27 Comments

Thank you for writing.

The various policy initiatives from stimulus to child tax credits benefited my family immensely.

A compromise to consider with regards to wealth tax. Tax stagnant and leveraged wealth at 50%. Offer a credit for domestic investment with tangible requirements such as return, projected return, equity and climate considerations.

Any middle class person complaining of big government should be asked if they considered returning the funds received through stimulus, increased tax credits, and sustained jobs through the PPP initiative.

The Main Street American was starting to get their bailout. They just aren’t sophisticated enough yet to understand how.

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Subscribing because you get results! Thank you.

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You’re on an impressive roll, Judd. Here’s a thought. I have a feeling the child tax credit issue isn’t going to help us achieve the tax law change needed to close or even narrow the buy, borrow, die loophole. I have spoken to too many people who have said things like ‘how do we know families are spending it on basic needs,’ ‘it’s an urban problem,’ ‘if you can’t afford kids, don’t have them,’ ‘elder poverty is just as bad as child poverty and there is no new credit for them,’ among others. Some of this points to people having an underlying ‘what’s in it for me’ jealousy, while others actually have these opinions for reasons of their own. It’s a lot to debunk. Let’s tackle urban. I’d like to see data that includes the whole US as well as data that excludes urban centers. There are several source definitions of urban. FiveThirtyEight’s formula calculated how urban or rural a state is. The 10 least urban in order are AR, WV, ND, ME, MS, VT, AK, SD, MT, WY. The 15 least urban in order adds NM, KY, AL, ID, IA. It could be persuasive to show the percent of people/families living in poverty, the percent that received the child tax credit, and the return to poverty if any. It’s no secret that rural areas tend to be Republican. They need to see how Biden programs helped THEM and how their senators killed further help.

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Please call it what it is: urban = minority. It doesn’t matter that whites receive the majority of child tax credits. People know that already. They don’t want minorities to receive more. That’s how places like KY that are so poor still have McConnell. The open secret is that keeping these programs low keeps minorities crippled. Making abortion illegal makes more poor minorities. Suffering minorities makes many people gleeful.

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I sent myself this piece to use as a reference in the book I’m writing about the outcomes of 60 former gifted children and the role social capital and “wealth” play in who lands best on their feet. Financial insecurity and poverty that are either generational or due to harmful life circumstances affecting parents can stifle opportunities to even be discovered as bright or gifted. We’re in a dangerous and damaging spiral downward that started with “trickle down” economics. Keep up the good work, Judd. The main body of voters still doesn’t see what’s happening or is continuing to happen.

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Mar 16, 2022·edited Mar 16, 2022

I would like to hear more about the book that you are writing, as it strikes an eerie chord (per my own experience as a gifted child who has contended with illness and poverty). I myself have done a good deal of anecdotal study. How might I learn more about what you're doing/your observations? Thank you!

Cheers,

Benb

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And that’s my name so you can look me up. I shut down my old website and will make a new one later this year, but my name will help you find some of my other work and I can send you some stuff free, too.

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Deborahruf@gmail.com and remind me who you are and I’ll add you to my “Notify” list. Thank you!

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Deborah, you might like my writing.

Thank you for writing.

SRMD

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I'm appalled by the information in your spreadsheet, and the comparison to how $$ would have helped the child tax credit. Thank you for making it so clear. NR

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It’s all about oligarchs. Look at Ukraine: devastation and death by Russia which is led by oligarchs. It doesn’t matter whether your name us Putin or Musk: the oligarchs play a huge part in the instability in the world. Oligarchs such as the Kochs and the DeVos’ contribute to tearing down the public school system and the number of guns and gun violence in the US. Oligarchs assist with the death of democracy.

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It would be refreshing if just once a billionaire broke from the pack and outed this whole scam.

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If I had 1 wish, it would be that I could make every American read your newsletter. Each one would be a little bit smarter for it.

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founding

I empathize. I used to imagine how wonderful it would be if the whole Congress had to watch the environmental films shown in our town during an environmental film festival every year for years (unfortunately now zoomed).

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Really disgusting about the ‘bootstraps’ mentality and negating the common good that is responsible in large part to any means of wealth.

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Thanks for writing.

What sickens me is there is intangible capital/ infrastructure in the form of public intellect and tangible capital/ infrastructure in the form of roads and public utilities that have been neglected for years. This “accumulation” of wealth is basically the transfer of those resources from the public good to the private good.

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Terrific report, Judd!

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Great reporting!!!

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We created this dashboard that shows the number of children in poverty by county, their senators and billionaires in the country. The contrast from extreme wealth to hunger in America is striking. https://demlabs.maps.arcgis.com/apps/dashboards/69d90acecff142999e94813e8f76db14

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Too often the elected official works for who lines their pocket.

Why is campaign finance reform never near the top of any agenda from either party

We know the answer. On the take, both sides of the aisle. Some just hide it better.

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Still haven't seen a good articulation of how the proposed tax on unrealized gains of wealthy people would work. What happens in the scenario we are literally watching in real time right now with former Peloton Interactive Inc. ($PTON) CEO and now-Chairman John Foley who appears to be getting margin-called into oblivion now that PTON stock has fallen 80% in value? Not defending rich billionaires by any stretch but this proposal is riddled with issues: https://www.businessinsider.com/tech-selloff-stock-pledge-margin-call-loans-banks-2022-3.

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During the last tax reform that occurred under Donald Trump, many closely held organizations reorganized to become C Corporations. Just as one example.

In doing so, these companies were required to value their companies and report them to the IRS to fair market value. That doesn’t even consider publicly traded companies. To which considerations of your point is valid.

If such a tax on wealth seemed possible, organizations such as the FASB, PCAOB, and the IRS should/ would ask for public comment in viability.

I didn’t read the article due to being paywall blocked. Calls and outs are a form of insurance.

And people are catching on.

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founding

Thank you for providing a balance to (my) outrage, hopelessness. Have you read the Intercept report on Joe Manchin's "secret" financial agenda? I'll try to link it: /Users/valeriemeluskey/Desktop/theintercept.com:.webloc

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It is incredibly frustrating when it feels we, the people, can take no steps towards justice other than voting—a crap shoot. Anyone have any ideas about construction action?

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And oligarchical influence even controls voting in many cases. The Kochs own a lot of Congressmen and they use their organizations to support ALEC which is involved in writing laws in State Legislatures.

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