Mediaboss Marketing

The Biden administration is on a massive spending spree. Connecticut progressives want to follow suit. Last week, Biden released a trial balloon proposing how to pay for his spree. Unsurprisingly, the idea is massive tax increases for corporations and upper-income individuals, including a near doubling of the top capital gains tax rate from 23.8% to 43.8%.

Connecticuts progressives have proposed more than a billion dollars of new spending, primarily on vague social justice goals (building wealth in underserved communities and reducing income inequality), all to be funded by new taxes imposed exclusively upon upper-income taxpayers, including a capital gains tax surcharge.

A largely unaccountable new off-budget vehicle, the Connecticut Equitable Investment Fund, is to carry out the new spending and collect the new taxes, which, therefore, are to be exempt from budget restraints meant to prevent unaffordable spending.

The new federal taxes will render new state taxes unnecessary and counterproductive unnecessary, because capital gains tax increases always cause high-income taxpayers to take every possible gain before the higher rates take effect. This results in a one-time surge in federal revenue and in state revenue in any state which taxes capital gains, whether as part of regular taxable income, as in Connecticut now, or with a separate tax. Connecticut will get much of the money progressives want without imposing additional taxes they seek.

New Connecticut taxes on the wealthy would be counterproductive. The federal tax hikes will concentrate the minds of high-income individuals who will focus on ways to reduce their taxes, with a move to a lower-tax state an obvious option.

Connecticut Democrats have imposed a relentless parade of annual tax increases that have cumulated into a significant tax bite. Already, the state has suffered significant net outmigration of higher income citizens and major businesses, primarily to distant states with lower taxes and more business-friendly environments.

Gov. Ned Lamont understands this and has said he would veto proposed new spending and taxes. However, his hands arent clean. He has resurrected his moribund highway toll proposal in the form of a new truck mileage tax and has agreed to new taxes on marijuana and online gambling. These initiatives are largely regressive. Progressives are likely to demand progressive taxation in return.

All of this taxation ignores the states fundamental fiscal problem: overgenerous and unsustainable state employee compensation, which is consuming more of the budget and squeezing out state services.

The massive influx of federal assistance wont solve this problem. Even the latest round has been spent already: $1.8 billion of the $2.6 billion is merely financing the existing budget, replacing, dollar for dollar, a previously planned draw-down from the Budget Reserve Fund. Another $250 million will go to COVID testing. Only $75 million will remain available in three years.

Progressive Democrats have recognized this and have created the off-budget Equitable Fund (CEIF). Going off-budget exempts CEIF from various budget restraints, or caps in particular, the volatility cap. The caps serve to divert money away from state services and send it, first, to the Budget Reserve Fund, and then into the state employee and teacher pension funds.

This fiscal year $427 million was deposited into the pension funds. Next year $410 million will be deposited.

The budget caps were adopted to achieve fiscal stability in a bipartisan effort in 2017. However, they have done nothing to limit state employee compensation. Perversely, the caps have done the opposite, channeling funds into the woefully underfunded pension fund, thereby, relieving pressure to scale back compensation.

The progressive authors of the CEIF are right to try to interrupt this diversion of money. However, a better solution would be to maintain the caps but direct the money from the BRF to broader purposes for example, transportation, which would eliminate the need for Lamonts new truck mileage tax. Massively overgenerous state employee compensation should simply be reduced to national average levels for both active and retired state employees.

One can understand the frustration of progressives who see budget caps diverting funds to supposed allies, state employees, who are making out like bandits while their constituents see service cutbacks.

It is time to address unfair state employee compensation. To ignore it and, instead, to raise taxes and spending will backfire as taxpayers leave the state, tax receipts ultimately decline, and service cuts become unavoidable.

Red Jahncke is a freelance columnist based in Connecticut.

Read more from the original source:
Red Jahncke: State's progressives should jump off the Biden bandwagon - Journal Inquirer

Progressives have a message for President Biden, and Wednesday night they delivered it in a formal response to his first address to Congress.

Progressives have a message for President Biden, and Wednesday night they delivered it in a formal response to hisfirst address to Congress.

"We've always said that the election of Joe Biden is the door but not the destination," says Maurice Mitchell, the national director of the Working Families Party.

The Working Families Party, a prominent left-leaning group, tapped Congressman Jamaal Bowman of New York to deliver its response.

The move is unusual because Bowman is a member of the president's own party. Traditionally, the opposition party offers a response when the president delivers a speech to Congress and it's usually critical.

But the point of Bowman's speech wasn't to criticize the president or open a rift between the Democratic Party. It's goal was to complement the president's speech and highlight the kinds of action the left wants to see from the White House moving forward.

"A combination of affirming the things that we hear Joe Biden say that we align with and then going a step further towards how we actually get there," explains Mitchell.

For decades, the party without control of the White House has delivered a rebuttal of presidential addresses. When the president is a Democrat, the response is usually given by a Republican, and vice versa.

This year was no different, with Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina delivering the GOP's rebuttal.

The proliferation of social media has led other party leaders to jump in the game and offer their own responses via live-stream. The practice has been embraced by tea party groups to major political figures, like Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

The Working Families Party, for one, started delivering its own response separate from the Democratic Party during the Trump administration. It decided to continue the tradition with the Biden administration.

"It's about inspiring everyday people to take up the mantle of change," Mitchell tells Newsy of the progressive response.

Last year, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts spoke on behalf of the Working Families Party. In 2019, it was delivered by Wisconsin's Lieutenant Governor, Mandela Barnes. And Donna Edwards, the former Maryland congresswoman, did it in 2018.

Top lawmakers and activists on the Left are generally happy with the Biden administration so far.

"President Biden has definitely exceeded expectations that progressives had," Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., said of the president's relationship with progressives earlier this week.

But they credit some of that goodwill to their dedication to holding him accountable and making sure their voices are heard at the White House.

And the Working Families Party says Bowman was the right person to convey that message.

"Congressman Bowman is a regular person," explains Mitchell. "He's an educator that grew up in his district, that understands in a very real way the contradictions and challenges that everyday working class people are trying to deal with."

Continued here:
Progressives Respond To President Biden's First Address To Congress - Newsy

In looking to "rebuild our nation with a new foundation," progressives are pushing Congress to move forward with reparations for African Americans and for President Joe Biden to tell police in no uncertain terms to "stop killing us."

Biden has faced criticism from Republicans and progressives within his own party. On the eve of his 100th day as president, Democratic Representative Jamaal Bowman of New York advised Biden to "think bigger." Delivering the progressive response on behalf of the Working Families Party to Biden's joint address of Congress, Bowman outlined the progressive agenda to address structural racism, climate change, police brutality, and inequality in America.

Bowman highlighted six specific pieces of legislation that Congress must pass, including H.R. 40. The bill was introduced by Democratic Representative Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas, and if signed into law, would establish a commission to study reparations for African Americans. After studying slavery and discrimination that African Americans faced from 1619 to the present day, the commission would make recommendations about the appropriate remedies.

"More than anything, America needs a process of truth and collective healing. We have to be honest with ourselves about the ugliness of our history and the discrimination that persists. Only then will we meet the ideals of our democracy and get one step closer to realizing the American experiment," Bowman said.

Jackson, who also brought up the measure in 2019, reintroduced it in January in the House where it's been making its way through the Judiciary Committee. The call for reparations, she said in a 2019 statement, represents a commitment to entering a "constructive dialogue" on the role slavery and racism played in shaping modern society.

The proposal was first introduced in 1989 by the late Representative John Conyers. In April, the House Judiciary Committee voted to advance the bill for the first time. However, it faces an uphill battle. No House Republicans signed on to co-sponsor the legislation, and the GOP could block the measure in the Senate because Democrats don't have the votes needed to overcome the filibuster.

The measure had gained momentum after George Floyd's murder last May. Bowman said now is the time to "address the burning crisis of structural racism in our country." The representative said a "little piece of me dies," when he watches a video of a Black or Brown person "die at the hands of police violence."

"I have one message for law enforcement, stop killing us!" Bowman said. "I need for President Biden to say the same thing. Black people are not for target practice. We are simply trying to survive in a world stacked against us."

Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted in Floyd's death on April 20. Following the verdict, Biden quickly condemned Chauvin's actions as "murder in the full light of day."

"Most men and women who wear the badge serve their communities honorably," Biden said. "Those few [officers] who fail to meet that standard must be held accountable. And they were today; one was. No one should be above the law. And today's verdict sends that message. But it is not enough. We can't stop here."

With Biden's support, House Democrats passed the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act in March. The bill would ban chokeholds and qualified immunity for law enforcement, a measure Bowman called on the Senate to pass.

Regardless of a person's profession, Bowman said people need to be held accountable for their actions and that "police cannot be above the law."

"We need to rebuild our nation with a new foundation ... We need to seize this moment ... We are capable of big, powerful, transformative change," Bowman said.

Go here to see the original:
Progressives Want Biden to Tell Police 'Stop Killing Us' and to Implement Reparations - Newsweek

Ahead of President Joe Bidens 100-day mark, the FDR comparisons abound. Jonathan Alter, author of a book on Franklin Delano Roosevelts own first hundred days, called Biden FDRs heir in a New York Times op-ed. David Gergen, former adviser to Republican and Democratic presidents alike, said the 46th president bears some important similarities to the 32nd. During the election campaign, Bidens aides even told New York magazine their candidate was planning an FDR-size presidency.

But thats not the whole picture. Even Gergen conceded that Biden is no Roosevelt not yet, at least. Whether he actually lives up to that mantle will depend not just on how well Biden leads but on how well he listens to the voices urging him toward a more progressive future.

Just by the numbers, Biden hasnt matched FDRs opening intensity. Roosevelt pushed 15 major bills through Congress in a frenzy of activity between March and June 1933. Since January, Biden has passed, well, one. Dont get me wrong: The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan is the most ambitious and progressive legislation of my lifetime. Who would have imagined Biden would try to emulate Roosevelt or Lyndon B. Johnson in his first three months?

More important than the quantity of bills passed, though, is the quality. Both of those Democratic presidents delivered lasting institutional change think Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid. Biden has yet to be able to say the same.

So lets look beyond the first 100 days. Biden could still emulate FDR in another crucial way. It is said that a group of civil rights activists and labor leaders, including A. Philip Randolph, once met with Roosevelt prior to the start of World War II to insist he use the power of the presidency to take action against discrimination in the workplace. Youve convinced me, FDR responded, having listened to them lay out their demands. Now go out and make me do it.

The story is almost certainly apocryphal (though, to be fair, singer Harry Belafonte claimed to have heard a version of it from Eleanor Roosevelt herself.) True or not, the point of the story is clear: Politicians inside the system need allies outside of it; outsiders willing to publicly pressure them and, on occasion, provide cover for bold, outside-the-box moves. To quote essayist Ta-Nehisi Coates: Politicians respond to only one thing power. This is not the flaw of democracy, its the entire point. Its the job of activists to generate, and apply, enough pressure on the system to affect change.

Some on the left have argued the story of FDRs response to Randolph has been misinterpreted because "politicians, as a rule, do not like being pressured by movements they cannot control and often lash out at those who demand that they take more principled or politically risky stands," as Dissent put it.

This was definitely how Biden behaved, at times, during the Democratic primaries. He never pretended to be at the head of a transformational movement, a la his former boss, Barack Obama. He didnt enter office backed by a loyal cult, as his predecessor, Donald Trump, did.

Yet he and his administration have spent these first 100 days embracing the progressive wing of his party, along with labor unions, youth groups, climate campaigners and sundry activists. Progressives say theyre being included, heard and respected by the Biden White House, Politico reported in February.

Compare and contrast this outreach with the Obama era, in which White House press secretary Robert Gibbs dismissed people on the professional left who ought to be drug-tested, and White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel denounced liberal activists as "f---ing retarded.

Biden, on the other hand, proudly invoked Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders support for the American Rescue Plan in the immediate aftermath of its passage through the Senate. His chief of staff, Ronald Klain, has been dubbed the left whisperer, having become a point of rapid response for many on the left who are angling to get within earshot of the president, The Daily Beast wrote.

Real access has been matched by real impact. Does anyone really believe the Biden who launched his presidential campaign in 2019 looking for a middle ground on climate issues would have committed to cutting U.S. carbon emissions in half by 2030 without pressure from groups like the Sunrise Movement?

During the Democratic primaries, the youth-led environmental group gave Bidens climate plan an F. Since Bidens inauguration, however, the group has been pushing at an open door in the White House. I feel like were getting a little bit spoiled for future presidents, Varshini Prakash, the movements co-founder, told the Washington Post in April. I think its pretty wild that theres a [White House] chief of staff who you can email who actually gets back to you.

Outside pressure works in myriad ways. Not only have activists pushed the centrist Biden toward more progressive goals on everything from the climate to infrastructure, they have also forced the administration to change course on certain issues, often reversing bad decisions or policies in the process.

On March 7, White House communications director Kate Bedingfield told CNN the presidents preference is not to end the filibuster. He wants to work with Republicans, to work with independents. One week later, Klain told me Biden believes if we could leave the filibuster in place, thats what he prefers.

The Biden administration has proved itself to be open to outside pressure and willing to do, or at least seem to be doing, the right thing.

Yet just two days after that, with a growing chorus of voices in Congress as well as progressive activists in groups like Indivisible demanding action on the filibuster, Biden himself was telling ABC News he was actually in favor of reform and suggesting the re-introduction of the so-called talking filibuster: That's what it was supposed to be.

By the following week, people close to Biden were telling Axios the president is fully prepared to support the dashing of the Senates filibuster rule to allow Democrats to pass voting rights and other trophy legislation for his party. Why? He loves the growing narrative that hes bolder and bigger-thinking than President Obama, per Axios.

Another example: Around noon on April 16, the Biden administration revealed that it planned on sticking to the historically low refugee cap of 15,000 set by the Trump administration, breaking an earlier pledge to increase it. Within hours, and in the wake of a backlash from liberals, the White House had backed down, with press secretary Jen Psaki announcing the president would set a final, increased refugee cap for the remainder of this fiscal year by May 15.

The about-face on Friday came after the initial White House decision was panned by Democrats, refugee advocates and human rights groups, NPR reported, which also referenced a letter to Biden signed by more than 35 progressive lawmakers that called the proposed refugee cap unacceptably draconian and discriminatory.

Last week, there was radio silence from the administration on the Covid-19 crisis in India, as both cases and deaths exploded in the worlds biggest democracy. Then, an outcry on Twitter plus loud interventions from prominent public health experts were followed by the national security adviser and the secretary of state issuing statements on a Saturday, the White House outlining a plan of action to help India on Sunday and a decision to release 60 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to the rest of the world on Monday.

See? Pressure works.

This is a million miles away from a Trump administration that treated climate activists and labor organizers as the enemy. The Biden administration has proved itself to be open to outside pressure and willing to do, or at least seem to be doing, the right thing.

Criticism and questioning from the left is very fair, a White House official volunteered to me recently. We must be bold and also bring everyone along.

Remember the words of Prussian statesman Otto von Bismarck: "Politics is the art of the possible." Medicare for All? Canceling student debt? Legalizing marijuana? None of it is impossible under a Biden presidency. None of it is out of bounds with an administration that is willing to engage with, and be lobbied by, the left.

It wont be easy. And there is much work to be done. But what these first 100 days of President Biden have taught us is that there is no need for despondency or defeatism. To quote political organizer Jonathan Smucker: When you say, They'll never do anything for us, what you're really saying is, Our movements are too weak to make them deliver.

So the 100-day message for progressive activists, organizers and movements in the Biden era?

Make. Him. Do. It.

Read more from the original source:
Joe Biden is no FDR but if he keeps listening to progressives, he could be - MSNBC

To the editor:

First, I want to thank you. Over the few years I have been here, you have graciously printed a number of my opinions and have rejected a number of others, and that is not only fair but your right to do so.

When I am frustrated, I have to write to the one paper that at least reaches some in our area, if not the rest of the state, feeling I have tried to do my part in addressing things that I feel are important to our country as a whole.

That is why I recently wrote a letter comparing the McCarthy era to now, and how the word racist instead of communist is ruining lives today.

I have often written that racism is a cancer, and it has no place in any society. However, today, racism is being used in a hateful way, fostering more division and hate and destroying what Martin Luther King Jr. envisioned.

I believe everyone should recognize what the BLM organization is doing and fight it before it destroys any resemblance of civility and fosters a divide that will be difficult to repair.

Its curriculum of critical race theory is now finding its way into many states and schools throughout the country. That, together with BLMs 1619 project, is fostering beliefs that are damaging to all children regardless of their race.

They, along with politicians, are finding racism in everything. Even climate change that the progressives are pushing are linking it to racial injustice. Nothing it seems is off the table.

Finally, when I read in the paper about the diversity program being implemented, the word that is frightening is equity. I keep asking what does that mean.

Well, yesterday I received an answer. Virginia is using the term critical practical theory to change its math curriculum. There no longer will be advance math classes until the 11th grade, and everyone will be in the same class, following along with a curriculum that everyone will be able to keep pace with.

This is also springing up in other schools.It may be too slow for many, but it is aimed at kids who have experienced greater success in the past, many believe primarily white and Asian.

However, I believe that is a misnomer. American students who are Black have experienced great success in math. As an example, I refer to the movie Stand by Me, which is about a teacher who taught calculus to kids in New York City.

They were very successful, so this theory that young kids who are Black cant learn math as well as others is insulting and untrue. This method will hamper all those who have exceptional skills in math regardless of their race.

Telling children who are Black that they cant learn math as well as others is not only harmful, but it fosters a belief of inferiority.

Ed Wagner

Spring Hill

Follow this link:
Letter to the Editor: Progressives' efforts to curb racism instead make it worse - williamsonherald.com