MAJOR FOREIGN HOLDERS OF TREASURY SECURITIES (in billions of dollars) Don’t have a lot to say except to note that previous versions of this table lumped together “Oil Producers” and “Caribbean Banking Centers” while this disaggregates them. This leaves the Cayman Islands in third place at $265 bn while putting Saudi Arabia down to 13th […]
The AFL-CIO’s plans for a super PAC to take down Donald Trump ran into a big snag Monday, when one of the labor federation’s major affiliates objected to the involvement of billionaire climate activist Tom Steyer. Sean McGarvey, president of the AFL-CIO-affiliated North America’s Building Trades Unions, co-signed a letter with seven other union presidents urging federation President Richard […]
But one of Trump’s campaign advisers suggested Wednesday that Trump might indeed change Social Security and Medicare — but only after he has been in office for a while. “After the administration has been in place, then we will start to take a look at all of the programs, including entitlement programs like Social Security […]
A key to beating Trump is to point out that on fiscal and other domestic policy at least, the election contest will not be to determine whether there will be another President Clinton or instead a President Trump. There will be either a new President Clinton or a President Manafort. Every time Trump tries to […]
by Linda Beale Religion and Tax–not an easy issue The Atlantic magazine has an article in the May 3 2016 issue asking “Should Courts Get to Define Religion?” The article deals with a Catholic shrine in Attleboro Massachusetts, Shrine of Our Lady of LaSalette, that covers almost 200 acres of land and includes what are […]
One charge against Sanders by the likes of Paul Krugman that I just could not abide—there were others, but this post is about this one—was that while Clinton was actively soliciting campaign funds for the Democratic Party to use for down-ballot candidates, Sanders was not. In a post here about that a couple of weeks […]
I would borrow, knowing that if the economy crashed, you could make a deal. — Donald Trump, during CNBC interview, yesterday BRET BAIER: You’ve been very clear on the stump that you oppose any reform of Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security. Yet you told the Washington Post you would eliminate $20 trillion in U.S. national debt […]
Needless to say, Donald Trump has expressed some odd ideas on the US national debt. He has argued that we can’t afford this or that because we are 19 trillion in debt, promised to pay back the debt in 8 years, & asserted that the debt is no big problem (one out of three right […]
by Linda Beale IRS Scrutiny of 501(c)(3)s As most everybody is aware by now, the IRS has been under considerable strain for a number of years from budget and staff reductions that have left it underfunded, understaffed, and under pressure. This is part of the right’s effort to “shrink the government to a bathtub and […]
by Linda Beale Defending the IRS Against Right-Wing Attacks The IRS is a government agency that endures all kinds of hostile attacks. Most people don’t really like to pay taxes. Even I don’t really “like” paying taxes, though I do recognize the importance of paying taxes and supporting the societal infrastructure that pays for the […]