The family of the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg called the Dwight D. Opperman Foundation's plans to give its "Ruth Bader Ginsburg Leadership Award" to conservative billionaires Elon Musk and Rupert Murdoch, among others, "an affront to the memory of our mother and grandmother." The honor was first awarded in 2020, before the justice's death, with the intent to recognize "an extraordinary woman who has exercised a positive and notable influence on society and served as an exemplary role model in both principles and practice." read more
Ken Block's book provides an insider's account of the desperate measures Trump's campaign took to pursue allegations of voter fraud and of how quickly the campaign concluded internally that each one was invalid ... read more
Four major nonprofits that rose to prominence during the coronavirus pandemic by capitalizing on the spread of medical misinformation collectively gained more than $118 million between 2020 and 2022, enabling the organizations ... read more
Steve Benen: The GOP's star witness in the House Republicans' impeachment crusade against President Joe Biden "admitted that officials associated with Russian intelligence were involved in passing a story about" Hunter Biden. Dem. Rep. Dan Goldman noted via social media that the "only remaining question" is whether GOP lawmakers "were witting or unwitting agents" of the Russian government. read more
David Kurtz (TPM): Everywhere you turn, it's Russia either helping Trump directly or indirectly by damaging Trump's foes. The pattern is clear and persistent but also so sweeping and far-reaching that it really requires taking a step back to grasp the full scope of it all. All those breathless Biden impeachment process stories? They're an outgrowth of this disinformation campaign. read more
The average tax rate for the top 1% is 26%. It's 3% for the bottom 50%
What a totally misleading crock of ----. Let's bury this idiocy once and for all. Please feel free to bookmark this post/source and shove it back into Madbomber's piehole the next time he trots out his cherry-picked federal income tax computations blithefully ignoring most of, it not all of, the rest, including the fact that many GOP-controlled states don't even have state income taxes and compile their revenues from far more regressive taxes and fees falling more disproportionately upon those with lessor incomes.
Who Pays Taxes in America
Commentators seeking to create the impression that high-income households are paying an outsized share of the nation's taxes tend to focus their attention narrowly on the most progressive taxes. It is true that some of our revenue sources are quite progressive, including the federal personal income tax, corporate income tax and estate tax.
But Americans pay other federal taxes that are not progressive. For example, everyone who works pays the Social Security payroll tax. Americans also pay state and local taxes that are particularly regressive, meaning they capture a larger share of income from low- or middle-income families than from wealthy families. State and local income taxes are much less progressive than the federal income tax, and some states have no income tax at all.
Property taxes levied at the state and local level affect everyone who owns a home or other real estate and affect renters as well because landlords tend to pass on some of their property taxes as part of the rents they charge to tenants.
State and local sales taxes are paid by virtually everyone. These are particularly regressive because poor families have little choice but to spend all their income buying necessities while wealthy families can save most of their income, shielding it from sales taxes. (This is why those championing VAT only want to INCREASE the shift of taxation onto those who by necessity spend the greatest percentage of their income in order to simply live their lives)
The figures in this report estimate combined federal, state and local taxes paid in the United States in 2019. They show that overall, our tax system is moderately progressive and people at every income level are paying taxes in the aggregate.
For example, this graph shows that the effective total tax rate -- the total federal, state and local taxes paid as a share of income -- is higher for those at the top than for those at the bottom, but the difference is less than commonly believed.
The bottom fifth of Americans pay a lower effective total tax rate, but they nonetheless pay a fifth of their income in taxes. The middle fifth of Americans pay about a fourth of their income in taxes, while the top 1 percent pay about a third of their income in taxes.
Oooh, did Elon and Rupert and Sly transition?
Naw. They're still plain simple ------.