SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
");background-position:center;background-size:19px 19px;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-color:var(--button-bg-color);padding:0;width:var(--form-elem-height);height:var(--form-elem-height);font-size:0;}:is(.js-newsletter-wrapper, .newsletter_bar.newsletter-wrapper) .widget__body:has(.response:not(:empty)) :is(.widget__headline, .widget__subheadline, #mc_embed_signup .mc-field-group, #mc_embed_signup input[type="submit"]){display:none;}:is(.grey_newsblock .newsletter-wrapper, .newsletter-wrapper) #mce-responses:has(.response:not(:empty)){grid-row:1 / -1;grid-column:1 / -1;}.newsletter-wrapper .widget__body > .snark-line:has(.response:not(:empty)){grid-column:1 / -1;}:is(.grey_newsblock .newsletter-wrapper, .newsletter-wrapper) :is(.newsletter-campaign:has(.response:not(:empty)), .newsletter-and-social:has(.response:not(:empty))){width:100%;}.newsletter-wrapper .newsletter_bar_col{display:flex;flex-wrap:wrap;justify-content:center;align-items:center;gap:8px 20px;margin:0 auto;}.newsletter-wrapper .newsletter_bar_col .text-element{display:flex;color:var(--shares-color);margin:0 !important;font-weight:400 !important;font-size:16px !important;}.newsletter-wrapper .newsletter_bar_col .whitebar_social{display:flex;gap:12px;width:auto;}.newsletter-wrapper .newsletter_bar_col a{margin:0;background-color:#0000;padding:0;width:32px;height:32px;}.newsletter-wrapper .social_icon:after{display:none;}.newsletter-wrapper .widget article:before, .newsletter-wrapper .widget article:after{display:none;}#sFollow_Block_0_0_1_0_0_0_1{margin:0;}.donation_banner{position:relative;background:#000;}.donation_banner .posts-custom *, .donation_banner .posts-custom :after, .donation_banner .posts-custom :before{margin:0;}.donation_banner .posts-custom .widget{position:absolute;inset:0;}.donation_banner__wrapper{position:relative;z-index:2;pointer-events:none;}.donation_banner .donate_btn{position:relative;z-index:2;}#sSHARED_-_Support_Block_0_0_7_0_0_3_1_0{color:#fff;}#sSHARED_-_Support_Block_0_0_7_0_0_3_1_1{font-weight:normal;}.grey_newsblock .newsletter-wrapper, .newsletter-wrapper, .newsletter-wrapper.sidebar{background:linear-gradient(91deg, #005dc7 28%, #1d63b2 65%, #0353ae 85%);}
To donate by check, phone, or other method, see our More Ways to Give page.
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
If we resist getting caught up in the endless drama, divisions, and distractions—and work together to further our own slate of issues—we have the power to create meaningful change.
As Trump creates crisis and chaos, testing the limits of his authority and driving the news cycle, it’s critical we keep returning to what matters most to the American people. By focusing on our shared priorities and working together, we can stay grounded during the turmoil and build the power to drive positive change.
At the top of Americans' concerns is economic hardship and inequality. Ninety percent of voters told Gallup the economy was a top influence on their 2024 votes. The rising cost of housing and everyday expenses was cited as the most critical issue by both Trump voters (79 percent) and the broader electorate (56 percent).
These concerns reflect real struggles. According to the Federal Reserve, more than one-third of American adults lack the resources to handle a $400 emergency without borrowing. Families face crushing costs—median childcare runs $1,100 monthly, matching typical rent payments. Natural disasters have financially impacted nearly one in five adults.
By focusing on the issues that affect the lives of millions of Americans, we can build common ground for organizing and advocacy.
The ALICE framework helps us understand this crisis. These Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed families—now 42 percent of all U.S. households—often work multiple jobs yet still struggle to cover basics. They are our neighbors, many of them working nearby in businesses, medical facilities, and factories living paycheck to paycheck, while caring for children and elders. Many are forced to choose between rent, food, gas for the car, and paying the power bill.
Millionaire and Vice President JD Vance said at the recent “March for Life” rally in Washington, D.C., that he wished more young people would have children. Yet over half of parents surveyed said that they suffer anxiety due to not having enough money to support their family.
It is not unusual to find people living in their cars or in tent encampments, going to work at multiple jobs but unable to afford rent. The numbers of these ALICE families have grown by 23 percent since 2010 and now make up 42 percent of American households.
Meanwhile, America's billionaire class has accumulated unprecedented wealth—$6.72 trillion among 813 individuals, growing by $1 trillion in just that last nine months of 2024, according to the Institute for Policy Studies. This concentration of wealth translates directly into political power that even many wealthy Americans recognize as wrong. The Patriotic Millionaires group, representing 500 wealthy individuals, has called for higher taxes on the ultra-wealthy, warning that extreme wealth concentration is corroding democracy.
In spite of his populist language, the Trump administration’s millionaires and billionaires show few signs of being interested in addressing the economic hardship of American families. The president’s true priorities were on display as the billionaires lined up to kiss the royal ring with large donations for the inauguration and were seated in the most prestigious seats at the events.
What can be done? How can ordinary people build sufficient power to put the wellbeing of ordinary families first?
The American people understand these challenges and 89 percent of them recognize that excessive political influence by the wealthy drives inequality, according to the Pew Research Center. Two-thirds believe our economic system needs major reform. Even wealthy Americans largely share these concerns, polling just 9 points lower in their worry about inequality.
With MAGA Republicans dominating Congress and the Executive Branch, national reform is tough. But if we resist getting caught up in the endless drama and distractions, and work together to further our own agenda. we have the power to create change.
By focusing on the issues that affect the lives of millions of Americans, we can build common ground for organizing and advocacy. Instead of being distracted, divided, and overwhelmed, we can set our own agenda, build power together for positive change, and insist that our elected leaders act on our shared priorities.
The polling was released alongside a letter urging attendees of the World Economic Forum's Davos summit to "tax the superrich."
As the World Economic Forum held its annual summit in Davos, Switzerland, polling released Wednesday showed that even millionaires are concerned about the wealthy's influence over Republican U.S. President Donald Trump, who started his second term earlier this week surrounded by Big Tech billionaires.
The poll, conducted in November and December by Survation on behalf of the U.S.-based group Patriotic Millionaires, is based on the responses of 2,902 people from G20 countries with investable assets over $1 million, excluding their homes.
Around two-thirds of them strongly or somewhat agreed that "superrich individuals interfered inappropriately in media, public, and political opinion in the 2024 U.S. election" (67%) and "the role the superrich will play in Donald Trump's presidency is a threat to global stability" (63%).
"When a superrich elite is determining the outcome of elections purely to protect their vested interests and accelerate profits, it's clear that we are in a terrifying age of wealth extremism."
Pollsters also found that over half of those surveyed believe that extreme wealth threatens democracy and the democratic stability of their country, and that political leaders lack the will to tackle extreme wealth. Nearly 70% of respondents said that the influence of the superrich is leading to a decline in trust in democracy.
Over 70% think that the ultrawealthy buy political influence and disproportionately sway public opinion through control of the media and social media platforms—and that their influence is leading to a decline in trust of the media and the justice system, according to the poll. Additionally, 72% favor raising taxes on the superrich to help reduce inequality and invest in public services.
The poll results were released alongside a letter to global leaders attending the Davos meeting, signed by more than 370 millionaires and billionaires from 22 countries, who argued that "oligarchy cannot be born from the political fear of upsetting the superrich," so "you must tax us, the superrich."
Signatories include American filmmaker and Patriotic Millionaires member Abigail Disney, who said in a statement that "it's easy to see the election of a figure like Donald Trump as an aberration, but that's not the case. Donald Trump—along with his so-called 'first buddy,' Elon Musk—is the final and inevitable conclusion of decades of inaction on the part of world leaders to put a check on extreme inequality."
Musk, a tech CEO and the richest person on the planet,
poured over a quarter-billion dollars into reelecting Trump, has often been seen at the president's side since his November win, and is leading the Republican's Department of Government Efficiency, a controversial presidential advisory commission created to pursue GOP dreams of slashing federal regulations and spending.
"It's hard to be optimistic about what lies ahead over the next four years—and maybe more—but if officials want to do something to ensure the stability of our democracies, they need only find the political resolve to once and for all tax wealthy people like me," said Disney.
Other signatories also shared that call, including Marlene Engelhorn, an Austrian-German who co-founded taxmenow and said Wednesday that "the superrich are buying themselves more wealth and more power while the rest of the world is living in economic fear."
"We no longer have access to free and fair media; our political and legal systems can be bought; and our democracies are on very shaky ground," added Engelhorn, one of the representatives sharing the letter in Davos. "For all our sake, in every country, we have to tackle this now. Politicians need to show their mettle; they need to tax the superrich."
Scottish award-winning actor Brian Cox, who portrayed a billionaire named Logan Roy on the show Succession, also signed on and said that "recent events have shown that the political influence of billionaires and those with extreme wealth is an extreme risk to society."
"The superrich now manage so much more than money: They manage what we read, what we watch, the information we're given, and ultimately, how we vote," he continued. "When a superrich elite is determining the outcome of elections purely to protect their vested interests and accelerate profits, it's clear that we are in a terrifying age of wealth extremism. Our leaders have lacked the backbone needed to rein in political capture and put ordinary people first. It's time we draw the line and tax the superrich."
"Don't be fooled: What this Koch-backed group is really only after is protecting tax cuts for wealthy people like me," said the chair of the Patriotic Millionaires.
A right-wing advocacy group founded by the billionaire Koch brothers announced Monday the launch of a $20 million campaign to promote an extension of the 2017 Trump-GOP tax cuts, which disproportionately benefited the rich and large corporations.
But in a 60-second ad that debuted over the weekend, Americans for Prosperity (AFP) characterizes the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act as a boon to "hardworking Americans" and small businesses—and warns that allowing provisions of the law to expire at the end of this year as scheduled would be disastrous for the working class.
"This year, Congress is facing a countdown to a crisis that threatens family budgets nationwide," Ross Connolly, AFP's regional state director, said in a statement Monday. "We are proud to partner with the incoming Trump administration to protect prosperity and ensure that Congress acts."
AFP is a 501(c)(4) organization that describes itself as a "grassroots" movement despite being launched by Charles Koch and his late brother, David—two of the most notorious right-wing billionaire in U.S. politics.
The group said its new 50-state campaign represents "the largest effort by a conservative organization" to support President-elect Donald Trump's legislative agenda as he prepares to take office next week. The campaign, according to AFP, will include "over 1,000 meetings" at congressional offices, "in-district events" with activists and lawmakers, and "roundtables with job creators."
The campaign aims to "reach millions of voters on the phone and at their doorsteps," AFP said.
"The Trump tax giveaways passed in 2017 did not help working-class Americans. In fact, the top 1% of corporations received almost all of the benefits."
AFP's description of the impacts of the 2017 tax law flies in the face of resounding evidence showing that wealthy Americans—not ordinary workers—were the chief beneficiaries and are poised to reap most of the rewards once again if Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress extend the measure's soon-to-expire provisions.
"Americans for Prosperity is spending $20 million on a new ad campaign that champions the 2017 Trump tax law as a win for working families," Morris Pearl, chair of the Patriotic Millionaires, told Common Dreams. "But don't be fooled: What this Koch-backed group is really only after is protecting tax cuts for wealthy people like me."
"I'm in favor of tax relief for working people, but not yet another huge and unnecessary windfall for America's rich," Pearl added. "If Congress wants to help working families, they should make tax rates on labor income the same as tax rates on profits made by investors."
AFP is one of a number of right-wing, corporate-tied organizations pushing for an extension of the Trump tax cuts, which Republicans are planning to fund by slashing Medicaid, federal nutrition assistance, and other key programs.
The progressive watchdog group Accountable.US noted in a recent analysis that one of the groups pushing for an extension of the 2017 law is Advancing American Freedom, an organization "run by corporate consultants, lobbyists, lawyers, and executives, including former Trump administration officials who were directly responsible for the TCJA."
Accountable also observes that Club for Growth, a group funded by wealthy conservatives, "has pushed a deeper corporate tax cut plan as an 'opening salvo' in the current tax debate."
"The billionaire funders of the group's action arm have benefited enormously from the TCJA, saving hundreds of millions of dollars from a single obscure tax break for pass-through entities," the watchdog added.
In response to AFP's new nationwide campaign, Accountable.US executive director Tony Carrk told Common Dreams that "a glitzy ad campaign from a far-right organization won't change the fact that the Trump administration and Republican-controlled Congress are paying for giveaways to billionaires, wealthy tax cheats, and price-gouging corporations by cutting critical services for working families, like Medicaid and SNAP."
"The Trump tax giveaways passed in 2017 did not help working-class Americans," said Carrk. "In fact, the top 1% of corporations received almost all of the benefits."