Thursday, July 23, 2020

Says WHO?

What is likely to happen if Democrats win the presidency, the Senate and hold the House of Representatives in the November elections?

Democrats may disagree about Medicare-for-all and the Green New Deal, but there are some things around which they will quickly coalesce:
  • Repealing every deregulatory initiative of the Trump administration while imposing new restrictions on coal companies and the oil and gas industry;
  • Repealing the Trump tax cuts and raising rates on business profits and profits made by individuals from the sale of stocks, bonds and real estate;
  • Repealing tax loopholes that benefit hedge fund and private equity managers and real estate developers;
  • Restricting stock buybacks;
  • Taxing financial transactions to discourage rapid-fire computerized trading and the hedge fund profits it generates;
  • Tripling the IRS budget for audits of corporate tax returns and crackdown on overseas tax shelters;
  • Launching aggressive antitrust cases to break up tech giants and telecom oligopolies;
  • Reforming the bankruptcy code to favor consumers and workers over banks and bottom-fishing hedge funds;
  • Raising the minimum wage and reforming labor laws to make it easier for workers to unionize;
  • Regulating, for the first time, the shadow banking system and derivatives market;
  • Imposing price caps on prescription drugs, medical devices and hospital services;
  • Overturning Supreme Court decisions limiting lawsuits against businesses by workers and consumers;
  • Requiring disclosure of corporate political spending laundered through secretive front groups and sham nonprofits

These are the predictions of Washington Post business and economic columnist Steven Pearlstein. And he thinks Dems will kill the Senate filibuster to get it done by majority vote.

Let's hope he's right and let's make it happen.

1 comment:

Bonnie said...

That's a lot of work ahead. I suppose the Republicans will work to undercut like they did Obama.