Tag Archives: US Senate

10/27-28 News Roundup & OT

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Senate Democrats unveil plan to hit 700 billionaires like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos with major tax hikes

Senate Democrats are chasing the growing pile of wealth held by some of the wealthiest Americans.

They rolled out a proposal on Wednesday to tax roughly 700 of the nation’s billionaires to finance what will be a slimmed-down spending package containing President Joe Biden’s economic agenda.

The plan was authored by Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, chair of the Senate Finance Committee. It would apply to taxpayers earning above $100 million in annual income or those holding at least $1 billion in assets for three years.

“The Billionaires Income Tax would ensure billionaires pay tax every year, just like working Americans,” Wyden said in a statement. “We have a historic opportunity with the Billionaires Income Tax to restore fairness to our tax code and fund critical investments in American families.”

These superwealthy Americans would fall subject to the usual 23.8% capital gains tax on the increased value of unsold assets like stocks and bonds. Figures like Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos could choose to pay their first tax bill in equal installments over a five-year period, according to Wyden’s proposal.

It’s meant to give affected taxpayers time to come up with enormous sums of cash. For people like Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Bezos, the initial value of their stock was zero and they’d be on the hook for what it’s worth today.

A 25-year technical strategy veteran shares 5 altcoins near or at 52-week highs that are about to break out — and explains why the 4th quarter is ‘a very positive time’ for bitcoin

If successfully implemented, the plan would usher in a significant overhaul of a tax code that’s chiefly been focused on income up to now. Billionaires often pay much lower taxes compared to everyone else because they accumulate wealth from the climbing value of their stock and company holdings. Those aren’t subject to capital-gains taxes until they are sold, known then as a realized gain. Once sold it’s taxed at a lower, preferential rate compared to workers’ income.

What Democrats want to do is compel billionaires to pay taxes on the growing value of their assets annually, treating it as income. But the richest Americans could also take deductions if they suffer heavy losses.

More news, perspectives and of course, your comments! Join us in the comments section below!

2/5 News Roundup and OT

The Progressive Wing Posted on by

Senate vote paves way for passage of Biden’s economic relief plan

The Senate approved a budget bill early Friday that paves the way for passage of President Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package, with Vice President Harris casting the tiebreaking vote on the measure that will be key to enacting Biden’s first major legislative initiative.

Passage of the budget bill by a 51-to-50 vote came just after 5:30 a.m. Friday, after an all-night Senate session during which senators plowed through dozens of amendments in a chaotic process known as a “vote-a-rama.” Democrats cheered on progress to address the pandemic, while Republicans complained of partisanship and excessive spending.

The House, which approved its own budget bill on Wednesday, is expected to act on on the Senate’s version within a day.

With the budget resolution nearly complete, Congress can turn in earnest to writing Biden’s expansive pandemic relief proposal into law — and push it through the Senate, without Republican votes if necessary, under the special rules unlocked by the budget legislation. That process will take weeks, with Democrats eyeing mid-March as the deadline for final passage of the relief legislation because that is when enhanced unemployment benefits will expire if Congress doesn’t act first.

“With the passage of this resolution we have the opportunity not only to address the pandemic, to address the economic collapse, to address the reality that millions of kids have seen their education disrupted,” said Senate Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). “We have the opportunity to give hope to the American people and restore faith in our government to fight for them.”

Despite Biden’s campaign promises of unity and bipartisanship, now that Democrats control both chambers of Congress and the White House they appeared ready to leave Republicans behind. Republican senators accused Democrats of hypocrisy and argued that, after already devoting $4 trillion to fighting the pandemic, including $900 billion in December, there was no need to spend another $2 trillion on what they termed a wish-list of liberal priorities.

“This is not the time for trillions more dollars to make perpetual lockdowns and economic decline a little more palatable,” said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). “Notwithstanding the actual needs, notwithstanding all the talk about bipartisan unity, Democrats in Congress are plowing ahead. They’re using this phony budget to set the table to ram through their $1.9 trillion rough draft.”

The House passed the budget legislation on Wednesday, with all Republicans opposed.

More news, videos, etc in the comments section. TGIF!

11/18 Rev. Raphael Warnock for Senate

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Birdies – do you think we ought to add Rev Warnock to our Senate Progressive Candidates list?

I think he’s got potential. I noticed that Breitbart and some of the RWNJ rags are trying to frame Warnock as someone who can’t be a moral authority from a church and support the legality of Roe v Wade. Warnock was endorsed by Planned Parenthood last May, but I guess no one took his candidacy very seriously then. He says that reproductive rights are very much aligned with his views of healthcare and justice.

Warnock how the Democratic Party’s support for abortion rights fits with his role as a “minister, a leader of the church, (and) a man of God.”

Warnock serves as the senior pastor of Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church, where both Martin Luther King Sr. and Martin Luther King Jr. served as pastors.

The pastor responded to Bryant’s question by declaring that he believes that health care is a “human right” and “something that the richest nation in the world provides for its citizens.”

“[A]nd for me, reproductive justice is consistent with my commitment to that,” he stated. “I believe unequivocally in a woman’s right to choose.”

Warnock argued that a woman’s decision to have an abortion as “something that we don’t want government engaged in,” adding that such a decision is “between her and her doctor and her minister.”

Regarding climate change, he supports moving towards a GND. According to his campaign’s website, Warnock believes

Reverend Warnock believes that solutions to climate change are moral issues and that we can act on the consensus that already exists among Americans by ignoring Washington special interests and putting effective, common sense policies in place. Starting with rejoining the Paris Climate Accords and restoring America’s place as a leader in the fight for climate justice we can achieve this. As a Senator, he will advocate for the United States to:

  • Rejoin the Paris Climate Accords and build upon the international commitment to fighting climate change;
  • Work to reverse the Trump Administration’s attack on the Environmental Protection Agency and standards for clean air and water;
  • Prepare Georgia’s coastline for rising sea-levels with investments in green infrastructure, structural reinforcement and climate science;
  • Push for investment in resources, infrastructure, and education in communities of color to benefit in energy cost savings;
  • Advocate for marginalized people to receive training and education to participate in the green new economy and jobs;
  • Set goals for carbon reduction and robust climate standards for newly manufactured cars and infrastructure;
  • Encourage investment in clean energy and commit to transitioning to a clean economy by 2050; and
    Hold polluters and utility companies accountable

One can tell that his work with Rev Barber and Al Gore illustrates he’s not a newcomer to environmental justice. From his website:

Reverend Warnock has focused on the work of environmental justice throughout his time at Ebenezer Baptist Church, helping organize and lead a public interfaith mass meeting on climate change with the Reverend William Barber II and Vice President Al Gore. He is proud to have the endorsement of the League of Conservation Voters and is committed to fighting climate change and environmental racism in the U.S. Senate.

His emphasis on climate justice is guided by his faith and his understanding that “the Earth is the Lord’s.” He believes that we must be stewards of the earth our children will inherit, and that we all should have the right to clean air and water. He also understands that our harm to the planet often causes those who can least afford it to experience the most tragic consequences, often communities of color and lower income populations.

Understanding the disproportionate impacts of climate change on marginalized communities, Reverend Warnock’s view of environmental justice doesn’t just focus on addressing long term challenges, but everyday problems. That means addressing the lack of access to clean water and air in many impoverished communities and the higher share of income many Black and brown households pay in energy bills, often as a result of limited cost saving tools like alternative energy sources. He also believes in working toward a clean economy that will create jobs, reduce pollution, and produce a world that our children can inherit.

I’d like to nominate Rev Warnock to be added to our candidates list (maybe start it as a 2021 list?) and have a link added to his profile.

Thoughts? Feel free to add other things you may like or have concerns.