In an interview with Bloomberg Businessweek published earlier this month, Trump said that, if he wins a second term, he would push to slash the corporate tax rate:
Money has always been what Trump cares most about--especially if he doesn't have to earn it fairly--a hand out from the hard-working middle class. Here we have outlined for us how Trump and his minions will destroy the functioning of our government: to pay for his plans, he (and Steven Miller) will reduce Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits. And, then of course, eliminate our aid to Ukraine, and then letting go of NATO. And, we've been warned, he'll eliminate the Department of Education. There's more, but the aforementioned are reason enough to make sure Kamala Harris is elected.
The reports on the disinformation and out-right lying of Sinclair Broadcasting, and other far right news organization call for dramatic confrontation of the kind brought against Fox News that cost them millions in legal payment for slander. We have work to do!
Trump is basically promising the corporations/wealthiest individuals the final keys to control all the branches of the US government. As proof of the final outcome... we only have to look to Russia to know how well that worked out for its citizens, the country, and the world as a whole.
Thank you for that clear reporting. I understand Trump’s bribery of corporations to try to buy a election (typical of him) but I don’t understand how people can buy into the idea that a tax cut will flow to the worker after years of that not happening. Also, people who argue that regulations hurt corporate profits aren’t listening. Corporate profits are higher than ever!
Seems to me that members of Congress operate within a world of complete conflict of interest, in making the very laws that result in their own opportunities to line their pockets. Those who choose to take advantage of that situation get very very rich (McConnell comes to mind). There is no incentive to listen to regular citizens if you are making huge amounts of money in a position that is assured through gerrymandering and misinformation. Mainstream media is now a part of that world; run by billionaires for billionaires and supported by corrupt lawmakers. Fixing this will take time and commitment from principled leaders like Biden, Harris, Ocasio-Cortez, Raskin, Salwell, Porter, Cardin...to name just a few. We really need a better informed electorate, and maybe that's a worthy initiative once Harris is elected.
Joyce, your last sentence sums up a bigger challenge than may at first appear. We supposedly live in the age of information, but cruel irony has turned it into an age of widespread disinformation and misinformation that easily manipulates emotions. Thought, thinking is too little exercised. Feelings, especially negative feelings of suspicion, distrust, disdain and hatred, and anger are stoked. It's an obdurate, stubborn problem for democracy.
Indeed, Carmen! I think our government "of/by the People" must always be imperfect because we are...imperfect. That said, some of the guardrails against corruption were helpful. I would like to see the Fairness Doctrine assessed for revision. Reagan was the start of so much of the damage we now see, and retiring that was one of his most critical strikes at the heart of good governance.
And we need to reinstate core elements of our education system that inspire critical thinking (the humanities) and responsible citizenship (remember Civics?).
Ending the Fairness Doctrine was a major step towards the looming fascism, although I could argue that the civilization's downfall started with the invention of the transistor, precursor to the chip, precursor to computers, precursor to the internet, precursor to social media...
Maybe the biggest problem is the need to raise money to advertise when running for office--that is why the megabucks far right donors can swoop in to pay for their candidates' election. e.g., That's why Harry Dunn lost; that's why Jamie Harrison lost to Lindsey Graham after being so far ahead. What is interesting right now is how flocks were donating to Kamala Harris before she even asked.
Absolutely , totally worthy Joyce. And more than that morally an imperative for a strong middle class Democracy.
The story has to be simple so people can understand and latch on to facts that help them. Remember “Smokey the Bear”? We learned a great deal about out of control fires( greed) !
The MAGA rubes have fallen for the trickle down bs for decades since St. Reagan promoted it in 1980. That coupled with the lie that when corporations pay lower taxes it creates jobs. It only creates wealth for Wall St traders who line their pockets as the corporations buy back their own stock. Both lines of bs are continually propagated by Fox “News” & Sinclair media. I am thankful for the few honest media outlets like Popular Information & Free Speech TV. We must continue to support progressive media financially as we work hard to get VP Harris elected POTUS, increase our numbers in the Senate & take back the House with a larger majority than the GOP ever had. Once we have accomplished those goals we can push for middle class tax reform, eliminate the cap on Social Security for the wealthy & get real SCOTUS reform. Check your voter registration & have your friends & family do the same. Vote Blue!
Supply Side economics is a failure. When the first Trump tax cuts were enacted I asked my Reagan Trickle Down loving boss how many people we were going to hire... he looked at me and said "why would I hire anyone unless business increases?" The cognitive dissonance was amazing.
You and I are the job creators. When we hire a handy-man or accountant or lawn service, or even go out to eat.
Because blaming all your problems on folks who don't look like you is a simple solution. It's in the best interest of the BS producers to keep you uninformed, so they tune the messages appropriately. "Education and those who are educated are the enemy" is another dog-whistle. Why does Trump love the uneducated? Because they can't follow the numbers.
"Why does Trump love the uneducated?" Because he is "stupid"! That's his latest criticism of our country--STUPID--and what we criticize reveals our worst fears about ourselves. His other current projection is "lyin'" as in Lyin' Kamala. We ALL know who the biggest liar of all time is!
Take just one of these companies as an example: Amazon, notorious for its poor working conditions. If its $30B in net profit isn’t enough to trickle down to its workforce, why would anyone expect a government handout to change that? I cancelled my Prime membership and curtailed my buying from Amazon after the last Prime price increase. Bezos doesn’t need my hard-earned dollars to subsidize his yacht, and he doesn’t need a taxpayer subsidy, either. Every tax dollar they don’t pay is a dollar the rest of us will need to make up.
Since the only "accomplishment" of Trump's disaster of a first term was the Trump Tax Scam Giveaway that made the rich richer, the poor poorer and exploded the national debt what else would we expect than another giveaway to those who least need a giveaway. These MAGA assholes want to bring back the 1950s? Sure, but only if they include the Eisenhower Era tax rates.
This sentence struck me. "The campaign's eagerness to shift attention away from corporate tax cuts is understandable; corporate tax cuts are very unpopular." The thing is, the campaign doesn't need to shift attention coming from the MSM - because they are not reporting on it. Not enough to notice anyway. Once again, thanks to alternative sources like you and CAP, people who want real news have a place to go. I'm hoping hard that more and more of us are turning the noise news off and finding real journalism in substacks like yours and hard policy think tanks like CAP.
He’s trying to buy corporate donations to fund his campaign. Promising more tax cuts (& more deregulation) is a siren song to the self serving greed of already filthy rich CEO’s. To hell with the impact to the middle class.
Between millions in govt funding & these tax cuts & shelters, you’d think it be enough. But there is no end to greed so when Trump promises to give them even more, they’ll give to him so he’ll have a chance to make it happen.
Yes, it really is something that he has corrupted an entire swath of this country making so many idjits complicit in his knavery. His example of how to do business is to lie, cheat, squeeze, intimidate, grab power, hurt workers, brag, and steal some more. At his level it is horrifying, at the level of his idjits, it destroys communities and businesses with unethical and immoral business practices.
The 48 Billion he gives away does not come out of his pocket. The money he will receive for doing it will go into directly into his pocket. This is how Mr. Trump has operated all his life. This is how he has made his money.
So Trump wants to reduce corporate tax rates even more. Well, that shit hasn’t worked for 40 years and it is never gonna work — we need to make sure he never sees the inside of the White House again.
Their greed is astounding...at the expense of all the people they need to survive...what will they do when all their work employees & household employees go to work with disease starvation and their children working next to them ? what century is this?
Sometimes, no matter how much money is spent, they lose. And they will. Our only concern should be DEMANDING that our next Pres & VP TAKE ACTIIN TO ARREST, Alito, Thomas, investigate the confederate MAGA wives involved in J6. Etc
Meet the new oligarchs, same as the old oligarchs. I fully expect that the NYT and WAPO will be running multiple front-page stories on this for the next few weeks. Oh, wait, that would be stories on how a neurologist visited the White House on multiple days, including many when President Biden was elsewhere…
Money has always been what Trump cares most about--especially if he doesn't have to earn it fairly--a hand out from the hard-working middle class. Here we have outlined for us how Trump and his minions will destroy the functioning of our government: to pay for his plans, he (and Steven Miller) will reduce Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits. And, then of course, eliminate our aid to Ukraine, and then letting go of NATO. And, we've been warned, he'll eliminate the Department of Education. There's more, but the aforementioned are reason enough to make sure Kamala Harris is elected.
The reports on the disinformation and out-right lying of Sinclair Broadcasting, and other far right news organization call for dramatic confrontation of the kind brought against Fox News that cost them millions in legal payment for slander. We have work to do!
Trump is basically promising the corporations/wealthiest individuals the final keys to control all the branches of the US government. As proof of the final outcome... we only have to look to Russia to know how well that worked out for its citizens, the country, and the world as a whole.
Damn right Henry.
Thank you for that clear reporting. I understand Trump’s bribery of corporations to try to buy a election (typical of him) but I don’t understand how people can buy into the idea that a tax cut will flow to the worker after years of that not happening. Also, people who argue that regulations hurt corporate profits aren’t listening. Corporate profits are higher than ever!
Seems to me that members of Congress operate within a world of complete conflict of interest, in making the very laws that result in their own opportunities to line their pockets. Those who choose to take advantage of that situation get very very rich (McConnell comes to mind). There is no incentive to listen to regular citizens if you are making huge amounts of money in a position that is assured through gerrymandering and misinformation. Mainstream media is now a part of that world; run by billionaires for billionaires and supported by corrupt lawmakers. Fixing this will take time and commitment from principled leaders like Biden, Harris, Ocasio-Cortez, Raskin, Salwell, Porter, Cardin...to name just a few. We really need a better informed electorate, and maybe that's a worthy initiative once Harris is elected.
Joyce, your last sentence sums up a bigger challenge than may at first appear. We supposedly live in the age of information, but cruel irony has turned it into an age of widespread disinformation and misinformation that easily manipulates emotions. Thought, thinking is too little exercised. Feelings, especially negative feelings of suspicion, distrust, disdain and hatred, and anger are stoked. It's an obdurate, stubborn problem for democracy.
Indeed, Carmen! I think our government "of/by the People" must always be imperfect because we are...imperfect. That said, some of the guardrails against corruption were helpful. I would like to see the Fairness Doctrine assessed for revision. Reagan was the start of so much of the damage we now see, and retiring that was one of his most critical strikes at the heart of good governance.
And we need to reinstate core elements of our education system that inspire critical thinking (the humanities) and responsible citizenship (remember Civics?).
Ending the Fairness Doctrine was a major step towards the looming fascism, although I could argue that the civilization's downfall started with the invention of the transistor, precursor to the chip, precursor to computers, precursor to the internet, precursor to social media...
Joyce, well said! Could not agree more!
Agreed!
Agreed!
"Seems to me that members of Congress operate within a world of complete conflict of interest"
They do. ALL of them are complicit.
Maybe the biggest problem is the need to raise money to advertise when running for office--that is why the megabucks far right donors can swoop in to pay for their candidates' election. e.g., That's why Harry Dunn lost; that's why Jamie Harrison lost to Lindsey Graham after being so far ahead. What is interesting right now is how flocks were donating to Kamala Harris before she even asked.
I can't lose all hope, Adam. Some of these folks really do seem to be working hard for their constituents.
Oh, I haven't lost hope. Just super off-pissed.
Absolutely , totally worthy Joyce. And more than that morally an imperative for a strong middle class Democracy.
The story has to be simple so people can understand and latch on to facts that help them. Remember “Smokey the Bear”? We learned a great deal about out of control fires( greed) !
The MAGA rubes have fallen for the trickle down bs for decades since St. Reagan promoted it in 1980. That coupled with the lie that when corporations pay lower taxes it creates jobs. It only creates wealth for Wall St traders who line their pockets as the corporations buy back their own stock. Both lines of bs are continually propagated by Fox “News” & Sinclair media. I am thankful for the few honest media outlets like Popular Information & Free Speech TV. We must continue to support progressive media financially as we work hard to get VP Harris elected POTUS, increase our numbers in the Senate & take back the House with a larger majority than the GOP ever had. Once we have accomplished those goals we can push for middle class tax reform, eliminate the cap on Social Security for the wealthy & get real SCOTUS reform. Check your voter registration & have your friends & family do the same. Vote Blue!
Supply Side economics is a failure. When the first Trump tax cuts were enacted I asked my Reagan Trickle Down loving boss how many people we were going to hire... he looked at me and said "why would I hire anyone unless business increases?" The cognitive dissonance was amazing.
You and I are the job creators. When we hire a handy-man or accountant or lawn service, or even go out to eat.
Those are folks that listen to BS and nod their heads to the beat. All without any vestige of critical thinking. Wonder why that is?
Because blaming all your problems on folks who don't look like you is a simple solution. It's in the best interest of the BS producers to keep you uninformed, so they tune the messages appropriately. "Education and those who are educated are the enemy" is another dog-whistle. Why does Trump love the uneducated? Because they can't follow the numbers.
"Why does Trump love the uneducated?" Because he is "stupid"! That's his latest criticism of our country--STUPID--and what we criticize reveals our worst fears about ourselves. His other current projection is "lyin'" as in Lyin' Kamala. We ALL know who the biggest liar of all time is!
Take just one of these companies as an example: Amazon, notorious for its poor working conditions. If its $30B in net profit isn’t enough to trickle down to its workforce, why would anyone expect a government handout to change that? I cancelled my Prime membership and curtailed my buying from Amazon after the last Prime price increase. Bezos doesn’t need my hard-earned dollars to subsidize his yacht, and he doesn’t need a taxpayer subsidy, either. Every tax dollar they don’t pay is a dollar the rest of us will need to make up.
Since the only "accomplishment" of Trump's disaster of a first term was the Trump Tax Scam Giveaway that made the rich richer, the poor poorer and exploded the national debt what else would we expect than another giveaway to those who least need a giveaway. These MAGA assholes want to bring back the 1950s? Sure, but only if they include the Eisenhower Era tax rates.
Now your last comment should be the first thing done!
I agree. The rich were still rich, although with a few exceptions not obscenely so, and the middle class was thriving.
This sentence struck me. "The campaign's eagerness to shift attention away from corporate tax cuts is understandable; corporate tax cuts are very unpopular." The thing is, the campaign doesn't need to shift attention coming from the MSM - because they are not reporting on it. Not enough to notice anyway. Once again, thanks to alternative sources like you and CAP, people who want real news have a place to go. I'm hoping hard that more and more of us are turning the noise news off and finding real journalism in substacks like yours and hard policy think tanks like CAP.
He’s trying to buy corporate donations to fund his campaign. Promising more tax cuts (& more deregulation) is a siren song to the self serving greed of already filthy rich CEO’s. To hell with the impact to the middle class.
Between millions in govt funding & these tax cuts & shelters, you’d think it be enough. But there is no end to greed so when Trump promises to give them even more, they’ll give to him so he’ll have a chance to make it happen.
The former guy, now convicted felon is waving the bribe to industry (for his reelection) right before our eyes. Isn't that something?
Yes, it really is something that he has corrupted an entire swath of this country making so many idjits complicit in his knavery. His example of how to do business is to lie, cheat, squeeze, intimidate, grab power, hurt workers, brag, and steal some more. At his level it is horrifying, at the level of his idjits, it destroys communities and businesses with unethical and immoral business practices.
What gets trickled down is slime.
The 48 Billion he gives away does not come out of his pocket. The money he will receive for doing it will go into directly into his pocket. This is how Mr. Trump has operated all his life. This is how he has made his money.
So Trump wants to reduce corporate tax rates even more. Well, that shit hasn’t worked for 40 years and it is never gonna work — we need to make sure he never sees the inside of the White House again.
Their greed is astounding...at the expense of all the people they need to survive...what will they do when all their work employees & household employees go to work with disease starvation and their children working next to them ? what century is this?
Here's some other numbers: Kamala polls at 44%, Trump at 42%
Sometimes, no matter how much money is spent, they lose. And they will. Our only concern should be DEMANDING that our next Pres & VP TAKE ACTIIN TO ARREST, Alito, Thomas, investigate the confederate MAGA wives involved in J6. Etc
Meet the new oligarchs, same as the old oligarchs. I fully expect that the NYT and WAPO will be running multiple front-page stories on this for the next few weeks. Oh, wait, that would be stories on how a neurologist visited the White House on multiple days, including many when President Biden was elsewhere…
What’s not to love, right?
Thanks for this clear reporting!
Is that what Donnie and Melania are willing to do to avoid getting arrested for committing ESPIONAGE?