Chairman of the Sociology Department, New York University
Chairman of the Sociology Department at New York University and author of Elsewhere, USA: How We Got from the Company Man, Family Dinners and the Affluent Society to the Home Office, BlackBerry Moms and Economic Anxiety
Income Redistribution: Basic Fairness or 'Class Warfare?' The stimulus package already passed and signed into law provides tax credits for 95 percent of American workers. Now the President wants to increase taxes on the wealthy, partly by letting the Bush tax cuts expire. One of his goals is to reduce the growing gap between the rich and the poor. We hear a debate and look at other factors that cause economic dislocation, including technology, changes in the work force and increased anxiety.
Income Redistribution: Basic Fairness or 'Class Warfare?' The gap between rich and poor has been growing fast. The Bush tax cuts give $20 a year to the bottom fifth of wage earners and $118,000 to millionaires. President Obama’s stimulus package already passed and signed into law provides tax credits for 95 percent of American workers. The Obama budget says wealth is not “trickling down” and that raising taxes on the top three million families will help “economic opportunity to trickle up.” Republicans call that “class warfare.” We hear a debate and look at other factors that cause economic dislocation, including technology, changes in the work force and increased anxiety.
How was the trip? President Trump's travels got less fun as he went from the Middle East to Europe.
Will the Senate write a healthcare bill in secret? While Democrats and Republicans argue White House relations with Russia, another question is being decided behind closed doors: who gets help buying health insurance and who doesn't? We hear how the pros and cons are being shrouded in secrecy.
Trump plays scolder-in-chief with NATO allies At the opening of NATO’s dramatic new headquarters in Brussels today, President Trump acknowledged that Article 5 — promising that “an attack on one nation is an attack on all” -- has only been invoked one time: in the aftermath of September 11. But the President failed to provide what 27 other Alliance members have been waiting for: a re-commitment by America’s new leader to Article 5. Instead, they got a scolding.
The longest US war: Will Trump send more troops to Afghanistan? The Trump White House is divided over the Pentagon's request for more troops in Afghanistan—where the US has been fighting for the past 16 years. Is there a formula -- either for "victory" or a political settlement? Is there an end in sight for America's longest war?