Page 4 - Awashington Postanalysis News Today

Following the leak of IRS documents that shed additional light on the prevalence of tax dodging among the wealthiest Americans, a group of House Democrats on Thursday said President Joe Biden must swiftly appoint a new Assistant Attorney General for the Tax Division if he hopes to crack down on unlawful evasion tactics. In a letter to Biden, the lawmakers note that it has been more than seven years since there was a Senate-confirmed Assistant Attorney General of the Tax Division at the Justice ...

The US and the rest of the world have to be prepared to live with the winner. They had better start planning how they are going to do that. Fourth of July marked U.S. Independence Day and it was ironic that at the beginning of the holiday weekend, on July 2, American troops slunk out of the massive Bagram air base in Afghanistan which they had occupied for twenty years. Concurrently, President Biden had a media conference at which he was asked "Are you worried that the Afghan government m...

Illustration by The Chronicle A major burden for students and colleges alike has been lifted, at least for one year. The U.S. Department of Education announced on Tuesday that it will waive verification requirements for most of the information that federal-aid applicants must provide during the 2021-22 enrollment cycle. The change, intended to ease the challenges students and institutions are experiencing because of the pandemic, means that fewer low-income students will have to provide additi...

Why Justice Stephen Breyer is causing so much political agita Common sense suggests Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer has every reason to retire. He doesnt appear to care. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer testifies on Capitol Hill, March 21, 2015.Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP file May 21, 2021, 5:05 PM UTC BySteve Benen Around this time seven years ago, Ruth Bader Ginsburg was well aware of the chatter in Democratic circles about her possible retirement. She was 81 at the time; shed gone thro...

Yesterday was the fifth time Rand Paul tried to quarrel with Anthony Fauci. If the senator thinks the exchanges have gone well for him, he's mistaken.

Ron Johnson stoops lower with misguided anti-vaccine questions If theres a competition among Senate Republicans to see who can be the most irresponsible about the pandemic, Wisconsins Ron Johnson has taken the lead. Senator Ron Johnson, R-Wisc., speaks at a hearing to examine the nomination of Neera Tanden, on Capitol Hill, on Feb. 10, 2021.Anna Moneymaker / Pool via Reuters file May 10, 2021, 12:00 PM UTC BySteve Benen On his Fox News program last week, Tucker Carlson suggested COVID vaccines ...

Tennessee Republican badly misstates the three-fifths compromise Debating the importance of race and history is worthwhile. Defending the Constitutions three-fifths compromise is not. Tennessee State Capitol in Nashville, Tennessee.Raymond Boyd / Getty Images May 5, 2021, 1:20 PM UTC BySteve Benen As a rule, the national news tends not to focus too much attention on foolish comments from state legislators. With more than 7,000 Americans serving in state legislatures nationwide, there are simply...

Why it matters that McConnell refuses to touch Trump-era tax cuts On infrastructure, McConnell is offering a "roughly $600 billion" plan that leaves Trump-era tax breaks alone. Whats wrong with that? Everything. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell speaks in Washington on Dec. 15, 2020.Caroline Brehman / Pool via Reuters file May 3, 2021, 4:57 PM UTC BySteve Benen To help pay for new infrastructure investments, President Joe Biden is sticking to the blueprint he presented to voters during the...

Maddow Blog | Why it matters that McConnell refuses to touch Trump-era tax cuts MSNBC 4 hrs ago Steve Benen To help pay for new infrastructure investments, President Joe Biden is sticking to the blueprint he presented to voters during the 2020 campaign: he intends to roll back parts of the Republicans 2017 package of tax breaks for wealthy and big corporations. Its an approach that makes fiscal sense and enjoys fairly broad public support. Its also an approach that Senate Mino...

Ted Cruz admits a bit too much about influence of corporate cash Ted Cruz now claims to be uncomfortable with the pay-to-play game he played with corporate America for nearly a decade. Thats tough to believe. Senator Ted Cruz listens during a hearing in Washington, D.C.Anna Moneymaker / Bloomberg via Getty Images file April 30, 2021, 1:25 PM UTC BySteve Benen Three years ago this week, Mick Mulvaney spoke to a group of banking industry executives, who were likely eager to hear what he had to sa...