New York, the "City that Never Sleeps" is supposed to be hyperbole.

On the ground report: Every. Bar. In. NYC. Is packed. And sorry, no cred for that Starks jersey unless you bought it in 1994.

Wealth taxes as democratic safeguard, an intriguing idea. How could we do that in the U.S. despite the weird constitutional constraints we have on federal taxing power? Someone should write a book. Or, I dunno, at least a really long think tank report. rooseveltinstitute.org/publications...

We’ve spent decades told that if the economy grows, people’s lives will get better. Millions are working harder, paying more, and losing faith that institutions can deliver. Imagine an economy and democracy that actually make life better. That’s why today, we’re launching The #GoodLife Agenda. 🧵

Hey, if you're a CA voter who hasn't returned your ballot, and you also want to pass the #BillionaireTax, then there is a great strategic voting opportunity here. If there are no R governor candidates on the ballot in November, then the sub-tabs of recent polling suggest the tax wins easily.

Yes, but also we can get to all these key goals while leaving in place enough of a skeleton of the Byrd rule etc. to say the "filibuster" survives. That is prob better optics, and frankly getting back to a pre-2002 world where budget-cratering tax cuts need 60 votes is also a key structural reform.

Sorry, Andy, you get a D on this basic tax exam. A litigant who gives up their claim in exchange for defendant's agreement to pay someone else obviously had control over where the funds went, and that makes it their income. This is not a hard tax q. www.politico.com/news/2026/05...

Another interesting avenue into court for private plaintiffs, or at least the threat of a potential avenue that could chill claims, courtesy Adam Levitin & @ddayen.bsky.social: prospect.org/2026/05/27/t...

Whaddawe do? I could see a compromise position maybe being that we keep the BCA procedural rules (i.e., the filibuster) for deficit-increasing spending or tax cuts, but suspend or ax them for the big structural stuff. There are routes to that result that do preserve pieces of the BCA et al. E.g.....

I suspect that at least several current D senators will try to resist doing things that they lack the stomach for by pointing to the current episode (& similar others) to show why we need the filibuster. Team Fight needs options for keeping "the filibuster" while still getting big things done. /end

Billionaires like Jeff Bezos go around talking about how super-rich people like them are paying a large share of taxes, and so why should they pay more. That's very misleading, as @gabrielzucman.bsky.social explains on his substack—republished here on @motherjones.com.

Jake hits the highlights here, but worth emphasizing: At recent growth rates, a one-time 5% tax means that CA billionaire wealth will increase by ~$200 billion this year, *after they pay the tax*.

Even if you have a paper copy of today's NYT, read this op-ed on line for the awesome infographics. And yeah, today is one of those days where I go, "I get to work with these guys?!" like the rookie on the 10-day contract who snares a lob from Lebron.

An article in which I am quoted for my expertise in all matters bovine. Oh and also some tax (and anti-deficiency act) crimes the President is committing.

www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news... Barney was the first congressperson 23-yo me ever met. He was brilliant & hilarious, & shockingly candid. Of a sweetheart HUD deal we opposed, he said, "Yeah this is going to make my donors rich, kid. How do you think the good guys get elected?"

I know it's quaint to believe such things matter, but under 26 USC 7217 it's a crime for POTUS "to request, directly or indirectly, any [IRS] officer . . . to conduct or terminate an audit or other investigation of any particular taxpayer." www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/...

This seeming technicality is potentially highly significant. As we saw in my thread this am, 28 usc 1304 does authorize settlement payments (tho not on these facts, arguably). This takes us outside 1304 and into "whoever cuts this check commits a federal crime" territory.

I don't know that this is specifically the GC perspective, but I'd note a few things here. One is that this whole travesty underscores just how anti-republican and anti-constitutional is SCOTUS's current extreme unitary executive theory.

Further notes from the rabbit hole since that thread got pretty long. There's some helpful language here and there in various Supreme Court cases on 1304 and also some that is relevant to my Article I argument. Let's mention a few here, plus a fun(*for sickos) new research project for originalists.

Ok, let's live-skeet my research on the DOJ Judgment Fund. Here's the authorizing statute, 31 USC 1304: www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/...

The $1.7b presidential slush fund is a sad example of an obscure charity loophole. If you give to a charitable org, your $ is barred from private use by a series of limits on self-dealing etc. But gifts to gov entities are also deductible & IRS exempts them from all the rules bc, uh, they don't say.

Generally agree with many of the smart legal points Steve makes here. But corp tax revenues are quite small, about $ .5 trillion annually. I argue you could do much, much more on similarly secure legal footing. Even just taxing trusts & heirs would be big $. rooseveltinstitute.org/wp-content/u...

As wealth tax debates heat up — including a possible ballot measure in California — how can citizens separate fact from fiction? A thread on why taxing wealth is not only possible, but consistent with — and even necessary to restore — America's progressive tax tradition. 🧵

This is certainly no great news to those who have closely followed the Roberts Court, but for others perhaps worth saying that the only way to understand his jurisprudence and public communications is that they aim to obscure, and thereby make more room for, the Court's exercise of power.

Looking forward to two days of deep tax geekery this week at the NTA Spring Symposium #NTASS2026 at the Georgetown Capitol Hill campus. Sorry (ok not sorry) for passing the hosting baton to my erstwhile relay partner Day Manoli! Get your submissions in for the Annual Meeting coming this November.

Firefighters and nurses don’t get to hide their money in a trust fund and skip out on paying their taxes—billionaires shouldn’t get to either. My new bill would close tax loopholes for billionaires with more than $50 million in dynasty trusts.

🚨 Sens. Murray & Wyden release text of landmark "Fair Trusts Act for Fiscal Responsibility" featuring annual 1-3% tax on net worth of tax-avoiding trusts. One-page summary: www.murray.senate.gov/wp-content/u... For more in-depth coverage of this approach see this thread: bsky.app/profile/bdge...

I need people to read this suicide note story bc I have so many questions. Like, I am no criminal justice expert, but is it normal to return an inmate to a cell with a person he accuses of trying to strangle him? What if that cellmate is an alleged 4x killer named Nicky Tarts?

If constitutional hardball moves like this are on the table for one side, the appropriate de-escalatory response is to place on the table equally extreme counter-moves. For example, DC has not one but three quadrants with significant populations. Why make all 3 of them share just 2 senators?

I blocked a rando in this thread b/c you can't come into my feed & spread disinformation. But 2 points worth clarifying. By "optional" I mean the taxpayer can choose how to value their non-public assets. And the CBTA funds are earmarked to replace Medicaid subsidies cut 7/2025 to pay for OBBA.

Starts Tomorrow: Join our crowdfunding campaign for the Social Enterprise Clinic. Help us raise $25K to fund a new series of free public workshops to support mission-driven businesses, led by our students & supervised by faculty. Learn more & donate: https://bit.ly/4cF6NcQ

Hey, Billionaire Tax co-author here. This claim, whether you like the supposed result or not, is completely false. The provision is optional, and doesn't apply at all to publicly-traded companies. For more, see here: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

The #CABillionaireTax is headed for the ballot, and there's a lot of misinformation today about it. Might be a good time to repost our FAQ: papers.ssrn.com/abstract=599... and our rebuttal of the silly supposed "analysis" of the revenue effects by paid hacks: papers.ssrn.com/abstract=643...

We're on the ballot. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/26/u...

California’s billionaire tax has the signatures to make the November ballot, backers say. They claim to have collected more than 1.5 million (875k need to be valid to qualify the initiative). www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

Hey I know an awesome plan for how to do this at the U.S. federal level without tripping over the 16th Amendment. rooseveltinstitute.org/wp-content/u...

That influence stems from how wealth is built and allowed to accumulate over time. Wealth concentration is a tax problem: extreme fortunes are deferred, inherited, and held in trusts. @bdgesq.bsky.social’s research looks at how to tax the ultrarich so wealth can’t simply compound out of reach.

An awesome explanation from Bob Lord of why an income tax should reach investment gains as they accumulate over time, not just when they're sold (you'll also learn about the Rolling Stones and a new word for me, "hectobillionaires"): www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Every tax dollar grandma is putting into one pocket, DoorDash is happily taking out the other in the form of lower compensation.

Posting this Hill op-ed on the #billionairetax for Darien, who refuses to do social media: thehill.com/opinion/fina...

"Elmo is weak on crime" - Elmo

So, speaking as the guy who wrote the most recent insider trading regulations in the US, here is the thing about insider trading/meme stock equilibria: They work...until all of a sudden, they don't. So, uh, where do I go to short this company?

Posting this Hill op-ed on the #billionairetax for Darien, who refuses to do social media: thehill.com/opinion/fina...

When toadies need actuaries: Will the guy who is extorting you for your loyalty live long enough to deliver on his promise of impunity? Not so different from junta game theory, really. It's why rebels offer plum positions to defectors. Maybe some lessons there?

We're less than a month out from the National Tax Association’s 56th Annual Spring Symposium in Washington, D.C. Check out this year's agenda and register today to secure your seat!📜 📍 Washington, D.C. | May 7–8, 2026 Registration here ⬇️ https://ntanet.org/2025/12/56th-annual-spring-symposium-2026/

Hmm, Between Two Fires is on the bestseller list this week. Hoping that's a coincidence.

Means testing is a tax that only falls on poorer households, in case you were wondering why it is a popular policy option with many conservatives.

"Diverging assumptions" is a polite way of saying that Hoover wrote a report analyzing a permanent, 5% annual wealth tax, in which the state for some reason decided to only bother to collect the tax in year one. An interesting exercise I guess, but no real connection to the CA Billionaire Tax Act.

Want to know more about the 2026 California Billionaire Tax Act, but don't want to have to click your mouse three times to download a pdf of our report? Now you can save two whole clicks by reading it on ITEP's web site: itep.org/expert-repor...

A great post on tax policy from Roosevelt pres @elizabethwwilkins.bsky.social rooseveltinstitute.org/blog/beyond-...