James is an eighth-generation Texan, former middle school teacher, and Presbyterian seminarian. As a state representative, he’s led the fight against the billionaire mega-donors and puppet politicians who have taken over Texas.
Now, he’s running for U.S. Senate to take his fight against corruption to Washington and win power back for working people.
(Sept 13, 2023)
At the Private and Public Sector Entity Levels. (In trillions of U.S. dollars)
PRIVATE SECTOR:
Households 121.9
Nonprofits 8.6
Noncorporate businesses 17.2
Total U.S. Private Sector 147.7
PUBLIC SECTOR:
Federal government – 21.3
State and local government 11.5
Total U.S. Public Sector – 9.8
Instrument discrepancies – 1.1
TOTAL U.S. WEALTH 136.8
(May 26, 2026)
A California ballot initiative that will be put to voters in November would tax just 5 percent of billionaires’ fortunes over five years. This trailblazing wealth tax would be a small (for the ultrawealthy) but important (for everyone else) step toward raising needed tax revenue and curbing the state’s runaway inequality.
The billionaire class in California includes roughly 250 households, a mere 0.001 percent of the state’s families. Yet its wealth now amounts to more than half of California’s entire annual economic output.
This means that if these billionaires spent all of their wealth, they could buy more than half of the goods and services produced in a year in the entire state.
Gasoline accounts for a shrinking share of household budgets, but its political power can still make or break a presidency.
U.S. President Donald Trump left China on Friday with no major breakthroughs on trade or tangible help from Beijing to end the Iran war, despite two days spent heaping praise on his host, Xi Jinping.
Xi Jinping told President Trump their countries should be “partners rather than opponents” as they began a high-stakes summit in Beijing. Over two days of meetings, they are expected to discuss a range of thorny issues, including tech, trade and Taiwan.
One of the strongest indicators of whether people or businesses are actually fleeing from a city is the housing and real estate market. During the COVID-19 pandemic, when many residents really did leave New York for the surrounding suburbs and other states, the city’s vacancy rates soared and rents dropped with demand, leading to “COVID discounts” at the height of the pandemic. This trend was even more extreme for the city’s commercial real estate, where vacancy rates doubled as more companies adopted remote work and shed office space.
Today nearly every indicator points to the opposite problem: demand is running hot and supply is lagging badly, especially when it comes to housing.
(January 16, 2018)
Im Falle eines Zusammenbruchs der „S.P.D.“ würde sich sofort eine sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands gründen.
Zur Zeit steht die im Kaiserreich gegründete und in den letzten sechzehn Jahren Krieg und Euro-Kapitalismus zwölf Jahre an der Regierung befindliche Partei „S.P.D.“ bei 18,5 Prozent. Mancher wird sich nun fragen, wie das ohne die „S.P.D.“ weitergehen soll. Genau das ist ja der Punkt: gar nicht. Das ist ein Grund zur Freude, nicht zur Sorge.
Die „S.P.D.“ ist eine Fantompartei. Ihre einzige Aufgabe ist es die Berliner Republik abzuwickeln, die sie nie gewollt hat und die ihrem Auftrag „Vereinigte Staaten von Europa“ genauso im Weg steht wie alle anderen Demokratien auf dem Kontinent. Diese machen den Deutschen wieder einmal vor, wie einfach es sein kann neue Parteien zu gründen, wenn einen die alten verraten.
Das müssen die Deutschen offensichtlich einfach noch lernen. Denn Demokratie ist wie Autofahren. Wer sie nicht kann, der will sie nicht, der will sie auch nicht lernen, sondern lieber einen Verkehrsunfall.
Is Trump a freak of history or its fulfillment, an aberration or a culmination? The answer, surely, is both. But in the course of his presidency, Trump has revealed a much older malady: America’s unshakable faith in its ability to shape the world to its liking, indifferent to what others might want and supremely confident that its plan is the right one. Beyond Trump, it’s this disfiguring mentality we Americans must face.
Richard Kahn (l) and Darren Indyke (r) have rarely been photographed in public
(February 3, 2026)
“[T]he United States must not release any document or material from the purported ‘Epstein Files’ that mentions or references any of the above-listed Defendants [Alon, Oren and Tal Alexander], explicitly or implicitly, before a jury verdict has been rendered in this case,” Caproni’s order says.
Caproni ordered U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton to sign off on having notified U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi about her order, as well as the U.S. deputy attorney general and U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida.
Three brothers, including two who were among the country’s most prominent real estate brokers, were convicted in Manhattan on Monday of engaging in a yearslong conspiracy to traffic women and girls for sex.
The brothers — Tal and Oren Alexander, who regularly closed multimillion-dollar real estate deals in New York and elsewhere, and Alon Alexander, a security executive — were found guilty on every count they each faced, and all could now receive up to life in prison when the judge, Valerie E. Caproni, sentences them on Aug. 6.
Two former luxury real-estate brokers and their brother were convicted of sex trafficking Monday after a criminal trial in which 11 women testified that they had been lured to exclusive parties and trips, then drugged and assaulted.
Khanna’s staff and consultants tried to talk him out of pursuing such legislation, explaining that it could make him look like a conspiracy theorist, instead of his desired image as a “serious economics guy.” But Khanna explained to his staff that the topic of Epstein kept coming up, especially when he appeared on podcasts or visited the more conservative parts of his district. He recalled a young man delivering a long rant at a recent town hall about how he didn’t trust the government because it was “protecting pedophiles” by not releasing the Epstein files or holding more people accountable. In that moment, Khanna told me, he realized that standing up for Epstein’s victims—and against the wealthy or powerful—was a way to build trust.
How it Works
Paid only by Californians worth more than $1 billion—about 200 people who together hold $2 trillion in wealth, most of which will never be taxed in their lifetimes due to loopholes in state and federal tax laws.
Raises about $100 billion to replace lost federal dollars and protect essential services. Directs 90% of funds to healthcare and 10% to public K-14 education and state food assistance programs.
No new taxes on the middle class, small businesses, or homeowners.
What it does for Californians
Keeps hospital ERs, clinics, nursing homes, and home care open and staffed in every community.
Stabilizes premiums and coverage, so families can see a doctor when they need one.
Protects healthcare jobs and the middle-class economy they support.
Funds public K-14 education to keep classrooms staffed, protect programs, and ensure every child gets a quality education.
Funds state food assistance programs to keep millions of Californians from losing access to food and support school nutrition programs.
What we want is simple
Protect our fragile healthcare system from collapse so our families can get the care we need.
Billionaires doing their part to support California and contribute to the social safety nets and public infrastructure that enabled their wealth accumulation.
A state with a strong middle class where everyone can thrive.
(January 16, 2025)
The very richest Americans are among the biggest winners from President Joe Biden’s time in office, despite his farewell address warning of an “oligarchy” and a “tech industrial complex” that threaten US democracy.
The 100 wealthiest Americans got more than $1.5 trillion richer over the last four years, with tech tycoons including Elon Musk, Larry Ellison and Mark Zuckerberg leading the way, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The top 0.1% gained more than $6 trillion, Federal Reserve estimates through September show.
(Sept 13, 2023)
At the Private and Public Sector Entity Levels. (In trillions of U.S. dollars)
PRIVATE SECTOR:
Households 121.9
Nonprofits 8.6
Noncorporate businesses 17.2
Total U.S. Private Sector 147.7
PUBLIC SECTOR:
Federal government – 21.3
State and local government 11.5
Total U.S. Public Sector – 9.8
Instrument discrepancies – 1.1
TOTAL U.S. WEALTH 136.8
California Billionaire Tax Act
A statewide ballot initiative to enact an emergency tax on billionaires to save California’s healthcare system from collapse
Massive cuts to federal healthcare funding are driving California towards a healthcare collapse. The federal funding cuts will strip roughly $100 billion from California healthcare over the next five years, leading to:
Short-staffed shifts: Skeleton crews left on the front lines as 145,000 healthcare jobs disappear
Higher costs and lost coverage: Insurance premiums go up for everyone, and millions of Californians lose coverage altogether.
Facility closures and reduced services: Hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, and home care will be forced to reduce services or close down.
Our solution: The California Billionaire Tax Act
(October 24, 2025)
The proposed initiative would tax the 2025 net worth of billionaires residing in California, allowing them to pay off the obligation over five years. The revenue would go into a special fund with 90% reserved for health care spending and 10% reserved for K-12 education spending.
It needs 874,641 signatures to be placed before voters on the 2026 ballot, a number that the groups are confident they can reach. Getting voters to ultimately approve the tax, however, could be a hard sell.
(January 12, 2026)
The conversations, reported here for the first time, have occurred intermittently for months as SEIU-UHW’s ballot initiative targeting billionaires migrated from the backrooms of California politics to the center of a raging debate about Silicon Valley and income inequality, sparking tech titans’ wrath and vows to move out of state.
“We’ve been at this for four months,” Newsom said in an interview with POLITICO, describing an “all-hands” effort that has included him meeting one-on-one with SEIU-UHW’s leader, Dave Regan.
A compromise does not appear imminent. A union official cast doubt on the possibility of a deal, saying the two sides do not currently have another meeting scheduled and framing a ballot fight as an inevitability.
(June 8, 2021)
During the 1990s, both Epstein’s and Wexner’s profiles grew on the world stage. In 1991, Wexner cofounded a philanthropic organization of Jewish billionaires known as the Mega Group, which uses some of its vast resources to shape Middle East policy. In 2003, Wexner’s foundation commissioned GOP messaging guru Frank Luntz to advise American Jewish leaders on how to rally support for Israel. “For a year—a SOLID YEAR—you should be invoking the name of Saddam Hussein and how Israel was always behind American efforts to rid the world of this ruthless dictator and liberate their people,” Luntz’s recommendation stated.
Epstein kept close in that circle of influence.
“We didn’t lose to Donald Trump. We lost to the couch,” DNC Deputy Executive Director Libby Schneider said in an interview. “We saw our voters, many of our important voters, stay home. Obviously, that is a trend that cannot continue.”
(…)
“If we want to keep earning back the trust and support of voters, we have to listen to them,” DNC Chair Ken Martin said in a statement. “The Democratic Party is done with waiting until the last minute to engage voters — these conversations need to happen early and often.”
(video)
(January 28, 2026)
In 2005, Wall Street believed housing could never fail. Ratings agencies laughed off the idea of defaults, banks printed money, and experts said the system was safe. One man disagreed. John Paulson bet against the housing market — and when it collapsed, he made over $20 billion while millions lost their homes
(January 8, 2026)
After the U.S. military abducted Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro on Saturday, Wall Street watchers were quick to declare the biggest winner: Paul Singer, the $6.7 billion (net worth) hedge fund manager famous for investing in distressed assets around the world. Amber Energy, a Houston-based startup backed by Elliott, recently prevailed in a U.S. federal court auction to buy Venezuelan oil company Citgo, which owns three refineries in Louisiana, Texas and Illinois, plus a distribution network of 4,000 Citgo gas stations, for $5.9 billion – what many deem to be a steal.
(Januar 31, 2026)
I’ll still win, but if I lose, it was worth it.
Trump was met with loud applause as he took the stage for what many billed as the most closely watched speech of this year’s Davos.
He opened by saying it was good to see so many friends and “some enemies,” drawing laughter from the crowd. From there, he leaned heavily into self-assessment, describing himself as the most successful president and pointing to what he said were his major achievements accomplished in just one year….