Category: US Senate

How You — And Congress — Subsidize The Richest Americans

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ProPublica scored a fantastic scoop when it obtained and meticulously analyzed 15 years of raw income tax data on the wealthiest Americans. This leak of Internal Revenue Service records is by far the biggest and most important tax news in the 55 years that I’ve reported on taxes.

Thanks to the leaker, we now know beyond any doubt that the endless claims that America has a progressive income tax system are bunk. A progressive system means that the more you make, the greater the share of your income you pay in taxes. Back in 2005, I got the George W. Bush administration to acknowledge that the system stops becoming progressive near the top.

But, unfortunately, ProPublica shows that it’s even worse than what I reported back then. Continue reading.

How Joe Manchin Can Fix the Filibuster

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It’s easy to sympathize with the liberal desire to bury the Senate filibuster forever. The 60-vote threshold for Senate legislation is a choke point in a political system defined by gridlock, sclerosis and futility. It provides an excuse for policy abdication, encouraging the legislative branch to cede authority to the presidency and the courts, and the Republican Party to decline to have a policy agenda at all. Its history is checkered, its pervasive use is a novelty of polarization, and its eventual disappearance seems inevitable — so why not adapt now?

At the same time, it’s also easy to see why Joe Manchin, a Democratic senator from a conservative state, might have some doubts about his party’s confident filibuster-busting ambitions.

Listen to Manchin’s fellow Democrats talk about their political position and the constitutional structures impeding them, and you would be forgiven for thinking that they have been winning commanding majorities for years, of the sort enjoyed by Franklin Roosevelt or Lyndon Johnson, while being thwarted again and again by a much smaller reactionary faction. Continue reading.

Republicans open new line of attack on IRS

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The IRS is back in Republicans’ crosshairs following a ProPublica report based on the confidential tax records of the wealthiest Americans.

Republicans have long disliked the tax-collection agency, and have been critical of President Biden’s proposal to give the IRS significantly more resources. Now, GOP lawmakers are amplifying their attacks on the IRS in light of an unauthorized disclosure of tax data to ProPublica, arguing that it undermines taxpayers’ ability to have confidence in the agency.

“This is an astonishing breach of trust that should make taxpayers very concerned,” Rep. Kevin Brady (Texas), the top Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee, told reporters Friday. Continue reading.

‘Exploited the crazies’: How the GOP used Trump’s election lies to hide the fact that they’re losing power

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According to a report from the Guardian’s Sam Levine, Republicans who have always dabbled in playing to the red meat crowd are now ramping up their efforts to use that voting bloc to remain in power by disrupting and questioning election results.

Faced with changing demographics and states — – notably Arizona and Georgia — that were once reliably Republican but are now sending Democrats to Congress, Republicans are looking for ways to stop the bleeding as their power melts away.

According to Levine, Donald Trump just gave them the roadmap by blatantly saying the election was stolen from him — which has been well-received by more than just conservative extremists. Continue reading.

Ted Cruz brings lawsuit demanding Trump be able to pay himself back millions he gave to his campaign

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Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) is further attempting to prove he’s pals with Donald Trump after launching a lawsuit appealed to the Supreme Court that Trump and other candidates should be able to pay themselves back the millions of dollars they use to self-fund their campaigns.

Trump loaned his campaign $10.8 million in 2015, and by March 2016, he’d given his campaign $38 million. Trump even went so far as to claim that he was willing to spend as much as $100 million of his own money to win in 2016. He didn’t ultimately give that much officially, but it was certainly a lot, particularly given the hush-money payments uncovered. 

Cruz claims that the McCain-Feingold Law violates the First Amendment by limiting to $250,000 fundraising to repay loans a candidate makes to his or her own federal campaign. Continue reading.

Romney’s ‘Deal’ Would Tax Working Families, Not Corporations

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A new infrastructure plan being pushed by Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) and a bipartisan group of senators would not increase corporate taxes at all. Instead, it would raise taxes on every American who buys gasoline — running afoul of the president’s promise not to raise taxes on working families.

The group of 10 senators said Thursday they had agreed on a blueprint for $579 billion in new spending on transportation and broadband infrastructure. It would reportedly not include any immediate tax increases but would index the gas tax to inflation, meaning consumers would likely pay more each year.

Senators Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Susan Collins (R-ME), Joe Manchin (D-WV), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Rob Portman (R-OH), Romney, Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), Jon Tester (D-MT), and Mark Warner (D-VA) called their plan a “realistic, compromise framework to modernize our nation’s infrastructure and energy technologies” in a joint statement. Continue reading.

Capitol Police watchdog flags training contractor’s use of Nazi-adjacent symbols

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‘That combination is immediately suspect,’ says former white supremacist

Capitol Police spent $90,075 of taxpayer dollars in 2018 and 2019 to train its specialized Containment Emergency Response Team with Northern Red Inc., a company that publicly displays symbols often associated with the white supremacist movement.

Capitol Police Inspector General Michael Bolton discovered the symbols as part of his review into the Jan. 6 insurrection and has recommended the department “review the appropriateness of utilizing Northern Red, Inc. for further training,” according to an advisory report shared with acting Chief Yogananda Pittman and other department officials.

CQ Roll Call obtained a copy of that report, which has not been publicly released. Continue reading.

Senate plans investigation of Trump DOJ seizure of House Democrats’ data

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Justice Department inspector general will also probe matter

The Senate Judiciary Committee is prepared to subpoena Trump administration Justice Department leaders if that’s what it takes to get answers about reports that the DOJ obtained metadata related to House members, including the Intelligence Committee chairman.

Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer and Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin, who also chairs the Judiciary panel, said the committee would conduct a full review of the matter, which was first reported Thursday by The New York Times.

As part of a sweeping leak investigation, the DOJ used subpoenas to obtain information from Apple, including cellphone metadata for at least two House members: House Intelligence Chairman Adam B. Schiff and Eric Swalwell, both California Democrats. Swalwell and Schiff both confirmed their records had been obtained. Continue reading.

YouTube suspends Ron Johnson for 7 days

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YouTube suspended Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) from posting videos on the platform for one week over his remarks touting unproven treatments for COVID-19.

The platform said it also removed a video from Johnson in line with its policies against COVID-19 misinformation. The video had highlighted Johnson’s remarks from a hearing where he discussed experimental treatments for COVID-19 like hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin.

“We removed the video in accordance with our COVID-19 medical misinformation policies, which don’t allow content that encourages people to use Hydroxychloroquine or Ivermectin to treat or prevent the virus,” a YouTube spokesperson told The Hill. Continue reading.

Democrats demand Barr, Sessions testify on Apple data subpoenas

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The top two Senate Democrats on Friday called for multiple investigations into the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) decisions in 2017 and 2018 to issue subpoenas seeking metadata records of House Intelligence Committee members as the Trump administration pursued leak investigations.

Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (N.Y.) and Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin (Ill.) also called for two of former President Trump’s attorneys general, William Barr and Jeff Sessions, to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

“The revelation that the Trump Justice Department secretly subpoenaed metadata of House Intelligence Committee Members and staff and their families, including a minor, is shocking. This is a gross abuse of power and an assault on the separation of powers,” Schumer and Durbin said in a joint statement Friday. “This appalling politicization of the Department of Justice by Donald Trump and his sycophants must be investigated immediately by both the DOJ Inspector General and Congress.” Continue reading.