Tag: tax the rich

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KEEPING SILENT WILL NOT PROTECT YOU
CALL YOUR CONGRESS PEOPLE EVERY DAY
ENTER YOUR ZIP CODE
https://www.congress.gov/members/find-your-member

America has no king, and any man who proclaims himself one should be removed. The Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution, and Federalist Papers are clear.

Republican Mitch McConnell, the longest-serving Senate party leader in history, won’t seek reelection next year.

VIDEO Trump’s ‘LONG LIVE THE KING’ Post Sparks Fears of Dictatorship we review Trump’s shocking “LONG LIVE THE KING!” post—an alarming embrace of monarchical power as he dismantles federal agencies and erodes democratic norms.

Hegseth’s proposed “cuts,” were quickly reframed as “offsets” that are going to be used to fund other military-related efforts favored by Trump, including an “Iron Dome for America.”

Serious question: where are the Democrats in opposition?
We need daily misinformation press briefings/fact checks. Daily focused media appearances by the best DEM Senators and House Members. Governors. Focused. Raw. Consistent. Opposition.

Howard Lutnick, Trump’s billionaire buddy turned commerce secretary, has confirmed that the administration was simply lying to MAGA supporters about not touching Social Security and Medicare.

LMAO, it looks like DOGE canceled the Security and Exchange Commission’s Westlaw access, because Elon’s team saw “Thomson Reuters” and thought it had to do with the news agency.

SCIENCE UPDATE

COVID-19 can cause brain cells to fuse.
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1892184756034347424.html
paper https://www.openread.academy/paper/reading?corpusId=259109341

Guess what we also learned in 2023?
“Researchers at the University of Miami reported what they believe are the first two confirmed cases in which the SARS-CoV-2 virus crossed a mother’s placenta and caused brain damage in the infants they were carrying.” https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/covid-caused-brain-damage-2-infants-infected-during-pregnancy-us-study-2023-04-06/

Genome modeling and design across all domains of life with Evo 2
AI can now model and design the genetic code for all domains of life with Evo 2
Arc Institute develops the largest AI model for biology to date in collaboration with NVIDIA, bringing together Stanford University, UC Berkeley, and UC San Francisco researchers
https://github.com/ArcInstitute/evo2/tree/main/evo2

HOLY SHIT IT’S HAPPENING
AI can now model and design the genetic code for all domains of life with Evo 2
Arc Institute develops the largest AI model for biology to date in collaboration with NVIDIA, bringing together Stanford University, UC Berkeley, and UC San Francisco researchers

AI cracks superbug problem in two days that took scientists years

Prof Penadés’ said the tool had in fact done more than successfully replicating his research. “It’s not just that the top hypothesis they provide was the right one,” he said. “It’s that they provide another four, and all of them made sense. “And for one of them, we never thought about it, and we’re now working on that.”

Scented products cause indoor air pollution on par with car exhaust

More than 300 researchers and educators rallied outside the John F. Kennedy Federal Building in downtown Boston on Wednesday to protest President Donald Trump’s attempted cuts to federal funding for research.
“What do we want? Robust indirect cost rates. When do we want them? Now!”

TAX THE RICH

TAX THE RICH This isn’t rocket science.
 Elon is worth 2x what he was worth a year ago. Bezos added $41B more & Zuckerberg added $75B more than a year ago. They want to justify tax cuts for themselves at the expense of average Americans. This isn’t rocket science.

Senator Chris Murphy: “Will you commit to denying access to Elon Musk or any of his representatives to information about labor violation investigations at the Department of Labor?”
Trump Labor Secretary Nominee Lori Chavez-DeRemer does not commit.

Anonymous @YourAnonNews
This is how you know there really isn’t a deep state – because if there was they would have taken out not just Trump but every single person associated with him.
We would have thought there would be some kind of fallback measures if the US was co-opted by the enemy – there isn’t.

US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has launched a new cyber unit to combat cryptocurrency fraud.
Indeed, the agency announced the arrival of its Cyber and Emerging Technologies Unit (CETU) in a press release issued Thursday. Led by Laura D’Allaird, it will replace the Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit, the press release said. Moreover, it will consist of “30 fraud specialists and attorneys across multiple SEC offices.” It will complement the work of the agency’s Crypto Task Force, acting chair, Mark Uyeda, announced.

Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Yale School of Management:
“Trump’s economic package frightens CEOs. It’s extremely inflationary.
It’ll lead to an increase in inflation and plunge the GDP. They don’t want the fabric of society pulled apart.” (June 2024)

This motherfucker MUSK needs to be indicted and questioned under oath.
The Trump administration has just told a federal judge in a court filing that it will not comply with the court’s order to resume funding for USAID and State Department foreign assistance.

DOGE recommended firing workers at: -FDA, which oversees Neuralink -FAA, which oversees SpaceX -USAID, which probed Starlink -CFPB, which oversees Tesla’s financing arm and a potential payment platform on X. “Conflict of interest” is a severe understatement.

FORT KNOX KNOCK KNOCK

TRUMP AND ELON ARE GOING TO FORT KNOX TO COUNT THE GOLD
He’s gonna steal it.
Please be on a lookout for Elon’s secret service armored Tesla vans.

Fast!
Bring the lead bars!
And the gold paint!
The Orange One is incoming!
Auditing all the gold in Fort Knox would be a massive undertaking. The U.S. Bullion Depository at Fort Knox holds about 147.3million ounces (4,580 metric tons) of gold.
The last full audit of Fort Knox’s gold was in 1953, and even that was only a partial audit, taking about three months with over 250 auditors involved.
A full, modern audit would involve:
• Verifying each gold bar (which are mostly 400-ounce bars, meaning there are about 368,000 bars total).
• Weighing and testing purity of samples.
• Documenting and reconciling records.
If a team of 50 auditors inspected 1,000 bars per day, it would take about one year to complete a full audit. A larger team or faster technology (like automated scanning and A1-assisted verification) could speed up the process significantly. However, security and logistics would still make it a long and complex task.

The CyberTruck is 17 times more likely to have a fire fatality than a Ford Pinto!!!! @NHTSArecalls @NHTSAgov
https://fuelarc.com/evs/its-official-the-cybertruck-is-more-explosive-than-the-ford-pinto/
Fun fact: a cybertruck battery weighs around 1600 lbs and has 123 kWh available which means that if the battery pack is ruptured by a collision or an IED it can unleash 4.428e8 joules of energy which is enough to incinerate tf out of all passengers and anyone standing nearby.

SECURITY

An audit by the New York state comptroller’s office found that the Office of Information Technology Services lost track of 17,887 devices, including desktops and laptops meant for state agencies scoopmedia.co/419kgDP

Chinese hackers use custom malware to spy on US telecom networks

Rep. Marcy Kaptur @RepMarcyKaptur
Where does the accumulated debt of this country come from? It comes from Republican Presidents going back to Ronald Reagan. 3/4 of the accumulated debt of this country is due to Republican Presidents who didn’t pay for their spending—so much for Republican’s being the party of fiscal responsibility.

NEXT TIME A REPUBLICAN TELLS YOU THAT “SOCIAL SECURITY IS BROKE,” REMIND THEM THAT PRES. BUSH “BORROWED” $1.37 TRILLION OF SOCIAL SECURITY SURPLUS REVENUE TO PAY FOR HIS TAX CUTS FOR THE RICH AND HIS WAR IN IRAQ…
AND NEVER PAID IT BACK.
AMERICANS AGAINST THE REPUBLICAN PARTY

Every privacy policy translated:
‘We’re going to collect everything and share it with everyone, but legally”

▓▓▓—▓▓▓—▓▓▓—▓▓▓—▓▓▓

‘Really Inexcusable’: Progressives Lament Democrats’ Failure to Reverse Trump Tax Cuts

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/07/26/really-inexcusable-progressives-lament-democrats-failure-reverse-trump-tax-cuts

‘Really Inexcusable’: Progressives Lament Democrats’ Failure to Reverse Trump Tax Cuts
“If the so-called party of the people cannot raise taxes on the ultra-rich they have little purpose other than being yet another handmaiden for the wealthy in Washington.”

July 26, 2022

Then-President Donald Trump stands with Vice President Mike Pence and House Speaker Paul Ryan at an event celebrating passage of their tax-cut bill on December 20, 2017. (Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Not a single Democrat in either the House or the Senate voted yes in 2017 when Republicans and then-President Donald Trump—hellbent on delivering big for their wealthy donors—rammed through legislation that slashed the corporate tax rate to 21% and lowered the top marginal rate for the richest people in the United States.

But despite the law’s deep unpopularity with the American public, it remains largely intact five years later even as Democrats—many of whom campaigned on reversing some or all of the regressive GOP tax law—narrowly control Congress and the presidency.

“Nobody should get a pass for it. It’s nothing short of an embarrassment.”

The persistence of the Trump tax law, which delivered a massive windfall to the rich and corporate forces that helped shape the measure, has drawn growing attention in recent days as Democrats head into the crucial November midterms having failed to pass the bulk of their domestic policy agenda, largely due to the obstruction of Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.).

While Manchin voted against the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 and has voiced support for at least partially rolling back the law, he has repeatedly blocked progress on a legislative package that would include tax increases targeting large companies and ultra-rich individuals.

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), too, has stood in the way of corporate tax hikes, imperiling Democrats’ efforts to finance child care, Medicare expansion, and other priorities by bringing in more federal revenue. Sinema, then a member of the House, joined Manchin and other right-wing Democrats in opposing the Trump tax cuts in 2017.

“There are many implications to the failure of talks on what was once the Build Back Better Act and what is now the Negotiate Prices on Ten Drugs Starting in 2026 Act of 2022 (working title),” The American Prospect’s David Dayen wrote in a column earlier this month, sardonically referencing the watered-down package that Senate Democrats are currently negotiating.

“But one of the biggest is that the Trump tax cuts will make it through the first two years of the Biden administration unscathed—and could very well become permanent, a symbol of the one-way ratchet in favor of the top 1% that characterizes U.S. policymaking,” Dayen continued. “If the so-called party of the people cannot raise taxes on the ultra-rich they have little purpose other than being yet another handmaiden for the wealthy in Washington.”

“If you have unanimous opposition to a bad policy with no real political proponents and then can’t get a single thing done about it in the space of five years, it speaks to an essential malfunctioning at every level of the party and the process,” he added. “Nobody should get a pass for it. It’s nothing short of an embarrassment.”

Amy Hanauer, executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, echoed that assessment in an interview with the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, calling Democrats’ failure to undo the Trump tax cuts “a crushing defeat in a lot of ways—and really inexcusable.”

“I’m not going to pretend we’re happy about it or I’m capable of my usual hopeful take on things,” said Hanauer. “It’s a pretty tough moment.”

Related Content

New Report Details How Trump Tax Scam ‘Delivered Big Benefits to the Rich and Corporations But Nearly None for Working Families’

Jessica Corbett

On the campaign trail in 2020, then-presidential candidate Joe Biden vowed to “get rid of the bulk of Trump’s $2 trillion tax cut,” which the Democratic contender criticized as “irresponsible.”

Now, a year and a half into his presidency, Biden and his party are barreling toward the November midterms with their congressional majority at stake and that promise unfulfilled. Democrats argue that given Manchin and Sinema’s obstruction, they need a larger majority in the Senate to pass their agenda, including repeal of the tax law.

Absent any changes to the law, the rate cuts for individuals and households under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act are set to expire in 2025. The reduction in the corporate tax rate, though, was made permanent by the measure’s Republican authors.

“If the question is where do Democrats go from here, it feels like the short answer is nowhere,” Vanessa Williamson, a senior fellow and tax expert at the Brookings Institution, told the Journal. “You can’t just keep asking people to vote harder. If a party is in power, people expect them to be able to achieve the things they want to achieve.”

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Vote to Pass HR 1 and More About Money

Vote to Pass HR 1 and More About Money

If HR 1 passes:

  • Presidents will have to disclose tax returns & divest from conflicts of interest
  • Members of Congress will be banned from serving on corporate boards
  • Donors’ names will be associated with dark money groups they fund
  • Partisan gerrymandering will be banned

#CancelTheQOP

The GOP is trying to pass 253 voter suppression bills in 43 states. We can’t let them win.
How about we stop asking Krysten Sinema and Joe Manchin if they support the filibuster and start asking them why they’re comfortable doing nothing while the GOP introduces 253 bills across the country eviscerating the right to vote?

Roy Blunt only won by 2.8%. Now he’s retiring. Missouri is a swing state.

TAX THE RICH

Tax the rich

The IRS Admits It Doesn’t Audit the Rich Because It’s Too Hard

The Federalist Dark Money comes from Richard Uihlein

$2.5 Trillion Theft’: Study Shows Richest 1% of Americans Have Taken $50 Trillion From Bottom 90% in Recent Decades

THE RICHEST .01% ASKS TO BE TAXED NOW

American billionaires got $434 billion richer during the pandemic

Shrink the $7.5 Trillion Tax Gap

The Congressional Budget Office, the U.S. Treasury and academic researchers have concluded that investing in the I.R.S. would pay for itself many times over.
NYT Opinion

How Biden Funds His Next Bill: Shrink the $7.5 Trillion Tax Gap
The I.R.S. is often unable to detect or fight blatant tax cheating by the rich and big businesses. Restoring it is a solution that pays for itself. By Chye-Ching Huang
Ms. Huang is the executive director of the Tax Law Center at the New York University School of Law. March 10, 2021, 5:00 a.m. ET
Credit…Stefani Reynolds

[ … After a decade of budget cuts for the agency, the cracks in the I.R.S. are costing taxpayers trillions of dollars and growing impossible to ignore. The agency is increasingly unable to detect or address blatant tax cheating by high-income filers and the largest businesses. In February, I.R.S. Commissioner Charles P. Rettig told Congress that about $570 billion in taxes owed in 2019 were not paid. That tax gap is projected to total about $7.5 trillion over this decade. Meanwhile, the I.R.S. answered fewer than a quarter of its phone calls from people seeking help with their taxes.

From 2010 to 2019, lawmakers cut the I.R.S. enforcement budget by more than 20 percent.

… Perhaps unsurprisingly, the wealthiest are the prime beneficiaries of the status quo. Estimates suggest that the top 1 percent of filers account for at least 28 percent and as much as 70 percent of the tax gap. The wealthiest households and largest businesses often use a complex maze of financial arrangements and offshore entities that make it incredibly hard and time-consuming for the I.R.S. to untangle what taxes are owed but not paid.

Largely as a result of its budget cuts, the I.R.S. has lost a third of its staff members who are knowledgeable enough to audit highly complex returns. While audit rates have dropped for tax filers across the board, they’ve fallen most steeply for America’s highest-income filers and its largest corporations: They are now about half as likely to be audited as they were a decade ago.

Even when the I.R.S. detects the most obvious forms of tax noncompliance among the wealthy, it is stretched too thin to follow up adequately. A Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration report published last year found the I.R.S. had failed to follow up with more than 369,000 high-income households that simply did not file a tax return in prior years.
Recent reporting by The Times on Donald Trump’s dodgy tax returns — which included his highly questionable use of deductions and expenses — was just the latest revelation of apparently different standards for the rich. But it also heightened concern among tax experts regarding the ability of the I.R.S. to do its job when it’s so deeply depleted. </snip>