Tag Archives: Taxes

12/20 News Roundup – Sanders: “Tax Bill A Victory For Corporate Campaign Donors” & More

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Sanders: Passage of GOP tax bill a ‘victory’ for Koch brothers, campaign donors, corporations

Sen. Bernie SandersBernard (Bernie) SandersSchumer: Franken should resignFranken resignation could upend Minnesota racesAvalanche of Democratic senators say Franken should resignMORE (I-Vt.), on Tuesday, blasted the GOP tax overhaul bill, arguing that its expected passage is a “victory” for the Koch brothers, Republican campaign donors, large corporations and even some lawmakers.

“Today marks a great day for the Koch brothers and other billionaire, Republican campaign contributors who will see huge tax breaks for themselves while driving up the deficit by almost $1.5 trillion,” Sanders said in a video posted on Twitter.

“Today is also a victory for the largest and most-profitable corporations in this country like Apple, Microsoft, Pfizer and General Electric, who, despite record-breaking profits, will now see hundreds of billions of dollars in tax breaks,” he added.

Sanders also indicated that some of his own colleagues had a personal financial interest in passing the bill, pointing to lawmakers who have real estate investments and will benefit under the new plan.

“Today is also a victory for a number of members of the United States Congress who have significant investments in real estate who, with this vote, will substantially lower the taxes that they pay and will further enrich themselves,” he said.

More news/video/tweets/etc. in the comments.

12/18 News Roundup – Sanders: “We’re Seeing Massive Attack On The Middle Class”, The 7 Forbidden Words at Trump’s CDC & More

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Full transcript of Sen. Bernie Sanders on “Face the Nation

JOHN DICKERSON: This looks like it’s going to get passed through the Senate and the House and signed by the president, this tax cut bill. Is there anything more that opponents like you could have done to stop this?

BERNIE SANDERS: Well I think we did everything that we could — but at the end of the day what you had is people like Mr. Mnuchin, who himself is worth three or four hundred million dollars, or the president of the United States who is worth several billion dollars, as you mentioned, some four or five thousand lobbyists doing everything that they could to write a bill which significantly benefits the wealthiest people in this country and the largest corporations. The latest analysis that we have seen suggest that 72 percent of the benefits go to the top 5 percent. My guess is that 60 percent of the benefits will go to the top 1 percent and at the end of the decade because the benefits for the middle class are temporary while- while the corporate benefits are permanent, at the end of the decade over half of the middle class will be paying more in taxes. What we are seeing here is a real massive attack on the middle class and what I worry very much, John, is that if you listen to what the Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan is talking about, what he is saying is that as a result of this bill, the deficit will go up by $1.4 trillion dollars. And what Ryan, in my view, will come back with are massive cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, in order to offset that deficit. So massive tax breaks for the rich, cuts to Social Security, this is a grossly unfair tax bill.

More news/video/tweets/etc. in the comments, including:

*Warren and Sanders: Who Is Congress Really Serving?
*In Quiet Post, Veteran Journalist Bill Moyers Announces Site Closure
*7 Dreamers, Including Bernie Sanders’s Former Press Secretary, Are in Prison on Hunger Strike
*Who will be hit hardest by net neutrality? Marginalised America
*Trump will drop climate change from US National Security Strategy
*Pipeline news, Water Protector updates & More

12/15 News Roundup – Sanders: Process for Tax Reform Bill ‘Just a Disaster’, The Campaign For Congress to Overrule FCC Vote & More

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Bernie Sanders: Process for Tax Reform Bill ‘Just a Disaster’

The process to pass landmark tax reform legislation “has been just a disaster,” as the American public does not understand what all it involves, Sen. Bernie Sanders complained Thursday.

“Are you suggesting that a bill that impacts the entire economy, virtually every American, should be read before people vote upon it?” the Vermont independent and former presidential candidate told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell.

The bill was discussed and determined “around back doors,” Sanders continued. “Some 5,000 lobbyists have participated in it, but the American public does not know what’s in it. Bottom line, and I think some of the Republicans have been honest enough about acknowledging this, this is a gift for Republican wealthy campaign contributors.”

“At the end of 10 years, 83 million middle class families will be paying more in taxes,” said Sanders. “This means 32 million people will lose their health insurance. Premiums will go up by 10 percent with people in the individual market. This is going to exacerbate incoming wealth at a time when we have to protect the middle class and working families.”

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Sanders also sounded off against the FCC’s vote to end net neutrality provisions, saying it’s “almost unspeakable” to speak about what a disaster the ruling will create.

“The internet has been a real effort to enhance democracy and level the playing field in this country,” he said. “It means that if you are a small business person right now, you were a start-up company, you can use the internet to get the word out about why people should come to your business. You can have the same opportunities on the internet as Walmart does, or as a large corporation … they’re going to do away with that and it’s going to be much more expensive for the little guy to play and compete against the big corporations.”

More news/video/tweets/etc. in the comments.

12/4 News Roundup – Sanders Rallies In Reading, Protesters Balk At Pipeline Company’s Payments To Police & More

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Bernie Sanders rallies against GOP tax plan in Reading

Following an early Saturday morning vote on a new tax plan, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders continues taking his message across the country.

He arrived at the Santander Performing Arts Center in Reading on Sunday to speak to more than 1,000 supporters.

Sanders touched on various topics including health care and President Donald Trump, but the most often talked about topic was that of the new tax plan approved by the Senate this weekend. Sanders is one of the plan’s most vocal opponents.

“Trickle down economics is a trick,” Sanders bellowed from the stage.

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Despite the seated, intimate atmosphere of the Santander Performing Arts Center, there were times when the gathering took on the look, feel and sound of a rowdy rally. But the overall message among the thousand plus in attendance was clear.

“I think his message is to stay relentless,” said Eileen Kerrigan of Philadelphia. “And continue to resist what’s being forced on us.”

The full Reading Rally as well as other news/videos/tweets/etc. will be in the comments, including:

*Bernie Sanders: “I have a challenge for you Mr. President”
*Jones trying to boost black turnout in Alabama Senate race
*Orrin Hatch comments on Chip health program at heart of social media storm
*The Working Families Party is Transforming Southern Politics
*Big Ag + Big Pharma = Big Problems
*Pipeline news, Water Protector updates & more.

11/29 News Roundup – Bernie Debuts A ‘Marshall Plan’ For Puerto Rico, Sanders Clashes With Cruz On Taxes & More

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Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren Propose $146 Billion “Marshall Plan” for Puerto Rico

Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren on Tuesday unveiled a massive $146 billion “Marshall plan” for Puerto Rico with several other senators. The plan includes immediate relief for the island’s cash-strapped government, billions more for economic development and renewable energy and Medicaid and Medicare parity, a key priority for the island.

“More than two months after Hurricanes Irma and Maria struck Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, half of the people there—American citizens all—still have no electricity,” Sanders said at a press conference Tuesday morning.

“Many are struggling to get clean drinking water, and more than 100,000 people have left Puerto Rico alone. This is not acceptable, and we are here today to tell the people of Puerto Rico and tell the people of the Virgin Islands that they are not forgotten, they are not alone, and that we intend to do everything possible to rebuild those beautiful islands.”

The far-reaching legislation would grant $62 billion to the governments of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, $27 billion to renovate infrastructure, and $13 billion in additional FEMA funding to rebuild the electric grid “with more modern, resilient technologies,” instead of the Stafford Act’s requirements that the grid be restored to its condition before the storms, according to a summary of the bill from Sanders’s office.

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“The bill that Senator Sanders has introduced in the United States Congress is a comprehensive plan that provides the blueprint for the transformation of Puerto Rico,” Carmen Yulín Cruz, mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico, said in a statement. “Senator Sanders also shows a great deal of respect and faith in us when claiming that the recovery or Puerto Rico must be in Puerto Rican hands.”

More news/video/etc. in the comments, including:

*Jealous names Susan Turnbull, a former vice chair of the DNC, as his running mate
*FEMA forced to cancel $30 million contract to another newly formed two-man firm
*Nina Turner On 2020 and the Fight Within the Democratic Party
*In ‘Blow to American Consumers,’ Trump-Appointed Judge Sides With Trump on CFPB
*Study Shows Corporate Cable Networks Largely Ignoring FCC Plan to Kill Net Neutrality
*Pipeline updates, Water Protector News & More

(Still fighting a bug in the comments, so if they do not load try clicking the ‘sort by newest/oldest’ option and they should pop-up)

11/28 News Roundup – Sanders Hits The Trail To Fight The GOP Tax Bill, Keystone XL Operators Push For Preferred Path & More

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Bernie Sanders hits the trail again, this time to fight GOP tax bill

Sen. Bernie Sanders is traveling to Kentucky, Ohio and Pennsylvania this weekend to rally against the Republican tax bill, his office told NBC News, keeping up a brisk pace of political activity since leaving the presidential race last year and ahead of a potential second one in 2020.

Sanders, who held a similar series of rallies across the country this year to oppose the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, is using his “Protecting Working Families Tour” to pressure on-the-fence GOP senators before a vote on the tax bill, President Donald Trump’s top legislative priority.

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In addition to condemning the bill for reducing taxes on the wealthy, Sanders is hoping to use the tour to argue the tax plan would pave the way for cuts to Social Security and Medicare, which have proved politically deadly for Republicans in the past.

The bill is expected to raise the deficit by $1.4 trillion, which the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office recently say could trigger an obscure budget rule that Democrats warn could force Medicare cuts.

“This legislation goes well beyond taxes,” Sanders wrote in an email that will be sent to supporters Monday. “Mark my words. If passed, the Republicans will then rediscover the ‘deficit crisis,’ and push aggressively for massive cuts in Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, education — higher education in particular — nutrition, affordable housing and more.”

“That is why I am going on the road this week to talk directly to working people,” Sanders added.

More news/video/tweets/etc. in the comments, including:

*Bernie Sanders, Ben Jealous to hold Medicare-for-all rally in Baltimore
*New Study Shows How Taxing Rich Saves Lives, While Trump’s Tax Plan… Kills
*Meet the Socialist Marine & Anti-Police Brutality Protester Who Won Democratic Seats in November
*Protesters Slam Trump Attempt to ‘Vaporize’ CFPB as Agency Power Struggle Begins
*Pipeline updates, Water Protector news & more

(If the comments do not load, try clicking either the comment box itself or the ‘sort by newest/oldest’ and they should then pop up. Apologies for the inconvenience, still waiting on a patch to fix the issue!)

11/16 News Roundup – Bernie Blasts GOP Tax Plan As A ‘Terrible Proposal’, Kaine Sides With Sanders On Superdelegates & More

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Bernie Sanders Rips GOP Tax Plan: ‘Terrible Proposal’

Sen. Bernie Sanders on Wednesday ripped the Republican tax-reform plan as a “terrible proposal” being “paid for by the billionaire class who control the political process.”

“It’s a bad idea,” Sanders, the Vermont Independent and 2016 Democratic presidential candidate, told Anderson Cooper on CNN.

It’s going to throw 13 million Americans off the health insurance they currently have, including about six million people on Medicaid.

“It’s going to raise premiums by about 10 percent for ordinary Americans.”

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Sanders attributed both plans to GOP’s effort to “give huge tax breaks to corporations and make them permanent.

“What this whole business is about is the power that big money has in American politics, as a result of our corrupt campaign-finance system.

“Billionaires and millionaires have brought hundreds of millions of dollars into the political process, supporting Republican candidates — and today is payback time for them.

“Huge tax breaks for the rich, huge tax breaks for multinational corporations,” Sanders said. “Meanwhile, at the end of 10 years, tens of millions of American families in the middle class are going to be paying for more taxes.”

https://youtu.be/ZIZLM9juK0M

More news/video/tweets/etc. in the comments, including:

*Pruitt’s EPA Abandoning Duty to Protect Kids From Dangerous Pesticides
*Indigenous groups win greater climate recognition at Bonn summit
*The Trump Administration Has Yet to Approve a Single Student Debt Relief Claim
*‘Ready to Resist’: Progressives Rally Ahead of Crucial GOP Tax Scam Vote
*House Dems Introduce ‘Groundbreaking and Much Overdue’ Bill on Palestinian Rights
*Pipeline Updates, Water Protector News & More

Elizabeth Warren & Al Franken break down what CEOs will do with a giant tax cut

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Republicans want you to believe that if we give away $1.5 trillion to big corporations in their so-called tax reform bill, CEOs will raise wages and bring jobs back from overseas. But that’s not how CEOs think. Al and Elizabeth will tell you what they’ll actually do with their tax giveaways.

11/15 News Roundup: John Fetterman Announces Campaign For PA Lieutenant Governor, GOP Plan To Scrap ACA Mandate & More

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John Fetterman runs again, this time for lieut. governor

John Fetterman, the charismatic and tattooed mayor of this Pittsburgh suburb who ran a fiery but unsuccessful campaign for U.S. Senate last year, announced his campaign for lieutenant governor Tuesday morning.

“I’m going to be going out all across Pennsylvania, campaigning town to town [in] many of these forgotten places — second-chance cities, whatever you want to call them — that have become my professional passion,” he told about 100 supporters in a Braddock theater space.

He pledged to fight for progressive issues including a higher minimum wage, better police-community relations, and marijuana legalization.

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His campaign was endorsed by Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto. Peduto said that although much of contemporary politics foments division between communities, “There’s no one talking about the similarities” between the challenges faced by inner-city communities and more rural areas. “What is needed … is somebody who can not only speak for all, but who has proven through their leadership in a community that has been knocked down to its knees,” he said.

Fetterman grew up in York, and earned a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard University. He moved to Braddock after participating in an Americorps program that helped people earn high-school equivalency degrees, and ran for mayor in 2005, winning by a single vote.

More news/video/tweets/etc. in the comments, including:

*GOP Tax Bill Would Trigger $25 Billion in Cuts to Medicare, Warns CBO
*62 Natural Wonders of the World at Risk From Climate Change
*Study: Black People Are 75 Percent More Likely to Live Near Toxic Oil and Gas Facilities
*Congress, Trump Exploit Fire Tragedy to Promote Logging Agenda
*Dem wins Albuquerque mayoral race after eight years of GOP control
*Water Protector news, Pipeline updates & more

11/9 News Roundup – Bernie Breaks Down America’s Rigged Tax System, Three Americans Now Own More Wealth Than Bottom Half of US Combined & More

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Hello friends. Starting todays news roundup with a tweet:

& a video:

and then the rest of the days news will go in the comments, including:

*Sanders: Election ‘a referendum on the disastrous Trump administration’
Election Wins Give Climate/Anti Pipeline Action a Boost
*Maine’s governor won’t expand Medicaid despite approval of ballot measure
*Pacific Islanders Demand End of Fossil Fuels to Create ‘Better, More Just World’
*AT&T, Time Warner under pressure to dump CNN
*Pipeline Updates, Water Protector News & More

11/6 News Roundup – ‘Paradise Papers’ Reveal Shady Dealings of World’s Rich and Powerful, Sanders Urges Ohioans to Vote Yes on Issue 2 & More

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‘Paradise Papers’ Reveal Tax Avoidance, Shady Dealings of World’s Rich and Powerful

Some of the world’s wealthiest and most powerful people will be waking up on Monday to discover that some of their best kept secrets—how they hide their vast wealth and avoid paying taxes—are now being read about in newspapers across the world after the release of a trove of offshore legal and banking documents were leaked to journalists and published Sunday as a joint project called the ‘Paradise Papers.‘

“There is this small group of people who are not equally subject to the laws as the rest of us, and that’s on purpose,” said author and financial expert Brooke Harrington in response to the new insights about how these elites secretly manage their wealth.

As the ICIJ reports, the “trove of 13.4 million records exposes ties between Russia and U.S. President Donald Trump’s billionaire commerce secretary, the secret dealings of the chief fundraiser for Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the offshore interests of the Queen of England and more than 120 politicians around the world.” According to the ICIJ, the documents

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According to a summary by the Guardian, the ‘Paradise Papers’ reveal:

*Millions of pounds from the Queen’s private estate has been invested in a Cayman Islands fund – and some of her money went to a retailer accused of exploiting poor families and vulnerable people.
*Extensive offshore dealings by Donald Trump’s cabinet members, advisers and donors, including substantial payments from a firm co-owned by Vladimir Putin’s son-in-law to the shipping group of the US commerce secretary, Wilbur Ross.
*How Twitter and Facebook received hundreds of millions of dollars in investments that can be traced back to Russian state financial institutions.
*The tax-avoiding Cayman Islands trust managed by the Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau’s chief moneyman.
*Aggressive tax avoidance by multinational corporations, including Nike and Apple.

Speaking with the Guardian, economist Gabriel Zucman—who is releasing a study later this week about the interplay between tax havens and global inequality—says the two are intricately linked.

“Tax havens are one of the key engines of the rise in global inequality,” he said. “As inequality rises, offshore tax evasion is becoming an elite sport.”

More news/videos/etc. in the comments, including:

*Donna Brazile tells critics of Hillary Clinton revelations to ‘go to hell’
*Dem Establishment Shutting Out Progressives’ Access to NGP VAN
*Our renter’s republic is broken: one in five tenants can’t pay the rent
*Progressive group backs 3rd District Republican
*2017 set to be one of top three hottest years on record
*Pipeline news, Water Protector Updates & More

10/27 TPW News – American Doctors Join Sen. Bernie Sanders for Canadian Health Care Tour & More

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Happy Friday friends! What’s that you say? Start the day off with some Sanders news?

Well… if you insist!

American Doctors Join Sen. Bernie Sanders for Canadian Health Care Tour

Physicians want to learn how Canada provides universal coverage while spending half of what the U.S. does on health care.

WASHINGTON – This weekend, American physicians Claudia Fegan, M.D., and Richard Bruno, M.D., M.P.H, will join Sen. Bernie Sanders on a fact-finding delegation to Toronto, Canada. On Saturday, the delegation will tour three Canadian hospitals and speak with Canadian health care providers and patients. On Sunday, they will join Dr. Danielle Martin at the University of Toronto for a public event.

By exploring the Canadian system, the doctors hope to learn how a single-payer health system contributes to quality, access, equity, and cost efficiency. Canada spends $4,569 per capita (10% of GDP) on health care, while the U.S. spends $9,086 per capita (17% of GDP). Despite drastically lower health care spending, Canada provides its citizens with universal coverage. Canada also enjoys lower infant mortality and lower rates of deaths that could have been prevented with timely and effective health care.

“As a doctor who cares for uninsured patients, I’m especially curious to see how Canadians get their health care,” said Dr. Richard Bruno, a family physician based in Baltimore, Md. “The data suggests that Canadians enjoy better benefits and health outcomes for less money. How do they do it and how can we do it even better?

Dr. Claudia Fegan, a Chicago-based internist and chief medical officer for the Cook County Health and Hospital System and John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County, wants to learn how doctors practice medicine without having to deal with a fractured, profit-based health care system. “A majority of American doctors now support a single-payer health program,” says Dr. Fegan. “We can look to the experience of other nations to figure out how to get there.” She notes that 54% of American doctors say that time spent on administrative issues related to insurance or claims is a major problem, versus 20% of Canadian doctors.

Drs. Bruno and Fegan are both board members of Physicians for a National Health Program, a nonprofit research and educational organization of more than 21,000 doctors and health professionals who support a single-payer national health program.

More news, video, etc in the comments, including:

*Subsidy plan for coal and nuclear plants ‘will cost US taxpayers $10.6bn a year’
*Pipeline news, Water Protector updates & MOore

TPW News Roundup: Sanders vs Cruz Debate Reaction, How Climate Change and Wars Are Increasing World Hunger & More

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‘Don’t interrupt me while I’m interrupting you!’: Ted Cruz and Bernie Sanders ribbed each other nonstop at CNN’s debate

Sen. Bernie Sanders went head-to-head with Sen. Ted Cruz in a CNN town hall debate on the Republican Party’s tax plan on Wednesday night.

The polarizing topic has been at the center of Capitol Hill, as lawmakers have attempted to reform the tax code. Republicans, in an effort to pass the tax code, have explored trying to pass tax reform without Democratic support; while Democrats have complained that they have been left out of a crucial, bipartisan process in governing.

Included in the GOP tax plan is a 20% corporate tax rate, the elimination of the estate tax, and the implementation of three tax brackets.

Cruz defended the plan, saying on CNN, “Republicans want to lower the taxes for each and every person watching this debate,” and said that lowering the corporate tax rate would allow businesses to create more jobs.

Sanders, however, said the GOP’s tax plan is about giving “tax breaks to people who don’t need it.” The senator said he supports “a tax cut for the middle class and working families.”

Throughout the evening, the two senators threw several verbal jabs at each other’s expense.

As you can read In the liveblog below, the Bernie vs Cruz buget debate went as one might expect. (Bernie knows what he’s talking about and articulates it, Cruz does very little of either) There’s plenty of quotes, and tweets and all that stuff you might enjoy, so you may want to go check it out. I’ll be posting reactions articles in the comments but just incase you missed it and have time to spare, here it is:

https://youtu.be/tAZGxRmxMH0

(If this copy gets taken down I’ll find another version… because yet again for some reason these kind of things never make it to the MSM of your choices Youtube page)

More progressive news/video/etc. in the comments including:

*Mnuchin Gives Away the Game: “It’s Very Hard Not to Give Tax Cuts to the Wealthy”
*Cash In: Sanders Leads Pack in Fundraising
*Bernie Sanders leads Joe Biden in 2020 New Hampshire poll
*Pruitt Threatens to ‘Purge’ Scientists Who Refuse to Be Fossil Fuel Puppets
*Why Are Incarcerated Women Battling California Wildfires for as Little as $1 a Day?
*Pipeline updates, Water Protector, Indigenous News & More