Plutocracy

Medicare Advantage Overbills Taxpayers by $140 Billion a Year — Enough to Wipe Out Medicare Premiums

Jake Johnson ( Commondreams.org ) – A report published Wednesday estimates that privately run, government-funded Medicare Advantage plans are overcharging U.S. taxpayers by up to $140 billion per year, a sum that could be used to completely eliminate Medicare Part B premiums or fully fund Medicare’s prescription drug program. Physicians for a National Health […]

Corporations

Meeting Union Demands would be a Win-Win for Automakers

OtherWords

By Sonali Kolhatkar ( Otherwords.org) – The United Auto Workers (UAW), a union of nearly 150,000 workers at America’s “Big Three” automakers, are on strike. On the face of it, UAW’s demands sound audacious. They’re calling for a 46 percent pay raise and a four-day workweek, among other things. But in the broader context of […]

Corruption

Clarence Thomas Secretly Helped Raise Money for Koch Network, Which has Cases before the Court

ProPublica

By Joshua Kaplan, Justin Elliott and Alex Mierjeski | – ( ProPublica ) – Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ decadeslong friendship with real estate tycoon Harlan Crow and Samuel Alito’s luxury travel with billionaire Paul Singer have raised questions about influence and ethics at the nation’s highest court. On Jan. 25, 2018, dozens of private […]

Inequality

On Labor Day: Low-Wage Employers say they Have no Money for Raises, but spent $341 Billion on Stock Buybacks

Inequality.org

By Sarah Anderson ( Inequality.org ) – In response to strikes and union organizing drives, corporate leaders routinely insist that they simply lack the wherewithal to raise employee pay. And yet top executives seem to have little trouble finding resources for enriching themselves and wealthy shareholders. In 2021 and 2022, S&P 500 corporations spent record […]

Corruption

Clarence Thomas’ 38 Vacations: The Other Billionaires Who Have Treated the Supreme Court Justice to Luxury Travel

ProPublica

By Brett Murphy and Alex Mierjeski | – ( ProPublica) – During his three decades on the Supreme Court, Clarence Thomas has enjoyed steady access to a lifestyle most Americans can only imagine. A cadre of industry titans and ultrawealthy executives have treated him to far-flung vacations aboard their yachts, ushered him into the premium […]

Democratic Socialists of America

Progressives Unveil OLIGARCH Act to Combat ‘Existential Threat’ of Extreme Wealth Inequality

Common Dreams

By Jake Johnson | – ( Commondreams) – A group of progressive U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday proposed a wealth tax that would automatically rise during periods of surging inequality and fall once inequality moderates. The tax is at the heart of new legislation called the Oppose Limitless Inequality Growth and Reverse Community Harms (OLIGARCH) Act, […]

Climate Crisis

The Big Money behind the Fight to Ban Environmentally and Socially Conscious Investing

Inequality.org

by Jessica Church ( Inequality.org ) – In a recent Gallup poll, the vast majority of Americans surveyed said they were not even “somewhat familiar” with the term “ESG.” But on Capitol Hill, Republicans have developed a fixation on the issue, holding not one but two intensely partisan hearings on the topic. “Republicans Are Losing […]

Education

For Racial Justice, End Legacy Admissions in Universities, a form of Affirmative Action for the Rich

OtherWords

By Sonali Kolhatkar | ( Otherwords ) – Who will benefit from the Supreme Court’s recent ruling striking down race as a factor in college admissions? Mostly, just wealthy white people. That’s because the ruling refused to touch so-called “legacy admissions.” Colleges are free to continue giving preferential treatment to the children of alumni, donors, […]

African-Americans

The Supreme Court didn’t Protect Color-Blindness but our Opportunity to Labor under a Hereditary Plutocracy

Sam Pizzigati

By Sam Pizzigati | – ( Inequality.org ) – In our United States today, all of us do not have an “equal opportunity” to become rich — or even comfortable. Rich people like things that way. Grand fortunes only grow grander when the richest among us have plenty of exploitable people around to exploit. To […]