On tax day, my wife and I have paid our taxes. Our percentage of taxes paid was higher than what has been recorded for a majority of American billionaires. At 88 my taxes have never undergone a Federal audit.
If the very wealthy and the major corporations matched my tax record, we would have been able to finance Build Back Better without a budgetary deficit.
Meanwhile, the Republicans have deliberately reduced the funding of the IRS since 2010. As Paul Krugman has discussed, the majority continue to subsidize the Republican plutocrats.
I had never resented the payment of income taxes until we found out that tfg had paid the grand sum of $750 in 2016 and again in 2017. Since then, each yearly return has pained me deeply!
This morning's post by economist Robert Reich echoes this...regarding multi-billionaires' wealth:
"...virtually none of their wealth growth — the main source of billionaire income — may ever be taxed. That’s because the income tax doesn’t cover billionaire wealth: Bezos’s salary is just $81,840. Musk’s is $0. Their vast wealth allows them to borrow money at bargain-basement rates to cover their lavish lifestyles, and escape taxes on almost all their gains. In many years, they’ve both avoided paying any federal income tax at all. So while millions of Americans have lost their jobs during the pandemic, billionaires like Bezos and Musk got 70% richer.
"None of us should accept an economy where teachers, nurses, and firefighters pay a higher tax rate than billionaires. If we want billionaires to pay what they owe, we’ve got to tax their wealth -- not just their income. The Billionaires Income Tax would end an unfair tax code that rewards wealth over work. Congress can make billionaires pay their fair share.
"President Biden’s new budget proposes a fix for this broken system. The Billionaire Minimum Income Tax would establish a 20 percent minimum tax rate on all American households worth more than $100 million. It would raise $360 billion in revenue over the next 10 years."
Everyone in this country should read today's Letter. Many in the middle class have been gaslit to the point that they have no understanding of the unfair burden they carry, and the source of much of our nation's debt. The billionaires keep them dumb and subservient. Thank you, Bruce.
Thank you for touching on the masses of ignorant people (According to the Buddhist Four Noble Truths, believe that ignorance is the root of suffering) we are forced to live with in this country. Why would middle and lower middle-class Floridians ever consider voting for Rick Scott after dealing out his bright ideas such as doing away with SS and Medicare?
Sophia, consider that most of these people don't follow the news, and then remember that most outlets have scarcely focused on Rick Scott's comments and proposals. I've read about his opinions a time or two, and heard them mentioned only twice. In all probability, most of the country, including clueless Rs, will be taken by surprise if any of these "policies" come to fruition. They catch the red meat comments on Faux Spews and think he's very savvy. MSN hasn't been doing Democrats any favors either.
Hi, Nancy. and not only do most people in the working class not follow the news or watch only Fox, but the mainstream media have taken after Biden and are subtle enough about it to sway people who don't even understand they're being manipulated. As I've said before, the media have always, to some extent, created the news as much as reporting it, but I am seeing it played out today in more extreme ways than ever. It's one of the things that brought me here--where I have discovered none of either Fox's blatant announcements of its own stupidity or the bold headlines and suffocating dense text of the NYTimes. And yet, isn't it those headlines and that ranting that control the narrative? HCR, isn't there a way to do what you are doing--to write with integrity and place events in their context--AND ALSO get the word out there to change the narrative?? I think the answer is no, there isn't. It isn't in the fate of the truth teller to win any popularity contests. sigh
I agree that we live in a great country - despite our many skeletons. As far as SS and Medicare never being taken away, I had many friends who predicted that the right to abortion would never be taken away, but we're seeing that train wreck happening with SCOTUS and the very real possibility of overturning Roe v. Wade or gutting it.
The middle class actually pays a low effective federal tax rate. As todays letter points out, the bottom 50%+ of Americans pay no Federal tax. Zero. 87% of all taxes are paid by the top 25%. Our leaders on both sides like to pull us apart. The reality is that there is always a tradeoff between taxation growth and the well being of all. If citizens felt they were actually getting value for their taxes they might actually we might actually begin to collect and pay more.
David, that sounds very low to me, but without disputing your information, surely you would agree that the extremely wealthy are not paying their share. Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and the Kochs, to say nothing of TFG, pay obscenely low taxes, if any. As for getting value for taxes paid, TFG cut every program he could, and threatened to defund Social Security and Medicare, etc., while cutting taxes for our in-house oligarchs. Biden is getting exactly ZERO credit for his infrastructure bill and the rescue funds, and saving our economy in the meantime, and he's being trashed by networks like CNN, which might explain why so many citizens feel shortchanged. I've never felt it unfair to pay taxes to fund our roads and other infrastructure and programs, so I've never understood how people in this country feel that they're overburdened by taxation.
But those people pay sales tax (regressive), property taxes (through rent or directly as home owners), all kinds of local taxes, and FICA. Their tax burden is hugely disproportionate to their income vs multi-millions and billions.
Bernie promises a world where, in my humble opinion, one checks freedom at the door. In this world one hands over their taxes, spending borrowing and decisions to people like him on the promise that he, the Bern and his followers, will do the right thing for you. Sanders impact on the Democratic Party in 2022 is huge and will be huge in the coming mid terms. Of course in Bernie's world inflation had nothing to do with aggressive government spending in the face of a steep and fast pandemic recovery, it is all corporate greed. You know, the other guy. Although he can be thoughtful and has some good ideas, I don't think handing over half the economy to Bernie on a wish, a hope and a dream is a good idea. That said, if that's what people vote and go for, so be it.
Perhaps we need to look at that statistic as a measurement of increasing poverty. Strangely many of the R's are actually lower income. Perhaps they think if they associate with the "ricos" they will not feel their own pain.
Refresh the page you are on, Keith. Depending on your browser, it might be a partial circle with a downward pointing arrow next to the URL (in Firefox), or a similar icon actually IN the URL box (in Safari). Or you can simply do a Command+R (in Apple; I don't know the keyboard command for a PC).
Your right Bruce. Ive had the same problem and sometimes it does take several seconds to turn red. Yet other times it turns red right away. Also, when I’m editing my post my corrections don’t show up right away either. I’ve finally learned that it just takes several seconds.
Reich used to be a competent economist, but the pressures of writing a regular column have apparently caused him to forget the difference between an increase in the market value of security holdings and actual income. One is a concept that could as easily disappear the next time the market 'adjusts', the other is money that one can actually spend. Taxing such "wealth" is a specious idea and one that, if it's ever been tried, has been found unwieldy, unenforceable and easily abandoned. If the goal is improving the federal balance of payments, a far better solution would be ending the deductibility of the interest on business loans and treating all capital gains as ordinary income. Of course ending the cap on OASDI income while keeping benefits the same would be a good idea if, and it's a really big if, there is a real interest in fortifying the Social Security and Medicare systems and in paying for some of the programs the President has proposed. None of this is a political walk in the park but it's much more likely to be effective than a tax on wealth that only exists in theory.
In respect of Sen. Scott's proposal, I believe there is a clause in the 'sunset' part of his program that would terminate these laws only if they weren't reauthorized by the Congress. If that's true, and moreso if it were applied to regulations as well, I can see some arguable merit in the idea. Otherwise, if the Democrats and any rational Republicans who may be hiding out there can take advantage of it, Scott has presented them with a golden opportunity to get a leg up in the next election cycle.
I agree with your comments on taxing wealth with one exception that I have been thinking about for awhile and would be interested in your thoughts. The ultra wealthy routinely monetize their wealth with loans directly or indirectly backed by their security holdings, especially the tech founders. Banks have entire programs to do that for senior management and founders at both public and private companies and make this service part of their pitches for business from the companies themselves. To me, this feels like constructive realization/sale of the securities and the gross loan proceeds ought to be taxed at ordinary income or capital gains rates. It is not unwieldy or unenforceable and seems spiritually consistent with the tax code as it has existed for some time. On a subsequent sale of the securities, they could credit taxes previously paid. If the value declined so much that they over-borrowed, they have a loss they can use when they sell the security (which could be via a margin call at that point). What do you think?
It sounds like a measurable and legally based idea with lots of merit. Would it be possible to differentiate between a loan collateralized by securities for personal use vs. one for a business purpose? Would a person who used her personal securities as a business loan be seen as constructively selling her securities?
If all loans were treated the same for tax purposes it would be a moot point but, in the second case, it would depend on how the business was structured; a corporation would necessarily be treated differently from a partnership or an unincorporated sole proprietorship.
Works for me, and makes a lot of sense. I'd had the impression that their walking around money came from dividends and interest which would be taxed as regular income; your idea rounds out the picture.
Dave I agree that Robert Reich was, at one time, a reasonably competent economist—I believe in labor analysis. After serving as Secretary (of Labor) he has become an angry voice singing the same song.
I am mad that my taxes pay the salaries, pensions and healthcare and protection for members of the current party of sedition, or reich. THAT pains me greatly. At the same time, my taxes also have to pay to investigate and try to prosecute their traitorhood to our country, while they are still in government positions. We need to protest their jobs.
I also resent paying the salaries of the Marion County Commissioners and their highly paid assistants which they put into place to avoid having to follow public meeting laws. All of them are members of the seditionist party and one of them is a member of the Salem/Keizer school board and is aiding and abetting a move to remove a book from elementary school libraries. The committee to evaluate the book voted to keep it 8-1. I found it very interesting that during the Civil War people were willing to pay taxes and happy to support it. I grew up in the 50s when we could afford nice things. The wealthy paid a high percentage and were still rich. The ads for the coming primary are on TV and I see the tax and spend mantra against Ds already even as Rs run against their own party members. Finally, we make an effort to avoid buying from Amazon and favor local companies and stores including the wonderful book store, Powell's in Portland.
For most Americans the idea of paying one’s fair share is simply the right thing to do. We accept this responsibility and are glad that we live in this good country. While it’s evident that some of this money gets wasted the lion’s share does support many programs and initiatives that only a government can handle. Reading Heather’s letter touches on many of the legislative innovations of the Lincoln Administration and underscores several of the key reasons we were able to win the Civil War. The greed, lies, self deception and self dealing that is prevalent in an amoral person like trump have become the rallying cry of those opposed to government that represents the will of the majority of the people. Knowing that the IRS is understaffed when their work provides the money to pay for programs the majority of our people want is truly a travesty brought to us by legislators who misrepresent the majority. Really, the Democratic Party mantra should hammer home the simple idea: “We are the party of the majority! Do we want to be dictated to by a minority of people led by trump and McConnell ?” Take this idea forward DNC and keep repeating it. How is it possible that Joe’s rating is down to 33%? How? He’s actually getting good things done and could do so much more with solid majority in both the House and Senate.
Keith to Keith I recall reading, over the years, that Americans ranked very high in their paying their Federal taxes. In some countries, the record is dismal. I wonder whether this level of self-payment has plunged since the IRS has been starved of enforcement personnel and they still have clunky computers from decades ago.
I wonder if there is anyone at IRS who can work through the labyrinth of off-shore Tex shelters and the finagling of very rich Americans and corporations. Years ago I read that one corporation’s tax return weighed about 100 pounds. Sounds like a corn maze for the IRS auditor.
Thanks to tfg’s 2017 so called tax reform. Better known as gift rich cronies bill. I can’t deduct any of my work expenses anymore, scrubs, stethoscopes, books, journals, continuing Education and the list goes on. We just sent the IRS a $6900 check on top of what has already been taken out of my check. And I claim zero on my w4. I don’t mean to complain, because I want to pay my fair share of taxes and am happy to do so. But the system we have now is so unfair and it generally sucks. If the billionaires don’t pay themselves a salary that can be taxed, then they should pay a wealth tax. Isn’t that what we pay when we pay our property taxes? My home is where my meager wealth lies and I pay taxes on it.
It’s true… why not make it simple again? Eliminate the corporate welfare and disallow the elaborate schemes people and companies construct to avoid paying their fair share. It’s just wrong and should be no longer be allowed.
The photograph I have is an Indian woman overlooking one of the Great Lakes 1908. At 71 I can’t remember it not being on the wall. You can you know, talk Roland to Roland and have a conversation in which people will be forced to eavesdrop.
Every ordinary wage earner pays about 14% of wage compensation in FICA taxes (including the employer’s contribution, which is of course part of the employee’s compensation). That tax alone is two or three times the typical billionaire tax rate. To add insult to injury, wealthy people pay close to 0% in FICA taxes because it’s capped at about $120,000 in earnings. SCRAP the CAP! That alone would at least triple the typical billionaire’s income tax rate.
Rex After reading about all those $40,000+ watches, I bought a $60 Timex to go with my $30 Timex. I read of a $3+ million wedding for a poor little rich girl, but don’t know what was served, since, for some bizarre reason, I wasn’t invited.
I saw that a $700 million yacht cost $65 million annually to operate. For me the Shelter Island ferry @ $22 round trip for a carload must suffice.
I share your sympathy for those poor billionaires. I read recently that there are between 750 and 950 in America. It’s tough to count because the figure keeps rising. WOW! When I was a kid, a millionaire was a person who had $1 million in assets. Some corporate CEOs get $15+ Million annually with perks and pensions that are not too shabby.
This all makes me sorta happy that all those poor rich folks and corporations got about a $2 trillion tax break from Trump in his 2017 tax give away. Did you hear in the Hamptons that it’s difficult to buy a decent second home for under $5-7 million?
Love this, Keith. I tried to explain to students how the billionaires make so much money that they couldn’t spend it themselves even if they tried 24 hours a day. They would have to hire people to spend it.Then, when they bought real estate and rented it out, etc., they would be stuck with more money to deal with. Alas, no student suggested philanthropy to solve the problem.
I don’t object to people having an obscene amount of money and spending it on luxury goods if that’s what they want. What I object to is their not being required to pay steeply progressive taxes on their income and wealth.
Keith, we’re gonna have to encourage you to start crashing those super extravagant weddings. If they’re spending that much money, there’s no way they’ll know everybody who’s there. Free food!
Roland. You put on a uniform and push me in with my three-wheel walker, which has a pocket in which we can stack the goodies. Handling the champagne bottles requires greater ingenuity. If desperate, I can pull off my hearing aids and play the ‘huh, huh’ game. How can we get menus to decide where to crash? It would be a shame to end up with Baloney sandwiches.
Keith, I know you’re 88, and it’s not likely that you partake in stimulants of this variety, but seriously, what have you been smoking?? We are going to multimillion dollar weddings!! Not weddings at a pizza parlor. We are talking exotic fare like caviar, not bologna sandwiches with Velveeta. But yes, we’ll attach extra pouches to the walker and fill them up to stock your refrigerator back home. You won’t have to open any champagne bottles, we’re just gonna grab them unopened and take them with us.
No. All income, whether wages, interest on savings, or investment profits should be taxed as one category: income. And the FICA tax should be applied all the way to the top, not discontinued after taxing only the first $120,000 of it. Add a wealth tax while you’re at it. Stabilize the economy the Piketty way.
Thanks. Shoulda looked it up. Doesn’t affect the conclusion, as you point out. Wealthy people still get off scott free. FICA is a regressive tax. Anything other than increasingly progressive taxation is immoral because anything less sharply affects the lives of the poor and and has no serious affect on the lives of the wealthy. Same goes for traffic fines, bail, etc. They should be a percentage of income or net worth, whichever is more. Fixed amounts penalize the poor and have no deterrent effect on the wealthy.
This is a powerful "gut punch" Heather. Have you ever sent any of your "letters" to the NYT or the Washington Post, etc., for their oped pages? If you haven't, may I urge you to do so. Your writing is so clearly grounded and expressed.
Last month HCR was named one of USA Today's 'Women of the Year' and occasionally I see her LFAA postings reproduced in the Palm Beach Post, a USA Today subsidiary. The Times and the WAPO are fully aware of her but have their own people. I hope her April 17 LFAA posting gets picked up and published on Op-Ed pages everywhere. It says it all.
There are a dozen national such nominees, and also one for every State. Check it out at https://www.usatoday.com/storytelling/grid/women-of-the-year-2022/ But I didn't know we were, as they described her audience, a 'marginalized group,' unless that defines people who still know how to think.
Didn't notice that "marginalized." For decades, people with disabilities and people of color were categorized as "marginalized and underserved" in federally funded programs in health, education, poverty, employment, and research. Was just who we were. So missed it. Thanks.
There you go! Or, show up on news shows. The historical perspective HCR possesses provides such great context. If all Americans were exposed to this kind of essay often (doesn't have to be every day), our country would be so much better off. Instead, our country is on the brink of political collapse into something none of us will recognize. Blows my mind every day.
And the teachers here in Texas are stifled from teaching history or current events on top of it all! Morath head of Texas Education Agency appointed by Abbott, and their system, took up all our history books claiming they pushed CRT. The history teachers teach from a monthly newspaper given to them that spouts off Texas pushing information. I don’t know how they can even cover the state required objectives. I do think it woke up some teachers that claimed they weren’t political or voted how their ministers or husbands told them to vote. A political debate was started by one student in my art club and a child was upsetting the rest of the kids with his crazy claims. They asked if I’d stop him, or tell him he’s wrong. I said the school district requires me to not voice my opinion or stop a student from giving their opinion. They were shocked! Asked me again but what do you think? I said I can’t tell you but please discuss it with your parents. That child hasn’t come back to Art club.
It’s really quite disturbing! Please be involved with your school board elections! And county, and state! It really does influence our children!
I talked to him at his kickoff rally here in Ft Worth. Told him I am a teacher in Southlake, help us! And he has been actively working for education. Meetings and campaigning among educational leaders.
Interesting fact, this is Tarrant County in Texas. We have the lowest voter turnout in America. If we can get our registered Democrats to vote, Beto will have a great chance at winning.
TX - I first got a snoot full of what is going on their schools years ago with the evolution-vs-creationist thing. TX has such a large school system that it (and CA) drives the school book business nationwide, and in TX's case drives what goes into those books. So this isn't new - it's just bigger and more ominous. TX, to me, is today's Gilead.
As well demonstrated by the atrocious anti abortion bills (and the next target for the evangelicals is birth control itself (i.e.- women MUST have baby after baby w/o respite)
In her other life she is that starlet who passes through the stones in Scotland. You don’t think the producers made that up from scratch. If you look in her jewelry box you will note she is getting low on gems. I think I will try to send a sapphire .
Heather resembles the heroine. See Outlander. She is from Boston. Hi-jack the script and flesh in with Heather’s abilities to come and go in time. Use our current catastrophic events and antagonists to bring this whole sordid business to focus in the living rooms of all.
We can surely get much more accomplished thespians than the fringe elements of the GOP.
Why not use entertainment to see ourselves and our choices. The nude scenes optional.
I love the connection you have made Pat. I just recently started watching Outlander. Of course the fact that she’s an amazing nurse is close to my heart. And that’s a personal thing for me. But the in and out of different time periods reminds me of how Heather weaves the history into our present, and it feels so relevant to our current reality,
Exactly Karen. So many coincidences between fictional travel through the stones and Heathers remarkable real life historical journeys. I envision her(Heather) in such far fetched episodes as connecting Russian history to arrive at Ukraine today as well as the rise and fall of the republicans. I can see her at Lincoln’s cabin. Mostly, however, I find her in the living rooms of us opening the windows and letting in fresh air. If you remember Centennial imagine Heather capturing a bigger audience.
I think HCR’s fact based truth telling would put a spotlight on Fox’s lying, hateful rhetoric and tropes. More importantly, it’s enlightenment for the morons that watch that tripe.
Of course you are right! If a princess dines in a pigsty the pigsty becomes elevated or some such nonsense. A matter of dignifying that which has none.
Those morons dug their foxholes with the religious right under the leadership of Russian Limburger and crowned their bunker complex with Fox News. 1988 until present day fortifications built on outhouse blueprints. I would not ask you or any one to validate that fortification. Maybe napalm.
I have thought this many times!! I agree but realize that she does a great job spreading the daily lesson quietly to those that would probably read it anyway.
We should take up Professor Lawrence Tribe's idea:
An obvious solution is staring us in the face: President Biden could liquidate the tens of billions of dollars the Russian central bank has parked in the United States as part of its foreign exchange reserves; by some estimates, those funds may total as much as $100 billion. These assets are already frozen at the Federal Reserve and other banks thanks to Treasury sanctions banning transactions with the Russian central bank.
Mr. Biden already has ample statutory authority to liquidate Russian assets under a section of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, enacted in 1977 to clarify the previously overbroad and tangled mess of presidential emergency economic powers. As the Supreme Court affirmed in a landmark case about the Iran hostage crisis, the act gives the president “broad authority” to act in times of national emergency and the power to “nullify, void, prevent or prohibit” any foreign country from “holding” or “exercising any right, power, or privilege” over property in which it has “any interest.” It also authorizes the president to “direct and compel” the “transfer, withdrawal” or “exportation” of such property.
Since the reserves in question are Russian state property — unlike the assets of oligarchs — they are not shielded by the usual protections our legal system affords private property. The Fifth Amendment’s guarantee against government seizure of property “without due process of law” applies only to “persons” — not foreign governments — as the Supreme Court suggested in 1992 and multiple federal courts have since held. Protections against the “taking” of property without “just compensation” likewise apply only to “private property,” a category that clearly excludes Russia’s sovereign reserves, even if they are conveniently parked within the United States and in dollars.
Congressional Republicans might push back, claiming that any such seizure would constitute a grand expansion of presidential power at Mr. Biden’s behest. But the act’s clear grant of authority should alleviate any genuine concerns. So too should the clear precedent of similar moves by presidents of both parties who have seized the central bank assets of human rights violators like Venezuela, Iran and Iraq.
Mr. Putin’s genocidal regime belongs in that dastardly category — and by treating Russia as such, Mr. Biden can do a lot to smoke out the Trump wing of the Republican Party, which, like its leader, has been reluctant to acknowledge the extent of Mr. Putin’s atrocities and the threat he poses to the United States.
I have tremendous admiration for Professor Tribe. While I like his legal argument for seizing Russian assets in the U. S., taking those of a foreign government may also require Congressional action in addition to presidential action.
This also raises an interesting fiscal policy issue. Traditionally, central banks have maintained substantial dollar reserves in the United States. [During WW II, I believe that Great Britain sent some of its gold reserves to our Federal Reserve.]
What would be the implications, if money from foreign central banks, maintained in the United States, could be appropriated by the United States Government? Perhaps $3-4 trillion of our national debt is held by foreign countries. Might these debt instruments also be liable to USG seizure?
Personally, I’d be delighted to see Russian oligarch wealth and central bank funds seized and, if possible, used to compensate Ukraine for the destruction foisted upon it by Putin. I’m only suggesting that there might be some legal and policy issues to resolve.
Keith, I would also worry that the next time we want to go and torch a country, to, say, "look for weapons of mass destruction", our own assets might be seized spoiling the fun and games for us.
I’d be concerned about China’s reaction to this. They hold a little over 3.5% of our debt, and right now that works to our mutual advantage. If they perceive US $ investments to be too risky, then what?
KR Actually, Japan has the largest holding of US Treasury debt (perhaps excluding short-term notes?) with China 2nd and UK 3rd. I believe that China has been reducing its holdings, in part because the interest rate was low. Big question—where else to invest?
Yes, I think the euro is perceived by China as riskier still. And China needs the foreign investment to keep the rmb weak to fuel their exports. I doubt Japan would be concerned about US expropriation, but I do think China may be.
Keith, you recall what percent of our national debt is held by China? Recall that they are are greatest foreign source. I think it is currently at 14%.
Fred Off the top of my head, I believe that foreign governments own about 15-20% of our national debt. In 2022 the figure for China was listed at $1 trillion, which seems low, since it was considerably higher a few years ago.
So China would seem to own about 3% of our debt. I don’t perceive this as a bludgeoning weapon. I doubt that they would dump it in a pique, since to would be difficult to find a similar safe haven. The great portion of the national debt we owe to each other. You’ve peaked my interest—I’m going to Google it.
From a useful article cited below. My math shows Japan at 4.3% and China at 3.7%. Think my earlier percent was of debt owed to foreign nations, a total of which looks to be about 25.67% as of today.
"According to the Treasury Department, foreign governments hold about $7.7 trillion in U.S. debt, though no country holds more than 5% of the total. As of the end of November, the most recent data available, Japan was the largest foreign holder of U.S. debt, with $1.3 trillion. China was the second-largest holder of U.S. debt, with $1.1 trillion, while the United Kingdom was in distant third place, with $622 billion."
Would make any policy decision to capture and redirect any foreign funds (national, private) obtained in the sanctions a fairly risky ploy.
Fred My top of head guess was close—3.7% for China. The largest holder of our national debt were investors. Then Social Security—-legerdemain, they give ‘surplus’ in return for bonds—this will reverse some years. Hence. The most puzzling was Dept of Defense at about $2 billion. Huh???? Lot of funny money.
Carry over funding? Incompleted projects that remain considered national priorities. Suspect it is not included in next budget request. I could carry funds forward as long as they would be used pursuant to the goals and approved 5-year plan. And up to 12 months after funded period if we were increasing impact of the research projects. Can't image but there is way wider latitude in the DOD work plan/authority. I'd want to have multiple holes in which to cycle like carryover or reserves. With compassionate oversight and flexible carryover authorities, what might the actual debt be that is owned by DOD and backed by the US treasury? If I could have, with multiple interconnected grants, were it possible, I certainly would have considered building a reserve pool to sustain our long-term research program with which to leverage private-public investments. I wasn't that clever. DOD certainly has the cleverer minds to do this. I'd imagine the private sector (contractors dependent upon and able to influence) might be the kind of partners helping DOD to leverage such a debt liability. But, I speculate, only. 😏
Republican lawmakers may also disagree with freezing Russian assets parked in the US, as many of them have accepted those assets as campaign contributions.
In December 2018, the Trump administration with support from then-Majority-Leader McConell(R-KY) lifted sanctions on Russian Oligarch Oleg Deripaska. Soon after, one of Deripaska's companies pledged a $200 million investment in an aluminum plant in Kentucky.
That makes so much sense, IDK why our learned Dems haven’t thot of it. I am really getting tired of this “When They Go Low, we lay down and hike up our leg in defeat” attitude that seems to be the mindset of the good guys. This goes back to not fighting tooth & nail to get Merrick Garland confirmed to the Supreme Court against the bad guys specious obstruction. That should have been broadcast wide & loud, but Obama retreated. Garland belongs on the SCOTUS not heading the Justice Dept, where we need someone to prosecute the obvious crimes that are being committed with impunity. Sorry, I am just so exasperated at watching the good guys continually losing this politics game.
Just need to point out, again, that Democrats control both houses of Congress and the White House. And have won 3 of the last 4 presidential elections. Maybe there’s something to Democratic strategy.
Jon Magolis. "Control" is a very iffy word nowadays when it comes to control of Congress. There may be a majority of Democrats with butts in those seats but I don't see all of them voting Democrat. That's the issue.
After LBJ, Democrats just bring wet noodles to a knife fight. Obama surrendered on Garland without a fight—and there were good legal arguments put forward.
Occupancy and achievement are not the same, are they? The ACA was an achievement—but Obama also lost a SCOTUS seat without challenging the Senate Majority Leader; and thousands of Democratic seats in the States, as well as the House and Senate.
Morning Jeff. Prof Richardson mentions something along that line in today’s Letter:
..”tonight CNN reports that the U.S. State Department is considering naming Russia a state sponsor of terrorism, a designation that would place Russia with North Korea, Iran, Syria, and Cuba and further choke Russian trade.”
I consider that an appropriate designation. Putin is the worst kind of outlaw.
Christine Could the State Department name the ‘Republican’ party a terrorist group and seize its assets and those of its oligarchs? Just consider the photos of those Congressional Pistol Packing Mommas!1
On this tax day I would like everyone to write a letter to your members of Congress telling them to fund the IRS properly. I'm one of the twenty million or so taxpayers whose 2020 tax return has NOT been processed. Two years ago the US Post Office under DT's Postmaster General DeJoy lost my tax return and it took a lot to get that straightened out. DeJoy is still Postmaster General which gives me no joy. Last year I tried to use the IRS's online tax filing. There was a error in the software where one number that was to be entered by the IRS on line 7 of the Self Employment Schedule was omitted meaning no one who was self employed could file online. So I mailed it -- on time. Three days later they cashed my check. Now eleven months later they have not processed the return! This prevented me from refinancing my mortgage to a lower rate, the lowest rate we're going to see in a long long time, last summer since the bank by Texas law needed to see my tax return from the IRS. So it has cost me money! Now eleven months later there are still some twenty million tax returns unprocessed. This is the fault of the Congress for not adequately funding the IRS to do its job! I have always been impressed by the IRS when I needed to call them about something. The IRS is not the problem. But now you can't even get anyone on the phone. It seems this is another way the rich avoid paying taxes by not funding the personnel to review the tax returns of the rich. I believe it is estimated that if the tax returns of the rich were being scrutinized the US Treasury would have another Trillion (with a T) in taxes collected each year! This is the fault of a Congress that isn't doing its job! My motto for that is ReElect NoOne! Throw them all out if they can't do the job or can't work with others. We, the People, all of us this time!
This is no accident. “Starve the beast” is a deliberate strategy to defund agencies and watch them wither and fail. Then either consolidate or privatize. IRS, USPS, schools, prisons, utilities, military, etc. are all up for grabs.
They cashed my check immediately this year. And last year and the year before. They have accused me of not paying previous years' taxes ( I have to produce the cancelled checks.)
This sounds like they are playing games with debits and credits. Chasing after the money owed and not releasing people's refunds. I resist funding more money to support a crappy system.
Only recourse we have at this point is to hold our checks paid to the system until to the last second. I welcome changes to the tax structure. Because ALL Americans, regardless of income bracket, can feel pride in supporting a government that provides a basic safety net to promote health and security for ALL citizens regardless of race or creed.
Thanks for the history of federal taxation. Much of it was new for me.
Speaking of taxes, Jane Mayer of The New Yorker told Rachel Maddow tonight about a group that is financing the despicable disparagements of Biden nominees.
Donations to the group are tax free. So, in essence
Maddow had an amazing show last night. Jane Mayer and Anne Applebaum, plus her opening remarks, especially about what she called “eliminationist rhetoric” were outstanding. I highly recommend watching last night’s show, especially the opening part and Jane Mayer interview.
Why is the AAF tax free. Definitely needs to be changed. If we continue down this path…well hell, we are farther down this path than any but chump and cult realize. They know…
Voting is made difficult because voters can vote unpredictably and they very well may vote for someone other than the people that set the rules, so if you make it hard for them to vote you don’t have to bother with coming up with programs that might appeal to them. When is the last time that you saw a republican generated program that really addressed the needs of our evolving nation, the only thing the republicans want to generate are tax cuts for the very wealthiest, the ones that need it the least.
All this Manichean nonsense straight out of John Wayne westerns -- and look! Look how little time is left in which to purge America of its very own Kremlin party... that rampant banditry who understood how to use the all-American name of the party of Abraham Lincoln as respectable cover for a Nazism without shirts brown or black, without swastika armbands... just red baseball caps, the Stars and Stripes -- with a few Confederate battle flags thrown in for good effect...
Your Munich beer hall putschists are still strutting around, still telling what they hold in store for the ordinary Americans they so despise that they don't even bother to hide their plans from them.
Their plans for vengeance. Beginning in November.
And now we're seeing in Ukraine what this vengeance really means, not only for today's Ukrainian victims, but for tomorrow's earmarked victims, in America, worldwide.
"We Russians are innocent, we are innocent by definition, we are defending our innocence, our victimhood at the hands of evil Western degenerates..."
Now, where did they get that spiel from? Haven't we heard this kind of crap before...? In revered American mouths... the mouth of President Reagan, the mouth of President George W. Bush...
"Exceptionalism".
That of the Third Reich, that of America's inspired NeoCons, that of Serb and Croat nationalist thugs, that of Islamist terrorism, that of Hindutva in Modi's India...
Add to that the pseudo-innocence of the Democratic Party's corroded machine politics.
For heaven's sake, we all know how divorcing couples share responsibility for their failed marriage, even where the prime responsibility rests with one partner.
Likewise, we should know the ongoing damage that stems from the punitive Versailles and Trianon Treaties...
The harm that empires impose on others they end up inflicting on themselves. Yet, regardless of whether men behave like angels, like devils escaped from the depths of hell or like us ordinary, well- intentioned mediocrities, we are all members of one mankind. One.
This means that, just as the children and grandchildren of those who conducted Hitler's massed assault on the world have formed a new Germany, we are all called upon to heal our own hearts and, in so doing, to heal the world.
This demands regeneration, in body, in spirit, everywhere. And no nation can be excluded, not one. Least of all those which have been responsible for the greatest abuses of wealth and power.
We have seen how the disasters of peace degenerate into the disasters of war -- can we not wake up and look beyond today's shambles, the waste of smashed buildings, smashed machinery and smashed lives, look beyond the demands of mass surgery, to envision at last the absolute demands of true peace?
Perhaps the best place to start (after fully funding the IRS :) ) is by reforming the seeming nut of the problem: we need to own our data. Our personal data, scraped, segmented and packaged for sale to the highest bidder, has allowed maligned actors to target and persuade Americans to see each other as the enemy. The advertising business model of media -especially social media- hijack our brains by proven psychometric methods to influence us to react out of manufactured outrage, anger and fear. For starters, we need to own our data and have control of each time it is used, and for what purpose, and be compensated. You cannot have a democracy if you do not have a citizenry able to control their own minds.
"This demands regeneration, in body, in spirit, everywhere. And no nation can be excluded, not one. Least of all those which have been responsible for the greatest abuses of wealth and power."
Peter, I know from my own personal experiences in life that the thing I hate to do the most is forgive. But, under the right circumstances, I can see that path. Then again, sometimes it might make sense to perform a Sherman March across the landscape.
BUT, Peter, having tried both approaches, the Sherman March and forgiveness, I will say, sometimes the Sherman March is what is needed and the best approach.
Sometimes total destruction is all that will stop another person who is used to abuse as a methodology and has no plans to stop. Ever.
So, the key is to recognize when forgiveness is appropriate and when to sponsor a Sherman March. I will be honest and say, for me, it has always been obvious. And, when I have decided to sponsor a Sherman march, in the workplace or wherever, I did not stop until total destruction was achieved.
When reason has failed and lessons that must be learned are rejected by those who need to learn them, they can only be learned the hard way.
Hence my fears for America today. The danger that America could follow Putin's example. Hence the universal relevance of your argument. And yet, we have seen all too well how even the hardest of hard ways can fail too. Sherman's march may have won the war, but plainly the peace was never won.
There's a Spanish saying:
Vencido, vencido; y el vencedor, perdido.
The vanquished is vanquished, the victor is lost.
I have never advocated forgiveness for crimes and don't propose to now. One way or another, what we've sown we shall reap.
Criminals must be punished for their crimes, but we must at all times uphold a distinction between human beings and their actions.
That is why I am returning again and again and again to the first sentence of Article 1 of Germany's Basic Law;
"Human dignity shall be inviolable."
Remember, remember the countless millions who died to give birth to those few words.
It's a pity that the Sherman March should be entirely favorable to the Kremlin regime, the Donbass will now be destroyed "for its own good" in a sterile confrontation.
It's a pity that a real Sherman March against the Kremlin regime should be made impossible by the existence of nuclear weapons, but in any case, termination of that regime is essentially the business of the Russian people.
It's a pity Putin can't be thrown a lump of meat to chew publicly on May 9th in the well-guarded golden cage he has built for himself. The rest can be left to the workings of nature.
(I have watched a baboon pack eject a weakened leader...)
Following the rule of law is part of our democracy. The German's Basic Law Article 1 seems to have been violated for many of our Americans, in their perception.
Sorry, I'm wondering if I've understood you. American and British jurists had a great influence on the drafting of Germany's Basic Law (i.e. the country's constitution).
But I honestly don't see the principle contained in these words as ever having been valued by America, either in its treatment of its own citizens or in international dealings, including behavior in relation to Germany. Perhaps briefly, after the end of the Civil War...
Am I being too hard? I can't help feeling that, from the outset, the rule of Law in America has all too often been overshadowed by the rule of lawyers. And, in the great move westward, by frontiersmen's improvisations.
Others can no doubt help modify what I've just said.
Or freeing? Unbound by any convention or rule or agreement that preceded my need or desire. Machiavalli without conventional constraints. The madness that is conservatism today. CD has found its home.
I am starting to find Putin's statements quite informative and reassuring since he always, always says the direct opposite of the truth. Just reverse what he says...and you know what he actually thinks. His upside down talk seems consistent and compulsive. Thus it is strangely reliable.
If the Republican plan is instituted, I see we will end up in a depression, the healthcare system will collapse, the nursing home system will collapse and there will be soup lines. Persons relying on Medicare and Social Security have been paying in their investments in these programs, whether they wanted to or not, for decades. They are simply receiving their return on investment. Apparently, the people who call themselves republicans don't understand return on investment anymore. The affordable healthcare act provides insurance for those with pre-existing conditions and under President Biden has been adjusted so it is affordable for most everyone. If taxes on the working class are significantly increased, spendable cash, the cash that is allowing our economy to recover from the effects of Covid right now, will be gone to the government and not leaving enough cash available for everyone to be able to afford health insurance. This is while the Republican plan makes certain that the richest 2-5% can still buy their 2nd or 3rd home, yacht build somewhere not in the USA, private plane, put monies in Republican PACS so they still have control of the government, etc.
The majority of people using the healthcare industry are heavily relying on Medicare (~44% of revenue) and Medicaid (~13%) and, realistically, most persons will be unable to pay for insurance, since their source of spendable cash is removed via taxes. Remove ~57% of revenue from any industry and see how it does, especially when that is added to loss of the affordable healthcare act insurance and reduction of spendable monies by the majority of the working people in the US resulting in their not carrying health insurance because they have to eat and taxes will be killing them. I like Ike, can't we please get another real republican like Ike? That would be a good race against a democrat. Right now, the Republican Party platform will kill the USA.
Why are not Democrats laying out Senator Scott's suggested GOP Agenda aimed at undemocratizing America to those whom would be most hurt by it? Granted, many folks in such places (According to HCR today: Mississippi, West Virginia, Arkansas, Louisiana, Alabama, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Georgia, New Mexico, South Carolina, and Florida) usually vote for things that are not in their best interests, but if Scott's agenda is laid out to them clearly, they might unexpectedly elect some Democratic Senators and Representatives in November. The President, explaining his accomplishments, isn't enough. The Democrats must learn to 'message" properly and the first step, right now, would be for them to hire HCR!!
And from the ashes, a new world will rise, where the strong and pure will reign over the world and have dominion over all creatures and it will be good .... Gads. The prospect does scare one, doesn't it.
The Daily Beast reports that former U.S. Naval Intelligence Officer & former MSNBC Commentator, Malcolm Nance, has joined an international brigade in Ukraine to defend the Country.
# BOFADEEZ. Recalls the international brigades that fought fascism in the 1930's.
The accomplishments described here of the Lincoln Administration are wonderful and only possible because the Southern States, a blight on this nation since inception, were not in Congress. Dixie has been trying to undo the Civil War since 1865.
Realize that being designated a 'state sponsor of terrorism' has legal implications. It is an exception to the Sovereign Immunity enjoyed by foreign governments. If you want to grab some of Putin'$ Billion$ in US banks and give it to Ukrainians, this is a first step. 28 U.S. Code § 1605A - Terrorism exception to the jurisdictional immunity of a foreign state
And Senator Scott is all but waiving the Stars and Bars right now. If these dummies had gotten away with secession, they would be in Putin's camp today!
Sure, I guess Russia might be a state sponsor of terrorism... but I can't help wondering what that means about a country which carpet bombed North Korea killing around 20% of its population, supported regimes in Latin America which wantonly killed and "disappeared" civilians, tortured prisoners, invaded a far-away country on false pretenses, seized the central bank assets of Afghanistan resulting in a hunger crisis, supports the Saudi bombing of civilians in Yemen, etc.
You all know very well Martin is speaking the truth. Shame on you. He could very well add in turning down Ho Che Minh’s plea for help in removing France from French Indo China and subsequently having to turn to the communists for help. Think no Vietnam! We have been both selfish and short sighted in matters of foreign policy. Late entry into WWI and WWII. Hopefully not WWIII.
Pat, Yes. Martin outlined some truth, but, seriously, the US has always done a fairly good job cloaking its invasions with some kind of false flag reason. Just like Russia.
So, much, maybe most of America does not see those invasions for what they were.
Here are the false flags used to justify past American invasions:
In Afghanistan it was some guy named Osama Bin Laden that nobody even ever heard of (who was actually in Pakistan).
In Vietnam it was "Communism". (But actually Ho Chi was just trying to throw off French brutal colonialism and suppression.
In Korea, I think it was also "Communism". My Dad was there but never had any idea why.
The US has taken the same approach as Russia to sell its wars to its people. Instead of Christianity though, the US has used scare tactics with its population.
Lots of people believe the false flags so when someone posts something critical of America there is a lot of noise around that.
When you get it wrong Mike, you own it. A lie is a lie. Own it. Recognition is the only way forward out of the “swamp”. Your good name and your handshake certify your place and declare your intentions. Just because you choose to turn away from the bad things doesn’t make them less potent. You have to actually take the bath to get clean. That said you now have to be that American and not the “ugly” one. I am pretty sure none of us have wings, not left ones or right ones and especially not angelic ones. What we have are disagreements that are entirely resolvable without gutting each other. Like my son said, “Jeez, okay dad I’m sorry I put the tractor in the pond. Can we get it out now?” No son it’s too late. I’ll just go ahead and shoot you and leave it there.
TC, can you not think beyond war, war and more war... to the supposed purpose of war?
And Martin, beyond war guilt?
At times like these we have to roll up our sleeves, jump into the ditch and do the filthy work of freeing humanity's blocked sewage pipes. Regardless of whose filth blocked them.
No choice but to restore a world in which human beings can live together in peace.
That means colossal -- Herculean -- labors. Everywhere.
And "everywhere" means an end to the lying nonsense that's forever pointing... somewhere else.
Peter, no comment has resonated with me as much as yours today:
“At times like these we have to roll up our sleeves, jump into the ditch and do the filthy work of freeing humanity's blocked sewage pipes. Regardless of whose filth blocked them.”
It reminds me of a scene in the movie “Gandhi” that sums up life for me. Gandhi is confronting his wife in the communal Ashram where they live. She has refused to clean the toilets, a duty which that day fell to her to do. She argues that cleaning toilets is the job of the Untouchables, not someone of her status. Gandhi showed her her choice. She could leave, or she could stay a part of the community, and clean the toilets when it is her turn. Toilets, in my opinion, can be actual toilets, but they can also be any activity producing waste, from our trash bins to factory smokestacks. We have to properly clean it.
The answer to any power dynamic of “Who cleans the toilets?” reveals the depth of equality -or inequality- in any relationship. To my thinking, I believe that we ALL need to clean the toilets. If we do it early, often and well, the sewers don’t get blocked. That’s a MUCH bigger - and dirtier- job.
TC. Assuming Putin is on his inevitable way down into humiliation, and that as yet unknown insiders will eventually eliminate him, either literally or in substance, wouldn't it be a good idea to locate such insiders and encourage them with a promise to include the future Russia in the world economy as more than mere supplier of raw materials and help lift average Russians out of their drab quasi-poverty? While there is no excuse for Putin's behavior, perhaps we could have done a better job in the immediate post-Soviet period. Maybe the promise of a carrot will allow us to spare the stick. Oh, and avoid nuclear war. I'm trying hard not to be a moronic lefty.
Thank you for your reply. The reason for my comment was to suggest that naming Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism is a bad idea unless we acknowledge our own misdeeds. I'd like America to have the moral high ground, and not just exemplify might makes right. That's the Putin approach. It might also help persuade people in countries who are on the sidelines in this conflict that we aren't just global hypocrites, and they should join us in pressuring Russia.
I do agree with you about what we need to do, in our own lives and to the extent we can for the larger world. We can all be better. I'm sorry if anything I said can be taken to imply otherwise.
I didn't doubt your motives and even if I had, I'd have preferred not to impugn them.
I who am very emotional sympathize with President Biden but wish he were more guarded with his emotional reactions, so that his staff don't have to backtrack on what he has just said -- and while the most important thing of all is that he and his word are one and indivisible, emotion can be shown without unguarded language. The reality is far beyond anything that can be expressed in words.
But then the world was exposed over a four-year period to a constant daily -- hourly -- barrage of lies, insults and cheap verbiage from the man in the land's highest office. It will take time to recover from that daily assault, if we ever do. Putin likes to use the worst barrackroom language but until recently at least all that he said was spoken coldly and deliberately for maximum effect.
I too spoke of excrement, but in terms of the dirty work we have to do, like it or not.
So find us a historical example of a country that waited till it was perfect before it did anything. And thanks for reminding me that Jerry Rubin was wrong - the proper rule is don't trust anybody UNDER 30.
Hoy you lot! - America has been a very disruptive influence in the world - but at least (to my awareness) it hasn't done it with the banner of Jesus or the Koran. Do PLEASE read Shock Doctrine (Naomi Klein), or Confessions of an Economic Hitman" (and I'm sure there are others). Ignorance is bliss - well no it ain't. The current tragedy seems that it is being driven by religious fundamentalism (mostly reactionary, but never the less potent).
Thank our lucky stars that Joe B is trying to counter some of this - but it is hard to escape one's conditioning. Give the guy space.
From an earlier post.
"Kinda late in commenting - but I suspect that what we are seeing, is an existential panic by the "true believers" - both Moslems and Christians. Their whole raison d'etre is threatened (by science) - and the "bright golden sea" ain't gunna happen. (listen to "Rank Strangers"). It's horrifying how, for so many, belief can cancel reality."
Also PLEASE don't go into attack mode! - views that don't necessarily correspond to yours, are not necessarily of those of trolls.
I hypothesize that Putin and Russia are in Ukraine for two reasons:
1) Lithium
2) Natural Gas.
The fact that some of the Russian leadership are talking about morals, etc., is a sales pitch to cover what they really want. None of the Oligarchs care about morals or Christianity.
They care about money.
Ukraine is one of three countries with the world's largest Lithium deposits. Ukraine has huge natural gas deposits.
Those natural resources are what Russia is after. Some huge Australian mining outfits were working on signing some agreements with Ukraine before the invasion.
I knew about our natural gas but not about lithium. But you give Putin too much credit for rational thought. He hates Ukrainians and Poles every bit as much as Stalin did. Natural resources are a side benefit
Amen. Hypocrisy is standard fare in foreign policy. I so appreciate what America is doing on behalf of Ukraine. What I object to is the smug self righteousness of we are pure they are evil. It is good to spin it that way just don't believe your own press releases.
TC, I really like your writing. You bring a lot to our discussions. But this is beneath you, and beneath us. Many of us are here because the discourse here is civil, unlike in other corners of the internet. Let’s keep it that way. You should delete this comment.
It hit the fan -- as it was bound to -- and I can't help wondering who the supposedly "smart" excremental missile was aimed at. Might be me too...
Can't you set up a punching ball or other intelligent means of expressing your rage less harmfully instead of befouling the site and shooting yourself in the foot into the bargain?
You have real messages to share, heartfelt, well thought out. Give us those. Not this January 6th stuff.
Well, the target knows and hopefully the other troll on this site earning his or her $ luring commenters into argument sees it too. Your comments are not “January 6th stuff” as it’s been called, TC. January 6th stuff”??? Seriously? I second your comment to both trolls on the site today. It literally makes me sick to see people responding to contrived trash talk defined to lure commenters into argument. And every time they are called out or put in their place, commenters jump onto the “we are civilized, do not talk such talk.”
Whatever. The enemy is the enemy. Cannot be sugarcoated.
TC does not only attack trolls. Today he pointed at a subscriber who mentioned the U.S.' wars against Vietnam, Iraq, etc.. You want to defend those aggressions?
I have no patience with the fucking morons of the far left, whose fucking moron stupidity I discovered up close and personal 50 years ago. For those who think the United States can't do anything perfect, find a historical precedent that proves your nonexistent point. The American far left has had its head up its ass for 150 years and has accomplished nothing. If any of you idiots think you disturb me with your bullshit, you are far mistaken and can go take a long walk off a short pier - hopefully into stormy water.
I personally think one of the biggest problems the US has is that we have never come to terms with our own history, especially regarding slavery. But also regarding our unjust actions for example in Viet Nam and Latin America. We need to do what Germany has done post WWII regarding its own past, but we are so incapable of admitting that we ever did anything wrong that we can’t. Until we can, we will not be able to reconcile among ourselves, and unfortunately, post Trump, we are even less able to do this than we were before.
But. That doesn’t really help us figure out what to do during today’s crisis. The nation was able rally during WWII in part because Hitler was so clearly a villain; the right thing to do was clear, especially after we ourselves were attacked by Japan. I think this is also true regarding Ukraine.
We Americans like to be the good guys. It matters to us. And it’s very easy for all of us to see who the good guys are in this conflict.
I believe that your assessment addresses the fundamental problem with the US ever moving forward: We do not acknowledge that this nation was founded and prospered greatly by the genocide of the Indigenous Peoples that were on this continent when Europeans arrived here, and the enslavement of Black Africans and their decedents.
The land grant colleges Heather mentions are referred to as land grab colleges by Indigenous people. Most are built on land stolen from them, including land currently used as investments by these colleges. Learned about this in a First Nations Development Institute communication. https://www.firstnations.org/stories/dotting-the-i-at-the-ohio-state-university/
Heather has been here with the newsletters to help with understanding our history. Her politics and history chats steer us back and forth between the present and the past.
Martin, It's all well and good to remind us that no nation is without blame just as no individual is without failings, try as we might. It's a fact of life. It's also a fact that the truth of an individual and a nation is a more complicated mix of actions than one story can tell. Sometimes (you know this!) a policy harms the least able to handle it; other times, the poor are helped. We wrangle over how to act for the common good but we fail time and again. We can't get laws passed to stop climate chaos because we tell ourselves different stories about what matters. Or we succumb to the power of the ignorant or greedy. The Marshall Plan is usually held up as an example of good. Was it only that? Or was it also a benign form of colonialism? Many such questions could be asked.
The reason we do not believe we have gone full evil is because we are not Vietnamese or Afghan or Iraqi citizens who lived through years of bombardment, drone strikes and street fighting.
Those people, should you query them, will provide you a different perspective. Even the ones who floated on the Ocean for months to get here after we pulled out of Vietnam.
I find the fact sheet from the White House regarding the Tax Act should be required reading for every citizen of this Country. I'm sure those enamored with the 11 Point self destruction program that the GOP are pushing, will not see the irony that their plan is the stark opposite what the Biden Administration is offering. It's the epitome of good verses evil.
Why isn't President Biden's tax message the top headline in the Washington Post, New York Times and every other newspaper -oh wait. They are all owned by rich people who benefit from our current tax policies. But why isn't this the leads story on NPR and the News Hour on PBS? It couldn't have anything to do with all those wealthy people whose funding they are always so thankful for, could it.
Where is our Howard Beale from the movie "Network" from 1976?
I am perplexed, after reading Anne Applebaum’s UNLESS DEMOCRACIES DEFEND THEMSELVES, THE FORCES OF AUTOCRACY WILL DESTROY THEM, that the governments of about 75% of the world’s population do not support the forceful riposte (including sanctions) to Putin’s brutal invasion of Ukraine.
Is this the result of hypocrisy, ‘realpolitik,’ or something else? China, the most populated country, has a strong geopolitical link with Russia. India, with over a billion people, has a volatile border with China and a tradition of endeavoring to be ‘nonaligned.’
The West, including much of Eastern Europe, is committed to assisting Zelensky’s Ukraine and punishing the aggressor—Putin. Some Asian countries concur. However, few countries in the Middle East and Africa are supportive. In some of these countries, economic and/or military links may provide a partial explanation. Also, remembrance of Western colonialism and of Cold War machinations may affect some thinking.
A European diplomat observed: “Two elephants are fighting, and the little guys get hurt.”
Sanctions as well as food and energy shortages will have a massive short-term global impact with which the ‘little guys’ will have great difficulty coping. Germany and some other countries seem far more willing to endure such sacrifices to support sovereign independence against Putin’s ‘Greater Russia’ megalomania.
Perhaps there is considerable validity to Huntington’s CLASH OF CIVILIZATIONS. What is occurring is a reiteration of Western principles (forget about centuries of Western colonialism and recent American imperialism) with a preponderance of the non-Western world choosing to sit on the fence watching the elephants battle.
Moreover, a number of these non-Western countries have authoritarian governments. At the same time, they are closely linked to a Western economy and expect financial aid from former colonizers.
We may be entering a new era in global relationships, perhaps reminiscent of the Non-Aligned Movement of the Cold War. Then the attitude of much of the West often was ‘if you are not with us, you are against us.’
I hope that not such a harsh delineation becomes the practice in 2022.
"(forget about centuries of Western colonialism and recent American imperialism)"
Keith, I think this sentence is one key to a partial answer to " that the governments of about 75% of the world’s population do not support the forceful rioste (including sanctions) to Putin’s brutal invasion of Ukraine."
I think some countries definitely have not forgotten about Western Colonialism, sponsorship of slavery, American imperialism, and the general looting that Western Civilization promulgated with great glee for hundreds of years on some other countries.
Mike Didn’t we have a war (1812) with our former colonizer? It seemed unnecessary, but it helped move sludge out of our former colonial system. A shame that the Brits burned the White House.
Keith, I agree, except the part about Germany. To me right now, they look like appeasers, unwilling to take a 2% hit to their GDP so they can continue to import Russian energy.
KR Germany and Europe, two decades ago, made a Faustian bet on cheap energy from Russian. Now the devil has come to collect on this bet. About half of Germany’s gas is piped into Russia. There are no short-term alternatives for much of this gas. [Imagine the reaction, if the US were between such a rock-and-hard-place.
Chancellor Olaf has done a volte face and upped the defense budget significantly. Also, Germany depends on scarce metallurgical minerals from Russia.
Germany made a poor decision, a few years ago, to precipitously shut down its nuclear power plants. Isn’t hind sight distressing?
No comments on here about Malcolm Nance joining an international brigade to aid the Ukrainian military! Americans did this in 1938 in Spain's Civil War (that effort failed) and in Poland's 1920 war to stop Bolshevik westward expansion in Europe (that succeeded and has parallels in Ukraine). He has put his life on the line where his mouth is, an act not too many Americans are willing to do today. He deserves praise.
What are your expectations of 'copious' commenters and what is that based on? Don't your and Jack comment on a daily basis or close to that? Are you 'copious'?
coprolitic, neologism; alliterate. As you like it. I shall ask not any questions again as the effort at inquiry with you may not be fruitful for me. Salud.
On tax day, my wife and I have paid our taxes. Our percentage of taxes paid was higher than what has been recorded for a majority of American billionaires. At 88 my taxes have never undergone a Federal audit.
If the very wealthy and the major corporations matched my tax record, we would have been able to finance Build Back Better without a budgetary deficit.
Meanwhile, the Republicans have deliberately reduced the funding of the IRS since 2010. As Paul Krugman has discussed, the majority continue to subsidize the Republican plutocrats.
I had never resented the payment of income taxes until we found out that tfg had paid the grand sum of $750 in 2016 and again in 2017. Since then, each yearly return has pained me deeply!
This morning's post by economist Robert Reich echoes this...regarding multi-billionaires' wealth:
"...virtually none of their wealth growth — the main source of billionaire income — may ever be taxed. That’s because the income tax doesn’t cover billionaire wealth: Bezos’s salary is just $81,840. Musk’s is $0. Their vast wealth allows them to borrow money at bargain-basement rates to cover their lavish lifestyles, and escape taxes on almost all their gains. In many years, they’ve both avoided paying any federal income tax at all. So while millions of Americans have lost their jobs during the pandemic, billionaires like Bezos and Musk got 70% richer.
"None of us should accept an economy where teachers, nurses, and firefighters pay a higher tax rate than billionaires. If we want billionaires to pay what they owe, we’ve got to tax their wealth -- not just their income. The Billionaires Income Tax would end an unfair tax code that rewards wealth over work. Congress can make billionaires pay their fair share.
"President Biden’s new budget proposes a fix for this broken system. The Billionaire Minimum Income Tax would establish a 20 percent minimum tax rate on all American households worth more than $100 million. It would raise $360 billion in revenue over the next 10 years."
Everyone in this country should read today's Letter. Many in the middle class have been gaslit to the point that they have no understanding of the unfair burden they carry, and the source of much of our nation's debt. The billionaires keep them dumb and subservient. Thank you, Bruce.
Thank you for touching on the masses of ignorant people (According to the Buddhist Four Noble Truths, believe that ignorance is the root of suffering) we are forced to live with in this country. Why would middle and lower middle-class Floridians ever consider voting for Rick Scott after dealing out his bright ideas such as doing away with SS and Medicare?
Don't forget to include anger and greed in the list of causes of suffering. Jeez, just look at DJT's face as a graphic of ignorance, anger and greed!
His look of anger can't hold a candle to my feelings of anger - toward him!
"Why would middle and lower middle-class Floridians ever consider voting for Rick Scott "?
Fox News?
Sophia, consider that most of these people don't follow the news, and then remember that most outlets have scarcely focused on Rick Scott's comments and proposals. I've read about his opinions a time or two, and heard them mentioned only twice. In all probability, most of the country, including clueless Rs, will be taken by surprise if any of these "policies" come to fruition. They catch the red meat comments on Faux Spews and think he's very savvy. MSN hasn't been doing Democrats any favors either.
Hi, Nancy. and not only do most people in the working class not follow the news or watch only Fox, but the mainstream media have taken after Biden and are subtle enough about it to sway people who don't even understand they're being manipulated. As I've said before, the media have always, to some extent, created the news as much as reporting it, but I am seeing it played out today in more extreme ways than ever. It's one of the things that brought me here--where I have discovered none of either Fox's blatant announcements of its own stupidity or the bold headlines and suffocating dense text of the NYTimes. And yet, isn't it those headlines and that ranting that control the narrative? HCR, isn't there a way to do what you are doing--to write with integrity and place events in their context--AND ALSO get the word out there to change the narrative?? I think the answer is no, there isn't. It isn't in the fate of the truth teller to win any popularity contests. sigh
Nobody is going to get rid of SS or Medicare. Rick Scott said they are not fully funded. In that he is right. Also, we live in a great country.
I agree that we live in a great country - despite our many skeletons. As far as SS and Medicare never being taken away, I had many friends who predicted that the right to abortion would never be taken away, but we're seeing that train wreck happening with SCOTUS and the very real possibility of overturning Roe v. Wade or gutting it.
The middle class actually pays a low effective federal tax rate. As todays letter points out, the bottom 50%+ of Americans pay no Federal tax. Zero. 87% of all taxes are paid by the top 25%. Our leaders on both sides like to pull us apart. The reality is that there is always a tradeoff between taxation growth and the well being of all. If citizens felt they were actually getting value for their taxes they might actually we might actually begin to collect and pay more.
David, that sounds very low to me, but without disputing your information, surely you would agree that the extremely wealthy are not paying their share. Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and the Kochs, to say nothing of TFG, pay obscenely low taxes, if any. As for getting value for taxes paid, TFG cut every program he could, and threatened to defund Social Security and Medicare, etc., while cutting taxes for our in-house oligarchs. Biden is getting exactly ZERO credit for his infrastructure bill and the rescue funds, and saving our economy in the meantime, and he's being trashed by networks like CNN, which might explain why so many citizens feel shortchanged. I've never felt it unfair to pay taxes to fund our roads and other infrastructure and programs, so I've never understood how people in this country feel that they're overburdened by taxation.
But those people pay sales tax (regressive), property taxes (through rent or directly as home owners), all kinds of local taxes, and FICA. Their tax burden is hugely disproportionate to their income vs multi-millions and billions.
Those tax revenues do not go to US Treasury General fund as income taxes do.
No question. You are right.
I find that "50%+" statistic hard to believe.
Incredible. Federal taxes. 49% in 2019, 57% in 2021
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/25/57percent-of-us-households-paid-no-federal-income-tax-in-2021-study.html
David, have you read or listened to Bernie Sanders at the Budget committee hearing? He has reliable data about taxes and inflation.
“Are Corporate greed and profiteering fueling inflation?”
April 5 2022 https://youtu.be/KrpQjOTzbi0
Bernie promises a world where, in my humble opinion, one checks freedom at the door. In this world one hands over their taxes, spending borrowing and decisions to people like him on the promise that he, the Bern and his followers, will do the right thing for you. Sanders impact on the Democratic Party in 2022 is huge and will be huge in the coming mid terms. Of course in Bernie's world inflation had nothing to do with aggressive government spending in the face of a steep and fast pandemic recovery, it is all corporate greed. You know, the other guy. Although he can be thoughtful and has some good ideas, I don't think handing over half the economy to Bernie on a wish, a hope and a dream is a good idea. That said, if that's what people vote and go for, so be it.
Perhaps we need to look at that statistic as a measurement of increasing poverty. Strangely many of the R's are actually lower income. Perhaps they think if they associate with the "ricos" they will not feel their own pain.
Exactly. If you figure it out ... Crazy
Bruce I was trying to give you a heart for your post.
Keith,
When the heart button doesn’t turn red, refresh your page and it should then show it’s red. If not, just click on it again, and it should turn red.
Mimi Thanks! When my heart button doesn’t turn on, what should I ‘refresh?’
Refresh the page you are on, Keith. Depending on your browser, it might be a partial circle with a downward pointing arrow next to the URL (in Firefox), or a similar icon actually IN the URL box (in Safari). Or you can simply do a Command+R (in Apple; I don't know the keyboard command for a PC).
Mim
Sometimes it'll turn red a while after you've clicked on it...but THANKS!
Your right Bruce. Ive had the same problem and sometimes it does take several seconds to turn red. Yet other times it turns red right away. Also, when I’m editing my post my corrections don’t show up right away either. I’ve finally learned that it just takes several seconds.
I'm too impatient to wait for it to maybe turn red. I just refresh the page right away.
Thank you for this Bruce.
Reich used to be a competent economist, but the pressures of writing a regular column have apparently caused him to forget the difference between an increase in the market value of security holdings and actual income. One is a concept that could as easily disappear the next time the market 'adjusts', the other is money that one can actually spend. Taxing such "wealth" is a specious idea and one that, if it's ever been tried, has been found unwieldy, unenforceable and easily abandoned. If the goal is improving the federal balance of payments, a far better solution would be ending the deductibility of the interest on business loans and treating all capital gains as ordinary income. Of course ending the cap on OASDI income while keeping benefits the same would be a good idea if, and it's a really big if, there is a real interest in fortifying the Social Security and Medicare systems and in paying for some of the programs the President has proposed. None of this is a political walk in the park but it's much more likely to be effective than a tax on wealth that only exists in theory.
In respect of Sen. Scott's proposal, I believe there is a clause in the 'sunset' part of his program that would terminate these laws only if they weren't reauthorized by the Congress. If that's true, and moreso if it were applied to regulations as well, I can see some arguable merit in the idea. Otherwise, if the Democrats and any rational Republicans who may be hiding out there can take advantage of it, Scott has presented them with a golden opportunity to get a leg up in the next election cycle.
I agree with your comments on taxing wealth with one exception that I have been thinking about for awhile and would be interested in your thoughts. The ultra wealthy routinely monetize their wealth with loans directly or indirectly backed by their security holdings, especially the tech founders. Banks have entire programs to do that for senior management and founders at both public and private companies and make this service part of their pitches for business from the companies themselves. To me, this feels like constructive realization/sale of the securities and the gross loan proceeds ought to be taxed at ordinary income or capital gains rates. It is not unwieldy or unenforceable and seems spiritually consistent with the tax code as it has existed for some time. On a subsequent sale of the securities, they could credit taxes previously paid. If the value declined so much that they over-borrowed, they have a loss they can use when they sell the security (which could be via a margin call at that point). What do you think?
It sounds like a measurable and legally based idea with lots of merit. Would it be possible to differentiate between a loan collateralized by securities for personal use vs. one for a business purpose? Would a person who used her personal securities as a business loan be seen as constructively selling her securities?
If all loans were treated the same for tax purposes it would be a moot point but, in the second case, it would depend on how the business was structured; a corporation would necessarily be treated differently from a partnership or an unincorporated sole proprietorship.
Works for me, and makes a lot of sense. I'd had the impression that their walking around money came from dividends and interest which would be taxed as regular income; your idea rounds out the picture.
A tool in their kit to get liquidity and avoid taxes....
Dave I agree that Robert Reich was, at one time, a reasonably competent economist—I believe in labor analysis. After serving as Secretary (of Labor) he has become an angry voice singing the same song.
Exactly.
I am mad that my taxes pay the salaries, pensions and healthcare and protection for members of the current party of sedition, or reich. THAT pains me greatly. At the same time, my taxes also have to pay to investigate and try to prosecute their traitorhood to our country, while they are still in government positions. We need to protest their jobs.
I also resent paying the salaries of the Marion County Commissioners and their highly paid assistants which they put into place to avoid having to follow public meeting laws. All of them are members of the seditionist party and one of them is a member of the Salem/Keizer school board and is aiding and abetting a move to remove a book from elementary school libraries. The committee to evaluate the book voted to keep it 8-1. I found it very interesting that during the Civil War people were willing to pay taxes and happy to support it. I grew up in the 50s when we could afford nice things. The wealthy paid a high percentage and were still rich. The ads for the coming primary are on TV and I see the tax and spend mantra against Ds already even as Rs run against their own party members. Finally, we make an effort to avoid buying from Amazon and favor local companies and stores including the wonderful book store, Powell's in Portland.
Michele, I always enjoy reading everything you post. You warm my heart 😘
Thank you. I enjoy your posts too. This letter and the posts that follow make my day.
🎉🎉🎉
For most Americans the idea of paying one’s fair share is simply the right thing to do. We accept this responsibility and are glad that we live in this good country. While it’s evident that some of this money gets wasted the lion’s share does support many programs and initiatives that only a government can handle. Reading Heather’s letter touches on many of the legislative innovations of the Lincoln Administration and underscores several of the key reasons we were able to win the Civil War. The greed, lies, self deception and self dealing that is prevalent in an amoral person like trump have become the rallying cry of those opposed to government that represents the will of the majority of the people. Knowing that the IRS is understaffed when their work provides the money to pay for programs the majority of our people want is truly a travesty brought to us by legislators who misrepresent the majority. Really, the Democratic Party mantra should hammer home the simple idea: “We are the party of the majority! Do we want to be dictated to by a minority of people led by trump and McConnell ?” Take this idea forward DNC and keep repeating it. How is it possible that Joe’s rating is down to 33%? How? He’s actually getting good things done and could do so much more with solid majority in both the House and Senate.
Keith to Keith I recall reading, over the years, that Americans ranked very high in their paying their Federal taxes. In some countries, the record is dismal. I wonder whether this level of self-payment has plunged since the IRS has been starved of enforcement personnel and they still have clunky computers from decades ago.
I wonder if there is anyone at IRS who can work through the labyrinth of off-shore Tex shelters and the finagling of very rich Americans and corporations. Years ago I read that one corporation’s tax return weighed about 100 pounds. Sounds like a corn maze for the IRS auditor.
Lynell to Keith - 😋 - good to hear that we Americans pay our taxes. Save The IRS!
Finally a good chuckle!
Lynell is providing a little sugar to help the medicine go down, I suppose. We paid over $2200. Ouch.
Thanks to tfg’s 2017 so called tax reform. Better known as gift rich cronies bill. I can’t deduct any of my work expenses anymore, scrubs, stethoscopes, books, journals, continuing Education and the list goes on. We just sent the IRS a $6900 check on top of what has already been taken out of my check. And I claim zero on my w4. I don’t mean to complain, because I want to pay my fair share of taxes and am happy to do so. But the system we have now is so unfair and it generally sucks. If the billionaires don’t pay themselves a salary that can be taxed, then they should pay a wealth tax. Isn’t that what we pay when we pay our property taxes? My home is where my meager wealth lies and I pay taxes on it.
Lynell to Roland...LOL!
😁
It’s true… why not make it simple again? Eliminate the corporate welfare and disallow the elaborate schemes people and companies construct to avoid paying their fair share. It’s just wrong and should be no longer be allowed.
What! And put all those shady corporate accountants and tax lawyers out of business?
Lucky you. I never get to reply “Roland to Roland.” 😉
Roland But you have the Song of Roland and Rolaids, while Keith simply rhymes with teeth.
hahahahahahahahahaha
Needed a good chuckle today. Thanks.
Yes, Song of Roland was a great one…
Ah yes, Rolaids. Such an honor. I remember fondly how much I loved those commercials, and being called that as a youngster. 🙄
On my wall I have a Roland (Reed). When we float the river we call it Row Land. Yours is a pleasant voice behind the pleasant name.
Thank you Sweetheart 💋💋
I just looked up Roland Reed. My goodness I LOVE his work. Love love love.
The photograph I have is an Indian woman overlooking one of the Great Lakes 1908. At 71 I can’t remember it not being on the wall. You can you know, talk Roland to Roland and have a conversation in which people will be forced to eavesdrop.
Their plan has been coming for decades and the “woke” have been asleep, thanks to Rupert and clone’s lullaby of lies.
Every ordinary wage earner pays about 14% of wage compensation in FICA taxes (including the employer’s contribution, which is of course part of the employee’s compensation). That tax alone is two or three times the typical billionaire tax rate. To add insult to injury, wealthy people pay close to 0% in FICA taxes because it’s capped at about $120,000 in earnings. SCRAP the CAP! That alone would at least triple the typical billionaire’s income tax rate.
Rex After reading about all those $40,000+ watches, I bought a $60 Timex to go with my $30 Timex. I read of a $3+ million wedding for a poor little rich girl, but don’t know what was served, since, for some bizarre reason, I wasn’t invited.
I saw that a $700 million yacht cost $65 million annually to operate. For me the Shelter Island ferry @ $22 round trip for a carload must suffice.
I share your sympathy for those poor billionaires. I read recently that there are between 750 and 950 in America. It’s tough to count because the figure keeps rising. WOW! When I was a kid, a millionaire was a person who had $1 million in assets. Some corporate CEOs get $15+ Million annually with perks and pensions that are not too shabby.
This all makes me sorta happy that all those poor rich folks and corporations got about a $2 trillion tax break from Trump in his 2017 tax give away. Did you hear in the Hamptons that it’s difficult to buy a decent second home for under $5-7 million?
Love this, Keith. I tried to explain to students how the billionaires make so much money that they couldn’t spend it themselves even if they tried 24 hours a day. They would have to hire people to spend it.Then, when they bought real estate and rented it out, etc., they would be stuck with more money to deal with. Alas, no student suggested philanthropy to solve the problem.
Copper kings lament in Montana.
Sad
I don’t object to people having an obscene amount of money and spending it on luxury goods if that’s what they want. What I object to is their not being required to pay steeply progressive taxes on their income and wealth.
Keith, we’re gonna have to encourage you to start crashing those super extravagant weddings. If they’re spending that much money, there’s no way they’ll know everybody who’s there. Free food!
https://youtu.be/GnD48PD84-8
Roland. You put on a uniform and push me in with my three-wheel walker, which has a pocket in which we can stack the goodies. Handling the champagne bottles requires greater ingenuity. If desperate, I can pull off my hearing aids and play the ‘huh, huh’ game. How can we get menus to decide where to crash? It would be a shame to end up with Baloney sandwiches.
Baloney sandwiches?? 🙄
Keith, I know you’re 88, and it’s not likely that you partake in stimulants of this variety, but seriously, what have you been smoking?? We are going to multimillion dollar weddings!! Not weddings at a pizza parlor. We are talking exotic fare like caviar, not bologna sandwiches with Velveeta. But yes, we’ll attach extra pouches to the walker and fill them up to stock your refrigerator back home. You won’t have to open any champagne bottles, we’re just gonna grab them unopened and take them with us.
You guys are cracking me up! ;)
The system is soooooooo broken and unjust!
There should be another comma between the "1" and the "2" for the billionaires.
No. All income, whether wages, interest on savings, or investment profits should be taxed as one category: income. And the FICA tax should be applied all the way to the top, not discontinued after taxing only the first $120,000 of it. Add a wealth tax while you’re at it. Stabilize the economy the Piketty way.
Rex, the 2022 wage base limit is $147,000. But you're right: the limit should be entirely removed.
Thanks. Shoulda looked it up. Doesn’t affect the conclusion, as you point out. Wealthy people still get off scott free. FICA is a regressive tax. Anything other than increasingly progressive taxation is immoral because anything less sharply affects the lives of the poor and and has no serious affect on the lives of the wealthy. Same goes for traffic fines, bail, etc. They should be a percentage of income or net worth, whichever is more. Fixed amounts penalize the poor and have no deterrent effect on the wealthy.
Agreed.
Keith, no way??!! 88 !!??
Keep it going, you still "got it".
:-))
What age got to do, got to do with it?
Live long and prosper, Keith!
🖖
This is a powerful "gut punch" Heather. Have you ever sent any of your "letters" to the NYT or the Washington Post, etc., for their oped pages? If you haven't, may I urge you to do so. Your writing is so clearly grounded and expressed.
Agreed! And Dr. R supports that clear writing with references. These aren’t disassociated opinions - she has the receipts!
Last month HCR was named one of USA Today's 'Women of the Year' and occasionally I see her LFAA postings reproduced in the Palm Beach Post, a USA Today subsidiary. The Times and the WAPO are fully aware of her but have their own people. I hope her April 17 LFAA posting gets picked up and published on Op-Ed pages everywhere. It says it all.
Hear, hear!
Thanks, Jack. I did not know about USA Today, and her being named. If she was better at tooting her own horn, I'd be better able to keep up!
There are a dozen national such nominees, and also one for every State. Check it out at https://www.usatoday.com/storytelling/grid/women-of-the-year-2022/ But I didn't know we were, as they described her audience, a 'marginalized group,' unless that defines people who still know how to think.
Didn't notice that "marginalized." For decades, people with disabilities and people of color were categorized as "marginalized and underserved" in federally funded programs in health, education, poverty, employment, and research. Was just who we were. So missed it. Thanks.
Wow… yes, people who still know how to think
Yes, I saw that also. Felt so proud of our esteemed leader!
There you go! Or, show up on news shows. The historical perspective HCR possesses provides such great context. If all Americans were exposed to this kind of essay often (doesn't have to be every day), our country would be so much better off. Instead, our country is on the brink of political collapse into something none of us will recognize. Blows my mind every day.
And the teachers here in Texas are stifled from teaching history or current events on top of it all! Morath head of Texas Education Agency appointed by Abbott, and their system, took up all our history books claiming they pushed CRT. The history teachers teach from a monthly newspaper given to them that spouts off Texas pushing information. I don’t know how they can even cover the state required objectives. I do think it woke up some teachers that claimed they weren’t political or voted how their ministers or husbands told them to vote. A political debate was started by one student in my art club and a child was upsetting the rest of the kids with his crazy claims. They asked if I’d stop him, or tell him he’s wrong. I said the school district requires me to not voice my opinion or stop a student from giving their opinion. They were shocked! Asked me again but what do you think? I said I can’t tell you but please discuss it with your parents. That child hasn’t come back to Art club.
It’s really quite disturbing! Please be involved with your school board elections! And county, and state! It really does influence our children!
And be sure to vote for Beto, as well as throwing a few bucks into his campaign.
I talked to him at his kickoff rally here in Ft Worth. Told him I am a teacher in Southlake, help us! And he has been actively working for education. Meetings and campaigning among educational leaders.
Interesting fact, this is Tarrant County in Texas. We have the lowest voter turnout in America. If we can get our registered Democrats to vote, Beto will have a great chance at winning.
Yes! To both!
TX - I first got a snoot full of what is going on their schools years ago with the evolution-vs-creationist thing. TX has such a large school system that it (and CA) drives the school book business nationwide, and in TX's case drives what goes into those books. So this isn't new - it's just bigger and more ominous. TX, to me, is today's Gilead.
As well demonstrated by the atrocious anti abortion bills (and the next target for the evangelicals is birth control itself (i.e.- women MUST have baby after baby w/o respite)
Wow! Never thought about turning that silly directive on kids who are hollering and screaming.
I feel for you that you are having to put up with this insanity! Texas has destroyed everything decent but then so has Florida. Gawwwwwddddd
In her other life she is that starlet who passes through the stones in Scotland. You don’t think the producers made that up from scratch. If you look in her jewelry box you will note she is getting low on gems. I think I will try to send a sapphire .
I wish I knew what you were talking about. This sounds like a lovely metaphor or story, but obviously I am not acquainted
Heather resembles the heroine. See Outlander. She is from Boston. Hi-jack the script and flesh in with Heather’s abilities to come and go in time. Use our current catastrophic events and antagonists to bring this whole sordid business to focus in the living rooms of all.
We can surely get much more accomplished thespians than the fringe elements of the GOP.
Why not use entertainment to see ourselves and our choices. The nude scenes optional.
Purely a natural for a Roland.
I love the connection you have made Pat. I just recently started watching Outlander. Of course the fact that she’s an amazing nurse is close to my heart. And that’s a personal thing for me. But the in and out of different time periods reminds me of how Heather weaves the history into our present, and it feels so relevant to our current reality,
Exactly Karen. So many coincidences between fictional travel through the stones and Heathers remarkable real life historical journeys. I envision her(Heather) in such far fetched episodes as connecting Russian history to arrive at Ukraine today as well as the rise and fall of the republicans. I can see her at Lincoln’s cabin. Mostly, however, I find her in the living rooms of us opening the windows and letting in fresh air. If you remember Centennial imagine Heather capturing a bigger audience.
That's a great idea, Jay, to have her show up on news shows. I have wondered a time or two how well she would do on Fox News.
I can’t stomach watching Fox “News”, but I’d watch that. HCR would do well.
No!
I think HCR’s fact based truth telling would put a spotlight on Fox’s lying, hateful rhetoric and tropes. More importantly, it’s enlightenment for the morons that watch that tripe.
Of course you are right! If a princess dines in a pigsty the pigsty becomes elevated or some such nonsense. A matter of dignifying that which has none.
Those morons dug their foxholes with the religious right under the leadership of Russian Limburger and crowned their bunker complex with Fox News. 1988 until present day fortifications built on outhouse blueprints. I would not ask you or any one to validate that fortification. Maybe napalm.
I have thought this many times!! I agree but realize that she does a great job spreading the daily lesson quietly to those that would probably read it anyway.
We should take up Professor Lawrence Tribe's idea:
An obvious solution is staring us in the face: President Biden could liquidate the tens of billions of dollars the Russian central bank has parked in the United States as part of its foreign exchange reserves; by some estimates, those funds may total as much as $100 billion. These assets are already frozen at the Federal Reserve and other banks thanks to Treasury sanctions banning transactions with the Russian central bank.
Mr. Biden already has ample statutory authority to liquidate Russian assets under a section of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, enacted in 1977 to clarify the previously overbroad and tangled mess of presidential emergency economic powers. As the Supreme Court affirmed in a landmark case about the Iran hostage crisis, the act gives the president “broad authority” to act in times of national emergency and the power to “nullify, void, prevent or prohibit” any foreign country from “holding” or “exercising any right, power, or privilege” over property in which it has “any interest.” It also authorizes the president to “direct and compel” the “transfer, withdrawal” or “exportation” of such property.
Since the reserves in question are Russian state property — unlike the assets of oligarchs — they are not shielded by the usual protections our legal system affords private property. The Fifth Amendment’s guarantee against government seizure of property “without due process of law” applies only to “persons” — not foreign governments — as the Supreme Court suggested in 1992 and multiple federal courts have since held. Protections against the “taking” of property without “just compensation” likewise apply only to “private property,” a category that clearly excludes Russia’s sovereign reserves, even if they are conveniently parked within the United States and in dollars.
Congressional Republicans might push back, claiming that any such seizure would constitute a grand expansion of presidential power at Mr. Biden’s behest. But the act’s clear grant of authority should alleviate any genuine concerns. So too should the clear precedent of similar moves by presidents of both parties who have seized the central bank assets of human rights violators like Venezuela, Iran and Iraq.
Mr. Putin’s genocidal regime belongs in that dastardly category — and by treating Russia as such, Mr. Biden can do a lot to smoke out the Trump wing of the Republican Party, which, like its leader, has been reluctant to acknowledge the extent of Mr. Putin’s atrocities and the threat he poses to the United States.
I have tremendous admiration for Professor Tribe. While I like his legal argument for seizing Russian assets in the U. S., taking those of a foreign government may also require Congressional action in addition to presidential action.
This also raises an interesting fiscal policy issue. Traditionally, central banks have maintained substantial dollar reserves in the United States. [During WW II, I believe that Great Britain sent some of its gold reserves to our Federal Reserve.]
What would be the implications, if money from foreign central banks, maintained in the United States, could be appropriated by the United States Government? Perhaps $3-4 trillion of our national debt is held by foreign countries. Might these debt instruments also be liable to USG seizure?
Personally, I’d be delighted to see Russian oligarch wealth and central bank funds seized and, if possible, used to compensate Ukraine for the destruction foisted upon it by Putin. I’m only suggesting that there might be some legal and policy issues to resolve.
Wondered the same, legal does not always equate to wise. Consider the downside… of anything
Keith, I would also worry that the next time we want to go and torch a country, to, say, "look for weapons of mass destruction", our own assets might be seized spoiling the fun and games for us.
That’s not a bug, it’s a feature.
:-) No software engineer could have said it better.
(I was a software engineer for close to 20 years)
Mike I would be shocked rpt shocked if what we did to others was turned against us—-NOT FAIR! I’ll take our napham and drones and go home.
Drats.. then there's logic and caution. "suggesting that there might be some legal and policy issues to resolve."
I’d be concerned about China’s reaction to this. They hold a little over 3.5% of our debt, and right now that works to our mutual advantage. If they perceive US $ investments to be too risky, then what?
KR Actually, Japan has the largest holding of US Treasury debt (perhaps excluding short-term notes?) with China 2nd and UK 3rd. I believe that China has been reducing its holdings, in part because the interest rate was low. Big question—where else to invest?
Yes, I think the euro is perceived by China as riskier still. And China needs the foreign investment to keep the rmb weak to fuel their exports. I doubt Japan would be concerned about US expropriation, but I do think China may be.
Absolutely ! Russian state money should be used to rebuild Ukraine.
Keith, you recall what percent of our national debt is held by China? Recall that they are are greatest foreign source. I think it is currently at 14%.
Fred Off the top of my head, I believe that foreign governments own about 15-20% of our national debt. In 2022 the figure for China was listed at $1 trillion, which seems low, since it was considerably higher a few years ago.
So China would seem to own about 3% of our debt. I don’t perceive this as a bludgeoning weapon. I doubt that they would dump it in a pique, since to would be difficult to find a similar safe haven. The great portion of the national debt we owe to each other. You’ve peaked my interest—I’m going to Google it.
From a useful article cited below. My math shows Japan at 4.3% and China at 3.7%. Think my earlier percent was of debt owed to foreign nations, a total of which looks to be about 25.67% as of today.
"According to the Treasury Department, foreign governments hold about $7.7 trillion in U.S. debt, though no country holds more than 5% of the total. As of the end of November, the most recent data available, Japan was the largest foreign holder of U.S. debt, with $1.3 trillion. China was the second-largest holder of U.S. debt, with $1.1 trillion, while the United Kingdom was in distant third place, with $622 billion."
Would make any policy decision to capture and redirect any foreign funds (national, private) obtained in the sanctions a fairly risky ploy.
https://www.voanews.com/a/us-national-debt-tops-30-trillion-for-first-time-in-history-/6424498.html
Thank you for this.
I think it’s about 3.5%, or was last December.
Fred My top of head guess was close—3.7% for China. The largest holder of our national debt were investors. Then Social Security—-legerdemain, they give ‘surplus’ in return for bonds—this will reverse some years. Hence. The most puzzling was Dept of Defense at about $2 billion. Huh???? Lot of funny money.
Carry over funding? Incompleted projects that remain considered national priorities. Suspect it is not included in next budget request. I could carry funds forward as long as they would be used pursuant to the goals and approved 5-year plan. And up to 12 months after funded period if we were increasing impact of the research projects. Can't image but there is way wider latitude in the DOD work plan/authority. I'd want to have multiple holes in which to cycle like carryover or reserves. With compassionate oversight and flexible carryover authorities, what might the actual debt be that is owned by DOD and backed by the US treasury? If I could have, with multiple interconnected grants, were it possible, I certainly would have considered building a reserve pool to sustain our long-term research program with which to leverage private-public investments. I wasn't that clever. DOD certainly has the cleverer minds to do this. I'd imagine the private sector (contractors dependent upon and able to influence) might be the kind of partners helping DOD to leverage such a debt liability. But, I speculate, only. 😏
A billion here, a billion there. But who is counting at DOD?
Republican lawmakers may also disagree with freezing Russian assets parked in the US, as many of them have accepted those assets as campaign contributions.
Yes, I’ve been wondering when lack of Russian money is going to hamper their politicians here.
Very true! Especially with election’s coming…what will the Repugnant Republicans do???
So that’s why they want to end sanctions. Hadn’t put it together before. Thanks.
In December 2018, the Trump administration with support from then-Majority-Leader McConell(R-KY) lifted sanctions on Russian Oligarch Oleg Deripaska. Soon after, one of Deripaska's companies pledged a $200 million investment in an aluminum plant in Kentucky.
https://themoscowproject.org/dispatch/mitch-mcconnell-russia-sanctions-and-rusals-investment-in-kentucky/index.html (2020)
https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/2020/08/19/senate-report-russian-investor-braidy-mill-kremlin-proxy/5607217002/ (2019)
... and that aluminum rolling plant has yet to be built: https://www.wdrb.com/in-depth/bill-orders-kentucky-to-recover-15-million-in-stalled-aluminum-plant-deal/article_fa4454ae-6fd8-11ec-871f-eb35219b4583.html
McConnell was duped into lifting the sanction, and friends and foes alike in KY called him Moscow Mitch.
One more article on the same topic, from 2016:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/paulroderickgregory/2016/07/18/trump-deferring-to-putin-deleted-gop-platforms-call-to-supply-ukraine-with-lethal-defensive-weapons/?sh=3d79196430ba
Thanks, Joan. I remember reading this a while back...good to repost!
That makes so much sense, IDK why our learned Dems haven’t thot of it. I am really getting tired of this “When They Go Low, we lay down and hike up our leg in defeat” attitude that seems to be the mindset of the good guys. This goes back to not fighting tooth & nail to get Merrick Garland confirmed to the Supreme Court against the bad guys specious obstruction. That should have been broadcast wide & loud, but Obama retreated. Garland belongs on the SCOTUS not heading the Justice Dept, where we need someone to prosecute the obvious crimes that are being committed with impunity. Sorry, I am just so exasperated at watching the good guys continually losing this politics game.
Just need to point out, again, that Democrats control both houses of Congress and the White House. And have won 3 of the last 4 presidential elections. Maybe there’s something to Democratic strategy.
Jon Magolis. "Control" is a very iffy word nowadays when it comes to control of Congress. There may be a majority of Democrats with butts in those seats but I don't see all of them voting Democrat. That's the issue.
Yep.
👍🏼
After LBJ, Democrats just bring wet noodles to a knife fight. Obama surrendered on Garland without a fight—and there were good legal arguments put forward.
That's why Democrats have occupied the White House for 20 of the past 30 years.
Occupancy and achievement are not the same, are they? The ACA was an achievement—but Obama also lost a SCOTUS seat without challenging the Senate Majority Leader; and thousands of Democratic seats in the States, as well as the House and Senate.
The plan is to "end the war" on May 9. It's part of a pattern. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-20/vladimir-putin-invasion-ukraine-politics-holy-war/100921102
My prediction is that if Putin wants to hold a parade on May 9, he’ll be parading a lot of Russian coffins.
Or he'll announce a bigger war on Europe - or actually announce this as a War instead of a "War Exercise".
That 100 billion should be seized as a down payment against the damages Russia has wrought in the Ukraine…no questions asked!
Bob And body bags in which to send dead Russian soldiers back home.
Same thing should happen to the party of sedition's assets for their prosecution costs...
Good idea, TC, but I would like to see some precursor, like a resolution naming Russia as an outlaw state or something.
Morning Jeff. Prof Richardson mentions something along that line in today’s Letter:
..”tonight CNN reports that the U.S. State Department is considering naming Russia a state sponsor of terrorism, a designation that would place Russia with North Korea, Iran, Syria, and Cuba and further choke Russian trade.”
I consider that an appropriate designation. Putin is the worst kind of outlaw.
Christine Could the State Department name the ‘Republican’ party a terrorist group and seize its assets and those of its oligarchs? Just consider the photos of those Congressional Pistol Packing Mommas!1
Ooooo, Keith. I like the idea since I already consider them spoiled brats and terrorists.
My thought was wait they’re just considering it?! Do it! Now!
O M G awd ! Where is the shocked and delighted emoji when I need it ! Grand suggestion TCinLA - Bravo !
Not only is this a no-brainer, but I relish the message this would send to countries violating civil rights....
Ahem, President Biden, thank you very much.
On this tax day I would like everyone to write a letter to your members of Congress telling them to fund the IRS properly. I'm one of the twenty million or so taxpayers whose 2020 tax return has NOT been processed. Two years ago the US Post Office under DT's Postmaster General DeJoy lost my tax return and it took a lot to get that straightened out. DeJoy is still Postmaster General which gives me no joy. Last year I tried to use the IRS's online tax filing. There was a error in the software where one number that was to be entered by the IRS on line 7 of the Self Employment Schedule was omitted meaning no one who was self employed could file online. So I mailed it -- on time. Three days later they cashed my check. Now eleven months later they have not processed the return! This prevented me from refinancing my mortgage to a lower rate, the lowest rate we're going to see in a long long time, last summer since the bank by Texas law needed to see my tax return from the IRS. So it has cost me money! Now eleven months later there are still some twenty million tax returns unprocessed. This is the fault of the Congress for not adequately funding the IRS to do its job! I have always been impressed by the IRS when I needed to call them about something. The IRS is not the problem. But now you can't even get anyone on the phone. It seems this is another way the rich avoid paying taxes by not funding the personnel to review the tax returns of the rich. I believe it is estimated that if the tax returns of the rich were being scrutinized the US Treasury would have another Trillion (with a T) in taxes collected each year! This is the fault of a Congress that isn't doing its job! My motto for that is ReElect NoOne! Throw them all out if they can't do the job or can't work with others. We, the People, all of us this time!
This is no accident. “Starve the beast” is a deliberate strategy to defund agencies and watch them wither and fail. Then either consolidate or privatize. IRS, USPS, schools, prisons, utilities, military, etc. are all up for grabs.
Customs and Border Security infrastructure.
Wow! So sorry to hear your plight!
Is there a petition to sign re: funding the IRS, or any organized action on the internet?
They cashed my check immediately this year. And last year and the year before. They have accused me of not paying previous years' taxes ( I have to produce the cancelled checks.)
This sounds like they are playing games with debits and credits. Chasing after the money owed and not releasing people's refunds. I resist funding more money to support a crappy system.
Only recourse we have at this point is to hold our checks paid to the system until to the last second. I welcome changes to the tax structure. Because ALL Americans, regardless of income bracket, can feel pride in supporting a government that provides a basic safety net to promote health and security for ALL citizens regardless of race or creed.
I agree 100%. I have always taken pride in paying taxes and supporting the common good.
Also. My accountant advised me to pay early given the slower mail and the slower IRS.
Thanks for the history of federal taxation. Much of it was new for me.
Speaking of taxes, Jane Mayer of The New Yorker told Rachel Maddow tonight about a group that is financing the despicable disparagements of Biden nominees.
Donations to the group are tax free. So, in essence
...the federal government is financing its own dysfunction, thanks to the GOP’s stranglehold filibuster in the Senate.
What a different world if Manchin were a democrat
Yes
Maddow had an amazing show last night. Jane Mayer and Anne Applebaum, plus her opening remarks, especially about what she called “eliminationist rhetoric” were outstanding. I highly recommend watching last night’s show, especially the opening part and Jane Mayer interview.
Individual Episodes of Maddow's show can be found here: https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show
Sign-in(up) by various methods required to watch, however.
Thank you! It’s on YouTube as well, https://youtu.be/fLyWjGHsLRw
Thanks KR.
Thanks, KR. I don't have cable!
I don’t blame you! They are available as podcasts as well. I sometimes listen on Spotify with the bonus of being able to skip the ads!
Thank You Ron!
Thanks. Last night was rehearsal night #1 for the week, so I missed it. I'll definitely catch up today.
Thank You for the heads up! I find I can't watch Rachel right before bed - I can't sleep.
Why is the AAF tax free. Definitely needs to be changed. If we continue down this path…well hell, we are farther down this path than any but chump and cult realize. They know…
For more details, here's the article that Rachel discussed w/Jane Mayer. https://www.newyorker.com/news/a-reporter-at-large/the-slime-machine-targeting-dozens-of-biden-nominees
Yes, this really needs to be made more public. Jane Meyer also exposed Ginnie Thomas.
Thank you. Lordy! Tax-exempt, too.
And Trump is behind the financing. The Slime....
Why not a day off on Election Day?? In Australia we vote by mail or in person on a Saturday. Why should voting be so hard??
Voting is made difficult because voters can vote unpredictably and they very well may vote for someone other than the people that set the rules, so if you make it hard for them to vote you don’t have to bother with coming up with programs that might appeal to them. When is the last time that you saw a republican generated program that really addressed the needs of our evolving nation, the only thing the republicans want to generate are tax cuts for the very wealthiest, the ones that need it the least.
Summed it up in two sentences. Well done.
Yeah right!!! I am shocked that federal employees get tax day off. Let’s do the RIGHT thing for once and give Election Day off to everyone.
Yes, yes, yes... BUT
All this Manichean nonsense straight out of John Wayne westerns -- and look! Look how little time is left in which to purge America of its very own Kremlin party... that rampant banditry who understood how to use the all-American name of the party of Abraham Lincoln as respectable cover for a Nazism without shirts brown or black, without swastika armbands... just red baseball caps, the Stars and Stripes -- with a few Confederate battle flags thrown in for good effect...
Your Munich beer hall putschists are still strutting around, still telling what they hold in store for the ordinary Americans they so despise that they don't even bother to hide their plans from them.
Their plans for vengeance. Beginning in November.
And now we're seeing in Ukraine what this vengeance really means, not only for today's Ukrainian victims, but for tomorrow's earmarked victims, in America, worldwide.
"We Russians are innocent, we are innocent by definition, we are defending our innocence, our victimhood at the hands of evil Western degenerates..."
Now, where did they get that spiel from? Haven't we heard this kind of crap before...? In revered American mouths... the mouth of President Reagan, the mouth of President George W. Bush...
"Exceptionalism".
That of the Third Reich, that of America's inspired NeoCons, that of Serb and Croat nationalist thugs, that of Islamist terrorism, that of Hindutva in Modi's India...
Add to that the pseudo-innocence of the Democratic Party's corroded machine politics.
For heaven's sake, we all know how divorcing couples share responsibility for their failed marriage, even where the prime responsibility rests with one partner.
Likewise, we should know the ongoing damage that stems from the punitive Versailles and Trianon Treaties...
The harm that empires impose on others they end up inflicting on themselves. Yet, regardless of whether men behave like angels, like devils escaped from the depths of hell or like us ordinary, well- intentioned mediocrities, we are all members of one mankind. One.
This means that, just as the children and grandchildren of those who conducted Hitler's massed assault on the world have formed a new Germany, we are all called upon to heal our own hearts and, in so doing, to heal the world.
This demands regeneration, in body, in spirit, everywhere. And no nation can be excluded, not one. Least of all those which have been responsible for the greatest abuses of wealth and power.
We have seen how the disasters of peace degenerate into the disasters of war -- can we not wake up and look beyond today's shambles, the waste of smashed buildings, smashed machinery and smashed lives, look beyond the demands of mass surgery, to envision at last the absolute demands of true peace?
For Ukrainians. For Russians. For America...
Perhaps the best place to start (after fully funding the IRS :) ) is by reforming the seeming nut of the problem: we need to own our data. Our personal data, scraped, segmented and packaged for sale to the highest bidder, has allowed maligned actors to target and persuade Americans to see each other as the enemy. The advertising business model of media -especially social media- hijack our brains by proven psychometric methods to influence us to react out of manufactured outrage, anger and fear. For starters, we need to own our data and have control of each time it is used, and for what purpose, and be compensated. You cannot have a democracy if you do not have a citizenry able to control their own minds.
Thank you, Michele. This really adds depth, great depth, to the issues under discussion.
A depth charge...
I have copied your paragraph in order to reflect on its content, and I hope others will do likewise.
"This demands regeneration, in body, in spirit, everywhere. And no nation can be excluded, not one. Least of all those which have been responsible for the greatest abuses of wealth and power."
Peter, I know from my own personal experiences in life that the thing I hate to do the most is forgive. But, under the right circumstances, I can see that path. Then again, sometimes it might make sense to perform a Sherman March across the landscape.
BUT, Peter, having tried both approaches, the Sherman March and forgiveness, I will say, sometimes the Sherman March is what is needed and the best approach.
Sometimes total destruction is all that will stop another person who is used to abuse as a methodology and has no plans to stop. Ever.
So, the key is to recognize when forgiveness is appropriate and when to sponsor a Sherman March. I will be honest and say, for me, it has always been obvious. And, when I have decided to sponsor a Sherman march, in the workplace or wherever, I did not stop until total destruction was achieved.
Sometimes, that is necessary Peter.
Mike, I don't disagree with your sentiment.
When reason has failed and lessons that must be learned are rejected by those who need to learn them, they can only be learned the hard way.
Hence my fears for America today. The danger that America could follow Putin's example. Hence the universal relevance of your argument. And yet, we have seen all too well how even the hardest of hard ways can fail too. Sherman's march may have won the war, but plainly the peace was never won.
There's a Spanish saying:
Vencido, vencido; y el vencedor, perdido.
The vanquished is vanquished, the victor is lost.
I have never advocated forgiveness for crimes and don't propose to now. One way or another, what we've sown we shall reap.
Criminals must be punished for their crimes, but we must at all times uphold a distinction between human beings and their actions.
That is why I am returning again and again and again to the first sentence of Article 1 of Germany's Basic Law;
"Human dignity shall be inviolable."
Remember, remember the countless millions who died to give birth to those few words.
It's a pity that the Sherman March should be entirely favorable to the Kremlin regime, the Donbass will now be destroyed "for its own good" in a sterile confrontation.
It's a pity that a real Sherman March against the Kremlin regime should be made impossible by the existence of nuclear weapons, but in any case, termination of that regime is essentially the business of the Russian people.
It's a pity Putin can't be thrown a lump of meat to chew publicly on May 9th in the well-guarded golden cage he has built for himself. The rest can be left to the workings of nature.
(I have watched a baboon pack eject a weakened leader...)
Following the rule of law is part of our democracy. The German's Basic Law Article 1 seems to have been violated for many of our Americans, in their perception.
Sorry, I'm wondering if I've understood you. American and British jurists had a great influence on the drafting of Germany's Basic Law (i.e. the country's constitution).
But I honestly don't see the principle contained in these words as ever having been valued by America, either in its treatment of its own citizens or in international dealings, including behavior in relation to Germany. Perhaps briefly, after the end of the Civil War...
Am I being too hard? I can't help feeling that, from the outset, the rule of Law in America has all too often been overshadowed by the rule of lawyers. And, in the great move westward, by frontiersmen's improvisations.
Others can no doubt help modify what I've just said.
Cognitive dissonance can be crippling - or a catalyst…
Or freeing? Unbound by any convention or rule or agreement that preceded my need or desire. Machiavalli without conventional constraints. The madness that is conservatism today. CD has found its home.
I am starting to find Putin's statements quite informative and reassuring since he always, always says the direct opposite of the truth. Just reverse what he says...and you know what he actually thinks. His upside down talk seems consistent and compulsive. Thus it is strangely reliable.
Same with everything republicans say, from chump to every Rupert liar
It's just like a Russian categorical denial, every republcan accusation is a confession.
Trump & Co.'s twin.
Reminds me of my Ex. Everything he accused me of was what he was doing and thinking.
If the Republican plan is instituted, I see we will end up in a depression, the healthcare system will collapse, the nursing home system will collapse and there will be soup lines. Persons relying on Medicare and Social Security have been paying in their investments in these programs, whether they wanted to or not, for decades. They are simply receiving their return on investment. Apparently, the people who call themselves republicans don't understand return on investment anymore. The affordable healthcare act provides insurance for those with pre-existing conditions and under President Biden has been adjusted so it is affordable for most everyone. If taxes on the working class are significantly increased, spendable cash, the cash that is allowing our economy to recover from the effects of Covid right now, will be gone to the government and not leaving enough cash available for everyone to be able to afford health insurance. This is while the Republican plan makes certain that the richest 2-5% can still buy their 2nd or 3rd home, yacht build somewhere not in the USA, private plane, put monies in Republican PACS so they still have control of the government, etc.
The majority of people using the healthcare industry are heavily relying on Medicare (~44% of revenue) and Medicaid (~13%) and, realistically, most persons will be unable to pay for insurance, since their source of spendable cash is removed via taxes. Remove ~57% of revenue from any industry and see how it does, especially when that is added to loss of the affordable healthcare act insurance and reduction of spendable monies by the majority of the working people in the US resulting in their not carrying health insurance because they have to eat and taxes will be killing them. I like Ike, can't we please get another real republican like Ike? That would be a good race against a democrat. Right now, the Republican Party platform will kill the USA.
"and there will be soup lines"
Kind of like there ALWAYS is after an 8 year run of Republicans.
1929 (Great Depression)
1990 (Savings and Loan Collapse)
2008 (Home Mortgage Crisis).
Anytime we get 8 years of Republicans we get economic catastrophe as the hangover.
Last sentence is their plan. They have told us
Why are not Democrats laying out Senator Scott's suggested GOP Agenda aimed at undemocratizing America to those whom would be most hurt by it? Granted, many folks in such places (According to HCR today: Mississippi, West Virginia, Arkansas, Louisiana, Alabama, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Georgia, New Mexico, South Carolina, and Florida) usually vote for things that are not in their best interests, but if Scott's agenda is laid out to them clearly, they might unexpectedly elect some Democratic Senators and Representatives in November. The President, explaining his accomplishments, isn't enough. The Democrats must learn to 'message" properly and the first step, right now, would be for them to hire HCR!!
Good question, Jack.
Do you think she would accept an offer to run? Seriously!
And from the ashes, a new world will rise, where the strong and pure will reign over the world and have dominion over all creatures and it will be good .... Gads. The prospect does scare one, doesn't it.
The Daily Beast reports that former U.S. Naval Intelligence Officer & former MSNBC Commentator, Malcolm Nance, has joined an international brigade in Ukraine to defend the Country.
# BOFADEEZ. Recalls the international brigades that fought fascism in the 1930's.
May he remain safe!
Malcom Nance is a walking Intelligence Dept so I suspect he will be OK.
The accomplishments described here of the Lincoln Administration are wonderful and only possible because the Southern States, a blight on this nation since inception, were not in Congress. Dixie has been trying to undo the Civil War since 1865.
Realize that being designated a 'state sponsor of terrorism' has legal implications. It is an exception to the Sovereign Immunity enjoyed by foreign governments. If you want to grab some of Putin'$ Billion$ in US banks and give it to Ukrainians, this is a first step. 28 U.S. Code § 1605A - Terrorism exception to the jurisdictional immunity of a foreign state
And Senator Scott is all but waiving the Stars and Bars right now. If these dummies had gotten away with secession, they would be in Putin's camp today!
Truth!
Sure, I guess Russia might be a state sponsor of terrorism... but I can't help wondering what that means about a country which carpet bombed North Korea killing around 20% of its population, supported regimes in Latin America which wantonly killed and "disappeared" civilians, tortured prisoners, invaded a far-away country on false pretenses, seized the central bank assets of Afghanistan resulting in a hunger crisis, supports the Saudi bombing of civilians in Yemen, etc.
You all know very well Martin is speaking the truth. Shame on you. He could very well add in turning down Ho Che Minh’s plea for help in removing France from French Indo China and subsequently having to turn to the communists for help. Think no Vietnam! We have been both selfish and short sighted in matters of foreign policy. Late entry into WWI and WWII. Hopefully not WWIII.
Pat, Yes. Martin outlined some truth, but, seriously, the US has always done a fairly good job cloaking its invasions with some kind of false flag reason. Just like Russia.
So, much, maybe most of America does not see those invasions for what they were.
Here are the false flags used to justify past American invasions:
In Iraq it was Nuclear Weapons. (there were none and the CIA knew that fact from the get go.) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0977855/reviews
In Afghanistan it was some guy named Osama Bin Laden that nobody even ever heard of (who was actually in Pakistan).
In Vietnam it was "Communism". (But actually Ho Chi was just trying to throw off French brutal colonialism and suppression.
In Korea, I think it was also "Communism". My Dad was there but never had any idea why.
The US has taken the same approach as Russia to sell its wars to its people. Instead of Christianity though, the US has used scare tactics with its population.
Lots of people believe the false flags so when someone posts something critical of America there is a lot of noise around that.
Don't forget how Americans invaded indigenous' land here.
When you get it wrong Mike, you own it. A lie is a lie. Own it. Recognition is the only way forward out of the “swamp”. Your good name and your handshake certify your place and declare your intentions. Just because you choose to turn away from the bad things doesn’t make them less potent. You have to actually take the bath to get clean. That said you now have to be that American and not the “ugly” one. I am pretty sure none of us have wings, not left ones or right ones and especially not angelic ones. What we have are disagreements that are entirely resolvable without gutting each other. Like my son said, “Jeez, okay dad I’m sorry I put the tractor in the pond. Can we get it out now?” No son it’s too late. I’ll just go ahead and shoot you and leave it there.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ethr2rCglTw&list=TLPQMTkwNDIwMjI3y3QsWjyAAQ&index=2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VgNdbFvz6A
Why don't you go volunteer to fight in Putin's "anti-imperialist" army?
TC, can you not think beyond war, war and more war... to the supposed purpose of war?
And Martin, beyond war guilt?
At times like these we have to roll up our sleeves, jump into the ditch and do the filthy work of freeing humanity's blocked sewage pipes. Regardless of whose filth blocked them.
No choice but to restore a world in which human beings can live together in peace.
That means colossal -- Herculean -- labors. Everywhere.
And "everywhere" means an end to the lying nonsense that's forever pointing... somewhere else.
There is no "somewhere else".
Peter, no comment has resonated with me as much as yours today:
“At times like these we have to roll up our sleeves, jump into the ditch and do the filthy work of freeing humanity's blocked sewage pipes. Regardless of whose filth blocked them.”
It reminds me of a scene in the movie “Gandhi” that sums up life for me. Gandhi is confronting his wife in the communal Ashram where they live. She has refused to clean the toilets, a duty which that day fell to her to do. She argues that cleaning toilets is the job of the Untouchables, not someone of her status. Gandhi showed her her choice. She could leave, or she could stay a part of the community, and clean the toilets when it is her turn. Toilets, in my opinion, can be actual toilets, but they can also be any activity producing waste, from our trash bins to factory smokestacks. We have to properly clean it.
The answer to any power dynamic of “Who cleans the toilets?” reveals the depth of equality -or inequality- in any relationship. To my thinking, I believe that we ALL need to clean the toilets. If we do it early, often and well, the sewers don’t get blocked. That’s a MUCH bigger - and dirtier- job.
Response:
Rather more than "Like". It's as though you'd hit me over the head... but not with a cudgel, with light.
There's resonance for you. And for this lesson thanks, too, would be quite inadequate. I'm left speechless.
Michele, you and Peter, I am grateful to you both.
❤️
Well said.
I have no use for left wing morons.
Unfortunately, you do have a use for those you see as morons. A misuse. An abuse.
This isn't the first time I've quoted here what Karl Popper had to say about the matter:
"TO ATTACK A MAN FOR TALKING NONSENSE IS LIKE FINDING YOUR MORTAL ENEMY DROWNING IN A SWAMP AND JUMPING IN AFTER HIM WITH A KNIFE."
TC. Assuming Putin is on his inevitable way down into humiliation, and that as yet unknown insiders will eventually eliminate him, either literally or in substance, wouldn't it be a good idea to locate such insiders and encourage them with a promise to include the future Russia in the world economy as more than mere supplier of raw materials and help lift average Russians out of their drab quasi-poverty? While there is no excuse for Putin's behavior, perhaps we could have done a better job in the immediate post-Soviet period. Maybe the promise of a carrot will allow us to spare the stick. Oh, and avoid nuclear war. I'm trying hard not to be a moronic lefty.
Fine TC. Go ahead and vote for Trump again.
I think he's having a "Bad Hair" day.....
What?
Thank you for your reply. The reason for my comment was to suggest that naming Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism is a bad idea unless we acknowledge our own misdeeds. I'd like America to have the moral high ground, and not just exemplify might makes right. That's the Putin approach. It might also help persuade people in countries who are on the sidelines in this conflict that we aren't just global hypocrites, and they should join us in pressuring Russia.
I do agree with you about what we need to do, in our own lives and to the extent we can for the larger world. We can all be better. I'm sorry if anything I said can be taken to imply otherwise.
I didn't doubt your motives and even if I had, I'd have preferred not to impugn them.
I who am very emotional sympathize with President Biden but wish he were more guarded with his emotional reactions, so that his staff don't have to backtrack on what he has just said -- and while the most important thing of all is that he and his word are one and indivisible, emotion can be shown without unguarded language. The reality is far beyond anything that can be expressed in words.
But then the world was exposed over a four-year period to a constant daily -- hourly -- barrage of lies, insults and cheap verbiage from the man in the land's highest office. It will take time to recover from that daily assault, if we ever do. Putin likes to use the worst barrackroom language but until recently at least all that he said was spoken coldly and deliberately for maximum effect.
I too spoke of excrement, but in terms of the dirty work we have to do, like it or not.
So find us a historical example of a country that waited till it was perfect before it did anything. And thanks for reminding me that Jerry Rubin was wrong - the proper rule is don't trust anybody UNDER 30.
Sizzlin’ on the griddle, TC.
TC,, Martin has three ‘likes.’ Four trolls and counting.... I accidentally deleted my first reply.
Now he has four likes. America has been a state sponsor of terrorism for many decades. What Russia is doing to Ukraine does not erase that fact
Hoy you lot! - America has been a very disruptive influence in the world - but at least (to my awareness) it hasn't done it with the banner of Jesus or the Koran. Do PLEASE read Shock Doctrine (Naomi Klein), or Confessions of an Economic Hitman" (and I'm sure there are others). Ignorance is bliss - well no it ain't. The current tragedy seems that it is being driven by religious fundamentalism (mostly reactionary, but never the less potent).
Thank our lucky stars that Joe B is trying to counter some of this - but it is hard to escape one's conditioning. Give the guy space.
From an earlier post.
"Kinda late in commenting - but I suspect that what we are seeing, is an existential panic by the "true believers" - both Moslems and Christians. Their whole raison d'etre is threatened (by science) - and the "bright golden sea" ain't gunna happen. (listen to "Rank Strangers"). It's horrifying how, for so many, belief can cancel reality."
Also PLEASE don't go into attack mode! - views that don't necessarily correspond to yours, are not necessarily of those of trolls.
Hugh,
I hypothesize that Putin and Russia are in Ukraine for two reasons:
1) Lithium
2) Natural Gas.
The fact that some of the Russian leadership are talking about morals, etc., is a sales pitch to cover what they really want. None of the Oligarchs care about morals or Christianity.
They care about money.
Ukraine is one of three countries with the world's largest Lithium deposits. Ukraine has huge natural gas deposits.
Those natural resources are what Russia is after. Some huge Australian mining outfits were working on signing some agreements with Ukraine before the invasion.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/02/climate/ukraine-lithium.html
https://www.worldometers.info/gas/ukraine-natural-gas/#:~:text=Ukraine%20holds%2039%20trillion%20cubic,35.7%20times%20its%20annual%20consumption.
America has certainly invaded a country in the past just for its natural resources.
Iraq.
I knew about our natural gas but not about lithium. But you give Putin too much credit for rational thought. He hates Ukrainians and Poles every bit as much as Stalin did. Natural resources are a side benefit
Mike S.-those certainly could be reasons to want Ukraine, especially the lithium-for electric car batteries.
Amen. Hypocrisy is standard fare in foreign policy. I so appreciate what America is doing on behalf of Ukraine. What I object to is the smug self righteousness of we are pure they are evil. It is good to spin it that way just don't believe your own press releases.
Allen, careful, these kinds of statements might be called "mature", or "accurate", or worse "fair and balanced".
:-)
Allen!! Hope you and Tanya are doing well.
We are well thank you
'embarrassment' - spelling is not one of my strengths - nevertheless - you and I occasionally get beyond the front porch. Cheers!
Embarrassment is the weaker sister of the more sinister imbarrassment.
You're way ahead of me today!
You and Hugh. Short poem.
Please write it down. I'd like to read your poetry.
Hugh wants punctuation for clarity you want spelling. I put in the rhyme ahead of time. YOU and HUGH.
Go join the Democratic Socialists of America and suck Putin's cock, you dumbass
TC, I really like your writing. You bring a lot to our discussions. But this is beneath you, and beneath us. Many of us are here because the discourse here is civil, unlike in other corners of the internet. Let’s keep it that way. You should delete this comment.
Get a grip TC.
You are beginning to sound how I feel 💥
TC, Say that directly to Bernie, who - more explicitly than anyone else --will tell you to go fly a kite.
Somehow this didn't end up aimed directly at its target.
It hit the fan -- as it was bound to -- and I can't help wondering who the supposedly "smart" excremental missile was aimed at. Might be me too...
Can't you set up a punching ball or other intelligent means of expressing your rage less harmfully instead of befouling the site and shooting yourself in the foot into the bargain?
You have real messages to share, heartfelt, well thought out. Give us those. Not this January 6th stuff.
Well, the target knows and hopefully the other troll on this site earning his or her $ luring commenters into argument sees it too. Your comments are not “January 6th stuff” as it’s been called, TC. January 6th stuff”??? Seriously? I second your comment to both trolls on the site today. It literally makes me sick to see people responding to contrived trash talk defined to lure commenters into argument. And every time they are called out or put in their place, commenters jump onto the “we are civilized, do not talk such talk.”
Whatever. The enemy is the enemy. Cannot be sugarcoated.
TC does not only attack trolls. Today he pointed at a subscriber who mentioned the U.S.' wars against Vietnam, Iraq, etc.. You want to defend those aggressions?
I have no patience with the fucking morons of the far left, whose fucking moron stupidity I discovered up close and personal 50 years ago. For those who think the United States can't do anything perfect, find a historical precedent that proves your nonexistent point. The American far left has had its head up its ass for 150 years and has accomplished nothing. If any of you idiots think you disturb me with your bullshit, you are far mistaken and can go take a long walk off a short pier - hopefully into stormy water.
I personally think one of the biggest problems the US has is that we have never come to terms with our own history, especially regarding slavery. But also regarding our unjust actions for example in Viet Nam and Latin America. We need to do what Germany has done post WWII regarding its own past, but we are so incapable of admitting that we ever did anything wrong that we can’t. Until we can, we will not be able to reconcile among ourselves, and unfortunately, post Trump, we are even less able to do this than we were before.
But. That doesn’t really help us figure out what to do during today’s crisis. The nation was able rally during WWII in part because Hitler was so clearly a villain; the right thing to do was clear, especially after we ourselves were attacked by Japan. I think this is also true regarding Ukraine.
We Americans like to be the good guys. It matters to us. And it’s very easy for all of us to see who the good guys are in this conflict.
I believe that your assessment addresses the fundamental problem with the US ever moving forward: We do not acknowledge that this nation was founded and prospered greatly by the genocide of the Indigenous Peoples that were on this continent when Europeans arrived here, and the enslavement of Black Africans and their decedents.
The land grant colleges Heather mentions are referred to as land grab colleges by Indigenous people. Most are built on land stolen from them, including land currently used as investments by these colleges. Learned about this in a First Nations Development Institute communication. https://www.firstnations.org/stories/dotting-the-i-at-the-ohio-state-university/
If acknowledged, you might be arrested for pushing CRT and making white people feel badly about themselves. Just ask gov desantis.
Did you receive an April 19 letter from Heather? Just checking; I did not.
My thoughts exactly, Ally. I read from the most recent so am happy to find your comment here.
Tick….tick….tick…tick…
Heather has been here with the newsletters to help with understanding our history. Her politics and history chats steer us back and forth between the present and the past.
Martin, It's all well and good to remind us that no nation is without blame just as no individual is without failings, try as we might. It's a fact of life. It's also a fact that the truth of an individual and a nation is a more complicated mix of actions than one story can tell. Sometimes (you know this!) a policy harms the least able to handle it; other times, the poor are helped. We wrangle over how to act for the common good but we fail time and again. We can't get laws passed to stop climate chaos because we tell ourselves different stories about what matters. Or we succumb to the power of the ignorant or greedy. The Marshall Plan is usually held up as an example of good. Was it only that? Or was it also a benign form of colonialism? Many such questions could be asked.
All true, which grieves me, but really, do you not see a difference? I still can, we have not yet gone full-evil. But chump is waiting in the wings.
Jeri,
The reason we do not believe we have gone full evil is because we are not Vietnamese or Afghan or Iraqi citizens who lived through years of bombardment, drone strikes and street fighting.
Those people, should you query them, will provide you a different perspective. Even the ones who floated on the Ocean for months to get here after we pulled out of Vietnam.
Thank you Heather.
I find the fact sheet from the White House regarding the Tax Act should be required reading for every citizen of this Country. I'm sure those enamored with the 11 Point self destruction program that the GOP are pushing, will not see the irony that their plan is the stark opposite what the Biden Administration is offering. It's the epitome of good verses evil.
But then, that has been the GOP plan all along.
Be safe. Be well.
Thank you - I hope that President Biden can get his taxation message out as well as other Democrats so the American voter understands this.
Why isn't President Biden's tax message the top headline in the Washington Post, New York Times and every other newspaper -oh wait. They are all owned by rich people who benefit from our current tax policies. But why isn't this the leads story on NPR and the News Hour on PBS? It couldn't have anything to do with all those wealthy people whose funding they are always so thankful for, could it.
Where is our Howard Beale from the movie "Network" from 1976?
https://youtu.be/ZwMVMbmQBug
Exactly. Where is our Howard Beale?
Excellent, BarryP! That's what it takes!
TWO ELEPHANTS AND THE ‘LITTLE GUYS’
I am perplexed, after reading Anne Applebaum’s UNLESS DEMOCRACIES DEFEND THEMSELVES, THE FORCES OF AUTOCRACY WILL DESTROY THEM, that the governments of about 75% of the world’s population do not support the forceful riposte (including sanctions) to Putin’s brutal invasion of Ukraine.
Is this the result of hypocrisy, ‘realpolitik,’ or something else? China, the most populated country, has a strong geopolitical link with Russia. India, with over a billion people, has a volatile border with China and a tradition of endeavoring to be ‘nonaligned.’
The West, including much of Eastern Europe, is committed to assisting Zelensky’s Ukraine and punishing the aggressor—Putin. Some Asian countries concur. However, few countries in the Middle East and Africa are supportive. In some of these countries, economic and/or military links may provide a partial explanation. Also, remembrance of Western colonialism and of Cold War machinations may affect some thinking.
A European diplomat observed: “Two elephants are fighting, and the little guys get hurt.”
Sanctions as well as food and energy shortages will have a massive short-term global impact with which the ‘little guys’ will have great difficulty coping. Germany and some other countries seem far more willing to endure such sacrifices to support sovereign independence against Putin’s ‘Greater Russia’ megalomania.
Perhaps there is considerable validity to Huntington’s CLASH OF CIVILIZATIONS. What is occurring is a reiteration of Western principles (forget about centuries of Western colonialism and recent American imperialism) with a preponderance of the non-Western world choosing to sit on the fence watching the elephants battle.
Moreover, a number of these non-Western countries have authoritarian governments. At the same time, they are closely linked to a Western economy and expect financial aid from former colonizers.
We may be entering a new era in global relationships, perhaps reminiscent of the Non-Aligned Movement of the Cold War. Then the attitude of much of the West often was ‘if you are not with us, you are against us.’
I hope that not such a harsh delineation becomes the practice in 2022.
"(forget about centuries of Western colonialism and recent American imperialism)"
Keith, I think this sentence is one key to a partial answer to " that the governments of about 75% of the world’s population do not support the forceful rioste (including sanctions) to Putin’s brutal invasion of Ukraine."
I think some countries definitely have not forgotten about Western Colonialism, sponsorship of slavery, American imperialism, and the general looting that Western Civilization promulgated with great glee for hundreds of years on some other countries.
Mike Didn’t we have a war (1812) with our former colonizer? It seemed unnecessary, but it helped move sludge out of our former colonial system. A shame that the Brits burned the White House.
Keith, I agree, except the part about Germany. To me right now, they look like appeasers, unwilling to take a 2% hit to their GDP so they can continue to import Russian energy.
KR Germany and Europe, two decades ago, made a Faustian bet on cheap energy from Russian. Now the devil has come to collect on this bet. About half of Germany’s gas is piped into Russia. There are no short-term alternatives for much of this gas. [Imagine the reaction, if the US were between such a rock-and-hard-place.
Chancellor Olaf has done a volte face and upped the defense budget significantly. Also, Germany depends on scarce metallurgical minerals from Russia.
Germany made a poor decision, a few years ago, to precipitously shut down its nuclear power plants. Isn’t hind sight distressing?
No comments on here about Malcolm Nance joining an international brigade to aid the Ukrainian military! Americans did this in 1938 in Spain's Civil War (that effort failed) and in Poland's 1920 war to stop Bolshevik westward expansion in Europe (that succeeded and has parallels in Ukraine). He has put his life on the line where his mouth is, an act not too many Americans are willing to do today. He deserves praise.
It's nice to see folks go Hemmingway but don't expect that from the copious commenters...
What are your expectations of 'copious' commenters and what is that based on? Don't your and Jack comment on a daily basis or close to that? Are you 'copious'?
Why of course I expect coprolitic conversation from the copious commenters and their clan! As always, I'm an alliterate :(
coprolitic, neologism; alliterate. As you like it. I shall ask not any questions again as the effort at inquiry with you may not be fruitful for me. Salud.
We need fighters and we need writers, William. We desperately NEED our writers (the “copious commenters”) too. Oh, and Hemingway was both.
Oh. Did someone mention Hemmingway? I wonder why - lol!
You're not a thorough scout -- look some more..