Economy

San Diego’s Soaring Rents Pricing Out Working Class

April 8, 2024 by Source

Locals are bearing the cost of increasing rates, with many spending more than half of their income on rent

By Sasha Abramsky / San Diego Magazine – The Nation / April 4, 2024

Teresa, a 52-year-old with a solidly middle-class job in the healthcare industry, recently separated from her husband. At the time, the couple lived in Encinitas, in a large home they bought in 2010 for $450,000. When interest rates plummeted, they refinanced at less than 2.5 percent with only 13 years of payments left. Each month, the mortgage, the insurance, and the money they set aside for real estate taxes came to $2,900 between them.

But now, the market has shattered Teresa’s financial calculus. Even after she and her husband sold their house and split the profits, affording to buy again seems impossible.

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FTC Sues to Block Kroger’s $25 Billion Takeover of Albertsons — Merger Would Result in Higher Prices and Hurt Their Workers

February 27, 2024 by Source

From Times of San Diego – Reuters / Feb. 26, 2024

The Federal Trade Commission and eight states said on Monday, February 26, they are suing to block supermarket chain Kroger‘s $24.6 billion deal to buy smaller rival Albertsons, saying it would boost grocery prices for millions of Americans.

The deal, which would include Vons and Pavilions in Southern California and create a grocery empire with more than 4,000 stores, has drawn tough scrutiny from lawmakers and consumer groups worried about higher grocery prices, job losses, store closures and diminishing choice for consumers.

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What Happens If the Federal Government Shuts Down?

September 22, 2023 by Source

If Congress does not resolve the impasse by Sept. 30, federal appropriations will expire, bringing many agencies to a halt and forcing the sprawling U.S. government to operate at a mere shell of itself.

Here are the most immediate effects of a federal government shut down — which may happen in only 8 days:

  • Millions of federal employees will stop receiving paychecks — but many will be forced to report to work anyway.
  • Millions of active military service members will stop receiving paychecks — but many will be forced to report to work anyway.
  • Some national parks may close, museums could shutter
  • airports nationwide might see new disruptions and delays.
  • Federal aid programs including those assisting the victims of the deadly wildfires in Maui — could struggle to provide urgently needed support.
  • mail deliveries would continue and
  • seniors would still receive their Social Security checks,
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Elizabeth Warren: ‘We Know Who’s Responsible for the Bank Failures’

March 16, 2023 by Source

By Senator Elizabeth Warren / NY Times – Reader Supported News / March 13, 2023

No one should be mistaken about what unfolded over the past few days in the U.S. banking system: These recent bank failures are the direct result of leaders in Washington weakening the financial rules.

In the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Act to protect consumers and ensure that big banks could never again take down the economy and destroy millions of lives. Wall Street chief executives and their armies of lawyers and lobbyists hated this law. They spent millions trying to defeat it, and,

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House GOP Says Pentagon Budget Is Safe — But Social Security and Medicare Aren’t

January 11, 2023 by Source

By Jake Johnson / Common Dreams / Jan 10, 2023

Republicans who have pledged to use their narrow majority in the House to pursue steep federal spending cuts have sent a clear message in recent days: The bloated Pentagon budget is safe, but Social Security, Medicare, and other key government programs are not.

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‘We Need the Poor at Christmas’

December 19, 2022 by Source

Let’s Hear It for the Team

By Joni Halpern

There is a little team of five of us — two in San Diego, one in Palm Springs, and two in Washington State – who work hard all year long to keep a roof over the heads of one small local family headed by a single, disabled parent.  It’s a struggle, but our team has triumphed over homelessness that has threatened this low-income family for many years.

Occasionally over the years, our efforts have faltered, as in this year when rents have climbed so high, and everyone’s costs have  increased so much that our treasury for assistance has been rendered insufficient — temporarily at least.

With our friend now residing for a short time with relatives while she tries to find another place,

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The U.S. Economy, the Omicron Variant and Moving Forward

January 28, 2022 by Source

By Peter Bohmer

This is an edited version of Peter’s talk at Economics for Everyone Forum, January 12th, 2022, at Evergreen State College.

We live in a critical juncture of a deadly pandemic that intensifies as the Omicron variant surges. I will focus on the U.S. economy with a focus on labor. Also, the causes and implications of the growth in prices, i.e., inflation, for different social classes. I will analyze the Omicron variant and what it means for future employment, inflation and the availability of goods and basic services. I will briefly examine, Biden’s Build Back Better proposed legislation and conclude with suggestions on how we can organize for economic justice.

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San Diego Has a New Boss. Uh Oh…Looks Just Like the Old One

October 22, 2021 by Source

By Norma Damashek / NumbersRunner / Oct. 21, 2021

Part I: The endless summer is fading fast

Breeze through this nostalgic snapshot of the place we call home, seen through the lens of the New York Times travel page:

Like its urban rival Los Angeles, San Diego is not so much a city as a loose collection of overlapping (and sometimes colliding) communities bound by arterial, life-giving freeways: it’s a military town in Coronado; a surf town in funky, eclectic Ocean Beach; and a border town in the historic Mexican-American neighborhood of Barrio Logan.

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The Case for a Universal Basic Income

October 15, 2021 by Source

The following is based on a presentation made at Global Forum for Democratizing Work, October 6, 2021.

by Peter Bohmer

A substantive and non-neoliberal Universal Basic Income (UBI) could substantially improve people’s lives, is feasible and possible and can be a step towards a revolutionary transformation of a society towards participatory socialism. There is no conflict with related proposals for Universal Basic Services, a UBS, or with a Guaranteed Jobs Program. A UBI is expensive although it is economically feasible within a capitalist society such as the U.S. although it will require major taxes on the wealthy.

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Occupy Wall Street Came to San Diego 10 Years Ago – Share Your Memories and Thoughts

October 6, 2021 by Frank Gormlie

It was ten years ago this week that Occupy Wall Street came to San Diego. Many San Diegans – and OBceans – were involved in the movement over the months, and the OB Rag gave extended, in-depth coverage.

So, this is an open thread where you, dear reader, can share any memories and / or thoughts of the Occupy movement.

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How the Wealthy Avoid Paying Taxes

June 8, 2021 by Source

ProPublica has obtained a vast cache of IRS information showing how billionaires like Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Warren Buffett pay little in income tax compared to their massive wealth — sometimes, even nothing.

by Jesse Eisinger, Jeff Ernsthausen and Paul Kiel / ProPublica / June 8

In 2007, Jeff Bezos, then a multibillionaire and now the world’s richest man, did not pay a penny in federal income taxes. He achieved the feat again in 2011. In 2018, Tesla founder Elon Musk, the second-richest person in the world, also paid no federal income taxes. Michael Bloomberg managed to do the same

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FedEx, Nike and 53 Other Large Corporations Paid $0 in Federal Taxes in 2020

May 18, 2021 by Source

From Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy / April 2, 2021

At least 55 of the largest corporations in America paid no federal corporate income taxes in their most recent fiscal year despite enjoying substantial pretax profits in the United States. This continues a decades-long trend of corporate tax avoidance by the biggest U.S. corporations, and it appears to be the product of long-standing tax breaks preserved or expanded by the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) as well as the CARES Act tax breaks enacted in the spring of 2020.

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2021 Predictions From Both Sides of the Border

February 2, 2021 by Source

By Colleen O’Connor, U.S. and G.L. Goggin, Mexico

“The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.” Helen Keller

United States:

1. Don’t cry for Liz Cheney.
the stalwart Republican who stood up to Trump on mask mandates and voted to impeach him, is now beating back calls to “resign” her post as the #3 in House GOP leadership position. Her response “I’m not going anywhere.

Prediction: Liz Cheney is going to be the first Republican female minority leader after Kevin McCarthy is ditched. She sees the future and it isn’t Trumpism. And McCarthy’s quote that “Everybody in the U.S. has some responsibility” for the capital riot has greased his skids. Plus, Mitch McConnell is now calling Cheney “courageous.”

2.The impeachment of Trump is a win-win for Democrats.
Trump’s conviction would be a win for the rule of law. His acquittal at Republican hands guarantees the Democrats will picked up more seats in 2022.

3. Trump-ism is radioactive. Economic boycotts, internal GOP strife, and more damaging court cases and investigations will infect all things Trump.

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Who in San Diego Got the $6 Billions Worth of PPP Loans?

December 8, 2020 by Frank Gormlie

NBC7 here in San Diego released a list of the local entities that received loans from the Paycheck Protection Program of the federal government.

The data was just released by the feds after it was sued by 11 news organizations, NBC News among them. The New York Times called the data “the first full accounting of how federal money was spent through the program.”

Released this week, the data includes specific details on who exactly, got the money, how much they got, and how many employees were expected to benefit from the loans. It also included locations, making it easy to break down locally. The list is very interesting and somewhat surprising when one views the businesses, churches, private schools, and large law firm that received millions in loans.

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Rents, Debts and Evictions in San Diego

December 7, 2020 by Staff

Rents and the threat of evictions are on the minds of a lot of people these days. Nationally, there are millions of renters struggling to come up with monthly rent. And landlords are wondering what to do. Congress stalling on relief for months hasn’t helped.

Outstanding rent debt is estimated to run as high as $7.2 billion by the end of the year, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.

Last August, Gavin Newsom signed a law that shielded all renters from eviction due to COVID-19-related back rent through February 1, 2021. It’s one of the longest rent moratoriums in the country.

Someone who lost work or income in the early days of the pandemic could avoid paying rent from March to August 31. If hardship continued from September 1, 2020 to January 31, 2021, the tenant must pay 25 percent of rent to avoid eviction. The renter is still responsible for money owed. The law also states unpaid rent, considered civil debt, can be claimed by landlords in small claims court starting March 1, 2021. So, how many renters have not been paying in San Diego County?

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The Billionaire Bonanza Amidst the Pandemic Exposes Greed and Political Cowardice in Washington, D.C. and California

September 21, 2020 by Jim Miller

By Jim Miller

As the bad news keeps rolling in for ordinary Americans with the pandemic dragging on with no real hope in sight for months at best, and any new economic relief stalled out in Congress with the Republican majority refusing to move on “blue state bailouts,” it is abundantly clear whose interests our leaders in Washington actually care about—not yours. Indeed, the wrecking crew in the White House and the Senate have never been more openly honest about their disdain for the well-being of the majority of Americans.

When it comes to emergency aid for the suffering, the response from the Republicans is resounding: F**** off and die.

Why should they be worried? 200,000 dead and counting? Big whoop. Their real base is doing just fine. As the Guardian reported last week, the rich have never had it better:

The already vast fortunes of America’s 643 billionaires have soared by an average of 29% since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, which has at the same time laid waste to tens of millions of jobs around the world.

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Hey California Democrats in Sacramento! Do the Right Thing and Tax the Billionaires

June 15, 2020 by Jim Miller

California Dems Need to Avoid Catastrophic Cuts to Education and Vital Social Services

By Jim Miller

The COVID-19 crisis and subsequent economic collapse along with the national uprising against police brutality and systemic racism have cast a glaring light on the nature of American inequality on the healthcare, criminal justice, and economic fronts. It has never been clearer that as most Americans struggle, the elite thrive. As a recent Forbes piece put it back in April, “Billionaires are Getting Richer During the COVID-19 Pandemic While Most Americans Suffer”:

According to the Institute for Policy Studies, billionaire wealth has boomed, while over 26 million people have filed for unemployment since mid-March. The percentage of taxes paid by billionaires has fallen 79% since 1980.

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Republicans to America: Go Back to Work and Die

April 27, 2020 by Jim Miller

By Jim Miller

The battle is on in earnest. Last week, Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell said it out loud: drop dead blue states. More specifically, McConnell took a strong stand against providing any more financial relief to devastated states and local governments in the midst of a pandemic that has caused the biggest economic downturn since the Great Depression. Instead, the Senate leader suggested, states should just consider bankruptcy.

In a moment of remarkable candor, McConnell outlined his view on a rightwing radio show. As the New York Times reported :

“I think this whole business of additional assistance for state and local governments needs to be thoroughly evaluated,” Mr. McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the majority leader, said in an interview with the conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt. “There’s not going to be any desire on the Republican side to bail out state pensions by borrowing money from future generations.”

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‘We Send You Our Thoughts and Prayers’

April 6, 2020 by Source

By Joni Halpern

Today there is a thin crust of magnanimity covering the stone-cold heart of the American taxpayer. In this moment of chilling necessity and shared danger, we are willing to allow our government to deliver monetary help to individuals and business owners who have been shut out of their livelihoods.

Maybe some of us will even send money to food pantries, sew masks for hospital workers, or share essentials among neighbors and extended families. Maybe we will shout our thanks from our balconies to first responders and medical personnel. We surely will pray for the nation’s rescue from the deathly grip of this pandemic, and also that enough ventilators are on hand if we are stricken.

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‘Die for the DOW’

March 25, 2020 by Staff

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Enter the Disaster Capitalists

March 23, 2020 by Jim Miller

By Jim Miller

We’ve seen this before: crisis as opportunity. Whether it be the ways the right-wing and corporate America took advantage of 9/11 to shape economic policy and the political landscape in their favor, the shameless opportunism in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, or the host of other ways that American society has been transformed for the worse by the power elite over the last few decades.

Here we go again.

As Naomi Klein commented last week :

Look, we know this script. In 2008, the last time we had a global financial meltdown, the same kinds of bad ideas for no-strings-attached corporate bailouts carried the day, and regular people around the world paid the price. And even that was entirely predictable.

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It’s Not Time to Vote for the Rich or their Apologists, It’s Time to Tax Them

December 16, 2019 by Jim Miller

By Jim Miller

There’s been a wave of pushback of late against progressive calls for big structural change. Corporate media pundits and neoliberal Democrats alike have been raising the alarm that America is not ready for bold policy when it comes to economics, healthcare, the environment, or anything else.

At the heart of much of this is the contention that it’s all too expensive and the Republicans will scare suburbanites into voting for Trump with cries of socialism and high taxes. Whatever we do, the argument goes, we need to beat back Warren and Sanders so Mayor Pete, Joe Biden, or maybe even Michael Bloomberg can come in and save the day with a healthy dose of “centrism.”

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Now, Here’s a Good Article from the Channel 8 Reporter We Criticized: ‘Baby Boomers and Empty-Nesters Coming Together’

October 8, 2019 by Source

Editordude: Just to show some balance and to show a pat on the back, we are reposting a good article by Channel 8 reporter Abbie Alford who was criticized last week by one of our writers.

‘Silvernest’ matches senior citizens looking for roommates
Baby boomers and empty-nesters are coming together under one roof.

ESCONDIDO, Calif. — About a million San Diegans will be 55 years or older by 2030, which is a 194% increase, says Silvernest, a home sharing site for an aging population.

Silvernest says it’s a modern Golden Girls service that primarily matches baby boomers with empty nesters.

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American Inequality is Still Surging Along, Now is the Time to Finally Address It.

October 7, 2019 by Jim Miller

By Jim Miller

Back in June I noted in this space that despite the mainstream media chorus about our “good economy” things weren’t so great for the average American worker when –

“4 in 10 Americans couldn’t put together $400 in cash to meet an emergency expense, 6 in 10 couldn’t meet 3 months of expenses if they lost their jobs, only 36% of workers are on track with their retirement savings, and a quarter of Americans have skipped some kind of medical treatment in the past year because of finances.”

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Corporate Mea Culpas, Corrupt New Democrats, and Progressive Populists

September 9, 2019 by Jim Miller

By Jim Miller

This just in: our corporate overlords have turned over a new leaf. At least that’s what they were saying publicly quite recently. As the New York Times reported :

Nearly 200 chief executives, including the leaders of Apple, Pepsi and Walmart, tried on Monday to redefine the role of business in society — and how companies are perceived by an increasingly skeptical public.

Breaking with decades of long-held corporate orthodoxy, the Business Roundtable issued a statement on “the purpose of a corporation,” arguing that companies should no longer advance only the interests of shareholders. Instead, the group said, they must also invest in their employees, protect the environment and deal fairly and ethically with their suppliers.

What to make of this development? Not too much, most likely.

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Taking on 21st Century Indentured Servitude – Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez’ AB 5

June 26, 2019 by Doug Porter

By Doug Porter / Words&Deeds

Drivers for Uber and Lyft gathered outside Uber’s headquarters in San Francisco Tuesday June 17 to demand that the company drop its opposition to a state bill that would make most drivers employees. Promises of freedom and opportunity have proven to be false for millions of workers in industries beyond ride sharing, and now the day of reckoning is at hand.

Drivers and delivery workers in cities throughout the country have been organizing protests and filing lawsuits against companies using so-called independent contractors to avoid paying minimum wages and benefits.

Legislation (AB 5) introduced by San Diego Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez poses the biggest challenge yet to the so-called gig economy. Changing the rules of the game in the Golden State will have an impact on companies and workers nationwide. So this is a Big Deal.

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Strong Economy For Whom? Things Aren’t So Great for the Average American Worker

June 17, 2019 by Jim Miller

By Jim Miller

A lot of the talk heading into the summer has been about how, despite all of the craziness at the White House, the “economy is strong” under Trump. And while the stock market has been robust and unemployment low, there is a lot more to the story than what this superficial narrative relays.

What doesn’t get measured by the statistical snapshots that capture headlines or are repeated ad nauseum by talking heads on TV is how the economy is working for the average American at a deeper level. Thus, when one probes a little bit beneath the surface, the U.S. economy doesn’t look so hot after all. Perhaps that’s why most Americans, according to recent polling, think the economy is only really working for “those in power.”

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Will San Francisco’s Tech Bro Nightmare Become San Diego’s Future?

June 3, 2019 by Jim Miller

By Jim Miller

Bohemian San Francisco is deader than a doornail. That was the theme of a recent Washington Post piece by Karen Heller, “How San Francisco Broke America’s Heart”, that observed how “the great American romantic city” had been ruined by an army of tech bros and the economic forces they represent. As Heller writes, “everyone agrees that something has rotted in San Francisco,” and it’s not a product of the city’s liberalism, but of a new wave of libertarian capitalism:

Real estate is the nation’s costliest. Listings read like typos, a median $1.6 million for a single-family home and $3,700 monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment.

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Michelle Obama is Right: ‘They Aren’t That Smart’ —They’re Just Greedy

January 14, 2019 by Jim Miller

Michelle Obama caused a small stir last fall during the London leg of her book tour when she observed that her time in the highest circles of the global power elite had revealed a startling truth about our faceless masters:

“Here’s the secret: they’re not that smart. There are a lot of things that folks are doing to keep their seats because they don’t want to give up power.”

More specifically, the former First Lady observed that, “I have been at probably every powerful table that you can think of, I have worked at nonprofits, I have been at foundations, I have worked in corporations, served on corporate boards, I have been at G-summits, I have sat in at the U.N.: They are not that smart.”

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Welcome to Plutocracy: Wealthiest 1% of Americans Own 40% of Country’s Wealth

January 22, 2018 by Jim Miller

Buried under all the noise of the national circus over the last month was some fairly stark economic news. Despite all the hoopla about the stock market booming along and other financial happy talk, it appears the iceberg of economic inequality is becoming an even larger threat to our collective ship.

Late last December we learned that the world’s wealthiest people got a whole lot richer in 2017. As the Washington Post reported, “The richest people on earth became $1 trillion richer in 2017, more than four times last year’s gain, as stock markets shrugged off economic, social and political divisions to reach record highs.”

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