Grotesque Tax Bill Advances

With John McCain’s announcement this afternoon that he will support the grotesque tax bill now before the Senate, the odds that the bill will pass have improved significantly.

In its (and McCain’s) defense, the bill does address one glaring deficiency under which the United States suffers: insufficient inequality. Today, our country still lags behind Mexico, among our fellow OECD members, when it comes to economic inequality. With the passage of the GOP’s tax reform, which will supercharge the upward redistribution of income and wealth, it becomes conceivable that we could match or surpass Mexico. We would still lag the level of inequality that existed in France under Louis XIV—not called the Sun King because he was a pauper!—but that would only give the Republicans a new target to shoot at.

Why did McCain decide to give Trump a victory this time around? We can only conclude that increasing inequality runs deep in Republicans’ DNA; it’s as reflexive, and as thoughtful, as the bounce of a knee when hit by a hammer.

A larger hammer is now poised to descend on the 99 percent. ~ HAROLD MEYERSON

PROGRESSIVE ALLIANCE ORGANIZING MEETING -- SATURDAY, DECEMBER 2ND, 11AM-1PM

16 Women and Donald Trump

Dreamers Disrupt Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

This morning I disrupted the Macy's Day Parade in NYC with to demand permanent protection, dignity, and respect for my community. We are going to do whatever it takes for our right to live in the country we call home.

But I need you. We need you. Can you support us?  

We are organizing National Days of Action on December 4th and 5th and a mass mobilization in Washington, DC on December 7th and 8th to continue the fight for #OurDream -- and win permanent protection for young undocumented immigrants.

We need to raise $20,000 to make these mobilizations a reality. Can you contribute now?

We are your classmates, your coworkers, and your neighbors. We are not just the future of this country, but we are also the present workers that it depends on. We are millions of young undocumented students and workers who are the backbones of our schools, industries, and communities.

Autopsy: An Analysis of What Went Wrong with the Democratic Party in 2016

Trump, GOP Tax Plan is Class War

And the 0.1% are winning. 

 Bill Barclay

The Trump/GOP “Unified Framework” tax plan has something for everyone – if by everyone you mean the wealthy, corporate and non-corporate businesses and the alt-right.  The plan embodies both the neoliberal class warfare that believes poor people have too much money and rich people have too little money and connects with the social conservative politics that the Trump and the GOP draws upon to mobilize its supporters. 

Class Warfare: I

Some of the class warfare politics of the Trump/GOP proposals are obvious; others less so.  The proposal provides a small tax cut for households in the bottom three quintiles, ranging from about 0.5 – 1.2% of after tax income in all cases well under the $1,182/family income boost claimed by Rep. Paul Ryan.  At the upper end of the income pyramid, the story is much different.  Over half of the total tax cuts for individuals will accrue to the top 1% of households, boosting their after tax incomes by 8.5%. Of course, life can be even better: the top 0.1% households would grab an average tax cut of almost $750,000, capturing over 30% of the total tax cuts for families and individuals.  

And Trump has not neglected people like himself.  He – and others in his income and wealth sphere – will gain in three ways from the changes in the individual income tax.  First, the elimination of the alternative minimum tax (AMT): in 2005, Trump paid $38.4 million on income over $150 million – but without the AMT he would have paid only $7.1 million. 

Call Congress- Demand a Clean Dream Act

antiracismdsa: Call Congress- Demand a Clean Dream Act: See post  and photo below:   Undocumented and Unafraid.  " I am doing this because we need change in our immigration system and...

Taxes, the Oligarchy, and Trump

WATCH: 16 Women Tell Their Heartbreaking Stories of Sexual Assault By Trump @alternet

WATCH: 16 Women Tell Their Heartbreaking Stories of Sexual Assault By Trump @alternet: A new film presents a powerful case against the president. Among the deluge of sexual assault accusations pouring in against powerful men around the country, it’s critical to remember that Donald Trump is among the accused. At least 16 women have charged Trump with sexual assault or harassment, and allegations date back three decades. A documentary short from Brave New Films compiles statements from those 16 women, creating story “together is incredibly powerful, and damning.”

How a Socialist Beat One of Virginia’s Most Powerful Republicans | New Republic

How a Socialist Beat One of Virginia’s Most Powerful Republicans | New Republic

Another step toward an authoritarian state ?

Another step toward an authoritarian state-  Government interference in news reporting.  Defend institutions. ( News Media).  On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century.  Timothy Snyder.  2017.

AT&;T’s proposed $85-billion purchase of Time Warner Inc. is encountering stiff resistance from the U.S. Department of Justice, which is pressuring the companies to sell Time Warner’s news channel, CNN, to win approval of the deal.

The move — which analysts called “unprecedented” — could set up a titanic court battle should the Justice Department sue AT&T to block its purchase of Time Warner. The Justice Department has told AT&T to divest its Turner Broadcasting unit, which includes CNN, Cartoon Network, TBS, TNT and Turner Classic Movies — or sell its satellite television unit, DirecTV.

"This has become political," said one person close to the situation who was not authorized to comment. "It's all about CNN."

President Trump has made no secret of his disdain for CNN, calling the 24-hour channel “fake news.” But the move to require the companies to sell assets, in part because of news coverage, appears to be taking his opposition to CNN to a new level.

Stand Up for the Homeless

November 8, 2017 Noon – 1 PM

Gather @ City Hall to check in at 11:30 AM


Join Mayor Steinberg, Supervisor Kennedy, Councilmember Guerra and hundreds of your neighbors to form a human chain to link City Hall with the County Board of Supervisors to support one unified plan to end hunger and homelessness in our community.

Over 250,000 of our neighbors go hungry everyday while nearly 4,000 of our neighbors are homeless - 2,000 of which call the streets, alleys and parks their "home."

It is time for us to stand as one across I street and say Sacramento will no longer manage hunger & homelessness – we can and will end & prevent it!

Teachers' Strike Averted !

The Sacramento City Unified School District and its teachers union have reached an tentative agreement on a new contract that gives teachers up to an 11 percent raise over the three-year deal and averts a strike for the 43,000-student district.

The deal was finalized Monday after being brokered over the weekend by Mayor Darrell Steinberg, schools Superintendent Jorge Aguilar and the Sacramento City Teachers Association.

The agreement, announced Monday afternoon at City Hall, ended more than a year of bitter contract negotiations and rhetoric between the district and the teachers union. The deal came just two days before the union’s 2,800 members planned to strike.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article183073406.html#storylink=cpy

Teachers' Unions Defend Public Education

By Diane Ravitch

The only things that stand between the privatization movement and its destruction of public education are teachers’ unions.

For the past three decades, a well-organized and wealthy alliance has created a false narrative about the “failure” of public schools and the necessity of turning children over to privately managed schools, private schools, religious schools, and even cyber schools. Their stated goal is “school choice,” but their true goal is to redirect public funding to private hands. As Rupert Murdoch memorably said, the $500 billion public education market is a market ripe for entrepreneurs.

Free public education—open to all and democratically controlled—is one of the pillars of our democracy. The privatization movement is led by billionaire-funded nonprofits such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Edythe and Eli Broad Foundation, and the right-wing Walton Family Foundation. Hedge fund managers, equity investors, technology companies, and Wall Street have donated millions of dollars to create new charter schools and to aid state and local political candidates who support them. The great appeal of charter schools to entrepreneurs and Wall Street is that more than 90% of them are non-union. Every Republican governor and legislature has endorsed charter schools, and many have enacted voucher programs, despite the specific prohibitions in their state constitutions against sending public money to religious schools.

Support the Teachers' Strike

Hands Across J. Street

November 8, 2017   Noon – 1 PM Gather @ City Hall to check in at 11:30 AM

Join Mayor Steinberg, Supervisor Kennedy, Councilmember Guerra and hundreds of your neighbors to form a human chain to link City Hall with the County Board of Supervisors to support one unified plan to end hunger and homelessness in our community. Over 250,000 of our neighbors go hungry everyday while nearly 4,000 of our neighbors are homeless - 2,000 of which call the streets, alleys and parks their "home."   It is time for us to stand as one across I street and say Sacramento will no longer manage hunger & homelessness – we can and will end & prevent it!

 

SPONSORED BY:

Sacramento Regional Coalition to End Homelessness & Sacramento Hunger Coalition

Area Congregations Together [ACT]

Cottage Housing, Inc.

Elk Grove Food Bank Services

First Steps Communities

HandsOn Sacramento – Regional Center for Volunteerism

Interfaith Council of Greater Sacramento

Loaves & Fishes

Mutual Housing California

River City Food Bank

Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services

Sacramento Housing Alliance

Sacramento Self Help Housing

Stockton Blvd. Community Development Corporation

Studio 81 International, Inc.

Uptown Studios

Volunteers of America, NCNN

Wind Youth Services

Women’s Empowerment

TO REGISTER & PURCHASE AN EVENT T-SHIRT:  WWW.SRCEH.ORG

FOR MORE INFORMATION:  Bob Erlenbusch, Executive Director       916-993-7708   bob@srceh.org

Law & Oranger

Progressive Alliance Organizing Meeting Saturday, 11/2

Trump's Trojan Horse Tax Plan I Robert Reich