Latest news with #TomSuozzi
Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Centrist Democrats are convinced they hold the answers to their party's problems
Democrats are still staring down bleak polling numbers about their party's brand, even as President Donald Trump's favorability also has dropped. The answer to Democrats' troubles at WelcomeFest, the moderate Democrats' Coachella, include: purity tests are toxic, being unpopular on the social media site Bluesky is cool and winning again means running to the center. That's the gospel speakers preached on stage Wednesday in the basement of a Washington, D.C., hotel, where hundreds of centrist elected officials, candidates and operatives gathered to commiserate over the 2024 election results and chart their version of the path forward for the Democratic Party. 'There's a hunger for people to work together, to try to find solutions and to talk in common sense terms,' said Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.), who won a much-heralded special election in 2024 by calling out his own party on immigration policies. 'I think that there's a lot more elected officials that are willing to speak up about that because they don't want to lose,' Suozzi told reporters after his appearance. Wednesday's daylong conference, which represented a who's-who of center-left Democratic politics, from analytics guru David Shor to Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin to New York Rep. Ritchie Torres, was the latest sign that moderate Democrats believe they are ascendant in the party, looking to influence its posture heading into the 2026 midterms and 2028 presidential primary. Seven of the 12 House Democrats who won in Trump districts last year participated in the event, including Reps. Jared Golden of Maine, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington and Adam Gray of California. 'Most Americans are Blue Dogs,' Gluesenkamp told writer Matt Yglesias, and noted only 10 Democrats remain in the once-robust Blue Dog Caucus. 'Politics has become irrelevant to most people because it has excluded the things that touch their life. It's about making politics more relevant to more people.' But the rifts within the Democratic Party are still evident. Speakers railed against progressive groups like Justice Democrats, Our Revolution and Indivisible, who they said forced the party into unwinnable positions — and weren't focused on winning majorities. 'When you read the documents of the national Indivisible group, they spell it right out, as plain as day, that they're throwing out the Blue Dogs and New Dems,' said Golden. 'Their goal is to divide the Democratic coalition until they are 100 percent in the image of the progressive caucus.' Progressives, for their part, called WelcomeFest a 'convention of corporate ghouls' that represents 'a massive step backwards for a Democratic Party that just lost working-class voters at a historic level,' said Usamah Andrabi, Justice Democrats communications director. 'Everyday people are not interested in elitist, technocratic, piecemeal solutions to the massive crises they're facing. They just rejected that exact Democratic Party in November,' Andrabi said. 'Voters want to see a Democratic Party that unites the working class against the handful of billionaires and corporations robbing them blind.' Andrabi also noted that Justice Democrats focus on safe Democratic House primaries, not competitive seats. Liam Kerr, a co-founder of Welcome PAC, which launched in 2022, said now that the 'leftist fever dreams died down,' they're growing a movement with 'a sense of, 'We need to think differently, we need to do things differently.'" "It's attracting a lot of people who are kind of a full generation behind the last wave of centrist Democratic entrepreneurs,' Kerr added. Data analyst Lakshya Jain kicked off the opening presentation by arguing that Janelle Stelson, a Democrat who challenged Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), was a better performing candidate than Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) in 2024. 'This seems like a really controversial idea on Twitter, but I suggest that the Democratic Party take lessons on how to win elections and how to win voters from people who have won more votes than most other Democrats,' Jain said to applause. 'If we run candidates that D.C. finds appealing, we're probably going to lose. There's an inverse correlation between what you guys all find appealing and what the median voter finds appealing.' And like any other Democratic event in 2025, WelcomeFest was interrupted by protesters, who shouted at Torres during his interview. They were played off by the producers of the event, who blasted Carly Simon's 'You're So Vain.'
Politico
a day ago
- Politics
- Politico
Centrist Democrats are convinced they hold the answers to their party's problems
Democrats are still staring down bleak polling numbers about their party's brand, even as President Donald Trump's favorability also has dropped. The answer to Democrats' troubles at WelcomeFest, the moderate Democrats' Coachella, include: purity tests are toxic, being unpopular on the social media site Bluesky is cool and winning again means running to the center. That's the gospel speakers preached on stage Wednesday in the basement of a Washington, D.C., hotel, where hundreds of centrist elected officials, candidates and operatives gathered to commiserate over the 2024 election results and chart their version of the path forward for the Democratic Party. 'There's a hunger for people to work together, to try to find solutions and to talk in common sense terms,' said Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.), who won a much-heralded special election in 2024 by calling out his own party on immigration policies. 'I think that there's a lot more elected officials that are willing to speak up about that because they don't want to lose,' Suozzi told reporters after his appearance. Wednesday's daylong conference, which represented a who's-who of center-left Democratic politics, from analytics guru David Shor to Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin to New York Rep. Ritchie Torres, was the latest sign that moderate Democrats believe they are ascendant in the party, looking to influence its posture heading into the 2026 midterms and 2028 presidential primary. Seven of the 12 House Democrats who won in Trump districts last year participated in the event, including Reps. Jared Golden of Maine, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington and Adam Gray of California. 'Most Americans are Blue Dogs,' Gluesenkamp told writer Matt Yglesias, and noted only 10 Democrats remain in the once-robust Blue Dog Caucus. 'Politics has become irrelevant to most people because it has excluded the things that touch their life. It's about making politics more relevant to more people.' But the rifts within the Democratic Party are still evident. Speakers railed against progressive groups like Justice Democrats, Our Revolution and Indivisible, who they said forced the party into unwinnable positions — and weren't focused on winning majorities. 'When you read the documents of the national Indivisible group, they spell it right out, as plain as day, that they're throwing out the Blue Dogs and New Dems,' said Golden. 'Their goal is to divide the Democratic coalition until they are 100 percent in the image of the progressive caucus.' Progressives, for their part, called WelcomeFest a 'convention of corporate ghouls' that represents 'a massive step backwards for a Democratic Party that just lost working-class voters at a historic level,' said Usamah Andrabi, Justice Democrats communications director. 'Everyday people are not interested in elitist, technocratic, piecemeal solutions to the massive crises they're facing. They just rejected that exact Democratic Party in November,' Andrabi said. 'Voters want to see a Democratic Party that unites the working class against the handful of billionaires and corporations robbing them blind.' Andrabi also noted that Justice Democrats focus on safe Democratic House primaries, not competitive seats. Liam Kerr, a co-founder of Welcome PAC, which launched in 2022, said now that the 'leftist fever dreams died down,' they're growing a movement with 'a sense of, 'We need to think differently, we need to do things differently.'' 'It's attracting a lot of people who are kind of a full generation behind the last wave of centrist Democratic entrepreneurs,' Kerr added. Data analyst Lakshya Jain kicked off the opening presentation by arguing that Janelle Stelson, a Democrat who challenged Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), was a better performing candidate than Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) in 2024. 'This seems like a really controversial idea on Twitter, but I suggest that the Democratic Party take lessons on how to win elections and how to win voters from people who have won more votes than most other Democrats,' Jain said to applause. 'If we run candidates that D.C. finds appealing, we're probably going to lose. There's an inverse correlation between what you guys all find appealing and what the median voter finds appealing.' And like any other Democratic event in 2025, WelcomeFest was interrupted by protesters, who shouted at Torres during his interview. They were played off by the producers of the event, who blasted Carly Simon's 'You're So Vain.'
The Hill
3 days ago
- Business
- The Hill
Blue states vs. red states
The Big Story Democrats and blue-state Republicans defend the state and local tax (SALT) deduction and advocate for a higher cap because their states often pay more in taxes than they get back in services. © The Associated Press They distinguish between 'donor states' and 'taker states' and argue that, as donors, they should be able to fully exempt their regional taxes from their federal tax bill. 'Most of these states … are high tax states that give more to the federal government than they get back in federal services. Most of the red states are taker states, states that get more from the federal government than they actually pay in taxes,' Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.) said during a markup of the tax portion of the GOP bill earlier this month. 'It's really not fair that we are being stuck with this cap on our state and local tax deduction because people are getting taxed on taxes that they've already paid,' he said. Republicans in red states see things dramatically differently. They argue many residents of blue states are simply living in high-tax areas and shouldn't get a federal tax reduction for doing so. If they want lower taxes, vote to lower the local taxes or move. State tax experts say blue states are generally sending in more to the federal government than they are getting out in benefits because they have larger local economies and more higher-income taxpayers. The Hill's Tobias Burns has more here. Welcome to The Hill's Business & Economy newsletter, I'm Aris Folley — covering the intersection of Wall Street and Pennsylvania Avenue. Did someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here. Essential Reads Key business and economic news with implications this week and beyond: GOP beats down key budget office over tax plan projections Republicans are using Congress's official budget scorer as a whipping boy, as they argue a major package of President Trump's tax priorities is costless, despite multiple projections placing the plan's price tag at trillions of dollars over the next decade. Wall Street drifts higher as oil prices jump and US manufacturing slumps U.S. stock indexes drifted closer to their records on Monday, coming off their stellar May, which was Wall Street's best month since 2023. Disney laying off hundreds of employees The Walt Disney Co. is laying off hundreds of its employees, a company spokesperson told The Hill on Monday. The Ticker Upcoming news themes and events we're watching: In Other News Branch out with more stories from the day: Campbell's Co. says sales rise as more Americans cook meals at home The Campbell's Co. said Monday it saw stronger sales of broth and condensed soup in its latest quarter … The Hill Event Invest In America Wednesday, June 4 at 8 a.m. EDT — Washington, D.C. Join The Hill for a half-day summit featuring titans from Washington and Wall Street, focused on solutions-oriented conversations that will deliver insights into the future of the domestic and global economy, covering everything from tariffs, investing, AI, crypto, taxes and more. Good to Know Business and economic news we've flagged from other outlets: What Others are Reading Top stories on The Hill right now: Kavanaugh signals Supreme Court will soon decide constitutionality of banning AR-15s The Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up a case that involves whether possessing AR-15s is protected by the Second Amendment, but the court's conservatives are signaling they soon will. Read more Bannon: Graham should be arrested if he keeps 'stirring it up' in Ukraine MAGA insider and former Trump White House chief strategist Steve Bannon said Monday that Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), one of Kyiv's strongest backers in Congress, should be 'arrested' if he doesn't stop traveling overseas and 'stirring it up' in Ukraine. Read more What People Think Opinions related to business and economic issues submitted to The Hill: You're all caught up. See you tomorrow!
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
‘Donors' vs ‘takers': SALT battle stirs debate between blue and red states
President Trump's domestic agenda bill is spurring a debate over whether blue states are subsidizing red states. After a successful pressure campaign from blue-state Republicans, the House version of Trump's bill was amended to boost the state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap to $40,000. The agreement was a major win for a handful of House Republicans from wealthier districts in blue states. The GOP lawmakers backing the larger cap argued their constituents tend to pay higher state and local taxes in large part due to high property values. Before Trump's 2017 tax bill, the constituents could write off their state and local taxes. That bill imposed a $10,000 ceiling, which the blue-state GOP lawmakers said unduly punished their area's homeowners, who suddenly had a massively larger tax bill. The SALT cap is controversial because it's a tax break that benefits wealthier Americans in more affluent coastal states. But those arguing that the higher ceiling is justified say their constituents already send in more to the federal government in taxes than they get out in public services. As a result, they argue their states are already effectively subsidizing state with lower property values that tend to get more in federal benefits than their constituents pay in taxes. This has spurred a larger debate over who is subsidizing who when it comes to red and blue states. Democrats and blue-state Republicans defend the SALT deduction and advocate for a higher cap because their states often pay more in taxes than they get back in services. They distinguish between 'donor states' and 'taker states' and argue that, as donors, they should be able to fully exempt their regional taxes from their federal tax bill. 'Most of these states … are high tax states that give more to the federal government than they get back in federal services. Most of the red states are taker states, states that get more from the federal government than they actually pay in taxes,' Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.) said during a markup of the tax portion of the GOP bill earlier this month. 'It's really not fair that we are being stuck with this cap on our state and local tax deduction because people are getting taxed on taxes that they've already paid,' he said. The argument is a common one among Democrats. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) made the point during an interview with television pundit Sean Hannity in 2023. 'We're subsidizing your states, Sean, because of your policies,' he said. Republicans in red states see things dramatically differently. They argue many residents of blue states are simply living in high-tax areas and shouldn't get a federal tax reduction for doing so. If they want lower taxes, vote to lower the local taxes or move. State tax experts say blue states are generally sending in more to the federal government than they are getting out in benefits because they have larger local economies and more higher-income taxpayers. The 'donor state' and 'taker state' distinction has been around for decades, though funding used to flow more from northern states to Southern states rather than from coastal states to interior states. Recent studies show a bit of a complicated picture, though in many cases it is blue states that are paying in more to the federal government than they are taking out. For example, Washington, Massachusetts and New Jersey all ran a deficit with the federal government in 2023, according to a 2025 New York comptroller study, meaning these states sent in more in taxes than they received in benefits. Other states with a substandard balance of payments include California, New Hampshire, Minnesota, Utah and Illinois. Most of those states have repeatedly voted for Democratic candidates in recent presidential elections and have Democratic senators representing them in Congress. Utah is a notable exception. However, when it comes to states simply taking large amounts of benefits from the federal government, the report from the New York comptroller paints a more complicated picture. The top 10 taker states in 2023, the report found, included New Mexico, Virginia, Hawaii, Maryland and Maine, which repeatedly have backed Democrats in the presidential election. The list also included Alaska, Mississippi, West Virginia, Kentucky and Alabama, five red states. New Mexico, Virginia, Alaska, Mississippi and West Virginia all receive more than $12,000 more per person from the federal government than they pay in taxes, according to the comptroller study. A separate report from the State University of New York found the states in 2022 with the most favorable balance of payments per capita were Virginia ($14,888), Kentucky ($14,507), Alaska ($14,031), New Mexico ($13,009), and Maryland ($11,617). Texas and Florida, the two GOP-leaning states with the largest economies, received moderately more per person from the federal government than they provided in taxes. There's no single government program or tax that's responsible for the net transfers from blue states to red states, but experts point to health care matching contributions, also known as FMAP, as a major driver. 'If you look at FMAP, the share usually for red states is much higher, meaning there is more federal support,' Lucy Dadayan, a principal research associate with the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center at the Urban Institute, told The Hill. 'Medicaid is the largest share of all the federal aid going to the states. That's one [way] that red states get substantially more funding from the federal government than the blue states get.' The GOP bill makes large cuts to public health care programs to partly offset some of its tax cuts, with millions of people set to lose access to public health care as a result of the legislation. There is no regional breakdown of where those people live from the Congressional Budget Office, but the distribution of FMAP allocations suggests they may be located in Republican-led states. While the bill still has to make it through the Senate, the higher $40,000 SALT cap would lower taxes on more affluent taxpayers by allowing them to deduct more local taxes from their federal returns. This could take a bite out of the net federal subsidies from Democratic to Republican states by amping a tax cut that is of particular advantage to Democratic states. It will also contribute substantially to the federal deficit. One estimate from the Tax Policy Center found that a $40,000 SALT cap without an income threshold would cost more than $600 billion through 2034. Getting rid of the SALT cap altogether would cost more than $1.2 trillion through the next nine years, the group found. All the maneuvering the House has done on SALT and the last-minute agreement Republicans struck to raise the cap to $40,000 could be for nothing. Republicans in the Senate don't have a SALT caucus that is threatening to break from the rest of their party in the same way that the House does. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told The Hill that the SALT cap wasn't really an issue for the Senate, even though he recognized that the House had to make a deal. Investors say they expect changes on the bill could come from Senate moderates. 'We will be watching Senate moderates and moves in the bond market, as these will likely drive last-minute adjustments. The true deadlines remain the August recess,' Larry Adam, chief investment officer of investment bank Raymond James, wrote in a note to investors. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
3 days ago
- Business
- The Hill
‘Donors' vs ‘takers': SALT battle stirs debate between blue and red states
President Trump's domestic agenda bill is spurring a debate over whether blue states are subsidizing red states. After a successful pressure campaign from blue-state Republicans, the House version of Trump's bill was amended to boost the state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap to $40,000. The agreement was a major win for a handful of House Republicans from wealthier districts in blue states. The GOP lawmakers backing the larger cap argued their constituents tend to pay higher state and local taxes in large part due to high property values. Before Trump's 2017 tax bill, the constituents could write off their state and local taxes. That bill imposed a $10,000 ceiling, which the blue-state GOP lawmakers said unduly punished their area's homeowners, who suddenly had a massively larger tax bill. The SALT cap is controversial because it's a tax break that benefits wealthier Americans in more affluent coastal states. But those arguing that the higher ceiling is justified say their constituents already send in more to the federal government in taxes than they get out in public services. As a result, they argue their states are already effectively subsidizing state with lower property values that tend to get more in federal benefits than their constituents pay in taxes. This has spurred a larger debate over who is subsidizing who when it cones to red and blue states. Democrats and blue-state Republicans defend the SALT deduction and advocate for a higher cap because their states often pay more in taxes than they get back in services. They distinguish between 'donor states' and 'taker states' and argue that, as donors, they should be able to fully exempt their regional taxes from their federal tax bill. 'Most of these states … are high tax states that give more to the federal government than they get back in federal services. Most of the red states are taker states, states that get more from the federal government than they actually pay in taxes,' Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.) said during a markup of the tax portion of the GOP bill earlier this month. 'It's really not fair that we are being stuck with this cap on our state and local tax deduction because people are getting taxed on taxes that they've already paid,' he said. The argument is a common one among Democrats. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) made the point during an interview with television pundit Sean Hannity in 2023. 'We're subsidizing your states, Sean, because of your policies,' he said. Republicans in red states see things dramatically differently. They argue many residents of blue states are simply living in high-tax areas and shouldn't get a federal tax reduction for doing so. If they want lower taxes, vote to lower the local taxes or move. State tax experts say blue states are generally sending in more to the federal government than they are getting out in benefits because they have larger local economies and more higher-income taxpayers. The 'donor state' and 'taker state' distinction has been around for decades, though funding used to flow more from northern states to Southern states rather than from coastal states to interior states. Recent studies show a bit of a complicated picture, though in many cases it is blue states that are paying in more to the federal government than they are taking out. For example, Washington, Massachusetts and New Jersey all ran a deficit with the federal government in 2023, according to a 2025 New York comptroller study, meaning these states sent in more in taxes than they received in benefits. Other states with a substandard balance of payments include California, New Hampshire, Minnesota, Utah and Illinois. Most of those states have repeatedly voted for Democratic candidates in recent presidential elections and have Democratic senators representing them in Congress. Utah is a notable exception. However, when it comes to states simply taking large amounts of benefits from the federal government, the report from the New York comptroller paints a more complicated picture. The top 10 taker states in 2023, the report found, included New Mexico, Virginia, Hawaii, Maryland and Maine, which repeatedly have backed Democrats in the presidential election. The list also included Alaska, Mississippi, West Virginia, Kentucky and Alabama, five red states. New Mexico, Virginia, Alaska, Mississippi and West Virginia all receive more than $12,000 more per person from the federal government than they pay in taxes, according to the comptroller study. A separate report from the State University of New York found the states in 2022 with the most favorable balance of payments per capita were Virginia ($14,888), Kentucky ($14,507), Alaska ($14,031), New Mexico ($13,009), and Maryland ($11,617). Texas and Florida, the two GOP-leaning states with the largest economies, received moderately more per person from the federal government than they provided in taxes. There's no single government program or tax that's responsible for the net transfers from blue states to red states, but experts point to health care matching contributions, also known as FMAP, as a major driver. 'If you look at FMAP, the share usually for red states is much higher, meaning there is more federal support,' Dadayan told The Hill. 'Medicaid is the largest share of all the federal aid going to the states. That's one [way] that red states get substantially more funding from the federal government than the blue states get.' The GOP bill makes large cuts to public health care programs to partly offset some of its tax cuts, with millions of people set to lose access to public health care as a result of the legislation. There is no regional breakdown of where those people live from the Congressional Budget Office, but the distribution of FMAP allocations suggests they may be located in Republican-led states. While the bill still has to make it through the Senate, the higher $40,000 SALT cap would lower taxes on more affluent taxpayers by allowing them to deduct more local taxes from their federal returns. This could take a bite out of the net federal subsidies from Democratic to Republican states by amping a tax cut that is of particular advantage to Democratic states. It will also contribute substantially to the federal deficit. One estimate from the Tax Policy Center found that a $40,000 SALT cap without an income threshold would cost more than $600 billion through 2034. Getting rid of the SALT cap altogether would cost more than $1.2 trillion through the next nine years, the group found. All the maneuvering the House has done on SALT and the last-minute agreement Republicans struck to raise the cap to $40,000 could be for nothing. Republicans in the Senate don't have a SALT caucus that is threatening to break from the rest of their party in the same way that the House does. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told The Hill that the SALT cap wasn't really an issue for the Senate, even though he recognized that the House had to make a deal. Investors say they expect changes on the bill could come from Senate moderates. 'We will be watching Senate moderates and moves in the bond market, as these will likely drive last-minute adjustments. The true deadlines remain the August recess,' Larry Adam, chief investment officer of investment bank Raymond James, wrote in a note to investors.
