John Fugelsang gave you a great plug on his Saturday morning podcast. He said the following:
“Let me quote Robert Reich today who wrote, what do these corporations have in common?, Netflix, Ford, Tesla, T-Mobile, Duke Energy, Dish Network, Met Life, Dominion Energy, United States Seal, in recent years these corporations pay their executives more than they pay in taxes! This is what a corporate rigged system looks like.
Dear God, let us use all the science and technology we have to make Robert Reich live forever!”
Well sure, trump is insane but so is Wall Street. I volunteered for the Obama campaign (first time not second) but the Dems consistently keep in the republicans. Even DeJoy is still destroying the post office. Biden can't get rid of him?
So, meh. The Dems must step it up and be an FDR and lead a Pekora style hearing once again.
If you want to read more about 2008 then watch the free The Con https://www.thecon.tv
Call me names if you want on here but I hope that some Dem will listen to and demand (like Bernie said) a progressive FDR agenda. Otherswise - I'm not excited.
I disagree. If Biden’s obvious agenda wasn’t opposed in every aspect by the Republican Congress, it would be close to an FDR plan for the future. No, there is no magic cure but it would narrow the income gap. Indifference will kill all of us and pooh-poohing all Democrat politicians is a self mutilating agenda.
Biden is trying to do a lot of good things. We need to vote for him in November. Equally important, vote Democrat down ballot to give him the Congress he needs to pass his legislation.
The Republicans aren't opposing Biden on principle. They oppose Biden because Trump says so, and they don't want to give him a win, even when he is giving them what they want, like the immigration package.
The Republicans are opposing Biden on principle, and this is why they support Trump. The Republican Party is owned and controlled by super-wealthy libertarians. They want to privatize SS, Medicare, and public education. They also want to outlaw labor unions, eliminate federal government jurisdiction over consumer protection and environmental regulation. Quite a few of them also think that the surest way to accomplish their goals is through an "energized" presidency, a dictator in other words. They admire Putin and Orban, not Thomas Jefferson, and certainly not FDR, whom they consider "socialist."
Victor, I honestly don't think Republicans think that far. They are more like toddlers who want whatever they want that moment. They have no idea of what life is like for folks under Putin or Orban or any of the other dictators because when/if they ever visit they are shown a theatre piece that has no relation to reality for the people, even the rich ones. For Republicans, fear, ignorance, Trumped-up anger and hatred work to keep the folks in line and spouting insanities that they do not even understand like that they would like Trump to be a dictator. I hope we can stop the Trump madness, but our media and the Supreme Court do not seem in any way interested in stopping it (OK Trump's dementia) from warping our democracy, destroying it if they can. Trump has already promised a "bloodbath" with him at the center watching and cheering it on. That sounds a whole lot like treason to me.
The Dems leave the same people in positions of power. I watched Obama do exactly that with my own eyes. Jamie Dimon walked into his office, wrote a check, and walked out -
No argument Janet, you are absolutely correct on all accounts, Dems are in fact complicit, chasing donor cash, and having people like Larry Summers and Jamie Dimon rule the roost, behind the curtain.
Yet the situation in 2024 is different,much different and it is a question of shall we have a dictatorship of the religious right, or continue to live in relative freedom?
There is no other choice either vote for dictatorship by voting for Trump, a third party or not voting, or vote for freedom of thought and action.
The Dems didn't even vote for Katie Porter? She put down Jamie Dimon with a white board LOL.
But poor Dems... we need time to change our ways.
I think what people on here don't realize is that a big majority of republicans wanted to vote for Bernie. It's true. However, the Dems don't get out and listen much anymore. Heck even the candidate who ran against DeSantis didn't bother to stop and thank volunteers... sheesh.
In real life you have to make compromises. It does not mean that you have to compromise your principles; all it means is that to advance your long-term goals you have to make short-term concessions. You have to be flexible to be resilient and advance your cause. The libertarians are playing a long game and are prevailing.
Yea, well - the working class has already compromised enough.
I saw Obama compromise and NO he did NOT have to at all.
The Dems long and short term goals are to accept wall street money and stay in some power all the while rolling over and complaining they "can't do anything".
Janet Adams, we need more Dems and more progressive Dems. When we’ve had the majority in recent years our numbers have been too slim. The Republicans (and people like Manchin and Sinema) keep blocking good programs and policies. The Dems aren’t perfect but we can all pitch in and help make them better.
(And if you’re striving for perfection, please remember that perfect is the enemy of the good.)
OH, stop cherry picking—- I’ve written about Bill Clinton {Slick Willy} for YEARS — Have no use for that arrogant chauvinist. And Wall Street shill.
But it was ALSO the Dems who tried to rectify that awful situation by enacting some reform in Dodd-Frank, and the Republicans put obstacle after obstacle in the way of that, turning it into a weak and ineffectual remedy.
But it’s the Dems who had Al Franken. It’s the Dems who have Jamie Raskin It’s even the Dems who caucus with our Bernie!!
Just get OFF it with what you are angry about — vote for the only party that has people in it who even TRY to fix it — or the party that tries to be “for the people” at least part of the time {Republicans have been the party of “business” for as long as I can remember, and I am 77 years old}.
{And don’t nobody try to say the modern Democratic Party is descended from the KKK or slavers — THAT situation was turned on its head by the Republican “Southern Strategy” to recruit voters when Democrats in the South left the party after LBJ enacted Civil Rights —you know, LBJ, that Democrat who was on the edge of ending the Vietnam War in 1968, until Republicans went to Paris and made a secret deal with Saigon that let Republican Nixon keep the war going for SIX MORE YEARS — and they are still pulling dirty tricks even today. Yeah, baby, you can point to things the Dems have done wrong, but MORE to things they are trying to do right. }
Just get a little bit of PERSPECTIVE about where our world is and where we need it to go. And think about who is going to get you there … It’s not Donald J. F**kWad. Or a bunch of loony-tunes anti-vaxxers.
[Too angry? Yeah, but that ain’t the half of it.They tell me I should be nicer, but being nice is getting harder to do with people who don’t think.]
Ellen Z. is right. Republicans vote against everything President Biden and democrats try to do to help average Americans. So, we need to vote republicans out of Congress.
Janet, Why should you vote for it? Because if you don’t you are effectively voting for Trump and Project 2025. However much democracy is “gone” as you say, that’s nothing compared to the fascism that Republicans are determined to create.
Janet, “invalid”? Really? Because you disagree? Of course your vote is your choice. However, my point remains that a consequence of not voting for Biden is a significant increase in the likelihood of a Trump win. I understand making a vote in protest against important things, even crucially important things. Unintended consequences are still consequences, and in this case those consequences will very likely be the death knell for not only our democracy (no matter how badly flawed) but other democracies around the world. A win for Trump is a win for Putin, a loss for Ukraine, and an increase in the likelihood of another world war, as Putin feels emboldened to attack NATO countries.
Not so quick Janet. The question is not your vote, but whether you are voting for Trump or Biden... this is the last chance, and maybe the last election.
Janet, Oh, please, no one is suggesting otherwise. That sounds like a petulant response with no commitment. I suspect you will do better when the time comes.
What it really comes down to is how can we change society based on a vision of creating more wellbeing for the vast majority of people in our country and around the world? "Demanding" a progressive agenda is part of the answer, but of course there's more. Few if any elected officials can lead the change because they're far too dependent on money, media, and public perception shaped by wealthy influencers. I think we all know who that leaves. Changing how and what people think happens one person at a time and we all have a role to play.
I try not to demand specific choices from others. Each of us gets to ask ourself how can I make the biggest difference? How can I draw other people to join me? For me finding peace within, learning from others to become well informed, and demonstrating kindness and compassion feels important. Often it seems the more one side pushes against, the more the other side pushes back.
How long do I expect...? I see changes occurring but also that it happens slowly. I think Trump and many Republicans will be defeated because they don't represent what most people want: honesty, integrity, fairness, and compassion. Reigning in Wall Street will take longer and needs to be done in a way that is seen as fair without punishing people for playing by the rules. As I see it "Bidenomics" is starting to grow the economy "from the bottom up and the middle out" and also benefit the wealthy. Supply side crony capitalism has not really been good for the economy. The evidence is there, it's just a matter of time for more people to cognize the reality.
War still doesn't work. What's different now is that instead of jumping to join in, more countries and leaders are looking for ways to contain the conflict or de-escalate.
Well said. It is difficult to converse with someone who merely lobs a challenge without substantiating the challenge or offering an opinion to counter what is being challenged.
So - I should not disagree with the Dems? I'm pointing out the facts. I watched in disbelief as Obama sold out the working class to the bankers. I watched Bill Clinton sell out to the bankers and people on welfare.
Changes can happen very fast. After all, that's the Dems argument against trump, right? He'll destroy the US in one day???
The facts are - the Dems have to step it up. Sure, the republicans are worse but at this point. No one will benefit.
Actually, AT THIS POINT, we will all benefit if we do NOT let Republicans take the White House or Congress in November. We will all benefit if we vote blue.
Absolutely, even though Democrats make huge mistakes, they are not trying to undo our entire government and usher in an autocracy.
OH, yes, disagree with Dems and point out where they are going astray. That’s a good thing, and we need to keep it up way past just the election, so we can get some things addressed that badly need addressing.
Don’t for a minute, though, think Republicans would do better — especially not in this day and age.
Couple of questions or you, Janet:
1. You watched Obama sell out to Wall Street? Do you mean the bailout that was voted in by Republicans in the Bush administration {which for the record BROUGHT ON the crash of 2008, before Obama ever set foot in office}, and that bailout was passed on to Obama in his first months in office, with no provisions made to help homeowners or other non-rich people? Do you mean there was no money in that REPUBLICAN-CREATED recovery package for homeowners whose lives were upended by the Financial Industry, which then tried to put all the blame on those very homeowners for taking out loans that the Financial Industry perverted ….? You mean that? {Hint: that was a Right Wing contrivance!}
Now, I DO think Obama had too many Wall Street types in his administration and on his cabinet, and I say it all the time. Criticizing Democratic heroes is not a bad thing. But to get literally ANYTHING done on health care, Obama had to give in to Republican demands that the plan include prerogatives for the insurance industry, and STILL the Rs did not vote for it!! Do you mean THAT when you criticize him?
If you mean something else, be specific, please …
2. Bill Clinton DID sell out to the bankers on welfare reform. Ostentatiously and horribly. I hate that and criticize him all the time. That and on criminal justice changes he made that were horrendous. AND YET, you said Clinton sold out TO the people on welfare. Did you mean he betrayed people on welfare and sold them out? Because he did NOT provide poor people with anything of value, nothing that hard-working poor people deserve …He did no sell out TO them!
So, was that a misstatement? Or, if you meant it, please be specific.
BECAUSE, sure it’a fine to criticize how the Dems are handling things—- but how about you do it accurately, with some specifics, and some thoughts on what they could have done better.
Otherwise, you just come off like a crank or a troll. I don’t think you want to sound that way.
You should absolutely disagree with them. I think most people here do. We have a lot of work to do to change them but it's difficult because this is essentially a conservative country. Doesn't mean we won't keep trying though.
Janet, I don't know from what source you are getting your "facts" but I would strongly suggest you broaden your sources. I'm quite sure none of us here on Substack would proclaim the Democrats a perfect party. What we do say is, don't let the MAGAts anywhere near the seat of government, then start working on the kind of party we want. Work to dethrone any legislator who is 'on the take' Strive to overturn 'Citizens United' and return to maximum $2500 per year per candidate - or better yet - limited funds for all. Pass our own code of ethical conduct for ALL governmental officials, Demand an independent Ethics Watchdog Bureau. Unless we, the citizens of the United States, start demanding the kind of government we want, we will never achieve good government. And there will always be a small crowd that prefers a corrupt government to achieve their own greedy goals.
Your point is well-made, Peter. Many of us are overwhelmed at the complex challenges we face– politically, economically, psychologically, physically that all results in mass confusion, noisy debates as we all continue treading in the mud puddle and getting nowhere besides anticipating the results of the coming election. what seems to be driving this is collective fear of the results of the coming election and it's aftermath. That is why you are correct in urging us to get back to the basics just as human life begins with a minuscule cell dividing, so must we strategize one person at a time by speaking to friends, acquaintances, and any who will listen to the need to do the right thing with our lives for the sake of all of us.
Janet - what you say is exactly why I've lost hope. Most dems are repugnant lite; they take corporate money with few exceptions and further the corporate agendas. by the way, dejoy infuriates me - i received a certified letter 12 days after it was mailed. that never happened before him. also, he's an insurrectionist - he tried to interfere with vote by mail in 2020. additionally, the justice dept is full of drumpf appointees - why are they still there? biden is a classic neoliberal servant of the oligarchs.
DeJoy is a REPUBLICAN installation with protection from being fired, and the system is protecting him. NOT Democrats — the system. He DOES need to be dumped, but you must know he’s foisted on us by Republicans and we’d get MORE of it, if we let them win in November.
Please apply rational thought along with the emotional disgust that all the rest of us feel, too.
Pat - see Lee's comment below. He is correct. Biden has had ample opportunity to get rid of this insurrectionist. Also, what is irrational about expecting an executive (biden) to clean house? Again, see Lee's comment below
It is NOT up to Biden to do it. The board has to be made up of a specific mix of bipartisan people. and THEY have to get rid of the guy. I don't say Biden has given it the push I'd have liked. But it's not his right to dump the guy.
I said he doesn't have carte blanche to do it. He does not have unfettered authority. And he WAS stymied for quite some time. Even his appointments need to be approved by the Senate.
YES, I want the guy gone. YES, I want to see Biden pushing for it. But it's not his place to dump him. The Board of Governors has to vote him out.
If Biden is purposely slow-walking this guy's departure, I'd like someone to show me that. I know a LOT of Democrats have ben encouraging him to get it done. Has he been resisting? And why do you think that would be?
The make-up of the board requires a bipartisan representation — Biden can’t pack it the way McConnell packed the Supreme Court {and that in itself is a hoot!}.
If he wants a simple majority to ditch DeJoy, he has to be sure he has what he needs on the board.
I worry that he thinks the PO is a lower-level priority, with all that is on the plate in Washington, but I’d love to see it bring it higher and get rid of that DeZasster.
It didn't work out because the DNC [it their thumb on the scale for Hillary.
And the wise women of South Carolina were snookered. Bernie has real civil rights credentials, he marched even. Hillary's civil rights credentials are specious, and verbal. Yet the wise women of SC voted for her in the primary and the rest of the south fell in line.
S.C and the south basically control the primary, but by the same token, the have the opposite effect on the General.. like it or not the voting public is still race oriented.
Biden in 2020 is not an exception, by 2020 a head of cabbage could have beat Trump, any one the DNC put up would have beat Trump.
The DNC is has a paleolithic attitude, and it fronts candidates, Gubernatorial and Presidential based on length of service, loyalty, credentials and they have no race horse in the paddock to take to the starting gate, other than those who have patiently stood in line, padding around the paddock, earning what the establishment considers necessary credentials. Like Hillary and the DNC demand that she be Secretary of State, for what they perceived was the necessary foreign services credentials.
By the same token by fronted Terry McAuliffe, a former head of the DNC for Governor of VA and the old fool screwed that one quick.
The DNC has not and probably can't learn a lesson from mistakes, because it really is addicted to donor cash. Bernie out raised Hillary, from individual contributions, but that lesson is lost on the DNC.
The problemis the DNC, DSCC and DCCC as well and maybe especially the DLCC founded by Clinton or under his reign.
Why hasn’t the Democratic Party pushed back!!!! De Joke, the Supreme Court, the scary scary thugs taking our so called laws into their own hands to screw all of us. Let’s learn how to screw!!!
I want them to push back A LOT, too, Jean. And be way more savvy and stop letting Republicans eat our lunch.
But DeJoy holds a protected office and he can only be fired by a board that has been purposely kept short of a few members by the Republicans who WANT DeJoy in there ruining the Post Office.
I think Democrats need to be more hardnosed about getting him out, yes. But it’s not as easy as just givning him the heave ho.
At least, it isnt now. Civil Service and a lot of government jobs are isolated from the “whims” of those in power. That is actually something the Heritage Foundation and the Republicans want to UNDO. So, they can fire anyone they want and dump a loyalist in there, kind of like Orban did in Hungary and Putin can do in Russia, now that I think of it.
Again Pat. In 2020 Biden had the chance to appoint to Dems to the BoG of USPS, he appointed a Republican and a Democrat, there are two vacancies since Dec 22 and Biden hasn't filled them.
There were only two Katie Porter and Barbara Lee - in my opinion anyway.
Has Adam Schiff ever taken out a white board and clearly demonstrated the useless of the bankers? Is Adam going to champion the 32 hour work week? I doubt it.
I don't vote in California,. but am disappointed with the nomination of Schiff.
Schiff is a publicity hound, she speaks a great game on TV, but is otherwise ineffectual
My real gripe is that Shiff and the frmr Congressman for NY, Patrick Mahoney, who was also head of the DCCC, went junkateering in Paris during the 2022 election when they should have stayed home and oversaw the NY congressional elections and the result is that four NY seats flipped to Republican and look what that has wrought.
I used to like him but I've changed my mind for the reasons you cite and those dirty tricks he pulled in the primary to get Garvey on the ballot. I voted for Porter but I am not happy with her claiming that the election was rigged. Now I wish I'd voted for Barbara Lee but it doesn't matter.
Biden had a chance to get rid of Dejoy in December 2020 Two seat on the board became vacant. If he filled them with two Democrats, the Board of Governors could have fired Dejoy, but he appointed a Democrat and a Republican.
Two more seats came empty in Dec 22, and Biden hasn't filled them. I am sure that if he did one would be a Republican, thus maintaining the balance, Only the Board of Governors can fire DeJoy, and Dejoy and his deputy have one vote each, the board is split and has been.
The question asked, but not in the "liberal" media is why hasn't Biden filled the seats with Democrats and thus fired DeJoy.
DeJoy also cancelled the contract for electric vehicles and gave it to his friend at Oshkosh, in which he holds stock.
And there Joe sits like a stonewall, doing nothing.
Biden is not omnescient, but his actions and inactions make me wonder just who the éminence grise behind the "throne" might be... Larry Summers, come to mind, he made his foul prescence known with Obama, and was behind the appointment of Timothy Geithner and the bank bail out, and who knows what else, I suspect privatizing, neo liberal, Rahm Emanuel as well.
Janet, don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Every politician is a flawed human being, as we all are, but it's self-evident that the other side has politicians who are far more flawed.
I hate hate that expression Jeff, Rahm Emanuel coined it to justify the ACA when we could have had Medicare for all, by simply amending the Medicare Act to say Eligible from Birth.
Do current Medicare recipients support Medicare for All? Medicare and Affirmative Action divided the middle class by race and age. Nixon grabbed the ball right away.
It doesn't take the argument off course. In fact, it gets to the very heart of the argument. You clearly are someone who will only be satisfied with a politician who, out of 330 million Americans, agrees with you, Janet Adams, in every way and meets your, Janet Adams', standards for moral clarity and perfection. Otherwise, they don't deserve your vote. You're sick and tired of voting for the lesser of two evils! I get it.
So because the Democrats haven't earned your vote, you will either not vote or you will vote for a third-party candidate. If that's what you want to do, Janet, well, it's a free country--for now.
Well, there’s progressivism and then there is not so well thought out progressivism. I’ll give you but two examples of the latter. First, I actually read a U of Illinois professor claim that math was racist. Really? Isn’t it something that most humans need to understand to actually function in the world? The entire premise was, it’s racist because a bunch of white Europeans such as Newton invented calculus or other aspects of modern math. Forgetting that who invented various aspects of the math we use today were created by multiple cultures over centuries. Newton can’t help who he was or that he was smart. Are we now to abandon common sense because of such idiotic claims? I fear for the future of this country if this is the tact that we embark on. Second, here in Minneapolis, the left wing city council over rode the liberal mayor in forcing Uber and Lyft to pay a certain base pay. Never mind, that value was from an Oregon initiative, where the cost of living is substantially higher than here in MPLS. Almost twice the existing salary. So what happens? Uber and Lyft are threatening to pull out and leave the city with few alternatives to support the community. While I’d agree that the owners of said services take advantage of the workers, what the council failed to do was its job to evaluate all the alternatives, much less the implications. Instead, just as bad as some republicans on the other side, they shot from the hip. In the end, everyone loses. Stuff like this takes work, which seems to beyond the capability of some Americans. With every action, there is an equally opposite reaction. Not considering what those could be in either case is beyond unconscionable!
Janet, the USPS, during Nixon's term in 1970 was re-formed from a governmental agency performing the will of the people to a self funding quasi-governmental business with an independent board of directors. Biden cannot, by that law, "get rid of" Louis de Joy. Only the USPS has that privilege. That position happened to pop up during the trumpster's reign of terror and naturally he appointed a man whose sole business was a competing delivery service. Of course, de Joy wants to destroy USPS.
Why didn't Obama replace all of the republicans when he came into office? He had the power to do it. Trump is the aftermath of banker induced financial crisis.
I agree, Obama made a huge mistake retaining some of the Bank and Securities bailouts instigated by Bush's Henry Paulson, Secretary of the Treasury. I don't think Obama, immediately understood the depth of the calamity of 2008. He, Obama, did replace all but Robert Gates, Secretary DOD. The "talk" of his retaining "all those Republicans" was just that - talk no substance. Fact check Janet.
I agree with you, Janet. One quibble, though: no, Biden can't get rid of DeJoy. He can appoint members to the governing board as vacancies come up, but until there's a critical mass of anti-DeJoy members, the incredibly misnomered DeJoy isn't going anywhere.
Maybe - but would that stop a republican? It never seems too.
There are other things to Dems can do. I turned off Biden's address when he said "I'm not anti corporation". The corporations have a monopoly and rolled up most small businesses. Even the supermarkets are now - florist, bakery, butcher, deli, sub shop, sell in bins, an international isle. It's not free market when there is no meaningful competition. Then everyone is forced to work low wages, irregular schedules, no medical insurance, etc.
Biden isn't anti-corporation?? Well, I guess not, after he's been in bed with them his entire career. There's gotta be a reason he was initially elected from his home state of Delaware, the incoporation base for credit card companies and thousands of large businesses.
I hear you. But most folks are uncomfortable with upsetting the status quo. And I also hear them. How can we effect change without cooperation? This is the paradox. And that is the solution - radical change that brings quick, positive results. Like I saw elsewhere where you said ejecting the pawns of Wall Street from within the administration. That is a place to start.
I'm trying to explain to the Dems what people are saying. We're tired of the slick ads. I found that the poorest streets in the county had a better grasp of the reality of policies than the well heeled Dems "think" the issues are.
Just saying - cheers. I'm not the one this group needs to convince.
Janet, you are focused on class issues, but most voters are mesmerized by what they see on TV: the border tragedy, the spectacular store robberies, gang violence, and, of course, they see the high grocery prices. These people will vote Republican.
If you edit people, you can make it look like they’re all saying “nothing matters,” when most of them are saying essentially, “It seems that Republicans believe nothing maters.”
We all know that THE COMING ELECTION MATTERS, and it matters greatly.
It DOES matter that Donald has been indicted. But is he really facing consequences, or is he going to skate?
Trump's belief that there will be blood in the streets is a moronic pipe dream. Just more fear and chaos. Republicans bleed just as easily as Democrats. Instead of the red stuff, let's smear a bit of understanding. Strange, I saw no Red MAGA hats at Sawgrass this weekend. Where have all the MAGAs hats gone, Mr. Dooley.
There are more Democrats than Republicans and there are more anti Trumpers than there are Trumpers.
But it isn't votes that count, it is who counts the votes.
The Trump party, former Republican party) has shut down programs like minority outreach and all money is going tinto lawfare (war fare), voter caging, appointing Trumpers to election committees in the counties, voter suppression, I feat that despite everything the Republicans will rig this election,unless Democrats get on the ball and short stop them.
Laws were created by people in power as a means through which to control the masses. Trump's purpose here is to control the people in power and by doing so circumvent the laws he hates so much. He will most likely speed up the judicial process by doing away with it all together. Trump's law!
Donald, please explain why you think there won't be violence. BTW, I too was surprised this weekend. I drove quite a long distance to see a friend and saw only two Trump flags the whole time.
I have worked hard all of my adult life. I have paid my taxes and followed the rules. I am a good citizen and I've never run a scam or lied in order to enrich myself. That social security is mine. I earned it. These politicians that want to use citizens like chess pieces need to be voted out. We need a Congress that will ALWAYS put the American people first. When my mom was alive, she would tell me not to worry about getting old. She said that was the time that you could relax, enjoy your favorite things, and do the things you couldn't do while you were raising your family and working hard. I'm so glad she isn't here to see what has happened in our country. If my children were not helping me, I would be homeless and living in poverty!! My heart hurts for the older generation that are barely getting by. Some are homeless, some are barely scraping by and to think that the politicians don't give the furry crack of a rat's ass about us makes me so angry!! We are not pawns in your stupid back and forth game of look at us, we can do whatever we want!! The fact is, you can't do whatever you want. We will vote you out! We will demand term limits on every one of you. Vote Blue, America!! At least Democrats believe in helping ALL Americans, not just their fat cat friends!!!
I live in the blue hair state. Back in the 50's when air-conditioning was invented, lots of retirees moved to Florida. They used most of their savings to buy a small home, planning to survive on Social Security and the remainder of their savings. They were glad to be rid of harsh winters and high taxes.
Then reality struck hard. We have retirees at our food banks. There are a few reasons for this: (1) the death of a spouse, (2) declining health - medicaid doesn't allow home ownership, but in many situations, the home is necessary for the other spouse (3) the value of their land and the taxes on it boomed out of control, (4) the cost of insurance in an age when storms are normal at category five, (5) the cost of maintenance in aging or poorly constructed buildings, as well as lawn and landscape care, and (6) the cost of living expenses, especially groceries and transportation.
People who worked diligently and were careful to save, suddenly found that it wasn't enough. Peggy is right. There is no golden age, but there are kind people with true compassion for others. I hope I will be one of those.
Thank you, Shaf. There are kind people with true compassion for others and you are one of them!! I envy those countries who revere their elders. They look to them for wisdom and guidance. They respect them. Unfortunately, we are not one of those countries. Sometimes I feel that these politicians are spitting on us. We are the unseen and unheard. They sound like they would like to be rid of the whole lot of us!! But, I have to smile because, in time, every single one of them who wanted to cut our social security and Medicare, well, they are gonna be old, too!! I'll be long gone but I will be laughing from above watching realization dawn on their ignorant faces!! Welcome to old age, you idiots!!!
As of today, the Catfood commission, which Robert has discussed previously, is poised to recommend cuts to all benefits. Social Security, Medicare, VA, Black Lung, etc. Republicans have tried to eliminate SSI.
Social Security is social insurance and everyone who is fully and currently insured has the equivalent of a million dollar policy covering the entire family. There are two funds, the retirement fund and the disability fund. As of today, the funds are still solvent, although it's estimated that the retirement fund will "default" in 2033. Republicans tried to kill the disability fund several times. I've written about it, Save the Social Security Disability Trust Fund! and Reduce SSI Exposure to the General Fund, 36 J. Nat’l Ass’n Admin. L. Judiciary 142 (2016). https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1601&context=naalj
I've also written about the retirement fund. The main problem is that baby boomers had huge populations that will expend expenses until the apex in 2033, when population should return to normal. Once upon a time, my theory was that if the rate of contribution were supplemented, using charitable deductions, the apex could be exceeded.
Here's a paper I wrote for lawyers, December 01, 2011 FINANCIAL PLANNING
Social Security—Maybe Charity Should Begin at Home
By Daniel F. Solomon
For most of its history, Social Security was a terrific bargain: our parents and grandparents most probably received significantly more benefits than they paid into the Social Security Trust Fund. The trust fund comprises the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) and Disability Insurance (DI) Trust Funds (OASDI, collectively).
In most cases, because our family units could rely on these benefits, they were able to enjoy enough financial independence to send people like us to school so that we could become lawyers—productive and, in some cases, wealthy, members of society. For 75 years, the Social Security Trust Fund has helped enable American soci- ety to achieve far beyond the aspirations of its founders, ultimately providing more than subsistence to retirees by also protecting widows, orphans, and disabled people. The dignity provided to needy beneficiaries surely far outweighs the economic value of the funds.
However, financial experts have long predicted a future insolvency of the funds. A majority of Americans have invested in the funds, recognize their social utility, and do not want to burden their heirs. Although there have been legislative attempts to “fix” the system, there is no consensus how to do it. The Congressional Research Service reported:
For example, for workers who earned average wages and retired in 1980 at age 65, it took 2.8 years to recover the value of the retirement portion of the combined employee and employer shares of their Social Security taxes plus interest. For their counterparts who retired at age 65 in 2002, it will take 16.9 years. For those retiring in 2020, it will take 20.9 years.
Geoffrey Kollmann and Dawn Nuschler, “Social Security Reform” (October 2002).
The National Commission on Social Security Reform (informally known as the “Greenspan Commission” after its chairman) was appointed by the Congress and President Ronald Reagan in 1981 in response to a short-term financing crisis that Social Security faced at that time. Estimates were that the OASI Trust Fund would run out of money possibly as early as August 1983. Congress rendered a compromise that extended the retirement age from 65 to 67, through a deal that raised payroll taxes and trimmed benefits enough to keep Social Security solvent. See Jackie Calmes, “Political Memo: The Bipartisan Panel: Did It Really Work?” New York Times, January 18, 2010. However, the legislation addressed only the immediate problem and did not address the long-term viability of the fund. See also Rudolph G. Penner, “The Greenspan Commission and the Social Security Reforms of 1983,” in Triumphs and Tragedies of the Modern Presidency, David Abshire, Editor. Washington: Center for the Study of the Presidency, pp. 129–31.
The George W. Bush administration commission deliberated on the issue and then called for a transition to a combination of a government-funded program and personal accounts (“individual” or “private accounts”) through partial privatization of the system.
President Barack Obama reportedly strongly opposes privatization or raising the retirement age but supports raising the cap on the payroll tax ($106,800 in 2009) to help fund the program. He has appointed a National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, which is to report and offer another fix.
Current estimates predict that payroll taxes will only cover 78% of the scheduled payout amounts after 2037. This declines to 75% by 2084. 2010 OASDI Trust- ees Report, Figure II.D2, www.ssa.gov/OACT/TR/2010/ trTOC.html.
Although the congressional plan was to ensure solvency through Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) tax, there is a private means to help: to also consider the humanitarian and charitable nature of the Social Security Administration (SSA), which has been possible since a legislative fix in 1972. Before then, bequests naming Social Security or a trust fund as a beneficiary could not be accepted, which caused problems in administration of some estates. Money gifts or bequests may be accepted for deposit by the managing trustee of the OASI and DI funds. Section 170(c)(l) of the Internal Revenue Code lists the U.S. government among the educational or charitable organizations to which donations are acceptable. Gifts must be unconditional, except that the donor may designate to which fund the gift should be donated. If no fund is designated, the gift is credited to the OASI Trust Fund.
However, SSA has not publicized its charitable persona. Although the agency has received some gifts and bequests, they have been insignificant and not given consideration in a possible fix. The concept has been so unimportant to the experts that the Annual Statistical Supplement to the Social Security Bulletin does not specify how much the administration has received in gifts and bequests. Total revenue from gifts to the trust funds has been quite small. From 1974 to 1979 the most received in any one year was $91,949.88. During that period, the average annual amount was only $39,847. In 1980, almost two-thirds of the gifts were less than $100. The median gift size was $50. One person, for example, donated $13.11. She arrived at that amount by applying 5.85% (the employee tax rate then in effect) to her benefit amount and donated it to help “‘shore up’ the sagging, dwindling Social Security fund.” However, the 2010 Social Security Trustees Report lists them as about $98,000 (www.ssa.gov/OACT/TR/2010/III_ cyoper.html#2). Compared to many other charities, this is a paltry amount.
Apparently, SSA has never done a feasibility study nor marketing research to determine how an aggressive campaign could raise funds to support Social Security, or how gifts and bequests could reduce the current estimates of impending doom. According to some estimates total deductions taken for all charities next year would be $413.5 billion. Estimates for fiscal year 2011 are that SSA will spend $730 billion. That amount is already covered through “contributions” (taxes), but it is reasonable that charitable contributions to the trust fund could significantly lessen taxpayer exposure for impending doom, if not return the fund to solvency.
As lawyers, we have the capacity to remind our families, our clients, and the public at large that there is a way to contribute to help endow future generations in the pursuit of the same kind of social stability that Social Security provided to our parents and grandparents.
Daniel, I learned a lot from this post. Thank you for sharing your expertise on this topic. It helps clarify things for people like me who honestly don't understand government workings. Your information was helpful!
The election of 2024 will come down to "Good" -vs- "Evil." If you love this country and you wish to see it continue you must vote foe Joe. If discontent and disorder is your vision of the future, then Trump is your choice. Just remember, if you submit that ballot with Trump's name on it, you just took a dump on this country and our constitution.
Call me names if you want on here but I hope that some Dem will listen to and demand (like Bernie said) a progressive FDR agenda. Otherswise - I'm not excited.
A start would be a more equitable and sustainable tax code. Gee, we might even see the deficit decline 😉. Last time we had a surplus, was thanks to Clinton, conservative as he really was.
Janet: You have me blocked so you can't see my posts. Damn shame because I agree with every comment you have made thus far.
I too am disappointed with the Democrats and Biden, for being an appeaser, a compomiser, bipartisan because it is a waste (the Republicans aren't), it is a betrayal of our democracy and principles.
I am pissed because Congress did not pass a law legalizing abortions. om the interregnum when they had control of the Presidency and congress, (21 days in 2021) Perhaps because Biden when a senator was vehemently against abortions, and not all Democrats in congress are even liberal, or progressive, plus there are quite a few Catholic members of Congress, and it seems that few practicing Catholics want to run afoul of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops who will excommunicate you in a heart beat and deny the excommunicate their weekly supplement of wafer and wine.
"At least Democrats believe in helping ALL Americans, not just their fat cat friends!!!" LOL.. Are you sure about that? There's plenty of corporate Democrat politicians that cater to their donors and care very little or at all about the rest of us.
The trumpers will only say things like their lives are in the hands of God. You have to get the message to the pastors that their older parishioners will not be donating as much and will require more help. (Do churches even help their elderly anymore?)
I would love to go church to church interviewing the pastors or priests and ask: How will Trump help the poor, the elderly, handicapped or the disadvantaged? Or how would Jesus greet the immigrants coming to our borders ? With words of faith or with hatred and scorn like Trump?
Susan, the sad, sad truth is that evangelicals got rid of pastors who raised these issues. Many Catholics use religion to promote the interests of the wealthy. People tend to use religion in ways that benefit their perceived interests. It's a very old problem; you can read all about it in the Bible and the Quran.
There is a church (in my very red neighborhood) which has a meal ministry helping the elderly. Twice a week church volunteers deliver home cooked meals to those who need assistance.
Evangelicals state Trumps views & values and the way he lives now and in the past are Christian values , their Bible must be a different one I don’t recognise it.IT MUST BE THE DEVILS VERSION !
The politicized evangelicals hope the rapture will come before it gets too bad.The worse it gets here, the more they believe they see the signs. We're worried about better lives here (as is the focus of most unpoliticized religions, I think), while I sense a "bring it on" attitude out there. We're talking "rational" here, but the word may have been lost in translation.
A former coworker (highly educated in computers) originally from Bulgaria was so excited to immigrate to this country in early 2000s, when I worked with her. She told me people in Bulgaria almost literally expected the streets to be paved with gold. A couple years ago we touched base again. I think her disillusionment is now complete.
The same applies to most of Western society and countries.I have lived in the UK for 52 years and all I have seen is decay in morals, life and in services.I am from Kenya originally
It doesn’t seem to matter which form of government, there forms a small, wealthy, powerful group that works to keep their privileges even at the expense of the most vulnerable.
Of course they are. The Chief Justice “Taney” Roberts court already has us back to 1857 as do the MAGA republicans in Congress with a modern version of Kansas-Nebraska Act thinking to benefit the oligarchs. (Heather Cox Richardson has a recent newsletter on that).
Those idiots still thin Trump one the last election. You have to get Newsmax, Fox, etc. To say this and MAYBE light bulb will go off in their heads. Trump's followers would really suffer losing social security. Wake up and smell the coffee
Retirement is not "biblical". What a vacuous argument. In principle, Christians should not be following the Bible. The Bible supports war, slavery, murder. Christians follow the teachings of Paul and the apostles. They were trying to establish a new religion with political power. The religion grew and in the 4th century became the religion of the Roman empire under Constantine. Since then Christianity has fomented war and occupation in Europe and around the war, destroying civilizations.
Jesus of Nazareth was never trying to establish a new religion. He never claimed to be the Messiah.
He was an immigrant from the Northern Jewish kingdom of Samaria. He only spoke Aramaic. His teachings were all about ethical and moral behavior. "I was a stranger and you took in. I was hungry and you gave me food. I was sick and you cared for me." (Matthew 25) He was a rabbi who tried to help the Jewish population understand the priciples of the laws and writings they "followed". He respected women and accepted them as disciples, worthy of sitting with the male disciples and listening to his teachings. They were his most loyal and devoted followers;
Christian nationalists do not care about America. They care about the mythology of America as a "Christian" nation, which is not supported by the Constitution. They should stop "cherry-picking" the writings of the Hebrew scriptures and the letters of the apostles and commit themselves to the ethical and moral teachings of Jesus of Nazareth.
That's very TRUE. As a Gay Canadian Metis, I find what these so-called "nationalists" are usually on the doles to unfriendly foreign sources... Those who rather see Gaea destroyed than see a brighter future, or give something meaningful for the next generation to improve or advance.
That's why "freaks" like Orban are in the US. THIS HAS GOT TO BE STOPPED!!! If it means putting a permanent end to CPAC and the Heritage Foundation, then as Thor would say, SO BE IT!
Couldn’t agree more. Biblically, historically, and economically correct. I’m usually annoyed at commenters that copy and paste the same comment across multiple SubStacks for weeks on end, but this one is worth repeating.
Why LIFT the cap? Here's an idea!!!!!, eliminate the cap. If the cap serves no purpose, other than to give the wealthy yet another advantage, it should be eliminated altogether. Lifting it not only suggests there is a rational reason for one , but arguably just kicks the can down the road,......albeit a long and winding one.
Lifting the cap would not suffice. A tax reform that taxes bonuses and stock options at the time of award would be necessary. Too many corporations would simply switch income into these two wealth building opportunities to avoid the actual increase in incomes. They’ve been doing it for decades, and our tax system waits for a sale of assets that NEVER HAPPEN to tax these salary loopholes.
Agree, but peg it to a threshold of those households with income above (pick an arbitrary amount, but for discussion) maybe $250,000 to $400,000 and exclude home sales.
I’ve known life long democrats that start sounding like tax hating republicans when they downsize their home or siblings selling an inherited home of deceased parents.
Social Security and Medicare are NOT entitlements for two reasons:
One is a reflection of the dictum by the great British economist John Maynard Keynes, whose work forms the basis of most reputable economic principles: “expenditures rise to meet income,” meaning that, no matter how much money the average salaried individual makes, he or she will find something on which to spend it — and maybe more (which is how and why so many Americans are in debt. Left to their own devices, and paid one-hundred percent of the value of their labor at the time they earn it, every penny will be gone by the time their earning years are over.
THAT’S why Franklin Roosevelt and the Democratic Congress created Social Security: so that retired or disabled Americans would not spend their last years sleeping on park benches and subway gratings.
So, Americans spend their entire working lives not receiving the full value of their labor: a percentage of it is withheld and then parceled out to them after they retire (granted, if one works one’s entire adult life and then drops dead the day he or she retires, it’s a bad deal, but if one lives past age 77, one then begins to draw income above what one paid in — a very good deal).
In short, SS and Medicare are nothing but DEFERRED SALARY. It’s OUR money, NOT a gift from the government, and we earned EVERY penny of it. A court of law would rule that any attempt to curtail those payments is THEFT, plain and simple.
The second reason SS and Medicare are not entitlements is that, in any other context, the word means an absolute right to something, but in the U.S. the only absolute rights we have are enumerated in the Constitution. Unfortunately, SS are NOT in the Constitution; they are statutes only, created by acts of Congress, meaning that they can be altered or eliminated by a superseding act of Congress. THAT is why they MUST be enshrined in a Constitutional amendment; only then will they truly be Entitlements in ANY context, making that word an inviolable promise rather than the threat its opponents tirelessly wield as a cudgel.
There are many generous people, and I agree that we often obscure reality with stereotypes. A Chicago area billionaire, who left home as a youth with almost nothing, managed to built a large, climate friendly company in the Chicago area, and he regularly donates millions to philanthropic projects in this area. If he is especially moved by a news story he will search for the person, family, whoever it is, and quietly come to their rescue. By quietly, I mean he insists on 100 percent anonymity, though occasionally local media slips in this regard. A volunteer group I am with is immensely grateful for a generous donation provided by this person to the organization we volunteer for. He loves nature, and when he saw us in muddy clothes and carrying hand tools out of a Cook County Forest Preserve, he was moved enough by his own love of nature to work with their official ecologists to determine needs of the land, and then he donated (through the associated foundation) the amount required to complete key projects. The results that unfolded so far through this assistance are astonishing. Both paid county staff, and we still happy, unpaid, grubby volunteers, are ecstatic! More recently I learned of another wealthy donor who donated millions as well as time to supporting the restoration of a large Midwest wetland that now has international recognition for benefiting migratory birds.
My skepticism is directed towards human nature.
I think laws still need to keep a check on greed. Nonprofit organizations already encourage philanthropy and help with tax relief, so encouragement exists.
We volunteers gave our unnamed donor a name: "Angel"!
Is there some way to heavily tax the price gougers? We know that record profits have been made that inflated consumer prices. Tax the gougers, pay down the deficit.
Recently, Robert suggested that people read Biden's Budget Proposal, and said that the introduction provided an impressive list of accomplishments. I have reviewed the budget introduction and offer this edited summary. I apologize if this is too long has to be broken up into two posts, and if the formatting makes it harder to read. It is a very impressive list. Keep in mind that Biden became President in the midst of a global pandemic and a reeling economy, and has had a starkly divided Congress.
AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN
Vaccinated the Nation
Delivered immediate economic relief to people who badly needed it
Sent funding to States and cities to keep key services going
INFRASTRUCTRE
46,000 new projects announced this far
Roads, bridges, railroads, ports, airports, public transit, water systems,
high-speed internet, and more
Supporting advanced manufacturing, by American workers.
RESPONSE TO CLIMATE CHANGE
Rebuild and boost resilience to extreme weather
Cleaner, more resilient and sustainable power grid
Biggest investment in rural electricity since the New Deal
Revitalizing fence-line communities that have shouldered the burden of harmful
pollution for generations
Lowering energy costs
Strengthening our energy security with clean energy breakthroughs
ADDITIONAL RESULTS:
$650 billion in private investment, building factories and moving production back to America, with American union workers
Manufacturing boom
Semiconductor boom
Electric-vehicle boom
Hundreds of thousands of union jobs
Strongest economy in the world
Creation of a record 15 million jobs
Unemployment under four percent for the longest stretch in over 50 years
Growth is strong
Wages are rising
Inflation is down by two-thirds, affecting key household items like gas and milk.
More Americans have health insurance than ever
[[[ALL THIS WHILE REDUCING THE DEFICIT BY $1 TRILLION]]]
CONSUMER SENTIMENT:
Consumer sentiment has surged more in recent months than any time in 30 years.
Sign of hope: 16 million new business applications
ADDITIONAL FEATURES:
Fiscally responsible investments
Fairer tax system – E.g., new minimum tax of 15 percent on the Nation’s largest corporations
Saved $160 billion by giving Medicare the authority to negotiate prescription drug prices and limit price increases (capped the cost of insulin for seniors at $35 a month, down from as much as $400)
Boosted funding to the Internal Revenue Service to crack down on wealthy and corporate tax cheats.
CURRENT BUDGE PROPOSAL:
Enable Medicare to negotiate prices of even more drugs and limiting other drug price increases - save another $200 billion
Reduce wasteful subsidies to Big Oil and other special interests
Minimum tax on billionaires (raise $500 billion in revenues)
Budgetary and legislative proposals will cut a total of $4 trillion over the next decade
Additional goals incorporated in the current budget
Further rein in Big Pharma
In 2025, no senior on Medicare will pay more than $2,000 a year in total out-of-pocket prescription drug costs, plus crack down on price gouging by requiring drugmakers that raise prices of certain drugs faster than inflation to pay a rebate back to Medicare.
Continue to protect and expand the Affordable Care Act (21 million enrolled Americans, who save $800 per year on premiums)
Lower costs for working families with proposals for housing, childcare, student loans
Housing
Working to lower costs and boost supply of housing nationwide
Middle-class first-time homebuyers receive a $5,000 annual mortgage relief credit for
two years
Expand rental assistance to hundreds of thousands of additional families, continuing
the largest expansion in 20 years
Ease America’s longstanding shortage of affordable housing, including by cutting red tape, so that more builders can get Federal financing to build more affordable housing. More families own homes today than before the pandemic; rents are easing; and a record 1.7 million housing units are under construction nationwide.
Childcare and education
1) Restores the Child Tax Credit expansion, which cut child poverty nearly in half in 2021
2) Guarantees the vast majority of families high-quality childcare for no more than $10 a day
3) Boosts pay for childcare workers
4) Universal free pre-school for all four million of America’s four-year-olds
5) Helps States expand tutoring, after-school, and summer programs; and boosts recruiting to ease teacher shortages
6) Cancellation of $138 billion in student debt thus far, for 4 million Americans, including more than 750,000 teachers, nurses, firefighters, social workers, and other public servants.
Management of the Southern Border
Emergency request for more funding issued In October [blocked by House Republicans – “We need to pass the Senate’s bipartisan border deal as well, which would make urgent additional investments to secure the border and help to fix our broken immigration system.”]
Current Budget renews that request: 1) 1,300 more Border Patrol agents; 2) 375 immigration judges; 3) 1,600 asylum officers; 4) Cutting-edge technology to help detect fentanyl.
Global leadership - Restoration of America’s leadership on the world stage
Rallying more than 50 nations to support Ukraine in the face of brutal Russian aggression
Strengthening and expanding NATO
Revitalizing our alliances and partnerships in the Indo-Pacific—including with Japan, South Korea, and Australia
Issued national security supplemental request for funds for Ukraine and Israel, land humanitarian aid and relief for Palestinians, in October 2023
Budget reiterates that request
Strengthened deterrence capacity in the Indo-Pacific
Maintain the best-trained, best-equipped military globally
Over 30 significant bipartisan bills to support veterans, signed thus far, including the PACT Act, the biggest-ever expansion of benefits for servicemembers exposed to toxic burn pits during their service
Greed is truly the whore of Babylon. And it is an addiction. Maybe what we need is psychiatric treatment for a guy like Bezos who is terrified of letting a dollar slip out of his hands, or honor, or power.
The super rich like to try to make philanthropy replace taxation, but they have always used philanthropy to build the world that entrenches power. This is why we have colleges that teach a "free market" is self regulating and needs no oversight. We need to insist they be taxed and build the world of, by, and for the people.
I disagree. Your perspective seems to be just giving up and saying we can't do anything. They need to be taxed, and we need to build a world of, by and for the people.
Lincoln owning slaves is a myth, no matter what Gerald J. Prokopowicz says. What isn't a myth is the abolition of slavery, women's suffrage, child labor laws, the new deal, the creation of the weekend and the equal rights movement. All brought by the left through the coarse of American history against the will of entrenched powers. If we push really really hard we can continue to bend the arc of history toward justice. It isn't easy, but it's one of the things that actually matter.
As a. Brit looking from afar, it seems the only thing that really has got to Trump is Obama's ridicule at the Press dinners. He simply hasn't been able to get over it. He has had to dismantle everything Obama achieved. Even now he cant get Obama out of his head and in his ramblings keeps mistakenly bringing up Obama. Ridicule him! He can't bear being laughed at!
Rather than preaching to the choir maybe today's column is more about activating the foot soldiers. We be them. Sharing information about the ceiling on income available for social security taxation sounds like a great place to start, the facts, just the facts, in a we're all in this together sort of way. Bullet points- "you know, I was reminded of something the other day, no matter how much money you make, only $168,000 is taxed for SS.. Jeff Bezos ...I looked it up. It's real."
No one will ever describe me as an extrovert but it's time for me to get out and mingle. I am soon to be 76 and will be less affected by diminishing SS income in 10 years, but there are a whole lot of people who might be encouraged to look more closely given reliable, well documented info.
None of the three living former Republican vice-presidents will support Trump. At least two out of three have called him unfit and a danger to our republic.
Bub, even in my home, Canada, ACROSS ALL PARTY LINES, we don't want that kind of hate nor rhetoric here... An' I'm telling you, Trump WON'T stop at the 49th Parallel, he'll go after Margaret Atwood, Me, Olivia Chow-Layton, Thomas Mulcair, Jean Chretien, etc. That madman will turn NORTH AMERICA INTO GILEAD!
Thank you again Professor Reich. It is reassuring to read your intelligent and fair-minded back story and analysis of the Social Security issue, which without a doubt is of keen importance to retirees who are not millionaires and who are currently facing rising costs for food and rent.
I can’t fathom why with such massive deficit spending on wars in other places the payments to people and the infrastructure etc costs need to be self funding? Seems a bizarre and counter productive double standard.
I would like to put Ben Shapiro in a job that requires a lot of physical strain and after about a day, let's just see how he feels about retirement. What an absolute idiot!!
Heather, great idea! The only problem I can see is what would we do with all the CEO’s, CFO’s, Presidents, VP’s, oligarchs, etc. in the smelly pile when he was finished?
BTW: When I was 40, I couldn't even imagine ever wanting to retire, but when I was 77, due partly because of changes in the job and partly due to not feeling as if I could give 110% anymore, I was ready.
The next suggestion will be to bring back the poor farms and poor houses. What's left of one is near a Chicago suburbs. They were actually considered progressive for the time, because governments did little to in past times to provide for people who were old, in ill health, destitute, had no one to care for them, etc. I took a tour of the site as led by a state archeologist. Everything in a poor house/farm was regulated - meals, sleep, work, education, etc. Anyone there was likely considered "inferior" in some capacity (never bad luck!), and I think these attitudes permeate our social fabric today. We walked past fields of mass graves - basically row upon row where bodies were rolled in together during mass burials, and then covered with soil. Eventually a row would be full, with a few layers, and a new one would be started. There are no markers, except in whatever records that have survived. Today's billionaires seem to be longing for such days. Progress has reversed in some history times. It is our responsibility to protect and continue it.
The other aspect of this area is it was created where there used to be a large settlement of indigenous people. That is another difficult immigrant story, so I will sign off now.
Yeah - that turd Shapiro ..does he have parents ? Would he like to see them working a manual job into their 70s and 80s - he’s just a little smart ass punk
The solution is as simple as it is powerful: reaching out to strangers. It’s the proven #1 way to win elections. Did you know that 60% of unregistered voters have never been asked to register.
To win in 2024, we will reach out to millions of unregistered likely Democrats using our one-of-a-kind database and every outreach method possible (phone and text, postcard, email and targeted ad, and in-person too), where new Democratic voters will make the most impact – in the most flippable states and districts.
I plead to US citizens, kindly you are the cornerstone of so called democracy but we believe your elected person will be a prove to the whole world whether blood/intimidation or peace and democracy? We can see the possible mistake that will hardly be corrected as in African states we have lost hope.
Dear Professor Reich,
John Fugelsang gave you a great plug on his Saturday morning podcast. He said the following:
“Let me quote Robert Reich today who wrote, what do these corporations have in common?, Netflix, Ford, Tesla, T-Mobile, Duke Energy, Dish Network, Met Life, Dominion Energy, United States Seal, in recent years these corporations pay their executives more than they pay in taxes! This is what a corporate rigged system looks like.
Dear God, let us use all the science and technology we have to make Robert Reich live forever!”
I second this statement. Keep your facts coming!
Sincerely
Keith Olson
I second that!!
I third that
Well sure, trump is insane but so is Wall Street. I volunteered for the Obama campaign (first time not second) but the Dems consistently keep in the republicans. Even DeJoy is still destroying the post office. Biden can't get rid of him?
So, meh. The Dems must step it up and be an FDR and lead a Pekora style hearing once again.
If you want to read more about 2008 then watch the free The Con https://www.thecon.tv
Call me names if you want on here but I hope that some Dem will listen to and demand (like Bernie said) a progressive FDR agenda. Otherswise - I'm not excited.
I disagree. If Biden’s obvious agenda wasn’t opposed in every aspect by the Republican Congress, it would be close to an FDR plan for the future. No, there is no magic cure but it would narrow the income gap. Indifference will kill all of us and pooh-poohing all Democrat politicians is a self mutilating agenda.
Biden is trying to do a lot of good things. We need to vote for him in November. Equally important, vote Democrat down ballot to give him the Congress he needs to pass his legislation.
try he might, but he is too weak a leader to pull it off, but he will still be lining his pockets nonetheless. what a crook!
The Republicans aren't opposing Biden on principle. They oppose Biden because Trump says so, and they don't want to give him a win, even when he is giving them what they want, like the immigration package.
The Republicans are opposing Biden on principle, and this is why they support Trump. The Republican Party is owned and controlled by super-wealthy libertarians. They want to privatize SS, Medicare, and public education. They also want to outlaw labor unions, eliminate federal government jurisdiction over consumer protection and environmental regulation. Quite a few of them also think that the surest way to accomplish their goals is through an "energized" presidency, a dictator in other words. They admire Putin and Orban, not Thomas Jefferson, and certainly not FDR, whom they consider "socialist."
Victor, I honestly don't think Republicans think that far. They are more like toddlers who want whatever they want that moment. They have no idea of what life is like for folks under Putin or Orban or any of the other dictators because when/if they ever visit they are shown a theatre piece that has no relation to reality for the people, even the rich ones. For Republicans, fear, ignorance, Trumped-up anger and hatred work to keep the folks in line and spouting insanities that they do not even understand like that they would like Trump to be a dictator. I hope we can stop the Trump madness, but our media and the Supreme Court do not seem in any way interested in stopping it (OK Trump's dementia) from warping our democracy, destroying it if they can. Trump has already promised a "bloodbath" with him at the center watching and cheering it on. That sounds a whole lot like treason to me.
TOTAL BS, propaganda in its worst form.
You have to build from where you’re at. The rest is fantasy. If you don’t like what the Democrats are doing then get in there and fix it.
BUT don’t let the Republicans in, because they will install a fascist oligarchy.
VOTE BLUE, and stay involved and work for the changes we need.
The Dems leave the same people in positions of power. I watched Obama do exactly that with my own eyes. Jamie Dimon walked into his office, wrote a check, and walked out -
:)
plus don't forget it was the Dems who organized the KKK.
again, total bullshit as is usual from the left.
Steve that is a facetious and obfuscatory comment. None of us can"fix" it, we don't have the money, the position, the connections.
Your comment is akin to "America love it or leave it"
We without power, do what we can do, with the only power we have.. our vote and voicing our opinion.
The Dems had it and let it go. Bill Clinton did in social programs and wrote off Glass Seagal.
Dems have lots of excuses and tell them they have no magic wands and can't do anything. Why should I vote for it???
:)
No argument Janet, you are absolutely correct on all accounts, Dems are in fact complicit, chasing donor cash, and having people like Larry Summers and Jamie Dimon rule the roost, behind the curtain.
Yet the situation in 2024 is different,much different and it is a question of shall we have a dictatorship of the religious right, or continue to live in relative freedom?
There is no other choice either vote for dictatorship by voting for Trump, a third party or not voting, or vote for freedom of thought and action.
kinda a loaded comment don't you think?
Because if you don't you may never vote again, for anything.
The Dems didn't even vote for Katie Porter? She put down Jamie Dimon with a white board LOL.
But poor Dems... we need time to change our ways.
I think what people on here don't realize is that a big majority of republicans wanted to vote for Bernie. It's true. However, the Dems don't get out and listen much anymore. Heck even the candidate who ran against DeSantis didn't bother to stop and thank volunteers... sheesh.
really, you sound like Chicken Little, shouting "the sky is falling, the sky is falling"
In real life you have to make compromises. It does not mean that you have to compromise your principles; all it means is that to advance your long-term goals you have to make short-term concessions. You have to be flexible to be resilient and advance your cause. The libertarians are playing a long game and are prevailing.
Yea, well - the working class has already compromised enough.
I saw Obama compromise and NO he did NOT have to at all.
The Dems long and short term goals are to accept wall street money and stay in some power all the while rolling over and complaining they "can't do anything".
Janet Adams, we need more Dems and more progressive Dems. When we’ve had the majority in recent years our numbers have been too slim. The Republicans (and people like Manchin and Sinema) keep blocking good programs and policies. The Dems aren’t perfect but we can all pitch in and help make them better.
(And if you’re striving for perfection, please remember that perfect is the enemy of the good.)
Help Democrats win!
OH, stop cherry picking—- I’ve written about Bill Clinton {Slick Willy} for YEARS — Have no use for that arrogant chauvinist. And Wall Street shill.
But it was ALSO the Dems who tried to rectify that awful situation by enacting some reform in Dodd-Frank, and the Republicans put obstacle after obstacle in the way of that, turning it into a weak and ineffectual remedy.
But it’s the Dems who had Al Franken. It’s the Dems who have Jamie Raskin It’s even the Dems who caucus with our Bernie!!
Just get OFF it with what you are angry about — vote for the only party that has people in it who even TRY to fix it — or the party that tries to be “for the people” at least part of the time {Republicans have been the party of “business” for as long as I can remember, and I am 77 years old}.
{And don’t nobody try to say the modern Democratic Party is descended from the KKK or slavers — THAT situation was turned on its head by the Republican “Southern Strategy” to recruit voters when Democrats in the South left the party after LBJ enacted Civil Rights —you know, LBJ, that Democrat who was on the edge of ending the Vietnam War in 1968, until Republicans went to Paris and made a secret deal with Saigon that let Republican Nixon keep the war going for SIX MORE YEARS — and they are still pulling dirty tricks even today. Yeah, baby, you can point to things the Dems have done wrong, but MORE to things they are trying to do right. }
Just get a little bit of PERSPECTIVE about where our world is and where we need it to go. And think about who is going to get you there … It’s not Donald J. F**kWad. Or a bunch of loony-tunes anti-vaxxers.
[Too angry? Yeah, but that ain’t the half of it.They tell me I should be nicer, but being nice is getting harder to do with people who don’t think.]
Then don't.
I'm muting the thread. I guess we all disagree. I hope the Dems will pay attention to the working classes like Bernie does.
best to everyone.
Steve, I agree. We are being held in a Catch 22, which takes CAREFUL consideration of our options and what is gained and lossed in our vote.
Ellen Z. is right. Republicans vote against everything President Biden and democrats try to do to help average Americans. So, we need to vote republicans out of Congress.
ain't gonna happen!
The Dems have been taking money from wall street for a long time.
Do people on here not realize that democracy is already - gone?? Wall street controls both parties.
Janet, Why should you vote for it? Because if you don’t you are effectively voting for Trump and Project 2025. However much democracy is “gone” as you say, that’s nothing compared to the fascism that Republicans are determined to create.
Voting is the foundation of our democracy and we still have a right to do it,and we better.WE don't want a Putin,China or Cuba type existence.
Your argument is invalid. I vote for who I want to.
Janet, “invalid”? Really? Because you disagree? Of course your vote is your choice. However, my point remains that a consequence of not voting for Biden is a significant increase in the likelihood of a Trump win. I understand making a vote in protest against important things, even crucially important things. Unintended consequences are still consequences, and in this case those consequences will very likely be the death knell for not only our democracy (no matter how badly flawed) but other democracies around the world. A win for Trump is a win for Putin, a loss for Ukraine, and an increase in the likelihood of another world war, as Putin feels emboldened to attack NATO countries.
Not so quick Janet. The question is not your vote, but whether you are voting for Trump or Biden... this is the last chance, and maybe the last election.
Janet, Oh, please, no one is suggesting otherwise. That sounds like a petulant response with no commitment. I suspect you will do better when the time comes.
Contrary to widespread gossip democracy is not quite gone --yet.
The Democrats are more open to campaign finance reform and should take the lead on it.
THAT IS A LIE! they want reform that is totally in their favor
Janet, are you a shill for Republicans?
No, are you??
What it really comes down to is how can we change society based on a vision of creating more wellbeing for the vast majority of people in our country and around the world? "Demanding" a progressive agenda is part of the answer, but of course there's more. Few if any elected officials can lead the change because they're far too dependent on money, media, and public perception shaped by wealthy influencers. I think we all know who that leaves. Changing how and what people think happens one person at a time and we all have a role to play.
"Demanding" that I vote for Biden ?? That's not changing anything either.
Its called organizing. The unions are demanding for changes - is that okay?
Should Bernie just step aside and not hold hearings for a 32 hour week.
So how long do you expect people to suffer so that the few wall street Dems benefit??
With smiles!
I try not to demand specific choices from others. Each of us gets to ask ourself how can I make the biggest difference? How can I draw other people to join me? For me finding peace within, learning from others to become well informed, and demonstrating kindness and compassion feels important. Often it seems the more one side pushes against, the more the other side pushes back.
How long do I expect...? I see changes occurring but also that it happens slowly. I think Trump and many Republicans will be defeated because they don't represent what most people want: honesty, integrity, fairness, and compassion. Reigning in Wall Street will take longer and needs to be done in a way that is seen as fair without punishing people for playing by the rules. As I see it "Bidenomics" is starting to grow the economy "from the bottom up and the middle out" and also benefit the wealthy. Supply side crony capitalism has not really been good for the economy. The evidence is there, it's just a matter of time for more people to cognize the reality.
War still doesn't work. What's different now is that instead of jumping to join in, more countries and leaders are looking for ways to contain the conflict or de-escalate.
Well said. It is difficult to converse with someone who merely lobs a challenge without substantiating the challenge or offering an opinion to counter what is being challenged.
So - I should not disagree with the Dems? I'm pointing out the facts. I watched in disbelief as Obama sold out the working class to the bankers. I watched Bill Clinton sell out to the bankers and people on welfare.
Changes can happen very fast. After all, that's the Dems argument against trump, right? He'll destroy the US in one day???
The facts are - the Dems have to step it up. Sure, the republicans are worse but at this point. No one will benefit.
:)
Whoa, that’s just not true.
Actually, AT THIS POINT, we will all benefit if we do NOT let Republicans take the White House or Congress in November. We will all benefit if we vote blue.
Absolutely, even though Democrats make huge mistakes, they are not trying to undo our entire government and usher in an autocracy.
OH, yes, disagree with Dems and point out where they are going astray. That’s a good thing, and we need to keep it up way past just the election, so we can get some things addressed that badly need addressing.
Don’t for a minute, though, think Republicans would do better — especially not in this day and age.
Couple of questions or you, Janet:
1. You watched Obama sell out to Wall Street? Do you mean the bailout that was voted in by Republicans in the Bush administration {which for the record BROUGHT ON the crash of 2008, before Obama ever set foot in office}, and that bailout was passed on to Obama in his first months in office, with no provisions made to help homeowners or other non-rich people? Do you mean there was no money in that REPUBLICAN-CREATED recovery package for homeowners whose lives were upended by the Financial Industry, which then tried to put all the blame on those very homeowners for taking out loans that the Financial Industry perverted ….? You mean that? {Hint: that was a Right Wing contrivance!}
Now, I DO think Obama had too many Wall Street types in his administration and on his cabinet, and I say it all the time. Criticizing Democratic heroes is not a bad thing. But to get literally ANYTHING done on health care, Obama had to give in to Republican demands that the plan include prerogatives for the insurance industry, and STILL the Rs did not vote for it!! Do you mean THAT when you criticize him?
If you mean something else, be specific, please …
2. Bill Clinton DID sell out to the bankers on welfare reform. Ostentatiously and horribly. I hate that and criticize him all the time. That and on criminal justice changes he made that were horrendous. AND YET, you said Clinton sold out TO the people on welfare. Did you mean he betrayed people on welfare and sold them out? Because he did NOT provide poor people with anything of value, nothing that hard-working poor people deserve …He did no sell out TO them!
So, was that a misstatement? Or, if you meant it, please be specific.
BECAUSE, sure it’a fine to criticize how the Dems are handling things—- but how about you do it accurately, with some specifics, and some thoughts on what they could have done better.
Otherwise, you just come off like a crank or a troll. I don’t think you want to sound that way.
You should absolutely disagree with them. I think most people here do. We have a lot of work to do to change them but it's difficult because this is essentially a conservative country. Doesn't mean we won't keep trying though.
Janet, I don't know from what source you are getting your "facts" but I would strongly suggest you broaden your sources. I'm quite sure none of us here on Substack would proclaim the Democrats a perfect party. What we do say is, don't let the MAGAts anywhere near the seat of government, then start working on the kind of party we want. Work to dethrone any legislator who is 'on the take' Strive to overturn 'Citizens United' and return to maximum $2500 per year per candidate - or better yet - limited funds for all. Pass our own code of ethical conduct for ALL governmental officials, Demand an independent Ethics Watchdog Bureau. Unless we, the citizens of the United States, start demanding the kind of government we want, we will never achieve good government. And there will always be a small crowd that prefers a corrupt government to achieve their own greedy goals.
WHAT are you talking about?
And WHO is “demanding” anyone vote for or anyone?
We are all asking, pleading, arguing, hoping …
I don’t get what you are saying.
Your point is well-made, Peter. Many of us are overwhelmed at the complex challenges we face– politically, economically, psychologically, physically that all results in mass confusion, noisy debates as we all continue treading in the mud puddle and getting nowhere besides anticipating the results of the coming election. what seems to be driving this is collective fear of the results of the coming election and it's aftermath. That is why you are correct in urging us to get back to the basics just as human life begins with a minuscule cell dividing, so must we strategize one person at a time by speaking to friends, acquaintances, and any who will listen to the need to do the right thing with our lives for the sake of all of us.
Janet - what you say is exactly why I've lost hope. Most dems are repugnant lite; they take corporate money with few exceptions and further the corporate agendas. by the way, dejoy infuriates me - i received a certified letter 12 days after it was mailed. that never happened before him. also, he's an insurrectionist - he tried to interfere with vote by mail in 2020. additionally, the justice dept is full of drumpf appointees - why are they still there? biden is a classic neoliberal servant of the oligarchs.
DeJoy is a REPUBLICAN installation with protection from being fired, and the system is protecting him. NOT Democrats — the system. He DOES need to be dumped, but you must know he’s foisted on us by Republicans and we’d get MORE of it, if we let them win in November.
Please apply rational thought along with the emotional disgust that all the rest of us feel, too.
Pat - see Lee's comment below. He is correct. Biden has had ample opportunity to get rid of this insurrectionist. Also, what is irrational about expecting an executive (biden) to clean house? Again, see Lee's comment below
It is NOT up to Biden to do it. The board has to be made up of a specific mix of bipartisan people. and THEY have to get rid of the guy. I don't say Biden has given it the push I'd have liked. But it's not his right to dump the guy.
I said he doesn't have carte blanche to do it. He does not have unfettered authority. And he WAS stymied for quite some time. Even his appointments need to be approved by the Senate.
YES, I want the guy gone. YES, I want to see Biden pushing for it. But it's not his place to dump him. The Board of Governors has to vote him out.
If Biden is purposely slow-walking this guy's departure, I'd like someone to show me that. I know a LOT of Democrats have ben encouraging him to get it done. Has he been resisting? And why do you think that would be?
Correction Pat. i will say it again. Two seats came empty on the Board of Governors in 2020 and Biden appointed a Republican and a Democrat.
Two more seats have come empty in Dec 2022, and Biden has left them empty, thus leaving DeJoy in charge.
The make-up of the board requires a bipartisan representation — Biden can’t pack it the way McConnell packed the Supreme Court {and that in itself is a hoot!}.
If he wants a simple majority to ditch DeJoy, he has to be sure he has what he needs on the board.
I worry that he thinks the PO is a lower-level priority, with all that is on the plate in Washington, but I’d love to see it bring it higher and get rid of that DeZasster.
Obama left the people in place from the 2008 Banker induced, manufactured housing crisis.
Please apply facts and rational thought to the facts - the Dems are beholden to wall street too.
And, the personal comments about people are not welcome.
Exactly, the facts hurt both parties. But the Dems have let me down the most. And, no the republican's care even less about anyone's "kitchen table".
I'm going to keep demanding the Dems stand up for working people like FDR.
It is good to expect the best. Remember, though,that Democrats don’t operate in a vacuum. They can’t change things via fiat.
Sure they can!! Obama could replace all of those wall street bankers in one swoop of a pen. Bill Clinton got rid of G&S in one swoop.
LOL - so the Dems best argument is that change happens slowly.... but the republicans can destroy democracy in Jan 25 very quickly??
Pick up the pace :)))))
So...feel the Bern? How'd that work out in '16?
It didn't work out because the DNC [it their thumb on the scale for Hillary.
And the wise women of South Carolina were snookered. Bernie has real civil rights credentials, he marched even. Hillary's civil rights credentials are specious, and verbal. Yet the wise women of SC voted for her in the primary and the rest of the south fell in line.
S.C and the south basically control the primary, but by the same token, the have the opposite effect on the General.. like it or not the voting public is still race oriented.
Biden in 2020 is not an exception, by 2020 a head of cabbage could have beat Trump, any one the DNC put up would have beat Trump.
The DNC is has a paleolithic attitude, and it fronts candidates, Gubernatorial and Presidential based on length of service, loyalty, credentials and they have no race horse in the paddock to take to the starting gate, other than those who have patiently stood in line, padding around the paddock, earning what the establishment considers necessary credentials. Like Hillary and the DNC demand that she be Secretary of State, for what they perceived was the necessary foreign services credentials.
By the same token by fronted Terry McAuliffe, a former head of the DNC for Governor of VA and the old fool screwed that one quick.
The DNC has not and probably can't learn a lesson from mistakes, because it really is addicted to donor cash. Bernie out raised Hillary, from individual contributions, but that lesson is lost on the DNC.
The problemis the DNC, DSCC and DCCC as well and maybe especially the DLCC founded by Clinton or under his reign.
Don, see Lee's comment below. Bernie would have beaten drumpf.
I agree Janet,
Why hasn’t the Democratic Party pushed back!!!! De Joke, the Supreme Court, the scary scary thugs taking our so called laws into their own hands to screw all of us. Let’s learn how to screw!!!
I want them to push back A LOT, too, Jean. And be way more savvy and stop letting Republicans eat our lunch.
But DeJoy holds a protected office and he can only be fired by a board that has been purposely kept short of a few members by the Republicans who WANT DeJoy in there ruining the Post Office.
I think Democrats need to be more hardnosed about getting him out, yes. But it’s not as easy as just givning him the heave ho.
At least, it isnt now. Civil Service and a lot of government jobs are isolated from the “whims” of those in power. That is actually something the Heritage Foundation and the Republicans want to UNDO. So, they can fire anyone they want and dump a loyalist in there, kind of like Orban did in Hungary and Putin can do in Russia, now that I think of it.
Do you WANT to usher in that kind of change?
Again Pat. In 2020 Biden had the chance to appoint to Dems to the BoG of USPS, he appointed a Republican and a Democrat, there are two vacancies since Dec 22 and Biden hasn't filled them.
So Biden's fault then, and What is going on.?
I think that's exactly what FDR did in the Pekora hearings. There are plenty of lawyers willing and able to do it again.
Heck - even Katie Porter put down Jamie Dimon with only a white board? And the Dems, didn't vote for her?
I voted for her.
I was in the wrong state. There were two awesome women running... I just shake my head.
I hope she's reading this. That was the best take down ever of Jamie Dimon. Just image if she had a Pekora hearing what she could do!
Janet, I know you can't tolerate being corrected when you make a factual error, but I do think you mean the "Pecora" hearings.
KP had strong rivals in Barbara Lee and Adam Schiff.
There were only two Katie Porter and Barbara Lee - in my opinion anyway.
Has Adam Schiff ever taken out a white board and clearly demonstrated the useless of the bankers? Is Adam going to champion the 32 hour work week? I doubt it.
What do you mean by "the useless of the bankers"?
I don't vote in California,. but am disappointed with the nomination of Schiff.
Schiff is a publicity hound, she speaks a great game on TV, but is otherwise ineffectual
My real gripe is that Shiff and the frmr Congressman for NY, Patrick Mahoney, who was also head of the DCCC, went junkateering in Paris during the 2022 election when they should have stayed home and oversaw the NY congressional elections and the result is that four NY seats flipped to Republican and look what that has wrought.
\
I used to like him but I've changed my mind for the reasons you cite and those dirty tricks he pulled in the primary to get Garvey on the ballot. I voted for Porter but I am not happy with her claiming that the election was rigged. Now I wish I'd voted for Barbara Lee but it doesn't matter.
Biden had a chance to get rid of Dejoy in December 2020 Two seat on the board became vacant. If he filled them with two Democrats, the Board of Governors could have fired Dejoy, but he appointed a Democrat and a Republican.
Two more seats came empty in Dec 22, and Biden hasn't filled them. I am sure that if he did one would be a Republican, thus maintaining the balance, Only the Board of Governors can fire DeJoy, and Dejoy and his deputy have one vote each, the board is split and has been.
The question asked, but not in the "liberal" media is why hasn't Biden filled the seats with Democrats and thus fired DeJoy.
DeJoy also cancelled the contract for electric vehicles and gave it to his friend at Oshkosh, in which he holds stock.
And there Joe sits like a stonewall, doing nothing.
Biden is not omnescient, but his actions and inactions make me wonder just who the éminence grise behind the "throne" might be... Larry Summers, come to mind, he made his foul prescence known with Obama, and was behind the appointment of Timothy Geithner and the bank bail out, and who knows what else, I suspect privatizing, neo liberal, Rahm Emanuel as well.
Janet, don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Every politician is a flawed human being, as we all are, but it's self-evident that the other side has politicians who are far more flawed.
I hate hate that expression Jeff, Rahm Emanuel coined it to justify the ACA when we could have had Medicare for all, by simply amending the Medicare Act to say Eligible from Birth.
Do current Medicare recipients support Medicare for All? Medicare and Affirmative Action divided the middle class by race and age. Nixon grabbed the ball right away.
That's the best you got ;) so sorry. But taking an argument off course doesn't work either.
I'm just the messenger - the Dems need to step it up.
It doesn't take the argument off course. In fact, it gets to the very heart of the argument. You clearly are someone who will only be satisfied with a politician who, out of 330 million Americans, agrees with you, Janet Adams, in every way and meets your, Janet Adams', standards for moral clarity and perfection. Otherwise, they don't deserve your vote. You're sick and tired of voting for the lesser of two evils! I get it.
So because the Democrats haven't earned your vote, you will either not vote or you will vote for a third-party candidate. If that's what you want to do, Janet, well, it's a free country--for now.
You are clearly making assumptions.
You are clearly not listening and not actually care about the working class???
SO if you actually want the Dems to win - start now with substance - not "fear of xyzzy"
Just saying that's all.
All the best.
I agree with you. Asking people to vote against Trump does not solve their problems. Telling them how you will help them is the way to go.
Well, there’s progressivism and then there is not so well thought out progressivism. I’ll give you but two examples of the latter. First, I actually read a U of Illinois professor claim that math was racist. Really? Isn’t it something that most humans need to understand to actually function in the world? The entire premise was, it’s racist because a bunch of white Europeans such as Newton invented calculus or other aspects of modern math. Forgetting that who invented various aspects of the math we use today were created by multiple cultures over centuries. Newton can’t help who he was or that he was smart. Are we now to abandon common sense because of such idiotic claims? I fear for the future of this country if this is the tact that we embark on. Second, here in Minneapolis, the left wing city council over rode the liberal mayor in forcing Uber and Lyft to pay a certain base pay. Never mind, that value was from an Oregon initiative, where the cost of living is substantially higher than here in MPLS. Almost twice the existing salary. So what happens? Uber and Lyft are threatening to pull out and leave the city with few alternatives to support the community. While I’d agree that the owners of said services take advantage of the workers, what the council failed to do was its job to evaluate all the alternatives, much less the implications. Instead, just as bad as some republicans on the other side, they shot from the hip. In the end, everyone loses. Stuff like this takes work, which seems to beyond the capability of some Americans. With every action, there is an equally opposite reaction. Not considering what those could be in either case is beyond unconscionable!
To be an FDR you need a Frances Perkins!!
Janet, the USPS, during Nixon's term in 1970 was re-formed from a governmental agency performing the will of the people to a self funding quasi-governmental business with an independent board of directors. Biden cannot, by that law, "get rid of" Louis de Joy. Only the USPS has that privilege. That position happened to pop up during the trumpster's reign of terror and naturally he appointed a man whose sole business was a competing delivery service. Of course, de Joy wants to destroy USPS.
Why didn't Obama replace all of the republicans when he came into office? He had the power to do it. Trump is the aftermath of banker induced financial crisis.
In peace, :)
I agree, Obama made a huge mistake retaining some of the Bank and Securities bailouts instigated by Bush's Henry Paulson, Secretary of the Treasury. I don't think Obama, immediately understood the depth of the calamity of 2008. He, Obama, did replace all but Robert Gates, Secretary DOD. The "talk" of his retaining "all those Republicans" was just that - talk no substance. Fact check Janet.
I agree with you, Janet. One quibble, though: no, Biden can't get rid of DeJoy. He can appoint members to the governing board as vacancies come up, but until there's a critical mass of anti-DeJoy members, the incredibly misnomered DeJoy isn't going anywhere.
Maybe - but would that stop a republican? It never seems too.
There are other things to Dems can do. I turned off Biden's address when he said "I'm not anti corporation". The corporations have a monopoly and rolled up most small businesses. Even the supermarkets are now - florist, bakery, butcher, deli, sub shop, sell in bins, an international isle. It's not free market when there is no meaningful competition. Then everyone is forced to work low wages, irregular schedules, no medical insurance, etc.
EXACTLY, on all counts!
Biden isn't anti-corporation?? Well, I guess not, after he's been in bed with them his entire career. There's gotta be a reason he was initially elected from his home state of Delaware, the incoporation base for credit card companies and thousands of large businesses.
I hear you. But most folks are uncomfortable with upsetting the status quo. And I also hear them. How can we effect change without cooperation? This is the paradox. And that is the solution - radical change that brings quick, positive results. Like I saw elsewhere where you said ejecting the pawns of Wall Street from within the administration. That is a place to start.
well, the Dems have been cooperating with wall street for a while now. Obama had everything going for him.
I'm just telling the Dems what they don't seem to want to hear.
We're tired of it. To not vote for Katie Porter who took out Jamie Dimon with just a simple white board - that says it all.
I'm trying to explain to the Dems what people are saying. We're tired of the slick ads. I found that the poorest streets in the county had a better grasp of the reality of policies than the well heeled Dems "think" the issues are.
Just saying - cheers. I'm not the one this group needs to convince.
:)
Janet, you are focused on class issues, but most voters are mesmerized by what they see on TV: the border tragedy, the spectacular store robberies, gang violence, and, of course, they see the high grocery prices. These people will vote Republican.
Are you sure about that?
Well, if the Dems want to focus on TV - best of luck. The serious voters are not. Not the ones, I've spoken with anyway.
All the best.
Don't ignore the polls. Wishful thinking can lead to tragedy.
A word from other Republicans than the Lincoln Project:
https://youtu.be/yJfGEIUSwz4?si=vN3QYcUb1qbnunq3
Justice Matters, Glenn Kirschner
I always look forward to this guy - Anthony Davis - too: https://youtu.be/WOfJeLpdk0U?si=HnfS-m0FZa2ddoiQ
Five Minute News and the Weekend Report are my go to podcasts
His comments are my daily faire, along with MidasTouch and Popok.
Keep turning your Hamster wheel to keep yourself fit for this long fight
Here in America, right matters
https://www.amazon.com/Alexander-Vindman/e/B08ML9Y673/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1
👍
❤️❤️❤️
Nothing matters. Good ad copy for us.
For MAGATS "Trump hates dogs" and "Trump stole from kids with cancer" is more effective..
If you edit people, you can make it look like they’re all saying “nothing matters,” when most of them are saying essentially, “It seems that Republicans believe nothing maters.”
We all know that THE COMING ELECTION MATTERS, and it matters greatly.
It DOES matter that Donald has been indicted. But is he really facing consequences, or is he going to skate?
THAT is still a huge question.
And, yes, IT MATTERS!
Vote Blue.
He's also having trouble raising that half a billion dollars. I'm laughing my head off.
I certainly hope so. The Republican Party is becoming his piggy bank. I hope people realize ... !
And even they can't seem to help him through this one. Ha ha ha!
you might want to check your facts! your rose-colored glasses are a bit foggy!
This is not Just Trumpet 🎺 vs Biden
This election is the Patricians ( REPUBLICANS ) Vs the Plebs ( DEMOCRATS )
Trumpet 🎺 is waging Class WARFARE
Trumpet 🎺 talks inclusiveness but his actions are Exclusive . Thumpet 🎺 wants to Exclude everyone that doesn’t have Money or Property.
Trumpet 🎺 wants to Cut; End Social Security , Cut Food Stamps; Cut Education, Cut Veterans Benefits…
Donald Hodgins
Donald’s Substack
just now
Donald Hodgins
Donald’s Substack
1 min ago
Trump's belief that there will be blood in the streets is a moronic pipe dream. Just more fear and chaos. Republicans bleed just as easily as Democrats. Instead of the red stuff, let's smear a bit of understanding. Strange, I saw no Red MAGA hats at Sawgrass this weekend. Where have all the MAGAs hats gone, Mr. Dooley.
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POS is going to lose election BIGLY
There are more Democrats than Republicans and there are more anti Trumpers than there are Trumpers.
But it isn't votes that count, it is who counts the votes.
The Trump party, former Republican party) has shut down programs like minority outreach and all money is going tinto lawfare (war fare), voter caging, appointing Trumpers to election committees in the counties, voter suppression, I feat that despite everything the Republicans will rig this election,unless Democrats get on the ball and short stop them.
Only one direction--
Donald Hodgins <silencenotbad@gmail.com>
11:54 AM (0 minutes ago)
Laws were created by people in power as a means through which to control the masses. Trump's purpose here is to control the people in power and by doing so circumvent the laws he hates so much. He will most likely speed up the judicial process by doing away with it all together. Trump's law!
😀😀
Donald, please explain why you think there won't be violence. BTW, I too was surprised this weekend. I drove quite a long distance to see a friend and saw only two Trump flags the whole time.
Paula--What would be the point? It would be us against ourselves. If it really came down to that, a world in tatters is not a place for peace.
I'm not sure I'm following you. Are you saying MAGAs won't shoot and destroy because it isn't in their interest?
Paula--No! I'm saying how in the hell will they be able to tell us from them.
lack rejection desensitization is a double negative.
I have worked hard all of my adult life. I have paid my taxes and followed the rules. I am a good citizen and I've never run a scam or lied in order to enrich myself. That social security is mine. I earned it. These politicians that want to use citizens like chess pieces need to be voted out. We need a Congress that will ALWAYS put the American people first. When my mom was alive, she would tell me not to worry about getting old. She said that was the time that you could relax, enjoy your favorite things, and do the things you couldn't do while you were raising your family and working hard. I'm so glad she isn't here to see what has happened in our country. If my children were not helping me, I would be homeless and living in poverty!! My heart hurts for the older generation that are barely getting by. Some are homeless, some are barely scraping by and to think that the politicians don't give the furry crack of a rat's ass about us makes me so angry!! We are not pawns in your stupid back and forth game of look at us, we can do whatever we want!! The fact is, you can't do whatever you want. We will vote you out! We will demand term limits on every one of you. Vote Blue, America!! At least Democrats believe in helping ALL Americans, not just their fat cat friends!!!
I live in the blue hair state. Back in the 50's when air-conditioning was invented, lots of retirees moved to Florida. They used most of their savings to buy a small home, planning to survive on Social Security and the remainder of their savings. They were glad to be rid of harsh winters and high taxes.
Then reality struck hard. We have retirees at our food banks. There are a few reasons for this: (1) the death of a spouse, (2) declining health - medicaid doesn't allow home ownership, but in many situations, the home is necessary for the other spouse (3) the value of their land and the taxes on it boomed out of control, (4) the cost of insurance in an age when storms are normal at category five, (5) the cost of maintenance in aging or poorly constructed buildings, as well as lawn and landscape care, and (6) the cost of living expenses, especially groceries and transportation.
People who worked diligently and were careful to save, suddenly found that it wasn't enough. Peggy is right. There is no golden age, but there are kind people with true compassion for others. I hope I will be one of those.
Thank you, Shaf. There are kind people with true compassion for others and you are one of them!! I envy those countries who revere their elders. They look to them for wisdom and guidance. They respect them. Unfortunately, we are not one of those countries. Sometimes I feel that these politicians are spitting on us. We are the unseen and unheard. They sound like they would like to be rid of the whole lot of us!! But, I have to smile because, in time, every single one of them who wanted to cut our social security and Medicare, well, they are gonna be old, too!! I'll be long gone but I will be laughing from above watching realization dawn on their ignorant faces!! Welcome to old age, you idiots!!!
As of today, the Catfood commission, which Robert has discussed previously, is poised to recommend cuts to all benefits. Social Security, Medicare, VA, Black Lung, etc. Republicans have tried to eliminate SSI.
Social Security is social insurance and everyone who is fully and currently insured has the equivalent of a million dollar policy covering the entire family. There are two funds, the retirement fund and the disability fund. As of today, the funds are still solvent, although it's estimated that the retirement fund will "default" in 2033. Republicans tried to kill the disability fund several times. I've written about it, Save the Social Security Disability Trust Fund! and Reduce SSI Exposure to the General Fund, 36 J. Nat’l Ass’n Admin. L. Judiciary 142 (2016). https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1601&context=naalj
I've also written about the retirement fund. The main problem is that baby boomers had huge populations that will expend expenses until the apex in 2033, when population should return to normal. Once upon a time, my theory was that if the rate of contribution were supplemented, using charitable deductions, the apex could be exceeded.
Here's a paper I wrote for lawyers, December 01, 2011 FINANCIAL PLANNING
Social Security—Maybe Charity Should Begin at Home
By Daniel F. Solomon
For most of its history, Social Security was a terrific bargain: our parents and grandparents most probably received significantly more benefits than they paid into the Social Security Trust Fund. The trust fund comprises the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) and Disability Insurance (DI) Trust Funds (OASDI, collectively).
In most cases, because our family units could rely on these benefits, they were able to enjoy enough financial independence to send people like us to school so that we could become lawyers—productive and, in some cases, wealthy, members of society. For 75 years, the Social Security Trust Fund has helped enable American soci- ety to achieve far beyond the aspirations of its founders, ultimately providing more than subsistence to retirees by also protecting widows, orphans, and disabled people. The dignity provided to needy beneficiaries surely far outweighs the economic value of the funds.
However, financial experts have long predicted a future insolvency of the funds. A majority of Americans have invested in the funds, recognize their social utility, and do not want to burden their heirs. Although there have been legislative attempts to “fix” the system, there is no consensus how to do it. The Congressional Research Service reported:
For example, for workers who earned average wages and retired in 1980 at age 65, it took 2.8 years to recover the value of the retirement portion of the combined employee and employer shares of their Social Security taxes plus interest. For their counterparts who retired at age 65 in 2002, it will take 16.9 years. For those retiring in 2020, it will take 20.9 years.
Geoffrey Kollmann and Dawn Nuschler, “Social Security Reform” (October 2002).
The National Commission on Social Security Reform (informally known as the “Greenspan Commission” after its chairman) was appointed by the Congress and President Ronald Reagan in 1981 in response to a short-term financing crisis that Social Security faced at that time. Estimates were that the OASI Trust Fund would run out of money possibly as early as August 1983. Congress rendered a compromise that extended the retirement age from 65 to 67, through a deal that raised payroll taxes and trimmed benefits enough to keep Social Security solvent. See Jackie Calmes, “Political Memo: The Bipartisan Panel: Did It Really Work?” New York Times, January 18, 2010. However, the legislation addressed only the immediate problem and did not address the long-term viability of the fund. See also Rudolph G. Penner, “The Greenspan Commission and the Social Security Reforms of 1983,” in Triumphs and Tragedies of the Modern Presidency, David Abshire, Editor. Washington: Center for the Study of the Presidency, pp. 129–31.
The George W. Bush administration commission deliberated on the issue and then called for a transition to a combination of a government-funded program and personal accounts (“individual” or “private accounts”) through partial privatization of the system.
President Barack Obama reportedly strongly opposes privatization or raising the retirement age but supports raising the cap on the payroll tax ($106,800 in 2009) to help fund the program. He has appointed a National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, which is to report and offer another fix.
Current estimates predict that payroll taxes will only cover 78% of the scheduled payout amounts after 2037. This declines to 75% by 2084. 2010 OASDI Trust- ees Report, Figure II.D2, www.ssa.gov/OACT/TR/2010/ trTOC.html.
Although the congressional plan was to ensure solvency through Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) tax, there is a private means to help: to also consider the humanitarian and charitable nature of the Social Security Administration (SSA), which has been possible since a legislative fix in 1972. Before then, bequests naming Social Security or a trust fund as a beneficiary could not be accepted, which caused problems in administration of some estates. Money gifts or bequests may be accepted for deposit by the managing trustee of the OASI and DI funds. Section 170(c)(l) of the Internal Revenue Code lists the U.S. government among the educational or charitable organizations to which donations are acceptable. Gifts must be unconditional, except that the donor may designate to which fund the gift should be donated. If no fund is designated, the gift is credited to the OASI Trust Fund.
However, SSA has not publicized its charitable persona. Although the agency has received some gifts and bequests, they have been insignificant and not given consideration in a possible fix. The concept has been so unimportant to the experts that the Annual Statistical Supplement to the Social Security Bulletin does not specify how much the administration has received in gifts and bequests. Total revenue from gifts to the trust funds has been quite small. From 1974 to 1979 the most received in any one year was $91,949.88. During that period, the average annual amount was only $39,847. In 1980, almost two-thirds of the gifts were less than $100. The median gift size was $50. One person, for example, donated $13.11. She arrived at that amount by applying 5.85% (the employee tax rate then in effect) to her benefit amount and donated it to help “‘shore up’ the sagging, dwindling Social Security fund.” However, the 2010 Social Security Trustees Report lists them as about $98,000 (www.ssa.gov/OACT/TR/2010/III_ cyoper.html#2). Compared to many other charities, this is a paltry amount.
Apparently, SSA has never done a feasibility study nor marketing research to determine how an aggressive campaign could raise funds to support Social Security, or how gifts and bequests could reduce the current estimates of impending doom. According to some estimates total deductions taken for all charities next year would be $413.5 billion. Estimates for fiscal year 2011 are that SSA will spend $730 billion. That amount is already covered through “contributions” (taxes), but it is reasonable that charitable contributions to the trust fund could significantly lessen taxpayer exposure for impending doom, if not return the fund to solvency.
As lawyers, we have the capacity to remind our families, our clients, and the public at large that there is a way to contribute to help endow future generations in the pursuit of the same kind of social stability that Social Security provided to our parents and grandparents.
[signed me]
Daniel, I learned a lot from this post. Thank you for sharing your expertise on this topic. It helps clarify things for people like me who honestly don't understand government workings. Your information was helpful!
Thank you for sharing
Excellent article, Daniel. Thank you for posting it.
I dont understand the so called charity issue - why would any taxpayer regard the SSA as a charity? Why donate to the government?
SSID saves disabled taxpayers, widow(er)s and orphans, is the greatest benefactor, more than any 501 C 3 charity. Donors get a write off.
Once past the apex, contributions will cover.
I am advised that SSA posted it's link after I pressured them and a few people have taken my advice.
BTW I received thanks from several past commissioners.
To help older people who are struggling.
Peggy, they plan to grift money away from everyone else and live off that and not need SS.
Not sure I understand, Midwest. Who will they grift money from?
The election of 2024 will come down to "Good" -vs- "Evil." If you love this country and you wish to see it continue you must vote foe Joe. If discontent and disorder is your vision of the future, then Trump is your choice. Just remember, if you submit that ballot with Trump's name on it, you just took a dump on this country and our constitution.
Well said, Donald, well said!!! Vote Blue, America!
"Good vs Evil" is the evangelicals language.
You already are
Me 2 - but honestly have the Dems not sold out to wall street too?
The Con https://www.thecon.tv
Call me names if you want on here but I hope that some Dem will listen to and demand (like Bernie said) a progressive FDR agenda. Otherswise - I'm not excited.
A start would be a more equitable and sustainable tax code. Gee, we might even see the deficit decline 😉. Last time we had a surplus, was thanks to Clinton, conservative as he really was.
Janet: You have me blocked so you can't see my posts. Damn shame because I agree with every comment you have made thus far.
I too am disappointed with the Democrats and Biden, for being an appeaser, a compomiser, bipartisan because it is a waste (the Republicans aren't), it is a betrayal of our democracy and principles.
I am pissed because Congress did not pass a law legalizing abortions. om the interregnum when they had control of the Presidency and congress, (21 days in 2021) Perhaps because Biden when a senator was vehemently against abortions, and not all Democrats in congress are even liberal, or progressive, plus there are quite a few Catholic members of Congress, and it seems that few practicing Catholics want to run afoul of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops who will excommunicate you in a heart beat and deny the excommunicate their weekly supplement of wafer and wine.
Thank you! Power to the People!
"At least Democrats believe in helping ALL Americans, not just their fat cat friends!!!" LOL.. Are you sure about that? There's plenty of corporate Democrat politicians that cater to their donors and care very little or at all about the rest of us.
Great analysis but you need to get this message to the idiots who are voting for that moron TRUMP
The trumpers will only say things like their lives are in the hands of God. You have to get the message to the pastors that their older parishioners will not be donating as much and will require more help. (Do churches even help their elderly anymore?)
I would love to go church to church interviewing the pastors or priests and ask: How will Trump help the poor, the elderly, handicapped or the disadvantaged? Or how would Jesus greet the immigrants coming to our borders ? With words of faith or with hatred and scorn like Trump?
Susan, the sad, sad truth is that evangelicals got rid of pastors who raised these issues. Many Catholics use religion to promote the interests of the wealthy. People tend to use religion in ways that benefit their perceived interests. It's a very old problem; you can read all about it in the Bible and the Quran.
That sounds like a good interview. Maybe even one to ask that young man, I think his name is Charlie Kirk, one of trump’s religious mouthpieces.
“Do churches help their elderly any more?” No.
Mine does. It's an inner-city Protestant church.
https://www.votecommongood.com/
There is a church (in my very red neighborhood) which has a meal ministry helping the elderly. Twice a week church volunteers deliver home cooked meals to those who need assistance.
Evangelicals state Trumps views & values and the way he lives now and in the past are Christian values , their Bible must be a different one I don’t recognise it.IT MUST BE THE DEVILS VERSION !
The politicized evangelicals hope the rapture will come before it gets too bad.The worse it gets here, the more they believe they see the signs. We're worried about better lives here (as is the focus of most unpoliticized religions, I think), while I sense a "bring it on" attitude out there. We're talking "rational" here, but the word may have been lost in translation.
A former coworker (highly educated in computers) originally from Bulgaria was so excited to immigrate to this country in early 2000s, when I worked with her. She told me people in Bulgaria almost literally expected the streets to be paved with gold. A couple years ago we touched base again. I think her disillusionment is now complete.
The same applies to most of Western society and countries.I have lived in the UK for 52 years and all I have seen is decay in morals, life and in services.I am from Kenya originally
As a former Russian engineer colleague of mine’s told me, neither communism nor pure capitalism have the best interests of the public in mind.
It doesn’t seem to matter which form of government, there forms a small, wealthy, powerful group that works to keep their privileges even at the expense of the most vulnerable.
Absolutely.
Margaret, this may explain why an Apple programmer quit his lucrative job, became a priest, and went to live in Siberia.
Nah, they're too busy partying like it's 1861.
I think 1861 is too recent to make them happy. I think they want to regress the the 1200s.
Before the Magna Carta.
Of course they are. The Chief Justice “Taney” Roberts court already has us back to 1857 as do the MAGA republicans in Congress with a modern version of Kansas-Nebraska Act thinking to benefit the oligarchs. (Heather Cox Richardson has a recent newsletter on that).
Exactly this! Basically this is preaching to the choir. I guess that’s our job? Partly?
Those idiots still thin Trump one the last election. You have to get Newsmax, Fox, etc. To say this and MAYBE light bulb will go off in their heads. Trump's followers would really suffer losing social security. Wake up and smell the coffee
That’s why those stations will never say it.
"The BeLuved UnEds" . .. tho he was just kidding of course . .
Retirement is not "biblical". What a vacuous argument. In principle, Christians should not be following the Bible. The Bible supports war, slavery, murder. Christians follow the teachings of Paul and the apostles. They were trying to establish a new religion with political power. The religion grew and in the 4th century became the religion of the Roman empire under Constantine. Since then Christianity has fomented war and occupation in Europe and around the war, destroying civilizations.
Jesus of Nazareth was never trying to establish a new religion. He never claimed to be the Messiah.
He was an immigrant from the Northern Jewish kingdom of Samaria. He only spoke Aramaic. His teachings were all about ethical and moral behavior. "I was a stranger and you took in. I was hungry and you gave me food. I was sick and you cared for me." (Matthew 25) He was a rabbi who tried to help the Jewish population understand the priciples of the laws and writings they "followed". He respected women and accepted them as disciples, worthy of sitting with the male disciples and listening to his teachings. They were his most loyal and devoted followers;
Christian nationalists do not care about America. They care about the mythology of America as a "Christian" nation, which is not supported by the Constitution. They should stop "cherry-picking" the writings of the Hebrew scriptures and the letters of the apostles and commit themselves to the ethical and moral teachings of Jesus of Nazareth.
Peace to all.
That's very TRUE. As a Gay Canadian Metis, I find what these so-called "nationalists" are usually on the doles to unfriendly foreign sources... Those who rather see Gaea destroyed than see a brighter future, or give something meaningful for the next generation to improve or advance.
That's why "freaks" like Orban are in the US. THIS HAS GOT TO BE STOPPED!!! If it means putting a permanent end to CPAC and the Heritage Foundation, then as Thor would say, SO BE IT!
I have to wonder if they are just using religion as a means to an end, with money and power being their true goal.
Ding ding ding! Dr. Reich, tell him what he’s won!
Bingo!
Couldn’t agree more. Biblically, historically, and economically correct. I’m usually annoyed at commenters that copy and paste the same comment across multiple SubStacks for weeks on end, but this one is worth repeating.
well PJ, Youve really waded into it here with a few sweeping assertions. The Bible does not "support" war etc..
Why LIFT the cap? Here's an idea!!!!!, eliminate the cap. If the cap serves no purpose, other than to give the wealthy yet another advantage, it should be eliminated altogether. Lifting it not only suggests there is a rational reason for one , but arguably just kicks the can down the road,......albeit a long and winding one.
Lifting the cap would not suffice. A tax reform that taxes bonuses and stock options at the time of award would be necessary. Too many corporations would simply switch income into these two wealth building opportunities to avoid the actual increase in incomes. They’ve been doing it for decades, and our tax system waits for a sale of assets that NEVER HAPPEN to tax these salary loopholes.
The wealthy will never let that happen. We think elections are contentious now…just remember all the companies are run by the wealthy.
Raise the capital gains tax back to 28% first
Agree, but peg it to a threshold of those households with income above (pick an arbitrary amount, but for discussion) maybe $250,000 to $400,000 and exclude home sales.
I’ve known life long democrats that start sounding like tax hating republicans when they downsize their home or siblings selling an inherited home of deceased parents.
That's because house prices have exploded. There are remedies for that too, but I'm preaching to the choir.
Best idea yet.
Social Security and Medicare are NOT entitlements for two reasons:
One is a reflection of the dictum by the great British economist John Maynard Keynes, whose work forms the basis of most reputable economic principles: “expenditures rise to meet income,” meaning that, no matter how much money the average salaried individual makes, he or she will find something on which to spend it — and maybe more (which is how and why so many Americans are in debt. Left to their own devices, and paid one-hundred percent of the value of their labor at the time they earn it, every penny will be gone by the time their earning years are over.
THAT’S why Franklin Roosevelt and the Democratic Congress created Social Security: so that retired or disabled Americans would not spend their last years sleeping on park benches and subway gratings.
So, Americans spend their entire working lives not receiving the full value of their labor: a percentage of it is withheld and then parceled out to them after they retire (granted, if one works one’s entire adult life and then drops dead the day he or she retires, it’s a bad deal, but if one lives past age 77, one then begins to draw income above what one paid in — a very good deal).
In short, SS and Medicare are nothing but DEFERRED SALARY. It’s OUR money, NOT a gift from the government, and we earned EVERY penny of it. A court of law would rule that any attempt to curtail those payments is THEFT, plain and simple.
The second reason SS and Medicare are not entitlements is that, in any other context, the word means an absolute right to something, but in the U.S. the only absolute rights we have are enumerated in the Constitution. Unfortunately, SS are NOT in the Constitution; they are statutes only, created by acts of Congress, meaning that they can be altered or eliminated by a superseding act of Congress. THAT is why they MUST be enshrined in a Constitutional amendment; only then will they truly be Entitlements in ANY context, making that word an inviolable promise rather than the threat its opponents tirelessly wield as a cudgel.
Well said
I agree completely!
Voluntarily? You have more faith in people than I do.
There are many generous people, and I agree that we often obscure reality with stereotypes. A Chicago area billionaire, who left home as a youth with almost nothing, managed to built a large, climate friendly company in the Chicago area, and he regularly donates millions to philanthropic projects in this area. If he is especially moved by a news story he will search for the person, family, whoever it is, and quietly come to their rescue. By quietly, I mean he insists on 100 percent anonymity, though occasionally local media slips in this regard. A volunteer group I am with is immensely grateful for a generous donation provided by this person to the organization we volunteer for. He loves nature, and when he saw us in muddy clothes and carrying hand tools out of a Cook County Forest Preserve, he was moved enough by his own love of nature to work with their official ecologists to determine needs of the land, and then he donated (through the associated foundation) the amount required to complete key projects. The results that unfolded so far through this assistance are astonishing. Both paid county staff, and we still happy, unpaid, grubby volunteers, are ecstatic! More recently I learned of another wealthy donor who donated millions as well as time to supporting the restoration of a large Midwest wetland that now has international recognition for benefiting migratory birds.
My skepticism is directed towards human nature.
I think laws still need to keep a check on greed. Nonprofit organizations already encourage philanthropy and help with tax relief, so encouragement exists.
We volunteers gave our unnamed donor a name: "Angel"!
t some point, whoever is in charge, you’re going to have to reduce the deficit. Democrats need to win Congress as well as the presidency
Is there some way to heavily tax the price gougers? We know that record profits have been made that inflated consumer prices. Tax the gougers, pay down the deficit.
Windfall profits tax.
SUE. California is suing Amazon.
The President’s Budget Cuts the Deficit by $3 Trillion Over 10 Years
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/03/11/fact-sheet-the-presidents-budget-cuts-the-deficit-by-3-trillion-over-10-years/
Got this from Gary Stewart,
Recently, Robert suggested that people read Biden's Budget Proposal, and said that the introduction provided an impressive list of accomplishments. I have reviewed the budget introduction and offer this edited summary. I apologize if this is too long has to be broken up into two posts, and if the formatting makes it harder to read. It is a very impressive list. Keep in mind that Biden became President in the midst of a global pandemic and a reeling economy, and has had a starkly divided Congress.
AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN
Vaccinated the Nation
Delivered immediate economic relief to people who badly needed it
Sent funding to States and cities to keep key services going
INFRASTRUCTRE
46,000 new projects announced this far
Roads, bridges, railroads, ports, airports, public transit, water systems,
high-speed internet, and more
Supporting advanced manufacturing, by American workers.
RESPONSE TO CLIMATE CHANGE
Rebuild and boost resilience to extreme weather
Cleaner, more resilient and sustainable power grid
Biggest investment in rural electricity since the New Deal
Revitalizing fence-line communities that have shouldered the burden of harmful
pollution for generations
Lowering energy costs
Strengthening our energy security with clean energy breakthroughs
ADDITIONAL RESULTS:
$650 billion in private investment, building factories and moving production back to America, with American union workers
Manufacturing boom
Semiconductor boom
Electric-vehicle boom
Hundreds of thousands of union jobs
Strongest economy in the world
Creation of a record 15 million jobs
Unemployment under four percent for the longest stretch in over 50 years
Growth is strong
Wages are rising
Inflation is down by two-thirds, affecting key household items like gas and milk.
More Americans have health insurance than ever
[[[ALL THIS WHILE REDUCING THE DEFICIT BY $1 TRILLION]]]
CONSUMER SENTIMENT:
Consumer sentiment has surged more in recent months than any time in 30 years.
Sign of hope: 16 million new business applications
ADDITIONAL FEATURES:
Fiscally responsible investments
Fairer tax system – E.g., new minimum tax of 15 percent on the Nation’s largest corporations
Saved $160 billion by giving Medicare the authority to negotiate prescription drug prices and limit price increases (capped the cost of insulin for seniors at $35 a month, down from as much as $400)
Boosted funding to the Internal Revenue Service to crack down on wealthy and corporate tax cheats.
CURRENT BUDGE PROPOSAL:
Enable Medicare to negotiate prices of even more drugs and limiting other drug price increases - save another $200 billion
Reduce wasteful subsidies to Big Oil and other special interests
Minimum tax on billionaires (raise $500 billion in revenues)
Budgetary and legislative proposals will cut a total of $4 trillion over the next decade
Additional goals incorporated in the current budget
Further rein in Big Pharma
In 2025, no senior on Medicare will pay more than $2,000 a year in total out-of-pocket prescription drug costs, plus crack down on price gouging by requiring drugmakers that raise prices of certain drugs faster than inflation to pay a rebate back to Medicare.
Continue to protect and expand the Affordable Care Act (21 million enrolled Americans, who save $800 per year on premiums)
Lower costs for working families with proposals for housing, childcare, student loans
Housing
Working to lower costs and boost supply of housing nationwide
Middle-class first-time homebuyers receive a $5,000 annual mortgage relief credit for
two years
Expand rental assistance to hundreds of thousands of additional families, continuing
the largest expansion in 20 years
Ease America’s longstanding shortage of affordable housing, including by cutting red tape, so that more builders can get Federal financing to build more affordable housing. More families own homes today than before the pandemic; rents are easing; and a record 1.7 million housing units are under construction nationwide.
Childcare and education
1) Restores the Child Tax Credit expansion, which cut child poverty nearly in half in 2021
2) Guarantees the vast majority of families high-quality childcare for no more than $10 a day
3) Boosts pay for childcare workers
4) Universal free pre-school for all four million of America’s four-year-olds
5) Helps States expand tutoring, after-school, and summer programs; and boosts recruiting to ease teacher shortages
6) Cancellation of $138 billion in student debt thus far, for 4 million Americans, including more than 750,000 teachers, nurses, firefighters, social workers, and other public servants.
Management of the Southern Border
Emergency request for more funding issued In October [blocked by House Republicans – “We need to pass the Senate’s bipartisan border deal as well, which would make urgent additional investments to secure the border and help to fix our broken immigration system.”]
Current Budget renews that request: 1) 1,300 more Border Patrol agents; 2) 375 immigration judges; 3) 1,600 asylum officers; 4) Cutting-edge technology to help detect fentanyl.
Global leadership - Restoration of America’s leadership on the world stage
Rallying more than 50 nations to support Ukraine in the face of brutal Russian aggression
Strengthening and expanding NATO
Revitalizing our alliances and partnerships in the Indo-Pacific—including with Japan, South Korea, and Australia
Issued national security supplemental request for funds for Ukraine and Israel, land humanitarian aid and relief for Palestinians, in October 2023
Budget reiterates that request
Strengthened deterrence capacity in the Indo-Pacific
Maintain the best-trained, best-equipped military globally
Over 30 significant bipartisan bills to support veterans, signed thus far, including the PACT Act, the biggest-ever expansion of benefits for servicemembers exposed to toxic burn pits during their service
That's amazing.
Here is Trump's resume in contrast:
Enriched self and family
Killed thousands through inept handling of COVID pandemic
Kept wildlife from migrating properly due to building part of a substandard wall along the border.
Greed is truly the whore of Babylon. And it is an addiction. Maybe what we need is psychiatric treatment for a guy like Bezos who is terrified of letting a dollar slip out of his hands, or honor, or power.
Bezos shows signs of remorse. Says he's giving it all away.
The super rich like to try to make philanthropy replace taxation, but they have always used philanthropy to build the world that entrenches power. This is why we have colleges that teach a "free market" is self regulating and needs no oversight. We need to insist they be taxed and build the world of, by, and for the people.
I disagree. Your perspective seems to be just giving up and saying we can't do anything. They need to be taxed, and we need to build a world of, by and for the people.
Lincoln owning slaves is a myth, no matter what Gerald J. Prokopowicz says. What isn't a myth is the abolition of slavery, women's suffrage, child labor laws, the new deal, the creation of the weekend and the equal rights movement. All brought by the left through the coarse of American history against the will of entrenched powers. If we push really really hard we can continue to bend the arc of history toward justice. It isn't easy, but it's one of the things that actually matter.
When it happens, I will personally write that man a letter of apology.
As a. Brit looking from afar, it seems the only thing that really has got to Trump is Obama's ridicule at the Press dinners. He simply hasn't been able to get over it. He has had to dismantle everything Obama achieved. Even now he cant get Obama out of his head and in his ramblings keeps mistakenly bringing up Obama. Ridicule him! He can't bear being laughed at!
Rather than preaching to the choir maybe today's column is more about activating the foot soldiers. We be them. Sharing information about the ceiling on income available for social security taxation sounds like a great place to start, the facts, just the facts, in a we're all in this together sort of way. Bullet points- "you know, I was reminded of something the other day, no matter how much money you make, only $168,000 is taxed for SS.. Jeff Bezos ...I looked it up. It's real."
No one will ever describe me as an extrovert but it's time for me to get out and mingle. I am soon to be 76 and will be less affected by diminishing SS income in 10 years, but there are a whole lot of people who might be encouraged to look more closely given reliable, well documented info.
Val Proffitt
.
None of the three living former Republican vice-presidents will support Trump. At least two out of three have called him unfit and a danger to our republic.
Bub, even in my home, Canada, ACROSS ALL PARTY LINES, we don't want that kind of hate nor rhetoric here... An' I'm telling you, Trump WON'T stop at the 49th Parallel, he'll go after Margaret Atwood, Me, Olivia Chow-Layton, Thomas Mulcair, Jean Chretien, etc. That madman will turn NORTH AMERICA INTO GILEAD!
Thank you again Professor Reich. It is reassuring to read your intelligent and fair-minded back story and analysis of the Social Security issue, which without a doubt is of keen importance to retirees who are not millionaires and who are currently facing rising costs for food and rent.
I can’t fathom why with such massive deficit spending on wars in other places the payments to people and the infrastructure etc costs need to be self funding? Seems a bizarre and counter productive double standard.
Ben Shapiro is 40; let's see if he feels the same way about retirement when he's 80.
I would like to put Ben Shapiro in a job that requires a lot of physical strain and after about a day, let's just see how he feels about retirement. What an absolute idiot!!
What a great suggestion
Mucking out the Augean stables would be my suggestion.
Nice one!!
🤝
Heather, great idea! The only problem I can see is what would we do with all the CEO’s, CFO’s, Presidents, VP’s, oligarchs, etc. in the smelly pile when he was finished?
I'd like to see how he fares with Proud Boys, other antisemitic MAGATS.
BTW: When I was 40, I couldn't even imagine ever wanting to retire, but when I was 77, due partly because of changes in the job and partly due to not feeling as if I could give 110% anymore, I was ready.
The next suggestion will be to bring back the poor farms and poor houses. What's left of one is near a Chicago suburbs. They were actually considered progressive for the time, because governments did little to in past times to provide for people who were old, in ill health, destitute, had no one to care for them, etc. I took a tour of the site as led by a state archeologist. Everything in a poor house/farm was regulated - meals, sleep, work, education, etc. Anyone there was likely considered "inferior" in some capacity (never bad luck!), and I think these attitudes permeate our social fabric today. We walked past fields of mass graves - basically row upon row where bodies were rolled in together during mass burials, and then covered with soil. Eventually a row would be full, with a few layers, and a new one would be started. There are no markers, except in whatever records that have survived. Today's billionaires seem to be longing for such days. Progress has reversed in some history times. It is our responsibility to protect and continue it.
The other aspect of this area is it was created where there used to be a large settlement of indigenous people. That is another difficult immigrant story, so I will sign off now.
Yeah - that turd Shapiro ..does he have parents ? Would he like to see them working a manual job into their 70s and 80s - he’s just a little smart ass punk
What makes you think he cares even about his parents?
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I plead to US citizens, kindly you are the cornerstone of so called democracy but we believe your elected person will be a prove to the whole world whether blood/intimidation or peace and democracy? We can see the possible mistake that will hardly be corrected as in African states we have lost hope.