Lina Khan’s populist plan for New York: Cheaper hot dogs (and other things) Zohran Mamdani’s new aide will focus on “excavating the law” to lower prices, borrowing from her legal playbook at the Federal Trade Commission.

This could well be the most innovative and impactful path of action for an @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social mayorship.

I’ve spent a lengthy career around politics and he’s a stunningly effective communicator.

May not be as light as you want, but I recently read My Documents by Kevin Nguyen and found it a good read.

Statement on the Fundamental Freedom of Speech “Acts of political violence — from the recent murder of Charlie Kirk to the murder of Speaker Emeritus Melissa Hortman of Minnesota — have…

I am proud to see philanthropy, including several former employers, stand strong in the face of threats and attempts to restrict fundamental rights and democratic participation.

Trump Administration Halts I.R.S. Crackdown on Major Tax Shelters

Because some crimes apparently don’t warrant attention.

Snubbing Kennedy, States Announce Plans to Coordinate on Vaccines

Yes! NYS (and more) needs to join in.

Direct File, the free public tax filing option, was a smashing success in its 1st 2 years. In this out today, I explore options for expanding Direct File to independent contractors. While the Trump Admin has shelved it for now, the results are in: free public tax filing works and users love it.

In the Matter of Lisa Cook Trump’s attempt to fire a Fed governor is illegal. Now we find out whether that matters.

It’s about the Fed, but it’s really about democracy.

Is there a Lisa Cook defense fund? #askingforafriend

The new tax law instructs the IRS to probe public opinion on whether they'd like to keep the Direct File program, which lets many taxpayers file their tax returns for free through the IRS, or whether they'd rather pay Turbotax for that privilege instead.
IRS survey on this question is now live:

Public tax filing saves families money while makes tax filing easier and government more responsive. It helped families secure the tax credits they qualified for. Here's your chance to tell the IRS is was a success and to keep it: irsresearch.gov1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

In 2025, Direct File achieved a 100% accuracy rate and 94% of users rated it "excellent" or "above average." Imagine: 94% rated the experience of filing their tax returns excellent or above average. Wow.

The Direct File Pilot Shows That a Public Tax Filing Option Saves Money, Improves Customer Service States should move to adopt integrated free filing.

And about the success of Direct File here.

House Appropriations Committee Actions Threaten To Block a Public Option for Online Tax Filing A hostile rider would bar efforts to create a no-cost filing option that would save taxpayers money.

I've written about the long battle to win a public option here.

The recent tax bill - the big ugly - included a survey to inform a replacement that, most likely, would return to private software vendors (more below). However, the survey DOES allow Direct File supporters to express their preference for a continued public option here.

Direct File is 'beloved by its users,' internal IRS report says The IRS is reportedly ending the Direct File, but a report obtained via the Freedom of Information Act says that 94% of users rated their experience as “excellent” or “above average.”

The IRS's public option for online tax filing - Direct File - was much beloved by users during its first two years of operation as reported here. Which may be why the Trump Administration decided to kill it.

E.P.A. Is Said to Draft a Plan to End Its Ability to Fight Climate Change

You can’t repeal reality

I received this notice and was deeply offended. Federal agencies shouldn’t be in the business of shilling for any administration and should definitely not send out misleading, politicized propaganda.

Trump Claims Sweeping Power to Nullify Laws, Letters on TikTok Ban Show

Saying the silent part out loud #nokings

It’s not over until it’s over. #ny11

It's not over until it is over. And there's still time for Congress - Congressional Republicans, that is - to say no.

Distributional Effects of Selected Provisions of the House and Senate Reconciliation Bills

That's because the reconciliation bill - aka the big ugly - takes money from lower income households - who spend it to make ends meet - and transfers it to the uber-wealthy.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act Failed To Deliver Promised Benefits Benefits of the business tax changes in Trump’s 2017 tax bill were costly and did not trickle down to workers and families.

It's a story I have something to say about. Most recently here. What's the definition of doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result? Insanity. There's no reason to expect a different outcome. Actually, there's less.

We've been down this road before. Again and again.

The big ugly will take health coverage away from 17 million Americans…to pay for tax cuts for billionaires.

Estimated Budgetary Effects of an Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute to H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Relative to the Budget Enforcement Baseline for Consideration in the Senate As posted on the website of the Senate Committee on the Budget on June 27, 2025

New Congressional Budget Office (CBO) numbers confirm what we already knew – the reconciliation bill is getting worse, not better. The Senate bill will cut health care more deeply than the House bill and leave more people uninsured. www.cbo.gov/publication/...

Make no mistake about it, the big ugly is the largest upward redistribution of income ever. Tax cuts for the wealthy paid for by taking health care away from 17 million Americans.

👀The House bill cut Medicaid by $800-863 billion and now the Senate bill as we expected is worse.

CBO preliminary score for Senate bill is up to $930 billion in Medicaid cuts.

Senate Republican Bill Would Take Health Care and Food Assistance Away From People to Pay for Tax Cuts for Wealthy | Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

Prelim CBO estimates confirm that the Senate bill cuts #Medicaid more deeply than the House-passed bill did. www.cbpp.org/charts/senat...