This interview with the great @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social was a "wow" moment for me. Thanks, New York Times and David Marchese.
www.nytimes.com/2026/03/07/m...
I couldn't help noticing the question that seemed the most Times-like to me.
Durham residents deserve every dollar of their hard-earned tax credits back into their pockets. This resource is a great way to ensure they can claim those resources *and* keep it!
A thread on the new federal children's savings accounts, AKA "Trump Accounts" 👇
On Friday, the Center for Taxpayer Rights sent an open letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on the newly created 530A accounts, branded by statue as "Trump Accounts."
bit.ly/TrumpAccount...
Here is the original draft federal indictment of Jeffrey Epstein for sex trafficking that was prepared by federal prosecutors in 2007, but ultimately tossed aside by Alex Acosta's office to allow Epstein to plea to a much lesser state charge.
www.justice.gov/epstein/file...
(This is in contrast to other similar philanthropic contributions which can often be made with nearly no taxes or fees.)
Combined with other implied taxes due to the tax treatment of contributions and of 530A accounts in general, modest contributions from philanthropy or state gov'ts may lose nearly 50% of their value to taxes and fees.
Additionally, there are fees for contributions. Treasury's draft guidance indicates an administrative charge of at least $25 per contribution will be levied on general philanthropic contributions to accounts in the near term.
Moreover, as written, IRC 6434 creates a set of U.S. citizen children who are rendered ineligible for the $1,000 because no guardian is eligible to claim them.
The draft guidance generates significant administrative complexity without a clear policy purpose, and raises the specter of damaging enforcement actions against guardians who mistakenly believe they are entitled to open accounts on behalf of their children.
Second, there are arcane rules for which guardians can open an account and claim the $1,000. The set of guardians eligible to open a 530A account and to claim the $1,000 are not the same.
But the statute as written appears to prevent the automation of the $1,000 payment entirely. Moreover, Treasury's existing draft forms and guidance not only contain no automation plans, but appear to preclude adding automation in the future.
First, there is no clear path to automatic enrollment. Evidence suggests automatic enrollment is critical to near-universal take-up. Data already exists at the IRS to automate account creation and $1,000 deposits for most children
Many policy and advocacy groups have been cautiously supportive of the 530A program, and that, flawed or not, this is a foundation we can build on. In reviewing the statute and proposed implementing regs, CTR has identified risks for damaging public perceptions of & belief in a worthy public program
You may have caught some of the press around these accounts last week following the White House's press conference (yes, Nicki Minaj was there and did speak): bsky.app/profile/vani...
On Friday, the Center for Taxpayer Rights sent an open letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on the newly created 530A accounts, branded by statue as "Trump Accounts."
bit.ly/TrumpAccount...
New from 404 Media: the DOJ released completely unredacted nude images of women or girls in the latest Epstein dump. The photos were incredibly explicit. We held off reporting this before DOJ finally took them down. A massive error from DOJ.
www.404media.co/doj-released...
Thankful we have @debtcollective.bsky.social to stand up for borrowers and provide resources when the CFPB is treating people’s financial lives like this
Here, the CFPB didn’t even meet its congressional mandate to release its student loan ombuds report in 2025. Instead it published a fifteen page report in January 2026 (statute requires a student loan ombuds report be published in October every year).
The pared down report reflects the hostility towards consumer protection from Trump’s CFPB. Trump’s Acting Director of the CFPB has let more than 40 companies off the hook for their crimes. In four cases, Vought allowed bad actors to keep the money they owed to consumers, over $120 million
Trump administration gave us the worst year for job creation since 2020 but that’s not enough for them, now they want to attack individual former employees. This admin is anti-labor to its very core.
The CFPB can’t hide the money coming out of people’s paychecks next month, but you know what they can hide? Pathways out of default and loan repayment options, both of which were deleted from the October report
Three books standing on a shelf: The financial crisis inquiry report; the origins of totalitarianism (by Arendt); Legal Plunder (by Soss and Page). Aka a summary of the last year of my life in three titles.
Just added Legal Plunder to my office’s book shelf and it occurs to me this sums up my last year in a picture:
Rhymes with shmascism
This is the harassment Kavanaugh stops have licensed by ICE agents threatening and intimidating people in their own neighborhoods
"My dad... fell in love with basketball at a tender young age, in schoolyards with other Jewish boys on Long Island, and carried that love with him through his life."
indyweek.com/news/culture...
At least four videos show what really happened when ICE shot a woman in Minneapolis on Wednesday. DHS has established itself as an agency that cannot be trusted to live in or present reality. @evystadium.bsky.social has more.
Full story by @josephcox.bsky.social: www.404media.co/dhs-is-lying...
Increased administrative burdens for Medicaid recipients plus decreased tax subsidies equals more costly health insurance (whether in dollars or maintenance)
myeol.nccu.edu/sites/defaul...
