The following article by Todd Ruger was posted on the Roll Call website February 26, 2018:
Case about dues could have a far-reaching impact on labor unions
Hilary O. Shelton, director of the NAACP’s Washington bureau, appears outside the Supreme Court on Monday in support of unions as the Court hears arguments on a lawsuit filed by Illinois state worker Mark Janus. Janus says his rights are being violated by having to pay dues to a union he doesn’t support. Credit: Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call
Justice Neil Gorsuch likely holds the key vote in a major labor case that drew dueling protests outside the Supreme Court building for Monday’s oral arguments, but he did nothing to tip his hand about his thinking.
Gorsuch did not ask a question during an hour of arguments, while the other eight justices appeared to be equally split along ideological lines. The case asks the justices to overturn a decades-old precedent and deal a financial blow to the unions that represent teachers and other public-sector employees. Continue reading “Supreme Court Appears Split on Union Case”
The following article by Steven Rosenfeld was posted on the AlterNet website December 2, 2017:
Great damage is being done, even as the Trump mob is targeted by Robert Mueller.
President Donald Trump walks with House Speaker Paul Ryan, November 2017. Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin
The wheels of justice might be turning with the guilty plea by Trump campaign and White House aide Michael Flynn and the reality that the presidents’ team are real targets, but that will not stop the GOP Congress and White House from gutting essential social safety nets.
The GOP tax plan, which passed the Senate 51-49 early Saturday with no Democrats voting yes, now moves to the phase where differences in the House and Senate bills get ironed out. That will prompt fierce lobbying and protests, but a major bill transferring wealth from the middle-class to the best-off Americans will be passed and signed by Trump.
If all the Republicans were doing was lining the pockets of the already rich, that would be bad enough—pick your adjective. But that’s not the endgame. Before the Senate voted, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, a past presidential candidate, said the Republicans must make additional cuts to Social Security and Medicare, both federal programs for those over age 65 as well as people with disabilities and parentless children (such as Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan as a youth). Continue reading “Disastrous Republican Tax Plan Is Only the First Step in Long Term Effort to Cut Social Security and Medicare, Exacerbating Inequality”
The following article by Dylan Scott and ALvin Chang was posted on the Vox website December 2, 2017:
“The bill is investing heavily in the wealthy and their children.”
America’s rich have gotten richer for decades, while the middle class and poor have seen meager gains. Since the mid-20th century, the top 1 percent have more than doubled their share of the nation’s income, from less than 10 percent to more than 20 percent.
Donald Trump said he was going fix it — that he would represent the forgotten men and women, the people who had been left behind in this widening of income inequality.
The following article by Lee Fang was posted on the Intercept website December 1, 2017:
President Donald Trump walks with House Speaker Paul Ryan, November 2017. Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin
TOUTING SUPPORT FOR their tax cut legislation, House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., the Senate Finance Committee, and Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, released a letter this week signed by 137 economists who say they strongly endorse the Republican legislation before Congress. President Donald Trump on Friday afternoon tweeted a short video featuring the list of 137 economists.
“Economic growth will accelerate if theTax Cuts and Jobs Actpasses, leading to more jobs, higher wages, and a better standard of living for the American people,” reads the letter, which was organized by the RATE Coalition, a corporate advocacy group that is lobbying in support of the bill.
The following article by Emily C. Singer was posted on the mic.com website November 14, 2017:
Republicans just can’t quit their unpopular effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
After multiple failed efforts to repeal former President Barack Obama’s signature health care bill, Republicans announced on Tuesday they will try to tack a repeal of the individual mandate — a key pillar of the health care law — onto the GOP tax reform bill.
The following article by Todd C. Frankel was posted on the Washington Post website November 9, 2017:
House Republican leaders on Nov. 2 proposed legislation that would overhaul the U.S. tax code. Here’s what you need to know about it. (Monica Akhtar/The Washington Post)
ALPHARETTA, Ga. — On the income distribution charts at the center of tax overhaul plans, Courtney Mishoe knows she’s doing well. She works as a tax manager at a firm in the Atlanta suburbs. Her husband is a police officer. Together, they make more than $180,000 a year. They are solidly in the upper middle class. But they have a mortgage and three kids, including one in day care and another in high school with plans to go to college. It all adds up. They depend on tax deductions to make their budget work. Continue reading “‘I don’t feel wealthy’: The upper middle class is worried about paying for the tax overhaul”
The tax bill he and his Republican comrades are pushing through Congress was drafted behind closed doors, with no hearings and no input from Democrats.
Paulsen, Trump and the other Republicans have forgotten that trickle-down economics have not worked in the past and certainly did not work in the 1980s when Reagan foisted them upon the country. Reagan’s own budget director, David Stockman, even authored a book admitting they do not work. Continue reading “Letter: Trickle-down doesn’t work”
The following article by Alicia Parlapiano was posted on the New York Times website November 2, 2017:
House Republicans released a bill on Thursday that would make major changes to the tax code. Some key elements of the proposal:
Lower Rates for Households
The bill would reduce the current marginal income tax brackets to four from seven — 12, 25, 35 and 39.6 percent — and lower taxes by increasing the income ranges affected by each rate.
The following article by Jim Tankersley was posted on the New York Times website November 2, 2017:
The Republican tax plan would make it difficult for middle class people looking to buy starter houses in high-priced, economically vibrant areas such as Silicon Valley and New York. Credit Jim Wilson/The New York Times
WASHINGTON — The House Republican tax bill is a clear windfall for corporate America and a roll of the dice for the middle-class families that President Trump promised would be the centerpiece of his economic agenda.
Early projections suggest the bill would cut taxes for an average middle-class family. But the typical cut could be relatively modest, compared with the benefits for businesses and high earners. More important, the myriad changes in the code would actually raise taxes on nearly 13 million tax filers who earn $100,000 a year or less, according to preliminary calculations using the open-source economic modeling software TaxBrain.
Those changes also include limits on, or the elimination of, what might be called tax breaks for middle-class aspirers. The bill would no longer allow Americans to deduct interest on student loans they took out to attend college. It would limit mortgage interest deductions to $500,000 on newly purchased homes, a provision that would hit middle-class teachers or office workers looking to buy starter houses in high-priced, economically vibrant areas such as New York City and Silicon Valley.
One of the bill’s biggest lifts to working families would vanish after five years — though Republicans would certainly push to extend it — and another would be diluted by the bill’s changes to how the tax code calculates inflation. Continue reading “Major, Major’ Tax Cut May Not Be in Store for Middle Class”
Tax proposal from President Trump, Congressional Republicans would eliminate tax deduction for one-third of Minnesota taxpayers, hurting residents in every county (as detailed below)
While 80 percent of the benefits would go to the top 1 percent, 900,000 Minnesota families would lose an average $12,000 tax deduction every year; totaling over $12 billion statewide
Credit: REUTERS/Eric Miller
ST. PAUL, MN – Today, Governor Mark Dayton called on President Donald Trump and Republican members of Congress to abandon their tax proposal which would eliminate on an average a $12,000 tax deduction for 900,000 primarily middle-class Minnesota families. These tax deductions provide hard-working Minnesota families about $12 billion in tax benefits every year.
The following is a statement from Governor Mark Dayton:
