“We estimate that 36% of federal income taxes unpaid are owed by the top 1%.” A new analysis by IRS researchers and academics published Monday morning estimates that the richest 1% of U.S. households don’t report around 21% of their income, often using complex tax avoidance strategies that allow them to outmaneuver the federal government’s increasingly rare audits of […]
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said this week that if Senate Democrats revive the talking filibuster in an effort to weaken the rule’s power as a tool of endless obstruction, he would speak until he “fell over” to try to block passage of a major expansion of voting rights as well as legislation aiming to protect LGBTQ people […]
“That’s what it was supposed to be.” President Joe Biden for the first time on Tuesday endorsed significantly overhauling the legislative filibuster by requiring senators who wish to obstruct to hold the floor and speak continuously, a major departure from the current no-show filibuster that allows lawmakers to tank bills with minimal effort. Previously averse to filibuster […]
“The Trump administration put politics over people’s lives.” A top-to-bottom review of Trump-era coronavirus guidance has identified public health recommendations issued under the banner of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that were “not primarily authored” by agency staff or backed by the best existing scientific evidence. Ordered by current CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, […]
A legislative fix is needed, said one observer, to prevent “a flood of new judgments from debt collectors to siphon stimulus funds out.” Direct payments from the newly approved coronavirus relief package began landing in people’s bank accounts with striking quickness this weekend, but a glaring shortcoming of the American Rescue Plan caused by the arcane procedural […]
“This is wild. I’ve honestly never seen something at this scale and speed in the time I’ve covered politics.” Direct payments ranging from $1,400 for individuals to $5,600 for families of four began landing in U.S. bank accounts late Friday, just over 24 hours after President Joe Biden signed into law a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package […]
“While Senate Republicans told us we cannot afford to provide $1,400 direct payments to the working class, they had no problem introducing a bill this week to repeal the estate tax.” Sen. Bernie Sanders, chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, called out Republican members of Congress on Thursday for demanding a permanent repeal of the […]
“This relief bill is the difference between dignity and despair for millions of America’s working families,” said Sen. Bernie Sanders. With the backing of three-quarters of the U.S. public but not a single Republican member of Congress, the House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package that would send direct payments to around […]
“Our Social Security system is in danger every day Andrew Saul remains in charge at the Social Security Administration.” A growing chorus of Democratic lawmakers, progressive advocacy groups, and labor unions is calling on President Joe Biden to immediately remove the two top officials at the Social Security Administration, lesser-known Trump appointees who have come […]