Tuesday, May 12, 2026
Most Americans Believe Today's Children Will Be Worse Off Financially Than Their Parents
The chart above reflects the results of the Economist / YouGov Poll -- done between May 1st and 4th of a nationwide sample of 1,573 adults (including 1,409 registered voters). The margin of error is 3.4 points for adults and 3.3 points for registered voters.
Instead Of Helping Pay Down The National Debt, The Super-Rich Are Getting Richer Off It
From former Labor Secretary Robert Reich:
The U.S. national debt just crossed a once-unthinkable threshold on the way toward breaking the record set in the wake of World War II: It now exceeds 100 percent of America’s gross domestic product.
As of March 31, our publicly held debt was $31.27 trillion, while America’s GDP in 2025 was $31.22 trillion. This puts the ratio at 100.2 percent, compared with 99.5 percent when the last fiscal year ended September 30.
That 100.2 percent figure will likely climb, because the federal government is running historically large annual deficits of nearly 6 percent of GDP, which add to the debt. The final tally will depend on Iran war spending, tariff refunds, and the strength of the economy.
Should you worry? Well, it’s not as if we’re heading into a depression. Passing the 100 percent threshold won’t suddenly cause the world to lose confidence in the dollar.
The real problem is that an increasing portion of our nation’s budget — and your tax dollars — is dedicated to paying interest on this growing debt. That’s money we don’tspend on education, healthcare, roads and bridges, social safety nets, or (if we actually needed more spending on it) national defense.
As the debt continues to grow, interest payments continue to soar. We’ll soon be paying more in interest on the federal debt each year than we spend each year on Medicare.
So, who exactly receives these interest payments? This is an issue you hear very little discussion about, because the wealthy and powerful of this country would rather you didn’t know.
You probably do hear that a chunk of our debt is held by foreign governments and foreign investors. That’s true, but they hold only about 30 percent of our debt. The rest — roughly 70 percent — is held domestically. That is, we pay the interest to ourselves.
And who, exactly, is the “ourselves” who receive these interest payments? The Federal Reserve holds part of this debt, state and local governments hold part.
But the biggest chunk — nearly half — is held by mutual funds, pension funds, insurance companies, and banks. And who owns them? The Americans who invest in these funds — and who thereby, directly or indirectly, hold Treasury bills.
And who, exactly are these Americans — the Americans who are directly or indirectly collecting a large amount of the interest we’re paying on the national debt? It’s the people at the top.
The richest 1 percent of U.S. households hold about 35.6 percent of all financial assets — shares of stock, corporate bonds, and Treasury bills — so it’s safe to assume they hold at least a third of all Treasury bills.
What’s wrong with this picture?
Here’s where things get really interesting.
Decades ago, wealthy Americans financed the federal government mainly by paying taxes. Their tax rate was far, far higher than it is today. In the 1950s, under President Dwight Eisenhower, the richest Americans paid a marginal tax rate of 91 percent. (Tax deductions and tax credits meant that the top effective marginal rate was lower than this.)
Fast forward. Now, wealthy Americans finance the federal government mainly by lending it money and collecting interest payments on those loans.
Interest payments on the national debt this year are expected to reach $1 trillion.
There are roughly 128 million households in the United States. Dividing $1 trillion in annual interest among U.S. households would amount to $650 per household per month. (This is a simplified average, of course; actual burdens vary based on tax status, income, and spending.)
The point is that a big chunk of the growing interest payments American taxpayers make on the federal debt is going to wealthy Americans.
Keep following the money. One of the biggest reasons the federal debt has exploded is that tax cuts — starting with the George W. Bush administration in 2001 and extending through Trump’s 2018 and 2024 tax cuts — have reduced government revenues by $10.6 trillion.
Most of the benefits from those tax cuts are going to the wealthy. Since 2000, 65 percentof the benefits from tax cuts have gone to the richest fifth of Americans — 22 percent to the top 1 percent.
So, you see what’s happened?
The wealthiest Americans used to pay higher taxes to finance the government. Now, the government pays wealthy Americans interest on a swelling debt, caused largely by lower taxes on wealthy Americans.
Which means a growing portion of everyone else’s taxes are now paying wealthy Americans interest on those loans, instead of paying for government services everyone needs.
So, from now on, whenever you hear someone say how huge, horrible, and out-of-control the national debt is, explain to them that it’s because of tax cuts to the wealthy — who are also the major recipients of interest on that debt.
America’s wealthy have never been wealthier. If they paid their fair share of taxes, we wouldn’t have such a huge federal debt. And we wouldn’t be paying them so much interest on that debt.
Monday, May 11, 2026
Most Americans Blame Trump For The Rising Gas Prices
The chart above reflects the results of the NPR / PBS News / Marist Poll -- done between April 27th and 30th of a nationwide sample of 1,322 adults (including 1,155 registered voters). The margin of error is 3.1 points for adults and 3.3 points for registered voters.
Public Believes Prices Will Continue To Rise For The Next Year
This chart reflects the results of the Economist / YouGov Poll -- done between May 1st and 4th of a nationwide sample of 1,573 adults (including 1,409 registered voters). The margin of error is 3.4 points for adults and 3.3 points for registered voters.
Sunday, May 10, 2026
Public Overwhelmingly Says Taxes On Billionaires Are Too Low
The chart above reflects the results of the Economist / YouGov Poll -- done between May 1st and 4th of a nationwide sample of 1,573 adults (including 1,409 registered voters). The margin of error is 3.4 points for adults and 3.3 points for registered voters.
Republicans Are Waging War Against Minority Political Rights
The following is a post by Symone D. Sanders Townsend at MS NOW:
A nationwide campaign is underway to systematically dismantle Black political influence.
In Tennessee, Republicans are working to eliminate a congressional district that allows the majority-Black city of Memphis to choose its own representative.
In Florida, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed off on a new map that eliminates a South Florida district, which had a near-majority Black electorate.
And in Louisiana, Republicans threw out thousands of votes that had already been cast so they could pass a new map that eliminates a congressional district that includes the majority-Black city of New Orleans.
Following the Supreme Court’s lead, Republican lawmakers have cast these as mere partisan exercises or even an attempt to be “race neutral.” But the pattern is not subtle, and Americans should not pretend otherwise.
At every turn, we are told this is not about race, that it’s just politics, that they’re just respecting the process.
Please. This is not some theoretical exercise being debated in a classroom. This is a threat to the multiracial democracy that our ancestors built over the last 250 years, often at great cost to them and the country.
I don’t think Americans fully understand the emergency of this moment.
The Voting Rights Act, which the Supreme Court gutted last week, was not some symbolic achievement. People bled and died for that law. Entire generations organized, marched and fought in courtrooms and legislative chambers so Black Americans could fully participate in democracy and wield real electoral power.
Now we are watching that progress get chipped away in real time, while some who should be on the frontlines protesting continue to debate whether it’s actually happening.
Trust me, it’s happening. And what frustrates me most is that America has seen this movie before.
After Reconstruction ended, the 14th and 15th amendments to guarantee basic rights for formerly enslaved people were still in place. Black Americans were still citizens. On paper, Black men still had the right to vote.
But then states stopped enforcing those rights. Courts weakened them. Governors aided and abetted the rollback. Business leaders looked away. And slowly, methodically, rights that existed in theory stopped existing in practice.
That is the part of American history people love to skip over.
The collapse of Reconstruction was not just about Klan terror and white lynch mobs. It was about institutions. It was about statehouses. It was about courts. It was about people in power deciding they’d had enough of multiracial democracy.
And for nearly 88 years, between the end of Reconstruction and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, Black Americans fought to claw back the electoral power that had been stripped away.
Eighty-eight years.
That should haunt all of us right now, because too many Americans have convinced themselves that democratic progress is permanent, that the arc of history, once it bends toward justice, cannot swing back.
But democracy is not a destination; it is a marathon with no finish line.
Rights are only as strong as the institutions willing to enforce them — and the people willing to defend them.
Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act still exists today, on paper. But states have moved with extraordinary speed to dilute the voting strength of Black communities, redraw districts and weaken the electoral influence Black voters built over generations. And too often, the courts have responded by insisting Americans should ignore the obvious.
Again: trust your eyes.
I grew up a Black woman and a Democrat in Nebraska, a red state many people in national politics would probably write off entirely. But thanks to a quirk in state law, my congressional district delivered electors for Barack Obama, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in the Electoral College. I know what can happen when voters are actually allowed to build coalitions and choose representatives responsive to them.
That is what democracy is supposed to do.
Voters deserve the opportunity to select representatives of their choice, even if the broader state leans one way or the other. Their voices should not be diluted because the people in power dislike the outcome.
Anyone who believes in multiracial democracy needs to understand where power is actually built in this country. State legislatures draw the maps. Governors sign the laws. State courts interpret voting rules. Secretaries of state oversee elections. America’s democracy is shaped in the states.
That is where this fight is being lost right now. And that is where it has to be won.
Because history tells us what happens when attacks on voting rights are treated like ordinary politics instead of what they actually are: an assault on who gets to wield power in America.
We have seen rights survive on paper while disappearing in practice before. We don’t have another 88 years to fix this.
Trust your eyes, then refuse to look away.
Saturday, May 09, 2026
NPR/PBS Poll Has Democrats With A 10-Point Generic Ballot Lead
The chart above reflects the results of the NPR / PBS News / Marist Poll -- done between April 27th and 30th of a nationwide sample of 1,155 registered voters, with a 3.3 point margin of error.
Most Americans Support The Legalization Of Recreational Marijuana Use
The charts above are from the YouGov Poll -- done between April 14th and 16th of a nationwide sample of 1,105 adults, with a 4 point margin of error.
The Unemployment Rate Stays At 4.3% For Second Month In A Row
The Labor Department released its monthly unemployment report on Friday. It showed the economy produced about 115,000 jobs in April. While not great, that was enough to keep the unemployment rate at 4.3%.
Here are the relevant statistics for the month of April:
SIZE OF THE CIVILIAN WORK FORCE:
169,995,000
OFFICIAL NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED WORKERS:
7,373,000
OFFICIAL UNEMPLOYMENT RATE:
4.3%
DEMOGRAPHIC BREAKDOWN OF OFFICIAL UNEMPLOYMENT:
Adult men...............4.0%
Adult women...............3.9%
Teens (16-19)...............14.4%
Whites...............3.7%
Blacks...............7.3%
Asians...............3.3%
Hispanics...............5.0%
NO HS diploma...............6.4%
HS graduate...............4.7%
Some college...............3.2%
Bachelor's deg. or more,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,2.8%
NUMBER OF MARGINALLY-ATTACHED WORKERS (unemployed but no longer counted):
1,792,000
MORE REALISTIC NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED WORKERS (official + marginally-attached):
9,165,000
MORE REALISTIC UNEMPLOYMENT RATE:
5.39%
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