Tax Reform

The Urgent Democratic Platform For 2020: 30 Goals For The Next Decade

Ronald 10 Comments

What MUST be part of the Democratic Party platform in 2020, no matter who is the Democratic Presidential nominee?

In no special order, it MUST include:

Medicare for all Americans of all ages
$15 minimum wage by 2022 everywhere in America and Paid Family Leave
Free public university and college tuition for the first two years or 60 credits of higher education
Wiping out of college debt which prevents many young people from marrying, having children, buying a home, having a future
Repeal of Citizens United, which has allowed corporations to be called people, and destroy political campaigns with large donations, and instead promote public financing of campaigns
Responsible Gun Control legislation
Protection of Women’s Rights, including abortion rights
Enforcement of gay and lesbian and transgender rights
A responsible immigration reform program, reversing the damage done by Donald Trump, Jeff Sessions, John Kelly, Kirstjen Nielsen, Stephen Miller and Thomas Homan
Revival of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties that have been curbed by Donald Trump
Protection of the Social Safety Net of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid
Labor Rights promoted, including prevention of “right to work” laws
Environmental regulations revived and strengthened
Consumer Rights revived and strengthened
Investment in infrastructure across America
Condemnation of violations of human rights in other nations, including Russia, China, Turkey, Egypt, the Philippines and elsewhere
Revival of NATO alliance and other alliances that have been weakened in the Trump Presidency
The end of protectionist tariffs, which undermine the American economy
Strengthening of relations with Cuba, and attempts to overcome strains and tensions with Iran, and revive the Iran Nuclear Deal
Promoting total separation of church and state, with religion not being promoted by government
Reenactment of responsible corporation and Wall Street reforms
Protection of Native American lands and properties
Criminal Justice Reforms for those not involved in violent Crimes
National restoration of Voting Rights to former convicts who have paid their debt to society
Decriminalizing Drug Use and Sales, so as to overcome the Opioid Crisis, and allow Medicinal Marijuana without penalty
Promoting funding for the Arts and Culture across America
Dealing with poverty and homelessness in America
Hurricane Relief for Puerto Rico and move toward statehood as the 51st state
Tax Reform to require a fair and equitable tax system for all, not just the wealthy
Reviving respect for Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Press

Would all of these 30 “planks” be successfully accomplished in the term of the next Democratic President from 2021-2025? Most certainly, highly unlikely, but these must be the goals of the next Democratic administration, as we attempt to recover from the disaster and tragedy of the Donald Trump nightmare!

Republican Tax Plan Will Hurt Middle Class, Promote More Concentration Of Wealth, And Will Kill Republican Majority Whether It Passes Or Not!

Ronald 3 Comments

The Republican Party’s attempt to promote “tax reform” will fail, whether it passes or not.

The likelihood is that Republicans in New York, New Jersey, Illinois, and California will refuse to vote for it, since it ends deduction of state and local income taxes on tax forms in those states.

It is also likely that a few Republicans in the US Senate will oppose it because of other aspects of the plan that make it uncomfortable to support.

The bill would victimize the middle class, and promote greater concentration of wealth in the top one percent and the corporations.

It would harm the white working class voters who put Donald Trump in office in Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Ohio.

The legislation adds $1.75 trillion to the national debt, and cuts so many programs and benefits, displeasing deficit hawks because of the former, and moderates and independents due to the latter.

Charities will be harmed by the legislation, and home builders and real estate agents will be affected by limits on mortgage interest deductions, making people less willing to buy homes, and instead to rent their housing.

Corporations will gain the most from the legislation, and many Americans are angry that many corporations already pay little or no taxes.

The legislation would also hurt Obamacare in a different form, even after failure to repeal it earlier this year, and no replacement is offered for millions of Americans who benefit from it.

The end of the estate tax, which affects so few people, also will displease the average American, who does not understand why all inheritances should be untouched in any way by taxes, as wealthy people have a responsibility to pay their fair share in life, as well as at the end of life, rather than pass on tens of millions to their heirs, without any responsibility to contribute to the future of American society.

Also, medical deductions would be limited, and students who have massive loan payments would not be able to deduct any of them on their tax return, undermining the sick and the young.

One can expect that this legislation will not pass, and therefore will harm the Republican Party, but if somehow it does pass, it also will harm the Republican brand in the 2018 midterm elections!

Donald Trump Declares War On Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, And Sean Hannity Calls On McConnell To Resign

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Donald Trump has declared war on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky on Twitter and in person, an unprecedented action for a President to break with the leader of his party in the US Senate. And his lackey, talk show host Sean Hannity of Fox News Channel, has called on McConnell to resign.

Trump is angry that McConnell was unable to “repeal and replace” ObamaCare, and has called upon him to resign or be replaced as leader of Republicans in the Senate, if he cannot get that accomplished, along with other priorities of Trump, including tax reform, and infrastructure spending, and getting the Mexico Wall built.

This is ironic, as Mitch McConnell’s wife, Elaine Chao, is Trump’s Secretary of Transportation, so one has to wonder how she feels about this attack on her husband by her boss.

It is clear that McConnell, for all his faults, and the strong dislike of progressives and Democrats for him, is still well respected, and fully supported by his Republican Senate colleagues. So this will not make Trump’s relations with the Senate Republicans improve, but rather will worsen them dramatically.

And this comes after Trump’s earlier criticisms of Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, who has been attacked by Trump, and even more viciously by the Alt Right faction led by Stephen Bannon, and his former home, Breitbart News.

Donald Trump seems to be moving toward severing his bonds with the party that elected him, and to declare himself an independent, unprecedented in American history, and if that happens, he will be a man without a party, who is attempting to grab more executive authority.

Two earlier Presidents, who had been Vice President and succeeded upon the death of the Presidents (William Henry Harrison and Abraham Lincoln) they served under, John Tyler and Andrew Johnson, also were Presidents without a party, when they alienated the Whig Party and Republican Party, respectively, by their policies, and Tyler faced impeachment, which was unsuccessful, while Johnson was impeached, and then found not guilty by the Senate by a margin of one vote. They had both been Democrats who agreed to run on a Fusion ticket in 1840 and 1864, and this blogger wrote about this on the History News Network on July 30, 2017, and can be found on the list of my published articles on the right side of the blog.

Trump has the makings of a Fascist dictator, and this will spur the move by Republicans to go after him, and impeach and remove him, as he is a menace to the party and to the nation.

Six Months Of Donald Trump: Neil Gorsuch, And Nothing Else Of Substance Other Than Executive Orders That Repeal Much Of 20th Century

Ronald 1 Comment

It has been six months since Donald Trump took the oath of office, and what does he have to show for it?

Well, there is Supreme Court Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch, approved by smallest margin since Clarence Thomas in 1991, and with changed rules, with the filibuster no longer applicable. Gorsuch would never have been approved if the filibuster still existed for Supreme Court nominees.

Other than that, nothing of substance, with the exception of a host of executive orders designed to destroy the Obama legacy and cut regulations dramatically in all areas of government, having a devastating effect on the progress made under Republican and Democratic Presidents going back to Theodore Roosevelt at the turn of the 20th century.

But no legislation has been passed, NONE!

Trump has been much better at dividing the nation, keeping his public opinion ratings under 40 percent, an all time low in the 70 plus years of Presidential ratings.

The promises have not been kept, as with the Mexico Wall, ending ObamaCare, Tax Reform, and Infrastructure Investment.

Trump has undermined environmental protections,

stripped labor protections,

made for high levels of stress for multiple millions on health care,

promoted high levels of corruption openly,

lied five times a day,

created a commission to investigate voter fraud that does not exist,

undermined respect for the law and the intelligence agencies and freedom of the press,

made wild and unsubstantiated accusations against Barack Obama,

created tension with our NATO allies,

been limited in his Muslim ban by the courts although winning a partial victory temporarily,

been far too friendly with Russia and Vladimir Putin,

failed to fill thousands of essential positions in the federal government and caused many bureaucrats to resign,

supported authoritarian dictatorships in many nations openly,

undermined our energy future by falsely claiming that coal has a long term future,

and promoted wealthy special interests on Wall Street despite his claims the would “clean the Swamp”.

His cabinet and other appointments are the absolute worst, most atrocious of any President, and the mean spirited, nasty nature of Trump and his cohorts has caused a loss of faith in the American future.

And all this and more, without, so far, any major international crisis, but with it lurking on the horizon, and the thought of how Trump will handle it when the crisis arises, is literally horrifying, and sure to cause loss of American lives!

The One Virtue Of The Government Shutdown: John Boehner And Mitch McConnell Will NOT Support Another Such Shutdown!

Ronald 5 Comments

The one virtue that comes out of the federal government shutdown, which cost the Gross Domestic Product $1.5 billion a day, a total of $24 billion for 16 days, is that it has convinced GOP leaders that the tactic will not work,

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has stated that he will NOT allow another government shutdown, as he is well aware how it has hurt the Republican brand, with nothing gained by the action. He will face a Tea Party opponent in the Kentucky Senate primary, including the opposition of former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and Senator Ted Cruz, but this should make a good case for opposition to those Tea Party lunatics who have no concern about the effect on the American economy of what they supported.

Speaker John Boehner has not stated quite the same sentiments, but it is clear that he will not support such a looney concept the next time, as he ended up backing away at the brink of the crisis.

Yes, McConnell and Boehner are both to be condemned for their handling of the situation, but at the end, both were ultimately responsible when push came to shove, and they and the Establishment Republicans have learned a hard lesson,

With the help of Wall Street, the Tea Party lunatics will face challenges in the primaries from mainstream Republican conservatives, and hopefully, some will lose their seats either to these establishment types, or the seats will swing over to the Democrats, with the chance of a Democratic takeover growing, and the likelihood of a Republican takeover of the US Senate a less likely scenario, as a result of the government shutdown and debt ceiling debacle.

As Barack Obama declared, it is time for serious action on immigration, tax reform, and the farm bill, instead of wasting time on what is ultimately a lost cause, the destruction of ObamaCare by repeal, which is NOT going to happen.

Anyone who seriously thinks the Tea Party Movement will triumph in 2014 and elect Ted Cruz President in 2016, with a Republican House and Senate, is certainly using hallucinatory drugs, and needs to be hospitalized for mental observation!

Can The “Gang Of Six” In The Senate Promote A Solution To National Debt Crisis?

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In the midst of the national debt crisis, and the issue of the extension of the debt limit just around the corner, six US Senators, three Democrats and three Republicans, have been meeting for months trying to come up with a plan that can be accepted by both parties, and show the American people that the politicians in Washington can work together on an issue that is threatening the short term and long term stability of the economy.

The Democrats are Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois, Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, and Senator Kent Conrad of North Dakota. The Republicans are Senator Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, and Senator Michael Crapo of Idaho.

No matter what these six Senators come up with, it could fail in the Republican controlled House of Representatives, if the extremist Tea Party people refuse to budge on tax reform or tax increases on the wealthy and corporations, even by getting rid of tax loopholes and tax breaks.

It is clear there will have to be not only tax increases, as well as cuts in military spending, but also reforms of Medicare and Medicaid that will not destroy the system but modify it, and long range planning to change the full Social Security age and tax all income on Social Security, instead of the limit on contributions now in the law.

This is a time for politicians to do what needs to be done, without fear of losing their seats in future elections, and to take the philosophical view that they would rather do what is proper and sensible to do, than to bend to extremists who have no understanding of the need for change, and only want to promote their one sided, impractical, and dangerous views of the future of the nation, despite the realities of the urgency of action!