shakedown.social is one of the many independent Mastodon servers you can use to participate in the fediverse.
A community for live music fans with roots in the jam scene. Shakedown Social is run by a team of volunteers (led by @clifff and @sethadam1) and funded by donations.

Administered by:

Server stats:

255
active users

#debts

0 posts0 participants0 posts today

#TaxTheRich, it’s a decent start

Posted by Bluebird | Mar 12, 2025

"As incredible as it may seem, just a handful of #billionaire #Mainers could fund the state for years out of their own pockets and still live out their lives as multimillionaires. So when socialists say tax the rich, we mean more than raising what billionaires pay by 1% or 2%, we mean raising their taxes by 25% or 50% or more to start with. We mean we should take back the wealth they have collected by exploiting all the people who have worked for them, all the land they have stolen, and all the resources they have grabbed all around the world. In the meantime, socialists often support smaller measures whenever we feel like they are a way to raise funds to help our class, raise consciousness, and build organization.

However, increasing taxes on the wealthy isn’t a permanent solution to the persisting problems of #capitalist society. It’s a good start, but it’s not enough.

[...]

"By all means tax [the wealthy] at a rate of 95%, 99%, 100%, 200%! Take back everything they have stolen from us. Truly solving the causes of social inequality cannot happen until the property of the capitalist class has been expropriated, but for the reasons explained above, simply taxing them at any rate will prove ineffective given enough time.

"Moreover, tax increases tend to antagonize capitalists. Sooner or later, as we are seeing very clearly now in Washington, they will transform their economic might into raw political power to claw back even the small social costs that generations of #SocialMovements and trade unions have imposed on them. During such times, as grim as our prospects may seem, it becomes clearer than ever that so long as the capitalists have all the power, even the most progressive public policy can only be temporary.

"How much longer will capitalist industry be allowed to #pollute the planet? How many more times does the economy have to crash? How many more wars will we be forced to fight on the behalf of these #RobberBarons? How many more lives will be ruined by #debts, mass #layoffs, denied insurance claims, and more? Why should we tolerate a system that exploits those whose labor keeps society functioning?"

Read more:
pineandroses.org/opinion/www-p
#MaineDSA #Socialism #CapitalismMustDie

Pine & Roses · socialists want to tax the rich
More from Todd Chretien

Who would have thought it? The #Trump campaign has a trail of unpaid #debts to at least four cities and one county in the USA dating back eight years. The amount due is a piffling $750,000 which any billionaire should be able to pay quite easily.

msn.com/en-gb/news/world/he-le
Source: @RawStory #rawstory

www.msn.comMSN

#SCOTUS refuses to allow Biden’s #StudentLoan plan

The #Biden admin plan, known as #SAVE, offers lower monthly #student #loan payments & a faster path to #LoanCancellation for millions of borrowers.

SCOTUS refused to clear the way for the Biden’s new student loan repayment plan, adding to uncertainty about the future of a program that would affect millions.

#Education #StudentLoanDebt #debts #Republican #law #ActivistCourt #PartisanCourt #AffordableEducation #racket
washingtonpost.com/politics/20

The Washington Post · Supreme Court refuses to allow Biden’s student loan repayment plan — for nowBy Ann E. Marimow

Alex Shepherd says Trump faces "an apocalyptic financial situation":

"Strapped for cash both personally and politically, Trump is desperate for money and, judging from his deranged posts lately on Truth Social, it’s sending him into a tailspin of panic."

This creates a dangerous situation:

"He badly needs big donors—and he’s clearly willing to change policy proposals on a host of issues, from China to entitlements, to get them."

#Trump #debts #NationalSecurity

newrepublic.com/article/179958

The New Republic · The Real Corruption Risk Facing Trump He’s desperate for money, but we should be worried less about foreign autocrats than rich Americans.

“'I don’t need anybody’s money. I’m using my own money. I’m really rich,' he boasted in 2015. ...

Here’s the real story of what’s going on. Trump is burning through cash and paying his mounting legal bills with money from donors. Federal Election Commission filings reveal just how bad it is for Team Trump."

~ Dan Rather

#Trump #money #FEC #debts #crime #bond

steady.substack.com/p/can-trum

Steady · Can Trump Afford to Run for President?By Dan Rather

#TrumpMedia merger wins investor approval, netting #Trump *potential* windfall

TFG will own ~60% of #TruthSocial, which at its current share price would be worth ~$3.3B.

*A lockup agreement will prevent him from selling the shares for 6 months.*

A long-delayed move that will open the owners of TruthSocial to stock-market investors & grant Trump a stake worth billions he could use to pay down his #legal #debts.

#law #finance #tech #SocialMedia #extremism #investment
washingtonpost.com/technology/

The Washington Post · Trump Media merger wins investor approval, netting Trump potential windfallBy Drew Harwell
Continued thread

Roger Sollenberger and Reese Gorman report that Trump’s PAC Burned $230,000 a day on legal bills in February:

"On Wednesday night, Trump’s 'Save America' leadership PAC—the political committee that now functions primarily as his legal slush fund—reported paying lawyers $5.6 million last month, according to Federal Election Commission filings. That’s well above the $5 million total the PAC raised in the same period."

#Trump #debt #debts #SaveAmerica
/4

thedailybeast.com/trumps-pac-b

The Daily Beast · Trump’s PAC Burned $230,000 a Day on Legal Bills in FebruaryBy Roger Sollenberger

In 2021, the Boston Globe editorial board asked: “♦️Who owns the president?♦️

It’s a reasonable question. We didn’t know the answer then. We still don’t.

Three years later, we have more than a half-billion reasons to ask that question.

Were he to be re-elected, his legal #debts would be a #national #security issue as well as a domestic one.

On Friday, Donald #Trump posted an $92,000,000 #bond, a promise to pay (with interest) writer E. Jean Carroll, who won her defamation case against Trump last year.
Trump also still owes Carroll $5 million award for her original defamation lawsuit.

Federal Insurance Company, a division of the insurance conglomerate #Chubb Ltd., is managing Friday’s bond. 🔸That’s all we know.🔸

👉Trump’s court filing didn’t provide details on how he financed the $91.6 million bond. Nor did Chubb, which said, “as a matter of policy, we do not comment on client-specific information.”

The standard premium for appeal bonds is 2%, according to people familiar with the business. At that rate, Trump’s bond would have cost him $1.8 million, unless he negotiated a better rate.
Absent a fire sale of his trophy properties, or a sudden infusion of funds from an angel investor, Trump would most likely have to pledge some of his real estate assets as collateral for his next appeal bond.
And if those properties are encumbered in any way with mortgages or loans, the surety underwriter would have to devise a way to put the bond in a priority position.

Then there’s the issue of Trump himself, who has a checkered past when it comes to paying off debts (emphasis added)…
💥Does Trump have a relationship with the Chubb CEO? Is this bond a quid-pro-quo?💥
In 2018, Trump appointed Chubb’s CEO Evan Greenberg to a White House advisory committee for trade policy and negotiations.

According to Andrew Weissmann, former general counsel for the FBI:
👉[The] issue of who is actually behind [Trump’s bond] is something that people who are voting should know… who is the candidate beholden to? Is [Trump] going to be making policy and being differential to people who have put up money (emphasis added)?
#followthemoney

themoderatevoice.com/follow-th

themoderatevoice.comFollow the money: Trump's legal peril is a national security issue – The Moderate Voice

Now, 55% of #China’s official sector loans to developing countries have entered their repayment periods, according to the analysis of more than two decades of China’s overseas funding across 165 countries released by AidData. #DebtTrap

Developing countries owe China at least $1.1 trillion – and the #debts are due | CNN Business
edition.cnn.com/2023/11/07/bus