“Has the worst of the pandemic-induced inflation already passed? The latest economic data released this week suggest so. That leaves Republicans in a quandary,” Jennifer Rubin writes.
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Seattle’s millionaires would profit most if schools lose funding from capital gains tax
“Repealing capital gains tax would give King County’s uber wealthy a huge, unnecessary tax break,” explains Washington State Budget & Policy Center senior fellow Andy Nicholas.
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Bernie Sanders lost his fight to be president. But now he’s written a budget that could secure his legacy.
“Sanders, just weeks from his eightieth birthday, is on the cusp of leaving an indelible mark on the federal government, having shepherded a $3.5 trillion spending blueprint through the Senate this week,” The Washington Post’s Mike DeBonis reports.
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Unsurprise: Fifty years of tax cuts for the rich failed to trickle down, economics study says
A new paper from the London School of Economics reinforces what progressive activists and economists already know: Trickle down doesn’t. Tax cuts for the wealthy do not create jobs. In fact, they result in greater wealth hoarding and income inequality. It’s time to require the wealthy to pay their fair share in dues to our world community.
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Robert Kuttner: We need a WWII-size mobilization to stop COVID-19 from destroying the economy
“The need for a Green New Deal can rendezvous with the imperative of anti-depression public investment. Much of this sweeping proposal is on the drawing boards and has not been done for lack of funding. Some of it will take some advance planning. The time to start is now.”
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Paul Krugman on debt, doomsayers and double standards
Paul Krugman brings the truth in a New York Times column about the IOKIYAR principle (Debt, doomsayers and double standards)
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‘It’s gonna kill this community’: Seattle Times covers right wing governor’s war on Alaska’s public services
Imagine if Tim Eyman became governor and began taking an axe to Washington’s public services. That’s what is happening in Alaska, where right wing extremist Mike Dunleavy is using his line item veto power to force through a 41% cut to the University of Alaska system, plus gut Medicaid, behavioral health, and the Alaska State Ferry system.
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Most millionaires support tax on wealth above $50 million, CNBC survey finds
“Fully 60% of millionaires support Warren’s plan for taxing the wealth of those who have more than $50 million in assets,” CNBC reports.
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Individual Number 1 threatens Pelosi and Schumer with government shutdown: “I will be the one to shut it down. I’m not going to blame you for it.”
Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer met with Donald Trump at the White House and got exactly what they came for.
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Trump threatens another federal government shutdown if he doesn’t get his stupid wall, rattling Republicans
“We’re going to have a challenging midterm anyway, and I don’t see how putting the attention on shutting down the government when you control the government is going to help you.”
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Larry Kudlow may have been more wrong about the economy than anyone alive
The Washington Post’s Dana Milbank finally trains his ire on a deserving figure for once.
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MSU scholars find $21 trillion in unauthorized military spending; DoD to conduct first-ever audit
Michigan State University economist Mark Skidmore, discussing his team’s startling finding about the Pentagon’s expenditures (MSU scholars find $21 trillion in unauthorized military spending; Defense Department to conduct first-ever audit).
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I’m a Depression historian. The Republican tax scam is straight out of 1929.
“Republican policies in the ’20s instead pushed to concentrate more of the income at the top. Nine decades later, Republicans are rushing to do it again — and they are sprinting toward an economic cliff. Another round of Government of the People, by the Republicans, for the super-rich will be catastrophic. The American people must call a halt before it’s too late,” writes Robert S. McElvaine.
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Congress can give every American a pony (if it breeds enough ponies)
Professor Stephanie Kelton, who teaches public policy and economics at SUNY Stony Brook, has written the op-ed of the year, explaining how U.S. fiscal policy really works.
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What’s up with Washington State’s tax system?
KCTS9: What’s Up With Washington State’s Tax System? Washington state’s vibrant and diverse economy doesn’t hint at it. Neither does Seattle’s red-hot construction and tech
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There are three types of single-payer ‘concern trolls’ — and they all want to undermine universal healthcare
Money for war is magically always there; money for healthcare must be counted bean by bean. — Adam Johnson: There are three types of single-payer
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B.C. government raising taxes for high earners and corporations to help pay for $51.9B balanced budget
“B.C.’s new. government will spend $51.9 billion for this fiscal year to support the NDP’S stated goal of making the province more affordable for residents,” the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reports. The budget will be balanced through increases in the corporate income tax, personal income tax (for wealthy families), and pollution tax.
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Irritated by his own party, Trump makes deal with Democrats to keep government open
This is arguably the first real “deal” Donald Trump has made as President. It comes more than seven months after his regime came into power.
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Pramila Jayapal blasts immoral cuts in front of Trump budget director Mick Mulvaney
Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal questioned Budget Director Mick Mulvaney about Trump’s new budget proposal during the House Budget Committee hearing today. Watch the video and read the transcript.
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Washington state ranks nearly last in new tax-transparency index
“Ranked second from the bottom in a new report, the state’s tax system makes it tough for taxpayers to find out just how much they’re coughing up to the government. Oregon’s system ranks as the most transparent of all,” writes The Seattle Times’ Gene Balk.
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Jimmy Kimmel rips Trump’s budget proposal, mocks his plans to gut funding for PBS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWebDbGtQI4 From ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live: “Trump released a proposed budget that would cut funding for PBS, Meals on Wheels, and The National Endowment for
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