Our city governments make decisions that affect us most, yet we know very little about the ways that money influences them. In a previous post I explored new evidence that people of color are not well represented by their councils. One possible reason is the overwhelmingly white municipal donor classes.
Campaign finance reform crusaders on Wednesday lauded a D.C. Council measure that would forbid political action committees from raising unlimited funds in nonelection years and ban businesses from donating to candidates who could influence their contracts with the city.
The “Campaign Finance Transparency and Accountability Amendment Act of 2016” is part of a bevy of bills aimed at increasing the political distance between candidates and businesses in the District.[...]
Imagine a rich person. For most Americans, the image that comes to mind is a wealthy white man. While white men certainly make up a disproportionate share of the wealthy, there is growing diversity among the wealthiest members of society. Given the increasing political salience of racial justice and gender equity, this diversity could have impacts on policy. I find that there are indeed large differences between rich men and rich women (defining that group as those earning more than $150,000 a year), as well as between rich white people and rich people of color.
D.C. Council member Kenyan R. McDuffie said he will introduce emergency legislation to bar contributions to political action committees during non-election years in an effort to close what some view as a major campaign finance loophole before the start of 2017.
“It’s important that we address the issue as soon as possible, before Jan. 1,” McDuffie (D-Ward 5) said. “There’s a lot of support for it from what we’ve seen from the public in general.”[...]
As he's packed his proposed Cabinet with wealthy white men, President-elect Donald Trump has been criticized for assembling an administration that doesn't look like America, much less the "forgotten men and women" on whose behalf he claimed to have campaigned.
With the court split 4-4 on this and other issues, the stakes couldn’t be higher. Mr. Gorsuch’s record suggests he’s not the person to shift the tide toward building a democracy in which the size of our wallets doesn’t determine the strength of our voices. Senators must press for clear answers.
More than 90 percent of voters (including 91 percent of Trump voters) say that it is important for Trump to nominate a Supreme Court justice open to limiting big money in politics.
Twenty-seven progressive groups said in a Thursday news release provided to McClatchy that they would join a planned Tax Day protest of President Donald Trump, as liberal activists prepare for what might be the biggest demonstration against the White House occupant since the Women’s March on Washington in January.
Donald Trump and his billionaire Cabinet are proposing even bigger tax cuts for the wealthy when what we need is a fairer system that allows our nation to meet the needs of its people.
In a fair tax system, everyone pays their fair share, no one pays more than they can afford, and the government raises enough money to fund public goods that benefit us all, like education, housing, transportation, and health care. But the current tax code is inequitable.
Today, congressional Republicans are pushing tax reform proposals that would cost the country over $5 trillion and would likely widen the racial wealth gap and slow economic growth.
Lowering the corporate tax rate will cost the country at least $522 billion over 10 years, money that should be invested in public goods that benefit us all, not further enriching the already wealthy.
Our Taxes Explained series aims to make tax policy clear and accessible. We want people to know what’s at stake and understand how Trump’s tax cuts are designed specifically to benefit the ultra-rich and corporations.
