Russia?
Noncitizens Stole 30% Fewer Welfare Benefits Per Capita Than Citizens 2013–2024 – Laissez-Faire, Laissez-Passer
“Welfare fraud is a problem, but 95% is by American citizens.”
Featured
Thanks to the Richmond Times-Dispatch for publishing this column:
“…It will take some time for the new governor and Democrats running the state legislature to find effective ways to make life in Virginia more affordable. Reducing the tax burden on low-income families should be part of their agenda. Meanwhile, legislators should avoid adding taxes that hit the poor the hardest.”
States Can Push Back Against Reckless Federal Tax Policy. Here’s How. – Governing
Beware of Republicans bearing cash!
Substituting Cash for Health Insurance Can Drive Up Costs, Medical Bankruptcy – Karl Polzer/CCSE
Not! (for now)
Senate GOP health care plan fails on mostly party-line vote – Hill
As suspected, the two health care subsidy votes were performative art organized by Senate leaders setting a high bar (60/100 votes). Clock’s still ticking for millions of Americans needing health insurance they can afford.
Health Care–Related Savings Accounts, Health Care Expenditures, and Tax Expenditures – JAMA
“Conclusions and Relevance: Participation in FSAs is associated with higher health care expenditures and tax expenditures, while HSAs are not associated with reduced expenditures. Tax policy could be better targeted to enhance insurance coverage and health care accessibility.”
Submitted to Finance Committee Hearing: “The Rising Cost of Health Care: Considering Meaningful Solutions for All Americans”
“No matter how many adjustments the government might make, giving people money to leave the risk pool and bargain on their own with the players in health system undermines the basic concept of insurance – which is pooling risk and resources to make hard-to-predict future expenses more affordable.”
“Understanding Inequality” – a seven-part series by CUNY Stone Center on Socio-Economic Inequality scholar Paul Krugman
- Part I: Why Did the Rich Pull Away from the Rest?
- Part II: The Importance of Worker Power
- Part III: A Trumpian Diversion
- Part IV: Oligarchs and the Rise of Mega-Fortunes
- Part V: Predatory Financialization
- Part VI: Wealth and Power
- Part VII: Crypto
Updated Oct. 8, 2025
“This paper presents options – some favored by conservatives, others by progressives – as a framework for negotiating an equitable solution to Social Security’s financing shortfall. Taken together, the changes could generate up to twice as much in savings and revenue as needed to balance Social Security’s books…
“Congress could strike a deal drawing about half the savings needed to fix Social Security through a gradual benefit reduction by changing the formula for determining initial benefit levels while protecting the lowest earners. The rest of the gap could be filled through tax increases. These financing options provide room for targeted benefit improvements to help the lowest income pay their bills and families raise children.”
Thanks to The Hill for running our oped:
Judge says Trump administration ‘used antisemitism as a smokescreen’ against Harvard – USA Today
Trump Administration’s Cuts to Harvard Funding Are Unconstitutional, Judge Rules – msn/WSJ
CCSE correspondence with Harvard President Garber
“Prediction: Harvard University will be teaching students from all over the world long after what remains of Trump and his brain trust rest in silence beneath the ground. BTW, White House staff could benefit from taking free public finance courses at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. Harvard has a positive fund balance. The United State government, not so much.”
No peace, no prize. – Karl Polzer
“Republican members of the US Congress, which is financing Israel’s now escalating ethnic cleansing of Gaza, have nominated President Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize. It is hard to fathom the depth and irony of their fawning depravity. The Nobel prize is clearly a trophy that he covets. But shouldn’t a peace prize have something to do with reducing conflict and killing? The US president and Congress, including a majority of Democrats, are doing the opposite of making peace. They are facilitating Israel’s daily, systematic killing, starvation, and displacement of entire populations of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank…”
“Economists and business analysts increasingly agree that Trump’s tariffs are raising prices. There is far less awareness that the historic spike in tariffs – coupled with the tax cuts just made permanent by Congress – comprise a major shift in the tax burden. Taken together, these two changes promise to make the US tax system more regressive. In our increasingly unequal country, taxpayers at the bottom of the economic pecking order are taking on proportionally more of the tax burden as the well-off shoulder less…”
New capitalism III: Capital – Branko Milanovic
“Why is capital so concentrated and why so few have it?”
“The new capitalism has even in the rich countries failed to produce what Margaret Thatcher, and Friedrich Hayek before her, called ‘property-owning society’. (For good measure, Thatcher added ‘democracy’ too.) Even when we include income from forced savings that becomes pension wealth, between one-half and almost 90 percent of the population in rich countries are financial-capital destitute. That percentage becomes more than 90, or even more than 95, in less developed countries…”
Related CCSE work:
Half of Americans have no retirement savings — here’s how Congress can look after them …. op-ed
How the U.S. Retirement Saving System Magnifies Inequality – Society of Actuaries
New Capitalism in America: Richest capitalists and richest workers are increasingly the same people – Global Inequality
Branko Milanovic: The World Under Capitalism – Stone Center/Toronto Public Library
Prof. Milanovic discusses two types of capitalism – “liberal capitalism” in the US and “political capitalism” directed by the Chinese Communist Party. Both systems have produced relatively high levels of income inequality.
Comparing United States and China by Economy – Statistics Times
Just-enacted 2025 budget legislation makes Trump’s 2017 tax cuts permanent. Here’s a CCSE presentation from just after Congress passed that bill:
What has changed? Remains the same?
2025 Social Security groundhog day:
US needs $28 trillion more over 75 years to pay promised benefits
“A few months after the Trump Administration chain-sawed Social Security’s leadership and staff, four newly installed senior officials overseeing the program released the annual report on its declining financial condition. This year’s actuarial forecast is a bit gloomier due in large part to a benefit expansion enacted by the previous Congress. However, in the big picture, not much has changed. Social Security’s looming insolvency remains…
“As I have pointed out to the Senate Budget Committee, the process of spending down Social Security reserves already is increasing overall federal spending and pushing up annual deficits. Drawing down reserves in the Social Security trust funds requires the Treasury to sell bonds (or find other sources of revenue) to raise cash to pay the program’s 74 million beneficiaries.
“On pp. 51-52, this year’s report estimates that Social Security will draw down $181 billion from the combined trust funds in 2025 with the amount rising to $405 billion in 2033. As a result, the federal government is gradually moving to finance part of the program’s benefits through newly issued debt substituting for now-insufficient payroll taxes...”
More on these issues can be found in these CCSE articles and testimony:
- Why Social Security’s big benefit cut won’t happen: The U.S. Treasury already is filling its funding gap – statement to U.S. Senate Budget Committee
- A ‘conservative/progressive’ path to Social Security solvency: bend the benefit cost curve, grow revenue, and protect lower earners – statement to Senate Appropriations Committee
- A Widening Gap in Life Expectancy Makes Raising Social Security’s Retirement Age a Particularly Bad Deal for Low-Wage Earners – Society of Actuaries
- Growing inequality has shrunk Social Security’s revenue. Revitalizing its tax base could help restore solvency without cutting benefits.
- Center on Capital & Social Equity work on Social Security and retirement savings (updated January 2025).
OBBBA’s 30-Year Price Tag – CRFB
“The House-passed One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) would add $3 trillion to the debt through Fiscal Year (FY) 2034 as written and $5 trillion if made permanent. Over the long run, it would add far more to the debt.”
Trump, Tariffs, and the Economic Outlook – AEI discussion
“Helping young people learn how to save and build up money for college and adult life are worthy goals. But new ‘Trump kids accounts’ embedded in the massive Republican tax and spending bill before the US Senate not only duplicate existing programs. They also would widen financial gaps between families in our already very unequal country. In addition, tax subsidies for money invested in Trump accounts would go mostly to well-off families and push up the national debt…”
Letter to US citizens:
Student expulsions are an attack on all Americans’ freedom of speech
“This is how fascism happens. First, they come for the powerless. In time, they
will come for you.”
“The federal government has had authority since 1986 to criminally prosecute individuals and companies employing workers not legally in the United State, but it has rarely used that authority regardless of the administration in office. A one-year snapshot taken during Trump’s first term found that no company was criminally prosecuted for having workers not authorized to be in the country, a Syracuse University study shows…
“Changing the equation to incentivize employers to help enforce, rather than skirt, the nation’s immigration laws does not mean subjecting them to cruel and unusual punishment. No need to suspend billionaires and entrepreneurs in cages from a tower or use branding irons. It does mean applying and stiffening laws against hiring illegals and tax avoidance. Financial penalties, public shaming, and loss of contracts could be a start. If that isn’t sufficient, start putting law-breaking employers in jail. They are lining their pockets by stealing jobs from American workers, both native born and those immigrating legally.”
Multiple conflicts of interest:
“By directing a high-powered federal agency working to alter the size and nature of the federal workforce, Elon Musk may be jeopardizing the ability of companies he owns and directs, including SpaceX and Tesla, to contract with the federal government.”
Thanks to the Virginian-Pilot for running our op-ed:
Many questions, few answers about exempting tips from taxes – Karl Polzer/Virginian-Pilot
“Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s proposal to exempt tipped income from state taxes — like President-elect Donald Trump’s on a national level — could help some low-wage workers. However, it also poses risks for others and raises complex issues facing scrutiny as the state legislature begins its work…”
To provide access to all readers (the newspaper’s op-eds are gated), below is the original submission including links to sources:
Statement to 11/20/24 US House Appropriations Committee hearing on Social Security:
“As keeper of the federal government’s purse strings, the House Appropriations Committee plays a part in maintaining Social Security’s commitment to American workers, their families, and taxpayers. First, Committee members can weigh in as Congress and the Treasury find hundreds of billions of dollars annually in cash outside the appropriations process to draw down Social Security reserves. The Committee can also help ‘leave room’ in future budgets for revenue increases that might be necessary to keep Social Security solvent as it coordinates with House Ways & Means, Budget, and other Committees on tax and spending issues.”
The next President and Congress will face daunting fiscal issues. In the shadow of historic levels of national debt, lawmakers will be bargaining over trillions of dollars of taxes and spending as they deal with expiration of the Trump tax cuts. On top of that loom major Social Security financing gaps. Paying promised benefits will require the government to raise more than $2 trillion in cash over the next eight years and more than $24 trillion to achieve long-run solvency.
This paper presents policy options – some favored by conservatives, others by progressives – as a framework for negotiating a solution. Taken together, the changes could generate more than twice as much in savings and revenue than needed to balance Social Security’s books.
The nation’s biggest banks in effect have become today’s payday lenders.
Which U.S. Households Have Credit Card Debt? – St. Louis Fed
46% of American households held credit card debt in 2022.
– Expand the child tax credit to help more working-class parents and grandparents raising kids.
– Provide Social Security credit for unpaid work raising young children.
– Update/improve SSI so more people with disabilities can work, save.
– If taxes must go up, hold the working poor harmless.
Click here for longer version including references and related articles.
CCSE work contributes to Congressional hearing on financing Social Security
Center on Capital & Social Equity (CCSE) analysis and advocacy were evidenced during the June 4 House Ways & Means subcommittee on Social Security hearing of the program’s trust fund. Over the past years, CCSE has worked to explore issues affecting low-wage workers and lay groundwork to defend their Social Security benefits when Congress eventually refinances the nation’s most important social program.
It’s Social Security ‘groundhog day’ as trustees repeat annual forecast of declining finances
“…The trustees’ report, however, neglects to mention how Social Security already is impacting the overall federal budget. As pointed out to the Senate Budget Committee, the mechanics of spending down Social Security’s reserves require the Treasury to draw funds from general revenue and issue new debt to the public. As a result, Social Security is gradually and organically moving to paying for current benefits through debt substituting for now-insufficient payroll taxes that it traditionally relies on.”
Missing the obvious: life expectancy in the U.S. is closely related to income – Karl Polzer
“The underlying theory is simple: More income and wealth allow people and governments to support more years of life. Fewer resources put them at a disadvantage. Some politicians who see the connection may be leery of talking about it. Doing so would lead to awkward questions about improving working and living conditions for millions of Americans and dealing with growing economic inequality.
“The strong relationship between income and longevity is clear when comparing states… (E)ight of the nine states with the lowest median household income also are among the bottom nine in longevity. Similar clustering occurs comparing the highest ranked states across the two categories. Seven of the nine states with the highest median household income also are among the top nine in life expectancy.
“Realizing they are rowing in the same economic boat could prompt states to join forces on policy changes, particularly Mississippi, West Virginia, Louisiana, Arkansas, Alabama, New Mexico, Kentucky, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Tennessee, and others ranking at or near the bottom…
“Presidential candidate and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley strongly proposes raising the program’s retirement age on the premise that increased life spans are undermining Social Security’s long-term solvency. If long-held assumptions about longevity were challenged, and potential losses to low-income workers and low-income states caused by raising the eligibility age came to light, would she change her position? Republican candidate Donald Trump, by the way, opposes cuts in Social Security as do most Democrats…”
Thanks to the Washington Examiner for running this op-ed:
Senate minimum wage bills make bipartisan compromise possible – Washington Examiner
For longer version with references, see:
Previous work on this issue:
One way to make living easier in Virginia – letter to WaPost
Yes, raise the minimum wage, but don’t stop there – op-ed
“More Americans are rightly asking if Israel could neutralize Hamas without massive destruction and loss of civilian life. Indiscriminate air attacks by the Netanyahu regime already have killed and injured tens of thousands of Gazans with no end to the violence in sight. To put this in perspective, imagine how Washington, D.C., would look if a foreign government with the power to fence in the District of Columbia dropped a comparable number of bombs here while shutting off access to water and food and destroying most of the capital area’s housing and medical system. UN officials say conditions in Gaza are catastrophic.”
Thanks to the Washington Post for publishing our letter to the editor:
One way to make living easier in Virginia – Karl Polzer/letter to WaPost
“Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) told reporters he is ‘concerned about the cost of living in Virginia and we’re continuing to evaluate how best to address that,’ as reported in the Nov. 26 Metro article ‘Budget battle looms in Virginia. Facing a tighter fiscal environment and Democratic control of the legislature, Mr. Youngkin and fellow Republicans could help working families without denting the budget by making an expected Democratic push for a higher minimum wage a bipartisan affair.
“The GOP has been trying to attract more minority and working-class voters. However, party leaders have stopped short of addressing core economic issues, such as supporting higher wages and better benefits, and mainly stress cultural issues…”
Background Information on these issues provided to Virginia legislators
McCarthy & Co. offer themselves up on the cross to help motivate lazy poor people back to work
Work requirements are a policy failure: Why are they still an option? – The Hill
Thanks to the Washington Post for running our letter:
“Letting Americans Down”
“How can House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), President Biden and Senate leaders claim to represent the working class and poor when Medicaid work requirements are a focal point in the debt ceiling standoff and the Trump-era tax cuts are not? According to the Congressional Budget Office, the work requirements in the Limit, Save, Grow Act would have a tiny impact (about $5.6 billion in fiscal 2025) on the nation’s $31.4 trillion national debt, but they would increase the number of uninsured and state costs and have no effect on hours worked by Medicaid recipients.
“In contrast, ending the Trump-era tax cuts, which disproportionately benefit the wealthy, could put a major dent in the national debt….”
Because most of this site’s readers won’t be able to get through the newspaper’s pay gate, here’s the draft of the letter sent to the Post:
Debt ceiling negotiators focus on a ‘speck’ in benefits for the poor, ignore the ‘logs’ in their own eyes.
“Legislative Choices for Paying Promised Social Security Benefits”
Statement of Karl Polzer, Center on Capital & Social Equity,
U.S. Senate Budget Committee hearing: “Protecting Social
Security for All: Making the Wealthy Pay Their Fair Share”
Has DT crossed the line into delirium tremens?
“It came out of his mouth during a campaign speech last month.”