One exchange during a congressional hearing laid bare the CEO-employee pay disparity

At its heart, the question posed by Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) to JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon was simple: How should a woman who lived in her district manage the fact that her job with Dimon’s company didn’t pay enough to cover her bills? With a take-home pay of $35,070 a year, including a $750 bonus, the employee came up nearly $600 short a month on her expenses, even excluding costs such as clothes and medication.

“I don’t know,” Dimon replied. “I’d have to think about that.”

“Would you recommend that she take out a JPMorgan Chase credit card and run a deficit?” Porter asked.

“I don’t know. I’d have to think about it,” Dimon replied, this time somewhat curtly.

View the complete April 12 article by Philip Bump on The Washington Post website here.

Why does everybody suddenly hate billionaires? Because they’ve made it easy.

When did “billionaire” become a dirty word?

Maybe it was when former Starbucks chief executive Howard Schultz dismissed Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s proposal for higher taxes on fortunes of $50 million or higher as “ridiculous.”

Or when an audience at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, laughed out loud at the suggestion that the super-rich should contribute more.

View the complete March 13 article by Roxanne Roberts on The Washington Post website here.

Republicans consider ‘balanced-budget amendment’ after adding more than $1 trillion to the deficit

The following article by Jeff Stein was posted on the Washington Post website March 28, 2018:

House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.). Credit: Melina Mara/The Washington Post

House Republicans are considering a vote on a “balanced-budget amendment,” a move that would proclaim their desire to eliminate the federal deficit even as they control a Congress that has added more than $1 trillion to it.

The plan is expected to have virtually no chance of passing, as it would require votes from Democrats in the Senate and ratification by three-fourths of the states. Republican lawmakers have pushed for the vote as a way to signal to constituents ahead of the midterm elections that they have tried to reduce the nation’s deficit. Continue reading “Republicans consider ‘balanced-budget amendment’ after adding more than $1 trillion to the deficit”

Democrats Vow to Fight Republican Tax Provisions that Aid Rich

The following article by Alan Rappaport and Thomas Kaplan was posted on the New York Times website September 12, 2017:

Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury Secretary, walked through the Capitol on Tuesday for a meeting with the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky. Credit Al Drago,The New York Times

WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats on Tuesday warned they would work to block any rewrite of the tax code that repealed the estate tax and the deduction for state and local taxes, arguing that those moves would make a mockery of Republican promises to target tax relief to the middle class.

But before Republicans could consider Democratic demands, they still were struggling to overcome their own disagreements over the arcana of a rewritten tax code.

The clash over specific tax measures comes as the promised tax overhaul enters a pivotal phase. The White House and congressional Republicans expect to unveil the framework of a plan later this month, and the courting of Democrats has already begun. Mr. Trump dined with senators from both parties Tuesday night, reaching across the aisle out of concern that Republican disputes will make it impossible to pass a tax bill with only Republican votes. Continue reading “Democrats Vow to Fight Republican Tax Provisions that Aid Rich”

Trump Tax Plan Would Shift Trillions From U.S. Coffers to the Richest

The following article by Julie Hirschfeld Davis and Patricia Cohen was posted on the New York Times website April 27, 2017:

President Trump and the first lady, Melania, at the White House on Thursday. Mr. Trump could benefit substantially from his tax plan, with provisions such as a repeal of the alternative minimum tax and a proposal to allow owner-operated companies, including his real estate concern, to be taxed at a 15 percent rate. Credit Stephen Crowley/The New York Times

WASHINGTON — President Trump’s proposal to slash individual and business taxes and erase a surtax that funds the Affordable Care Act would amount to a multitrillion-dollar shift from federal coffers to America’s richest families and their heirs, setting up a politically fraught battle over how best to use the government’s already strained resources.

The outline that Mr. Trump offered on Wednesday — less a tax overhaul plan than a list of costly cuts with no price tags attached, rushed out by a president staring down his 100-day mark in office — calls for tax reductions for individuals of every income level as well as businesses large and small.

But the vast majority of benefits would accrue to the highest earners and largest holders of wealth, according to economists and analysts, accounting for a lopsided portion of the proposal’s costs. Continue reading “Trump Tax Plan Would Shift Trillions From U.S. Coffers to the Richest”

It’s Time to Take America’s Billionaire Class Head On

The following article by David Morris was posted on the AlterNet website February 2, 2017:

Combatting defeatism may be our single most important psychological objective in the wake of the election. We need to revive the spirit embodied in Barack Obama’s vague but hopeful campaign slogan in 2008, “Yes We Can.” At the federal level this is a time to expose, to educate and to resist. But at the state and local level we can act proactively to fashion strategies that both embrace progressive values and directly benefit those who mistakenly voted for Donald Trump as an economic savior. This is the first in a series of pieces focusing on what can be done.

The Giveaway

Over the next 6-12 months Congress will almost certainly give the richest 1 percent of the population an income tax gift totaling some $75-150 billion. The 1 percent, with annual incomes averaging $1.3 million, will capture 47 percent of the tax cuts for an average annual tax saving of $214,000 each, the non-partisan Tax Policy Center estimates based on Trump’s proposal, which does not differ dramatically from that of the House Republicans. Continue reading “It’s Time to Take America’s Billionaire Class Head On”