rbreich

rbreich, 3 months ago to random

The price of Huggies diapers went up 6% between April- June 2023.

Inflation, right? Wrong.

Kimberly-Clark, the maker of Huggies, reported that the cost to make its products fell by $75 million.They took the money and ran, banking $168 million in operating profits in Q3 2023.

Now, new research shows that corporate profits drove 53% of inflation during the 2nd and 3rd quarters of 2023. During the 40 years prior to the pandemic, profits drove just 11% of price growth.

rbreich, 6 months ago to random

Meta will allow political ads that claim the 2020 election was stolen.

YouTube will no longer remove videos making similar claims.

Monetizing lies has become a big business in America. It’s one of the core challenges to democracy.

rbreich, 8 months ago to random

Thanks to the Supreme Court's 5-4 ruling this May, the EPA was forced to remove protections from most of America's wetlands this week.

Harlan Crow's firm lobbied for the rollback while he secretly plied Justice Thomas with gifts.

Anyone see a problem here?

rbreich, 4 months ago to random

With its extra funding, the IRS has...

-Collected $160 million from rich tax cheats (so far)

-Audited Microsoft and charged it $29 billion in back taxes

-Made it easier to file taxes through free-filing programs in 13 states

Remember this as the GOP tries to gut the agency.

rbreich, 4 months ago to random

In separate legal rulings, Trump has been found to have committed rape, business fraud, and insurrection.

And yet he remains the Republican presidential front runner.

Don't ever tell me again that the GOP is the party of "family values" or "law and order."

rbreich, 1 year ago to random

This is the graph everyone needs to see for International Workers' Day.

rbreich, 6 months ago to random

Republicans are lying when they say slashing IRS funds will lower the deficit. For each extra $1 the IRS spends auditing rich tax cheats, it can collect $12. Defunding the IRS will INCREASE the deficit.

They want to help their rich donors cheat, while the rest of us pay for it.

rbreich, 1 month ago to random

I still hear people arguing that prosecuting a former president sets a “dangerous precedent.”

The truly dangerous precedent would be to establish that presidents are above the law.

rbreich, 1 month ago to random

Remember: Most billionaires are not “self-made.” They’re made via a combination of inherited wealth, government subsidies, tax loopholes, labor exploitation, and policy failures. Can we stop perpetuating a myth that blames wealth inequality on the choices of everyday Americans?

rbreich, 1 month ago to random

The top 10% of richest Americans own 87% of stocks.

The top 1% alone own roughly half of all stocks.

It's worth pointing out once again that the stock market is not the economy.

rbreich, 2 months ago to random

Amazon and Space X are fighting in court to have the NLRB declared unconstitutional.

This means the two richest men on earth want to dismantle the agency that holds them accountable for union busting.

Nothing terrifies them more than worker power.

rbreich, 8 months ago to random

Forced birth in a country with:

—No universal healthcare

—No universal childcare

—No paid family & medical leave

—One of the highest rates of maternal mortality among rich nations

This isn't about "life." It's about control.

rbreich, 1 month ago to random

So far this week...

The FTC banned the use of noncompete clauses.

The DOL strengthened overtime rules.

The FCC restored #NetNeutrality.

The DOT expanded protections for airline passengers.

This is what it looks like when the government works on behalf of the people.

rbreich, 10 months ago to random

Total student loan debt that would have been erased for millions of Americans: $400 billion

Total cost of the Trump tax cuts that largely benefited the wealthy and corporations: $1.9 trillion

This is what I mean when I say the system is rigged.

rbreich, 10 months ago to random

Stop worshipping billionaires.

Elon Musk threw away tens of billions of dollars to buy Twitter, and has spent the last year running it into the ground.

When billionaires take control of our most vital platforms for communication, it’s not a win for free speech.

It’s a win for oligarchy.

rbreich, 10 months ago to random

The upward redistribution of wealth over the past 45 years has shifted $50 trillion from the bottom 90% to the top 1%. That’s $50 trillion that would have gone into the paychecks of working Americans.

The wealth doesn’t “trickle down.” It gushes up.

rbreich, 9 months ago to random

Remember: The real freeloaders in this country are the rich, not the poor.

The richest 1% evade $163 billion in taxes every year.

The United States literally has a yacht tax deduction.

Hello?

rbreich, 2 months ago to random

The effective federal corporate income tax rate:

1950: 50%
1990: 25%
2020: 13%

Stop asking "but how we will pay for it?" Restore the corporate tax rate.

That is how we will pay for it.

rbreich, 8 months ago to random

I refuse to tolerate a system that lets the 500 richest people add $852 billion to their wealth in the past six months alone, but doesn’t raise the $7.25 federal minimum wage for over a decade.

rbreich, 8 months ago to random

What I always hear: “We can’t afford to pay our workers $15 an hour.”

What I never hear: “We can’t afford to pay our CEO millions of dollars a year.”

Funny how that works.

rbreich, 1 month ago to random

Amazon and Space X are fighting in court to have the National Labor Relations Board declared unconstitutional.

This means the two richest men on earth want to dismantle the agency that holds them accountable for union busting.

Nothing terrifies them more than worker power.

rbreich, 3 months ago to random

Remember: The real freeloaders in this country are the rich, not the poor. The richest 1% evade $163 billion in taxes every year. The United States literally has a yacht tax deduction. Hello?

rbreich, 6 months ago to random

Want to hear a wild stat?

Nearly a thousand $1 million+ earners didn't file tax returns for at least one year from 2017 to 2020. Just didn’t bother.

And the GOP is trying to help them by slashing IRS funding. When the IRS is defunded, rich tax cheats make out like bandits.

rbreich, 11 months ago to random

Gifts to Supreme Court justices shouldn’t just be “disclosed.” They should be banned, outright. This should not be a radical position.

rbreich, 14 days ago to random

Wondering if wealth inequality is out of control?

Well, Jeff Bezos made over $7.9 million an hour last year.

In just 13 minutes, he made the equivalent of what a typical person earns in a lifetime.

Don't tell me that the rich can't afford a wealth tax.