Thank you Professor HCR. Is it too much to ask to have all the Trump tax cuts repealed? Under his tax changes , my taxes went up, not down. I am not wealthy, I am a retired government employee. I see no reason to have our tax laws based on the legacy of a soon to be convicted criminal.
David, we have seen the Republican numbers in the House decline even as they hold a slim majority. We can and should take back the House. While the Senate is a challenge it is doable with citizens paying attention to the most unproductive legislative years on record. Concurrently, the courts and the Republican state houses are attempting to prevail with a scorched earth policy agenda that helps no one, fosters chaos, ignores the will of the people and leaves communities to face violence with both rhetoric and easy access to military weapons by people who are a danger to our communities.
These are reasons we can and must win in 2024. The future of all citizens will be shaped by the decisions made in the months ahead. Let’s march forward and make history in 2024 and 2025.
Yup. Our house of representatives working again and even more openly fbo the electricity/fossil fuel interests and Chinese and other non-American manufacturers. Do they really think we are this stupid?
They don't know or care if we are that stupid. Given their gerrymandered districts and (often) lack of opponents they need not give us another thought. MAGA Mike has never run in a contested race and he is third in line for the US Presidency. He and the others are no different than "southern white elites" of the 1860's discussed in this letter.
Russia and Trump will be sorry if the House actually manages to pass aid to Ukraine and keeps Israel from being a distraction to what it is trying to do to Ukraine. May Johnson see the light after his trip to Mal-a-Lago.
It seems that Mar a Lago has quite the busy social calendar featuring Orban. Too bad Putin couldn't visit but he has a bounty on his head if he basically leaves his country.
LOL.. Aren't they now? Those are right up there with renaming an airport after trump. I hope that idea crashes and burns. I've been getting weekly updates from one of the CT Congresswomen, Johanna Hayes. She lists all the money she was able to get for her district which was needed. She also told about some legislation she has presented. No appliances, no renaming airports.
I agree. Many of us are, but not enough and too many are getting their news(?) from the likes of Fox and the Rush's clones. I've been listening to Sara Longwell's reports based on interviews with voters from all over the country. The trumpian conservatives are incredibly misinformed and inarticulate. I hope they are more intelligent than they sound because all of them were likely voters.
On the other hand, the liberals were well informed, even though many hold very different opinions from mine. Those who might not vote for Biden are angry, but they articulate their anger well. I hope they are intelligent enough to vote for Joe even if they don't like it.
I don't mean to look down on trump supporters because I understand their anger too. If we can get them to listen to facts instead of culture war nonsense, they might just come around. And one of the things they need to both hear and feel in their lives is that Reganomics is why the system WAS rigged against them and Biden's new approach is working for them and will continue to if we give he and Harris another term.
In a conversation with Robert Rich on Saturday, Journalist Michael Pollen said that if Biden wins another 4 years, he will take the gloves off in fighting corporations who are pillaging America. I believe that.
All trumpers see is the high price of groceries and gas. I, myself, am a bit dismayed at the grocery prices BUT from what I have read, the lower wage earners have increased their salaries to accommodate inflation. The thing is if you increase salaries, prices increase, too.
Just because people don't make a lot of noise doesn't mean they aren't listening. In a classroom there are always the noisy ones....maybe If the teacher is lucky 30%. The rest are either asleep at the wheel or just listening. Sometimes hard to tell the difference. But when test time comes teachers are sometimes surprised at how many actually got it. Sometimes disappointed, sometimes truly amazed. I think this year, like 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2022 we'll be truly amazed.
And therein lies the challenge. They aren’t. Too many people, whose very lives are at risk because of these power hungry, my way is right and righteous, callous, uncaring, ignorant, can’t think of what they are to be called, have bamboozled them totally. And many are people who are not stupid, who are aware mostly of what’s going on. I keep saying there will be huge numbers of psychological studies about this phenomena.
The best thing I saw was a comment the other day from someone who pointed to the hundreds of thousands of people who drove and flew and rented hotel rooms, etc. to watch the eclipse, a scientific event, predicted long ago, but many were the same who refused to believe in vaccines or think the earth is flat!
My husband drove one hour to get into the zone of totality. He stopped at a gas station to ask where the town park was and mentioned the eclipse. The attendant's response: "What eclipse?" This was 30 minutes before totality! I'm not convinced that folks ARE aware of the world around them...
Many of my family live in the area of total eclipse. i had to set one of them straight after she posted a conspiracy theory. She did thank me for my post, so at least she read it. Southern Indiana and Illinois....hotbeds of ignorance and regressive nonsense. And based on their lives, I would say a lot of people are busy trying to make ends meet, having health problems, arguing with each other, having children they shouldn't have, etc.
How about people who spend a lot of money going to trump rallies. I am sure they are not free. Add admission, gas (flights, maybe not so much), hotel rooms (what I saw were trumpers staying in tents supposedly used for summer camping or cars). Just saying. BTW it was snowing
FYI when I was in NH for Pete's rally, I stayed in a bed and breakfast, home breakfast including fresh baked muffins, private bathroom. When I got to my room, a fire was going in the electric fire place.
If we're going to do this, which I agree we must, the Democrats will have to develop and execute a strategy to counter REDMAP and treat all 50 states as battlegrounds. There is at least a reasonable chance to grab a Senate seat in MO and boot Hawley if Lucas Kunce can gat some support from the national party apparatus and donors. This is probably true in other races as well, but the constant harping on the 7 focus states detracts from a bigger message.
We have a different situation here in blue MD., Ed. The popular anti Trump Republican Larry Hogan will be running in the General election against one of 2 (of the 5) popular Primary Election candidates (Trone and Alsobrooks) for Senator Ben Cardin's Senate seat. We NEED that Senate seat to be Democratic!
John D. that Comment was an excellent strategy summary throughout the end of this year & putting a final end to sinister Supply Side 'economics' of 1981-2021.
The House is back in Session on Monday 4/15 & the danger of a wider regional war in the Middle East's a distinct possibility. $95 Billion in financial & humanitarian aid to Ukraine, Israel & Taiwan has already passed the Senate 70-29 waiting for a House Vote.
There a number of House ways to get the bill on Biden's desk ready for the President's signature next Tuesday. Steam roll the seditious Speaker's ultra thin 'majority'. Yes, I am calling my Contra Costa County CA Office today & Nancy Pelosi (Emeritus) today to help get it done.
Bring the "Senate Ukraine, Israel & Taiwan Package" to the House Floor for a vote now.
I would highly recommend keeping up with all the court challenges by subscribing to Marc Elias’s DEMOCRACY DOCKET on You Tube too. He and his firm have successfully challenged many of the draconian laws that have been passed in the various states.
So many people responded to this that it seemed only right to steal a link from Jessica Craven’s Extra, Extra! This is an uplifting story from David Pepper about people energized and running for office. Be inspired. Do the same.
Lavinia, you may be right but we must become active participants in the country’s democracy and give it our best. There are many reasons to be optimistic, most of is the groundswell of engaged citizens like us giving their time and $$$.
David, We neither need to nor could we, in the foreseeable future, elect 59+ Democratic Senators to repeal the Trump tax cuts. Currently, there are 49 Senators (excluding both Manchin & Sinema) who support filibuster reforms that would override the 60-vote threshold required for legislation to move to the floor for debate and an up or down majority vote, with the VP, if needed, casting the tie-breaking vote. Accordingly, to achieve meaningful change, we must hold our 49 Senate seats, flip 1 Republican-held seat, retake the House and hold the White House. Only then, in my view, will Reagan-era policy increasingly recede.
The factual presentations seem little compared to the incessant clamor , and doubly it’s not listened to by ‘their base’.
What I see happening here/there steady Democratic wins, steady forward progress in job growth, infrastructure projects implemented and a slowly growing awareness of number losses for Republican support/resignation/donating/abortion stand.
Could it be the ruse is up?
Nonetheless , our own push must stay the course , there is much to UNDO regards to the tax structures since Regan , plenty of area for improvement in our safeguards/laws -Citizens Untied, Filibuster,Voting and Women’s Rights,and in totality Health Care specifically Big Pharma’s influence. Corporate America needs reigned in!
All we need for that is 52 D Senators - since we won't have Manchinema to kick in their asses any more, and on January 3 2025 we can be rid of a filibuster with the Senate Majority Leader changing the rules and leaving it out.
Jack, The Republican-controlled Senate was able to pass the Trump tax cuts with 51 votes through budget reconciliation, which only requires a simple majority.
"Budget reconciliation is a special parliamentary procedure of the United States Congress set up to expedite the passage of certain federal budget legislation in the Senate." Wikipedia
Jack, the filibuster rule works for us when we’re in the minority and against is when we’re in a less-than-2/3 majority. It protects us from the majority party being totally dominant. Sooner or later, maybe even next year, Dems will be in the minority, and Reps will want to eliminate the rule. Now, I hate the filibuster rule, but if Reps take the senate, I’ll love it.
It does provide some stability which is good, but it also can cause a chronic stagnation, with nothing getting done. I doubt that Joe Biden wants the 59 vote rule eliminated but I feel it might be good to be rid of it. I have mixed feelings about it, but I do think we have too many ways built into the system that protects the minority and lately those protections have been abused.
The 60 vote rule can stay so long as we elect a total of at least 60 senators -- a tall task, given gerrymandering. Removal of it can always be used as a threat...
Yes, IF we can get money out of politics, eliminate extreme gerrymandering, and find a proper line between freedom of speech and extreme propaganda (“active measures”).
Yes. The Democrats need a solid majority in both houses and the presidency. If that happens then the crazies will have an extremely weak “rigged election” argument. More importantly with such a majority there is an opportunity to pass legislation that benefits the majority of citizens and not just the top tier. In addition it could be an opportunity to modernize our government. First call for a constitutional convention and second overhaul the arcane “rules” in both the House and the Senate to achieve a truly democratic and representative government. If this happens and if the democratic majority can deliver meaningful legislation that is well executed, then President Biden could become another FDR at a time when we really need that type of leadership.
I’ve been waiting for this column for years! It’s here and the responses are a joy to read. I lived the years since Reagan got rid of Carter and tore his solar panels off the White House, taxed the middle class (can anyone here who didn’t live the Reagan years remember when credit card interest was tax deductible ?), and discredited the poor while doing Iran Contra?
Reagan was a swine, aided and abetted by the loathsome individuals "advising" him. Leonard Leo, the reactionary members of SCOTUS, the Federalist Society, etc., and all their works and policies, are the noxious outgrowths thereof.
Yes...those arcane rules need to be overhauled....especially because they allow one person to hold complete power over our legislative process. The electoral college needs to be eliminated.
Also, the Supreme Court needs to be fixed, and the DOJ needs to stop pussy footing around. Did Garland think the American public would be satisfied with only the prosecution of J6ers?
The first order of such a Constitutional Convention must be to enact the Equal Rights Amendment, ratified by all the states needed over a decade ago. The second must be to propose an Amendment declaring that Americans have a right to privacy in their personal affairs, including reproductive matters, more artfully stated than that, so as to preserve the right to make all abortion decisions those exclusively of the pregnant person.
We have to tell this story wherever we can. Here's my Twitter X post (exactly 239 characters) I'm posting it wherever I see a GOP misinformation tweet about their benefits or Biden's shortcomings re the economy or Trump's support of "everyday Americans."
_________________________________
Here's a different view from UAW President Shawn Fain..."Workers have realized they’ve been getting screwed for decades, & they’re fed up."
How?
Historian Heather Cox Richardson @HC_Richardson tells the story in this edition, 1981-today. Check it out!
What's hopeless about it? I just re-read Prof Richardson's letter. It sounds pretty optimistic to me. She is essentially writing the obituary for the modern Republican -- Re-Qonfederate Party.
Not that those of us who are hoping to preserve a liberal representative government that actually works for the citizens can afford to sit on our hands. I'll continue to work here in West Michigan with the local Democratic Party to increase voter awareness and loyalty to democratic principles . . . e.g. expanded voter access to the polls.
You've heard it before, I'm sure: Democracy is not a spectator sport.
I would also like to see tax on social security income repealed. In fact, social security is importantly being protected by Biden, who along with Democrats wants to expand it and fund it better by including the wealthiest Americans. In contrast, Trump and any Republican wants to lower the amount that people can get to subsistence living level, and bleed it of employees so that people cannot access their benefits because they cannot get any service or help. Then with the money social security does not pay people that it should, they want to put that into lowering the deficit so that their billionaire and millionaire and some soon to be trillionaire clients can save more on taxes.
"I would also like to see tax on social security income repealed." I agree. It makes no sense to tax social security income. We paid into the Social Security fund via the FICA "Payroll Tax". Now, in retirement, some people are required to pay a tax on the money we paid into the insurance fund via FICA taxes on our income while we were working. That seems like double taxation.
One alternative would be for our Congress to appropriate sufficient discretionary spending to meet any shortfall in available FICA income due to changing demographics, instead of taxing us twice on the same income.
For people with little or no savings, the average monthly social security payment is meager. Rents have been trending upwards.
At least one US Senator has been advocating increasing the social security disbursement.
According to the woman who spoke to Democrats Abroad in a webinar on social security for expats, the fund in the USA is actuarily set for the next 75 years. That is it is carefully watched over to ensure that it is fit to meet all obligations for the next 75 years. That it is not are Republican lies that Democrats should not be falling for. That is the USA standard. In Germany it is only 25 years, and the OECD uses 45 years as its actuarial standard. While I don't yet collect social security, it is currently set to cover my lifetime. However, that is only if Trump and his handmaids in the Republican party don't get the majority needed to mess with it. Right now it has a 2.8 trillion dollar accumulated surplus. The money is extremely secure if we continue as we have. What the Republicans are constantly trying to do and did under Trump is 1) cut benefits, so that less social security will be needed and they can transfer it to pay down the deficit (which ironically exists because of the tax breaks Trump and other Republicans have given to the wealthiest among us so that you and I pay more taxes than they do.) 2) They are starving it of money to support people working in SSA so that it makes it hard to get help filing claims and straightening out problems which saves them money too. Money that we paid into it and cannot access. She told us that SSA went from being the best government agency to work for to being the worst, which will mean turnover, time needed to train new hires, etc... which are costs and add to inefficiencies. 3) She told us that undocumented immigrants often pay into the system but do not draw benefits so they contribute to the health of the fund. This is of course unfair and should also be addressed. Overall immigrants contribute heavily to the social security fund and that helps to stimulate our economy. So, we should all be writing our politicians insisting that they pass legislation that 1) expands social security benefits and 2) that exempts this income from taxation, 3) that includes all people who pay into it regardless of documented status. When I get the video from the webinar, I will post the link. I believe it will be on Youtube.
It is why so many of us have looked for cheaper places to live in retirement than in the USA. The downside of living abroad is that as of now one cannot collect medicare abroad. That is another thing that needs to be changed. Still, we have friends that just moved to Lisbon, Portugal as "digital nomads." They told us while we visited them a couple of weeks ago that they are part of the national health insurance which is free. She is currently getting midwife care for her first pregnancy which includes ultra sounds. In Germany one pays around what one would pay for medicare for national health insurance plans at the lowest rate. However, it is hard to get into the national insurance if you have not been here paying all along. They are going to try to push you into private insurance which one should not do. What is cheaper in Germany except for a couple of big cities like Hamburg and Munich, is housing. Food is also much cheaper. Utilities are expensive, but even renters are allowed to hang solar panels from their balconies and tap into the electric grid as both consumers and providers, or to store energy. If you do not insist on owning a car, transportation here is cheaper in most places the public is more than adequate to get you where you need to go with a monthly Germany ticket, which gets you around the country too. I have heard that France is thinking of introducing the same monthly plan. Still, it is shocking that one currently cannot have it all in the USA unless you are getting the high end with 2 incomes, one of which will disappear when a spouse dies. So, that is something that should also be looked at, as well as the fact that businesses are not providing pension, but more like investment opportunities so that your money is put at risk your entire life unless you put it into an annuity, which may have a low yield.
So true, thank you. We did fine until my husband died, then I get hit with a $6,000 tax bill because I am now single. Or so the CPA told me. More withholding so maybe next year will be better, if I live so long. My chat with SSA required a hold time of 71 minutes (after 45 minutes on web site, which finally required a call). Imagine if chump gets in and continues with his “destruction of the administrative state,” as Bannon and chump promised.
I am imagining it, and it looks like, someone displeases him as he melts down but he sees the red button and remembers he can use it in a moment of rage tainted lucidity.
I have been writing that we need to learn from Mother Europe! Thanks very much, Linda Weide, for this post. I am pushing Secretary of Transportation Buttigieg for trolleys in cities and both regional and long distance (based on the TGV which I have ridden over much of France)trains. As for medicine, we are so far behind what I experienced in France, thanks mostly to corporate greed which continues to dominate every aspect of American life, that I despair unless we get and keep Democrats in both Houses for 40 years again.
Linda, your description matches very closely what I learned about the Social Security Trust Funds after I retired in 2010. I have not looked at the health of the fund recently (until just now), but I recall that the Treasury Department reports regularly on the actuarial predictions, and the probability that the Trust Funds will be able to pay full benefits.
I have read various commentaries which suggest that Congress could appropriate funding adequate to pay promised benefits to augment the Trust Funds if they ever approach depletion.
I will look for the link to the webinar you mentioned.
Here is a link to US Treasury Department's report on their projections for Social Security to 2097.
(Edit: A day later I see where I made an error in reporting the main import of Treasury's summary: the "d" footnote refers to DI, Disability Insurance, rather than the OASI (Old Age and Survivors Insurance). I apologize for any misapprehension I may have caused.)
"The projected reserve depletion date for the combined OASDI trust funds is 2034, a year earlier than in last year's report.1 Considered on its own, the OASI Trust Fund can pay full benefits until 2033, a year earlier than projected last year. As in last year's report, the DI Trust Fund is projected to be able to pay full benefits through the end of the 75-year projection period (2097 in this year's report)."
However there are two SS Trust Funds, the retirement fund and a disability fund. As of today, the retirement fund outlays are supposed to peak in 2033. If it defaults, it would have to pay a reduced amount.
2033 represents when the baby boom beneficiaries reach their peak. But that is also when the number of expected beneficiaries begin to decline. After 2034, birth rates of later generations flatten and the funds can be solvent.
Social Security protects workers, widow(er)s, orphans and disabled people and is a major investment for many of us.
Please donate to create an endowment to slow down the rate. If everyone who donates to say, universities, which aren't really charities, the trust funds would be secure.
Also, all income should be subject to social security taxes which should improve solvency of the fund. As someone with ample savings, I would not be opposed to means testing for benefits leaving funds as a safety net for those who truly need it and possibly allowing for more generous benefits. I had too many patients living on social security alone trying to decide between buying food or medicine.
Totally. I think that is part of what Biden is moving towards. Not clear on the details. Should ask Biden to spell it out more clearly, or some Substack. My summer job working in a bank was interesting. I got to see the size of the poorer people in my fairly wealthy university community. The ones who lived in the horrid scattered site public housing for the elderly. This was their entire income and one lady had cat food in her bag and she told me it was all she could afford to eat as meat. It is just shameful that with such wealth we allow this. It is just shocking. So, I still remember the checks being like 120 dollars a month, which just is not enough to represent a lifetime of working.
While I understand the means testing of social security, the reason it has support is that everyone is entitled to benefits as everyone who pays in gets them. I believe there is a maximum benefit and perhaps there should also be a minimum benefit.
I mostly agree, but means testing is a bad idea. First, everyone who pays in should receive. Second, means testing on such a large scale would significantly increase administrative costs.
SS is already at a subsistence level. (That's what kills me...Congressmen who have a guaranteed income and healthcare for life....thinks the average SS benefits and Medicare are too generous. No one ever suggests those benefits should go away....only SS and Medicare)
And if anyone should get tax breaks it should be those on SS not the wealthy. How did our country go so wrong. How did we EVER buy the corrupt Reaganomics ploy.
I knew from the gitgo that Reagan and his economics were SHIT! In fact, my professor of economics was very clear on the fallacy of Trickledown economics. So, I was in shock that anyone, including people I went to school with and knew of as Democrats bragging about being Reagan Democrats. I just thought of them as Stupid idiots. I still do. He just gave them permission to be super rich and greedy and selfish, and that is what their little egos ran with. I could say more but won't as they all sicken me.
Permission to be super rich and greedy and selfish. A cultural shift since my formative years, for sure. Later, there was a show Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, designed to create envy of the wealthy and give greed and selfishness a good name.
Greed has always played an important part for the Republican party. Along with the corporations and millionaires and billionaires. This how the majority of the middle class was wipe out. The Reagan era and the Republican party plan it this way.
My US representative, Angie Craig, D-MN, is currently working on a bill to lower taxes on Social Security income - Craig was the chief author of the bill that lowered prescription drug prices for seniors several years ago. But we all know what a dumpster fire the House is currently. So the chances that bill would even get a committee hearing are slim. What to do?
Every one who is able, should be working to get out the vote. Field team 6 is the group I work with - postcards, phone calls, texts to remind people to vote and get people to register early. There are many more groups - some local, some national. Registering early will be critical in Republican-led states where gerrymandering and purging the voter rolls are common tactics that favor Republicans
We the people are the ones who can change the outcome of the 2024 election. Please do whatever you are able to do.
I agree with you a 100%. However, Democrats must also emphasize about Medicare and Society Security being cut when their talking to the people when campaigning.
We must win both houses and Biden re-elected to have an increase in Society Security. Millionaires and billionaires would have to pay a higher tax of at least 20 to 25%.
They been getting away for years not paying nothing. It's time for them to pay their fair share.
Now you’re talking. Eisenhower was the first President I knew of , as I grew up and as I recall things were going pretty good back then. Did you know that Ike paid for the Interstate Highway System with cash? That is how much tax revenue was pouring in back then from the rich and big business. Now the republicans want to take money from Social Security and Medicare to pay the bills.
As you point out, tax cuts aren't really a Trump thing. They're a Republican thing. I'm not a Democrat; I don't want to see the country go too far to the left either. But that's simply not something that's going to happen any time in the near future. Republican yelling about Socialism is simply more dishonesty. This next election needs to be a 'bloodbath' for the GOP.
The 2024 election must be only the first of a few decades of elections, so that trumpism, Reaganism, Leonard Leo-ism, Project 2025-ism, Federalist Society-ism, and their ilk, are all consigned to the trash heap.
Hopefully it will, in a peaceful transition if Biden should be re-elected. Trump and his mega Republican party and his voter's can't except defeat. Let's hope provisions are made ahead of time ,should Biden be, re-elected.
And we never hear a word about that. But try to help Ukraine survive a bloody dictator and they have a conniption.
Whe we went into Afghanistan their GDP was virtually non-existent. Their economy was dead last. After spend trillions there we were about to raise their GDP to 171st in the world. Pathetic. Worst investment ever with absolutely nothing to show for it.
Corporations benefit hugely from state and social subsidies. That would include prime facie America's outsized military. And look how well Vietnam went?
I have repeated that this conservative movement from Reagan onward was only and all about money. Deregulation only benefits the producing class. I only hope you are right, Heather. Let’s hope you are. And let’s not forget that so much damage has been done to the people and our government. I hope the fences can be mended. And let us not forget that the negative use of AI will be used front and center to deflect the progress we should make.
Just ending a 3 week trip thru Japan. Where are all the homeless? Why aren’t the subways grimy and smelling of urine? Where are all of the cops? How come no one locks their bikes?This is what happens when a country supports their citizens with a living wage and excellent infrastructure I guess.
That’s why I’ve lived in Japan for decades and can’t ever live in America again. When I’ve visited, all I can think is “How can people live this way? It’s like a third world country,”
I'm (have been for 15 years) in the mountains of Kyushu, halfway between Oita-shi on the Pacific coast, and Kumamoto to the west. Am in a town, Taketa, that lies in the valley, valleys, of two rivers. They meet just at the foot of a very old castle on the eastern side of town (or, its stunningly beautiful castle grounds -- the edifices razed in the Meiji era).
Three mile-high mountains in view here: Aso, Kuju, and Sobo-san, plus horizons all crenellated in ridges of bamboo, pine, cedar, and rice terraces.
I can still remember the eighties when there was a lot of fear that the Japanese would overtake us with their innovations. At least now we consider them an ally rather than a rival.
Japan has been an ally for a long time. Russia not. Now we have a lot more completion by both foes and friends. Republicans don't care as long as money collects at the top.
There were homeless people living in nifty wheeled boxes that were packed up every morning when the people went to work keeping the parks clean or direction traffic in and out of parking lots. We were there in 2009.
The GOP for decades has been an unholy alliance of market fundamentalists who worship the Almighty Dollar and self-described "Christians" who reject the Golden Rule.
I have called the two factions the Flat Taxers and the Flat Earthers, or the Dow Jones and Bob Jones wings, or the Social Darwinists and Young Earth Creationists.
Which they emphasize varies opportunistically with time and place, but they often campaign on religion and govern for plutocracy.
"Fifty years ago, Milton Friedman in the New York Times magazine proclaimed that the social responsibility of business is to increase its profits. Directors have the duty to do what is in the interests of their masters, the shareholders, to make as much profit as possible. Friedman was hostile to the New Deal and European models of social democracy and urged business to use its muscle to reduce the effectiveness of unions, blunt environmental and consumer protection measures, and defang antitrust law. He sought to reduce consideration of human concerns within the corporate boardroom and legal requirements on business to treat workers, consumers, and society fairly. "
If this doctrine is dead, the GOP and its allies seems to have not gotten the message. Or they are clinging to it and suffering the consequences.
I would have to disagree: Friedman's shareholder doctrine is undead. As in "revenants," zombies. The machinery and culture of large corporations still pander to the shareholders.
“Workers have realized they’ve been getting screwed for decades, and they’re fed up.”
Millions of the workers are behind Trump because the maganaizi propaganda machine blames high energy and food prices on Biden. Of course that is a big lie that Biden is any more at fault than Trump is for the high food prices.
Trump's total mishandling of Covid-19 and the shaming of the Fed to lower rates to zero so that he could save money on his debt had to actually be dealt with to prevent a melt-down of our economy.
And the Biden policies have worked. The US has had the strongest recovery and economy in the world under Biden.
Gary, my MNJ friends harp on both food prices and student loan forgiveness. Any time I point out why the student loan issue is interest and policy driven or that record prices are seeing record profits I am met with utter garbage as denials.
I don't understand why the cost of a college education at the state school I attended cost my niece and nephew 7 times as much as I paid. Fortunately, they were both able to get student aid and scholarships so they could complete their educations. I didn't have to since I was able to make enough in the summer to pay for each year of school.
Can you imagine a rising sophomore making $35K in 3 months?
IMO student loan forgiveness is just easing the burden of greed and stupidity by the political class.
Exactly the situation where I grew up, NW Indiana. College students worked in the steel mills in the summer to earn the next year’s tuition and room and board. And IU cost $325 for between 12-18 hours of classes per semester. I think room and board was $1000 per year, or maybe per semester.
I was able to work in a grocery store for a bit more than minimum wage, and with the help of sports scholarship stipends, only accrue about 3,000 in student loans, at a 1.9 interest rate.
You left out one big issue; white working class moved from the Democratic Party beginning with the Dixiecrats and Nixon’s Southern strategy and culminating with s self of being racially left out as crazy as it sounds. Also, Democratic Party foolishly added to this sense of abandonment. Now you have a bigger picture.
Bill- Foolishness is why I can't go full-on Democrat.
And yet, I have only voted for Democrats and Independents for most of this century. Most Republicans prefer to hate instead of love and they are gullible to the point of stupidity. The faux-Christian white nationalists believe the Bible condemns abortion when the only passage in the Bible dealing with the topic says a priest (rabbi) can order an abortion if a woman is pregnant with someone baby other than her husband.
Because why? Voting for Democrats? My conclusion....as I vote the same way.....is because only the Democratic party has any Progressives. They foolishly let Republicans make the word 'liberal' into a negative epithet, almost a swear word.
The Republicans are no longer conservative unless you want to classify Fascists as conservative. What have they done since Reagan that is conservative?
They are repressive regressives and Fascist.
I agree, liberal and progressive are not negatives. IMO - Regressive, Fascist and Repressive are very negative.
I don't understand what you mean by "the producing class."
In my mind, that means the people who bring stuff to market, which they can sell or trade or contribute, whether under radical socialism, a social-credit system, or a currency system.
The non-productive class includes the government, but it also includes the moneylenders, which includes all the "shareholders" in modern economies. And of these three classes, the one that does the best under deregulation is the moneylenders.
Deregulation doesn't really hurt the government, but it devastates the producers.
For well, ever, we haven't made the oil extractors cap their wells when they no longer produce a profitable amount of oil. The Biden administration is requiring oil producers to cap the wells they are taking offline, but 3.5 million are abandoned with no consequences to the companies that raped the earth to steal our natural resources for profit.
Current National Statistics: Well Count, Location, Emissions
There are an estimated 3.5 million abandoned oil and gas wells in the U.S., including plugged (~39%), orphaned, and inactive wells (data not disaggregated; 1990-2020 Draft Inventory of Greenhouse Gas Sources and Sinks; US EPA (2022)).
U.S. abandoned wells are concentrated in Appalachia and the Midwest, the Gulf and Central states, the Rocky Mountains, and California, with the majority occurring in four states: TX, PA, KS, and WV (FIG. 1).
In 2019, fugitive U.S. methane emissions from abandoned wells had an estimated thermal energy value of 284 kilotons—equivalent to 7.1 million metric tons (MMT) of CO2 with a 95% confidence interval of 1.1 to 20.8 MMT, the highest uncertainty among the nation’s largest sources of methane (US EPA 2021).
I would like to think that we vote intellectually and sure, some of us do but those who collectively identify as one group or another, will vote according to their identity. I ask how could any self respecting conservative vote for Trump? How? Sometimes it’s as much a vote for as a vote against. And if one allows the false images mixed with bad reasoning it fortifies the person to vote accordingly. I could point out a few things I don’t like about Joe Biden but my practical side tells me there is no one else better than he is at the moment. I think now that so much damage has been done to women specifically, how can we lose? But look at the price we are paying.
To take a few words out of James Carville's mouth, '"It's the economy, stupid"; and I'd say it's the 'monopolies' stupid! They are big part of what is putting the squeeze on our budgets, but, unfortunately, the uninformed among us are blaming Biden, when our dear president has been trying to do something about them.
‘She’s going to prevail’: FTC head Lina Khan is fighting for an anti-monopoly America'
'Some say Biden’s high-profile warrior – who’s gone after Kroger, Amazon, and Nvidia – has redefined the US antitrust landscape' (TheGuardian) See link below.
Thank you, Fern. We've already seen Albertsons and Safeway merge; to have them merge with Kroger (who bought out our regional market (Fred Meyer) and have utterly destroyed what used to be an amazing chain) would be a freaking disaster.
Since they're shooting themselves in the foot nowadays to the point I don't know how they can stand up without help, let alone move, that's not going to happen.
Jack, the fact that your taxes increased as a result of the Trump tax cuts is a feature not a bug.
Do you remember Trump holding up the post card size tax return promising to simplify your taxes? The scary and pathetic thing is that some Americans actually believed that to be true.
Our tax code is over 10,000 pages and growing, not shrinking. There are loopholes in the code that affect as few as a dozen people or even one corporation each tax year.
There is absolutely no way that Republicans will remove the loopholes in the code.
I Googled and found this response from Yahoo Finance:
"When 2025 draws to a close, so will many of the sweeping Trump-era GOP tax breaks established by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017. While the legislation made some tax cuts to corporate profit permanent, lowered individual tax rates will expire on Dec. 31, 2025, and revert to pre-TCJA levels."
That is encouraging. But there is more to do. Taxing corporations properly as they accumulate enormous record breaking profits for their shareholders and top managers is way overdue. Biden's minimum 15% is a step in the right direction - but not enough.
And taxing what I call the "money movers" on Wall Street is essential. Many rich people don't sell their equities to pay for their lavish lifestyles (incurring taxes). They borrow against their holdings to buy that yacht.
This explains the tax dodge used by the money movers:
The group called "Patriotic Millionaires" is linked below. "Rich people are not the cause of a successful economy. They are the result of a successful economy."
Our taxes also went up with the Trump "tax cuts", as did those of other middle class people we know. This is because they eliminated some deductions for small businesses, and for people who had to travel for work.
Excellent point, and exactly my question. While Prof. Richardson's account of the Biden-Harris accomplishments is accurate and impressive, what is missing is an increase in income taxes to at least reverse the cuts from the previous administration and an increase in Social Security revenue by removing the income cap.
I am all for adjusting the income cap. Anything up to $500,000 K should be taxed, and the definitions of "income" need to include such things as stock options or other billionaire ways of evading taxes (looking at Bezos and Musk in particular).
As far as I'm concerned, the cap can go completely, and the tax should be based on AGI, not wage and salary income. I'm also in favor of maintaining the benefit structure as it is, but there are those who argue that such would make SocSec a 'welfare' program instead of whatever it is now and I'd give that up in order to get their support on removing the cap. I'd also like to see an end to the carried interest tax break for fund managers. As long as we're building a holiday gift list, I'm adding an end to the deductibility of interest on business loans.
Me too Jack: My middle class salary was hit quite hard by TFG's "cuts" and I resent paying for the yachts the top 1% are using as their tax write-offs.
While I am hopeful because I know Joe Biden has the numbers, I am concerned about him not being on the ballot in Alabama and Ohio. While Alabama is red, red, red, Ohio is a purple state and could go for Biden. I hope that there can be a successful write in campaign if he is not.
Ohio here. THE most corrupt state in America. Been writing almost daily to the thugs in charge, demanding they check past presidential elections, and when the conventions fell. They KNOW this is BS, but don’t care, and DARE anyone to do something to stop them. Problem is, they’ve destroyed the public schools already, and people here don’t even bother to vote. It’s pitiful.
I hope there is something that can be done. Somehow, Biden should be declared earlier if need be for all states to include him in. This is BS and we all know it, but the Republicans are past even the pretense of following the law, so it is best to have a plan B.
Oh, something WILL be done! The outrage here is palpable, and getting louder, by those of us here WITH a brain. The criminals who run this state forgot that there are still a few of us alive, and we're coming for them!
Those “deadlines” have been ignored in every presidential election in my 68 years, until now. Need any more proof of the corruption in Ohio? I’ve got lot’s more!
We need to remain hopeful that enough people recognize evil and vote their conscience. The fly in the ointment is the wackadoo JFKjr. The money thinks he hurts Biden, I could argue the opposite.
This is one of the best essays I’ve read on our current political situation. Thank you Heather. And thank you President Biden and VP Kamala Harris. There is hope and it’s up to us. As Thom Hartmann says “ democracy is not a spectator sport” please get involved.
I agree that it’s an excellent retelling of how we arrived here, but with a hugely important exception: namely, that Democrats enabled the rise of corporate power, particularly by failing to enforce antitrust laws. Corporate consolidation has been a bipartisan initiative, and there are still many Dem apologists, notably Larry Summers, for our failure to rein in market power.
Fortunately, it seems as if a bipartisan consensus is forming around competition law / anti-trust law. And Biden has done more than any President in my lifetime to go after market power. I’m hoping it continues after the election.
"The growing economy would result in higher tax revenues, enabling Americans to have both low taxes and government services, and prosperity would spread to everyone. But the system never worked as promised." This theory failed to materialize because CEOs believe in the false premise of profit maximization. Their goals are to make more money, regardless of laws, regulations, communities, the environment and workers, so they can raise their own pay and invest in stock buybacks which also increase their personal wealth. And yet, Congressional Republicans want to give them even more tax relief through tax cuts. MO Republicans want to eliminate the already low state corporate income tax. If you want to stop this behavior don't vote for any Republican.
The system never worked as promised, nor was it ever intended to. It was a orchestrated coup by the 1%. The premise that maximizing selfishness would bring about maximum good is immoral, illogical, and anti-historical. It's maximum doublethink.
"The only corporate social responsibility a company has is to maximize its profits."
-Reagan mentor Milton Friedman
If a corporation really is a citizen, what kind of citizen is that?
I totally agree. The Supreme Court gave "religious freedom" to corporations (Hobby Lobby) and allowed them unlimited access to fund politicians (Citizen United) which is also absurd, but demonstrates your point that they are not good citizens.
So gottdammmed bizarre!! SO Bizarre! We seem to place no value on being an American Citizen. It just quietly passed onto the books Just like what happened in Jim Jordan's gym over in Ohio when someone bent over to pick up the soap. Or, perhaps what will happen to #45 should he end up in Rikers. One can hope.
Professor, this overview of how we have arrived at this anxiety-ridden place sets the stage for the fraught election ahead.
The wealthy powerbrokers who want Trump must know that he is collapsing - politically, legally, and mentally.
What will they do to improve their odds? Or are they, like Trump, counting on rampant voter suppression and violence at polling places to skew the results? But can such despicable tactics stem what I think is a Blue Wave building?
Don't forget the intimidation that's currently happening to Election Supervision. If MAGA overtakes the local election administration in select cities before Nov, the election is over.
.....Cheat? There should be absolutely no doubt that "they" will. Openly maintaining the election was stolen is already in place. To me, that is in itself "cheating" as it cheats you and I.., the citizens of this country out of the satisfaction the election we had was done fairly and something we could be proud of. But, no. The constant parade of deniers would have us believe we're members of a 3rd world banana republic and just out to get #45 on trumped up charges. And, all the while, "they" will be the one delivering false accusations, boldly supported by forged accreditation, garnering front-page headlines. And, as in past performances, "they" will employ ($$$) some of our 'finest' hippocrits to carry those torches. Look for their boy Kyle Shithouse to be right out front at some poling location, along with plenty more of his ilk. I only hope we are going to be ready to keep the lid on this.
For anyone who has not recognized the reference to Kyle Shithouse, that would be Kyle Rittenhouse, self-appointed boy Posse Comatatis who killed/murdered two people in Kenosha, Wisconsin during rioting following a police shooting. I have a particular loathing for that human. My Mom grew up in Kenosha, in a house just a few blocks from the scene of those shootings. And I earned my BA near the City of Kenosha. The boy was tried and found not guilty because of "self defense". It's crazy insane to allow anyone who is not an adult sworn law enforcement officer to carry a military assault rifle during a street riot -- much less a 17-year-old child.
When 45 talks about bloodshed if he is denied the presidency, it makes me want to lock him up -- to put it as mildly as possible.
Thank all of you for noticing my "reference" to Kyle, as so prolifically pointed out by David H., and as duly acknowledged by fellow Frank Loomer and so many other dignified LFA readers. Thanks to 'the Prof' (Ms HCR) who has created this undercurrent of hope, providing us a 'light' to read by, to know that we are in fact amongst many many many who clearly see the forest for the trees. Indeed, we have a "power grid" beneath the spray of the manure-spreader(R's) machine. As I said earlier, this Administration must ensure civil behavior is maintained during this election. The threat.., the saboteurs, are well-funded and "fed". Most are have become easy to recognize., but not some/sum. Keep the lid on.
No snoozing for you. Thank you, keep telling about the cheating. Slow prosecutions won’t help if crimes are even charged. Also, they have legalized many actions that would have previously been illegal. They are very busy.
"Busy"...!They sure are. And in a most devious and committed way. In checking my use of the the word "committed" I fell on Google for the definition. Of all the descriptors, only this was missing: "Deadly serious". And indeed, they(R's) are. Confront any one of them and they look at you with a distaste, as if you are the one who's nuts. Being well-fed with the big-gulp of propaganda they have become morbidly obese. They'll surely die from it, but not before the election.., sadly.
"Intimidation"....whoaaa..., it's there alright. It's here (inside me) as well. I'd like to have some bumper stickers made up, but now is not quite the time (if it ever will be). I need the headlights on my plow-truck, plus my insurance deductible won't cover the damage were that to occur, not to mention the inconvenience-factor, the anxiety-factor, etc that goes along with things like that. Besides it just gives those morons reason to celebrate causing some "lib-tard" pain. They love that. Screw them - quietly. I build race motor, iIrace boats, I take the advantage, I don't enter to lose..., I enter to win. Displaying no bumper sticker takes "advantage" of their stupidity. They have no clue I'm going to beat their ass. They'll remember my boat number, perhaps the name as well.
'Meet a top Republican VP prospect. She’s Trump without the empathy.'
'Where were you when you first heard of Sarah Palin? Joe Biden, who was running for vice president, was on a campaign plane when he learned that John McCain had chosen her as his running mate. “Who’s Sarah Palin?” Biden asked. Like Joe, most of us didn’t know anything about her, so we weren’t prepared for what came next: the horrifying reveal that a blithering idiot might someday possess the nuclear codes.'
'To avoid a repeat of that traumatic experience, I’m here to warn you about another GOP vice-presidential contender: Governor Kristi Noem of South Dakota. ...' (borowitzreport) See link below..
The 'pool party' at Mar-A-Lahgo keeps getting bigger., and you can be sure they(R)e all pee-ing in it. I mean the toilets are still plugged up.., no? Somebody needs to mix arsenic with the bleach and "pump it up"!! The arsenic will kill all the bacteria..., right? Bacteria.. R's.... Puton.., see the connection? I thought so. Perhaps a call to HAZMAT 321-264-6935 for assistance? Or the ATF. Who's bringing the chips?
Unless this Administration addresses all the lessons-learned from the last election, this one will be worse. The creation of turmoil, obfuscation, jawdropping truth-defying claims, etc will create an inauguration-trainwreck should #45 miss the boat. That bunch of reprobates with their Supreme Court pals will hogtie the nation. They are committed.., they are "dead serious". For the next five years, their 'reputation' will be in focus. But, you know what... six years later, should numbnuts lose, the good ole people will probably forget all about it.
Thanks Zella, will look into him, at best polls are statistical in nature, but the polls on polls seem to be capturing a trend, which Simon Rosenberg for one has been calling for for some time. I've been following him for a while. Not sure if I'm crazy about "Hopium" as a name, but his track records seems pretty good.
I recall Trump calling thousands of troops to the border to twiddle the thumbs and burn tough cash just in time for election theater, then send them home as soon as the election was done. Well worthy of a Congressional inquiry, but of course there was none.
The Dingling Bros Circus (RNC) under the whip of TCT#45 (Top Clown). Watch closely as he herds those elephants right into your poling places, knocking over your port-a-potties, desks, and bottled water vendors. Better this Administration applies un-compromised attention to detail this election. Keep the lid on.
Heather, thank you once again for counteracting the lie of “trickle down” economics. “Workers have realized they’ve been getting screwed for decades, and they’re fed up.” Hopefully not only the workers but women will realize that a lot of Republican officeholders care more about a poor unborn child than his mother, even to the point of putting her in the ICU or allowing her to die. Wealthy women have few problems going to a state that allows abortion or overseas; only poor women are harmed. Donald Trump expected Marla Maples to get an abortion; he was pro choice back then.
They show little compassion for the mothers and children after the child is born. Day care and support for adequate food and shelter are not guaranteed unless there is a generous, hard working man to support the woman and child.
If America manages to remain a democracy in November, how long will it take to undo all the harm tRump and the Republicans have done? If the Democrats can take back both the House and the Senate, will they be able to swiftly pass the laws needed so this situation can never happen again? But we’ve been shown that a large percentage of the population doesn’t have the common good at heart, just hatred and greed. Children’s education is so important but has been so neglected.
It's a never ending cycle in America: Republicans get elected and screw everything up. Dems get elected and spend eight years trying to fix the mess. Then, Republicans somehow manage to get elected again and break everything that was fixed. Rinse and repeat.
Agree with you Kristin Newton, on "Children's education".., if we could just figure out what it needs to be. I would not want to be a wise-acre and ask.., what that might consist of. We can't seem to hold the Catholic Church (members et al) miscreants accountable in our courts-of-law, but instead allow the Pope (Rome) to handle matters, or perhaps Sharia Law.., Huh? Sorry, but I see religion as a big big elephant in the meeting room.
These are simple and undeniable truths. The question is whether there are enough Americans with the intellect to understand these truths along with the will to vote, or whether the culture warriors, zealots and true believers will prevail. I guess we will know the answer in less than 7 months. I fear desperately for my country.
My thoughts exactly, Marilyn. Everything Heather says is true— but the chances of this clear, persuasive info getting within range of those who need to hear it are about nil. Recalling the old saw, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink,” I’d say that we’re in the grim position of not even being able to lead the horse anywhere….and not only can we not get him to the water, he’s determined to bite!
Welp Marilyn, we've had nigh on eight years to get #45's number. It's clearly (I have faith!) been smoke and mirrors ad infinitum; fact melded with fiction; unending insults to our intelligence; justification for indecency; and, more for which we're at a loss for words. As the saying goes. We've been to the circus and we most certainly have "seen the elephants". I just hope this Administration will take the steps needed to guard this election. Poling places, poling times, voting machines, the sanctity of our vote! Keep the lid on.
Just out of curiosity, where did you find that day of "reflection singing and peace". I'm from Medford, and my sister lives in Phoenix, with my in-laws in Ashland.
Biden and Harris have done a lot of great work, but few people hear about it. Dammit! If you're a trumpet player, blow the damn thing! People need to hear about what's going on in the Oval Office on a daily basis.
The President doesn't have to do anything more than he's doing now, but a daily recap, even a weekly recap, of what's been accomplished could certainly be handled by the Press Secretary. It's called a Press Release, so release that good press!
Ok. Rant over.
Back to painting the nails on my middle fingers orange. It's subtle, but it makes me feel better.
This Administration absolutely MUST choose words carefully. Press briefings seem like such a great thing, but so ripe for being taken out of context, which if damaging enough, may call for a stringent response open to even more misconstrual and/or disabling of facts. Jen Andrews' time at the podium was safe. McMinnies was full of shit.., she never "lied" to us, (oh hohoho - gag me) she was simply a zealot lacking reality with her cross of Jesus, going on before// to prove it. Sometimes a sideward glance.., accompanied by the "middle finger", and silence, is the most effective response. As we are on this final lap, I do note that the Administration is being more vocal... displaying amore aggressive response.., stepping on the gas if you will. Too heavy on the gas too soon and the fire can suffer a flameout. Not good!
I’m delighted to hear that someone as insightful and knowledgeable as HCR thinks the Reagan era (trickle-down economics, union busting, and industrial deregulation) is over. It seems sadly unlikely to me, however, that racism, misogyny, and related political practices will suddenly stop driving the majority of white voters from casting their votes for racists, misogynists, Christofascists, and the like (that is to say, Republicans).
If not for the cleverness of our attorney (a brilliant woman) my fledgling business would have been shut down by a large monopoly.
We were fortunate to have her excellent legal advice, but tens of thousands of small businesses have shuttered because of dirty legal tricks and unfair competitive practices.
Karen RN, good to see you. I don't show up here everyday. Your pic is great and hope it matches how you are feeling. I try to keep swimming in our rough seas. In addition to
our election, Ukraine is on the edge, and the Gazans are being annihilated. Music, poetry, spring, friends...there are happy streams of life, too. Salud, Karen! Thank you for saying 'hello'!
I hope you are doing well Fern. It’s hard right now with so much going on. If I didn’t have a responsibility to my coworkers and patients, not sure I would get out of bed. That said, I won’t give up and will do what I can to hold on to our democracy. So nice to connect with you Fern.
I'm very puzzled by the opening paragraph about "two major Republican political stories" in the current news. HCR surely can't mean this passage as written: "The other story is older, the one that led to Trump but that stands at least a bit apart from him. It is the story of a national shift away from the supply-side ideology of Reagan Republicans toward an embrace of the idea that the government should hold the playing field among all Americans level." Republicans have not to my knowledge moved to a belief in a level economic playing field! Mainstream news is saturated with stories of corporate price-gouging, astronomical CEO earnings, the predations of ALEC, Republican attempts to block social service budget items and forgiveness of student debt, and their plans to eviscerate Medicare and Social Security retirement benefits.
I completely agree. This is one of the rare occasions where I would take issue with the estimable Dr. Richardson. The Reagan Era is far from over. The only difference is that the trickle-down mantra is no longer being proclaimed from the rooftops. While Trump rants and rages, saying whatever he thinks will appeal to his well-named base at the moment, his Reaganite minions know that there is no truth in him, and they will be free to continue their project. If the catastrophe of a second Trump administration were to occur, the Reaganites know that the Orange Abomination would be consumed with his efforts to seek retribution against all who fail to fall down and worship. He has no policies of his own other than this.
Mary Baine Campbell: HCR does have to pack her sentences to bursting sometimes, to give us so much good info. Try reading that passage as it came across to me: "...the story of a national shift away from supply-side ideology ... toward an embrace of the idea that the government should hold the playing field level." The active subject in this part of the sentence is "a national shift," not "Reagan Republicans" - that phrase simply serves to modify the term "supply-side ideology." HRC is clearly not saying that supply-siders are part of this shift - quite the opposite. She is showing how this national shift is mobilizing democracy defenders nationwide. People are waking up. It's up to all of us to help turn on the light.
The two stories are where the MAGA Party splits off from the traditional GOP to become an out of control Russian whore, and the history of the Reagan Trickle Down theory that set us up for a society that existed before the Magna Carta - which would explain McConnell. 😉
Mary, I think that there is some slight movement within the GOP, particularly in the Senate, to be less "corporatist", if you will. Part of this of course is the Trojan Horse maneuvers by people like DeSantis to attack a well known and powerful corporation on social issues. Yet there certainly is no rush on the part of the GOP elected officials to break free from their steady payments by the Kochs, the Mercers, Big Oil, Big Pharma, etc. And you definitely won't Senator Cancun Cruz, or Bambi Trotting Hawley lining up at their local bookstores to buy bios about Walter Reuther or Harry Bridges
Re: "Some slight movement," that may be so, but a party that's daily plotting--and announcing its plots--to gut Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, that blocks forgiveness of exorbitant student debt, lowers taxes deeply on the rich, raises them on the lower middle class (like me and at least one other commenter here), resists raising the minimum wage and fights unions like kudzu is not promoting a level economic playing field for all Americans as HCR seems to claim here. I remember her once answering an interviewer's question about her political party by calling herself "a Jeffersonian Republican." Could she be projecting?
Ha! Points well taken, Mary. I don't think Heather was projecting, rather using her historian's lens to refer to the Party that Jefferson himself termed "Republican" when not employing "Anti-Federalist"
To one of your points, that of the fierce opposition to the minimum wage, I totally agree that this reveals the true colors of the Party wholly beholden to the corporate class. Here in California, we just raised the minimum wage for fast food workers statewide to $20 per hour. The squawking and bleating from the corporations rushing to bemoan their terrible fate is both funny and quite revealing.
Peter Drucker made the observation in 1946 in his book, "Concept of the Corporation" that corporations had become the central institutions around which society is organized, more so than governmental, religious, or educational institutions. An opportunity to right the ship, in terms of the economy, is rapidly approaching. A huge problem is that there are essentially no rules regarding the chartering of corporations in Delaware and Nevada, which is why they get most of the business. But, a new national corporate chartering process that recognizes the full scope of the fiduciary responsibility of corporate leaders to employees, communities, and customers by licensing the professions of board and executive committee membership (i.e. the whole C-suite). The licensing needs to include a requirement to adhere to a canon of ethics, just like legal, accounting, and medical professionals must. Then, whenever any "too big to fail" corporation comes knocking on Congress's door asking for bailout, part of the deal would be to re-charter it, and require the licensing of the leadership. These charters would become desirable because they would also have access to a new source of capital in the form of tightly controlled Fed advances. Leadership total compensation packages should be limited to 10x the average (not median) wage of all employees, including contract labor that works on site. One of our largest defense contractors is going to need a bailout quite soon. That's an opportunity.
If this community would suggest it to their representatives, it could start something. It shouldn't be a partisan thing either. When the automakers were in DC begging for their bailouts, some of the toughest treatment they got was from the Republican senators.
Thank you for mentioning Peter Drucker. I assume that he is the same as the author of “Adventurers of a Bystander.” A read that made my blood run cold as he described the takeover of Germany by Adolf.
Same guy. His writings use mid-century language, which includes the old style of pronouns, so one has to look past that. Also, some of the eastern philosophy elements that work so well and which stress the service and enablement aspects of the role of leaders (think Simon Sinek and "Leaders Eat Last") are missing. But other than that, his stuff really is the foundation of modern business leadership philosophy. McGregor, Ouchi, Reddin, and Lewin round out the list of the more progressive writers in the field. That said, none of them have seized upon this notion of Drucker's that the corporation is the critical institution in the way we organize society, and that it should be treated as such. That leads to a very different place.
Don't know about his business acumen but he surely knew what authoritarianism could do to a country. His book is as on target today as it has ever been. He escaped Germany by the hair of his chinny chin chin.
Drucker is generally considered to be the founder of modern business theory. It was his relationship with Alfred P. Sloan that led Sloan to endow a new school of Business at MIT, which went on to include on its faculty many of the giants of the field. Drucker's key observation in his study of GM that led to his book "Concept of the Corporation: was very unsettling to Sloan and his team of executives. That the corporation or big business had become one of the primary, if not THE primary, institutions by which we organize society, and should be treated as such, was something Sloan and his associates really did not want to hear. Of course, the implication is that such businesses should be chartered and regulated for what they are. That said, it is such a dumb obvious thing to say, that they couldn't deny it. Sloan and Drucker remained friends and would regularly dine together whenever they got a chance, for the rest of their lives. If you are interested in my take on it, and the opportunity presented by the mess at Boeing, check out this playlist on my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@charlemagnesclock/videos
Thank you. I knew how Drucker felt about the Nazis but I didn't assume anything about his business theory. I'll check it out. He wrote one hell of a good book. Probably should be reissued today.
I remember "way back when" well, partially anyway...some big mucky-muck was testifying before congress (Alan Greenspan????) regarding the removal of some regulations on banks. And the guy "testifying" specifically said "Oh, I think we can trust the banks to do the right thing."
And I remember thinking "Because BEFORE there were regulations on banking practices, that worked so well...for the rich, the stock mkt? not so much. The Nation? A disaster.
Thank you Professor HCR. Is it too much to ask to have all the Trump tax cuts repealed? Under his tax changes , my taxes went up, not down. I am not wealthy, I am a retired government employee. I see no reason to have our tax laws based on the legacy of a soon to be convicted criminal.
America would benefit greatly from a repeal of Trump’s tax cuts. We'll need to elect more than 59 Dem Senators in Nov.
Also, if we have as little as a ONE Representative deficit in the House, MAGA will run all of Congress again, (even if Trump’s in the slammer.)
David, we have seen the Republican numbers in the House decline even as they hold a slim majority. We can and should take back the House. While the Senate is a challenge it is doable with citizens paying attention to the most unproductive legislative years on record. Concurrently, the courts and the Republican state houses are attempting to prevail with a scorched earth policy agenda that helps no one, fosters chaos, ignores the will of the people and leaves communities to face violence with both rhetoric and easy access to military weapons by people who are a danger to our communities.
These are reasons we can and must win in 2024. The future of all citizens will be shaped by the decisions made in the months ahead. Let’s march forward and make history in 2024 and 2025.
It'll be specially helpful if Republicans continue to show voters their true colors.
Next they'll be writing Acts to benefit home appliances.
My home appliances really appreciate the House effort. Fortunately, they have decided to continue working too.
Yup. Our house of representatives working again and even more openly fbo the electricity/fossil fuel interests and Chinese and other non-American manufacturers. Do they really think we are this stupid?
Yes, they do really think we are that stupid and sadly, it appears those who voted for these house members are that stupid.
They don't know or care if we are that stupid. Given their gerrymandered districts and (often) lack of opponents they need not give us another thought. MAGA Mike has never run in a contested race and he is third in line for the US Presidency. He and the others are no different than "southern white elites" of the 1860's discussed in this letter.
They live in their own reeking bubble. We just bought a new dryer, made here in the USA.
Yes
Maybe Congress should take a lesson from them.
Maybe they'll be too busy passing aid to Israel, which provoked an Iranian attack. An attack using the same drones Russia has been using on Ukraine.
Russia and Trump will be sorry if the House actually manages to pass aid to Ukraine and keeps Israel from being a distraction to what it is trying to do to Ukraine. May Johnson see the light after his trip to Mal-a-Lago.
“Mal-a-Lago” — nice, Virginia: Subtle but effective.
It seems that Mar a Lago has quite the busy social calendar featuring Orban. Too bad Putin couldn't visit but he has a bounty on his head if he basically leaves his country.
LOL.. Aren't they now? Those are right up there with renaming an airport after trump. I hope that idea crashes and burns. I've been getting weekly updates from one of the CT Congresswomen, Johanna Hayes. She lists all the money she was able to get for her district which was needed. She also told about some legislation she has presented. No appliances, no renaming airports.
"While the Senate is a challenge it is doable with citizens paying attention to the most unproductive legislative years on record."
The question being whether the citizens are actually paying attention or not. Hopefully, they will wake up soon.
It ain't government of the people, by the people, for the people if people ain't payin' attention.
I think we are....more than Republicans think we are.
Yesterday my state held their Democratic convention . The numbers seem to show 82%! of the delegates were there.
Last week the Republicans held theirs, and had less than 50% show.
I think there might be hope.
To expand the base, register more Democrats. Register Democrats to save Democracy.
https://www.fieldteam6.org/
I agree. Many of us are, but not enough and too many are getting their news(?) from the likes of Fox and the Rush's clones. I've been listening to Sara Longwell's reports based on interviews with voters from all over the country. The trumpian conservatives are incredibly misinformed and inarticulate. I hope they are more intelligent than they sound because all of them were likely voters.
On the other hand, the liberals were well informed, even though many hold very different opinions from mine. Those who might not vote for Biden are angry, but they articulate their anger well. I hope they are intelligent enough to vote for Joe even if they don't like it.
I don't mean to look down on trump supporters because I understand their anger too. If we can get them to listen to facts instead of culture war nonsense, they might just come around. And one of the things they need to both hear and feel in their lives is that Reganomics is why the system WAS rigged against them and Biden's new approach is working for them and will continue to if we give he and Harris another term.
In a conversation with Robert Rich on Saturday, Journalist Michael Pollen said that if Biden wins another 4 years, he will take the gloves off in fighting corporations who are pillaging America. I believe that.
All trumpers see is the high price of groceries and gas. I, myself, am a bit dismayed at the grocery prices BUT from what I have read, the lower wage earners have increased their salaries to accommodate inflation. The thing is if you increase salaries, prices increase, too.
Just because people don't make a lot of noise doesn't mean they aren't listening. In a classroom there are always the noisy ones....maybe If the teacher is lucky 30%. The rest are either asleep at the wheel or just listening. Sometimes hard to tell the difference. But when test time comes teachers are sometimes surprised at how many actually got it. Sometimes disappointed, sometimes truly amazed. I think this year, like 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2022 we'll be truly amazed.
I really hope you're right.
And therein lies the challenge. They aren’t. Too many people, whose very lives are at risk because of these power hungry, my way is right and righteous, callous, uncaring, ignorant, can’t think of what they are to be called, have bamboozled them totally. And many are people who are not stupid, who are aware mostly of what’s going on. I keep saying there will be huge numbers of psychological studies about this phenomena.
The best thing I saw was a comment the other day from someone who pointed to the hundreds of thousands of people who drove and flew and rented hotel rooms, etc. to watch the eclipse, a scientific event, predicted long ago, but many were the same who refused to believe in vaccines or think the earth is flat!
Selective ignorance?
More like willful ignorance, I think.
My husband drove one hour to get into the zone of totality. He stopped at a gas station to ask where the town park was and mentioned the eclipse. The attendant's response: "What eclipse?" This was 30 minutes before totality! I'm not convinced that folks ARE aware of the world around them...
A lot certainly aren't. But a lot are. (I don't know how the numbers break down at any particular time or place.)
Many of my family live in the area of total eclipse. i had to set one of them straight after she posted a conspiracy theory. She did thank me for my post, so at least she read it. Southern Indiana and Illinois....hotbeds of ignorance and regressive nonsense. And based on their lives, I would say a lot of people are busy trying to make ends meet, having health problems, arguing with each other, having children they shouldn't have, etc.
and they think health insurance is bad now...
How about people who spend a lot of money going to trump rallies. I am sure they are not free. Add admission, gas (flights, maybe not so much), hotel rooms (what I saw were trumpers staying in tents supposedly used for summer camping or cars). Just saying. BTW it was snowing
FYI when I was in NH for Pete's rally, I stayed in a bed and breakfast, home breakfast including fresh baked muffins, private bathroom. When I got to my room, a fire was going in the electric fire place.
If we're going to do this, which I agree we must, the Democrats will have to develop and execute a strategy to counter REDMAP and treat all 50 states as battlegrounds. There is at least a reasonable chance to grab a Senate seat in MO and boot Hawley if Lucas Kunce can gat some support from the national party apparatus and donors. This is probably true in other races as well, but the constant harping on the 7 focus states detracts from a bigger message.
Even Iowa is flippable. Just gotta work at it (only the representatives are on the ballot this year).
We have a different situation here in blue MD., Ed. The popular anti Trump Republican Larry Hogan will be running in the General election against one of 2 (of the 5) popular Primary Election candidates (Trone and Alsobrooks) for Senator Ben Cardin's Senate seat. We NEED that Senate seat to be Democratic!
representatives are good. Maybe the House could get something done with fewer republicans.
I'm going to be donating to Lucas Kunce. He's got a good chance.
I have already as well as Fraische?
I agree!
John D. that Comment was an excellent strategy summary throughout the end of this year & putting a final end to sinister Supply Side 'economics' of 1981-2021.
The House is back in Session on Monday 4/15 & the danger of a wider regional war in the Middle East's a distinct possibility. $95 Billion in financial & humanitarian aid to Ukraine, Israel & Taiwan has already passed the Senate 70-29 waiting for a House Vote.
There a number of House ways to get the bill on Biden's desk ready for the President's signature next Tuesday. Steam roll the seditious Speaker's ultra thin 'majority'. Yes, I am calling my Contra Costa County CA Office today & Nancy Pelosi (Emeritus) today to help get it done.
Bring the "Senate Ukraine, Israel & Taiwan Package" to the House Floor for a vote now.
The Iranian attack may be the impetus to get the House to do what they should have done months ago.
I would highly recommend keeping up with all the court challenges by subscribing to Marc Elias’s DEMOCRACY DOCKET on You Tube too. He and his firm have successfully challenged many of the draconian laws that have been passed in the various states.
Thank you SPW ;I will chec out "Elias Law Group, LLC" & 'Democracy Docket". Also, Attorney Marc can be found @marcelias/X.
Sunday Afternoon Update: Here is Elias Law Group, LLC's Mission Statement:
ELG, LLC is "a mission driven firm committed to helping Democrats win. [Citizens to ] Vote & Progressives make change."
Thank you. I assume Democracy Docket takes a little different approach than our Joyce Vance, a former DoJ lawyer and scholar. (?)
So many people responded to this that it seemed only right to steal a link from Jessica Craven’s Extra, Extra! This is an uplifting story from David Pepper about people energized and running for office. Be inspired. Do the same.
https://open.substack.com/pub/davidpepper/p/report-from-the-front-lines-missouri-17c?r=39h2h&utm_medium=ios
My worry is that I’ve watched Mr Trump con wealthy educated people (yes, some simply greedy) here in Palm Beach and wealthy areas.
How difficult would it be for him to con those living paycheck to paycheck (the majority of the country)?
I’m afraid that he doesn’t need former true Republicans any more at this point; just a populist message.
Lavinia, you may be right but we must become active participants in the country’s democracy and give it our best. There are many reasons to be optimistic, most of is the groundswell of engaged citizens like us giving their time and $$$.
David, We neither need to nor could we, in the foreseeable future, elect 59+ Democratic Senators to repeal the Trump tax cuts. Currently, there are 49 Senators (excluding both Manchin & Sinema) who support filibuster reforms that would override the 60-vote threshold required for legislation to move to the floor for debate and an up or down majority vote, with the VP, if needed, casting the tie-breaking vote. Accordingly, to achieve meaningful change, we must hold our 49 Senate seats, flip 1 Republican-held seat, retake the House and hold the White House. Only then, in my view, will Reagan-era policy increasingly recede.
Thoughtful, accurate, I believe, answer. And that is what I hope happens.
Hoping to flip Florida and even Texas.
https://www.fieldteam6.org/
The factual presentations seem little compared to the incessant clamor , and doubly it’s not listened to by ‘their base’.
What I see happening here/there steady Democratic wins, steady forward progress in job growth, infrastructure projects implemented and a slowly growing awareness of number losses for Republican support/resignation/donating/abortion stand.
Could it be the ruse is up?
Nonetheless , our own push must stay the course , there is much to UNDO regards to the tax structures since Regan , plenty of area for improvement in our safeguards/laws -Citizens Untied, Filibuster,Voting and Women’s Rights,and in totality Health Care specifically Big Pharma’s influence. Corporate America needs reigned in!
💙💙VOTE ALL THE COMPLICIT OUT💙💙
Did they have 59 republicans senators when the Trump tax cuts were passed? I think that 59 vote rule should be discarded. It is antiquated.
All we need for that is 52 D Senators - since we won't have Manchinema to kick in their asses any more, and on January 3 2025 we can be rid of a filibuster with the Senate Majority Leader changing the rules and leaving it out.
I dream, but will Manchinema find some other way to help repubs.
They're out of office as of election day in November
When will the dynamic duo be gone Jeri?
I thought that they would stay til their terms end.
Jack, The Republican-controlled Senate was able to pass the Trump tax cuts with 51 votes through budget reconciliation, which only requires a simple majority.
Which is what it takes to change Senate Rules.
"Budget reconciliation is a special parliamentary procedure of the United States Congress set up to expedite the passage of certain federal budget legislation in the Senate." Wikipedia
Like a few other "rules".
Jack, the filibuster rule works for us when we’re in the minority and against is when we’re in a less-than-2/3 majority. It protects us from the majority party being totally dominant. Sooner or later, maybe even next year, Dems will be in the minority, and Reps will want to eliminate the rule. Now, I hate the filibuster rule, but if Reps take the senate, I’ll love it.
It does provide some stability which is good, but it also can cause a chronic stagnation, with nothing getting done. I doubt that Joe Biden wants the 59 vote rule eliminated but I feel it might be good to be rid of it. I have mixed feelings about it, but I do think we have too many ways built into the system that protects the minority and lately those protections have been abused.
The 60 vote rule can stay so long as we elect a total of at least 60 senators -- a tall task, given gerrymandering. Removal of it can always be used as a threat...
Yes, IF we can get money out of politics, eliminate extreme gerrymandering, and find a proper line between freedom of speech and extreme propaganda (“active measures”).
Yes. The Democrats need a solid majority in both houses and the presidency. If that happens then the crazies will have an extremely weak “rigged election” argument. More importantly with such a majority there is an opportunity to pass legislation that benefits the majority of citizens and not just the top tier. In addition it could be an opportunity to modernize our government. First call for a constitutional convention and second overhaul the arcane “rules” in both the House and the Senate to achieve a truly democratic and representative government. If this happens and if the democratic majority can deliver meaningful legislation that is well executed, then President Biden could become another FDR at a time when we really need that type of leadership.
I’ve been waiting for this column for years! It’s here and the responses are a joy to read. I lived the years since Reagan got rid of Carter and tore his solar panels off the White House, taxed the middle class (can anyone here who didn’t live the Reagan years remember when credit card interest was tax deductible ?), and discredited the poor while doing Iran Contra?
Reagan was a swine, aided and abetted by the loathsome individuals "advising" him. Leonard Leo, the reactionary members of SCOTUS, the Federalist Society, etc., and all their works and policies, are the noxious outgrowths thereof.
What can we do with Leonard Leo who is a threat to US all.
I would almost certainly be banned if I say what I want, but I keep saying to myself the famous/infamous words of Henry II re: Thomas Becket.
Yes...those arcane rules need to be overhauled....especially because they allow one person to hold complete power over our legislative process. The electoral college needs to be eliminated.
Also, the Supreme Court needs to be fixed, and the DOJ needs to stop pussy footing around. Did Garland think the American public would be satisfied with only the prosecution of J6ers?
The first order of such a Constitutional Convention must be to enact the Equal Rights Amendment, ratified by all the states needed over a decade ago. The second must be to propose an Amendment declaring that Americans have a right to privacy in their personal affairs, including reproductive matters, more artfully stated than that, so as to preserve the right to make all abortion decisions those exclusively of the pregnant person.
We have to tell this story wherever we can. Here's my Twitter X post (exactly 239 characters) I'm posting it wherever I see a GOP misinformation tweet about their benefits or Biden's shortcomings re the economy or Trump's support of "everyday Americans."
_________________________________
Here's a different view from UAW President Shawn Fain..."Workers have realized they’ve been getting screwed for decades, & they’re fed up."
How?
Historian Heather Cox Richardson @HC_Richardson tells the story in this edition, 1981-today. Check it out!
https://open.substack.com/pub/heathercoxrichardson/p/april-13-2024?r=eznl2&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
It FEELS PRETTY HOPELESS. Gawd, I HATE TRUMP. And Mike MAGA Johnson!
Dana:
What's hopeless about it? I just re-read Prof Richardson's letter. It sounds pretty optimistic to me. She is essentially writing the obituary for the modern Republican -- Re-Qonfederate Party.
Not that those of us who are hoping to preserve a liberal representative government that actually works for the citizens can afford to sit on our hands. I'll continue to work here in West Michigan with the local Democratic Party to increase voter awareness and loyalty to democratic principles . . . e.g. expanded voter access to the polls.
You've heard it before, I'm sure: Democracy is not a spectator sport.
\Vince S
Not necessarily. The Dems need 51, Biden needs to accept that bipartisanship is dead and Schumer must kill the filibuster with 51 votes.
Yes, that is definitely true!
I would also like to see tax on social security income repealed. In fact, social security is importantly being protected by Biden, who along with Democrats wants to expand it and fund it better by including the wealthiest Americans. In contrast, Trump and any Republican wants to lower the amount that people can get to subsistence living level, and bleed it of employees so that people cannot access their benefits because they cannot get any service or help. Then with the money social security does not pay people that it should, they want to put that into lowering the deficit so that their billionaire and millionaire and some soon to be trillionaire clients can save more on taxes.
"I would also like to see tax on social security income repealed." I agree. It makes no sense to tax social security income. We paid into the Social Security fund via the FICA "Payroll Tax". Now, in retirement, some people are required to pay a tax on the money we paid into the insurance fund via FICA taxes on our income while we were working. That seems like double taxation.
One alternative would be for our Congress to appropriate sufficient discretionary spending to meet any shortfall in available FICA income due to changing demographics, instead of taxing us twice on the same income.
For people with little or no savings, the average monthly social security payment is meager. Rents have been trending upwards.
At least one US Senator has been advocating increasing the social security disbursement.
According to the woman who spoke to Democrats Abroad in a webinar on social security for expats, the fund in the USA is actuarily set for the next 75 years. That is it is carefully watched over to ensure that it is fit to meet all obligations for the next 75 years. That it is not are Republican lies that Democrats should not be falling for. That is the USA standard. In Germany it is only 25 years, and the OECD uses 45 years as its actuarial standard. While I don't yet collect social security, it is currently set to cover my lifetime. However, that is only if Trump and his handmaids in the Republican party don't get the majority needed to mess with it. Right now it has a 2.8 trillion dollar accumulated surplus. The money is extremely secure if we continue as we have. What the Republicans are constantly trying to do and did under Trump is 1) cut benefits, so that less social security will be needed and they can transfer it to pay down the deficit (which ironically exists because of the tax breaks Trump and other Republicans have given to the wealthiest among us so that you and I pay more taxes than they do.) 2) They are starving it of money to support people working in SSA so that it makes it hard to get help filing claims and straightening out problems which saves them money too. Money that we paid into it and cannot access. She told us that SSA went from being the best government agency to work for to being the worst, which will mean turnover, time needed to train new hires, etc... which are costs and add to inefficiencies. 3) She told us that undocumented immigrants often pay into the system but do not draw benefits so they contribute to the health of the fund. This is of course unfair and should also be addressed. Overall immigrants contribute heavily to the social security fund and that helps to stimulate our economy. So, we should all be writing our politicians insisting that they pass legislation that 1) expands social security benefits and 2) that exempts this income from taxation, 3) that includes all people who pay into it regardless of documented status. When I get the video from the webinar, I will post the link. I believe it will be on Youtube.
It is why so many of us have looked for cheaper places to live in retirement than in the USA. The downside of living abroad is that as of now one cannot collect medicare abroad. That is another thing that needs to be changed. Still, we have friends that just moved to Lisbon, Portugal as "digital nomads." They told us while we visited them a couple of weeks ago that they are part of the national health insurance which is free. She is currently getting midwife care for her first pregnancy which includes ultra sounds. In Germany one pays around what one would pay for medicare for national health insurance plans at the lowest rate. However, it is hard to get into the national insurance if you have not been here paying all along. They are going to try to push you into private insurance which one should not do. What is cheaper in Germany except for a couple of big cities like Hamburg and Munich, is housing. Food is also much cheaper. Utilities are expensive, but even renters are allowed to hang solar panels from their balconies and tap into the electric grid as both consumers and providers, or to store energy. If you do not insist on owning a car, transportation here is cheaper in most places the public is more than adequate to get you where you need to go with a monthly Germany ticket, which gets you around the country too. I have heard that France is thinking of introducing the same monthly plan. Still, it is shocking that one currently cannot have it all in the USA unless you are getting the high end with 2 incomes, one of which will disappear when a spouse dies. So, that is something that should also be looked at, as well as the fact that businesses are not providing pension, but more like investment opportunities so that your money is put at risk your entire life unless you put it into an annuity, which may have a low yield.
So true, thank you. We did fine until my husband died, then I get hit with a $6,000 tax bill because I am now single. Or so the CPA told me. More withholding so maybe next year will be better, if I live so long. My chat with SSA required a hold time of 71 minutes (after 45 minutes on web site, which finally required a call). Imagine if chump gets in and continues with his “destruction of the administrative state,” as Bannon and chump promised.
Did the CPA explain the $6000 tax when your husband died? I am puzzled.
I am imagining it, and it looks like, someone displeases him as he melts down but he sees the red button and remembers he can use it in a moment of rage tainted lucidity.
I have been writing that we need to learn from Mother Europe! Thanks very much, Linda Weide, for this post. I am pushing Secretary of Transportation Buttigieg for trolleys in cities and both regional and long distance (based on the TGV which I have ridden over much of France)trains. As for medicine, we are so far behind what I experienced in France, thanks mostly to corporate greed which continues to dominate every aspect of American life, that I despair unless we get and keep Democrats in both Houses for 40 years again.
Linda, your description matches very closely what I learned about the Social Security Trust Funds after I retired in 2010. I have not looked at the health of the fund recently (until just now), but I recall that the Treasury Department reports regularly on the actuarial predictions, and the probability that the Trust Funds will be able to pay full benefits.
I have read various commentaries which suggest that Congress could appropriate funding adequate to pay promised benefits to augment the Trust Funds if they ever approach depletion.
I will look for the link to the webinar you mentioned.
Here is a link to US Treasury Department's report on their projections for Social Security to 2097.
(Edit: A day later I see where I made an error in reporting the main import of Treasury's summary: the "d" footnote refers to DI, Disability Insurance, rather than the OASI (Old Age and Survivors Insurance). I apologize for any misapprehension I may have caused.)
https://www.ssa.gov/policy/trust-funds-summary.html
"The projected reserve depletion date for the combined OASDI trust funds is 2034, a year earlier than in last year's report.1 Considered on its own, the OASI Trust Fund can pay full benefits until 2033, a year earlier than projected last year. As in last year's report, the DI Trust Fund is projected to be able to pay full benefits through the end of the 75-year projection period (2097 in this year's report)."
However there are two SS Trust Funds, the retirement fund and a disability fund. As of today, the retirement fund outlays are supposed to peak in 2033. If it defaults, it would have to pay a reduced amount.
2033 represents when the baby boom beneficiaries reach their peak. But that is also when the number of expected beneficiaries begin to decline. After 2034, birth rates of later generations flatten and the funds can be solvent.
Social Security protects workers, widow(er)s, orphans and disabled people and is a major investment for many of us.
Please donate to create an endowment to slow down the rate. If everyone who donates to say, universities, which aren't really charities, the trust funds would be secure.
https://www.ssa.gov/agency/donations.html
Is this the video?
Social Security works for all Americans (Saving Our Democracy series)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eo58N6Ln268
Dont deductions for social security get tax deductions also?
Also, all income should be subject to social security taxes which should improve solvency of the fund. As someone with ample savings, I would not be opposed to means testing for benefits leaving funds as a safety net for those who truly need it and possibly allowing for more generous benefits. I had too many patients living on social security alone trying to decide between buying food or medicine.
Totally. I think that is part of what Biden is moving towards. Not clear on the details. Should ask Biden to spell it out more clearly, or some Substack. My summer job working in a bank was interesting. I got to see the size of the poorer people in my fairly wealthy university community. The ones who lived in the horrid scattered site public housing for the elderly. This was their entire income and one lady had cat food in her bag and she told me it was all she could afford to eat as meat. It is just shameful that with such wealth we allow this. It is just shocking. So, I still remember the checks being like 120 dollars a month, which just is not enough to represent a lifetime of working.
While I understand the means testing of social security, the reason it has support is that everyone is entitled to benefits as everyone who pays in gets them. I believe there is a maximum benefit and perhaps there should also be a minimum benefit.
Makes sense. If we don't need it we can always contribute the money to worthy causes.
I mostly agree, but means testing is a bad idea. First, everyone who pays in should receive. Second, means testing on such a large scale would significantly increase administrative costs.
SS is already at a subsistence level. (That's what kills me...Congressmen who have a guaranteed income and healthcare for life....thinks the average SS benefits and Medicare are too generous. No one ever suggests those benefits should go away....only SS and Medicare)
And if anyone should get tax breaks it should be those on SS not the wealthy. How did our country go so wrong. How did we EVER buy the corrupt Reaganomics ploy.
I knew from the gitgo that Reagan and his economics were SHIT! In fact, my professor of economics was very clear on the fallacy of Trickledown economics. So, I was in shock that anyone, including people I went to school with and knew of as Democrats bragging about being Reagan Democrats. I just thought of them as Stupid idiots. I still do. He just gave them permission to be super rich and greedy and selfish, and that is what their little egos ran with. I could say more but won't as they all sicken me.
Me, too.
Permission to be super rich and greedy and selfish. A cultural shift since my formative years, for sure. Later, there was a show Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, designed to create envy of the wealthy and give greed and selfishness a good name.
Yeech!
Fir me, SS is below subsistence level! It won't even cover my rent, let alone food, phone, heat and electricity!
Greed has always played an important part for the Republican party. Along with the corporations and millionaires and billionaires. This how the majority of the middle class was wipe out. The Reagan era and the Republican party plan it this way.
My US representative, Angie Craig, D-MN, is currently working on a bill to lower taxes on Social Security income - Craig was the chief author of the bill that lowered prescription drug prices for seniors several years ago. But we all know what a dumpster fire the House is currently. So the chances that bill would even get a committee hearing are slim. What to do?
Every one who is able, should be working to get out the vote. Field team 6 is the group I work with - postcards, phone calls, texts to remind people to vote and get people to register early. There are many more groups - some local, some national. Registering early will be critical in Republican-led states where gerrymandering and purging the voter rolls are common tactics that favor Republicans
We the people are the ones who can change the outcome of the 2024 election. Please do whatever you are able to do.
I agree with you a 100%. However, Democrats must also emphasize about Medicare and Society Security being cut when their talking to the people when campaigning.
We must win both houses and Biden re-elected to have an increase in Society Security. Millionaires and billionaires would have to pay a higher tax of at least 20 to 25%.
They been getting away for years not paying nothing. It's time for them to pay their fair share.
Musk is on his way, Linda!
"have all the Trump tax cuts repealed"
And Reagan's and both Bush's.
Make America Great Again - go Back to Eisenhower tax rates.
Now you’re talking. Eisenhower was the first President I knew of , as I grew up and as I recall things were going pretty good back then. Did you know that Ike paid for the Interstate Highway System with cash? That is how much tax revenue was pouring in back then from the rich and big business. Now the republicans want to take money from Social Security and Medicare to pay the bills.
As you point out, tax cuts aren't really a Trump thing. They're a Republican thing. I'm not a Democrat; I don't want to see the country go too far to the left either. But that's simply not something that's going to happen any time in the near future. Republican yelling about Socialism is simply more dishonesty. This next election needs to be a 'bloodbath' for the GOP.
Yes, This will be their RED wave and they will deserve it.
Linsey Graham: (May 3, 2016)
"If we nominate Trump, we will get destroyed.......and we will deserve it."
The 2024 election must be only the first of a few decades of elections, so that trumpism, Reaganism, Leonard Leo-ism, Project 2025-ism, Federalist Society-ism, and their ilk, are all consigned to the trash heap.
Hopefully it will, in a peaceful transition if Biden should be re-elected. Trump and his mega Republican party and his voter's can't except defeat. Let's hope provisions are made ahead of time ,should Biden be, re-elected.
lin - I'd be happy to go back to the Clinton economy where the US was able to balance the Federal budget for four years - 1998-2001 in a row.
And then W. allowed 9/11 to happen and the economy tanked and the Federal deficits return in spades.
GWB spent $3 trillion off budget to fund the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
And we never hear a word about that. But try to help Ukraine survive a bloody dictator and they have a conniption.
Whe we went into Afghanistan their GDP was virtually non-existent. Their economy was dead last. After spend trillions there we were about to raise their GDP to 171st in the world. Pathetic. Worst investment ever with absolutely nothing to show for it.
Corporations benefit hugely from state and social subsidies. That would include prime facie America's outsized military. And look how well Vietnam went?
I have repeated that this conservative movement from Reagan onward was only and all about money. Deregulation only benefits the producing class. I only hope you are right, Heather. Let’s hope you are. And let’s not forget that so much damage has been done to the people and our government. I hope the fences can be mended. And let us not forget that the negative use of AI will be used front and center to deflect the progress we should make.
Just ending a 3 week trip thru Japan. Where are all the homeless? Why aren’t the subways grimy and smelling of urine? Where are all of the cops? How come no one locks their bikes?This is what happens when a country supports their citizens with a living wage and excellent infrastructure I guess.
That’s why I’ve lived in Japan for decades and can’t ever live in America again. When I’ve visited, all I can think is “How can people live this way? It’s like a third world country,”
Where do you live in Japan, Kristin?
I'm (have been for 15 years) in the mountains of Kyushu, halfway between Oita-shi on the Pacific coast, and Kumamoto to the west. Am in a town, Taketa, that lies in the valley, valleys, of two rivers. They meet just at the foot of a very old castle on the eastern side of town (or, its stunningly beautiful castle grounds -- the edifices razed in the Meiji era).
Three mile-high mountains in view here: Aso, Kuju, and Sobo-san, plus horizons all crenellated in ridges of bamboo, pine, cedar, and rice terraces.
It sounds like heaven! I live part of the time in Tokyo and part of the time in Izu. I like the contrasts.
Tell us about living in Japan. What do you do for a living?
I was invited here as an artist in 1980 and have done a lot of things to make a living, mostly related to art.
You are living the dream says this artist struggling to stay afloat in the Northeast USA.
I can still remember the eighties when there was a lot of fear that the Japanese would overtake us with their innovations. At least now we consider them an ally rather than a rival.
Japan has been an ally for a long time. Russia not. Now we have a lot more completion by both foes and friends. Republicans don't care as long as money collects at the top.
There were homeless people living in nifty wheeled boxes that were packed up every morning when the people went to work keeping the parks clean or direction traffic in and out of parking lots. We were there in 2009.
The GOP for decades has been an unholy alliance of market fundamentalists who worship the Almighty Dollar and self-described "Christians" who reject the Golden Rule.
I have called the two factions the Flat Taxers and the Flat Earthers, or the Dow Jones and Bob Jones wings, or the Social Darwinists and Young Earth Creationists.
Which they emphasize varies opportunistically with time and place, but they often campaign on religion and govern for plutocracy.
"Christians" who worship wealth and despise the poor.
'Milton Friedman argued that returning value to shareholders was the primary responsibility of business and suggested that “Greed is Good.”'
https://fortune.com/2020/09/13/milton-friedman-anniversary-business-purpose/
(paywall)
Friedman’s shareholder doctrine is dead
"Fifty years ago, Milton Friedman in the New York Times magazine proclaimed that the social responsibility of business is to increase its profits. Directors have the duty to do what is in the interests of their masters, the shareholders, to make as much profit as possible. Friedman was hostile to the New Deal and European models of social democracy and urged business to use its muscle to reduce the effectiveness of unions, blunt environmental and consumer protection measures, and defang antitrust law. He sought to reduce consideration of human concerns within the corporate boardroom and legal requirements on business to treat workers, consumers, and society fairly. "
If this doctrine is dead, the GOP and its allies seems to have not gotten the message. Or they are clinging to it and suffering the consequences.
I would have to disagree: Friedman's shareholder doctrine is undead. As in "revenants," zombies. The machinery and culture of large corporations still pander to the shareholders.
You 're quite right, that capitalism is a virtual religion in modern American society.
Incisive (and clever) framing, Mark.
More, please!
My first name for you know who was the Pyrite Pretendent, second the Conman-in-Chief, third was the Lyin' King.
Mark, I love your names of the factions! Most clever and articulate.
Well put Mark. I totally agree.
I love your terminology. I am laughing so hard. I discovered I could share what you wrote with several people. 😂
“Workers have realized they’ve been getting screwed for decades, and they’re fed up.”
Millions of the workers are behind Trump because the maganaizi propaganda machine blames high energy and food prices on Biden. Of course that is a big lie that Biden is any more at fault than Trump is for the high food prices.
Trump's total mishandling of Covid-19 and the shaming of the Fed to lower rates to zero so that he could save money on his debt had to actually be dealt with to prevent a melt-down of our economy.
And the Biden policies have worked. The US has had the strongest recovery and economy in the world under Biden.
Gary, my MNJ friends harp on both food prices and student loan forgiveness. Any time I point out why the student loan issue is interest and policy driven or that record prices are seeing record profits I am met with utter garbage as denials.
Very sad Ally.
I don't understand why the cost of a college education at the state school I attended cost my niece and nephew 7 times as much as I paid. Fortunately, they were both able to get student aid and scholarships so they could complete their educations. I didn't have to since I was able to make enough in the summer to pay for each year of school.
Can you imagine a rising sophomore making $35K in 3 months?
IMO student loan forgiveness is just easing the burden of greed and stupidity by the political class.
Exactly the situation where I grew up, NW Indiana. College students worked in the steel mills in the summer to earn the next year’s tuition and room and board. And IU cost $325 for between 12-18 hours of classes per semester. I think room and board was $1000 per year, or maybe per semester.
I was able to work in a grocery store for a bit more than minimum wage, and with the help of sports scholarship stipends, only accrue about 3,000 in student loans, at a 1.9 interest rate.
You left out one big issue; white working class moved from the Democratic Party beginning with the Dixiecrats and Nixon’s Southern strategy and culminating with s self of being racially left out as crazy as it sounds. Also, Democratic Party foolishly added to this sense of abandonment. Now you have a bigger picture.
Bill- Foolishness is why I can't go full-on Democrat.
And yet, I have only voted for Democrats and Independents for most of this century. Most Republicans prefer to hate instead of love and they are gullible to the point of stupidity. The faux-Christian white nationalists believe the Bible condemns abortion when the only passage in the Bible dealing with the topic says a priest (rabbi) can order an abortion if a woman is pregnant with someone baby other than her husband.
Because why? Voting for Democrats? My conclusion....as I vote the same way.....is because only the Democratic party has any Progressives. They foolishly let Republicans make the word 'liberal' into a negative epithet, almost a swear word.
The Republicans are no longer conservative unless you want to classify Fascists as conservative. What have they done since Reagan that is conservative?
They are repressive regressives and Fascist.
I agree, liberal and progressive are not negatives. IMO - Regressive, Fascist and Repressive are very negative.
Who produces? Seems like more of a controlling class than a producing one.
Just an updated plantation system.
Which was an ultra-predatory form of ye old feudalism.
I don't understand what you mean by "the producing class."
In my mind, that means the people who bring stuff to market, which they can sell or trade or contribute, whether under radical socialism, a social-credit system, or a currency system.
The non-productive class includes the government, but it also includes the moneylenders, which includes all the "shareholders" in modern economies. And of these three classes, the one that does the best under deregulation is the moneylenders.
Deregulation doesn't really hurt the government, but it devastates the producers.
I'm not writing a dissertation. Companies want free rein to produce and sell regardless of any potential damage to the environment.
For well, ever, we haven't made the oil extractors cap their wells when they no longer produce a profitable amount of oil. The Biden administration is requiring oil producers to cap the wells they are taking offline, but 3.5 million are abandoned with no consequences to the companies that raped the earth to steal our natural resources for profit.
Current National Statistics: Well Count, Location, Emissions
There are an estimated 3.5 million abandoned oil and gas wells in the U.S., including plugged (~39%), orphaned, and inactive wells (data not disaggregated; 1990-2020 Draft Inventory of Greenhouse Gas Sources and Sinks; US EPA (2022)).
U.S. abandoned wells are concentrated in Appalachia and the Midwest, the Gulf and Central states, the Rocky Mountains, and California, with the majority occurring in four states: TX, PA, KS, and WV (FIG. 1).
In 2019, fugitive U.S. methane emissions from abandoned wells had an estimated thermal energy value of 284 kilotons—equivalent to 7.1 million metric tons (MMT) of CO2 with a 95% confidence interval of 1.1 to 20.8 MMT, the highest uncertainty among the nation’s largest sources of methane (US EPA 2021).
Excerpt from the Department of Interior website
https://www.doi.gov/sites/doi.gov/files/federal-orphaned-wells-methane-measurement-guidelines-final-for-posting-v2.pdf
Valid point about AI. Let's hope people are aware of this and not be mimniputed into fiction from facts.
Too late they already are. Trump is 100% fictional.
Yes , that my be true but it's never too late for Trump voters to change their
mind, especially for Trump senior voters who depend on their Social Security to live on.
I would like to think that we vote intellectually and sure, some of us do but those who collectively identify as one group or another, will vote according to their identity. I ask how could any self respecting conservative vote for Trump? How? Sometimes it’s as much a vote for as a vote against. And if one allows the false images mixed with bad reasoning it fortifies the person to vote accordingly. I could point out a few things I don’t like about Joe Biden but my practical side tells me there is no one else better than he is at the moment. I think now that so much damage has been done to women specifically, how can we lose? But look at the price we are paying.
Yes , I agree. Common sense and foresight will make people realize this.
To take a few words out of James Carville's mouth, '"It's the economy, stupid"; and I'd say it's the 'monopolies' stupid! They are big part of what is putting the squeeze on our budgets, but, unfortunately, the uninformed among us are blaming Biden, when our dear president has been trying to do something about them.
‘She’s going to prevail’: FTC head Lina Khan is fighting for an anti-monopoly America'
'Some say Biden’s high-profile warrior – who’s gone after Kroger, Amazon, and Nvidia – has redefined the US antitrust landscape' (TheGuardian) See link below.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/mar/09/lina-khan-federal-trade-commission-antitrust-monopolies
...and a few more!
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/07/08/biden-assault-monopolies-498876
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/12/30/heres-how-biden-may-cement-his-antitrust-legacy-in-2024-00132756
https://cepr.net/bidens-move-on-bayh-dole-important-first-step-in-dealing-with-patent-monopolies-and-high-prices/
***
Thank you, Fern. We've already seen Albertsons and Safeway merge; to have them merge with Kroger (who bought out our regional market (Fred Meyer) and have utterly destroyed what used to be an amazing chain) would be a freaking disaster.
It's the culture. Trump hates dogs.
They expire next year. If he isn't in office, they won't be renewed.
"They [the Trump tax cuts] expire next year. If he isn't in office, they won't be renewed."
Unless Republicans can get a 2/3 majority in both chambers of Congress, to override a presidential veto,
Since they're shooting themselves in the foot nowadays to the point I don't know how they can stand up without help, let alone move, that's not going to happen.
Cheating, Texas leads the way
Sorry, but Ohio has elbowed it’s way to the front of the “most corrupt” line.
Lots of runners up in the race to the bottom.
Beating Texas is quite a feat. Abbot really wants a VP spot.
All the more reason to vote and participate
?
A soon to be convicted criminal that didn't pay his taxes!
If you are not wealthy, that’s why your taxes went up. By design
There oughta be a law
Jack, the fact that your taxes increased as a result of the Trump tax cuts is a feature not a bug.
Do you remember Trump holding up the post card size tax return promising to simplify your taxes? The scary and pathetic thing is that some Americans actually believed that to be true.
Our tax code is over 10,000 pages and growing, not shrinking. There are loopholes in the code that affect as few as a dozen people or even one corporation each tax year.
There is absolutely no way that Republicans will remove the loopholes in the code.
My taxes went way up, too, but rather than a tax cut I would prefer affordable quality healthcare for all. One can dream right?
I Googled and found this response from Yahoo Finance:
"When 2025 draws to a close, so will many of the sweeping Trump-era GOP tax breaks established by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017. While the legislation made some tax cuts to corporate profit permanent, lowered individual tax rates will expire on Dec. 31, 2025, and revert to pre-TCJA levels."
That is encouraging. But there is more to do. Taxing corporations properly as they accumulate enormous record breaking profits for their shareholders and top managers is way overdue. Biden's minimum 15% is a step in the right direction - but not enough.
And taxing what I call the "money movers" on Wall Street is essential. Many rich people don't sell their equities to pay for their lavish lifestyles (incurring taxes). They borrow against their holdings to buy that yacht.
This explains the tax dodge used by the money movers:
https://www.pgpf.org/blog/2023/05/what-is-the-carried-interest-loophole-and-why-is-it-so-difficult-to-close-it
The group called "Patriotic Millionaires" is linked below. "Rich people are not the cause of a successful economy. They are the result of a successful economy."
https://patrioticmillionaires.org/media/
The injustice in our taxation system is inexcusable. It is morally monstrous and it is fiscally irresponsible.
Thanks, Bill. Your Google search gave some very good info.
Trump tax cuts expire end of 2025.
Our taxes also went up with the Trump "tax cuts", as did those of other middle class people we know. This is because they eliminated some deductions for small businesses, and for people who had to travel for work.
I thought those tax cuts were set to expire, but not before raising taxes on the middle class (something his supporters haven't realized).
Excellent point, and exactly my question. While Prof. Richardson's account of the Biden-Harris accomplishments is accurate and impressive, what is missing is an increase in income taxes to at least reverse the cuts from the previous administration and an increase in Social Security revenue by removing the income cap.
I am all for adjusting the income cap. Anything up to $500,000 K should be taxed, and the definitions of "income" need to include such things as stock options or other billionaire ways of evading taxes (looking at Bezos and Musk in particular).
As far as I'm concerned, the cap can go completely, and the tax should be based on AGI, not wage and salary income. I'm also in favor of maintaining the benefit structure as it is, but there are those who argue that such would make SocSec a 'welfare' program instead of whatever it is now and I'd give that up in order to get their support on removing the cap. I'd also like to see an end to the carried interest tax break for fund managers. As long as we're building a holiday gift list, I'm adding an end to the deductibility of interest on business loans.
I love your gift list!!
Now we just need to find Santa.
Me too Jack: My middle class salary was hit quite hard by TFG's "cuts" and I resent paying for the yachts the top 1% are using as their tax write-offs.
Two things:
1)This essay gives me hope that we may prevail in November.
2) Shawn Fain is a rock star.
While I am hopeful because I know Joe Biden has the numbers, I am concerned about him not being on the ballot in Alabama and Ohio. While Alabama is red, red, red, Ohio is a purple state and could go for Biden. I hope that there can be a successful write in campaign if he is not.
Ohio here. THE most corrupt state in America. Been writing almost daily to the thugs in charge, demanding they check past presidential elections, and when the conventions fell. They KNOW this is BS, but don’t care, and DARE anyone to do something to stop them. Problem is, they’ve destroyed the public schools already, and people here don’t even bother to vote. It’s pitiful.
I hope there is something that can be done. Somehow, Biden should be declared earlier if need be for all states to include him in. This is BS and we all know it, but the Republicans are past even the pretense of following the law, so it is best to have a plan B.
Oh, something WILL be done! The outrage here is palpable, and getting louder, by those of us here WITH a brain. The criminals who run this state forgot that there are still a few of us alive, and we're coming for them!
Not on the ballot, have I been sleeping?
Both states have deadlines for parties to name their candidates that fall before the dates of the Democratic Convention.
Those “deadlines” have been ignored in every presidential election in my 68 years, until now. Need any more proof of the corruption in Ohio? I’ve got lot’s more!
Missed that. Was it a deliberate ploy to exclude Dem candidate? At least Dems can see this one coming...
Can't they just move up the convention date? The Democrats.
Lord, I hope
No idea if it was deliberate. I think the DNC may have just missed it.
They can't afford to miss much. The cretins have been busy. Chump and his minions are truly the "energizer bunnies of evil."
I think I read that exceptions have been made before when this happened. In this political climate, who knows!
I must have been sleeping too.
And so are you for choosing these two fine things and expressing them so economically and so well! Thank you.
We need to remain hopeful that enough people recognize evil and vote their conscience. The fly in the ointment is the wackadoo JFKjr. The money thinks he hurts Biden, I could argue the opposite.
Thank you. Brilliant summary both of the achievements of the Biden-Harris administration, and of the history that got us here.
I really appreciate the historic context your posts provide. You are making all of us smarter. Nicely done!
This is one of the best essays I’ve read on our current political situation. Thank you Heather. And thank you President Biden and VP Kamala Harris. There is hope and it’s up to us. As Thom Hartmann says “ democracy is not a spectator sport” please get involved.
I love that quote.
I agree that it’s an excellent retelling of how we arrived here, but with a hugely important exception: namely, that Democrats enabled the rise of corporate power, particularly by failing to enforce antitrust laws. Corporate consolidation has been a bipartisan initiative, and there are still many Dem apologists, notably Larry Summers, for our failure to rein in market power.
Fortunately, it seems as if a bipartisan consensus is forming around competition law / anti-trust law. And Biden has done more than any President in my lifetime to go after market power. I’m hoping it continues after the election.
Good points Joe.
Anyone hear Heather's guest sessionat the LBJ Library last fall? Oddles of her fañs showed up. Anyone here?
"The growing economy would result in higher tax revenues, enabling Americans to have both low taxes and government services, and prosperity would spread to everyone. But the system never worked as promised." This theory failed to materialize because CEOs believe in the false premise of profit maximization. Their goals are to make more money, regardless of laws, regulations, communities, the environment and workers, so they can raise their own pay and invest in stock buybacks which also increase their personal wealth. And yet, Congressional Republicans want to give them even more tax relief through tax cuts. MO Republicans want to eliminate the already low state corporate income tax. If you want to stop this behavior don't vote for any Republican.
The system never worked as promised, nor was it ever intended to. It was a orchestrated coup by the 1%. The premise that maximizing selfishness would bring about maximum good is immoral, illogical, and anti-historical. It's maximum doublethink.
"The only corporate social responsibility a company has is to maximize its profits."
-Reagan mentor Milton Friedman
If a corporation really is a citizen, what kind of citizen is that?
I totally agree. The Supreme Court gave "religious freedom" to corporations (Hobby Lobby) and allowed them unlimited access to fund politicians (Citizen United) which is also absurd, but demonstrates your point that they are not good citizens.
So gottdammmed bizarre!! SO Bizarre! We seem to place no value on being an American Citizen. It just quietly passed onto the books Just like what happened in Jim Jordan's gym over in Ohio when someone bent over to pick up the soap. Or, perhaps what will happen to #45 should he end up in Rikers. One can hope.
Professor, this overview of how we have arrived at this anxiety-ridden place sets the stage for the fraught election ahead.
The wealthy powerbrokers who want Trump must know that he is collapsing - politically, legally, and mentally.
What will they do to improve their odds? Or are they, like Trump, counting on rampant voter suppression and violence at polling places to skew the results? But can such despicable tactics stem what I think is a Blue Wave building?
Don't forget the intimidation that's currently happening to Election Supervision. If MAGA overtakes the local election administration in select cities before Nov, the election is over.
That is the only way that they can win, by cheating. Otherwise I sense a landslide for Democrats might be coming.
.....Cheat? There should be absolutely no doubt that "they" will. Openly maintaining the election was stolen is already in place. To me, that is in itself "cheating" as it cheats you and I.., the citizens of this country out of the satisfaction the election we had was done fairly and something we could be proud of. But, no. The constant parade of deniers would have us believe we're members of a 3rd world banana republic and just out to get #45 on trumped up charges. And, all the while, "they" will be the one delivering false accusations, boldly supported by forged accreditation, garnering front-page headlines. And, as in past performances, "they" will employ ($$$) some of our 'finest' hippocrits to carry those torches. Look for their boy Kyle Shithouse to be right out front at some poling location, along with plenty more of his ilk. I only hope we are going to be ready to keep the lid on this.
For anyone who has not recognized the reference to Kyle Shithouse, that would be Kyle Rittenhouse, self-appointed boy Posse Comatatis who killed/murdered two people in Kenosha, Wisconsin during rioting following a police shooting. I have a particular loathing for that human. My Mom grew up in Kenosha, in a house just a few blocks from the scene of those shootings. And I earned my BA near the City of Kenosha. The boy was tried and found not guilty because of "self defense". It's crazy insane to allow anyone who is not an adult sworn law enforcement officer to carry a military assault rifle during a street riot -- much less a 17-year-old child.
When 45 talks about bloodshed if he is denied the presidency, it makes me want to lock him up -- to put it as mildly as possible.
"Crazy insane" is putti g it mildly.
Thank all of you for noticing my "reference" to Kyle, as so prolifically pointed out by David H., and as duly acknowledged by fellow Frank Loomer and so many other dignified LFA readers. Thanks to 'the Prof' (Ms HCR) who has created this undercurrent of hope, providing us a 'light' to read by, to know that we are in fact amongst many many many who clearly see the forest for the trees. Indeed, we have a "power grid" beneath the spray of the manure-spreader(R's) machine. As I said earlier, this Administration must ensure civil behavior is maintained during this election. The threat.., the saboteurs, are well-funded and "fed". Most are have become easy to recognize., but not some/sum. Keep the lid on.
No snoozing for you. Thank you, keep telling about the cheating. Slow prosecutions won’t help if crimes are even charged. Also, they have legalized many actions that would have previously been illegal. They are very busy.
"Busy"...!They sure are. And in a most devious and committed way. In checking my use of the the word "committed" I fell on Google for the definition. Of all the descriptors, only this was missing: "Deadly serious". And indeed, they(R's) are. Confront any one of them and they look at you with a distaste, as if you are the one who's nuts. Being well-fed with the big-gulp of propaganda they have become morbidly obese. They'll surely die from it, but not before the election.., sadly.
"Intimidation"....whoaaa..., it's there alright. It's here (inside me) as well. I'd like to have some bumper stickers made up, but now is not quite the time (if it ever will be). I need the headlights on my plow-truck, plus my insurance deductible won't cover the damage were that to occur, not to mention the inconvenience-factor, the anxiety-factor, etc that goes along with things like that. Besides it just gives those morons reason to celebrate causing some "lib-tard" pain. They love that. Screw them - quietly. I build race motor, iIrace boats, I take the advantage, I don't enter to lose..., I enter to win. Displaying no bumper sticker takes "advantage" of their stupidity. They have no clue I'm going to beat their ass. They'll remember my boat number, perhaps the name as well.
'Profile in Terror: Kristi Noem'
'A Borowitz Report Sunday Read' (Satire)
'Noem daydreaming about her favorite gun.'
'Meet a top Republican VP prospect. She’s Trump without the empathy.'
'Where were you when you first heard of Sarah Palin? Joe Biden, who was running for vice president, was on a campaign plane when he learned that John McCain had chosen her as his running mate. “Who’s Sarah Palin?” Biden asked. Like Joe, most of us didn’t know anything about her, so we weren’t prepared for what came next: the horrifying reveal that a blithering idiot might someday possess the nuclear codes.'
'To avoid a repeat of that traumatic experience, I’m here to warn you about another GOP vice-presidential contender: Governor Kristi Noem of South Dakota. ...' (borowitzreport) See link below..
https://www.borowitzreport.com/
Thanks, Fern. I love Borowitz!
Me, as well :)
The 'pool party' at Mar-A-Lahgo keeps getting bigger., and you can be sure they(R)e all pee-ing in it. I mean the toilets are still plugged up.., no? Somebody needs to mix arsenic with the bleach and "pump it up"!! The arsenic will kill all the bacteria..., right? Bacteria.. R's.... Puton.., see the connection? I thought so. Perhaps a call to HAZMAT 321-264-6935 for assistance? Or the ATF. Who's bringing the chips?
💃🏻💃🏻🎶💃🏻💃🏻
Corporationß can and do quite well under Democrats and hel finance them in a very big way
Unless this Administration addresses all the lessons-learned from the last election, this one will be worse. The creation of turmoil, obfuscation, jawdropping truth-defying claims, etc will create an inauguration-trainwreck should #45 miss the boat. That bunch of reprobates with their Supreme Court pals will hogtie the nation. They are committed.., they are "dead serious". For the next five years, their 'reputation' will be in focus. But, you know what... six years later, should numbnuts lose, the good ole people will probably forget all about it.
Expect a big news dump re immigration, real or made up, in October
Already started. Our wonderful (sarcasm intended) SC Nancy Mace is all about it. We have so many national embarrassments here in SC.
My sister was so impressed with her. Lordy, she lives in an ivory tower. Brought her down to earth.
Do you live in a red sea. I remember traveling to DC in late 2004 and thinking that maybe Dems had a chance. Hope Texas is not right again
Blue wave if we expand the base. Register more Democrats. https://www.fieldteam6.org/
Polls are indeed shifting, as some have predicted, and showing up in msm reporting
Thanks Zella, will look into him, at best polls are statistical in nature, but the polls on polls seem to be capturing a trend, which Simon Rosenberg for one has been calling for for some time. I've been following him for a while. Not sure if I'm crazy about "Hopium" as a name, but his track records seems pretty good.
Cautiously optimistic mirrors my outlook, too. We're still a long way from victory.
I recall Trump calling thousands of troops to the border to twiddle the thumbs and burn tough cash just in time for election theater, then send them home as soon as the election was done. Well worthy of a Congressional inquiry, but of course there was none.
The Dingling Bros Circus (RNC) under the whip of TCT#45 (Top Clown). Watch closely as he herds those elephants right into your poling places, knocking over your port-a-potties, desks, and bottled water vendors. Better this Administration applies un-compromised attention to detail this election. Keep the lid on.
0
Heather, thank you once again for counteracting the lie of “trickle down” economics. “Workers have realized they’ve been getting screwed for decades, and they’re fed up.” Hopefully not only the workers but women will realize that a lot of Republican officeholders care more about a poor unborn child than his mother, even to the point of putting her in the ICU or allowing her to die. Wealthy women have few problems going to a state that allows abortion or overseas; only poor women are harmed. Donald Trump expected Marla Maples to get an abortion; he was pro choice back then.
https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-tiffany-trump-ivanka-trump-tapes-howard-sterm-671826
They show little compassion for the mothers and children after the child is born. Day care and support for adequate food and shelter are not guaranteed unless there is a generous, hard working man to support the woman and child.
#45 has been "pro-Suck" ever since "the head nurse spoke up". Bad to the bone - George Thorogood.
Congrats on another compact, powerful perspective. Masterful.
If America manages to remain a democracy in November, how long will it take to undo all the harm tRump and the Republicans have done? If the Democrats can take back both the House and the Senate, will they be able to swiftly pass the laws needed so this situation can never happen again? But we’ve been shown that a large percentage of the population doesn’t have the common good at heart, just hatred and greed. Children’s education is so important but has been so neglected.
Passing the John Lewis Voting Rights Act should be Biden’s first priority.
It's a never ending cycle in America: Republicans get elected and screw everything up. Dems get elected and spend eight years trying to fix the mess. Then, Republicans somehow manage to get elected again and break everything that was fixed. Rinse and repeat.
The climate change/environmental concerns may prove "an inconvenient truth". Not a lot of time or space left to screw around with that again.
Agree with you Kristin Newton, on "Children's education".., if we could just figure out what it needs to be. I would not want to be a wise-acre and ask.., what that might consist of. We can't seem to hold the Catholic Church (members et al) miscreants accountable in our courts-of-law, but instead allow the Pope (Rome) to handle matters, or perhaps Sharia Law.., Huh? Sorry, but I see religion as a big big elephant in the meeting room.
These are simple and undeniable truths. The question is whether there are enough Americans with the intellect to understand these truths along with the will to vote, or whether the culture warriors, zealots and true believers will prevail. I guess we will know the answer in less than 7 months. I fear desperately for my country.
My thoughts exactly, Marilyn. Everything Heather says is true— but the chances of this clear, persuasive info getting within range of those who need to hear it are about nil. Recalling the old saw, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink,” I’d say that we’re in the grim position of not even being able to lead the horse anywhere….and not only can we not get him to the water, he’s determined to bite!
And throw road apples...
Welp Marilyn, we've had nigh on eight years to get #45's number. It's clearly (I have faith!) been smoke and mirrors ad infinitum; fact melded with fiction; unending insults to our intelligence; justification for indecency; and, more for which we're at a loss for words. As the saying goes. We've been to the circus and we most certainly have "seen the elephants". I just hope this Administration will take the steps needed to guard this election. Poling places, poling times, voting machines, the sanctity of our vote! Keep the lid on.
Once again, thank you HCR for your insightful letters each day. Today was a day of reflection singing and peace here in Southern Oregon
Just out of curiosity, where did you find that day of "reflection singing and peace". I'm from Medford, and my sister lives in Phoenix, with my in-laws in Ashland.
Women with wings performed in Ashland yesterday, a wonderful choral performance focused on peace and encouraging local community support projects.
Excellent!
Biden and Harris have done a lot of great work, but few people hear about it. Dammit! If you're a trumpet player, blow the damn thing! People need to hear about what's going on in the Oval Office on a daily basis.
The President doesn't have to do anything more than he's doing now, but a daily recap, even a weekly recap, of what's been accomplished could certainly be handled by the Press Secretary. It's called a Press Release, so release that good press!
Ok. Rant over.
Back to painting the nails on my middle fingers orange. It's subtle, but it makes me feel better.
👍🤣…..lol…orange middle finger….love love love it!!!!!
The bottle has lasted since mid 2015. 😉
This Administration absolutely MUST choose words carefully. Press briefings seem like such a great thing, but so ripe for being taken out of context, which if damaging enough, may call for a stringent response open to even more misconstrual and/or disabling of facts. Jen Andrews' time at the podium was safe. McMinnies was full of shit.., she never "lied" to us, (oh hohoho - gag me) she was simply a zealot lacking reality with her cross of Jesus, going on before// to prove it. Sometimes a sideward glance.., accompanied by the "middle finger", and silence, is the most effective response. As we are on this final lap, I do note that the Administration is being more vocal... displaying amore aggressive response.., stepping on the gas if you will. Too heavy on the gas too soon and the fire can suffer a flameout. Not good!
I’m delighted to hear that someone as insightful and knowledgeable as HCR thinks the Reagan era (trickle-down economics, union busting, and industrial deregulation) is over. It seems sadly unlikely to me, however, that racism, misogyny, and related political practices will suddenly stop driving the majority of white voters from casting their votes for racists, misogynists, Christofascists, and the like (that is to say, Republicans).
Don't forget the monopolies, Rex.
If not for the cleverness of our attorney (a brilliant woman) my fledgling business would have been shut down by a large monopoly.
We were fortunate to have her excellent legal advice, but tens of thousands of small businesses have shuttered because of dirty legal tricks and unfair competitive practices.
Hello Fern! I’m not sure if it’s me or you but haven’t connected in awhile. Hope you are doing well.
Karen RN, good to see you. I don't show up here everyday. Your pic is great and hope it matches how you are feeling. I try to keep swimming in our rough seas. In addition to
our election, Ukraine is on the edge, and the Gazans are being annihilated. Music, poetry, spring, friends...there are happy streams of life, too. Salud, Karen! Thank you for saying 'hello'!
I hope you are doing well Fern. It’s hard right now with so much going on. If I didn’t have a responsibility to my coworkers and patients, not sure I would get out of bed. That said, I won’t give up and will do what I can to hold on to our democracy. So nice to connect with you Fern.
Exactly, my feelings. 🌿
Two of my favorite friends here!!
Thank you, Ally. That's a good tune!
Same here Ally
It won't be sudden, but hopefully such actions will slow down to a trickle.
I'm very puzzled by the opening paragraph about "two major Republican political stories" in the current news. HCR surely can't mean this passage as written: "The other story is older, the one that led to Trump but that stands at least a bit apart from him. It is the story of a national shift away from the supply-side ideology of Reagan Republicans toward an embrace of the idea that the government should hold the playing field among all Americans level." Republicans have not to my knowledge moved to a belief in a level economic playing field! Mainstream news is saturated with stories of corporate price-gouging, astronomical CEO earnings, the predations of ALEC, Republican attempts to block social service budget items and forgiveness of student debt, and their plans to eviscerate Medicare and Social Security retirement benefits.
I completely agree. This is one of the rare occasions where I would take issue with the estimable Dr. Richardson. The Reagan Era is far from over. The only difference is that the trickle-down mantra is no longer being proclaimed from the rooftops. While Trump rants and rages, saying whatever he thinks will appeal to his well-named base at the moment, his Reaganite minions know that there is no truth in him, and they will be free to continue their project. If the catastrophe of a second Trump administration were to occur, the Reaganites know that the Orange Abomination would be consumed with his efforts to seek retribution against all who fail to fall down and worship. He has no policies of his own other than this.
Mary Baine Campbell: HCR does have to pack her sentences to bursting sometimes, to give us so much good info. Try reading that passage as it came across to me: "...the story of a national shift away from supply-side ideology ... toward an embrace of the idea that the government should hold the playing field level." The active subject in this part of the sentence is "a national shift," not "Reagan Republicans" - that phrase simply serves to modify the term "supply-side ideology." HRC is clearly not saying that supply-siders are part of this shift - quite the opposite. She is showing how this national shift is mobilizing democracy defenders nationwide. People are waking up. It's up to all of us to help turn on the light.
Yes but the paragraph purports to set out “two major Republican stories”—what’s the second of her “major Republican stories”?
"[T]he attempt by former president Donald Trump and his followers to destroy American democracy."
The two stories are where the MAGA Party splits off from the traditional GOP to become an out of control Russian whore, and the history of the Reagan Trickle Down theory that set us up for a society that existed before the Magna Carta - which would explain McConnell. 😉
Thanks for your interpretation--but McConnell's not making efforts to create a "level playing field for all Americans" is he?
I read that as a reference to McConnell's.......experience. (age)
Mary, I think that there is some slight movement within the GOP, particularly in the Senate, to be less "corporatist", if you will. Part of this of course is the Trojan Horse maneuvers by people like DeSantis to attack a well known and powerful corporation on social issues. Yet there certainly is no rush on the part of the GOP elected officials to break free from their steady payments by the Kochs, the Mercers, Big Oil, Big Pharma, etc. And you definitely won't Senator Cancun Cruz, or Bambi Trotting Hawley lining up at their local bookstores to buy bios about Walter Reuther or Harry Bridges
Re: "Some slight movement," that may be so, but a party that's daily plotting--and announcing its plots--to gut Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, that blocks forgiveness of exorbitant student debt, lowers taxes deeply on the rich, raises them on the lower middle class (like me and at least one other commenter here), resists raising the minimum wage and fights unions like kudzu is not promoting a level economic playing field for all Americans as HCR seems to claim here. I remember her once answering an interviewer's question about her political party by calling herself "a Jeffersonian Republican." Could she be projecting?
Ha! Points well taken, Mary. I don't think Heather was projecting, rather using her historian's lens to refer to the Party that Jefferson himself termed "Republican" when not employing "Anti-Federalist"
To one of your points, that of the fierce opposition to the minimum wage, I totally agree that this reveals the true colors of the Party wholly beholden to the corporate class. Here in California, we just raised the minimum wage for fast food workers statewide to $20 per hour. The squawking and bleating from the corporations rushing to bemoan their terrible fate is both funny and quite revealing.
Mary, I didn’t quite understand that sentence either.
Peter Drucker made the observation in 1946 in his book, "Concept of the Corporation" that corporations had become the central institutions around which society is organized, more so than governmental, religious, or educational institutions. An opportunity to right the ship, in terms of the economy, is rapidly approaching. A huge problem is that there are essentially no rules regarding the chartering of corporations in Delaware and Nevada, which is why they get most of the business. But, a new national corporate chartering process that recognizes the full scope of the fiduciary responsibility of corporate leaders to employees, communities, and customers by licensing the professions of board and executive committee membership (i.e. the whole C-suite). The licensing needs to include a requirement to adhere to a canon of ethics, just like legal, accounting, and medical professionals must. Then, whenever any "too big to fail" corporation comes knocking on Congress's door asking for bailout, part of the deal would be to re-charter it, and require the licensing of the leadership. These charters would become desirable because they would also have access to a new source of capital in the form of tightly controlled Fed advances. Leadership total compensation packages should be limited to 10x the average (not median) wage of all employees, including contract labor that works on site. One of our largest defense contractors is going to need a bailout quite soon. That's an opportunity.
I like this idea Craig. Hadn’t heard of it before. Thank you.
If this community would suggest it to their representatives, it could start something. It shouldn't be a partisan thing either. When the automakers were in DC begging for their bailouts, some of the toughest treatment they got was from the Republican senators.
Fingers crossed!
I guess the corporations wouldn't like being treated like
people then, would they?
Thank you for mentioning Peter Drucker. I assume that he is the same as the author of “Adventurers of a Bystander.” A read that made my blood run cold as he described the takeover of Germany by Adolf.
Same guy. His writings use mid-century language, which includes the old style of pronouns, so one has to look past that. Also, some of the eastern philosophy elements that work so well and which stress the service and enablement aspects of the role of leaders (think Simon Sinek and "Leaders Eat Last") are missing. But other than that, his stuff really is the foundation of modern business leadership philosophy. McGregor, Ouchi, Reddin, and Lewin round out the list of the more progressive writers in the field. That said, none of them have seized upon this notion of Drucker's that the corporation is the critical institution in the way we organize society, and that it should be treated as such. That leads to a very different place.
Don't know about his business acumen but he surely knew what authoritarianism could do to a country. His book is as on target today as it has ever been. He escaped Germany by the hair of his chinny chin chin.
Drucker is generally considered to be the founder of modern business theory. It was his relationship with Alfred P. Sloan that led Sloan to endow a new school of Business at MIT, which went on to include on its faculty many of the giants of the field. Drucker's key observation in his study of GM that led to his book "Concept of the Corporation: was very unsettling to Sloan and his team of executives. That the corporation or big business had become one of the primary, if not THE primary, institutions by which we organize society, and should be treated as such, was something Sloan and his associates really did not want to hear. Of course, the implication is that such businesses should be chartered and regulated for what they are. That said, it is such a dumb obvious thing to say, that they couldn't deny it. Sloan and Drucker remained friends and would regularly dine together whenever they got a chance, for the rest of their lives. If you are interested in my take on it, and the opportunity presented by the mess at Boeing, check out this playlist on my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@charlemagnesclock/videos
Thank you. I knew how Drucker felt about the Nazis but I didn't assume anything about his business theory. I'll check it out. He wrote one hell of a good book. Probably should be reissued today.
I remember "way back when" well, partially anyway...some big mucky-muck was testifying before congress (Alan Greenspan????) regarding the removal of some regulations on banks. And the guy "testifying" specifically said "Oh, I think we can trust the banks to do the right thing."
And I remember thinking "Because BEFORE there were regulations on banking practices, that worked so well...for the rich, the stock mkt? not so much. The Nation? A disaster.