Just read an article that went right along with your comments. Essentially it said that the tax cuts of Regan, Bush and now Trump have caused the financial mess this country is in, stating that if we had the Corporate taxes from those 3 cuts back we would not have the debt that is now carried and America would be in decent shape. AND I just read another article that says Republicans are "secretly" planning another tax cut for the wealthy! One of the points was that America's middle and poor class programs and benefits can never be cut enough to slow the accumulating deficit. America has a tax problem, not a debt problem.
Yesterday as they bargained whether or not to force the US to default on its bills, Republicans reminded the country they (still) want to defunf the IRS.
At least since Nixon’s “Southern strategy,” Republicans have campaigned on culture war issues and once elected gotten down to their real job of cutting taxes for rich people.
Defunding the IRS is just part of that Job One. Rich people like to cheat on their taxes (or more charitably “find creative ways to avoid taxation”) and so making it easier avoid the IRS is an unspoken goal of Republicans.
The result of course is less taxes collected and a higher deficit and predictably more pressure to cut social spending.
And they raised the debt ceiling three times when trump was in office, AFTER he gave that tax break to the rich. The average American saw no tax break, but now the rich can continue to buy their mansions and yachts! They never balked even once on raising the limits for trump and the deficit jumped considerable while he was in office. Biden has already reduced the deficit in the two years he's been in office, but they don't mention that!
Jan : incredibly, they paint the Democrats as big spenders, as they always do! Like fixing bridges and reinforcing the safety nets and medical care for the poor and middle class is anywhere close to buying a yacht. Or Twitter (and evicerating it).
Every day when driving around I am annoyed by the construction everywhere. New surfacing of roads, upgraded bridges, widening lanes. It's frustrating trying to get where I am going. But then I remember that we're (finally) rebuilding our infrastructure. Sure Republicans. Government is the problem. <rolls eyes>
I would rather be annoyed by the construction than the potholes and failing bridges that are the result of not keeping our infrastructure up to date! The GOP doesn't care!
It seems to the gullible Republicans that government means taking away their guns and THEIR hard-earned money and their former status as the only people who should be considered.
Other people see government as being responsible for maintaining equality under the law and a level playing field, and taxes as the price of civilization. Because as Lincoln implied, individuals cannot accomplish, on their own, everything that needs doing.
Laurie, and then, they get Republican supporters to believe their yachts and mansions are deserved and that "you too could have these things if you work hard enough and keep supporting Republicans." Of course it is a lie, but there is a significant percentage of people who want so hard to believe they will become rich or at least deserve to be yacht-rich they will believe anything. It is like the conspiracy theories Republicans and other conservatives throw around so lightly. Believing in them may be for the believers, better than believing in nothing, or at least that is what they think.
Ruth: as always, I’m with you but with one exception. We need to stop buying into using the word “conservative” to describe the far right. For those who need it I suggest setting up text replacement so when you type that word it’s replaced with “far right wingers.”
Laurie Blair - - Yea! Who cares if the main gas line ruptures due to lack of maintenance. Or we don't have any water. Or our sewer is backing into our house! I saw the TV series 'Dirty Jobs' on sewer maintenance. You would not believe how serious/bad it is.
Jan, of course that is the way it is because for some crazy reason, people believe the lying Republicans and think it is Democrats who are keeping them from whatever it is the scared white Republican supporters think they want. I don't get it. It is almost as though they vote Republican because they like suffering so they can feel something, even if it is not feeling good.
Psychology: It's like getting a slap in the face by bad parents because you have twisted your thinking to" 'A bad acknowledgement is better than none.'
The fault lies “with us”? Or is it with a system that we now recognize allows a minority of “us” to exert its will on the whole country. Because I submit that “us” did not elect Trump, but he WAS elected within a system that maximizes the power of certain votes [rural and less-populated states], while diminishing the power of others [more highly populated areas].
So, if “us” are now required to accept responsibility for The Rise of Trump, then how are “us” going to make the necessary changes to stop such abominations in the future?
I submit that “revolution” is not our answer, as it will only usher in some version of a military-supported autocracy.
SO, we have little option but to use the vote, as tarnished and hobbled as it is, to IMPROVE the quality of our votes, get rid of the Electoral College in favor of the popular vote, and get on with the business of “us” — The People.
Also, to mention — anything other than using the system to fix the system is insurrection and sedition. 😎. I believe our system has been damaged, but I also think it is strong enough for us to use it to repair itself and make it stronger. If we can convince enough people that is so, and get people in place to DO IT {not feckless people, either}…
Tearing down trust — in each other, in our system — is necessary to get us to help destroy it, and that is what the Ultra-Right knows and is doing. Building trust in the POSSIBILITIES for our system to continue and work for us {especially in the face of all this contention!}, aye, there’s the rub.
Thank you Daniel. While the article is written in 2021, non of the facts have really changed in any way. Continuing to make noise that can move to positive action on corporate greed/profits needs to be in the American people’s face to push for voting blue and getting these obstructionists/ extreme right wing people out of all offices local to federal. Really appreciate you knowledge and continued resources
My light bulb finally illuminated: the good reason was moral those people were undeserving while “we” who worked and saved are. The real reason is simply greed.
Maryk ; They show that they want to avoid paying taxes and less funding for IRS will disable auditing of the very wealthy with their complicated taxes. It's right in our faces!
And the person who gets audited is the little guy who makes very little but cannot take deductions, valid or not, while the rich hide their money in offshore accounts, play games with their assets, hiding them, putting them in granchildrens' names, etc. The IRS could stop that, but the GOP doesn't want it to be fair taxation!
Laurie, yeah, they don't want to be caught cheating on their "complicated" taxes. That is why every resource in the IRS that is not involved in helping ordinary people understand their taxes, should be put on going after the rich tax cheaters. They should do it quietly so the work will be done before those rich people share the fact that they have all been seriously fined for their cheating, even some imprisoned, like Al Capone. It could work if we were serious about tax reform and fairness in tax paying.
They are NOT working for the good of the country. They want to make America, and it's citizens, go by rules that THEY want implemented. Nothing good for the average American, but great for the rich republicans!
Yes Maryk, ditch the IRS so the rich white legislators and their friends can continue to cheat on their taxes and the IRS won't have enough money to catch or prosecute them. It seems to me ALL IRS employees involved in chasing down fraud should focus completely on the wealthy individuals and corporations and leave the working-class and middle-class alone for a while. They would bring in a whole lot more money that way and give the other folks who have been targeted for a decade some relief. Maybe nudge them to do the right thing without auditing or prosecuting. Show that the IRS is going after the ones who are cheating at a far greater rate than those being targeted lately.
Here's an idea praising money for the IRS. Until the IRS is stable, they directly receive 2% of the share of money garnered in audits. The IRS can then use that money to improve their ability to audit the rich and leave the poor alone.
S Howard, I really like your idea of giving a percentage of money brought in by the IRS fraud department looking for tax cheats, would go into the budget of the IRS itself. That seems fair to me. Since this thread last week, it has been estimated that the cuts Republicans wanted for the IRS will raise the debt even more than it already is. That's ignorance and/or hypocrisy for you. It may be both. Cuts of the money brought in would be a great incentive to workers who honestly bring in money that was not accidentally missed or calculated incorrectly, but money from actual cheats might get small bonuses for their extra efforts. I'd like to see that too.
I used to work for IRS--low level employee. One of the things said at the IRS is wealthy individuals and corporations hire people to do their taxes who know exactly what to do so there will be no mistakes on the tax returns of these folks. So, maybe instead of hunting for mistakes on tax returns, the focus should be on what is not being reported. Better yet, why not do away with the rules that let these people be legal about not reporting income or not paying taxes on certain income sources.
For years Donald Trump INFLATED his wealth and income to get on the Forbes list of the richest people, while at the same time he downplayed assets to the government. That's why Allen Weisselberg, CFO of the Trump organization, pleaded guilty to multiple counts of felony tax evasion and went to prison to cover for his boss.
Patricia Paulson everybody else is not paying employees in private school for their children and luxury cars for their accountants and other gifts like free rent penthouses in lieu of standard income then not reporting it.
The flat tax for everyone of course is regressive, and a non-starter since billionaires might have to pay some tax. Flat tax for all income over $400k of 50%, and income over $2M of 70%. And $5 M 90%.
High tax rates are useless unless you get rid of the loopholes and tax gimmicks that shield income from taxation first. Our loopholes and gimmicks are the main problem, not tax rates.
We need a much more progressive tax system & to close loopholes. Our standard of living improved our fastest ever at all levels of income from FDR-LBJ, when our income tax was its most progressive, & we became the undisputed world leader in most measures of prosperity & well-being until Reagan slashed taxes for the rich & corporatized our economy, thereby tripling our debt & putting us in a recession, starting a long decline that got pushed further down under Bush & Trump with their huge tax cuts for corporations & billionaires & resulting recessions & debt explosion.
You are correct--a flat tax is extremely regressive and will favor the rich--which is why Steve Forbes (remember him?) advocated for it when he ran for President.
Agree, see my comment below. The question is what to do about it. The DNC has been emasculated by its corporate donors, so it might take a third party run (I know, ugh) perhaps led by Sanders or his successor.
The right wing owned media is really pushing the idea of a third .party run. Boy. Would they like that. It's the only way the R's can 'win' besides cheating or ending voting.
The more people in the Republican primary, the greater the chance that Trump will be the Republican candidate. This is happening! Shades of 2016! Agree that a third party run would increase odds of him being elected in 2024! Scary.
Yes; the "No Labels" party--it's a front, funded by big/dark donor money. Which should tell you everything you need to know about the so-called "third party"...voting for a third party would open the field for the Repulsive Party to win bigly.
Pretty easy to figure out if you've been following all the stuff the R are doing -once they realize their attempts are being rejected....unfortunately John Q Public doesn't seem to realize the REAL reason it was formed...
The problem is time; folks working a full time job (does "full-time" even exist anymore?) or perhaps even a full time job and a side hustle or perhaps even more than two jobs, haven't much time to chase down unbiased truth and facts. Parents have even less time.
I'm retired and have time to read long articles with analyses and references; I have time to look up references and chase down the 'bend' of various organizations advocating this or that. I have time (and--barely--enough money to subscribe) to thoroughly read the columns and the comments of several Substack writers (and boy am I impressed at the levels of knowledge and wide-ranging interests of the people who form this and other reader/commenter communities--I have read books, columns and articles that were recommended, that I might never have discovered myself) but it all takes TIME. Our sometimes frantic ceaseless pursuit of enough money* to put food on the table and keep a roof over ourselves and our family robs people of that precious commodity. And I am sure that there is a certain segment of our society who like it exactly like that.
*I am speaking here of a typical existence in the dwindling middle class of the U.S.
Look, the DNC has been going nowhere for the last 40 years. Clinton did what he was told by Wall Street (NAFTA, monetization of prisons, failure to veto Glass-Steagall repeal, you name it). Obama did what he was told by Wall Street (be nice to the banks, don't have a big stimulus, let the pharmaceutical corporations charge whatever they want, you name it).
Until Uncle Joe, we've had only Republican presidents (8 years of Reagan, 4 years of Bush senior, 8 years of W, 4 years of Trump) and, with the exception of Bush senior, they have all pursued lower taxes on the wealthy, in the name of capitalism. But this is not capitalism, it's monopoly, bought politicians, bought judges, in short, corruption and socialism for the wealthy (for what else is not paying taxes but government welfare?)
The DNC seems incapable of finding a way to tax...the...corporations...and... the...wealthy.
Yes, a third party run is potentially hazardous, for all the obvious reasons, but so is the continuation of things as they are. If a viable third party candidate ran, in the end the DNC would be forced to do a deal.
Besides, it's likely that Trump will be indicted before the GOP picks a candidate and will therefore be excluded from the race. And I don't think many people will vote for Deantis in the absence of Trump.
Uncle Joe? Biden was the Senator from Delaware which is the most business-friendly jurisdiction in the US. In fact, this small state is one of the biggest corporate tax havens on earth, acting as registered home to more than one million companies from around the world.
Biden is a corporate Democrat just like Obama and Clinton.
I know, it's just that, in his dotage he's started to talk about the need for wealthy Americans to "start paying their fair share." Of course, words are cheap.....but your point is well taken. The DNC is corrupt and awash with corporate money.
I think Bernie's people should just, you know, hint that Bernie might run as an independent. Now THAT would make the buggers jump.
I don't think Bernie would do that. Even though Biden is as inside the DC beltway is you can get, the alternative of another 4 years of Trumpolini would be a disaster for the nation.
It's a mess. The state I live in, Massachusetts, is run by Democrats and they are pretty corrupt. The transit system is falling apart, as are our roads and bridges, and our state reps sit there and do nothing. They all drive to work and get paid by our tax dollars to do so. The new governor Maura Healey ran as a progressive. As soon as she was in office she pivoted to the center to the point that I call her Baker light.
No, most media are corporatist, & overall heavily slanted to the right.. Their propaganda network is ubiquitous, sophisticated & very effective, making their listeners believe the opposite of what is true, so that virtually all wealth & power is diverted to giant multinational corporations & billionaires.
False! This is a common misimpression sustained by right-wing propaganda that has repeated this lie for over half a century as the corporate owned media shift further & further right & ever more pro-corporate despite all the damage that the corporatization of this erstwhile democracy turned corporatocracy has wrought on our nation.
Yes, Dems can turn down corporate money, but most don't. That's why we need to elect progressive Dems who follow Bernie down the road of small donations.
Tort reform lost the Dems a lot of the funding they used to receive from (tort) prosecuting att'y associations. The dwindling of unions also cost the Dem Party another source of funding---not that they deserve union money. The DNC did very little for the blue collar small "d" rank and file. Too busy running after corporate money instead when Raygun declared war on unions.
Unfortunately many, if not most, Democrats take money from corporate donors. Some don't. All Republicans take money from corporate donors. The vast majority of politicians are beholden to some degree to corporate & billionaire donors.
Yes, Citizens United pretty much doomed any hope of campaign finance reform. Without corporate donations, there's no way to pay for advertising. AOC is one of the few candidates who refuses. Maybe there are others, but they're not national.
Citizens United was a Supreme Court decision. It would have to be overturned by a less "corporate", less elite Supreme Court. Or Congress can propose a Constitutional amendment to clarify that money isn't the same thing as speech when it comes to elections. Only then can Congress pass laws that limit campaign spending.
Correct, we have a tax problem and a greed problem. Both result in more wealth being concentrated at the top of the pile, and less at the bottom. We need to knock it over, which is exactly what the Biden Administration has been working towards, though it is being roadblocked by the "Freedom" caucus and the Trump cult.
That's true. Reagan's tax cuts tripled our debt & led to a recession. Bush's tax cuts turned our only surplus in modern history into record deficits & plunged our economy into 2 recessions, including the Great Recession. Tax cuts from the Republican Wealthcare Plan during Trump's reign of terror led to new record deficits & 1/4 of all debt accumulated since our founding & another recession.
Guess who helped to extend the GW Bush tax cuts... president Biden when he was VP in the Obama administration. Harry Reid was all set to let those tax cuts go off the cliff and made a tentative deal with McConnell when Biden helped out his old friend McConnell and gave away the store. In 2012 Biden gave Republicans everything they wanted in exchange for fixing the fiscal cliff problem. The damage Biden did in 2012 and now shows how he's not a progressive just a conservative Democrat who changes his political hats to suit his needs.
I never said it was all his fault. My point was Biden is part of the problem and has been for decades. So is Schumer. Is he the same as McConnell, no not at all. I do wish he was a shrewd as McConnell. People seem to forget Biden is one of the reasons Clarance Thomas is on the SCOTUS. Biden was one of the Senators from Delaware for decades. Which happens to be the most business-friendly jurisdiction in the US. The state is one of the biggest corporate tax havens on earth, acting as registered home to more than one million companies from around the world. It's one of the states that launders a lot of drug money, money from corrupt businesses who hide assets.
Are you going to sit there and think that Biden had or has no idea what's going on in his state? That he's clean as a whistle? From what I've read about him he's never done anything to stop the financial malfeasance that is rampant in his state.
There are several others stating the same thing. I googled "did the tax cuts of Regan,Bush and Trump create the current debt (actually I used Bing thanks to MS 11)
I'll give you an example of Robert's greedflation in practice. My son applied for a standard credit card which he felt was necessary for practical and safety reasons. I handed the incoming envelop to him upon it's arrival, he opened it and proudly showed me the shinny piece of plastic that now gave him the power to purchase on demand. This new freedom carried an interest rate of 28% APR. OUCH, and that is an honest way to conduct business, greedflation personified.
When my son got his first credit card, I emphasized to him that it is a convenience, not a substitute for money. I advised him not to charge anything that he didn't already have the money to pay for.
Carolyn--Great advice but my big guy wants to rent cars and stay in motel rooms as he travels, the card is a must. He does understand the importance of paying off the balance each and every month to avoid the interest charges. Thanks.
I never had a credit card until I started working professionally, and then the need to travel, and my employer compelled me to get one. That's where your son is at.
Now, of course, most debit cards can also function like credit cards and it's nearly impossible to avoid them. The entire economy is geared towards them and avoiding them, for most people, would require a systematic change that's almost impossible to imagine coming about.
Heads up to Donald's son, Welcome to greedy marketing powered by malevolent algorithms. There are several effective countermeasures. For example, pay a credit card purchase the day the AP is incurred after a tiny interest charge but, definitely PRIOR to the credit card company's report to credit card monitors. An aggressive consumer accounts payable strategy works & you can thereby turn algorithms in your favor & credit card companies into true competitors. Caveat Emptor.
Laurie--LOL, I'm a Donald Jr. My mom thought raising a young child, such as myself, in a house hold with 2 Donalds running around might be confusing to me so I was raised by my middle name. Like Mr. Reich we are both Roberts or in my case a "Bob."
of course i want more jobs with higher wages: who wouldn't?
but i'm confused about what the average consumer can do to force greedy corporations to get their grabby paws out of our collective pockets? (nothing, i'm guessing.) i also would like to know what greedy corporations think will be the ultimate outcome to their avarice? these people are richer than gawd, so i'd guess they have an adequate education, right? if so, haven't they read their history? or listened to their great/grandparents talk about what started WW2, or a plethora of other wars? people don't just magically decide to go to war, they must be faced with a reason that makes their (potential) deaths worthwhile.
Corporations think the “ultimate outcome to their avarice“ will be higher profits “this quarter.” Their only concern is making more money NOW with no concern for the future or the welfare of their customers or the country. Higher profits now as Wall Street demands even if the long term outcome is killing the goose itself.
That’s the way our version of capitalism works. And we can’t expect corporations to do anything that is not in their nature. That’s why the government has to impose regulations on corporate behavior like those outlined above by Robert.
Making that happen is going to be difficult given how committed both Democrats and Republicans have been to corporate impunity.
A return to enforcing antitrust regulations and laws prohibiting anticompetitive practices by large companies would have a tremendous impact on reducing inflation. It would also increase employment and innovation—two things that unrestrained corporate M&A is destroying.
They will kill the goose that laid the golden egg, because most consumers will stop buying where they can. They can't 'get blood out of a stone';. Minimalism exists for a reason.
GrrlScientist—After they accumulate way more than enough, they stay in for the game. The money is just the score and, as you surely know, he who dies with the most toys wins.
Many people who take the responsibility to think for themselves while sifting through the available news and financial reports have put the crazy increase in the cost of living where it belongs. That is right in the lap of the greedy, monopolistic corporations.
A fine example of this gouging is the price of fuel. The United States is and has been since the Obama administration the worlds biggest producer of petroleum liquid fuels.
Check out the profit sheets of the petroleum producers. There is no reason we should be paying the high prices for fuel other than they can do it so they will.
Our food industry is making a killing but the food producers are not seeing the same increase in profit after they pay their inflated overhead. I totally agree that the action must be taken to break up the monopolies especially in necessary consumer goods. Competition in any market bring prices down. If a consumer has several choices of where to buy it will show up in the weekly budget.
There are many tools the federal government can use to conquer the big shots. The windfall profits tax is one that should mark a new beginning for the working stiffs in our country.
Fuel prices. The inflation we've been experiencing was precipitated in large part by Trump and deals with Saudi oil to limit production. The Saudis control our refineries and several of our domestic oil companies, like Exxon. The inflation in fuel prices was like a snowball rolling down a mountain. Avalanche.
IMHO limiting production by Trump and the Saudis foreseeably stymied our economy and affected our national security, aggravated by COVID and the war in Ukraine. We should recoup lost profits. Damages should be in the $ trillions.
Food prices. The principal excuse is cost of energy and transportation are increasing. Mostly BS.
This is a world wide problem. " Suspicions are growing among consumers, trade unions and some economists that inflation could be kept needlessly high by companies raising prices above their costs to protect profit margins. The European Central Bank said that at the end of last year, corporate profits were contributing to domestic inflation as much as wage growth, but it did not say if any industries had made excessive profits." https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/30/business/europe-food-prices-inflation.html?searchResultPosition=1
For many people the response is to grow your own, where possible. Replace decorative plants with food. Buy locally.
Robert Reich suggestion is so simple it will never pass. Why do something intelligent when you can sit back and get unlimited campaign contributions from corporate hogs? Solving the problem of social security and Medicare is simple too, just eliminate the cap so the wealthy have to pay a percentage on all their income, including capital gains (and make corporations match for their executives as well). It is so simple it will never pass. Congress does not like simple. They want systemic collapse. The present system using baling wire and duct tape to hold the government together in its infinite nonsensical complexities is doomed, but congress will not fix it as long as they are getting corporate kickbacks.
The growth of monopolies is the end of free enterprise. Adam Smith made that a core point in The Wealth of Nations. Erich Fromm in his 1941 book Escape Fromm Freedom pointed out that monopolies destroy the middle class and make authoritarian leaders very attractive. That's what going on here and now in America. The fact that the monopolists control the purse strings of power anti-trust laws do not get enforced. I will say it again, Bernie Sanders was the only man running for President who directly addressed these issues.
I remember in the early 70ths President Carter enforced price controls to stop inflation. I am sure big business lobbied to make sure that never happened again. There are days like now when we all start to feel it is futile to protest and say it’s too late for the US. We have lost our way; will we ever be able to find it again?
The debt deficit deal is done, and more Democrats voted to approve it than Republicans. 165 Democrats and 149 Republicans voting in favor, for a final vote of 314 to 117. Seventy-one Republicans and 46 Democrats opposed the bill. This vote should frighten everyone. The Republican party was willing to let this country go into a deep recession to have their own way. We are past bipartisan until there is a social revolution. Which we can hope will happen in 2024.
IT WAS NIXON. Nixon issued Executive Order 11615 (pursuant to the Economic Stabilization Act of 1970), imposing a 90-day freeze on wages and prices in order to counter inflation.
Didn't work. Soon, he unilaterally took us off the gold standard and let the dollar float.
IMHO he tipped off his contributors, like the Hunt family.
It's clear that the Republican Party has been psychotic for a long time. They would rather see the economy fail than the nation succeed under a Democratic administration.
President Jimmy Carter did implement price controls as a measure to address inflation during his presidency. In the late 1970s, the United States faced high inflation rates, which were a significant concern for the government and the economy. In an effort to curb inflation, President Carter signed the Emergency Natural Gas Act in 1977, which included provisions for price controls on natural gas.
President Carter also extended the price controls to other industries, such as oil, petroleum products, and transportation. These measures were part of his broader efforts to combat inflation, which included monetary tightening and urging voluntary wage and price restraints. Despite these measures, inflation continued to persist during Carter's presidency, and the price controls were eventually phased out in the early 1980s under President Ronald Reagan.
As usual, you see things clearly and put the case in simple terms. I agree with your plan of attack. But, until we return this country to universal education as we had after WWII, and giving educated attention to those systemic weights on select populations, we will continue to have significant portions of voters who do not have the education necessary to protect all Americans from greed and class divisions. Then we can spread equal opportunity even beyond our shores.
Yesterday, I read that schools in an agricultural area of Utah were moving to a four day week so that young people could work in the fields and other local businesses. I thought this was illegal now that the pandemic has largely passed. Of course, these are the very young people who most need a good education in elementary and high school, because they probably won't go to college.
Can the Board of Governors of the Fed be dismissed for insanity? After all, isn't is said that insanity is trying the same thing, repeatedly, expecting a different outcome? TEN consecutive meetings, trying the exact same thing over and over. If they can't be sacked for insanity, how about gross incompetence? What does their charter say about NOT taking actions that they KNOW _will_ hurt The People? There MUST be some way to get rid of these nincompoops before another tsunami of home foreclosures commences.
Insanity would just be what they plead if ever busted for malfeasance. They would succeed and be ruled incompetent to stand trial! It would be the same for the USPS PMG & the Board of Governors, as well!
I think it's more a matter that they simply _don't care_ what we ordinary peons think about their performance or what they do. Because they know there enough Republicans in Congress to assure any proceedings to have them dismissed from their jobs WILL be blocked. And so the Democrats, even when in the majority, don't even bother to start something they KNOW will fail. That makes the nincompoops untouchable.
Love it. Also, top management CEOs ect have to keep their salaries at 10xs and have the same benefits the average employee. Repeal tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations. Wealth tax not just income tax. Stop undermining small investors.
If Democrats can't figure out how to message Republican fealty to the rich and powerful then shame on them. This is a slam dunk issue that would resonate with all Americans; specifically Republican demands to cut IRS funding. Wake up-- get woke !
Steve T I agree that Dems miss too many opportunities to call out republican fascists using those words and defining those words. But the media is truly controlled by the right and this is yet another disaster that we watched happen without recognizing the level of threat.
That is what I was thinking when they started raising interest rates because that had always worked To decrease inflation but the reason It had workChanged whenBig corporations were not paying their share of taxesSoThe same solution could not help a different problem.
To me one of the greatest disconnects o.f the Republican obsession with cutting taxes to cut spending is that we are a population that has grown significantly in the last 43 years. Population in 1980 was 226,545,805, and in 2020 the population grew to 331,449,281. We need MORE services, more road maintenance, more infrastructure investment, more staff in government offices - especially in the grossly understaffed IRS, - more regulation of businesses and business practice (therefore MORE staff), better and more law enforcement and emergency services, and so on. Cutting taxes to levels that are too low to fund the basic needs of citizens is nothing short of criiminal.
It might be a good idea to stop the population explosion not only in this country but all over the world. That is our answer to climate change. That is what drives climate change.
And let's not forget that abortion is now practically impossible in a growing number of states. Why must we force poor people to have children they know they cannot provide for? Sure, we'll increase the work people must perform for food stamps.
We must balance population growth with how society provides for the future, particularly how younger workers will pay into Social Security to support the retiring population..Our current system requires some increase. We also need workers for economic development as well. The US is not really experiencing explosive growth, but many other countries certainly are. Still, we need to serve and sustain the people now living in the country. This means spending money in eye popping amounts for even basic services. Count me among those who believe it is okay for the super rich to pay their fair share. Ain't nothing trickling down from their obscene economic profits.
There are two answers that, to me anyway, seem like they're staring us in the face.
We have low unemployment and lots of unfilled jobs, while keeping asylum seekers locked out on the other side of a fence. The same people claiming these aspiring residents will steal jobs from current citizens, are the same folks unwilling to take many of the available jobs going unfilled at current wages. Vetting and adding asylum seekers legally to the rolls and collecting taxes, including SS, would help.
We have people earning tens of millions of dollars a year, and companies earning billions a month but our government running budget deficits. It's evident that the top 35% rate on incomes over $1M isn't collecting the optimistically forecast tax revenues of its authors. Roll back tax rates to pre-Bush 43, that's three tax cuts since Clinton and observed surpluses, and get the country back to solvency.
Just read an article that went right along with your comments. Essentially it said that the tax cuts of Regan, Bush and now Trump have caused the financial mess this country is in, stating that if we had the Corporate taxes from those 3 cuts back we would not have the debt that is now carried and America would be in decent shape. AND I just read another article that says Republicans are "secretly" planning another tax cut for the wealthy! One of the points was that America's middle and poor class programs and benefits can never be cut enough to slow the accumulating deficit. America has a tax problem, not a debt problem.
Yesterday as they bargained whether or not to force the US to default on its bills, Republicans reminded the country they (still) want to defunf the IRS.
Vote them out!
At least since Nixon’s “Southern strategy,” Republicans have campaigned on culture war issues and once elected gotten down to their real job of cutting taxes for rich people.
Defunding the IRS is just part of that Job One. Rich people like to cheat on their taxes (or more charitably “find creative ways to avoid taxation”) and so making it easier avoid the IRS is an unspoken goal of Republicans.
The result of course is less taxes collected and a higher deficit and predictably more pressure to cut social spending.
And they raised the debt ceiling three times when trump was in office, AFTER he gave that tax break to the rich. The average American saw no tax break, but now the rich can continue to buy their mansions and yachts! They never balked even once on raising the limits for trump and the deficit jumped considerable while he was in office. Biden has already reduced the deficit in the two years he's been in office, but they don't mention that!
Jan : incredibly, they paint the Democrats as big spenders, as they always do! Like fixing bridges and reinforcing the safety nets and medical care for the poor and middle class is anywhere close to buying a yacht. Or Twitter (and evicerating it).
Every day when driving around I am annoyed by the construction everywhere. New surfacing of roads, upgraded bridges, widening lanes. It's frustrating trying to get where I am going. But then I remember that we're (finally) rebuilding our infrastructure. Sure Republicans. Government is the problem. <rolls eyes>
I would rather be annoyed by the construction than the potholes and failing bridges that are the result of not keeping our infrastructure up to date! The GOP doesn't care!
It seems to the gullible Republicans that government means taking away their guns and THEIR hard-earned money and their former status as the only people who should be considered.
Other people see government as being responsible for maintaining equality under the law and a level playing field, and taxes as the price of civilization. Because as Lincoln implied, individuals cannot accomplish, on their own, everything that needs doing.
I believe they are trying to protect our health and Saefty!
Laurie, and then, they get Republican supporters to believe their yachts and mansions are deserved and that "you too could have these things if you work hard enough and keep supporting Republicans." Of course it is a lie, but there is a significant percentage of people who want so hard to believe they will become rich or at least deserve to be yacht-rich they will believe anything. It is like the conspiracy theories Republicans and other conservatives throw around so lightly. Believing in them may be for the believers, better than believing in nothing, or at least that is what they think.
Ruth: as always, I’m with you but with one exception. We need to stop buying into using the word “conservative” to describe the far right. For those who need it I suggest setting up text replacement so when you type that word it’s replaced with “far right wingers.”
Laurie Blair - - Yea! Who cares if the main gas line ruptures due to lack of maintenance. Or we don't have any water. Or our sewer is backing into our house! I saw the TV series 'Dirty Jobs' on sewer maintenance. You would not believe how serious/bad it is.
You tell it Laurie!
Exactly. It’s important to consider HOW you spend.
Jan, of course that is the way it is because for some crazy reason, people believe the lying Republicans and think it is Democrats who are keeping them from whatever it is the scared white Republican supporters think they want. I don't get it. It is almost as though they vote Republican because they like suffering so they can feel something, even if it is not feeling good.
Psychology: It's like getting a slap in the face by bad parents because you have twisted your thinking to" 'A bad acknowledgement is better than none.'
DJT said out loud to Hillary on a debate stage that paying zero taxes, in spite of supposedly being billionaire, makes him “smart.”
Donald Trump has no respect for the IRS, other people, or himself. It's astounding people find him appealing.
And then we elected Trump President. The fault lies with us not our stars.
The fault lies “with us”? Or is it with a system that we now recognize allows a minority of “us” to exert its will on the whole country. Because I submit that “us” did not elect Trump, but he WAS elected within a system that maximizes the power of certain votes [rural and less-populated states], while diminishing the power of others [more highly populated areas].
So, if “us” are now required to accept responsibility for The Rise of Trump, then how are “us” going to make the necessary changes to stop such abominations in the future?
I submit that “revolution” is not our answer, as it will only usher in some version of a military-supported autocracy.
SO, we have little option but to use the vote, as tarnished and hobbled as it is, to IMPROVE the quality of our votes, get rid of the Electoral College in favor of the popular vote, and get on with the business of “us” — The People.
Also, to mention — anything other than using the system to fix the system is insurrection and sedition. 😎. I believe our system has been damaged, but I also think it is strong enough for us to use it to repair itself and make it stronger. If we can convince enough people that is so, and get people in place to DO IT {not feckless people, either}…
Tearing down trust — in each other, in our system — is necessary to get us to help destroy it, and that is what the Ultra-Right knows and is doing. Building trust in the POSSIBILITIES for our system to continue and work for us {especially in the face of all this contention!}, aye, there’s the rub.
I think the crux, Randy, is the GOP sabotaging the mechanism of government to collect revenue through taxes.
Actual spending as a % of GDP is down, but revenue hasn’t kept pace.
It’s basic business.
Your income has to exceed expenses.
The mantra of cutting spending and taxes is a zero-sum game.
I say again, I still think the immediate resolution is to catch tax evaders and tax avoiders. $ trillions involved.
We don't control Congress but we do control Treasury, IRS and DOJ.
https://truthout.org/articles/tax-dodgers-owe-us-over-7-trillion-says-janet-yellen/
Thank you Daniel. While the article is written in 2021, non of the facts have really changed in any way. Continuing to make noise that can move to positive action on corporate greed/profits needs to be in the American people’s face to push for voting blue and getting these obstructionists/ extreme right wing people out of all offices local to federal. Really appreciate you knowledge and continued resources
Yes. Desantis whole campaign is culture distain and book burning.
My light bulb finally illuminated: the good reason was moral those people were undeserving while “we” who worked and saved are. The real reason is simply greed.
Maryk ; They show that they want to avoid paying taxes and less funding for IRS will disable auditing of the very wealthy with their complicated taxes. It's right in our faces!
And the person who gets audited is the little guy who makes very little but cannot take deductions, valid or not, while the rich hide their money in offshore accounts, play games with their assets, hiding them, putting them in granchildrens' names, etc. The IRS could stop that, but the GOP doesn't want it to be fair taxation!
Laurie, yeah, they don't want to be caught cheating on their "complicated" taxes. That is why every resource in the IRS that is not involved in helping ordinary people understand their taxes, should be put on going after the rich tax cheaters. They should do it quietly so the work will be done before those rich people share the fact that they have all been seriously fined for their cheating, even some imprisoned, like Al Capone. It could work if we were serious about tax reform and fairness in tax paying.
They are NOT working for the good of the country. They want to make America, and it's citizens, go by rules that THEY want implemented. Nothing good for the average American, but great for the rich republicans!
Yes Maryk, ditch the IRS so the rich white legislators and their friends can continue to cheat on their taxes and the IRS won't have enough money to catch or prosecute them. It seems to me ALL IRS employees involved in chasing down fraud should focus completely on the wealthy individuals and corporations and leave the working-class and middle-class alone for a while. They would bring in a whole lot more money that way and give the other folks who have been targeted for a decade some relief. Maybe nudge them to do the right thing without auditing or prosecuting. Show that the IRS is going after the ones who are cheating at a far greater rate than those being targeted lately.
Here's an idea praising money for the IRS. Until the IRS is stable, they directly receive 2% of the share of money garnered in audits. The IRS can then use that money to improve their ability to audit the rich and leave the poor alone.
That is a brilliant idea! And the more audits of rich and corporate taxes the more we make to audit more of the greed sobs.
S Howard, I really like your idea of giving a percentage of money brought in by the IRS fraud department looking for tax cheats, would go into the budget of the IRS itself. That seems fair to me. Since this thread last week, it has been estimated that the cuts Republicans wanted for the IRS will raise the debt even more than it already is. That's ignorance and/or hypocrisy for you. It may be both. Cuts of the money brought in would be a great incentive to workers who honestly bring in money that was not accidentally missed or calculated incorrectly, but money from actual cheats might get small bonuses for their extra efforts. I'd like to see that too.
I used to work for IRS--low level employee. One of the things said at the IRS is wealthy individuals and corporations hire people to do their taxes who know exactly what to do so there will be no mistakes on the tax returns of these folks. So, maybe instead of hunting for mistakes on tax returns, the focus should be on what is not being reported. Better yet, why not do away with the rules that let these people be legal about not reporting income or not paying taxes on certain income sources.
They are afraid of the IRS audit. My guess is their accountants did some "creative deductions".
Just like Donnie tRump.
For years Donald Trump INFLATED his wealth and income to get on the Forbes list of the richest people, while at the same time he downplayed assets to the government. That's why Allen Weisselberg, CFO of the Trump organization, pleaded guilty to multiple counts of felony tax evasion and went to prison to cover for his boss.
Patricia Paulson everybody else is not paying employees in private school for their children and luxury cars for their accountants and other gifts like free rent penthouses in lieu of standard income then not reporting it.
If we can't ire more IRS agents, we should restrict all audits to Corporations, LLCs and individuals with unadjusted gross incomes of over $3 million.
Excellent answer Maryk. If they defund the IRS (more), the IRS is going to have a harder time keeping up with wealthy stealing.
It took over a year to get less than $200 refund from my deceased mother's tax return. And the Republicans want to defund the IRS!!!
Yes, and what ever happened to the Plat Tax for everyone issue?
The flat tax for everyone of course is regressive, and a non-starter since billionaires might have to pay some tax. Flat tax for all income over $400k of 50%, and income over $2M of 70%. And $5 M 90%.
Ah, the good old days of Eisenhower.
High tax rates are useless unless you get rid of the loopholes and tax gimmicks that shield income from taxation first. Our loopholes and gimmicks are the main problem, not tax rates.
So true, Tim Baldwin!
Both are serious problems.
We need a much more progressive tax system & to close loopholes. Our standard of living improved our fastest ever at all levels of income from FDR-LBJ, when our income tax was its most progressive, & we became the undisputed world leader in most measures of prosperity & well-being until Reagan slashed taxes for the rich & corporatized our economy, thereby tripling our debt & putting us in a recession, starting a long decline that got pushed further down under Bush & Trump with their huge tax cuts for corporations & billionaires & resulting recessions & debt explosion.
Flat taxes don't help the average person.
You are correct--a flat tax is extremely regressive and will favor the rich--which is why Steve Forbes (remember him?) advocated for it when he ran for President.
Right you are, Mark.
Agree, see my comment below. The question is what to do about it. The DNC has been emasculated by its corporate donors, so it might take a third party run (I know, ugh) perhaps led by Sanders or his successor.
The right wing owned media is really pushing the idea of a third .party run. Boy. Would they like that. It's the only way the R's can 'win' besides cheating or ending voting.
The more people in the Republican primary, the greater the chance that Trump will be the Republican candidate. This is happening! Shades of 2016! Agree that a third party run would increase odds of him being elected in 2024! Scary.
Yes; the "No Labels" party--it's a front, funded by big/dark donor money. Which should tell you everything you need to know about the so-called "third party"...voting for a third party would open the field for the Repulsive Party to win bigly.
“No Labels” is such a reasonable-sounding label. Dark money chose it strategically.
Pretty easy to figure out if you've been following all the stuff the R are doing -once they realize their attempts are being rejected....unfortunately John Q Public doesn't seem to realize the REAL reason it was formed...
The problem is time; folks working a full time job (does "full-time" even exist anymore?) or perhaps even a full time job and a side hustle or perhaps even more than two jobs, haven't much time to chase down unbiased truth and facts. Parents have even less time.
I'm retired and have time to read long articles with analyses and references; I have time to look up references and chase down the 'bend' of various organizations advocating this or that. I have time (and--barely--enough money to subscribe) to thoroughly read the columns and the comments of several Substack writers (and boy am I impressed at the levels of knowledge and wide-ranging interests of the people who form this and other reader/commenter communities--I have read books, columns and articles that were recommended, that I might never have discovered myself) but it all takes TIME. Our sometimes frantic ceaseless pursuit of enough money* to put food on the table and keep a roof over ourselves and our family robs people of that precious commodity. And I am sure that there is a certain segment of our society who like it exactly like that.
*I am speaking here of a typical existence in the dwindling middle class of the U.S.
Laurie: That's why I said Ugh.
Look, the DNC has been going nowhere for the last 40 years. Clinton did what he was told by Wall Street (NAFTA, monetization of prisons, failure to veto Glass-Steagall repeal, you name it). Obama did what he was told by Wall Street (be nice to the banks, don't have a big stimulus, let the pharmaceutical corporations charge whatever they want, you name it).
Until Uncle Joe, we've had only Republican presidents (8 years of Reagan, 4 years of Bush senior, 8 years of W, 4 years of Trump) and, with the exception of Bush senior, they have all pursued lower taxes on the wealthy, in the name of capitalism. But this is not capitalism, it's monopoly, bought politicians, bought judges, in short, corruption and socialism for the wealthy (for what else is not paying taxes but government welfare?)
The DNC seems incapable of finding a way to tax...the...corporations...and... the...wealthy.
Yes, a third party run is potentially hazardous, for all the obvious reasons, but so is the continuation of things as they are. If a viable third party candidate ran, in the end the DNC would be forced to do a deal.
Besides, it's likely that Trump will be indicted before the GOP picks a candidate and will therefore be excluded from the race. And I don't think many people will vote for Deantis in the absence of Trump.
Just a thought.
Uncle Joe? Biden was the Senator from Delaware which is the most business-friendly jurisdiction in the US. In fact, this small state is one of the biggest corporate tax havens on earth, acting as registered home to more than one million companies from around the world.
Biden is a corporate Democrat just like Obama and Clinton.
I know, it's just that, in his dotage he's started to talk about the need for wealthy Americans to "start paying their fair share." Of course, words are cheap.....but your point is well taken. The DNC is corrupt and awash with corporate money.
I think Bernie's people should just, you know, hint that Bernie might run as an independent. Now THAT would make the buggers jump.
I don't think Bernie would do that. Even though Biden is as inside the DC beltway is you can get, the alternative of another 4 years of Trumpolini would be a disaster for the nation.
It's a mess. The state I live in, Massachusetts, is run by Democrats and they are pretty corrupt. The transit system is falling apart, as are our roads and bridges, and our state reps sit there and do nothing. They all drive to work and get paid by our tax dollars to do so. The new governor Maura Healey ran as a progressive. As soon as she was in office she pivoted to the center to the point that I call her Baker light.
I'd like to see a Third Party called New Republicans.
Stan,
Unfortunately it would not solve the problems of the DNC, so even if the DNC won the election, we would remain stuck in its corporate world.
Bernie's right of course: get money out of politics!
No, most media are corporatist, & overall heavily slanted to the right.. Their propaganda network is ubiquitous, sophisticated & very effective, making their listeners believe the opposite of what is true, so that virtually all wealth & power is diverted to giant multinational corporations & billionaires.
False! This is a common misimpression sustained by right-wing propaganda that has repeated this lie for over half a century as the corporate owned media shift further & further right & ever more pro-corporate despite all the damage that the corporatization of this erstwhile democracy turned corporatocracy has wrought on our nation.
I seem to remember Bernie saying that $999 million should be enough for anyone. No billionaires! Seems to me a slogan most people could appreciate.
Yes, Dems can turn down corporate money, but most don't. That's why we need to elect progressive Dems who follow Bernie down the road of small donations.
Tort reform lost the Dems a lot of the funding they used to receive from (tort) prosecuting att'y associations. The dwindling of unions also cost the Dem Party another source of funding---not that they deserve union money. The DNC did very little for the blue collar small "d" rank and file. Too busy running after corporate money instead when Raygun declared war on unions.
Uh-huh, right. No Choice? There are ALWAYS choices; Reagan chose a lousy move to undercut union power.
Patricia now you're being silly.
Unfortunately many, if not most, Democrats take money from corporate donors. Some don't. All Republicans take money from corporate donors. The vast majority of politicians are beholden to some degree to corporate & billionaire donors.
Unfortunately they can't. They're in the trough and they can't get out.
Yes, Citizens United pretty much doomed any hope of campaign finance reform. Without corporate donations, there's no way to pay for advertising. AOC is one of the few candidates who refuses. Maybe there are others, but they're not national.
Citizens United was a Supreme Court decision. It would have to be overturned by a less "corporate", less elite Supreme Court. Or Congress can propose a Constitutional amendment to clarify that money isn't the same thing as speech when it comes to elections. Only then can Congress pass laws that limit campaign spending.
Exactly right Jeannie! We were in fair/good financial shape until Reegun and his clowns came into town
Correct, we have a tax problem and a greed problem. Both result in more wealth being concentrated at the top of the pile, and less at the bottom. We need to knock it over, which is exactly what the Biden Administration has been working towards, though it is being roadblocked by the "Freedom" caucus and the Trump cult.
That's true. Reagan's tax cuts tripled our debt & led to a recession. Bush's tax cuts turned our only surplus in modern history into record deficits & plunged our economy into 2 recessions, including the Great Recession. Tax cuts from the Republican Wealthcare Plan during Trump's reign of terror led to new record deficits & 1/4 of all debt accumulated since our founding & another recession.
Guess who helped to extend the GW Bush tax cuts... president Biden when he was VP in the Obama administration. Harry Reid was all set to let those tax cuts go off the cliff and made a tentative deal with McConnell when Biden helped out his old friend McConnell and gave away the store. In 2012 Biden gave Republicans everything they wanted in exchange for fixing the fiscal cliff problem. The damage Biden did in 2012 and now shows how he's not a progressive just a conservative Democrat who changes his political hats to suit his needs.
https://theintercept.com/2023/05/23/biden-debt-ceiling-harry-reid-mitch-mcconnell/
Yep, greedeomics is all Biden's fault. I knew it. /S
I never said it was all his fault. My point was Biden is part of the problem and has been for decades. So is Schumer. Is he the same as McConnell, no not at all. I do wish he was a shrewd as McConnell. People seem to forget Biden is one of the reasons Clarance Thomas is on the SCOTUS. Biden was one of the Senators from Delaware for decades. Which happens to be the most business-friendly jurisdiction in the US. The state is one of the biggest corporate tax havens on earth, acting as registered home to more than one million companies from around the world. It's one of the states that launders a lot of drug money, money from corrupt businesses who hide assets.
Are you going to sit there and think that Biden had or has no idea what's going on in his state? That he's clean as a whistle? From what I've read about him he's never done anything to stop the financial malfeasance that is rampant in his state.
Jeannie Strausburg ; I read something like $3.8 trillion they want!
UGH
Link please.
https://truthout.org/articles/report-trump-bush-tax-cuts-have-largely-driven-national-debt-issues-since-2001/
There are several others stating the same thing. I googled "did the tax cuts of Regan,Bush and Trump create the current debt (actually I used Bing thanks to MS 11)
I'll give you an example of Robert's greedflation in practice. My son applied for a standard credit card which he felt was necessary for practical and safety reasons. I handed the incoming envelop to him upon it's arrival, he opened it and proudly showed me the shinny piece of plastic that now gave him the power to purchase on demand. This new freedom carried an interest rate of 28% APR. OUCH, and that is an honest way to conduct business, greedflation personified.
Perhaps he should pay off the card in full when the bill is due, and shop around for a lower rate for when he wants to buy some big ticket item
Maryk--Good advice which I had already given him, except I told him to cut the thing into pieces before it shreds your future.
When my son got his first credit card, I emphasized to him that it is a convenience, not a substitute for money. I advised him not to charge anything that he didn't already have the money to pay for.
Carolyn--Great advice but my big guy wants to rent cars and stay in motel rooms as he travels, the card is a must. He does understand the importance of paying off the balance each and every month to avoid the interest charges. Thanks.
I never had a credit card until I started working professionally, and then the need to travel, and my employer compelled me to get one. That's where your son is at.
Now, of course, most debit cards can also function like credit cards and it's nearly impossible to avoid them. The entire economy is geared towards them and avoiding them, for most people, would require a systematic change that's almost impossible to imagine coming about.
Heads up to Donald's son, Welcome to greedy marketing powered by malevolent algorithms. There are several effective countermeasures. For example, pay a credit card purchase the day the AP is incurred after a tiny interest charge but, definitely PRIOR to the credit card company's report to credit card monitors. An aggressive consumer accounts payable strategy works & you can thereby turn algorithms in your favor & credit card companies into true competitors. Caveat Emptor.
Bryan--No matter how much I feed him he still has the crav-to-eat. Thanks for the advice well worth the effort.
Donald Hodgins ; That is financial rape.
Laurie--So that's why he's always smiling. We know each other well enough, please call me Bob.
? I was referring to 28% APR.
Laurie--LOL, I'm a Donald Jr. My mom thought raising a young child, such as myself, in a house hold with 2 Donalds running around might be confusing to me so I was raised by my middle name. Like Mr. Reich we are both Roberts or in my case a "Bob."
You are more of a Donald. Besides, it should be clear who I'm responding to.
Laurie--Good point, if needed, Bob will always be here.
Patricia--Renting a car or staying in a motel is difficult without one.
I pay cash for everything I can.
of course i want more jobs with higher wages: who wouldn't?
but i'm confused about what the average consumer can do to force greedy corporations to get their grabby paws out of our collective pockets? (nothing, i'm guessing.) i also would like to know what greedy corporations think will be the ultimate outcome to their avarice? these people are richer than gawd, so i'd guess they have an adequate education, right? if so, haven't they read their history? or listened to their great/grandparents talk about what started WW2, or a plethora of other wars? people don't just magically decide to go to war, they must be faced with a reason that makes their (potential) deaths worthwhile.
Corporations think the “ultimate outcome to their avarice“ will be higher profits “this quarter.” Their only concern is making more money NOW with no concern for the future or the welfare of their customers or the country. Higher profits now as Wall Street demands even if the long term outcome is killing the goose itself.
That’s the way our version of capitalism works. And we can’t expect corporations to do anything that is not in their nature. That’s why the government has to impose regulations on corporate behavior like those outlined above by Robert.
Making that happen is going to be difficult given how committed both Democrats and Republicans have been to corporate impunity.
A return to enforcing antitrust regulations and laws prohibiting anticompetitive practices by large companies would have a tremendous impact on reducing inflation. It would also increase employment and innovation—two things that unrestrained corporate M&A is destroying.
What the average consumer can do?
Monitor prices and report price gouging. May have to report to state regulators.
https://www.ncsl.org/financial-services/price-gouging-state-statutes
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/14/technology/california-files-antitrust-lawsuit-against-amazon.html
They will kill the goose that laid the golden egg, because most consumers will stop buying where they can. They can't 'get blood out of a stone';. Minimalism exists for a reason.
GrrlScientist—After they accumulate way more than enough, they stay in for the game. The money is just the score and, as you surely know, he who dies with the most toys wins.
GrrlScientist--Impressive Bio, I love the bird. Welcome aboard.
We are living in a Reaganesque world of corporate socialism. Piketty is right, Smith was right, Reagan was wrong.
Reverse Reagan, break up monopolies, tax windfall profits, and tax wealth.
70% of American voters would approve of this return to democratic capitalism.
But will the corporation-infected DNC approve?
Many people who take the responsibility to think for themselves while sifting through the available news and financial reports have put the crazy increase in the cost of living where it belongs. That is right in the lap of the greedy, monopolistic corporations.
A fine example of this gouging is the price of fuel. The United States is and has been since the Obama administration the worlds biggest producer of petroleum liquid fuels.
Check out the profit sheets of the petroleum producers. There is no reason we should be paying the high prices for fuel other than they can do it so they will.
Our food industry is making a killing but the food producers are not seeing the same increase in profit after they pay their inflated overhead. I totally agree that the action must be taken to break up the monopolies especially in necessary consumer goods. Competition in any market bring prices down. If a consumer has several choices of where to buy it will show up in the weekly budget.
There are many tools the federal government can use to conquer the big shots. The windfall profits tax is one that should mark a new beginning for the working stiffs in our country.
Fuel prices. The inflation we've been experiencing was precipitated in large part by Trump and deals with Saudi oil to limit production. The Saudis control our refineries and several of our domestic oil companies, like Exxon. The inflation in fuel prices was like a snowball rolling down a mountain. Avalanche.
IMHO limiting production by Trump and the Saudis foreseeably stymied our economy and affected our national security, aggravated by COVID and the war in Ukraine. We should recoup lost profits. Damages should be in the $ trillions.
Daniel Solomon: How should we recoup lost profits? Who do we sue?
Our good friends the Saudi’s
Food prices. The principal excuse is cost of energy and transportation are increasing. Mostly BS.
This is a world wide problem. " Suspicions are growing among consumers, trade unions and some economists that inflation could be kept needlessly high by companies raising prices above their costs to protect profit margins. The European Central Bank said that at the end of last year, corporate profits were contributing to domestic inflation as much as wage growth, but it did not say if any industries had made excessive profits." https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/30/business/europe-food-prices-inflation.html?searchResultPosition=1
For many people the response is to grow your own, where possible. Replace decorative plants with food. Buy locally.
AMEN !!
Robert Reich suggestion is so simple it will never pass. Why do something intelligent when you can sit back and get unlimited campaign contributions from corporate hogs? Solving the problem of social security and Medicare is simple too, just eliminate the cap so the wealthy have to pay a percentage on all their income, including capital gains (and make corporations match for their executives as well). It is so simple it will never pass. Congress does not like simple. They want systemic collapse. The present system using baling wire and duct tape to hold the government together in its infinite nonsensical complexities is doomed, but congress will not fix it as long as they are getting corporate kickbacks.
The growth of monopolies is the end of free enterprise. Adam Smith made that a core point in The Wealth of Nations. Erich Fromm in his 1941 book Escape Fromm Freedom pointed out that monopolies destroy the middle class and make authoritarian leaders very attractive. That's what going on here and now in America. The fact that the monopolists control the purse strings of power anti-trust laws do not get enforced. I will say it again, Bernie Sanders was the only man running for President who directly addressed these issues.
Read BIG on substack. Matt Stoller is engaged in heroic work on this front.
Thanks. His name sounds familiar.
I remember in the early 70ths President Carter enforced price controls to stop inflation. I am sure big business lobbied to make sure that never happened again. There are days like now when we all start to feel it is futile to protest and say it’s too late for the US. We have lost our way; will we ever be able to find it again?
The debt deficit deal is done, and more Democrats voted to approve it than Republicans. 165 Democrats and 149 Republicans voting in favor, for a final vote of 314 to 117. Seventy-one Republicans and 46 Democrats opposed the bill. This vote should frighten everyone. The Republican party was willing to let this country go into a deep recession to have their own way. We are past bipartisan until there is a social revolution. Which we can hope will happen in 2024.
IT WAS NIXON. Nixon issued Executive Order 11615 (pursuant to the Economic Stabilization Act of 1970), imposing a 90-day freeze on wages and prices in order to counter inflation.
Didn't work. Soon, he unilaterally took us off the gold standard and let the dollar float.
IMHO he tipped off his contributors, like the Hunt family.
It's clear that the Republican Party has been psychotic for a long time. They would rather see the economy fail than the nation succeed under a Democratic administration.
I still think the immediate resolution is to catch tax evaders and tax avoiders. $ trillions involved. We don't control Congress but we do control Treasury, IRS and DOJ. https://truthout.org/articles/tax-dodgers-owe-us-over-7-trillion-says-janet-yellen/
President Jimmy Carter did implement price controls as a measure to address inflation during his presidency. In the late 1970s, the United States faced high inflation rates, which were a significant concern for the government and the economy. In an effort to curb inflation, President Carter signed the Emergency Natural Gas Act in 1977, which included provisions for price controls on natural gas.
President Carter also extended the price controls to other industries, such as oil, petroleum products, and transportation. These measures were part of his broader efforts to combat inflation, which included monetary tightening and urging voluntary wage and price restraints. Despite these measures, inflation continued to persist during Carter's presidency, and the price controls were eventually phased out in the early 1980s under President Ronald Reagan.
As usual, you see things clearly and put the case in simple terms. I agree with your plan of attack. But, until we return this country to universal education as we had after WWII, and giving educated attention to those systemic weights on select populations, we will continue to have significant portions of voters who do not have the education necessary to protect all Americans from greed and class divisions. Then we can spread equal opportunity even beyond our shores.
Yesterday, I read that schools in an agricultural area of Utah were moving to a four day week so that young people could work in the fields and other local businesses. I thought this was illegal now that the pandemic has largely passed. Of course, these are the very young people who most need a good education in elementary and high school, because they probably won't go to college.
What happened to the 4 day work week (or 30 hours per week) promised us in the 1970s? That happened to some extent in Europe but not in US.
I'd almost forgotten that. It was the era of "leisure suits."
Awesome. Forging our nation ahead...to 1790.
Can the Board of Governors of the Fed be dismissed for insanity? After all, isn't is said that insanity is trying the same thing, repeatedly, expecting a different outcome? TEN consecutive meetings, trying the exact same thing over and over. If they can't be sacked for insanity, how about gross incompetence? What does their charter say about NOT taking actions that they KNOW _will_ hurt The People? There MUST be some way to get rid of these nincompoops before another tsunami of home foreclosures commences.
Insanity would just be what they plead if ever busted for malfeasance. They would succeed and be ruled incompetent to stand trial! It would be the same for the USPS PMG & the Board of Governors, as well!
I think it's more a matter that they simply _don't care_ what we ordinary peons think about their performance or what they do. Because they know there enough Republicans in Congress to assure any proceedings to have them dismissed from their jobs WILL be blocked. And so the Democrats, even when in the majority, don't even bother to start something they KNOW will fail. That makes the nincompoops untouchable.
How do we push/advocate to make it a campaign issue, Robert. It is clear to me that my voice and people like me are not being heard.
Love it. Also, top management CEOs ect have to keep their salaries at 10xs and have the same benefits the average employee. Repeal tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations. Wealth tax not just income tax. Stop undermining small investors.
If Democrats can't figure out how to message Republican fealty to the rich and powerful then shame on them. This is a slam dunk issue that would resonate with all Americans; specifically Republican demands to cut IRS funding. Wake up-- get woke !
Steve T I agree that Dems miss too many opportunities to call out republican fascists using those words and defining those words. But the media is truly controlled by the right and this is yet another disaster that we watched happen without recognizing the level of threat.
Totally agree here. Said this often myself and can't understand the party's logic or lack thereof.
That is what I was thinking when they started raising interest rates because that had always worked To decrease inflation but the reason It had workChanged whenBig corporations were not paying their share of taxesSoThe same solution could not help a different problem.
To me one of the greatest disconnects o.f the Republican obsession with cutting taxes to cut spending is that we are a population that has grown significantly in the last 43 years. Population in 1980 was 226,545,805, and in 2020 the population grew to 331,449,281. We need MORE services, more road maintenance, more infrastructure investment, more staff in government offices - especially in the grossly understaffed IRS, - more regulation of businesses and business practice (therefore MORE staff), better and more law enforcement and emergency services, and so on. Cutting taxes to levels that are too low to fund the basic needs of citizens is nothing short of criiminal.
It might be a good idea to stop the population explosion not only in this country but all over the world. That is our answer to climate change. That is what drives climate change.
And let's not forget that abortion is now practically impossible in a growing number of states. Why must we force poor people to have children they know they cannot provide for? Sure, we'll increase the work people must perform for food stamps.
We must balance population growth with how society provides for the future, particularly how younger workers will pay into Social Security to support the retiring population..Our current system requires some increase. We also need workers for economic development as well. The US is not really experiencing explosive growth, but many other countries certainly are. Still, we need to serve and sustain the people now living in the country. This means spending money in eye popping amounts for even basic services. Count me among those who believe it is okay for the super rich to pay their fair share. Ain't nothing trickling down from their obscene economic profits.
There are two answers that, to me anyway, seem like they're staring us in the face.
We have low unemployment and lots of unfilled jobs, while keeping asylum seekers locked out on the other side of a fence. The same people claiming these aspiring residents will steal jobs from current citizens, are the same folks unwilling to take many of the available jobs going unfilled at current wages. Vetting and adding asylum seekers legally to the rolls and collecting taxes, including SS, would help.
We have people earning tens of millions of dollars a year, and companies earning billions a month but our government running budget deficits. It's evident that the top 35% rate on incomes over $1M isn't collecting the optimistically forecast tax revenues of its authors. Roll back tax rates to pre-Bush 43, that's three tax cuts since Clinton and observed surpluses, and get the country back to solvency.
CARMEN. ! THAT
* NAILS. IT!!
Our Congress should repeal a lower tax rate on capital gains. All capital gains should be treated as ordinary income.
Thanks. I have heard the income of hedge fund managers is treated as capital gain income, not ordinary income. Do you know?
I don't know.