The Financial Reform bill has been passed by both houses of Congress and now awaits President Obama's signature. When the President signs his name, the new law will be the biggest improvement to regulation of the financial industry in generations. It's a big change with a lot to it, but reigning in Wall Street and the excesses of finance will not be accomplished with one new law alone. But for now, it's time to celebrate what truly is an historic victory.

Of the many good things in the final package, the new consumer protections may be the sweetest. The new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau made it through in a reasonably strong form, and has a chance to truly protect consumers from many of the abuses that plumped up bank profits and bonuses at the expense of the public. Members of UFE and our Responsible Wealth project deserve to be particularly proud for standing up for the consumer financial protection in this bill.

Chris Sturr at Dollars and Sense (a magazine you should subscribe to if you don't already) runs down some more details. He links to an excellent explanation of what's in the bill, what got cut out, and what never even had a chance.

Some more reactions:

• Shahien Nasiripour (who has also become a must read) teams with Ryan Grim at the Huffington Post for a wrap up on passage of financial reform.

• Ezra Klein highlights some of the positives.

• Simon Johnson is hard to please, but he sees some encouraging similarities to past regulatory efforts.

• And Kevin Drum made a good the case for the bill when it's passage was still, at least somewhat, in doubt.

"Times are tough for workers in the U.S. where a recession has a stranglehold on much of the economy, but life is perfectly rosy for those at the top.

The riches of the wealthiest North Americans grew by double digits in 2009, primarily from interest their money earned when it was invested in the stock market and elsewhere, according to a report by the Boston Consulting Group.

Millionaires in the U.S. and Canada saw their wealth increase 15 percent in 2009, to a total of 4.6 trillion dollars, the report found.

Worldwide, 11 million - or less than 1 percent of all households - were millionaires in 2009. They owned about 38 percent of the world's wealth or 111 trillion dollars, up from about 36 percent in 2008, according to Boston Consulting Group.

About 4.7 million millionaires live in the U.S., four percent of the population and more than anywhere else in the world. Japan, China, Britain and Germany followed the U.S. in the number of millionaires.

Their fortune is a stark contrast to the lives of more than 15 million people in the U.S. who are unemployed and searching for work, and the eight million more who are just getting by with a part-time job...More than two million more people were working prior to the recession but have now dropped out of the labour force. [...]

The recession isn't hitting those at the top as it has workers. In fact, many wealthy people benefited from the stock market's ups and downs, said Mike Lapham, director of the Responsible Wealth Project at United for a Fair Economy, an NGO in Boston.

'Folks at the top have a cushion, a disposable income to fall back on. Maybe their portfolios took a hit but they didn't lose their jobs and their homes. If they had losses, they can deduct them from their taxes,' Lapham told IPS. [...]"

Read the full column by Adrianne Appel on AlterNet.org (via Inter Press Service)

Representative Linda Sanchez (D-CA) introduced a new estate tax proposal in the House of Representatives. The specifics are very similar to the Responsible Estate Tax Act (S.3533) introduced in the Senate in late June.

It is a good bill. Representative Jim McDermott's Sensible Estate Tax Act (HR 2023) is still the best proposal in the House. It stays closest to the AFET guidelines for good estate tax reform. However, the release of matching proposals in the House and Senate from Sanchez and Sanders, looks like a sign that progressive lawmakers are serious about fighting for a strong estate tax.

Congress needs to get serious about taxes. With the Bush tax cuts expiring and conservatives returning to their nonsensical rhetoric, the fight for progressive taxation is on.

The good news is that the American public strongly favors higher taxes on the rich, poll afterpoll after poll (pdf, page 16) backs up that fact. The estate tax, of course, is paid exclusively by millionaires, which is exactly the kind of tax the public wants. And, we're rallying more support for our nation's most progressive tax. 

Stay tuned for more news coming out of our press conference on July 21st.

Good stuff from Sarabeth Guthberg at 1115.org (via Steve Benen) taking apart Senator Kyl (R-AZ) for his most recent bit of idiocy about taxes. The second ranking Republican in the Senate told the world that he believes there is no reason to offset the cost of tax cuts. His comments drew a lot of attention, and so he tried to explain himself. Sarabeth goes to town on his clarification.

"First of all, o confused eminent personage of the Republican persuasion, the question wasn’t how to offset increased spending, the question was how to offset reduced tax collections.

Secondly, increased spending gets offset by reduced savings? If the government spends more and saves less, that’s a deficit-neutral plan? This entirely backward “reasoning” explains a hell of a bloody lot, doesn’t it, about why the deficit and the national debt got to where it is?

Thirdly, even if the master plan is to shrink government — in fact, especially if the master plan is to shrink government — the budget effect of a tax cut has to be offset. Kyl doesn’t even seem to realize that the deficit-shrinking tool kit includes spending cuts. Or that, if you want to shrink the government, it’s not enough to cut taxes, you have to bloody well cut spending too. Then, and only then, does the government shrink. And — this will probably come as a very rude shock to the guy, so as an act of Christian charity, we should make sure that Jon Kyl is sitting down when this is broken to him — the spending cut offsets the tax cut, to make it deficit-neutral."

Well said.

Of course, this is nothing new for Kyl who routinely sponsors horrible estate tax legislation and just a few months back tried hanging the unemployed out to dry to get his way. But the problem goes deeper than Kyl. Ezra Klein gets sad by paying attention to Mitch McConnel (R-KY) and finding that the problem is endemic to Republican leadership in the Senate.

For the record, that's the two highest ranking Senate Republicans (and in McConnel's words, "the view of virtually every Republican") denying the existence of facts about taxes.

Photo credit: Hazboy

Long before I moved to the Boston area in 1977 I had no love for the NY Yankees. Despite the fact that I grew up just a few blocks from Yankee Stadium, my family divided it’s loyalties between the Brooklyn Dodgers — the first team to break baseball’s color barrier — and the Giants (we would walk to the Polo Grounds to watch Willie Mays’ show off his amazing talents. To our working class sensibilities, the Yankees represented the ruling class of baseball, dominating the sport with the largest team payroll year after year, and displaying arrogance both on and off the diamond.

George Steinbrenner, who inherited his wealth from his father’s shipbuilding company and bought the team from CBS in the early 1970s with money from the family business, raised the level of pin-stripe hubris to new heights. In his first 17 seasons as owner, Steinbrenner hired and fired 17 managers; skipper Billy Martin was fired five times! His temper tantrums were legendary and his willingness to doggedly pursue free agents — the Kansas City Athletics were jokingly referred to as the Yankees’ farm team — ensured a steady stream of stars. Off the field, George’s antics included illegal contributions to Richard Nixon’s presidential campaign. Apparently, Steinbrenner had an affinity for employing seedy characters to bring down one’s enemies: he once hired gambler Howie Spiro to find dirt on on Dave Winfield, his own player, during contract negotiations.

While the Wall Street Journal eulogized Steinbrenner, praising his success in turning the Yankees “into a financial powerhouse,” they declined to mention that the wealthiest team in baseball received $362 million from New York City to build the lavish new stadium (New York State Assemblyman Richard L. Brodsky, D-Westchester, said the taxpayers' tab for Yankee Stadium eventually will total $4 billion, including potential property tax revenue over 40 years given up in the deal). The promised benefits to the neighborhood that, due to the construction, lost their ball fields and parks — where I played as a kid — have still not been replaced as promised.

And, oh yes, George Steinbrenner died with an estate worth about $1.3 billion, not a penny of which will return to public coffers through an estate tax. Due to the tax cut package George Bush signed into law in 2001, the Estate Tax was phased out step-by-step until January 1, 2010 when it ceased to exist all together. George is the fourth billionaire in the US to die so far this year leaving all their vast wealth to their heirs and designees alone.

Fortunately, the tax cut law has a sunset provision which means that on January 1, 2011, the estate tax will be restored to its 2001 level. Of course, the folks who think the Great Recession is no reason not to push through even more tax cuts for the wealthy are fighting the sunset tooth and nail. So if like me, you think George born-with-a-silver-spoon-in-his-mouth Steinbrenner will not appear on your list of the top 10 human beings who passed in 2010, you might consider contacting your Senators and Representatives and telling them to restore a responsible estate tax in “honor” of the Yankee capitalist.

After a 19-day protest, the Student Immigrant Movement (SIM) and allied organizations celebrated a victory in their campaign, Mass Hope 2010, for the Massachusetts legislature to overturn a budget amendment laden with anti-immigrant language.

For those 19 days, SIM members staged a 24/7 vigil in front of the State House, risking arrest by local law enforcement, as a stand in solidarity with immigrants, both documented and undocumented, in Massachusetts.

SIM initiated Mass Hope in late May when the state legislature's conference committee released its budget proposal for the new fiscal year, which was laden with provisions  that would have been an affront to the rights of immigrants and children of immigrants with regard to employment, housing, education and public services.

The anti-immigrant legislation, amendment 172.1, was not only a threat to immigrants' civil liberties, but would have also been costly for taxpayers and highly inconvenient for a state government that's already stretched thin by the ongoing recession.

Amendment 172.1 would have exemplified government at its worst. Its wasteful and punitive measures were neglectful of its impacts on the families of undocumented immigrants, and Massachusetts' immigrant communities as a whole. And, it would have done absolutely nothing to address the root causes of unlawful migration to the US.

SIM's mobilization succeeded in getting the conference committee to take their proposal back to the drawing board. The outcome was, in large part, a win for immigrant rights. While most of the proposed new restrictions and regulations were struck down, the final budget proposal contained provisions that codified existing practices and regulations as law.

The Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Coalition (MIRA) expressed mixed feelings about the final budget. In the process of drafting their final budget proposal, the conference committee eliminated a program that has been providing state-subsidized healthcare for nearly 30,000 documented immigrants, raising concerns for the physical and financial well being of thousands of men, women and children. Another concern MIRA has conveyed is the closed-door message the immigrant-related codifications send to future immigrants to Massachusetts, which has come to be known as one of the most immigrant-friendly states in the US.

The budget is now headed to the Governor's desk for review. Although most involved in Mass Hope are content with the conference committee's decisions, MIRA still cautions Gov. Deval Patrick to carefully consider the implications of the immigrant-related provisions they've deemed as problematic.

The vigil has officially ended, but SIM and other activists will keep up the pressure on their state legislators to defend and expand the basic rights of immigrants in Massachusetts. UFE is proud to have participated in Mass Hope. UFE staffers participated in the vigil, in rallies, provided support, resources and a space of community for the campaign planners, protesters and others involved.

How do we make the case for government, the economy, and federal aid? Today, during day two of the National Coordinating Conference for the Campaign for Federal Aid to Communities, we'll hear from Patrick Bresette from Demos about how to talk taxes to generate support.

<a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=24c275e8f2" mce_href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=24c275e8f2" >Live Blogging: Talking Taxes</a>

UFE's Shannon Moriarty is live-blogging from the National Coordinating Conference for the Campaign for Federal Aid to Communities on July 13th and 14th. Follow along as state organizers develop a national strategy for demanding federal aid for jobs and essential public goods and services. 

What do people think about jobs, the recovery, and banks and how can organizers speak to populist concerns during the upcoming election? During session two of the National Coordinating Conference for the Campaign for Federal Aid to Communities, we'll hear from pollsters and union representatives about the public opinion landscape and how activists can shape their messaging this electoral season.

<a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=42d1b29600" mce_href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=42d1b29600" >Live-Blogging: Understanding the Political Landscape</a>

UFE's Shannon Moriarty is live-blogging from the National Coordinating Conference for the Campaign for Federal Aid to Communities on July 13th and 14th. Follow along as state organizers develop a national strategy for demanding federal aid for jobs and essential public goods and services.  

Ranchers demand a fix for the estate tax

With less than 30 legislative days left on the congressional calendar, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association on Tuesday warned lawmakers that time is running out to fix the estate tax.

The tax is repealed, but barring congressional action will return next year to the pre-2001 levels that hit estates worth more than $1 million with a 55 percent tax.

Steve Foglesong, the cattle association’s president, warned that the reinstatement of the tax would force some ranchers and farmers to close their operations.

“They’re in essence handing down a death sentence to family-owned farming and ranching operations,” he said in prepared remarks. “Taxing family farmers and ranchers out of business will have serious impacts on all Americans, not just in our rural communities.”  

Read the full blog post by Jay Hefflin on TheHill.com

"Former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin will join several others in calling on Congress to reinstate the estate tax before the August recess. 

The July 21 event will be hosted by United for a Fair Economy, which has been fighting to preserve the estate tax since 1999.

Rubin is expected to discuss his reasons for supporting a permanent estate tax fix. [...]"

Read the full blog post by Jay Hefflin on TheHill.com

UFE's Shannon Moriarty will be live-blogging from the National Coordinating Conference for the Campaign for Federal Aid to Communities on July 13th and 14th. Follow along as state organizers develop a national strategy for demanding federal aid for jobs and essential public goods and services.

Live-blog coverage starts on Tuesday, July 13th at 1:30pm. The first session kicks off with a discussion of key issues facing the federal campaign, including a recession retrospective, federal legislation, and the 2010 fall elections.

<a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=e8458f4f1f" mce_href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=e8458f4f1f" >Key Issues in the Federal Aid to Communities Campaign</a>

Imagine thousands of people meeting, mingling, and marching peacefully through your city streets for nearly a week. Last month, a racially, ethnically and geographically diverse crowd of more than 15,000 people vitalized the epic, but destitute, city of Detroit–the epicenter of the Great Recession in the US.

The second US Social Forum (USSF)—the first was in Atlanta in June 2007—was inspired by the 2001 World Social Forum in Brazil. The 2001 gathering was an international attempt to pose and discuss alternative economic models and rules to those discussed at the corporate-dominated World Economic Forum in Switzerland.

Four UFE staff members, as well as several board members, volunteers, and supporters, led popular economics education workshops, participated in planning meetings, marched in demonstration, attended plenaries, networked, and enjoyed cultural activities.  Our message about the scope of economic inequality and our method of engaging people in dialogue about its consequences and what to do about it, were very well-received. New relationships were forged, old ones strengthened, and a great deal of enthusiasm for collaboration was generated.

But, the significance of the Forum goes way beyond these specific outcomes for UFE. What we witnessed (and participated in) was a key step forward in building a powerful social and economic justice movement that will realize the USSF theme: "Another World is Possible, Another US is Necessary."

Labor & racial justice activist Bill Fletcher provided his take, “...[the USSF] was the antithesis of the Tea Party movement. Instead of the fear, ignorance and hatred that emanates from the Tea Partiers, here there was a sense of optimism.” The  provides a vibrant and safe space for exchanges of ideologies and strategies. While we still struggle to construct a common narrative that explains how we got here and a common vision of where we want to go, the willingness to engage open-mindedly in the hard work to build such consciousness, was on display throughout the Forum.

“For five days in Detroit, an incredibly diverse group of progressives became a community,” said Steve Schnapp, UFE's senior education coordinator. “We are making the road as we walk. But, more importantly, we do so in ways that draw upon our unique perspectives and celebrate our unique gifts. This feeling of solidarity inspires us to continue our important work. A world where power and wealth are not concentrated in the hands of a few is indeed possible!”