Tag Archives: threats to the middle class

In a last ditch effort to satisfy their donors, Republicans attempt to kill the ACA and transfer billions of dollars to America’s super-rich by calling it a “middle class tax cut”

By Mark | November 14, 2017

Remember how, this past summer, we all came together, fought like hell, and killed the Republican health care plan that would have robbed some 22 million Americans of their coverage? Well, it looks like it’s time for us to get back in fighting shape, as the Republicans seem hellbent on pushing legislation through Congress before […]

Posted in Corporate Crime, Health, Politics, Uncategorized | Also tagged Affordable Care Act, Alan Greenspan, American aristocracy, asshole CEOs, budget deficit, call to action, campaign finance, campaign finance reform, Chris Collins, corporate takeover of politics, corporate tax breaks, corporate tax cheats, deficit, deficit spending, Donald Trump, estate tax, Gary Cohn, Gene Sperling, health care reform, John McCain, Lindsay Graham, Lisa Murkowski, mandates, middle class tax cuts, Mitch McConnell, National Economic Council, Obamacare, Paul Ryan, student loan debt, student loans, Susan Collins, Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, tax policy, tax reform, trickle down economics, Trumpcare, wealth inequality | 30 Comments

The University of Michigan, with an increasingly wealthy student body, sets out to return the “common man” and increase economic diversity

By Mark | November 9, 2017

Politico has a really interesting piece today about the increasingly wealthy University of Michigan student body, what that means in practical terms when it comes to economics and politics in the state, and what University leaders are doing to reverse the trend, and increase economic diversity on campus. And, interestingly, they’ve decided to tell the […]

Posted in Ann Arbor, Education, Photographs, Uncategorized, Ypsilanti | Also tagged 1%, American aristocracy, Ben Edmondson, Detroit, dismantling of public education, economic segregation, Go Blue Guarantee, HAIL: High Achieving Involved Leader, higher education, inheritance tax, inherited wealth, Jake Croman, James Angell, Politico, public education, ruin porn, Southfield, student debt, Tap Room, threats to public education, tuition, University of Michigan, wealth inequality, Wolverine Pathways, Ypsi High, Ypsilanti International Elementary School | 33 Comments

Richard Florida visits Ann Arbor, advocates for affordable housing, warns “When places get boring, even the rich leave”

By Mark | April 25, 2017

Richard Florida, the man credited with popularizing the belief that the so-called “creative class” is the primary driver of urban redevelopment, was in Ann Arbor yesterday to address a regional economic forum hosted by Ann Arbor Spark. As I didn’t take very good notes, and don’t have the time this evening to provide anything even […]

Posted in Ann Arbor, Art and Culture, Uncategorized | Also tagged Ann Arbor SPARK, Brexit, cities, creative class, demographics, Donald Trump, economic development, economic inequality, economic segregation, Elmira, gentrification, inclusive urbanism, Jane Jacobs, luddism, Martin Prosperity Institute, mass transit, Michael Shuman, populism, re-urbanization, Richard Florida, Rob Ford, service industry, shifting national demographics, tax the rich, the arts, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, the gay, The New Urban Crisis, The New Urban Crisis: How Our Cities Are Increasing Inequality Deepening Segregation and Failing the Middle Class—and What We Can Do About It, The Rise of the Creative Class, things that are boring, urban planning, urban redevelopment, urban renewal, wealth inequality, why don't the rich see the big picture | 29 Comments

The robots are coming, the robots are coming… Is now the time to start talking seriously about universal basic income? And what’s all this about our new Secretary of Labor not liking human beings?

By Mark | December 8, 2016

It seems like we might have turned a corner today relative to universal basic income. Or at least that’s the sense that I get as I’m sitting here in bed, scrolling through today’s headlines. I mean, it’s something that we’ve been discussing for a while, but it seems like it’s everywhere today, which is odd, […]

Posted in Corporate Crime, Uncategorized | Also tagged 2001: A Space Odyssey, Andy Puzder, automation, Carl's Jr., coal mines, Elon Musk, factories, Hardee's, John Henry, robots, Secretary of Labor, universal basic income | 74 Comments

Autonomous trucking, the coming shift in the American workforce, and beginning a discussion on universal basic income

By Mark | October 25, 2016

The most interesting news today had absolutely nothing to do with either Clinton or Trump for a change. It was news out of Colorado involving the first known instance of a self-driving truck successfully transporting merchandise over the U.S. highway system. Here’s the truck in question, which, just a few days ago, carried 2,000 cases […]