News, Opinions & Events
Sunday, February 9, 2025
“Blessed Are the Meek, for They Will Inherit the Earth“ – Theology of Work Project
“No tax on tips” will harm more workers than it helps – EPI
“Proposals in Congress and now 20 states could encourage harmful employer practices and lead to tip requests in virtually every consumer transaction.”
Speaking of employer practices:
Amazon to pay DC nearly $4 million over stolen tips from Flex delivery drivers AG says – WJLA
CCSE work on taxing tips:
Many questions, few answers about exempting tips from taxes – Karl Polzer/Virginian-Pilot
The draft below is ungated:
Trump needs to erect guardrails for DOGE – WaPost editorial
“Trump needs to be clear about who is boss. Here are five ways he could do so:
1. Vet Musk’s operatives… .
2. Limit Musk’s access to sensitive files…
3. Police Musk’s conflicts of interest…
4. Keep Musk away from foreign policy…
5. Focus on the biggest drivers of the national debt.”
As Trump and Musk Upend Washington, Congressional Phones Can’t Keep Up – NYT
Dear DOGE commander and billionaire-in-charge Musk + data musketeers:
Please take a long look at exactly how much money the US government is sending me and 70 million other Americans in Social Security payments and receiving from us in taxes. Make sure you keep sending us Social Security checks with a New Year’s COLA. Failure to do so could ignite a march on Washington that would make the Jan. 6 riot look like a kindergarten play.
It would be a waste of money to instruct the IRS to audit me and other critics of the administration. A lot of us are in the economic ‘bottom 50%.’ Unlike many billionaires, we are honest and pay our taxes even though many of us have trouble keeping up with inflation. In any case, retired senior IRS officials have mentioned that the IRS is so understaffed that if people file and don’t pay their taxes, the agency would not have the capability to audit the vast majority of them within the time frame allowed under federal law. Maybe you know this already and will ask Congress for an extension. Hopefully, you will figure out what the optimum number of employees is to keep the government and country running.
BTW, you could boost government efficiency and reduce government debt by increasing payments to Medicare providers each year by LESS THAN the Social Security COLA. Doing this will not be easy. As you know, the medical industrial complex gives members of Congress lots of money. Cheers,
Citizen Polzer – Republic of Virginia
PS: Teens and 20-somethings entering government service — not that there’s anything wrong with that – should note that government careers are not as secure as they were last year.
‘Sweeping power no American has ever had’: Where is Musk getting all this authority? – MSNBC
“Dem lawmakers are rallying in opposition to Elon Musk’s overhaul. Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) joins Ana Cabrera to discuss Musk’s power in the Trump administration, federal workers being offered buyout plans…”

GOP lawmakers are now bending the knee — to Elon Musk – MSNBC
Layoffs hit contractors and small businesses as Trump cuts take effect – msn/WaPost
“…Frederic, a project manager for a defense contractor in central Virginia, was laid off this week, along with 70 percent of his team. His special project for the Army was put on hold, he said, making it tough for his employer to keep him on the payroll. ‘I didn’t expect a Trump win to cause me to lose my job, but that’s what happened,’ said Frederic, who spoke on the condition that only his middle name be used to share internal details about his job, because he feared he would lose future employment opportunities. ‘I went from making $140,000 a year to having to tap into my 401(k).'”
As Washington reels from Trump’s first actions, his voters like what they see – msn/WaPost
“PLAINS, Pa. — Behind the counter of the pink-tiled D’s Diner, Tammy Malloy chatted in between serving a late morning wave of tables. The 67-year-old said she had come to work beaming the day after the November election, in which she had voted for Donald Trump. And now, 10 days into Trump’s second presidency, Malloy was still thrilled with what she was seeing happen in Washington. She was particularly pleased with Trump choosing Pete Hegseth, a former weekend Fox News host and Army veteran who was dogged by allegations of sexual misconduct and alcohol abuse, to lead the Defense Department. Why?
“‘To get rid of the DEI,’ Malloy said, using the acronym for diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, a favorite conservative punching bag. ‘There’s two genders. I don’t care if you identify as a monkey, you’re still either a male or female. The last four years shoved it down our throats.’
“But she thought Trump was being too generous in offering resignation deals for federal employees who don’t want to return to work in the office. It’s the only thing so far she’s disliked that Trump has done — a list that includes freezing various federal grant programs in an effort to weed out diversity initiatives and pardoning violent offenders who participated in the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. ‘I can’t work from home,’ Malloy said, standing by the diner’s swinging kitchen door, holding a half-glass of milk, with a black apron tied around her torso…”
Good pay, questionable benefits:
American security contractors walking thin line in Gaza – msn/Responsible Statecraft
“The introduction of private contractors is apparently critical to the success of the ceasefire, as Israel’s earlier demands to have IDF forces staff the checkpoint were reportedly holding up previous attempts to broker a deal. But former private military contractors who spoke with Responsible Statecraft say the practice of privatizing military and security-related affairs poses a number of risks to the contractors while allowing governments — in this case, the United States and Israel — to forgo putting their own military on the ground. Furthermore, these experts say, the private military industry in general — thanks to the built-in profit incentive and overarching opacity of its operations — lends itself to exacerbating and prolonging violence and conflict, not restraining it…
“The former contractors also observed that their peers had had little outside support during and after their service, despite risking their lives on the job, but also, as Lerette had observed, suffering from post-service mental health problems sometimes leading to suicides.
“According to Brown University’s Cost of War project, 50% more contractors than troops were present in the U.S. Central Command region in 2019, which included Iraq and Afghanistan. In fact, more contractors than service members have died in wars waged post-9/11.
“‘Contractors are cheaper than hiring your own military…when the conflict is over, you don’t have to send them home to sit at… Fort Liberty, where they’re drawing a paycheck but not fighting. You just fire them, the contract is over,’ McFate explained. ‘You don’t have responsibility for [contractors’] physical or mental health. You don’t have responsibility for taking care of their funeral. There’s no Arlington Cemetery for them.'”
Featured

Multiple conflicts of interest:
“By directing a high-powered federal agency working to alter the size and nature of the federal workforce, Elon Musk may be jeopardizing the ability of companies he owns and directs, including SpaceX and Tesla, to contract with the federal government.”
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:
Statement to 11/20/24 US House Appropriations Committee hearing on Social Security:
“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.”

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.
The nation’s biggest banks in effect have become today’s payday lenders.
Which U.S. Households Have Credit Card Debt? – St. Louis Fed
46% of American households held credit card debt in 2022.

– 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.
CCSE work contributes to Congressional hearing on financing Social Security
Center on Capital & Social Equity (CCSE) analysis and advocacy were evidenced during the June 4 House Ways & Means subcommittee on Social Security hearing of the program’s trust fund. Over the past years, CCSE has worked to explore issues affecting low-wage workers and lay groundwork to defend their Social Security benefits when Congress eventually refinances the nation’s most important social program.

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:
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
“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.
“Legislative Choices for Paying Promised Social Security Benefits”
Statement of Karl Polzer, Center on Capital & Social Equity,
U.S. Senate Budget Committee hearing: “Protecting Social
Security for All: Making the Wealthy Pay Their Fair Share”

Has DT crossed the line into delirium tremens?
“It came out of his mouth during a campaign speech last month.”