“You think that I’m giving away free stuff ? Wrong ! I am just suggesting your tax dollars get used for valuable public services instead of wasting billions on Wall Street bailouts, oil wars and corporate subsidies. Because it’s the billionaires who are getting free stuff.” Senator Bernie Sanders, Budget Committee Chair
Please share widely!
It is both fascinating and revealing that the Seditionists (formerly known as the “GOP”) refuse to support increased funding for IRS tax collection efforts.
The Seditionists have defunded the IRS for years, so that an ENORMOUS amount of taxes due are both not paid and not even demanded — nearly all from wealthy and ultra-wealthy Americans.
Any legislator who actually wants to see a mechanism for paying for the crucial infrastructure programs (the demand to do so is itself ludicrous, but that’s a different discussion) needs go no further than increasing IRS collections of taxes already due from the wealthy and ultrawealthy. The Seditionists refuse to do that, and have taken it off the table.
The Seditionists oppose EVERYTHING that the Joe Biden and Democrats propose because they have the misguided idea that in 2022 they can blame the resulting chaos on the Democrats.
The infrastructure bill can be paid for without raising taxes on anybody — all that is needed is to COLLECT taxes already due under current law.
The Seditionists, of course, oppose doing that because (a) their wealthy donors don’t want to meet their existing tax obligations and (b) they, like Donald Trump, want to increase chaos and disruption in hopes that voters will blame the resulting increased suffering on the Joe Biden and the Democrats.
I’m afraid 2022 will be a disaster for Dems. We hold very narrow majorities on both sides of Capitol Hill and the President’s party usually loses seats in the midterms.
If Americans chose the Seditionists in 2022, then the game is over.
Look for Donald Trump to be named Speaker of the House and Joe Biden to be impeached.
If 2022 goes down that way, then representative democracy in America is dead.
How do you think Wall Street will react to this scenario? I’m not convinced that very wealthy are keen on this, but maybe I’m wrong.
Wall Street will squeal like a stuck pig when they are forced to pay their fair share in taxes. Let them squeal!
“The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much ; it is whether we provide enough for those who have little.” FDR
I think Wall Street is just fine with whatever the Seditionists do, so long as they make no effort to recapture or restrain anything that Wall Street wants to do.
Not sure if this is the case anymore. I think a lot of traditionally economic conservative actors are appalled at the racism and division stokes by Trump and the chaos he brought the the markets. They already won their tax cuts and Supreme Court majority, which Biden won’t be able to take away. Just look at how Peter Thiel was ostracized. I could see Zuck and Bezos quietly go for Trump, if Biden keeps up his attempts to hold them accountable, but otherwise the rest of Wall Street seems to like Biden better. He won the money race, as did Hillary Clinton.
Democrats will NOT lose election if we FIGHT!
“Malefactors of great wealth…economic royalists…they are unanimous in their hatred of me and I welcome their hatred. There is nothing I like better than a good fight.” FDR
Liberals are afraid to take their own side in a fight.
I think we will lose in 22’ if we fail
to deliver bold transformative economic progress and get lost in fighting for the losing side of the culture war on policing, critical reception theory, and immigration. I’m personally to the left on those questions, but Drutman, Echelon polling, and now Dan Shorr have proven the real swing voter is economically progressibe and culturally conservative. Ditto Data for Progress. So maybe recruit candidates like Eric Adams with that winning profile?
The latter half of that sentence does not always ring true and I would even argue rings less true in our polarized environment. 2018 was a rejection of Trump but also a juicing of youth and bipoc turnout. Similarly, we saw the same juicing of turnout in 2020 matched to Trump only voters now only coming out when he’s on the ballot and not voting R downballot. So it’s hard to predict 22’. I don’t see McCarthy or McConnell making a compelling case to the American people that they have their back, the latter does not have Trumps either which could hurt his majority making efforts within his own caucus.
If I were to place a bet I would bet R House, D Senate in 22’. There are just not enough split districts anymore to fight over.
I still feel a bit burned by how few Senate seats we got in 2020.