SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
For Immediate Release
July, 16 2020, 12:00am EDT
Contact:
Sam Quigley, [email protected], 317-752-9150
New York Millionaire Challenges Sen. Schumer on His Support for Eliminating SALT Deduction Cap
"Cutting the SALT cap does nothing to help the vast majority of Americans or even the majority of people living in blue states. It's just another tax cut, mostly for the rich."
WASHINGTON
Earlier this week, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) publicly advocated for the next round of coronavirus legislation to include eliminating the SALT deduction cap put in place by the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. This cap is one of the few progressive parts of that piece of legislation, disproportionately affecting wealthy taxpayers.
In response to Sen. Schumer's remarks, Morris Pearl, former managing director at Blackrock, Inc., Chair of the Patriotic Millionaires, and New York resident, issued the following statement:
"In the middle of an unprecedented crisis, with millions of Americans unemployed and tens of millions of Americans weeks away from being evicted, the rich people who earn enough to reach the SALT cap are the last people that the government should be concerned with helping. The next round of coronavirus legislation should focus on giving assistance to people who are actually struggling to get by, not millionaires like me.
The best way for Senator Schumer to help states and localities weather the economic effects of COVID-19 would be to focus on ensuring the next package includes adequate funding for those state and local governments. Cutting the SALT cap does nothing to help the vast majority of Americans or even the majority of people living in blue states. It's just another tax cut, mostly for the rich, and we already have too many politicians in Washington whose answer to every problem is to cut taxes for the rich. We don't need Democratic leadership doing the same.
Making this unnecessary and regressive tax cut a priority in the midst of the worst economic and public health crisis in the last 50 years would be opposed to everything that the Democratic party should be standing for."
For further comments or questions, please contact Sam Quigley at [email protected].
The Patriotic Millionaires is a group of high-net worth Americans who share a profound concern about the destabilizing level of inequality in America. Our work centers on the two things that matter most in a capitalist democracy: power and money. Our goal is to ensure that the country's political economy is structured to meet the needs of regular Americans, rather than just millionaires. We focus on three "first" principles: a highly progressive tax system, a livable minimum wage, and equal political representation for all citizens.
(202) 446-0489LATEST NEWS
Driven by Groundwater Depletion, Colorado River Basin Has Lost Equivalent of Underground Lake Mead
"Everyone in the U.S. should be worried about it, because we grow a lot of food in the Colorado River Basin, and that's food that's used all over the entire country."
May 28, 2025
The authors of a new study on water loss in the Colorado River Basin say "large-scale industrial farming" is closely tied to a major depletion of groundwater in the Southwest, where the pumping of groundwater is largely unregulated.
Researchers at Arizona State University used satellite data to measure groundwater supplies across the basin, which runs through seven states including Arizona, California, and Utah.
Measuring the Earth's gravity field to estimate the mass of underground water in the region, they found that the area has lost 27.8 million acre-feet of groundwater since 2003—roughly the same volume as the capacity of the nation's largest reservoir, Lake Mead.
The loss of groundwater has especially accelerated in the past decade, and the basin lost more than twice as much groundwater since 2003 as the amount of water taken out of reservoirs.
"Groundwater is disappearing 2.4 times faster than the surface water," Jay Famiglietti, the senior author of the study and a hydrologist at Arizona State University, told The Guardian.
Groundwater pumping is unregulated in much of the region, and the researchers noted that parts of the basin that have experienced the greatest losses are in areas with industrial alfalfa farming operations.
"Groundwater is disappearing 2.4 times faster than the surface water."
"Overpumping" is the main driver of groundwater loss in the past two decades, Famigletti said. "There's nothing illegal about it, it's just unprotected."
The Colorado River provides water to about 40 million people and millions of acres of farmland.
"Everyone in the U.S. should be worried about it, because we grow a lot of food in the Colorado River Basin, and that's food that's used all over the entire country," Famigletti told The Guardian.
While groundwater has been depleted, hotter temperatures fueled by the burning of fossil fuels have also contributed to especially arid conditions in the region over the past two decades. Since the beginning of the century the Colorado River's natural flow has been 13% lower than it was in the middle of the 20th century.
"We need to recognize where all this is happening and work with the state to put the brakes on," Famigletti toldThe Washington Post. "We used to say the Colorado River is the lifeblood of the western United States, but now it's becoming groundwater is the lifeblood."
States in the region were forced to reach a federal agreement in 2023 to limit water usage and try to protect the river's supply.
The more water that is lost from the river, Famigletti toldthe Post, "the more pressure there's going to be on the groundwater" in the basin.
"And then," he said, "it becomes a ticking time bomb."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Progressive Petition Calls for DNC 'Emergency Meeting' to Shift Gears Against Trump
"Doing the same old thing (or nothing) nets the same dismal results," wrote one petition signer.
May 28, 2025
A petition sponsored by two national progressive organizations is urging the Democratic National Committee to convene an emergency meeting of all its members in order to chart "truly bold action" against U.S. President Donald Trump and his "cronies."
The petition, which was sent to Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Ken Martin this week and circulated by the groups RootsAction and Progressive Democrats of America, has 7,000 signers, according to a Wednesday statement. It also includes more than 1,500 individual comments from petition signers.
One petition signer, Andrea Helene Hansen of Hudson, New York, wrote: "As a lifelong Democrat (and I'm now 77 years old), I'm looking for an alternative since my party is failing me (and others of the boomer generation). WAKE UP!"
"Doing the same old thing (or nothing) nets the same dismal results. Time to represent your voters that want you to fight Trump and GOP and overwhelmingly support progressive programs," wrote Anne Eisinger of Auburndale, Florida.
Recent polling and the success of Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I-Vt.) "Fighting Oligarchy" tour—with appearances by other key progressives including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.)—this spring suggest that a sizable portion of the Democratic base is keen to see Democrats pushing back forcefully against Trump.
The petition urges the DNC to convene the emergency meeting as soon as possible and make it fully open to the public.
"The predatory, extreme, and dictatorial actions of the Trump administration call for an all-out commensurate response, which so far has been terribly lacking from the Democratic Party," the petition states. "It is time for the Democratic National Committee, as the organization tasked with responding to the concerns of Democrats, to heed the insights of progressive policy analysts and grassroots activists—and that should begin at this emergency meeting."
The text of the petition does not specify which insights the groups and petition signers would like the DNC to heed.
According to the petition, waiting until the DNC's next regular meeting in late summer would be "irresponsible."
In a Common Dreamsop-ed published Wednesday, RootsAction national director Norman Solomon highlighted anger directed at Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) after he decided to support a Republican spending bill in March, and Democratic congressional leadership's poor performance in recent polling.
"Four months into his job as the DNC's chair, Ken Martin has yet to show that the DNC is truly operating in real time while the country faces an unprecedented threat to what's left of democracy. His power to call an emergency meeting of the full DNC remains unused," wrote Solomon.
Meanwhile, the DNC recently took steps to void the elections of multiple DNC vice chairs, including gun reform activist David Hogg, who rankled DNC members earlier this year when he announced his intention to support primary challenges to "asleep-at-the-wheel" Democrats in safe-blue seats.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Senators Demand Answers From Trump Treasury Secretary on Impacts of Gutting IRS
"For wealthy and corporate tax cheats, an IRS starved of resources means a free pass. For the vast majority of hardworking Americans... it means not getting their calls answered and bearing a larger share of audits."
May 28, 2025
In response to U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's recent suggestion that hiring more Internal Revenue Service auditors hasn't been shown to increase tax collections or revenue, 10 senators on Wednesday demanded answers from the former hedge fund manager about the consequences of significantly reducing IRS staff.
"We write to ask whether Treasury has conducted any analyses on the effect cutting up to 40% of the IRS workforce will have on revenue collection, customer service, modernization efforts, and the share of audits comprised of corporations and the wealthy compared with those making less than $400,000," explains a letter led by Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).
"When Republicans forced through IRS budget cuts between 2010 and 2021, the results were clear. As the IRS enforcement staff shrank by 30%, audit rates fell for millionaires by 77% and for large corporations by half. Freeloaders rejoiced," the senators noted. "The IRS reported that between 2017 and 2021, over 125,000 high-income taxpayers with cumulative financial activity over $100 billion did not even bother to file a tax return."
"Between 2017 and 2021, over 125,000 high-income taxpayers with cumulative financial activity over $100 billion did not even bother to file a tax return."
While "low-income recipients of the Earned Income Tax Credit were audited at a higher rate than millionaires," by the end of President Donald Trump's first term, congressional Democrats and the Biden administration sought to boost the agency's ability to target wealthy tax dodgers with nearly $80 billion in Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the letter points out. Although the funding "had already begun to allow the IRS to improve customer service, modernize old technology, and crack down on wealthy tax cheats," Congress has since clawed back about half of it.
"Besides being unfair to honest taxpayers, hobbling the IRS increases the deficit," the senators stressed. "According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the more than $40 billion rescission of IRS funding provided by the IRA will mean over $100 billion less revenue collected, which on net will increase the deficit by over $60 billion. According to the Budget Lab, firing over 7,000 probationary employees will increase the deficit by an additional $100 billion. On top of these cuts, the president's budget proposes a $2.5 billion reduction in the IRS discretionary budget for next year."
The lawmakers sent Bessent questions about recent IRS terminations and resignations under the deferred resignation program, and how staff reductions impact customer service, efforts to modernize outdated technology, revenue collection from individuals making over $400,000, and corporate audits. They called for responses by June 27.
In addition to Whitehouse and Wyden, the letter is signed by Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Peter Welch (D-Vt.).
"For wealthy and corporate tax cheats, an IRS starved of resources means a free pass," the letter declares. "For the vast majority of hardworking Americans who pay what they owe on time and in full, it means not getting their calls answered and bearing a larger share of audits."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular