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Gov. Brian Kemp wants to lower the tax rate for 2024 — but experts say the current tax code is ‘rooted in anti-blackness’

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Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp wants the state Legislature to consider lowering the income tax rate in 2024, citing an enormous surplus in the state’s 2023 budget.

Before 2024, households were taxed under a graduated system in which higher earners paid higher tax rates, but changes to the tax code that were scheduled to go into effect this 12 months – signed by Governor Kemp in 2022 – can be postponed to the flat rate tax model. Under the recent policy, all Georgia residents are expected to pay a general tax rate of 5.49% in 2024, with that quantity expected to decrease by an extra 0.1% every year until it reaches 4.99% in 2029.

For many, this implies exponential growth; most households earning lower than $250,000 a 12 months currently pay lower than 5.49 percent in state income taxes; according to the 2020 U.S. Census, only the top 5 percent of Georgia households earn greater than $233,979. Previously, Georgia’s highest earners paid up to 5.75 percent, while those that brought home the least paid just 1 percent.

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Citing a big state budget surplus again in 2023, Governor Kemp’s office wants the Legislature to consider accelerating the reduction to 5.39%. this 12 months – a level that was previously expected to be reached in 2025.

House Bill 1015, which accelerates interest rate cuts, is currently moving through the state Senate and passed the House by a 165-0 majority.

“Cutting taxes and returning more money to taxpayers continues to be a priority for the Georgia House of Representatives, and today’s passage of HB 1015, HB 1019 and HB 1021 will help return over a billion dollars to Georgia families, homeowners and taxpayers,” House Speaker Jon said in an announcement Burns, R-Newington. “These priorities will provide significant relief to taxpayers across the state, put more money back in their pockets, and continue to propel our economy as the best state in the nation to live, work, and raise a family – and I look forward to the Senate’s early retirement and Governor (Brian) Kemp’s signature.”

Income equality advocates say the plan deepens inequality and places an unfair share of the tax burden on those that need assistance most.

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Hope Wollensack, executive director of the Georgia Resilience and Opportunity Fund, says the proposed tax cuts “are not proportional to the burden of costs and expenses that low-income households bear” and argues that “a much larger share of those savings should go to households “This should bring the greatest savings.”

Politics ‘rooted in anti-blackness’

Wollensack points out that these households are also more than likely to feel the long-term effects of a blanket tax cut; on condition that public education and health care are already severely underfunded in the state — and that the lowest-income residents are likely to have poorer schools and fewer access to quality health care — she says residents needs to be concerned about how the proposed cuts will affect state revenues .

“For the average person who works every day, what they probably care most about is what they can personally save,” she told Atlanta Black Star. “Our public policies determine who has access to certain resources… and that often determines who gets to the top.”

“We have a extremely ingrained belief that individuals in the top 1 to 10 percent (of income) deserve this. They’ve worked hard, they’ve pulled themselves up by their bootstraps, and so they deserve more advantages than those at the bottom who didn’t work as hard to get there,” Wollensack said, adding that this idea of meritocracy ignores the embedded structural mechanisms of racism that historically exist in tax code.

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They are also “rooted in anti-Blackness that is as old as this country,” Wollensack said.

How can tax policy be racist?

How can tax policy be racist? When we trace the history of taxation back to the founding of this country and property taxation – and do not forget that in the South, enslaved people were considered property – it becomes just a little clearer.

“Tax policy is not race neutral,” says Alex Camardelle, a former senior analyst at the Georgia Budget Priorities Initiative who now serves as vice chairman of policy and research at the Atlanta Wealth Building Initiative. “The history of the tax code is rooted in white supremacy, given its long-standing ties to property ownership (including people as property). I don’t think we necessarily took that into account. “Whenever we think about changes to the tax code and their consequences for Black people, who constitute the lowest wealth households in the country, we must consider race.”

“I think that’s one of the reasons a flat tax isn’t ideal, because it doesn’t do enough to recover taxes on losses from the wealthy who also benefit from tax breaks and other loopholes that can be exploited on income,” he said. Black Star of Atlanta.

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Both Wollensack and Camaradelle agree that the tax code is intentionally complex and designed to be misunderstood, but those with greater resources are in a greater position to hire professionals to help them discover and exploit potential loopholes. that reduce their tax liabilities.

A posh system of tax cuts and loopholes are “blunt instruments that can be used to deepen inequality,” Camaradelle said.

“Our tax code is incredibly complex, so once you take into account all the deductions and tax credits in the code, it can be difficult to follow,” Wollensack said. “For the average person who works every day, they probably care most about what they can personally save (but)… I think we need to start asking and demanding more.”

Moving in a greater direction

Georgia is certainly one of 20 states that doesn’t offer a state-level earned income tax credit, a tax credit offered to low- and moderate-income people to lower their taxable income and help them keep more of their earnings in their household.

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Wollensack said that if government officials really wanted to help the most vulnerable population, they’d consider introducing a loan that will profit the 3.5 million Georgians who need the help the most.

She also advocates redirecting a few of the state’s excess revenue into direct money payments directly to families, which might disproportionately affect black families in the state.

Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms was amongst a bunch of mayors across the country who advocated for a guaranteed income program to just do that.

While it failed to gain statewide traction or the funding needed to sustain the program, the Georgia Resilience and Opportunity Fund is currently overseeing a pilot guaranteed income program that gives $850 to $1,000 a month to residents, a lot of whom are black women.

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They found that food insecurity decreased by about 20 percent, families’ ability to pay medical bills increased by 14 percent, and college enrollment doubled. Mental health has also improved significantly, with many individuals seeing their savings double, which overall improves their position when it comes to managing their household needs.

“There could be many scenarios where the $16 billion (surplus) is actually concentrated on the bottom half of Georgians — not just people in poverty, but the middle class,” Wollensack says.

Camaradelle says it is important that tax policy is intentional about the way it generates revenue for the state and addresses inequalities which have existed for generations. The current policy, which subtracts $1 billion annually from state revenues, “will ultimately limit our revenue growth potential (and will have) a long-term impact on all publicly funded state resources,” e.g., he added, that education, health care and other investments in infrastructure are possible.

His ideal policy “recovers and addresses the undertaxation of ultra-high-net-worth individuals who do not pay their fair share.” He points to states like California and New York which have introduced property taxes to try to spread the burden more evenly.

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“When we think about taxes and who benefits from them and who doesn’t, Black people…feel the burden of not raising taxes, and through other means as well,” Camaradelle said.

This article was originally published on : atlantablackstar.com
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Politics and Current

Donald Trump under fire after he was caught on Hot Mic

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In some ways, the White House tried to manage the narrative on Wednesday.

After taking on the rotation of reporters allocated to cover the day by day schedule of the president – work previously carried out by Association of White House Corresponders -President Donald Trump went a step further, asking one in every of the reporters of the brand new within the press pool, together “Fox and Friends” by Lawrence Jones to say to the viewers: “We did a great job, please. Ok? “

“Say it was unbelievable,” said the president after casting the primary meeting of the office of the second term on February 26. The White House was already cut off, however the Audio Associated Press channel remained and captured the moment of a hot microphone.

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US President Donald Trump, to whom the Golf legend of Tiger Woods joined, speaks through the party of the Foreign Black History within the Eastern White House on February 20, 2025 in Washington. (Photo of Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Jones, who has already lobbyed a number of inquiries to Softball for the president (including “Who is your favorite member of the office?”) I didn’t disappoint.

“The president chose members of the office who can really present their ideas and their ideas. He does not have to worry that they will leave and blow up everything-they are on the same side, “said the co-host Steve Doocy.

“I also think it’s great,” Jones replied. “They are guys who normally – and girls – are used to communicate their ideas. They divide the president’s vision and communicate it in such a concise way. I don’t think we’ve ever seen it in administration. “

“It is people who show how uncertain this president is,” said one in every of the critics who responded to a viral report on the moment of Caugh-on-Camera. “He knows that most of them we watched, right?” Someone said.

In fact, the meeting was dominated by Elon Muskwho opened with a weak joke, saying: “Well, I should simply call myself modest technical support,” and from there he initiated. Photos showed that the president was napping through the presentation of Musk.

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Referring to his work as “necessary”, Musk presented one other federal agency within the Doge chopping block. “We spend lots within the defense department, but we spend that over a trillion dollars for interest. If this happens, the country goes, it is going to turn into de facto bankrupt – he said.

Jones was not the one Trump friendly correspondent who joined the press pool on Thursday.

The correspondent of Brian Glenn’s chief house from Real America, perhaps essentially the most absorbing the Networks Pro-Trump network, and the correspondent of the White House Newsmax, James Rosen, were a part of Gaggle, replacing older media, including the Associated Press, which was blocked within the events of the White House for refusing to call the Mexican bay with Mexico with Mexico with Mexico with Mexico with Mexican America after the president announced a change performed by the manager.

Meanwhile, the Association of White House correspondents announced that it might now not coordinate the common range of the White House until the dispute over unlimited access to the media is sustained. Also on Wednesday, the president announced He will sue reporters who use the common practice of anonymous quotes in unfavorable stories or books about it. Such quotes are sometimes used to cause greater honesty from the source, which otherwise might be afraid to talk.

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What does all this mean for residents? Less difficult questions and a more favorable relationship for the president, whose crossing of the management has now not checked by Congress.

This explains why this clip He was on the web on Thursday with “The Simpsons”. When the owner of the nuclear plant, Montgomery Burns, decides to use for the governor, his campaign suggests dinner with the Simpsons family to assist the energy director involved with voters from the working class. Lisa Simpson is forced to ask This is an issue From a guest dinner of a guest:

“Mr. Burns, your campaign seems to have a fugitive momentum. Why are you so popular?”

Get used to it.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nicwjeliniu

(Tagstotransate) Donald Trump

This article was originally published on : atlantablackstar.com
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USAID cuts are already hitting countries around the world. Here are 20 projects that have been closed

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Countries around the world already feel the influence of Trump’s administration decision to eliminate over 90% of foreign assistance contracts and reduce the financing of around $ 60 billion. A number of hours after the announcement at the starting of this week, The programs have been closed, Leaving tens of millions of individuals without access to life -saving care.

About 10,000 contracts with the American International Development Agency were accomplished on Wednesday, in letters sent to non -governmental organizations around the world.

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Letters said that the programs were rejected “for the convenience and interests of the US government”, based on an individual with knowledge of the content that they spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to talk publicly on this subject.

Many programs are present in the fragile countries that are highly depending on American help with a purpose to support healthcare systems, nutrition programs and stop hunger.

Here, several key projects around the world, which AP confirmed, have been closed:

1: In Congo, the motion of a bunch of help against hunger will stop to treat tens of hundreds of malnourished children from May, which, based on a charity, will make children put children in “deadly danger”.

2: According to the Committee on Cadastral Risk Management in Ethiopia in Ethiopia, help stopped for over 1 million people. The Ministry of Health was also forced to terminate the contract of 5,000 employees throughout the country, focused on stopping HIV and malaria, vaccination and assist in a difficult situation in coping with the trauma of war.

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3: In Senegal, the largest malaria project was closed. According to a USAID worker, who was not authorized to talk over with the media. Mother and youngsters’s health and nutrition services were also closed. They provided look after tens of hundreds of pregnant women and treatment that would prevent acute malnutrition.

4: In South Sudan, the International Emergency Committee closed a project that provides access to prime quality health and nutrition services over 115,000 people.

5: The program closed by the Norwegian refugee council in Colombia left 50,000 people without saving their lives, including in the northeast, where the growing violence caused a humanitarian crisis once a generation. This included food, shelter, clean water and other basic items for people displaced in the region.

6: According to the International Rescue Committee, 90 community cuisines closed in the capital in the torn war of Sudan, leaving greater than half 1,000,000 people without consistent access to food.

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7: According to Bangladesh, 600,000 women and youngsters will lose access to mother’s critical health care, protection against violence, reproductive health services and other life -saving care, in accordance with the United Nations Fund.

8. In small critical assistance, equivalent to access to water, food and health services for over 270,000 people, based on a help group, which didn’t wish to be listed for fear of repression.

9. Over 400,000 people in North Burkina Faso lost access to services equivalent to water. According to the help group, which didn’t want to get replaced for fear of a repressiveist.

File-Somalians who escaped from the affected areas are sitting in a makeshift camp on the outskirts of the capital of Mogadishu, Somalia on February 4, 2022 (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Abdi Warsameh, File)

10. In Somalia, 50 health centers serving over 19,000 people were closed per thirty days because health care employees are not paid, based on the American help group.

11. In Ukraine, based on money, humanitarian programs, which last yr reached 1 million people, were suspended, based on the spokesman for the Secretary General of the UN.

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12. Hundreds of mobile health teams and other services were suspended in Afghanistan, they concerned 9 million people, based on the UN spokesperson.

13. According to the UN Secretary General in Syria in Syria, for about 2.5 million people in the northeast of the country ceased to supply services. Also in the north, a dozen or so health clinics, including the primary hospital recommending this area, closed, said doctors without borderlines.

14. In Kenya, over 600,000 people living in drought -harassed areas and chronic sharp malnutrition will lose their access to the rescue lifetime of food and nutrition, based on Mercy Corps.

Officials say that Trump's administration plans to lower the entire part of the USAID work

15. At Haiti, 13,000 people lost access to dietary support, in accordance with actions against hunger.

16. In Thailand, hospitals help around 100,000 Refugees from Myanmar According to the Border Consortium of the Help Group, closed.

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17. According to the International Emergency Committee in Nigeria, 25,000 extremely malnourished children will stop to receive food assistance until April.

18. A program to enhance access to warning systems for disabled people for disabled people was detained in the Philippines.

19. In Vietnam, a program helping disabled people through training carers and providing medical care at home stopped, in accordance with humanity and integration.

20. In Yemen, 220,000 resettled people will lose access to mother’s critical health care, protection against violence, treatment of rape and other life -saving care, in accordance with the United Nations Fund.

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The Associated Press Writers Sylvie Corbet got here in Paris, France, Robert Badendieck in Istanbul, Turkey, Evelyn Musambi in Nairobi, Kenya, Thalia Beata in New York and Edith Lederer in the United births contributed to this report.

Health supporters in Africa are worried that Trump will introduce a

(tagstransate) @AP

This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
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Politics and Current

Speaker of the New York Council Adrienne Adams is considering Burmoral Run

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NYC Council Speaker Adrienne Adams ‘Seriously Considering’ Mayoral Run


The speaker of the City Council in New York Adrienne Adams submitted documents to the financial council of the New York campaign to be able to create a campaign committee in the upcoming mayor’s race.

“We currently have chaos and we have reduced confidence in the other side of the town hall,” Adams said in an interview with Gothamist. “That is why I am seriously considering the campaign to become the first woman of the mayor of New York.”

In addition to becoming the first woman chosen as the mayor, Adams could be the first black woman and the first speaker of the city council who took the highest elected place in New York.

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confirmed that Adams would do it Wait until the next week to make the final decision to launch. It is expected to offer the address of the “city state” on March 4.

“I wasn’t looking for it; It was not in my plans – she said, adding, “I believe someone have to be the soul of the city.”

A possible Adams offer for the mayor comes amongst the precipitation with the current mayor, Eric Adams. Adams, who is not related to the mayor, recently joined other city leaders, asking him to subside because of the corruption scandal.

If he joins the race, Adams will join the crowded, qualified field. Comptroller City Brad Lander and his predecessor Scott Stringer, Queens Assemblymber Zohran Mamdani, senator of the state Queens Jessica Ramos and senator of State Brooklyn Zellor Myrie.

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There were also rumors that the New York Governor Andrew Cuomo was considering returning to politics and applying for the mayor.

A recent survey with the Honan Strategy Group showed that Cuomo has a most important role in a democratic basic race of 38%. Mamdani is second at 12%, and the mayor of Adams is in third place with 10%. The Adams speaker received only 2% support from survey respondents.

(Tagstranslate) Mayoral Race (T) Adrienne Adams (T) New York City (T) Eric Adams

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This article was originally published on : www.blackenterprise.com
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