The failure of the Manchin-Toomey legislation yesterday to expand background checks for gun purchases has been blamed on a variety of factors. But one key detail is the fact that the gun lobby — consisting of the National Rifle Association, Gun Owners of America, and other groups funded by the gun industry — was a major fundraiser for Senators that opposed the reform bill.

The Center for Responsive Politics laid out donors to senators who both supported and opposed Manchin-Toomey, and found that lawmakers who opposed it received nearly eight times as much funding from the gun lobby. Meanwhile, it found that only $5,000 came from pro-reform groups (to the “yes” side):

Click here to sign our petition in support of background checks for gun purchases.

Ai??Click here to join our Take Back Democracy campaign to help kick money out of politics.

Last night, four pro-NRA Senate Democrats joined most Senate Republicans in killing the Manchin-Toomey proposal to expand background checks for gun purchases. This defeat came despite the fact that 90 percent of Americans support universal background checks.

This morning, civil rights hero and Georgia Congressman John Lewis (D) took to the floor to condemn the Senate for its failure:

LEWIS: Mr. Speaker, what happened on the floor of the other body yesterday, is a shame and a disgrace. Leaders of this country must be headlights and not taillights. Leaders must lead. More than 90% of American people say they want us to put strong background checks in place before someone buys a gun in this country. This is not about preserving Second Amendment rights. It is about saving lives. How many more little babies, how many more little children, how many more American citizens must die of gun violence? How many more funerals must we attend before we act? The blood of the innocent is crying out to us. Where is our courage? What happened to our heart? When will we have the guts to do What is right? We need to pass a strong gun bill and pass it now. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Watch it:

Click here to sign our petition in support of background checks for gun purchases.

PCCC is already launching full-page newspaper ads targeting the four Democratic “no” votes: Sens. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), Mark Begich (D-Alaska), Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.).

“Today, the Senate voted against the 91% of Americans who support background checks to stop gun violence. We’ll be holding accountable Democrats who voted against their constituents by running ads in their states, featuring some of the 23,000 gun owners who have joined our campaign for common sense gun reform,” said Stephanie Taylor, PCCC co-founder, in a statement.

Ellison introducing his bill today.

Six years ago, Wall Street’s misdeeds led to a global recession that plunged over 60 million people into poverty worldwide. Since then, the Big Banks and their profits have only grown.

Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN), the co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, today introduced legislation to make Wall Street pay America back. The “Inclusive Prosperity Act” would tax the following financial transactions in the following ways:

A 0.5 percent tax rate on stocksAi??
A 0.1 percent tax rate on bondsAi??
A 0.005 percent tax rate on derivatives or other investmentsAi??

Additionally, the bill would provideAi??an offset for households with incomes below $75,000 a year and individuals whose incomes are $50,000 or less.

ai???A lot of people in Washington like to talk about reducing the debt and deficits. Well if you really care about reducing the deficit, how about asking Wall Street speculators to pay their fair share?ai??? Ellison said in a released statement. ai???This bill will add a tax of a fraction of a percent on transactions made by the same Wall Street firms and stock traders who crashed our economy in 2008. This tax alone will generate up to $300 billion a year in revenue, stabilizing the deficit and allowing us to invest in the things that matterai??i??education, roads and bridges, and health care for our seniors and veterans.ai???

In the hours leading up to the U.S. Senate’s vote to on a bill calling for universal background checks for gun purchases, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee held a conversation with concerned Montanans urging Sen. Max Baucus to back the legislation.

As progressive, senior, and veterans groups mobilize against the chained CPI — a recalculation of veterans and Social Security programs that would result in a benefits cut — a new poll finds that a majority of Americans opposes this change.

The Washington Post/ABC News poll finds that 51 percent of Americans oppose chained CPI and only 37 percent support it. Parsing out the results further, the Washington Post notes that the major group supporting the change is American who earn six-figures, and that middle and lower-income Americans are most hostile to the policy:

Income is also a dividing line in tolerance for Social Security cuts. Americans with annual incomes of at least $100,000 back the proposal by a 53 to 39 percent margin, but support plummets to 38 percent among those making $50,000 to under $100,000 and to 33 percent among those with incomes below $50,000. Support bottoms out at 25 percent among those with lower incomes who are over the age of 50.

Click here to tell President Obama you wonai??i??t stand for Social Security benefit cuts.

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Ai??

Today is tax day, the deadline for filing your tax return. While millions of Americans are doing their patriotic duty and paying their taxes through the year, wealthy individuals and corporations have made an art out of dodging their tax responsibilities.

Here’s one example, taken from the new documentary filmAi??Tax Free Tour,Ai??which looks at corporate tax dodging. In 2012, the computer electronics maker Apple shifted many of its profits overseas, parking $36 billion globally. Yet at the same time, it only paid a 1.9 percent tax rate on these profits.

How did it accomplish this? As the clip below explains, it parked the money in Ireland, where the corporate tax rate is 12.5 percent. But that’s still six times what it ended up paying, so in order to get the lower rate, it dropped it profits in the Netherlands, where the corporate tax rate hovers at around one percent. It also placed some of its profits in the British Virgin Islands — where there are no taxes on corporate profits:

This egregious tax dodging has a negative impact on the average taxpayer in the U.S. A report released earlier this month estimated that the average taxpayer must pay $1,000 extra thanks to the taxes that Big Business fails to pay (which amounts to $90 billion a year).

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President Obama has proposed enacting chained CPI, which would reduce spending on Social Security benefits by $200 billion over the next ten years. This has provoked outrage from progressive groups, and from groups representing seniors and veterans (whose benefits are also impacted by this change).

But something that has gotten less attention is the fact that President Obama’s budget also gives twice this much money — $400 billion — to the Pentagon over the next decade, by reducing sequester cuts down to $100 billion rather than $500 billion over the next ten years.

That means that Obama is essentially cutting Social Security’s budget by $200 billion while giving twice that much money to the Pentagon. Last night,Ai??former Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean tweeted that this sort of deal is enough for him to become an independent.

Click here to tell President Obama you wonai??i??t stand for Social Security benefit cuts.

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Rep. Carol Shea Porter (D-NH)

New Hampshire Congresswoman Carol Shea Porter (D-NH) released a statement this week saying that she cannot vote for any budget that includes chained CPI, as Obama’s does:

ai???I believe a budget should reflect Americaai??i??s values of fairness and opportunity. It should create jobs, strengthen the middle class, and keep our commitment to seniors.

ai???There has been a lot of talk recently about chained CPI, and I want to make one thing abundantly clear to the middle class families and seniors I represent: I will not vote for a budget that supports chained CPI and cuts benefits that seniors have earned through a lifetime of hard work.

ai???Together with Medicare and Medicaid, Social Security embodies the moral fabric of our country. These programs are the foundation of economic security for Americaai??i??s seniors and the most vulnerable. […]

ai???I am proud to support legislation to ensure the long-term viability of Social Security. The Protecting and Preserving Social Security Act, which I cosponsored, would create long-range solvency and improve benefits, and it would ensure greater economic security for Americaai??i??s seniors.

ai???I urge the President to consider the approach taken in the Van Hollen budget, legislation that would reduce our deficit in a balanced way, invest in programs that help our economy grow, and maintain our commitment to seniors.

ai???I look forward to working with the President to create jobs, strengthen the middle class, and keep the American dream alive for generations to come, but I remain steadfast in my opposition to balancing the budget on the backs of seniors, veterans, or the middle class.ai???

At least 40 Members of the House of Representatives have said they will not vote for chained CPI.

Call your Member of Congress and ask them to sign onto the Grayson-Takano letter vowing to …

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) announced his opposition to a budget proposal with chained CPI today. Here’s a statement he issued on the matter:

“I made a promise to the people of Rhode Island that I would always oppose cuts to Social Security, and Iai??i??m going to keep that promise. Social Security is fully solvent for the next twenty years, has not contributed to our budget deficits, and has no place in this debate over federal spending. The so-called ai???chained CPIai??i?? proposal included in President Obamaai??i??s budget is nothing more than a benefit cut disguised behind technical jargon. While I commend the President for including some smart provisions in his budget like investments in infrastructure and the Buffett Rule for tax fairness, I cannot support a proposal that would force seniors to pay for deficits Social Security had no part in creating.”

Click here to tell President Obama you wonai??i??t stand for Social Security benefit cuts.

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The Progressive Change Campaign Committee and Democracy for America are two grassroots progressive groups threatening to back a primary challenge to any Democrat who votes to use the chained CPI measure. “If people don’t represent their constituents back home and pursue an agenda of cutting Social Security benefits,… then, yeah, there needs to be accountability in 2014, and we’re very serious,” said PCCC cofounder Adam Green. He added that his group has already taken the first step by asking people who signed the petition if they would be willing to run for Congress to defend entitlements. More than 1,300 members said yes, he said.

Chained CPI gives Republicans a political opening.

By introducing a proposal to use chained CPI to cut Social Security and veterans benefits, President Obama is handing the Republican Party a rallying cry to run on in 2014. In the past 24 hours, leading Republican lawmakers, right-wing pundits, and conservative activists have latched onto the chained CPI proposal to attack Democrats:

Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR), chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee:Ai??Walden appeared on CNN to claim Obama is “trying to balance this budget on the backs of seniors and I just think it’s not the right way to go.” Watch it:
Rep. Chris Collins (R-NY): Collins opposes chained CPI and says it would “pinch our seniorsAi??who, come the end of the month, the stories I hear, are having troubleAi??putting food on the table.”
Right-wing activist Grover Norquist: Norquist blasted chained CPI as a violation of his anti-tax pledge.
Fox News personality Bill O’Reilly:O’Reilly complained that chained CPI would harm the lives of low-income seniors like his mother.

All of this demonstrates that by agreeing to chained CPI Democrats would not only be violating the historical principles of the Democratic Party, but they would be opening themselves up to an onslaught of Republican attacks in 2014.

There are, however, a number of Democrats who are not falling for this trap. Here’s a small list:

Ai??Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI):Whitehouse said that he “cannot support” a proposal that includes chained CPI because it “would force seniors to pay for deficits Social Security had no part in creating.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA): In her statement opposing chained CPI, Warren called it a “fancy way” to say “cut benefits for seniors, the permanently disabled, and orphans.”
Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI):Pocan said he will “I will not support [chained CPI]. I will not …

Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA)

Yesterday, Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA)Ai??vowed to vote against chained CPI, issuing a statement saying, “While there is much in the Presidentai??i??s budget to admire, I strongly oppose chained CPI, and I will vote against these benefit cuts should they come before the House.”

That puts the number of Members of the House of Representatives who have vowed to vote against chained CPI at 35.

Click here to tell President Obama you wonai??i??t stand for Social Security benefit cuts.

AndAi??call your Member of Congress and ask them to sign onto the Grayson-Takano letter vowing to vote against any cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, or Social Security benefits.

You should follow BoldProgressives on Twitter here.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) just sent out an email to her supporters responding to President Obama’s budget, which includes a chained CPI that would cut Social Security and veterans benefits.

Warren says she’s “shocked” by Obama’s proposal, which would amount to a “fancy way to say ‘cut benefits for seniors, the permanently disabled, and orphans.’” Read Warren’s full e-mail below:

Hi Mindy,

My brother David has always had the special spark in our family.

Like our two older brothers, David served in the military. When he got out, he started a small business — and when that one didn’t work out, he started another one. He couldn’t imagine an America where he wasn’t living by his wits every single day.

Year after year, my brother paid into Social Security. He never questioned it. He figured he was paying so that he — and a lot of other people — could have a secure retirement.

Today my brother lives on his Social Security. That’s about $1,100 a month. $13,200 a year.

I’m telling you my brother’s story not because it’s unusual, but because it’s like the story of so many other people. I can almost guarantee that you know someone — a family member, friend, or neighbor — who counts on Social Security checks to get by.

That’s why I was shocked to hear that the President’s newest budget proposal would cut $100 billion in Social Security benefits. Our Social Security system is critical to protecting middle class families, and we cannot allow it to be dismantled inch by inch.

The President’s policy proposal, known as “chained CPI,” would re-calculate the cost of living for Social Security beneficiaries. That new number won’t keep up with inflation on things like food and health care — the basics that we need to live.

In short, “chained …

Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI)

Yesterday, progressive organizations representing tens of millions of people rallied outside the White House to present a petition signed by 2.3 million AmericansAi??calling on President Obama to back off of Chained CPI.

Freshman Congressman Mark Pocan (D-WI) spoke at the event, and not only condemned chained CPI but vowed to vote against it.

POCAN: I am here to say that if we do any chained CPI to Social Security we will break our promise that we’ve made to our seniors and others who rely on Social Security. I will not support that. I will not vote for any bill that includes that.Ai??And I stand with the 2 million-plus people who say that here today.

Watch it:

As of today,Ai??35 Members of the House of Representatives have said they will vote against Chained CPI.

Click here to tell President Obama you won’t stand for Social Security benefit cuts.

AndAi??call your Member of Congress and ask them to sign onto the Grayson-Takano letter vowing to vote against any cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, or Social Security benefits.

You should follow BoldProgressives on Twitter here.

Last night, Fox News host Bill O’Reilly covered the progressive rally against the chained CPI outside the White House yesterday.

While O’Reilly spent much of the segment disagreeing with progressives about various issues, he explained why he thinks they “may have a point” about opposing chained CPI.

O’REILLY: Let’s be honest about this for a minute. […] My mother Mrs. O’Reilly, without her son Bill, who helps her out, big time, needs that Social Security bump. If I wasn’t here she would need it, alright, to keep paying her property taxes which are exorbitant, in Nassau County, to stay in the home. She’s 90. If the President is going to take Mrs. O’Reilly’s [Social Security] and every body else, seniors who don’t have any money away, then those left-wing groups may have a point.

Watch it: (Relevant section starts at 3:23):

It shouldn’t be surprising that even a hardcore conservative like O’Reilly is troubled by chained CPI. Polling conducted by the AARP finds that even 60 percent of Republicans over the age of 50 oppose using chained CPI to cut Social Security benefits.

Click here to tell President Obama you won’t stand for Social Security benefit cuts.

You should follow BoldProgressives on Twitter here.

Groups attacking Obama over the proposed cuts are the Progressive Change Campaign Committee and Democracy for America. AARP, a powerful group representing seniors, is also campaigning against Obama’s proposed Social Security cuts.

Some liberals want to mount primary challenges against Democratic legislators who support the entitlement reductions. This tactic of challenging incumbents in party primaries is a favorite of the political right, and it has caused some Republican legislators to toe the conservative line rather than face an intraparty challenge. This is the dynamic that activists on the left are now threatening.

Today at 12:30 PM ET, organizations representing tens of millions of Americans — including the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, Social Security Works, MoveOn, CREDO, Ai??the National Organization of Women, Democracy for America — are presenting a petition signed by over 2 million Americans to the White House asking President Obama to back off of his support for chained CPI.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) — who said he would do everything in his power to block this policy — will be speaking, as will Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA). There will also be remarks by former Obama supporters and seniors currently on Social Security. Watch a livestream of our rally and press conference at 12:30 PM ET:

The PCCC is preparing to push back against this cut to Social Security benefits, but we need your help.Ai??Sign our emergency petition against benefit cuts. AndAi??call your Member of Congress and ask them to sign onto the Grayson-Takano letter vowing to vote against any cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, or Social Security benefits.

US Senator Bernie Sanders, Congressman Mark Takano, Congressman Mark Pocan, Congressman Rick Nolan and leaders of organizations that oppose President Obama’s anticipated assault on Social Security went to the White House Tuesday to present petitions signed by 2.3-million Americans who reject the president’s proposal for “chained-CPI.”

The “chained-CPI” scheme would restructure cost-of-living adjustments in a way that cuts Social Security benefits for millions of seniors and veterans.

Sanders has vowed to “do everything in my power to block President Obama’s proposal to cut benefits for Social Security recipients through a chained consumer price index.”

And he’s got allies. Joining the senator and the House members at the White House were representatives of Social Security Works, the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, the National Organization for Women, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, Democracy for America, the Campaign for America’s Future and MoveOn.org.

Last week,Ai??the press reportedAi??that President Obama will include the ai???chained CPIai??? in his budget proposal, which would cut Social Security and veterans benefits. Since this proposal was revealed,Ai??nationalAi??progressiveAi??groups have campaigned against it and will deliver over 1 million petition signatures to the White House tomorrow asking the President to back off of chained CPI.

As the grassroots has mobilized against the proposal, more congressional Democrats are declaring their opposition.

This morning, Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME) released a statement condemning Chained CPI and vowing to vote against it:

“No matter what you call it, a chained CPI is a cut to Social Security benefits.Ai?? For someone who retirees today, that cut would mean they would be getting $650 less a year when they are 75 and over $1,100 less a year when they reach age 85.Ai?? Seniors shouldn’t be facing cuts to the benefits they have earned while millionaires and billionaires are getting a tax break.Ai?? Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are vital to the economic security of Maine people and I will vote against cuts to benefits in these programs.”

Pingree is joined by many other Members in her opposition:

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and independent who caucuses with Senate Democrats, tweeted that he’d do “everything in his power” to block chained CPI:

Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR):

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA):

Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY):

Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA):

Progressive Caucus Co-ChairsAi??Reps. RaA?l M. Grijalva (D-AZ) and Keith Ellison (D-MN), in a statement emailed …

Corporations often park their profits overseas to avoid paying taxes on them. The U.S. Public Interest Research Group released a report yesterday detailing the costs that this has on the average U.S. taxpayer and on small businesses.

Here are some of the report’s key conclusions:

Based on the $150 billion in avoided taxes, the average U.S. tax filer filling out their 1040 form would need to pay $1,026 in additional taxes to make up for lost revenue from tax havens. Thatai??i??s enough money to feed a family of four for a month. […] To pick up the tab for the $90 billion multinational corporations avoid, the average small business in the United States would need to pay an average of $3,067 each in additional taxes. Large multinational corporations that use tax havens also gain an artificial competitive advantage over responsible small business owners.

ai???As this timely report shows,Ai??taxAi??haven abuse takes an immense toll on the vast majority of American taxpayers who donai??i??t employ armies of lawyers and accountants to avoid paying theAi??taxesAi??they owe,” said Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) in a statement made in support of the U.S. PIRG report.

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Progressive-leaning groups reacted quickly and angrily to news that President Barack Obama is proposing cuts to Social Security, going so far as to threaten to mount primary challenges against congressional Democrats who sign on to Obama’s plan.

“You can’t call yourself a Democrat and support Social Security benefit cuts,” said Stephanie Taylor, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, in a statement that was among many fired off by liberal groups Friday.

Last night, the press reported that President Obama will include the “chained CPI” in his budget proposal, which would involve cuts to Social Security and veterans benefits.

This morning, leading Congressional Democrats balked at the proposal, condemning it as a cut to benefits.

Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA):

Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR):

Progressive Caucus Co-ChairsAi??Reps. RaA?l M. Grijalva (D-AZ) and Keith Ellison (D-MN), in a statement emailed to us:

ai???Republicans have been trying to dismantle Social Security ever since President Roosevelt proposed it during the Great Depression. We should not try toAi??bargain for their good will withAi??policies that hurt ourAi??seniors,Ai??especiallyAi??sinceAi??theyai??i??ve been unwilling toAi??reduceAi??tax loopholes for millionaires and wealthy corporationsAi??by so much as a dime.

ai???One hundred seven Members of the House of Representatives, a majority of the Democratic Caucus, have already stated our vigorous opposition to cuttingAi??Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid benefits.Ai??Americans all over the country depend on every single dollar they get from Social Security to put food on the table and pay for housing.Ai??Using chained CPIAi??willAi??shift more costs onto already struggling American families,Ai??seniors, veterans ai??i?? includingAi??our 3.2 million disabled veterans who also depend on the Social Security calculation for their Veterans Affairs benefitsAi??ai??i?? individuals with disabilities,Ai??andAi??children on survivorsai??i?? benefits.

ai???This week, aAi??newAi??study from the New America Foundation finds that proposals to cut Social Security benefitsAi??couldAi??be disastrous for our economyAi??becauseAi??the recession has led more seniors toAi??relyAi??to Social Security for income.Ai??Cutting benefits now, when people are already struggling to make ends meet, will mean unnecessary hardship for millions of people. It is unpopular, unwise and unworkable.ai???

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and independent who caucuses with Senate Democrats, in a statement posted to his website:

Millions of …

Progressive groups and lawmakers, including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), are blasting the Obama administration for cuts to Social Security and other programs expected to be unveiled in the president’s budget next week.

Stephanie Taylor, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, warned that “progressives will do everything possible” to prevent the cuts.