“Establishment Democrats have long whined that working people pay a higher rate of combined income and payroll taxes than billionaires. They’re not wrong. Income from labor is taxed three times (payroll taxes, income taxes, and inflation) while income from capital is taxed only once (capital gains). In America today, capital gains tax is capped at 20%, but labor’s floor is 15.3% with a payroll tax, plus the 3-8% inflation tax, both of which start at dollar one. Add the income tax, which tops out at 39%, and labor is generally taxed at twice the rate of capital. … The Democratic Party’s solution? ‘Tax the rich,’ as if that would put more of the workers’ own money back in their pockets.” (03/03/25)
“‘There has almost always been an outright hostility that is shown towards people of the Christian faith,’ House Speaker Mike Johnson said on a podcast recently. He was talking with Tony Perkins, a former Louisiana lawmaker and president of the Family Research Council, about freedom of religion and the actions of the second Trump administration. I have to admit that such a statement from this country’s third most powerful politician and an avowed Christian nationalist almost takes my breath away. Of all the people facing hostility, discrimination, and violence now and throughout history, Christians like Mike Johnson rank low on the list. Still, his comment is consistent with a disturbing religious trend in the country right now. As an early act of his second administration, Donald Trump has created an anti-Christian bias task force to be chaired by Attorney General Pam Bondi.” [editor’s note: Yet another “progressive” flack without a clue, just a roster of scapegoats – SAT] (03/03/25)
Source: Center for a Stateless Society
by Kevin Carson
“The standard right-libertarian talking point is that labor is dependent on investment, that investment — in the form either of credit or equity — comes from previous capital accumulation, and that profit and interest are the rewards for the use of that money, the capitalist’s abstention from use of it, the marginal productivity of the capital, or some variation on one or more of those.” (03/03/25)
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“The framing that Hamas has ‘rejected’ Israel’s proposed extension of phase one is just the current propaganda line from the US-Israeli PR machine. In reality the terms of the ceasefire deal say that Israel and Hamas were supposed to move on to phase two of the agreement this weekend, but Israel has been refusing to negotiate the second stage of the agreement this entire time because it would entail a withdrawal of Israeli troops and a commitment to a lasting peace. This idea that the first phase of the ceasefire should be ‘extended’ instead of continuing on to the second phase is a brand new proposition the US and Israel just started pushing a few days ago.” (03/02/25)
“In just six weeks’ time, nearly the entirety of the US public health profession, including [Anthony] Fauci, would jettison the previous century of scientific literature attesting to the ineffectiveness of lockdowns. Instead, they rushed to embrace the previously-deprecated approach of simulation modeling, and used it to place the majority of the world under mandatory quarantine. Five years later, we still have no clear answers for why this sudden, sharp reversal happened, let alone accountability for the public health officials who made the call to change course.” (03/03/25)
“Gold is making headlines as experts describe extraordinary circumstances affecting the precious metal. The market has been upended by the announcement and enactment of U.S. tariffs from the Trump administration, prompting an exodus of gold from the old continent. The World Gold Council (WGC), an authority in gold circles, has certified that over 600 tons of gold have flown into the vaults of New York since December. This circumstance has been qualified as extraordinary by John Reade, WGC’s market strategist for Asia and Europe, who remarked that this gold doesn’t belong there.” (03/03/25)
“Myriad claims made by Musk and his team have been shown to be false. (Journalist Marcy Wheeler is keeping a running list.) The most notable example of this pattern was that a site purportedly articulating ‘savings’ effected by Musk’s team was riddled with errors, overstating some savings by billions of dollars and claiming as ‘savings’ money that had already been spent. There has been no demonstrated evidence of fraud, except when using the term ‘fraud’ or ‘waste’ in the way that was always intended: to describe spending that doesn’t comport with how the political right wants to spend federal money.” (03/03/25)
“The meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and President Trump at the White House ‘devolved into a shouting match’ in the Oval Office. Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance criticized Zelenskyy’s approach, with Trump accusing him of ‘gambling with World War III.’ Meanwhile, Zelenskyy voiced concerns that deals with Russia would not be kept and that Ukraine needed stronger security guarantees. The recent clash between the two wasn’t merely a diplomatic hiccup; it was a stark illustration of the West’s eroding credibility and the precarious position in which Ukraine finds itself. The fallout from this meeting reverberates far beyond the walls of the Oval Office, exposing deep fissures and eliciting widespread repercussions that shake the very foundations of the global order.” [editor’s note: Yet another distortion of what actually happened there – SAT] (03/03/25)
“If DOGE and agency heads succeed in their mission, it will be nothing less than the greatest deregulatory achievement seen in the modern world.” (03/03/25)
“Full details are yet to emerge of the ‘peace plan’ that the UK, EU and Ukrainian leaders worked out in London on Sunday, and are to present to the Trump administration. But from what they have said so far, while one part is necessary and even essential, another is obstructive and potentially disastrous.” (03/03/25)
