We’ve reached a tipping point in our nation today. Extreme wealth is begetting extreme power, in turn begetting even more extreme wealth. The resulting stranglehold our richest hold over our democratic institutions has led to a government that caters to billionaires while working citizens struggle to make their voices heard. This imbalance doesn’t just weaken the integrity of our democracy. This imbalance emboldens extremist ideologies that thrive whenever masses of people become politically disillusioned.
We face a stark choice. Will we allow a handful of individuals to wield their wealth like a weapon against our nation’s bedrock principles? Or will we rise to the occasion, defend our democracy, and reaffirm our commitment to a society that offers real opportunity and disperses power — instead of letting that power concentrate among a fabulously wealthy few?
Those of us working with Patriotic Millionaires see the OLIGARCH Act as more than just a piece of legislation. We see it as a statement of purpose, a declaration that the American people will not stand idly by and watch the principles we hold dear erode away. We see the OLIGARCH Act as a call to action that asks each and every one of us to join the chorus demanding change. By urging our congressional representatives to co-sponsor and pass this transformative legislation, we pave the way for a future where democratic capitalism thrives, inequality recedes, and the American way of life endures.
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Keep dreaming there my friend. Who do you think Congress works for in the first place? I'll give you a hint it is not the average taxpayer. Congress knows what side their bread is buttered on. Congress will give lip service all day to their concern about the taxpayer. When night time comes guess who they will be having dinner with? I bet their wealthy dining companions will also pick up the tab.
I use to be a people person until people ruined that for me.
Whose morality? I like buttering the bread right side up personally….
Now I love those cowboys, I love their gold
Love my uncle, God rest his soul
Taught me good, Lord, taught me all I know
Taught me so well, that I grabbed that gold
I left his dead ass there by the side of the road, yeah
Farfromgeneva wrote: ↑Sat Sep 09, 2023 5:56 pm
Whose morality? I like buttering the bread right side up personally….
Left and right if yer making a grilled cheese sandwich.
I butter the cast iron skillet so the entire bread soaks up the butter.
That's the way to do it!
Alright, I’ll go fired up my haggard lady marching band, kick a poo kid, triple sling jigger and buddy big boy boomaroo since you violate so many moral codes with such behavior!
Now I love those cowboys, I love their gold
Love my uncle, God rest his soul
Taught me good, Lord, taught me all I know
Taught me so well, that I grabbed that gold
I left his dead ass there by the side of the road, yeah
Farfromgeneva wrote: ↑Sat Sep 09, 2023 5:56 pm
Whose morality? I like buttering the bread right side up personally….
Left and right if yer making a grilled cheese sandwich.
I butter the cast iron skillet so the entire bread soaks up the butter.
That's the way to do it!
Alright, I’ll go fired up my haggard lady marching band, kick a poo kid, triple sling jigger and buddy big boy boomaroo since you violate so many moral codes with such behavior!
It's about butter on grilled cheese. Maybe you're overreacting.
Farfromgeneva wrote: ↑Sat Sep 09, 2023 5:56 pm
Whose morality? I like buttering the bread right side up personally….
Left and right if yer making a grilled cheese sandwich.
I butter the cast iron skillet so the entire bread soaks up the butter.
That's the way to do it!
Alright, I’ll go fired up my haggard lady marching band, kick a poo kid, triple sling jigger and buddy big boy boomaroo since you violate so many moral codes with such behavior!
It's about butter on grilled cheese. Maybe you're overreacting.
Speaking of overreacting I think you missed my point of the original post completely. Fine but then why jump to conclusions without asking?
Now I love those cowboys, I love their gold
Love my uncle, God rest his soul
Taught me good, Lord, taught me all I know
Taught me so well, that I grabbed that gold
I left his dead ass there by the side of the road, yeah
Interesting oped-I borrowed a ton for an average MBA young myself and only four years in front of the financial crisis which pushed my repayment plan back 5-7yrs but got it done within ten years so have strong opinions on this. You make your bet and take your chances in life. Don’t get to complain about the payoff after the fact.
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Nobody at Work Wants to Hear About Your Student-Loan Payments
Debt-free co-workers say they made sacrifices and smart choices, and they have little patience for sob stories
Callum BorchersSept. 20, 2023 9:00 pm ET
Millions of Americans’ federal student-loan payments resume next month, as a pandemic pause on collections ends. Many of these borrowers suddenly feel like they’re taking pay cuts. Some say they’ll have to reduce entertainment spending or delay major purchases such as homes and cars.
Good, comes the retort from unsympathetic colleagues who paid back their loans, joined the military to earn debt relief or attended second-choice colleges because they were cheaper.
College debt is a new third rail in the workplace. The payment restart is proving more contentious than the halt at the onset of the pandemic.
“I worked hard to pay off my loans and certainly made tons of sacrifices in my professional and personal life to free myself from debt,” says Marina Nitselska, a pharmacist in New York who finished clearing $38,000 of debt last year. “It makes me angry that the federal government even considered forgiving those loans in the first place.”
The Supreme Court overturned President Biden’s student-debt forgiveness plan, claiming it exceeded the authority Congress delegated to the executive branch. WSJ’s Andrew Restuccia explains what the decision means for borrowers. Photo illustration: Elise Dean
Nitselska says she worked two part-time jobs as a student, lived frugally and took overtime shifts after graduation to shrink her balance as quickly as possible. She believes it would have been unfair to let others off the hook, and she has little patience for those who feel wronged by having to fulfill the loan terms they agreed to.
Morality play
In June, the Supreme Court rejected President Biden’s plan to permanently erase as much as $20,000 of college debt per person. Biden had campaigned on canceling certain loans, and many borrowers operated for more than three years with the expectation that some or all of their debts would be wiped away. The reversal is a shock.
Though some debt-free colleagues feel pity—and think student-loan forgiveness would be good for the economy—others can’t stand to hear griping. They tell me they know there are borrowers who didn’t understand what they were getting into and that student loans can be most cumbersome for people who didn’t finish their degrees. Yes, they’re aware that debt, or the absence of it, is often a function of privilege.
Mostly they view the college-debt crisis as a morality play. They did the right thing, paying back what they owe or making good decisions to avoid debt. Others should do the same or face consequences.
Better think twice before lamenting your loans in office chitchat.
Jennifer Dulski of Rising Team at her home in Palo Alto, Calif. Photo: Alison Yin
Adding to the friction, more businesses are offering student-debt assistance as a benefit. That can make a tense situation worse, says Jennifer Dulski, founder of Rising Team, a maker of workplace training software designed to improve company cultures and navigate conflicts. She notes that the student-loan payment restart comes when many workers are paying close attention to equity of all sorts, from racial and gender to hybrid and remote.
“Companies can create rifts between employees when they offer benefits to some and not all,” she says.
Dulski says she attended business school on a full-ride fellowship, turning down admission to a higher-ranked M.B.A. program because it was so expensive.
A reprieve too late
April Burrows, a marketing manager in Virginia, was a prototypical candidate for debt forgiveness. As the recipient of a Pell Grant, given to students from low-income households, she might have been eligible for the maximum, $20,000 reprieve. Her federal student debt totaled $70,000, including loans for a master’s program she didn’t finish.
April Burrows at a work event this year. Photo: Gabriel Ramos/eSentire
Burrows says she refinanced with a private lender shortly before federal loan payments were suspended in March 2020, and she was initially miffed at missing out on the break. Then she got serious about paying off what she owed.
She funneled raises and bonuses toward her debt, moved into cheaper housing, nixed vacations, paused retirement-account contributions and sold clothes and accessories out of her closet. She made her final payment last summer.
Don’t go crying to her about your insurmountable debt load.
“I’m not somebody that lectures others, but I was outraged by the proposed forgiveness because I worked so hard to pay my debt,” Burrows says. “I gave things up.”
Rotem Elias, a senior underwriter at New Jersey Community Capital, says he felt the same way at first. He picked Baruch College for graduate school because he could afford it on personal and family savings. Elias graduated with an M.B.A. in 2020 and, though proud of his alma mater, wondered if he should have taken a shot at a big-name business school.
“I felt like what’s the point of all this financial planning?” he says. “If there are no rules, if the loans are just going to be forgiven, why didn’t we all take them?”
His job has softened his view. Much of his work involves evaluating loan applications for nonprofits and people with low credit scores. He also married a Yale graduate with $57,000 in student loans. The couple stockpiled cash during the federal payment pause, hoping some of the debt would be forgiven and they could put all of their savings toward a down payment on a house.
Instead, they paid the full balance this summer to avoid more interest. The house will have to wait.
If you must complain about your college debt to someone, try Elias.
Now I love those cowboys, I love their gold
Love my uncle, God rest his soul
Taught me good, Lord, taught me all I know
Taught me so well, that I grabbed that gold
I left his dead ass there by the side of the road, yeah
I had a good laugh over this. Those new " relaxed" dress code regulations in the Senate were much to John Fettermans liking. He graced the Senate chambers in shorts and a shirt. I wonder if Fetterman shows up wearing a Speedo and some nose plugs if anyone will even care? They will never admit it in public but the majority of Senate Democrats have to think this guy is a freaking joke. The State of the Union address should be quite the event this year. There will be a mix of suits and ties and speedos and bikinis and maybe a few beach balls bouncing around the chamber. Chuck Schumer SHOULD have advised Fetterman to show up for work respecting the job he was hired to do. The people of Pennsylvania must be having buyers remorse for electing this clown to be their senator.
I use to be a people person until people ruined that for me.
We do know that many folks believe in and get sucked in by charlatans who fake it until they (dont) make it because the facade gets over on those less circumspect people all the time. Of course some people are focused on form over function-anachronistic (at best).
There’s a saying you know who’s got the money/power and who’s asking for it by their attire. Pitch after pitch, the guys at TPG, Ares, Cerberus, Fortress, Citadel are all in golf shirts or fleece vests. That holds true for most execs of UPS, Delta, Coca Cola, Experian etc when I see them at private functions that aren’t black tie.
Now I love those cowboys, I love their gold
Love my uncle, God rest his soul
Taught me good, Lord, taught me all I know
Taught me so well, that I grabbed that gold
I left his dead ass there by the side of the road, yeah
cradleandshoot wrote: ↑Thu Sep 21, 2023 4:47 pm
I had a good laugh over this. Those new " relaxed" dress code regulations in the Senate were much to John Fettermans liking. He graced the Senate chambers in shorts and a shirt. I wonder if Fetterman shows up wearing a Speedo and some nose plugs if anyone will even care? They will never admit it in public but the majority of Senate Democrats have to think this guy is a freaking joke. The State of the Union address should be quite the event this year. There will be a mix of suits and ties and speedos and bikinis and maybe a few beach balls bouncing around the chamber. Chuck Schumer SHOULD have advised Fetterman to show up for work respecting the job he was hired to do. The people of Pennsylvania must be having buyers remorse for electing this clown to be their senator.
LMAO. From BEFORE Fetterman was elected to the Senate:
cradleandshoot wrote: ↑Thu Sep 21, 2023 4:47 pm
I had a good laugh over this. Those new " relaxed" dress code regulations in the Senate were much to John Fettermans liking. He graced the Senate chambers in shorts and a shirt. I wonder if Fetterman shows up wearing a Speedo and some nose plugs if anyone will even care? They will never admit it in public but the majority of Senate Democrats have to think this guy is a freaking joke. The State of the Union address should be quite the event this year. There will be a mix of suits and ties and speedos and bikinis and maybe a few beach balls bouncing around the chamber. Chuck Schumer SHOULD have advised Fetterman to show up for work respecting the job he was hired to do. The people of Pennsylvania must be having buyers remorse for electing this clown to be their senator.
LMAO. From BEFORE Fetterman was elected to the Senate:
Outraged is the wrong word. Amused is more appropriate. The only thing Fetterman was missing was his little cardboard sign say homlis and hungree. There was a time both parties respected the decorum of the Senate. There is one senator, whose elevator doesn't go all the way to the top, whose confusing the Senate floor for a basketball court. What is next A Village People tribute day?
I use to be a people person until people ruined that for me.
Some people get older and live the narrative fallacy that doesn’t represent reality but tells everyone else their dumb or wrong while constantly having facts and logic completely upside down.
Now I love those cowboys, I love their gold
Love my uncle, God rest his soul
Taught me good, Lord, taught me all I know
Taught me so well, that I grabbed that gold
I left his dead ass there by the side of the road, yeah
cradleandshoot wrote: ↑Fri Sep 22, 2023 6:34 am
Outraged is the wrong word. Amused is more appropriate. The only thing Fetterman was missing was his little cardboard sign say homlis and hungree. There was a time both parties respected the decorum of the Senate. There is one senator, whose elevator doesn't go all the way to the top, whose confusing the Senate floor for a basketball court. What is next A Village People tribute day?
No commentary about Cruz and others?
And no commentary about Democrats reinstating the Senate dress code?
cradleandshoot wrote: ↑Fri Sep 22, 2023 6:34 am
Outraged is the wrong word. Amused is more appropriate. The only thing Fetterman was missing was his little cardboard sign say homlis and hungree. There was a time both parties respected the decorum of the Senate. There is one senator, whose elevator doesn't go all the way to the top, whose confusing the Senate floor for a basketball court. What is next A Village People tribute day?
No commentary about Cruz and others?
And no commentary about Democrats reinstating the Senate dress code?
Weird how that didn't make it into your newsfeed.
Sorry I wasn't paying attention to your pathetic ass liberal whining. I guess the optics of the vegetable wandering around in his nasty ass gym clothes even pizzed off Mittens O'Romney.
I use to be a people person until people ruined that for me.
cradleandshoot wrote: ↑Fri Sep 22, 2023 6:34 am
Outraged is the wrong word. Amused is more appropriate. The only thing Fetterman was missing was his little cardboard sign say homlis and hungree. There was a time both parties respected the decorum of the Senate. There is one senator, whose elevator doesn't go all the way to the top, whose confusing the Senate floor for a basketball court. What is next A Village People tribute day?
No commentary about Cruz and others?
And no commentary about Democrats reinstating the Senate dress code?
Weird how that didn't make it into your newsfeed.
Sorry I wasn't paying attention to your pathetic ass liberal whining. I guess the optics of the vegetable wandering around in his nasty ass gym clothes even pizzed off Mittens O'Romney.
LMAO you were the one whining about the dress code in the first place. You don't remember that either? Amusing watching you over here.
cradleandshoot wrote: ↑Fri Sep 22, 2023 6:34 am
Outraged is the wrong word. Amused is more appropriate. The only thing Fetterman was missing was his little cardboard sign say homlis and hungree. There was a time both parties respected the decorum of the Senate. There is one senator, whose elevator doesn't go all the way to the top, whose confusing the Senate floor for a basketball court. What is next A Village People tribute day?
No commentary about Cruz and others?
And no commentary about Democrats reinstating the Senate dress code?
Weird how that didn't make it into your newsfeed.
Sorry I wasn't paying attention to your pathetic ass liberal whining. I guess the optics of the vegetable wandering around in his nasty ass gym clothes even pizzed off Mittens O'Romney.
LMAO you were the one whining about the dress code in the first place. You don't remember that either? Amusing watching you over here.
!
It has been proven a hundred times that the surest way to the heart of any man, black or white, honest or dishonest, is through justice and fairness.
I wonder if Fetterman shows up wearing a Speedo and some nose plugs if anyone will even care? They will never admit it in public but the majority of Senate Democrats have to think this guy is a freaking joke. The State of the Union address should be quite the event this year. There will be a mix of suits and ties and speedos and bikinis and maybe a few beach balls bouncing around the chamber. Chuck Schumer SHOULD have advised Fetterman to show up for work respecting the job he was hired to do. The people of Pennsylvania must be having buyers remorse for electing this clown to be their senator. 
!