News, Opinions & Events

Jump to Featured Section

‘Secretly panicking’: GOP strategists fear Musk is leading Trump off a cliff – msn

“One of the biggest warning signs is the New York Times report on pro-Trump wrestling fans who were in attendance as Trump and Musk attended a championship event in Philadelphia over the weekend. Many of them were not happy about Musk, with one woman from Montana saying his constant appearances make Trump ‘look like he’s kissing a– to get money.'”

What do you think?:

Elon Musk spent more than $290 million on the 2024 election, year-end FEC filings show – CNN

Musk holds court at first Trump cabinet meeting

Equal Justice under Law?

Under the Trump & Bondi regime, vandalizing one of Musk’s Teslas can get you 20 years in prison. Vandalizing the nation’s Capitol, on the other hand, a presidential pardon.

Long waits, waves of calls, web crashes: Social Security is breaking down – WaPost

Social Security rushing service cuts at White House request, sources say – Axios

“Some of the most vulnerable Americans — including people who are hospitalized, kids in foster homes and those living in remote areas — will be effectively blocked from applying for disability benefits, according to one advocate who spoke with Axios and was at the meeting.”

Just called Social Security’s 1-800-772-1213 number for information.  A computer voice said I would have to wait several hours to talk with a representative. Before that, the voice told me that processing time for a disability claim was an average of 200-230 days to review the application and medical records. The computer did not estimate the probability of an applicant dying or running out of money while waiting for a decision.  

Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the courage to brawl for the working class – Guardian

“‘For years, I’ve talked about the concept of oligarchy as an abstraction,’ Sanders, an independent who votes with Democrats and twice sought the party’s presidential nomination, said in an interview after a joint rally in Tempe, Arizona, with the New York representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The Vermont senator recalled Donald Trump’s inauguration, when the three wealthiest people on the planet – Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg – were seated in front of his cabinet nominees in what many viewed as a shocking display of power and influence.

“‘You gotta be kind of blind not to understand that you have a government of the billionaire class, for the billionaire class, by the billionaire class,’ he said. ‘And then, on top of all that, you’ve got Trump moving very rapidly toward an authoritarian form of society.'”

VT Senator Bernie Sanders has brains, heart, guts, and balls – characteristics which set him apart from today’s Democratic Party leadership. For that matter, the same applies to Republicans kowtowing to President Trump and dodging the fury of their constituents back home. Although officially an independent, Sanders is the best thing the Democratic Party has going for it. Can the 83-year-old senator pull the party back to its working-class roots?

Sen. Bernie Sanders Agrees With Trump On Border Security, But Slams Mass Deportation Plan – Tampa Free Press

Grim milestone in Gaza – ABC

“More than 50,000 Palestinians have died since the start of the war in Gaza.”

With the help of the White House and US taxpayer dollars, Israel continues to kill Palestinian civilians and take Palestinian land. This is not a war. It is a slaughter.

QED:

Report: Israel eyeing full-scale occupation of Gaza – Jewish News Service

“…After Gallant was dismissed in November, Israeli media reported that he told families of hostages that Israel had achieved all its military objectives and cautioned against attempting to control Gaza.

“Last week, Israel appeared to adopt a new approach, launching airstrikes that (Defense Minister) Katz likened to ‘opening the gates of hell.’ The strikes targeted not only members of Hamas’s armed wing but also civilian officials, including the director general of Gaza’s Interior Ministry, the director general of the Justice Ministry and members of the Hamas political bureau as they gathered for pre-dawn meals before fasting for Ramadan.

“On Friday, Katz threatened to not only temporarily occupy Gazan territory but to annex it if Hamas did not make concessions regarding hostages. ‘The more Hamas persists in its refusal, the more territory it will lose, which will be annexed to Israel,’ he said…”

Why did Israel kill the last orthopaedic surgeon in northern Gaza? – MEE

“Such actions are part of a broader strategy to physically destroy Palestinians in Gaza as a collective and ensure that Gaza’s population remains unable to recover or rebuild.”

Israel approves independence for 13 West Bank settlements – Daily Post Nigeria

“In a post on X, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the settlements would ultimately be recognised as independent, which follows the approval of tens of thousands of housing units across the West Bank. ‘We continue to lead a revolution of normalisation and regulation in the settlements. Instead of hiding and apologising – we raise the flag, build and settle. This is another important step on the path to actual sovereignty in Judea and Samaria,’ Smotrich said.”

UN Commission of Inquiry held its third round of Public Hearings to gather testimony from victims of sexual, reproductive and other forms of gender-based violence committed by the Israeli Security Forces and Israeli settlers:

Kifeya Khraim & Witness #3 | Public Hearings, COI Palestine, East Jerusalem & Israel, 11/03/2025

This testimony details systematic, widespread sexual violence against Palestinian women (and men) by Israeli soldiers and officers… “It is very clear that it is a matter of policy.”

Immigrant women describe ‘hell on earth’ in ICE detention – msn/USA Today

All four women described being chained at the wrist, waist and chest and loaded onto a prison bus, where they were held, in one case, for six hours; in another, for 11 or 12 hours. “They took us to a bigger bus,” the woman said in the audio recording. “They checked us, and then they put like chains on us, hands to waist, connected. It was very scary because they chained my chest super-tight and I couldn’t breathe properly. I was really scared because I thought, ‘I’m not going to be able to breathe.'”

There was no access to a toilet, so guards told the women – whose accounts in some cases occurred on different days or different buses – to urinate or defecate on the floor. They watched, helpless, as some did.

See Previous Posts

Featured

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.

View More of Our Work