Thanks to all of the progressive activists who follow Heather Cox Richardson's wonderful blog, "Letter from An American," and who are inspired by her to maintain and/or increase their activism and their critical thinking skills -- both historical and contemporary. Due, in part to you I think there is a substantial chance that, on Nov. 3…
Thanks to all of the progressive activists who follow Heather Cox Richardson's wonderful blog, "Letter from An American," and who are inspired by her to maintain and/or increase their activism and their critical thinking skills -- both historical and contemporary. Due, in part to you I think there is a substantial chance that, on Nov. 3, or soon thereafter, we will be able to welcome Joe Biden & Kamala Harris into the White House.
It is critical that we remember, however, that this offering of welcome to a new administration is only the first of many audacious steps we have to take, and very rapidly, to restore the health of our country, and our planet! We have huge responsibilities as "citizen lobbyists!" We need to press the new administration to build strong alliances with AOC's Green New Deal, with Black Lives Matter, with the signatories to the Paris Climate Accords of 2015, with the efforts of Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren to close "the swinging door" between Wall Street C-Suite entrepreneurs and the Presidency and Congress, with those who are willing to work to overturn disastrous recent Supreme Court decisions, such as Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2011), and willing to protect recent progressive Supreme Court decisions such as Roe v. Wade (1973) (legalization of a pregnant woman's right to choose abortion), and Obergefell v. Hodges (2015) (which ruled in favor of the fundamental right to marry to same-sex couples). In addition, we need to encourage the new administration to pursue foreign policy that prioritizes the healthy survival of Spaceship Earth -- the only spaceship upon which any of us are likely ever to travel!
My biggest regret was that I didn't volunteer in 2016. I sent money, but I didn't go door to door or work phones. This year, thanks to inspiration from HCR and others in this group, I have been a text banking fiend. I have several shifts on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. Today, I am looking into helping in a phone bank helping democratic voters with ballot issues. Now let's win this.
I have been doing text banking like a fiend too, and I find it very gratifying. Of course there are some ugly responses (turns out women have way worse potty mouths than men!!) but there have also been occurrences where i have been able actually to be informative and helpful, according to the voters I’m engaging.
Marcy Meldahl, I hate the ugly responses. "Trump2020" is the worst response. My favorite text banking moment was when I persuaded someone not to vote "Third Party".
Thanks for volunteering. My participation is donating $5 to each campaign that asked ~every~ day this week. I made a few small donations to BHO re-election campaign, but I was never a regular donor. Thanks to HCR - I started donating during the primaries. My ActBlue summary has 70+ transactions during 2020.
Mark, Great summary of Joe and Kamala's agenda for the first 100 days....OK maybe it will take a bit longer. It's exciting to consider a forward moving government focused on a visionary future of well-being for all.
That’s all great, but not everyone is focused solely on social and environmental reform. I offer another top priority—tax relief/options for seniors. I have an idea that I think had I been able to convey it to the Democratic Party, would have swayed the vast majority of seniors towards Biden.
I gather many on this discussion site receive pensions and are perhaps unaware of the problems facing non-pensioner retirees. Seniors not receiving pensions other than Social Security depend upon their own savings to fund their retirement; much of that money comes from accounts such as IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b), or 457 plans. As Required Minimum Distributions are withdrawn according to a schedule determined by the government, withdrawals are taxable and not only cause tax bills to increase but counts towards IRMMA which can cause Medicare Part B and D premiums to soar while depleting the account holder’s net worth.
Prior to the last 10-15 years, retirement account holders were able to invest in relatively low-risk investments that reliably replenished accounts. Those days are long-gone. In the quest to support “the markets”, meaning the stock market, interest rates have been pushed down. Investors now get essentially zero return on the income portion of their portfolios and sensible investing dictates that the older you get, the smaller percentage of your assets should be invested in the stock market. As they age, seniors are required by current law to take a larger and larger percentage of the remaining value of their retirements in the form of annual Required Minimum Distributions.
I am not proposing tax-free withdrawals, but I am proposing that account holders be allowed to decide for themselves how much money to withdraw each year. In exchange, account holders could choose to forsake the current ability to pass the remaining retirement account balances to their heirs via an inherited IRA which allows the heir(s) to maintain the tax-deferred nature of the accounts. Let those retirees who wish, opt to pass the remaining balance of their accounts to their heirs subject to the then highest marginal tax rate.
Does anyone here have a GOOD suggestion on how to get the attention of those in charge to pursue this or a similar proposal. I’ve already written my Congresssman and both Senators. I received robo-response emails. Anyone who has written their Senator or Congressman knows that the response received is based 100% on the subject line, not the content of the email as no one really reads constituent email. I once wrote an email about taxes using a subject line about criminal reform. The responses referred to my ideas about criminal reform. Lacking millions of dollars to get through, how should I proceed?
The RMDs were a compromise to ensure that there would be taxable income each year. It's a cash flow thing for the government. A senior can still pay the income tax and give the money to their future heirs. The unified credit is generous to those with estates of less than $11 million.
Thanks to all of the progressive activists who follow Heather Cox Richardson's wonderful blog, "Letter from An American," and who are inspired by her to maintain and/or increase their activism and their critical thinking skills -- both historical and contemporary. Due, in part to you I think there is a substantial chance that, on Nov. 3, or soon thereafter, we will be able to welcome Joe Biden & Kamala Harris into the White House.
It is critical that we remember, however, that this offering of welcome to a new administration is only the first of many audacious steps we have to take, and very rapidly, to restore the health of our country, and our planet! We have huge responsibilities as "citizen lobbyists!" We need to press the new administration to build strong alliances with AOC's Green New Deal, with Black Lives Matter, with the signatories to the Paris Climate Accords of 2015, with the efforts of Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren to close "the swinging door" between Wall Street C-Suite entrepreneurs and the Presidency and Congress, with those who are willing to work to overturn disastrous recent Supreme Court decisions, such as Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2011), and willing to protect recent progressive Supreme Court decisions such as Roe v. Wade (1973) (legalization of a pregnant woman's right to choose abortion), and Obergefell v. Hodges (2015) (which ruled in favor of the fundamental right to marry to same-sex couples). In addition, we need to encourage the new administration to pursue foreign policy that prioritizes the healthy survival of Spaceship Earth -- the only spaceship upon which any of us are likely ever to travel!
My biggest regret was that I didn't volunteer in 2016. I sent money, but I didn't go door to door or work phones. This year, thanks to inspiration from HCR and others in this group, I have been a text banking fiend. I have several shifts on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. Today, I am looking into helping in a phone bank helping democratic voters with ballot issues. Now let's win this.
I have been doing text banking like a fiend too, and I find it very gratifying. Of course there are some ugly responses (turns out women have way worse potty mouths than men!!) but there have also been occurrences where i have been able actually to be informative and helpful, according to the voters I’m engaging.
Marcy Meldahl, I hate the ugly responses. "Trump2020" is the worst response. My favorite text banking moment was when I persuaded someone not to vote "Third Party".
Thanks for volunteering. My participation is donating $5 to each campaign that asked ~every~ day this week. I made a few small donations to BHO re-election campaign, but I was never a regular donor. Thanks to HCR - I started donating during the primaries. My ActBlue summary has 70+ transactions during 2020.
Mark, Great summary of Joe and Kamala's agenda for the first 100 days....OK maybe it will take a bit longer. It's exciting to consider a forward moving government focused on a visionary future of well-being for all.
Much appreciated!
Should we achieve the blue wave, Biden, the Senate and the House better get busy!! There’s a lot to be done.
That’s all great, but not everyone is focused solely on social and environmental reform. I offer another top priority—tax relief/options for seniors. I have an idea that I think had I been able to convey it to the Democratic Party, would have swayed the vast majority of seniors towards Biden.
I gather many on this discussion site receive pensions and are perhaps unaware of the problems facing non-pensioner retirees. Seniors not receiving pensions other than Social Security depend upon their own savings to fund their retirement; much of that money comes from accounts such as IRA’s, 401(k)’s, 403(b), or 457 plans. As Required Minimum Distributions are withdrawn according to a schedule determined by the government, withdrawals are taxable and not only cause tax bills to increase but counts towards IRMMA which can cause Medicare Part B and D premiums to soar while depleting the account holder’s net worth.
Prior to the last 10-15 years, retirement account holders were able to invest in relatively low-risk investments that reliably replenished accounts. Those days are long-gone. In the quest to support “the markets”, meaning the stock market, interest rates have been pushed down. Investors now get essentially zero return on the income portion of their portfolios and sensible investing dictates that the older you get, the smaller percentage of your assets should be invested in the stock market. As they age, seniors are required by current law to take a larger and larger percentage of the remaining value of their retirements in the form of annual Required Minimum Distributions.
I am not proposing tax-free withdrawals, but I am proposing that account holders be allowed to decide for themselves how much money to withdraw each year. In exchange, account holders could choose to forsake the current ability to pass the remaining retirement account balances to their heirs via an inherited IRA which allows the heir(s) to maintain the tax-deferred nature of the accounts. Let those retirees who wish, opt to pass the remaining balance of their accounts to their heirs subject to the then highest marginal tax rate.
Does anyone here have a GOOD suggestion on how to get the attention of those in charge to pursue this or a similar proposal. I’ve already written my Congresssman and both Senators. I received robo-response emails. Anyone who has written their Senator or Congressman knows that the response received is based 100% on the subject line, not the content of the email as no one really reads constituent email. I once wrote an email about taxes using a subject line about criminal reform. The responses referred to my ideas about criminal reform. Lacking millions of dollars to get through, how should I proceed?
The RMDs were a compromise to ensure that there would be taxable income each year. It's a cash flow thing for the government. A senior can still pay the income tax and give the money to their future heirs. The unified credit is generous to those with estates of less than $11 million.