As year-end approaches, the debate over the expiring Bush tax cuts is getting messy and harder to tolerate. Part of the reason is that there are more than just the usual suspects trying to advance clearly terrible proposals.
Sarabeth Guthberg at 1115.org had me squinting at her blistering critique of claims made by political advisor/economist Mark Zandi.
(He had it coming.) As a key advisor to House Speaker Pelosi, Zandi is
trying to rally support for permanent extension of the Bush tax cuts
benefiting the "middle class," and a one-year-but-not-really extension
of the tax breaks for those earning more than $250,000 per year (roughly the top
2%). He says it's necessary because the recovery is still too fragile, and that even the richest Americans "may be sensitive." (And, we wouldn't wanna make anyone cry, right?)
Experts from different sides of the board, including Paul Krugman and Alan Greenspan,
have sounded off, saying the Republican proposal to permanently extend
all of the Bush tax cuts is a bad idea. The tab for such a move would
run up to around $3.7 trillion over 10 years. Read more >>
Working as an intern at United for a Fair Economy (UFE) has helped me
realize that taxes, economic policy and government play vital roles
in improving our communities. UFE warns against and strives to dilute
concentrated wealth and power. They work on a national scale to promote
progressive economic policies that can enable all levels of government
to invest in the common good, and support a grassroots economic justice
movement that can bring those policies to fruition.
When we zoom in to
see what's happening at the local level, in too many areas we're
finding that community development remains stagnant, including in
our own, Boston. Here, local decision-makers continue to place the
interests of monied special interests above the needs of most residents –
especially those in underdeveloped neighborhoods. Here's a snapshot of
what we've been dealing with... Read more >>
Former UFE board member, Larry Yates, dismantles Sen. Jim Webb's (D-VA) argument against affirmative action, using good old fashioned facts and a splash of life experience.
Robert
Rubin and Other National Figures Join United for a Fair Economy in Calling on
Congress to Move Quickly to Restore a Permanent, Robust Estate Tax
Adrianne Appel shines light into the deep and widening schism between the extremely wealthy and the working class in the US. Responsible Wealth Director Mike Lapham provides insight into why the super-rich are not subject to periods of austerity.
A year ago,
UFE traversed the northern border of the US to Ottawa, Ontario for a
visit with the largest public workers union in Canada, the Public Service
Alliance of Canada (PSAC). We were invited by PSAC’s National
Education Program Officer, Victoria Gibb-Carsley, who once participated
in a UFE Training of Trainers
Institute.
Victoria
found UFE's use of popular education
methodology to be highly effective, and decided it was just what PSAC
needed in developing a new leadership
training program. Today, PSAC's program is acclaimed as one of the
most comprehensive and powerful in Canada's labor movement.
This week,
Victoria shared with us the most recent outcome of our collaboration–a
project that highlights the lasting impacts of UFE's work to raise
awareness
of economic inequality, and exemplifies the
proliferative nature of a clear call for justice.
At our
workshop in Ottawa last year, I shared a short video, produced by UFE
volunteer, Matt Chana, called the "BBs
of Wealth," which provides an illustration of wealth inequality in
the US. The concept of our "BBs" video resonated strongly with the folks
at PSAC, and inspired them to produce one of their own to share with
their membership and use in their trainings.
PSAC's final
product, “Pennies
of Prosperity,” is a chilling representation of the vast Canadian
wealth divide. Their video is another entry in the toolbox of
educational materials that tells the story of inequality. And, it will
undoubtedly galvanize many more people to become engaged in efforts for
progressive social change.
Lee Farris, UFE's Estate Tax Organizer, champions the many reasons why the estate tax should be reinstated in an interview with Revolution Boston's Jeff Santos.
The Bureau of Labor
Statistics released updated
unemployment numbers for May 2010,
and the story hasn’t yet changed…sort of. Nearly one in ten US workers
continue
to go without work, but the reality is still more unsettling for people
of
color.
Unemployment for white workers has fluctuated a few tenths of a point
in recent months, and now sits at 8.8 percent. Workers of color, on the
other hand, are still weathering unemployment storms of double-digit
magnitudes. Latino unemployment fell 0.1% from the previous month to
12.4 percent. And, Black unemployment, despite a one-point drop, is still
highest of all at 15.5 percent.
It's worth noting that last month's unemployment numbers are slightly
distorted due to a rise in
temporary government employment for Census 2010. That aside, we
should continue bracing ourselves for a long and rough ride back to full
employment.
Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and
others in the Obama administration have said we
shouldn’t expect a return to a more stable employment
situation for a few years, at best. According to Mr. Geithner:
“The
worst is behind us...However, the country faces significant and ongoing
challenges: high unemployment, the need to build a new and stable
foundation
for prosperity in the years and decades ahead, and a medium- and
long-term
fiscal situation that could ultimately undermine future job creation and
economic growth.”
Challenges to come, absolutely. But the
worst being behind us? That has yet to be seen.
The program assumes a multi-faceted approach to keeping low-income
people, predominantly from communities of color, out of financial harm's
way, using education, counseling, leadership-building, and ongoing peer
support--sometimes continuing for years after graduation--to prepare
these folks for financial stability and upward economic mobility.
Steve and Jeannette, UFE's Pop[ular
Education] Stars, were working with a national crew of fair tax
organizers in Baltimore, and needed a hand for this month's class. I
stepped in with educator/historian, activist/motivator, Susan Hecht, to
co-present UFE's custom workshop, "Getting Aboard the Asset Train: Race,
Class & Wealth in the US," to a full room in Dorchester, MA.
Unemployment and wealth statistics for Black America speak to a much different reality than is perceived by some polled, says Glen Ford in the Pan-African News Wire. Ford notes that, in the "Age of Obama," the positive economic outlooks held by some African Americans are simply not supported by the facts of their current situation.
Working as an intern at United for a Fair Economy (UFE) has helped me
realize that taxes, economic policy and government play vital roles
in improving our communities. UFE warns against and strives to dilute
concentrated wealth and power. They work on a national scale to promote
progressive economic policies that can enable all levels of government
to invest in the common good, and support a grassroots economic justice
movement that can bring those policies to fruition.
rothpr.com
These spring months have been particularly hectic for UFE's Education
Team. So, with great pleasure, I get to write this.