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Trump’s cancellation of licenses for immigrant truckers takes effect – msn/WaPost

“Some 200,000 immigrant truck drivers will begin to lose their commercial driver’s licenses as they expire under a new Trump administration rule that takes effect Monday…”

Thousands of workers strike at one of the largest meatpacking plants in the US – AP

“The first walkout at a U.S. beef slaughterhouse in four decades follows accusations from union officials that the company retaliated against workers and committed other unfair labor practices. They said the company offered wage increases of less than 2% annually, which is below Colorado’s inflation rate…”

Democratic Presidential Contenders Have a New Idea: Tax Cuts – TAP

“Another problem with Booker’s and Van Hollen’s ideas, critics say, is distributional fairness, which is at odds with the point its champions make about progressivity. Boosting the amount of income exempt from taxation benefits upper-middle-class families the most, so long as they are not so rich that they trigger the higher top rates. ‘Increasing the size of the zero percent tax bracket, which both plans do, is a bad idea that gives more money to high-earners than middle-earners and low-earners,’ Bruenig said. ‘The money spent on expanding the zero percent tax bracket would be better spent on basically any other benefit program.’

“This can be seen numerically in a tool the think tank Policy Engine has constructed. Booker’s plan would give the largest dollar benefit to households in the ninth income decile, at $8,539 on average. Van Hollen’s is flatter, with the seventh decile seeing the largest boost at $3,618, but he would give a mere $52 to the bottom decile, while Booker would give them $1,091.”

Deductions vs. Rate Caps: How Mechanism Shapes the Cost and Targeting of Zero-Bracket Expansion – Penn Wharton Budget Model

“Key Points:

  • Senator Booker’s KYPA deduction expansion costs nearly four times Senator Van Hollen’s WATCA rate cap ($5.1 trillion vs. $1.4 trillion over FY 2026–2035) because each dollar of deduction saves high-bracket filers more in taxes, a built-in feature of the deduction mechanism.
  • WATCA concentrates tax cuts on filers earning roughly $50,000–$160,000 (average cut of $1,505–$1,545 in the middle and fourth quintiles), while KYPA’s largest dollar benefits flow to the 80th–90th percentile ($7,165 average) and persist at $6,265 for the top 0.1 percent.”

Comment: You can’t blame the Dems for trying.  But these two bills present major problems:  1) They would add too much to the exploding national debt, and 2) Tax cuts should be much more targeted to the lowest earners.  Too much lost revenue would go toward the upper middle class (top 20%).

An alternative could be smaller, more bottom-loaded tax reductions in legislation which also reversed last year’s extension of the Trump tax cuts.  Reversing the 2017 tax cut legislation would bring in about $400 billion a year in revenue, which is roughly how much more Congress needs to raise to keep paying scheduled Social Security benefits once its old age trust fund is exhausted in about seven or eight years. CBO recently projected that the government needs to add annual revenue equal to about 1.2% of GDP (now $31 trillion) to keep Social Security solvent for the next 20 years. As the Baby Boom generation retires, Social Security outlays are expected to rise from 13.5% of US payroll in 2026 to 15% in 2034, then flattening out until the middle of the century.

If not used to shore up Social Security’s finances, Congress could use $400 billion for other programs or to dent the annual deficit (currently about $1.7 trillion).

Adam Smith: 250 years – Michael Roberts

“…Indeed, Adam Smith was not a consistent free trade supporter. His position was nuanced by the state of the British economy at the time.  He supported the Navigation Acts – which regulated trade and shipping between England, its colonies, and other countries – despite that the acts mandating that goods be transported on British ships even if other options were cheaper. “Defence,” he wrote in The Wealth of Nations, “is of much more importance than opulence.” Denouncing desirable security policies as ‘protectionist’ was beside the point.  After all, the security and survival of the capitalist state was more important than the free market in international trade. It’s a message for now when the ‘defence’ of the US imperialist state takes precedence even over the profitability of global capital.”

Sunday, March 15, 2026

Iran tests US military might with a guerrilla assault on the global economy – msn/WSJ

“…While drones menace U.S. forces and allies, Iran’s threat to tankers remains its greatest leverage—and an area where Trump may be forced into more concessions than legalizing Russian fuel exports. Protecting ships through the narrow strait would require cooperation with other countries because the U.S. lacks the number or type of ships needed to sweep mines and conduct escorts.

“European allies own dozens of mine-countermeasure ships, said Mark Kimmitt, a retired U.S. Army brigadier general who held senior roles in the Defense and State Departments under previous administrations. Kimmitt said that Europeans and others may be reluctant to help Washington in a fight that many of them at most only thinly support, but he said doing so could be in their interests…”

Clock’s ticking for Trump Administration and Congress:

U.S. National Debt Clock: Real Time

US Navy will escort vessels through Strait of Hormuz soon, Bessent reportedly says as oil surges past $100 again – msn

Asked the web if Iran could use mines (including submerged) to damage or threaten oil tankers in the strait and shut off 20% of world oil supply? Received a link to this expert advice to the US military:

Naval Mine Warfare: Back to the Future – Rand

“…Even relatively unsophisticated mines have been used to prevent ship movements from Vietnam to the English Channel, while also thwarting amphibious assaults from the gates of Istanbul to the coasts of Korea. From 1988 through 1991, mines damaged three U.S. warships and many civilian ones in the Persian Gulf…”

Why Escalation Favors Iran – Foreign Affairs

“America and Israel May Have Bitten Off More Than They Can Chew”

Trump knew the risk of Iran blocking the Strait of Hormuz. He still went to war. – WSJ

“The U.S. operation is costing billions of dollars a week. More broadly, the growing risk of a widening and drawn-out war threatens the American economy, raising warnings of stagflation, a quagmire of stagnant growth and high inflation.”

The Lone Democrat Who Voted Against the Bipartisan Housing Bill

The Senate Has Passed What Could Be the Largest Housing Package in Decades. Here’s What’s In It – TIME

It’s great to see bipartisan progress on housing costs. Whether the House will go as far in restricting corporate ownership, and if Trump might veto, remain up in the air. The bill’s likely impact is embedded in its details. The 350-unit limit, for example, might be breached if investment groups staked ownership positions through agreements with multiple corporate sub-entities. Despite critics’ objections to regulating the “free market,” the cap would still allow a Wall Street speculator to own, and rent out, more than 5% of the housing stock of a city the size of Falls Church, population nearing 15,000.

Congress could help home buyers more directly by ending the Iran war, which is swelling an uncontrolled national debt that’s pushing up interest rates.

Should the Treasury Department Index Capital Gains for Inflation? – BPC

Been There, Done That: Capital Gains Indexing Is Still A Bad Idea – TPC

The Tax Policy Center article above makes strong arguments against indexing capital gains for inflation when taxing them. Nonetheless, as CCSE points out below, deflating capital gains could be helpful if Congress began taxing capital gains upon the owner’s death. See:

Getting Inflation Loss out of Capital Gains Taxation Is Fair – and Might Help Reach a Deal on Dunning the Dead – Karl Polzer

Under current law, capital gains can be passed from one generation to the next without being taxed. Taxing deceased persons’ capital gains before assets are inherited could provide revenue to help stem the rising national debt (now $39 trillion).

In what has been called the “Great Wealth Transfer,” the Baby Boom generation is expected to leave $68-84 trillion to heirs. Taxes netting $10 trillion could keep Social Security solvent until about 2053 — two decades after the program is projected to run out of money to pay full benefits.

Abandon—Don’t Expand—High-Deductible Plans Linked To Spending Accounts – Jeanne Lambrew/Health Affairs

“…the problems of high prices and complexity of health care cannot be solved by shifting responsibility to people through high-deductible plans linked to spending accounts. Evidence suggests going in the opposite direction to solve these problems: replacing deductibles with value-based cost sharing and having the government take on greater responsibility for lowering prices.”

CCSE work on this issue:

Beware of Republicans bearing cash! Substituting Cash for Health Insurance Can Drive Up Costs, Medical Bankruptcy – Karl Polzer

The trouble with Trump’s cash-for-care idea – statement to the Senate Finance Committee Hearing

Washington Millionaires’ Tax, Expanded Working Families Tax Credit Make Tax Code Fairer – ITEP

“Washington’s tax structure is woefully unequal, with its lack of an income tax helping to earn its place as the second most regressive state and local tax system in the country. While lawmakers have made progress in recent years by creating and later enhancing their Capital Gains Excise Tax, families in the bottom 20 percent still pay an effective tax rate over three times what those in the top 1 percent pay…”

CCSE work on this issue:

Want ‘affordability?’ Start by retooling your state’s regressive tax system. – Hill

New governor prioritizing ‘affordability’ should push reforming Va.’s regressive tax code – Richmond Times-Dispatch

Chicago Teachers Union Backs May Day General Strike – MN Unions Back Rent Strike – Kaiser Workers to Strike over AI – Payday Report

“In Minnesota, thousands of immigrants were unable to work due to ICE raids in the region. As a result, many are now unable to pay rent. Now, tenants, both immigrants and non-immigrants, are organizing a rent strike to force landlords to reduce rents for affected communities…While Minnesota’s labor and housing movements have a history of working together, unions’ willingness to back a rent strike represents a new height of coordination.“

How One Minnesota Union Is Helping Members Survive the Federal Siege – In These Times

Iran War Exposes America’s Unfixed Supply Chains – TAP

Trump’s Hobson’s choice – Michael Roberts

“…if a long war ensues, it will intensify the existing trend in the major economies towards ‘stagflation’ i.e. rising price inflation and unemployment alongside falling economic growth…”

The Case Against Trump’s War of Choice in Iran – CAP

“In starting war with Iran, President Trump and his administration have knowingly put service members in harm’s way, inflicted suffering on innocent civilians, and left the American people to bear the financial burden of this needless conflict.”

The Billionaires’ War: The ultrawealthy put Trump in power but other people will pay the price – Paul Krugman/Substack

Senate panel highlights debt concerns as Iran expenses mount – Hill

“‘We are not running a large deficit in response to an economic need but because of policy choices,’ remarked Martha Gimbel, the executive director of the Budget Lab at Yale University… (A) 2025 report from the Yale Budget Lab noted that even a 1 percent increase in the deficit can drive up inflation and borrowing costs on cars and homes and to start a business. Gimbel referenced those downstream effects Wednesday, adding that they arise from the debt pushing up interest rates.”

Testimony of Maya MacGuineas/Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget

Trump Threatens Military Response ‘At a Level Never Seen Before’ If Iran Deploys Mines in Strait of Hormuz – TIME

What’s the president threatening? Alongside Netanyahu, Trump already has unleashed “death, fire, and fury” upon the government and people of Iran. Is the new threat nukes?

BTW, can Trump or future American presidents order a nuclear attack without the pre-approval of Congress? This question seems relevant to the American people, since a nuclear attack could trigger a larger nuclear conflict.

If Congress can’t provide a check on unilateral executive branch warmaking, what safeguards exist inside the Administration to make sure nukes are not fired by a president having a tantrum or a bad day? If such safeguards exist, of course they couldn’t be disclosed to the public for security reasons. Would a decision that could change the course of world history in a matter of minutes and hours involve a group of generals, cabinet members? How would these people go about deciding whether to launch, how much to launch, or whether not to launch in conjunction with the president and who would have the final word?

Will SCOTUS Review the Iran War’s Constitutionality? Don’t Count on It. – Reason

Why Congress keeps handing Trump its power – msn/WaPost

“Lawmakers of both parties have been ceding congressional power to the executive long before Trump was elected, especially on matters of war and trade. Congress has not officially declared war since World War II, and has passed laws delegating its trade power to the president in some circumstances…”

And don’t forget the legislative branch’s responsibility for taxes and spending — and its continuing failure to stem the government’s deteriorating finances. Members of Congress have lacked the spine to raise taxes and/or cut spending in order to reduce the historically large national debt. Public debt of this magnitude constrains the nation’s capacity to finance a large-scale war without major repercussions in the global financial system and US economy. Or respond to a recession or major health emergency such as the Covid epidemic.

Break Glass: A Plan for the Next Economic Shock – CRFB

There’s always room at the top:

World’s Billionaires List: Facts And Figures – Forbes

“Never before have billionaires so thoroughly dominated the world, driving politics, policies, equity markets and AI hysteria—which has, in turn, propelled the planet’s richest people to heights hard to imagine even just a few years ago. A record 3,428 entrepreneurs, investors and heirs make this year’s World’s Billionaires list, 400 more than in 2025. Put another way, the planet added more than one new billionaire every day over the past 12 months. Even more astonishing is the money: As a group, the billionaire class is $4 trillion richer than last year. Their combined wealth now stands at a record $20.1 trillion. The average billionaire’s fortune is now $5.8 billion, up from $5.3 billion in 2025. Forbes used stock prices and exchange rates from March 1, 2026 for this year’s list.

“Nowhere is that dominance stronger than in the U.S. where the country is governed by a billionaire and where 15 of the 20 richest people on Earth reside…”

The 2025 Trump tax law slightly increased the Child Tax Credit in a way that benefits virtually none of the children who most need help. – ITEP

“OBBBA’s $200 increase in the CTC is poorly targeted toward supporting working-class families because larger benefits go to families with higher incomes and smaller benefits go to those with lower incomes. The American Family Act would have the opposite result.

  • The largest share of benefits from the OBBBA CTC provision (41 percent) will go to the richest fifth of Americans, declining for each income group until it drops to virtually 0 percent for the poorest fifth of Americans.
  • The impact of the American Family Act would be the opposite, with the largest shares going to low- and middle-income children.
  • While President Trump’s tariff policies are estimated to have raised the price of the typical family’s baby products by $400 in the first half of 2025, OBBBA’s average benefit is $0 for the poorest fifth families with children and $240 for the middle fifth of families with children.
  • Under the American Family Act, the average benefit would be $4,900 for the poorest fifth of families with children and $2,780 for the middle fifth of families with children.”

Large Downward Employment Revisions Look a Lot Like 2009 – Bill Emmons/Substack

“While revisions to real GDP have been moderate recently, the Great Recession experience suggests caution. Significant downward GDP revisions began almost a year after that recession had begun. In other words, we could be months into a recession before downwardly revised GDP data confirm it…”

AI layoffs are coming. The problem may be compounded because nearly 75% of people don’t apply for unemployment benefits – Fortune

See Previous Posts

Featured

Thanks to The Hill for running our op-ed:

Trump’s 401(k) proposal could be a major step toward retirement security – Karl Polzer/Hill

“To succeed, Trump’s proposal must meet two fundamental requirements: funds to save and invest and accounts overseen by a fiduciary. The millions of workers with no money left over from their paychecks after covering the cost of living need more than just access to a retirement account — they also need money to put in that plan, week by week and month by month. This is why, without congressional action, most low-income workers will likely still be left out…”

Thanks to the Richmond Times-Dispatch for publishing this column:

New governor prioritizing ‘affordability’ should push reforming Va.’s regressive tax code – Karl Polzer

“…It will take some time for the new governor and Democrats running the state legislature to find effective ways to make life in Virginia more affordable. Reducing the tax burden on low-income families should be part of their agenda. Meanwhile, legislators should avoid adding taxes that hit the poor the hardest.”

States Can Push Back Against Reckless Federal Tax Policy. Here’s How. – Governing

Beware of Republicans bearing cash!

Substituting Cash for Health Insurance Can Drive Up Costs, Medical Bankruptcy – Karl Polzer/CCSE

Not! (for now)

Senate GOP health care plan fails on mostly party-line vote – Hill

As suspected, the two health care subsidy votes were performative art organized by Senate leaders setting a high bar (60/100 votes). Clock’s still ticking for millions of Americans needing health insurance they can afford.

Health Care–Related Savings Accounts, Health Care Expenditures, and Tax Expenditures – JAMA
“Conclusions and Relevance: Participation in FSAs is associated with higher health care expenditures and tax expenditures, while HSAs are not associated with reduced expenditures. Tax policy could be better targeted to enhance insurance coverage and health care accessibility.”

Why Substituting Cash for Insurance Can Drive Up Both Total Costs and Individual Medical + Financial Risk – Statement to US Senate Finance Committee

Submitted to Finance Committee Hearing: “The Rising Cost of Health Care: Considering Meaningful Solutions for All Americans”

“No matter how many adjustments the government might make, giving people money to leave the risk pool and bargain on their own with the players in health system undermines the basic concept of insurance – which is pooling risk and resources to make hard-to-predict future expenses more affordable.”

A ‘conservative/progressive’ path to negotiating Social Security solvency: Bend the cost curve, grow revenue, and protect low earners – Karl Polzer/IQInk

Updated Oct. 8, 2025

“This paper presents options – some favored by conservatives, others by progressives – as a framework for negotiating an equitable solution to Social Security’s financing shortfall.  Taken together, the changes could generate up to twice as much in savings and revenue as needed to balance Social Security’s books…

“Congress could strike a deal drawing about half the savings needed to fix Social Security through a gradual benefit reduction by changing the formula for determining initial benefit levels while protecting the lowest earners.  The rest of the gap could be filled through tax increases.  These financing options provide room for targeted benefit improvements to help the lowest income pay their bills and families raise children.”

Judge says Trump administration ‘used antisemitism as a smokescreen’ against Harvard – USA Today

Trump Administration’s Cuts to Harvard Funding Are Unconstitutional, Judge Rules – msn/WSJ

CCSE correspondence with Harvard President Garber

“Prediction: Harvard University will be teaching students from all over the world long after what remains of Trump and his brain trust rest in silence beneath the ground. BTW, White House staff could benefit from taking free public finance courses at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. Harvard has a positive fund balance. The United State government, not so much.”

No peace, no prize. – Karl Polzer

“Republican members of the US Congress, which is financing Israel’s now escalating ethnic cleansing of Gaza, have nominated President Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize.  It is hard to fathom the depth and irony of their fawning depravity.  The Nobel prize is clearly a trophy that he covets. But shouldn’t a peace prize have something to do with reducing conflict and killing? The US president and Congress, including a majority of Democrats, are doing the opposite of making peace.  They are facilitating Israel’s daily, systematic killing, starvation, and displacement of entire populations of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank…”

Trump ‘1-2 punch’ shifts tax burden from top onto middle-and lower-income Americans – Karl Polzer/CCSE

“Economists and business analysts increasingly agree that Trump’s tariffs are raising prices. There is far less awareness that the historic spike in tariffs – coupled with the tax cuts just made permanent by Congress – comprise a major shift in the tax burden. Taken together, these two changes promise to make the US tax system more regressive. In our increasingly unequal country, taxpayers at the bottom of the economic pecking order are taking on proportionally more of the tax burden as the well-off shoulder less…”

New capitalism III: Capital – Branko Milanovic

“Why is capital so concentrated and why so few have it?”

“The new capitalism has even in the rich countries failed to produce what Margaret Thatcher, and Friedrich Hayek before her, called ‘property-owning society’. (For good measure, Thatcher added ‘democracy’ too.) Even when we include income from forced savings that becomes pension wealth, between one-half and almost 90 percent of the population in rich countries are financial-capital destitute. That percentage becomes more than 90, or even more than 95, in less developed countries…”

Related CCSE work:

Half of Americans have no retirement savings — here’s how Congress can look after them …. op-ed

How the U.S. Retirement Saving System Magnifies Inequality – Society of Actuaries

Growing inequality has shrunk Social Security’s revenue. Revitalizing its tax base could help restore solvency without cutting benefits.

New Capitalism in America: Richest capitalists and richest workers are increasingly the same people – Global Inequality

Branko Milanovic: The World Under Capitalism – Stone Center/Toronto Public Library

Prof. Milanovic discusses two types of capitalism – “liberal capitalism” in the US and “political capitalism” directed by the Chinese Communist Party. Both systems have produced relatively high levels of income inequality.

Comparing United States and China by Economy – Statistics Times

2025 Social Security groundhog day:

US needs $28 trillion more over 75 years to pay promised benefits

“A few months after the Trump Administration chain-sawed Social Security’s leadership and staff, four newly installed senior officials overseeing the program released the annual report on its declining financial condition.  This year’s actuarial forecast is a bit gloomier due in large part to a benefit expansion enacted by the previous Congress.  However, in the big picture, not much has changed.  Social Security’s looming insolvency remains…

“As I have pointed out to the Senate Budget Committee, the process of spending down Social Security reserves already is increasing overall federal spending and pushing up annual deficits. Drawing down reserves in the Social Security trust funds requires the Treasury to sell bonds (or find other sources of revenue) to raise cash to pay the program’s 74 million beneficiaries.

“On pp. 51-52, this year’s report estimates that Social Security will draw down $181 billion from the combined trust funds in 2025 with the amount rising to $405 billion in 2033. As a result, the federal government is gradually moving to finance part of the program’s benefits through newly issued debt substituting for now-insufficient payroll taxes...”

More on these issues can be found in these CCSE articles and testimony:

‘Trump kids accounts’ in budget bill would drive up inequality and raise the national debt – Karl Polzer/CCSE

“Helping young people learn how to save and build up money for college and adult life are worthy goals. But new ‘Trump kids accounts’ embedded in the massive Republican tax and spending bill before the US Senate not only duplicate existing programs.  They also would widen financial gaps between families in our already very unequal country.  In addition, tax subsidies for money invested in Trump accounts would go mostly to well-off families and push up the national debt…”

Failure to prosecute and jail law-breaking employers is wasting $$ billions in the fight against illegal immigration – Karl Polzer/CCSE

“The federal government has had authority since 1986 to criminally prosecute individuals and companies employing workers not legally in the United State, but it has rarely used that authority regardless of the administration in office. A one-year snapshot taken during Trump’s first term found that no company was criminally prosecuted for having workers not authorized to be in the country, a Syracuse University study shows…

“Changing the equation to incentivize employers to help enforce, rather than skirt, the nation’s immigration laws does not mean subjecting them to cruel and unusual punishment.  No need to suspend billionaires and entrepreneurs in cages from a tower or use branding irons.  It does mean applying and stiffening laws against hiring illegals and tax avoidance.  Financial penalties, public shaming, and loss of contracts could be a start.  If that isn’t sufficient, start putting law-breaking employers in jail.  They are lining their pockets by stealing jobs from American workers, both native born and those immigrating legally.”

Thanks to the Virginian-Pilot for running our op-ed:

Many questions, few answers about exempting tips from taxes – Karl Polzer/Virginian-Pilot

“Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s proposal to exempt tipped income from state taxes — like President-elect Donald Trump’s on a national level — could help some low-wage workers.  However, it also poses risks for others and raises complex issues facing scrutiny as the state legislature begins its work…”

To provide access to all readers (the newspaper’s op-eds are gated), below is the original submission including links to sources:

Youngkin pitch to exempt tips from taxes could benefit some.  A better option is raising the $2.13 tipped minimum wage.

Statement to 11/20/24 US House Appropriations Committee hearing on Social Security:

A way to ensure Social Security can meet short- and long-term promises to American workers and their families: Bend the cost curve, grow revenue, and protect lower earners – CCSE

“As keeper of the federal government’s purse strings, the House Appropriations Committee plays a part in maintaining Social Security’s commitment to American workers, their families, and taxpayers.  First, Committee members can weigh in as Congress and the Treasury find hundreds of billions of dollars annually in cash outside the appropriations process to draw down Social Security reserves.  The Committee can also help ‘leave room’ in future budgets for revenue increases that might be necessary to keep Social Security solvent as it coordinates with House Ways & Means, Budget, and other Committees on tax and spending issues.”

A ‘conservative/progressive’ path to Social Security solvency: bend the benefit cost curve, grow revenue, and protect lower earners – CCSE

The next President and Congress will face daunting fiscal issues.  In the shadow of historic levels of national debt, lawmakers will be bargaining over trillions of dollars of taxes and spending as they deal with expiration of the Trump tax cuts.  On top of that loom major Social Security financing gaps.   Paying promised benefits will require the government to raise more than $2 trillion in cash over the next eight years and more than $24 trillion to achieve long-run solvency.

This paper presents policy options – some favored by conservatives, others by progressives – as a framework for negotiating a solution.  Taken together, the changes could generate more than twice as much in savings and revenue than needed to balance Social Security’s books. 

Four ‘low-budget’ ways Congress can help working-class families raise more children – Karl Polzer/ Washington Examiner op-ed

– Expand the child tax credit to help more working-class parents and grandparents raising kids.
– Provide Social Security credit for unpaid work raising young children.
– Update/improve SSI so more people with disabilities can work, save.
– If taxes must go up, hold the working poor harmless.

Click here for longer version including references and related articles.

It’s Social Security ‘groundhog day’ as trustees repeat annual forecast of declining finances

“…The trustees’ report, however, neglects to mention how Social Security already is impacting the overall federal budget.  As pointed out to the Senate Budget Committee, the mechanics of spending down Social Security’s reserves require the Treasury to draw funds from general revenue and issue new debt to the public.  As a result, Social Security is gradually and organically moving to paying for current benefits through debt substituting for now-insufficient payroll taxes that it traditionally relies on.”

Missing the obvious: life expectancy in the U.S. is closely related to income – Karl Polzer

“The underlying theory is simple:  More income and wealth allow people and governments to support more years of life.  Fewer resources put them at a disadvantage.  Some politicians who see the connection may be leery of talking about it.  Doing so would lead to awkward questions about improving working and living conditions for millions of Americans and dealing with growing economic inequality.

“The strong relationship between income and longevity is clear when comparing states… (E)ight of the nine states with the lowest median household income also are among the bottom nine in longevity.  Similar clustering occurs comparing the highest ranked states across the two categories. Seven of the nine states with the highest median household income also are among the top nine in life expectancy.   

“Realizing they are rowing in the same economic boat could prompt states to join forces on policy changes, particularly Mississippi, West Virginia, Louisiana, Arkansas, Alabama, New Mexico, Kentucky, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Tennessee, and others ranking at or near the bottom…

“Presidential candidate and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley strongly proposes raising the program’s retirement age on the premise that increased life spans are undermining Social Security’s long-term solvency.  If long-held assumptions about longevity were challenged, and potential losses to low-income workers and low-income states caused by raising the eligibility age came to light, would she change her position?  Republican candidate Donald Trump, by the way, opposes cuts in Social Security as do most Democrats…”

Thanks to the Washington Examiner for running this op-ed:

Senate minimum wage bills make bipartisan compromise possible – Washington Examiner

For longer version with references, see:

Senate minimum wage bills make bipartisan compromise possible.  Now for the political energy to get it done. – Karl Polzer/CCSE

Previous work on this issue:

One way to make living easier in Virginia – letter to WaPost

Yes, raise the minimum wage, but don’t stop there – op-ed

Analysis: Considerations on Raising the U.S. Minimum Wage To Help Workers and Families While Minimizing Negative Impacts

The US should take a hard look at the Netanyahu government’s brutality before giving it more weapons – Karl Polzer/CCSE

“More Americans are rightly asking if Israel could neutralize Hamas without massive destruction and loss of civilian life.  Indiscriminate air attacks by the Netanyahu regime already have killed and injured tens of thousands of Gazans with no end to the violence in sight.  To put this in perspective, imagine how Washington, D.C., would look if a foreign government with the power to fence in the District of Columbia dropped a comparable number of bombs here while shutting off access to water and food and destroying most of the capital area’s housing and medical system.  UN officials say conditions in Gaza are catastrophic.”

Thanks to the Washington Post for publishing our letter to the editor:

One way to make living easier in Virginia – Karl Polzer/letter to WaPost

“Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) told reporters he is ‘concerned about the cost of living in Virginia and we’re continuing to evaluate how best to address that,’ as reported in the Nov. 26 Metro article ‘Budget battle looms in Virginia. Facing a tighter fiscal environment and Democratic control of the legislature, Mr. Youngkin and fellow Republicans could help working families without denting the budget by making an expected Democratic push for a higher minimum wage a bipartisan affair.

“The GOP has been trying to attract more minority and working-class voters. However, party leaders have stopped short of addressing core economic issues, such as supporting higher wages and better benefits, and mainly stress cultural issues…”

Background Information on these issues provided to Virginia legislators

McCarthy & Co. offer themselves up on the cross to help motivate lazy poor people back to work

Work requirements are a policy failure: Why are they still an option? – The Hill

Thanks to the Washington Post for running our letter:

“Letting Americans Down”

“How can House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), President Biden and Senate leaders claim to represent the working class and poor when Medicaid work requirements are a focal point in the debt ceiling standoff and the Trump-era tax cuts are not? According to the Congressional Budget Office, the work requirements in the Limit, Save, Grow Act would have a tiny impact (about $5.6 billion in fiscal 2025) on the nation’s $31.4 trillion national debt, but they would increase the number of uninsured and state costs and have no effect on hours worked by Medicaid recipients.

“In contrast, ending the Trump-era tax cuts, which disproportionately benefit the wealthy, could put a major dent in the national debt….”

Because most of this site’s readers won’t be able to get through the newspaper’s pay gate, here’s the draft of the letter sent to the Post:

Debt ceiling negotiators focus on a ‘speck’ in benefits for the poor, ignore the ‘logs’ in their own eyes.

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