Stephan: Rick Scott, Republican fascist senator, and multi-millionaire from Florida, has presented a GOP agenda that would hike taxes on the poorest 40% of Americans, but wouldn't raise taxes on the top 1% by a penny. How someone making less than $400,000 a year can vote for a Republican shows how strongly a large percentage of Americans support fascism and continuing wealth inequality.
The policy agenda that Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida unveiled last month—and has continued to promote despite mounting backlash—would hike annual taxes on the poorest 40% of people in the United States by $1,000 on average while not raising taxes on the richest 1% by a single penny.
So concluded a state-by-state analysis of Scott’s plan released Monday by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), which estimates that “the poorest fifth of Americans would pay 34% of the tax increase while the next fifth of Americans would pay 45% of the tax increase.”
According to a summary of Scott’s proposal—entitled “An 11-Point Plan to Rescue America”—every American who currently isn’t required to pay federal income taxes would “pay some income tax to have skin in the game, even if a small amount.”
Tens of millions of U.S. households don’t owe federal income taxes each year, either because their annual incomes are below a certain threshold or they qualify for programs that offset their tax burdens.
To analyze the potential impact of the plan outlined by Scott—the chair of the National Republican Senatorial […]
Thoma Hartmann, - Independent Media Institute / AlterNet
Stephan: Fascist oligarch Louis DeJoy who has diligently worked to sabotage the Post Office, as Thom Hartmann describes, is serving the interests of his fellow oligarchs not the American people. It is an utterly shameless example of what wealth inequality means in the United States
Oligarch Louis DeJoy appointed by Trump and committed to serving the interests of the oligarchs and himself above the interests of the American people. Credit: Joan McCarter
The Republicans are about to win a major battle in their war on electric vehicles, this time with the second largest vehicle fleet in America owned by the US Postal Service. It’s an outrageous story that most Americans don’t know a thing about.
Transportation, after all, is the single largest source of global warming emissions from the United States. And the Post Office once thought they could do something about it.
To understand what’s going on with the Post Office right now, you first must know the backstory that, it seems, most media outlets aren’t interested in discussing. It’s an issue that’s hitting millions of Americans right now.
One of our kids, for example, recently became the first member of our family to buy a fully 100% electric car. She was so excited and has loved it driving around Portland…until she had to drive to another state for a conference, when she discovered what […]
Stephan: Putin represents the aspirations of American christofascists, a large portion of the Republican Party and its leadership, particularly criminal Trump. They aspire to: White supremacy, a distorted and rather nasty form of Christianity, authoritarian fascism, and suffer hysteria over any form of sexuality that is not male-dominant heterosexuality. It is interesting to look back at history and see this same process occurring as Hitler came to power; there were lots of Nazis in America in the 1930s. No one ever says that anymore but it is true. As I have said repeatedly here, about a third of Americans do not value, or even like democracy because they don't like equality, gender, racial, whatever.
Putin is now seen as the upholder of traditional Christianity. Photograph: Sputnik/Reuters
“Can we get a round of applause for Russia?” asked Nick Fuentes, on stage last week at a white nationalist event. Amid a roar of applause for the Russian president, just days after he invaded Ukraine, many attendees responded by shouting: “Putin! Putin!”
It would be easy to dismiss the America First Political Action Conference (AFPAC) in Orlando, Florida, as a radical fringe. But speeches by two Republican members of Congress – one in person, the other via video – guaranteed national attention and controversy.
The backlash showed how the war in Ukraine has exposed the American far right’s affinity with Putin. That affinity is complicated by the tortured relationship between Russia and former president Donald Trump, whose rise Moscow supported with a covert operation to undermine US democracy.
Fuentes, a notorious antisemite, created AFPAC to coincide with the more mainstream Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), where Trump was the headline speaker last Saturday.
Stephan: Donald Trump no longer bothers to hide his fascism and desire for authoritarian power. He is actively prepping for the 2024 elections aided by the fascist wing of the Republican Party. These are facts not partisan claims, and here is some of the evidence. What I want to know is where is Merrick Garland? Why isn't he beginning the prosecution of Trump and his orcs?
Fascist Donald Trump speaking to his followers admiring Vladimir Putin and wishing he could have the same authoritarian power.
Former President Donald Trump has officially endorsed a plan, created by a man who has self-identified with the Oath Keeper militia, that aims to have Trump supporters consolidate control of the Republican Party.
The plan, known as the “precinct strategy,” has been repeatedly promoted on Steve Bannon’s popular podcast. As ProPublica detailed last year, it has already inspired thousands of people to fill positions at the lowest rung of the party ladder. Though these positions are low-profile and often vacant, they hold critical powers: They help elect higher-ranking party officers, influence which candidates appear on the ballot, turn out voters on Election Day and even staff the polling precincts where people vote and the election boards that certify the results.
Fact-based, independent journalism is needed now more than ever.Donate
“Just heard about an incredible effort underway that will strengthen the Republican Party,” Trump said Sunday in a statement emailed to his supporters. “If members of our Great movement start […]
Claire Potter, Staff Writer - Raw Story / Commentary
Stephan: Fascist Joe Manchin and his partner Kyrsten Sinema, and their fascist Republican partners in the Senate, have damaged the wellbeing of America yet again. Fascists don't like educated citizens, they rise up. I hope the people of West Virginia and Arizona are happy with the democracy saboteurs they chose to send to Congress.
Republican fascist Senator Joe Manchin
With barely a whimper, free community college for all Americans bit the dust, at least for now.
Already stripped from the pared-down Build Back Better bill proposed by the Biden administration in October, free community college will not re-emerge as a free-standing bill in 2022.
An initiative that has been implemented successfully in 19 states as different as Arkansas and California, you might think that two years of free college might have been a model for elevating successful local initiatives as federal policy.
But apparently it was one thing for states to shoulder the burden of creating an educated workforce and another for the Biden administration to make that investment.
First Lady and community college professor Dr. Jill Biden was tasked with presenting the disappointing news to the 2022 Community College National Legislative Summit last week. She spoke of the human cost of this failure.
“These aren’t just bills or budgets to me, to you, right?” Biden told colleagues who had hoped for a $45.5 billion infusion […]
