CARTOON: Democrats Find Their Spine & Stand Up To Trump's Freeloading Billionaire Looters!
The Dems think the best course is to play dead. Which, when you think of it, is the most honest thing they have done in 20 years.
Sigh! Don’t ya’ wish…
BY Mark Taylor
DeMOCKracy.ink (3/7/25)
I did the above cartoon 15 years ago and the only thing that has changed since with the Democratic Party is they have grown even more feckless, vapid, spineless and a convenient tool for the Republican Party. As the Republicans have gone full-on fascist, the Democrats have pulled on G.W. Bush Jr.’s crusty old Wall Street war-party cowboy boots.
In fact, the person the Democrats trotted out to respond to Trump’s recent Congressional ‘speech’ was Sen. Elissa Slotkin (MI-D) — a former CIA analyst.
“Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer called Slotkin a "rising star" in the party last week as he announced her as the pick to provide the Democratic Party's rebuttal. He said she was "great on both economic and national security" topics.”
CIA? National security? Yeah, right, Chucky.
Really, you couldn’t make this stuff up. Remember, Schumer is the guy who warned the CIA and Deep State “have six ways from Sunday at getting back at you.” Makes one wonder what they have on Chucky…
Instead of recalling and reviving the successful pro-worker values and policies of FDR (who won four elections despite being outspent ten-to-one), the Dems think the only course is to play dead. Which, when you think of it, is what they have pretty much done the past 20 years and has become their specialty.
As they skip away from the legacy and values of FDR into the warm snuggles of the CIA and Wall Street, the Democrats continue to betray and impoverish the nation and sell out the working class. The very class that built this nation and the successful Democratic Party of FDR.
To hell with them.
Time for a third party.
Time for many parties.
Resist
Persist
Don’t be complicit!
Cartoon by Mark Taylor / DeMOCKracy.ink
Trump Set To Whack US Working Class With Historic $2,000 Tax Hike
There is an old saying in Washington that if you want to understand politicians, look at what they do, not what they say. On that front there is no ambiguity. The Republican president is imposing big new taxes, and he is doing it in a way that does not require congressional approval.
By Dean Baker
Beat the Press (3/4/25)
The waiting is almost over, Donald Trump is about to hit America’s workers with the largest tax increase they have ever seen. Trump’s taxes on imports (tariffs) from Canada, Mexico, and China will cost people in the United States somewhere around $260 billion a year or around $2,000 a household.
This is far larger than any tax increase we’ve seen in the last half-century, and unlike tax increases put in place by Clinton and Obama, it will primarily hit low and middle-income households. Their tax increases primarily hit the top 1% percent, which is probably why they got so much more attention from the media.
It is not clear what our reality TV show president hopes to accomplish with these tax hikes. His stated reasons don’t make much sense. Canada, Mexico, and China are already cooperating with the U.S. on the issues he is complaining about. There is a minimal flow of fentanyl and undocumented immigrants from Canada.
If Trump can’t find major savings in the budget, then he will have to raise other taxes if he doesn’t want to hugely increase the deficit with his tax cuts for the Elon Musk crowd. This is the most obvious explanation for Trump hitting us with his huge import taxes.
Mexico sharply curtailed the flow of undocumented immigrants following a deal with Biden last summer. We can look to reduce the flow further, but that could probably be accomplished by negotiations rather than imposing a big tax on U.S. households.
China has also cooperated in reducing the flow of precursor substances for making fentanyl. Here also there were probably better prospects for further reductions through a path of negotiations rather than Donald Trump’s big tax increases.
Also, unlike Canada and Mexico, China’s economy is not that dependent on its trade with the U.S. China’s exports to the U.S. come to less than 2.5 percent of its GDP. If Donald Trump’s taxes reduce that by half, it could look to export to other countries (like Canada or Mexico) or increase domestic demand.
It seems implausible that Donald Trump’s stated reasons for his tax increase are his actual reasons. In principle, taxes on imports can be used as part of an industrial strategy to build up key industries, as was explicitly the case under Biden. His tariffs were intended to promote the advanced semi-conductor industry, as well as solar and wind energy and electric cars.
However, it would be difficult to find any evidence of an industrial strategy in Trump’s plans. He actually is deliberately sabotaging the industries Biden sought to foster.
There is an old saying in Washington that if you want to understand politicians, look at what they do, not what they say. On that front there is no ambiguity. Donald Trump is imposing big new taxes, and he is doing it in a way that does not require congressional approval.
Making things easier for the mega-wealthy
He has made no secret of his intention to cut taxes on the wealthy. While Elon Musk and DOGE boys have put on a good show with the chain saw and breaking into various government agencies, the savings they can actually identify don’t amount to much.
If Trump can’t find major savings in the budget, then he will have to raise other taxes if he doesn’t want to hugely increase the deficit with his tax cuts for the Elon Musk crowd. This is the most obvious explanation for Trump hitting us with his huge import taxes. It sounds much better to pretend he’s cracking down on fentanyl and illegal immigration than to say he’s whacking ordinary workers with a big tax increase. But that is what Donald Trump is doing.
Correction/Update: This post has been updated from its original to better reflect estimates based on what the Trump administration clarified exactly what tariffs would be put into place.
THE BIGGEST HEIST: Since 1975, $79 Trillion Of OUR Wealth Has Flowed From Bottom 90% To Top 1% In US
"Over and over again, my Republican colleagues have expressed their deep concern about the redistribution of wealth in America, and they are righ. "The problem is that it has gone in precisely the wrong direction."
By Eloiese Goldsmith
Common Dreams (3/4/25)
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders on Tuesday used a new working paper about income distribution over the past several decades to push back against congressional Republicans and President Donald Trump's effort to pass more tax giveaways for the rich.
The recent working paper from the nonpartisan research organization RAND, which was authored by Carter Price, aimed to quantify how much money the majority of workers—the bottom 90% by income—would have made if earnings growth had not begun to disproportionately flow to those with the highest incomes starting in the 1970s.
According to Price, assuming the same distribution of income among workers as in 1975—and taking into account continued economic growth, continued growth in inequality, and inflation—the majority of workers would have made an additional $3.9 trillion dollars in 2023. Cumulatively, "the gap between what workers from 1975 to 2023 earned and what they would have earned with the counterfactual income distribution" tallies at $79 trillion in 2023 dollars, per Price.
Damaging to democracy
"The massive income and wealth inequality in America today is not only morally unjust, it is profoundly damaging to our democracy," wrote Sanders (I-Vt.) on Tuesday in response to the study.
The analysis updates earlier numbers on the same topic. A previous analysis from Price and a co-author found the gap between what the majority of workers earn and what they could have earned if the more "uniform growth rates from the 50s and '60s" had continued totaled $47 trillion in 2018 dollars.
Sanders used the update from RAND to discuss the current aims of Trump and Republicans in Congress.
"Over and over again, my Republican colleagues have expressed their deep concern about the redistribution of wealth in America, and they are right," Sanders continued. "The problem is that it has gone in precisely the wrong direction."
Sanders opposes Republicans' intent to provide tax cuts primarily for the wealthy, which will almost certainly be paid for by cuts to Medicaid, nutrition assistance, and more. "We must do the exact opposite," he wrote.
Last week, House Republicans were able to pass a budget resolution that tees up those tax cuts after Trump intervened to pressure wavering members to vote for it.
The resolution instructs the House Energy and Commerce Committee to "submit changes in laws within its jurisdiction to reduce the deficit by not less than" $880 billion over the next decade. That panel has jurisdiction over Medicaid, which the GOP has repeatedly targeted in public and private discussions, with one leaked document floating over $2 trillion in cuts to the program.
Republicans also rejected numerous Democratic amendments that would have prevented Medicaid and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program cuts in the upcoming budget reconciliation process as their resolution moved through committees.
Sanders has been a consistent voice speaking out against the cuts. "Trump and his Republican friends want to enact massive cuts to the [Medicaid] program. We won't let them," wrote Sanders last week.
Common Dreams work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
BIPARTISAN DEATH ECONOMY: New Report Shows Working-Class Americans Live 7 Years Fewer Than Rich
"The massive income and wealth inequality that exists in America today is not just an economic issue, it is literally a matter of life and death," said Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
By Eloiese Goldsmith
Common Dreams (3/7/25)
People living in the top 1% of U.S. counties ranked by median household income live on average seven years longer than their counterparts in the bottom 50% of counties, according to a Friday report from Sen. Bernie Sanders, an Independent representing Vermont and the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
"The massive income and wealth inequality that exists in America today is not just an economic issue, it is literally a matter of life and death," said Sanders in a Friday statement announcing the report.
What's more, the stress of living paycheck to paycheck "also leads to higher levels of anxiety, depression, cardiovascular disease and poor health," Sanders argued, in a nod to some of the survey responses included in the analysis.
The analysis echoes findings by other researchers that higher income is associated with greater longevity. According to a Congressional Research Service report from 2021, life expectancy has generally increased over time in the United States—with the exception of during Covid-19 pandemic—but "researchers have long documented that it is lower for individuals with lower socioeconomic status compared with individuals with higher socioeconomic status. Recent studies provide evidence that this gap has widened in recent decades."
The findings in Sanders' report relied on county-level data in the United States between 2015 and 2019, the five years prior to the pandemic. For that time period, Sanders' staff matched each U.S. county with both median household income data from the U.S. Census Bureau and average life expectancy data from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, according to the report.
The life expectancy gap was greater when comparing higher-earning urban and suburban communities with lower-earning rural communities. "Urban and suburban counties with a median household income of $100,000 have an average life expectancy of 81.6 years, while small rural counties with a median household income of $30,000 have an average life expectancy of 71.7 years—a 10-year gap," according to the report.
A boost in earnings also translated into a boost in life expectancy. For example, "among rural counties, a $10,000 increase in median annual household income is associated with an additional 2.6 years of life expectancy," according to the report.
The analysis also includes qualitative data collected by Sanders, who asked working people via social media survey how stress impacts their lives. The outreach generated over 1,000 responses from people around the country.
Direct threat to all
According to the report, Caitlin from Colorado said: "Stress isn't just an inconvenience for me—it's a direct threat to my heart. Living with a congenital heart defect and multiple mechanical valves means that every surge of anxiety, every sleepless night worrying about bills, isn't just mentally exhausting—it physically wears on my heart."
"Living paycheck to paycheck while supporting a family stresses me out. We are always just one financial emergency from being homeless," said Patrick from Missouri.
One person also reported having to go without preventative healthcare because they are between jobs and can't afford the care without insurance.
The report offers a number of policy solutions to address the key findings of the analysis, including raising the minimum wage to at least $17 an hour, guaranteeing paid family and medical leave, and passing Medicare for All, which would enact a single-payer health insurance program.
Common Dreams work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Don’t Let Trump’s Drama Show Distract You From The Reality The Obscene & Cowardly US/Israel Genocide In Gaza & West Bank Continues…
TAXPAYERS AGAINST GENOCIDE: Holding US Lawmakers Accountable For Backing Gaza Genocide
By Nora Barrows Friedman
Electronic Intifada (3/6/25)
A new US-based campaign aims to hold lawmakers accountable for making federal taxpayers complicit in the genocide in Gaza.
Taxpayers Against Genocide (TAG) began in northern California, but is expanding its membership to include all US federal taxpayers across the country.
The group recently announced plans to file a report with the United Nations in April, and is exploring other international legal remedies.
“The idea has been that we have an extremely solid legal case,” said Maria Barakat, a member of TAG’s core organizing group, adding that attorneys with the National Lawyers Guild are amongst their legal team.
Members of the group’s founding and organizing team joined The Electronic Intifada Podcast to talk about their strategy.
“We wanted to go to the source of the federal income tax dollars that are being used for military aid to Israel,” Seth Donnelly, a co-founder of TAG, told The Electronic Intifada.
“And so we looked at those Congresspersons who cast a vote in the house on 20 April, 2024 which was to re-up $26.38 billion more in military aid and weapon sales to Israel at that time.”
By then, Donnelly adds, “the evidence of genocide was overwhelming, and we had lobbied them extensively not to do that, [but] they did it anyway.”
TAG organized class-action lawsuits on behalf of constituents of lawmakers in California who had voted to send taxpayer funds to support Israel’s war crimes, naming Democratic Party congressmembers such as Mike Thompson and Jared Huffman as well as former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.
Barakat said that the group is working to make their legal approach applicable to a broader constituency so that it can be adapted to different jurisdictions around the country.
The intention of TAG, she says, is “to ensure that our representatives never forget that they have been complicit in genocide and that we will not stop until they are shamed in the world, in the world’s eyes.”
TAG’s press team member Mary Samson and activist Hanna Barakat also spoke about the strong response from people all over the country who want to be part of the legal process of accountability and responsibility for local, state and federal lawmakers.
LAND OF THE FREE? Powerful Oscar-Winning Film CENSORED In The U.S.
“Could open eyes and change minds” — Variety
”Vital and wrenching…a must-see.” — Indiewire
By Lee Fang
System Update (3/4/25)
14-minute video
So excellent!
TRUTH!