Dismantling the IRS, whether by cutting its funding or abolishing it outright, is a gift to the ultra-wealthy for whom U.S. taxes are already becoming voluntary.
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Economic Justice
Combating inequality means both lifting up and building power at the bottom, and breaking up concentration of wealth and power at the top. That’s why we work at the intersection of economic and racial justice through projects designed to build leadership and self-empowerment of black workers, immigrant workers, and low-wage workers, youth and families affected by incarceration, along with projects aiming to reverse the rules that criminalize poor people of color, and projects fighting to ensure that the wealthy and Wall Street corporations pay their fair share of taxes.
Latest Work
New Yorkers Care About Care. The State Budget Should, Too.
Workers, clients, and advocates rallied in Albany to secure living wages for their state’s hardworking and underpaid home care workers. Will the governor listen?
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President Biden: Don’t Negotiate With Fiscal Terrorists
If Biden gives in, he’ll be as much to blame for a possible recession and spiking economic hardship as McCarthy and his party of extremists will be.
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Can Our ‘Labs of Democracy’ Once Again Deliver?
In the near future, our states will have to determine whether we truly tax the rich.
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Biden Is Right: You Shouldn’t Pay a Higher Tax Rate Than Billionaires
The president has renewed his call for a “billionaire minimum tax.” If Congress won’t listen, states should.
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Biden Presented a Bold Agenda. Can He Back It Up?
The president had much to celebrate in his State of the Union address. But to finish the job, he needs to take executive action.
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Defend the Postal Service, Defend Good Jobs for Black Workers
The U.S. Postal Service is a vital source of decent jobs for Black workers. Instead of cutting or privatizing services, this public agency should expand to meet 21st century needs.
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Must Larceny Always Overpower Honesty?
In deeply unequal societies, the thieving always thrive.
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An absurd issue demands an absurd solution: Let’s mint a bazillion-dollar coin to bring the curtain down forever on the Republicans’ farcical debt-ceiling theater
Congressional Republicans don’t want fiscal responsibility. They want to destroy the government’s ability to improve the lives of American citizens.
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A ‘Down’ Year for Our Deepest Pockets?
Billionaire fortunes have shriveled a bit over the past year. Billionaire power hasn’t.
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Reports
REPORT: The Warfare State: How Funding for Militarism Compromises Our Welfare
Nearly two-thirds of the federal discretionary budget goes to militarized federal programs, leaving just over a third for our communities — a sliver some lawmakers want to cut even further.
REPORT: A Tale of Two Retirements 2023
Our tax code helps CEOs retire in luxury while ordinary workers struggle. Here’s how to fix it.
Report: High Flyers 2023: How Ultra-Rich Private Jet Travel Costs the Rest of Us and Burns Up the Planet
In this report, we assess the environmental, economic, and security risks of private jet travel — and lay out tax reforms to offset them.
Tax Day 2023: Where Your 2022 Tax Dollars Went
IPS’s National Priorities Project takes a look at where American taxpayers’ money went in 2022, and how skewed our national priorities are.
Wall Street Bonuses Decline But Still Dwarf Worker Pay Increases Since 2008 Crash
Since 2008, the average Wall Street bonus has climbed by more than 75 percent, compared to just a 54 percent increase in average earnings of all private sector workers and a 42 percent rise in manufacturing wages. If the minimum wage had increased as much as Wall Street bonuses since 1985, it would be worth $42.37 today.