The 12 Biggest Myths about Raising Taxes on the Rich — Robert Reich’s short video
This link also includes text and links. https://www.nationofchange.org/2019/04/17/the-12-biggest-myths-about-raising-taxes-on-the-rich/
Taxes
Political parties and serious problems
Both of the big political parties cause serious problems. Republican Party leaders deliberately and enthusiastically make problems worse. Republican Party members obediently follow along. Democratic Party members want to solve problems (Green New Deal, Medicare for All, Impeach Trump, promote diversity in the party, etc.) Democratic Party “leaders” refuse to solve those problems. Dem “leaders” rebuff their members – and wonder why Dems don’t win more elections.
Rich people and profitable big businesses escape taxes. We must TAX RICH PEOPLE + BIG BUSINESSES!
Since the 1970s extreme conservatives — including those in big business — have become very aggressive in building political power. The Powell Memo (if you don’t know what it is, a web search will quickly tell you) and extremely rich people led to the creation of very conservative and right-wing “think tanks” and media and organizing within the Republican Party. Now they have taken over the Republican Party and the U.S. government: Congress, the Executive Branch (including cabinet members and agency heads), and the Supreme Court. Part of their agenda has been to slash taxes for rich people and big […]
Yes, we can organize more effectively at the grassroots for many important issues.
Globally, nationally, and locally, we are confronted with very serious problems. Some people feel overwhelmed and disempowered, so they feel powerless to solve the problems. But that only allows the horrible problems to get worse. I strongly support the opposite approach: Recognize that WE CAN INDEED LEARN HOW TO ORGANIZE EFFECTIVELY at the grassroots level (“Think globally and act locally”) to solve the problems. Sometimes people and organizations merely vent or flail about with random activities without a clear strategy for how to make the political and social changes we want. We can do better than that! Specifically, I seek […]
Do not let assumptions about “human nature” interfere with the bold social and political reforms we are working toward.
Sometimes when we work to significantly improve our society or our politics, people will try to inhibit our efforts by saying, “You can’t change human nature.” They assume that “human nature” is fixed and impervious to improvement. Actually, history has proven otherwise. People have indeed made radical progressive changes, and we can accomplish more. We do not need to “change human nature.” If we change our society so it will function better, people will change for the better too. So, for example, instead of assuming that “human nature” causes people to be greedy, let’s change our economic system and our […]
Washington State’s tax regressive system is grossly unjust. The poor pay too much. The rich pay too little.
For decades Washington State has had THE VERY WORST tax system in the U.S. It is horribly REGRESSIVE. This means that poor people pay a high percentage of their income and rich people pay a low percentage. About 50 years ago I read a historian’s book chapter explaining how it was that Washington State has always opposed an income tax and supported a sales tax, while Oregon (our neighbor to the south) had a history of the exact opposite. I don’t remember the historical reasons now, but the legacy continues to hurt Washington State and especially our poor and working […]
Powerfully inspiring video (only 7 1/2 minutes) about the Green New Deal — by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Many of my friends urged me to watch this powerfully inspiring short video. Finally I watched it. Now I’m sharing it with you and hope it will “go viral.” https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/04/17/we-can-be-whatever-we-have-courage-see-new-video-aoc-envisions-greennewdeal-future The Green New Deal would protect our nation far more effectively than militarism does. The Green New Deal is a proactive way to deal realistically with the serious threats of climate disruption, unemployment, deteriorating infrastructure, depressed local communities, etc. We should slash the Pentagon budget and generously fund the Green New Deal. The Green New Deal has great power to inspire, educate, motivate, and employ many young people along with […]
Let’s get our priorities straight. Trillions of dollars for what?
In order to get the Republican-dominated Senate to approve the New START Treaty, Obama committed the U.S. to replacing ALL of the U.S.’s nuclear weapons (the bombs, the bombers, missiles, submarines, etc.) with expensive new ones. The cost is likely to be about $1.7 TRILLION during the foreseeable future. In December 2017 Congress passed the Trump/Republican tax scam that is estimated to increase the U.S. deficit by a total of $3 TRILLION to $7 TRILLION in its first decade. In 1941 the U.S. jumped into World War II and abruptly stopped huge parts of the civilian economy and started massive […]
Trump wants HUGE INCREASE for Pentagon budget and SERIOUS CUTS in programs that help people.
The federal budget hurts people locally in order to divert money from social programs into more military violence that hurts people worldwide. Let’s mobilize a “people-power” movement to reverse federal budget priorities! We need diplomacy, not war. We need to SLASH the Pentagon budget and FULLY FUND programs to meet human needs. See information from the National Priorities Project (www.nationalpriorities.org). See information from them and from the Institute for Policy Studies (www.ips-dc.org), including this: http://nationalpriorities.activehosted.com/index.php?action=social&chash=5b8add2a5d98b1a652ea7fd72d942dac.410&s=5d8539df492ecae31f82493446c9564b and this: https://www.nationalpriorities.org/blog/2019/03/25/trump-budget-trade-offs-2020/ Trump’s budget proposal calls for a HUGE INCREASE in the Pentagon’s budget, which is already BLOATED and funds massive violence. […]
Repeal the Trump/Republican tax law that rips us off and enriches rich people and corporations
Trump and the Republicans LIED TO US when they said the tax scam they pushed through Congress in December 2017 would be good for ordinary people. They promised it would create jobs. We knew then — and we have solid proof now — that they were lying to us. Their “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” has been an absolute DISASTER for ordinary people and a GIGANTIC WINDFALL for extremely rich people and big business. Several credible non-profit organizations and progressive journalists have laid out the facts. Here are some highlights, with links for more information and several petitions to […]
Why the U.S. House must push for VERY BOLD changes, not merely bi-partisan deals
Moderates want House Democrats to settle for bi-partisan deals with the Republican-dominated Senate. If the House Democrats do that, they will be rebuffing the voters who gave them a mandate for VERY BOLD changes. They also will FAIL TO IDENTIFY how progressive Democrats are much better than conservative Republicans. Even if the Senate fails to pass VERY BOLD House legislation, the points will be made, and 2020’s voters will see who is really on their side, vs. who is on the side of the oppressors. https://www.thenation.com/article/democrats-congress-fundamental-reforms/?link_id=7&can_id=1d662460c0abb8939c5044c82927552b&source=email-pledge-update-for-bold-reforms-naacp-protest-yemen-vote-populism-wins-roma&email_referrer=email_468235&email_subject=pledge-update-for-bold-reforms-naacp-protest-yemen-vote-populism-wins-roma
Most Americans want to raise taxes on the very rich people
Although the “conventional wisdom” and both political parties assume that the voters want to cut taxes, MOST AMERICANS WANT TO INCREASE TAXES ON THE RICHEST AMERICANS. Ordinary people know that our tax system is grossly unjust, that the richest people are ripping us off, and that our nation and our states have huge needs that the “conventional wisdom” says we cannot afford to fund. BALONEY! Public opinion polls show ORDINARY PEOPLE ARE MUCH MORE PROGRESSIVE THAN THE POLITICIANS! This means that ORDINARY PEOPLE CAN ORGANIZE FROM THE GRASSROOTS to push for very progressive solutions to our public policy problems. […]
Significantly raise rich people’s taxes!
In the 1950s under Republican President Eisenhower, the U.S. had a tax rate of 93% for the richest people, and we enjoyed great prosperity. Over the years Republicans and Democrats alike have been cutting taxes so rich people and giant corporations are now paying far less than they used to — and far less than they should. “Trickle-down” has been proven NOT to work. The rich keep getting richer. Everybody else suffers by having to pick up the slack, and also by suffering grossly underfunded governmental services. This is true at federal, state and local levels. Rich people and businesses […]
Our systems are not “broken.” They’re working as intended. They are DELIBERATELY UNFAIR.
People keep saying that our nation’s systems are “broken.” That is misleading. They are NOT “broken.” They are WORKING AS INTENDED! They are DELIBERATELY UNFAIR! On issue after issue, politicians, mainstream media, and the general public keep saying that our systems are “broken.” But if you look at how they are actually functioning — WHAT THEY ACTUALLY DO — and WHAT THEY ARE PREVENTING — and WHO HAS THE POWER and WHO BENEFITS from the status quo — you’ll see that these systems are NOT really “broken.” They are serving the rich and the powerful and preventing the changes that […]
I-1631 and I-1634 show that we need to “re-frame” the public’s understanding of taxes.
“Special interests” with their Big Money deceived Washington State’s voters in the November 2018 election to defeat a good initiative that would have helped the climate — and to pass an initiative that protects giant food corporations from local democracy. Those “special interests” with their Big Money used anti-tax messaging to defeat I-1631 and to pass I-1634. It’s easy for extremely rich funders to buy huge amounts of advertising and propaganda with simplistic “anti-tax” messaging. That message taps into many people’s latent biases, just like nationalistic and racist messages tap into many people’s latent biases. Regarding taxes – like so […]