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Fri, 04 Jul 2025 03:48:32 GMT

The GOP Bill’s Reverse Robin Hood Economics—And What We Should Do Instead.

1/ The GOP Bill: A Wealth Transfer in Disguise

The NYT frames the GOP’s deficit spending as neutral "costs," but it’s worse: a direct upward redistribution of wealth. Here’s how:

- Tax Cuts for the Rich:

$2.2T in permanent marginal rate cuts (mostly benefiting top earners).

$737B for business income deductions (exploited by wealthy pass-through owners).

$212B in estate tax giveaways (helping dynasties, not workers).

- Cuts to Lifelines for the Poor/Middle Class:

-$317B from Medicaid work requirements (kicking vulnerable people off healthcare).

-$69B from SNAP cuts (hunger for low-income families).

-$78B from clean energy credits (killing jobs in solar/wind, raising energy costs long-term).

Result: The deficit balloons, but the dollars flow to corporations and the wealthy, while working families lose services and jobs.

---

2/ The Scam of “Fiscal Responsibility”

The GOP pretends to care about deficits when funding social programs, but deficits suddenly don’t matter when it’s tax cuts for the rich or corporate subsidies.

Reality:

- Deficit spending isn’t the problem—it’s who gets the money.

- Austerity for the poor (Medicaid cuts) + welfare for the rich (tax breaks) = engineered inequality.

---

3/ A Better Bill: Lift the Bottom, Tax the Top

Here’s what a real pro-working-class bill would do:

SPEND ON THE PEOPLE (NO “PAY-FORS” NEEDED)

- Medicare for All: Replace Medicaid cuts with universal healthcare. No more bankruptcies from medical bills.

- Green New Deal: Reinstate and expand clean energy credits (+$200B) to create millions of union jobs.

- Student Debt Cancellation: Erase loans (+$271B back into borrowers’ pockets).

- Public Housing: Build 5 million affordable units (+$500B), lowering rents and stimulating construction jobs.

TAX THE RICH (NOT TO “PAY FOR” IT, BUT TO CURB INEQUALITY & INFLATION)

- 90% Marginal Rate on income over $10M.

- Wealth Tax (5% on net worth >$50M).

- Corporate Profits Tax (50% on earnings over $1B).

- Wall Street Speculation Tax (0.5% per trade).

Key Point: These taxes aren’t to “fund” spending (the Fed can create dollars)—they’re to:

1. Reduce obscene inequality.

2. Cool inflation by draining excess wealth from speculative markets.

3. Break concentrated power that corrupts democracy.

---

4/ Why This Triggers the Establishment

- Myth-Busting: Admitting deficits don’t force austerity threatens elites who depend on scarcity narratives to justify hoarding.

- Class War: The rich scream “socialism!” when taxes target them but call corporate subsidies “economic growth.”

- Media Complicity: Outlets like the NYT parrot “deficit panic” because their advertisers (banks, hedge funds) profit from it.

---

TL;DR

- The GOP bill is class warfare: deficits for the rich, austerity for the rest.

- Solution: Spend freely on public goods, tax the rich to prevent their domination. No “funding” needed—just political courage.

#TaxTheRich #MMT #ClassWar

---

Fri, 04 Jul 2025 03:48:29 GMT

The GOP Bill’s Reverse Robin Hood Economics—And What We Should Do Instead.

1/ The GOP Bill: A Wealth Transfer in Disguise

The NYT frames the GOP’s deficit spending as neutral "costs," but it’s worse: a direct upward redistribution of wealth. Here’s how:

- Tax Cuts for the Rich:

$2.2T in permanent marginal rate cuts (mostly benefiting top earners).

$737B for business income deductions (exploited by wealthy pass-through owners).

$212B in estate tax giveaways (helping dynasties, not workers).

- Cuts to Lifelines for the Poor/Middle Class:

-$317B from Medicaid work requirements (kicking vulnerable people off healthcare).

-$69B from SNAP cuts (hunger for low-income families).

-$78B from clean energy credits (killing jobs in solar/wind, raising energy costs long-term).

Result: The deficit balloons, but the dollars flow to corporations and the wealthy, while working families lose services and jobs.

---

2/ The Scam of “Fiscal Responsibility”

The GOP pretends to care about deficits when funding social programs, but deficits suddenly don’t matter when it’s tax cuts for the rich or corporate subsidies.

Reality:

- Deficit spending isn’t the problem—it’s who gets the money.

- Austerity for the poor (Medicaid cuts) + welfare for the rich (tax breaks) = engineered inequality.

---

3/ A Better Bill: Lift the Bottom, Tax the Top

Here’s what a real pro-working-class bill would do:

SPEND ON THE PEOPLE (NO “PAY-FORS” NEEDED)

- Medicare for All: Replace Medicaid cuts with universal healthcare. No more bankruptcies from medical bills.

- Green New Deal: Reinstate and expand clean energy credits (+$200B) to create millions of union jobs.

- Student Debt Cancellation: Erase loans (+$271B back into borrowers’ pockets).

- Public Housing: Build 5 million affordable units (+$500B), lowering rents and stimulating construction jobs.

TAX THE RICH (NOT TO “PAY FOR” IT, BUT TO CURB INEQUALITY & INFLATION)

- 90% Marginal Rate on income over $10M.

- Wealth Tax (5% on net worth >$50M).

- Corporate Profits Tax (50% on earnings over $1B).

- Wall Street Speculation Tax (0.5% per trade).

Key Point: These taxes aren’t to “fund” spending (the Fed can create dollars)—they’re to:

1. Reduce obscene inequality.

2. Cool inflation by draining excess wealth from speculative markets.

3. Break concentrated power that corrupts democracy.

---

4/ Why This Triggers the Establishment

- Myth-Busting: Admitting deficits don’t force austerity threatens elites who depend on scarcity narratives to justify hoarding.

- Class War: The rich scream “socialism!” when taxes target them but call corporate subsidies “economic growth.”

- Media Complicity: Outlets like the NYT parrot “deficit panic” because their advertisers (banks, hedge funds) profit from it.

---

TL;DR

- The GOP bill is class warfare: deficits for the rich, austerity for the rest.

- Solution: Spend freely on public goods, tax the rich to prevent their domination. No “funding” needed—just political courage.

#TaxTheRich #MMT #ClassWar

---

Fri, 04 Jul 2025 03:48:27 GMT

The GOP Bill’s Reverse Robin Hood Economics—And What We Should Do Instead.

1/ The GOP Bill: A Wealth Transfer in Disguise

The NYT frames the GOP’s deficit spending as neutral "costs," but it’s worse: a direct upward redistribution of wealth. Here’s how:

- Tax Cuts for the Rich:

$2.2T in permanent marginal rate cuts (mostly benefiting top earners).

$737B for business income deductions (exploited by wealthy pass-through owners).

$212B in estate tax giveaways (helping dynasties, not workers).

- Cuts to Lifelines for the Poor/Middle Class:

-$317B from Medicaid work requirements (kicking vulnerable people off healthcare).

-$69B from SNAP cuts (hunger for low-income families).

-$78B from clean energy credits (killing jobs in solar/wind, raising energy costs long-term).

Result: The deficit balloons, but the dollars flow to corporations and the wealthy, while working families lose services and jobs.

---

2/ The Scam of “Fiscal Responsibility”

The GOP pretends to care about deficits when funding social programs, but deficits suddenly don’t matter when it’s tax cuts for the rich or corporate subsidies.

Reality:

- Deficit spending isn’t the problem—it’s who gets the money.

- Austerity for the poor (Medicaid cuts) + welfare for the rich (tax breaks) = engineered inequality.

---

3/ A Better Bill: Lift the Bottom, Tax the Top

Here’s what a real pro-working-class bill would do:

SPEND ON THE PEOPLE (NO “PAY-FORS” NEEDED)

- Medicare for All: Replace Medicaid cuts with universal healthcare. No more bankruptcies from medical bills.

- Green New Deal: Reinstate and expand clean energy credits (+$200B) to create millions of union jobs.

- Student Debt Cancellation: Erase loans (+$271B back into borrowers’ pockets).

- Public Housing: Build 5 million affordable units (+$500B), lowering rents and stimulating construction jobs.

TAX THE RICH (NOT TO “PAY FOR” IT, BUT TO CURB INEQUALITY & INFLATION)

- 90% Marginal Rate on income over $10M.

- Wealth Tax (5% on net worth >$50M).

- Corporate Profits Tax (50% on earnings over $1B).

- Wall Street Speculation Tax (0.5% per trade).

Key Point: These taxes aren’t to “fund” spending (the Fed can create dollars)—they’re to:

1. Reduce obscene inequality.

2. Cool inflation by draining excess wealth from speculative markets.

3. Break concentrated power that corrupts democracy.

---

4/ Why This Triggers the Establishment

- Myth-Busting: Admitting deficits don’t force austerity threatens elites who depend on scarcity narratives to justify hoarding.

- Class War: The rich scream “socialism!” when taxes target them but call corporate subsidies “economic growth.”

- Media Complicity: Outlets like the NYT parrot “deficit panic” because their advertisers (banks, hedge funds) profit from it.

---

TL;DR

- The GOP bill is class warfare: deficits for the rich, austerity for the rest.

- Solution: Spend freely on public goods, tax the rich to prevent their domination. No “funding” needed—just political courage.

#TaxTheRich #MMT #ClassWar

---

Fri, 04 Jul 2025 03:48:23 GMT

The GOP Bill’s Reverse Robin Hood Economics—And What We Should Do Instead.

1/ The GOP Bill: A Wealth Transfer in Disguise

The NYT frames the GOP’s deficit spending as neutral "costs," but it’s worse: a direct upward redistribution of wealth. Here’s how:

- Tax Cuts for the Rich:

$2.2T in permanent marginal rate cuts (mostly benefiting top earners).

$737B for business income deductions (exploited by wealthy pass-through owners).

$212B in estate tax giveaways (helping dynasties, not workers).

- Cuts to Lifelines for the Poor/Middle Class:

-$317B from Medicaid work requirements (kicking vulnerable people off healthcare).

-$69B from SNAP cuts (hunger for low-income families).

-$78B from clean energy credits (killing jobs in solar/wind, raising energy costs long-term).

Result: The deficit balloons, but the dollars flow to corporations and the wealthy, while working families lose services and jobs.

---

2/ The Scam of “Fiscal Responsibility”

The GOP pretends to care about deficits when funding social programs, but deficits suddenly don’t matter when it’s tax cuts for the rich or corporate subsidies.

Reality:

- Deficit spending isn’t the problem—it’s who gets the money.

- Austerity for the poor (Medicaid cuts) + welfare for the rich (tax breaks) = engineered inequality.

---

3/ A Better Bill: Lift the Bottom, Tax the Top

Here’s what a real pro-working-class bill would do:

SPEND ON THE PEOPLE (NO “PAY-FORS” NEEDED)

- Medicare for All: Replace Medicaid cuts with universal healthcare. No more bankruptcies from medical bills.

- Green New Deal: Reinstate and expand clean energy credits (+$200B) to create millions of union jobs.

- Student Debt Cancellation: Erase loans (+$271B back into borrowers’ pockets).

- Public Housing: Build 5 million affordable units (+$500B), lowering rents and stimulating construction jobs.

TAX THE RICH (NOT TO “PAY FOR” IT, BUT TO CURB INEQUALITY & INFLATION)

- 90% Marginal Rate on income over $10M.

- Wealth Tax (5% on net worth >$50M).

- Corporate Profits Tax (50% on earnings over $1B).

- Wall Street Speculation Tax (0.5% per trade).

Key Point: These taxes aren’t to “fund” spending (the Fed can create dollars)—they’re to:

1. Reduce obscene inequality.

2. Cool inflation by draining excess wealth from speculative markets.

3. Break concentrated power that corrupts democracy.

---

4/ Why This Triggers the Establishment

- Myth-Busting: Admitting deficits don’t force austerity threatens elites who depend on scarcity narratives to justify hoarding.

- Class War: The rich scream “socialism!” when taxes target them but call corporate subsidies “economic growth.”

- Media Complicity: Outlets like the NYT parrot “deficit panic” because their advertisers (banks, hedge funds) profit from it.

---

TL;DR

- The GOP bill is class warfare: deficits for the rich, austerity for the rest.

- Solution: Spend freely on public goods, tax the rich to prevent their domination. No “funding” needed—just political courage.

#TaxTheRich #MMT #ClassWar

---

Fri, 04 Jul 2025 03:48:19 GMT

The GOP Bill’s Reverse Robin Hood Economics—And What We Should Do Instead.

1/ The GOP Bill: A Wealth Transfer in Disguise

The NYT frames the GOP’s deficit spending as neutral "costs," but it’s worse: a direct upward redistribution of wealth. Here’s how:

- Tax Cuts for the Rich:

$2.2T in permanent marginal rate cuts (mostly benefiting top earners).

$737B for business income deductions (exploited by wealthy pass-through owners).

$212B in estate tax giveaways (helping dynasties, not workers).

- Cuts to Lifelines for the Poor/Middle Class:

-$317B from Medicaid work requirements (kicking vulnerable people off healthcare).

-$69B from SNAP cuts (hunger for low-income families).

-$78B from clean energy credits (killing jobs in solar/wind, raising energy costs long-term).

Result: The deficit balloons, but the dollars flow to corporations and the wealthy, while working families lose services and jobs.

---

2/ The Scam of “Fiscal Responsibility”

The GOP pretends to care about deficits when funding social programs, but deficits suddenly don’t matter when it’s tax cuts for the rich or corporate subsidies.

Reality:

- Deficit spending isn’t the problem—it’s who gets the money.

- Austerity for the poor (Medicaid cuts) + welfare for the rich (tax breaks) = engineered inequality.

---

3/ A Better Bill: Lift the Bottom, Tax the Top

Here’s what a real pro-working-class bill would do:

SPEND ON THE PEOPLE (NO “PAY-FORS” NEEDED)

- Medicare for All: Replace Medicaid cuts with universal healthcare. No more bankruptcies from medical bills.

- Green New Deal: Reinstate and expand clean energy credits (+$200B) to create millions of union jobs.

- Student Debt Cancellation: Erase loans (+$271B back into borrowers’ pockets).

- Public Housing: Build 5 million affordable units (+$500B), lowering rents and stimulating construction jobs.

TAX THE RICH (NOT TO “PAY FOR” IT, BUT TO CURB INEQUALITY & INFLATION)

- 90% Marginal Rate on income over $10M.

- Wealth Tax (5% on net worth >$50M).

- Corporate Profits Tax (50% on earnings over $1B).

- Wall Street Speculation Tax (0.5% per trade).

Key Point: These taxes aren’t to “fund” spending (the Fed can create dollars)—they’re to:

1. Reduce obscene inequality.

2. Cool inflation by draining excess wealth from speculative markets.

3. Break concentrated power that corrupts democracy.

---

4/ Why This Triggers the Establishment

- Myth-Busting: Admitting deficits don’t force austerity threatens elites who depend on scarcity narratives to justify hoarding.

- Class War: The rich scream “socialism!” when taxes target them but call corporate subsidies “economic growth.”

- Media Complicity: Outlets like the NYT parrot “deficit panic” because their advertisers (banks, hedge funds) profit from it.

---

TL;DR

- The GOP bill is class warfare: deficits for the rich, austerity for the rest.

- Solution: Spend freely on public goods, tax the rich to prevent their domination. No “funding” needed—just political courage.

#TaxTheRich #MMT #ClassWar

---

Sat, 17 May 2025 20:05:56 GMT

Why "taxpayer" identity is morally bankrupt—even at state/local levels. It doesn’t signal who pays taxes but capacity to pay, reinforcing class shame. A key reason the U.S. lacks universal healthcare.

Progressives say "everyone pays taxes," yet still use "taxpayer." Why? Because the word’s real connotation is net payer—someone whose taxes exceed what they "take." This frames public goods as zero-sum, not collective benefits.

"Taxeater" is the shadow of "taxpayer." If we all pay taxes, the term implicitly means "not a taxeater"—someone "deserving," not "dependent." This shames the needy and pressures the middle class to reject help they’d benefit from.

Many middle-class people oppose universal healthcare not because they’re "temporarily embarrassed millionaires" but because they fear the stigma of becoming "taxeaters"—a framing even advocates accidentally reinforce.

Universal healthcare wouldn’t raise their taxes much, but it would redefine them as "takers" in our toxic discourse. That’s a life-altering social injury—one many would rather avoid, even at personal cost.

We can either: - Plead with people to accept the "taxeater" label (and fail), or - Reject the framing entirely.

"Taxpayer money" trains us to see gov spending as a drain on "hard-earned dollars," not an investment in the public good. "Public money" ≠ "taxpayer money." One builds solidarity; the other, resentment.

There’s no replacement word because the entire framework is rotten. "Taxpayer" thinking atomizes society, pits people against each other, and distracts from the commons.

This isn’t semantic—it’s ideological. The "taxpayer" myth isolates us, making collective action seem like theft. Universal programs succeed when they’re universal, not framed as handouts.

Drop the language of "taxpayers." Talk about public goods, shared needs, and collective responsibility. The goal isn’t to shame—it’s to build. Source: https://jamesarobichaux.substack.com/p/why-taxpayer-identity-and-thinking