Alec Lopata

The reporting coming out of Chicago has been so awful. The National Guard is not needed, and ICE is not welcome, in our amazing city.

Section 1. Restriction on Entry. (a) Pursuant to sections 212(f) and 215(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), 8 U.S.C. 1182(f) and 1185(a), the entry into the United States of aliens as nonimmigrants to perform services in a specialty occupation under section 101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b) of the INA, 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b), is restricted, except for those aliens whose petitions are accompanied or supplemented by a payment of $100,000 — subject to the exceptions set forth in subsection (c) of this section. This restriction shall expire, absent extension, 12 months after the effective date of this proclamation, which shall be 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on September 21, 2025. (b) The Secretary of Homeland Security shall restrict decisions on petitions not accompanied by a $100,000 payment for H-1B specialty occupation workers under section 101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b) of the INA, who are currently outside the United States, for 12 months following the effective date of this proclamation as set forth in subsection (a) of this section. The Secretary of State shall also issue guidance, as necessary and to the extent permitted by law, to prevent misuse of B visas by alien beneficiaries of approved H-1B petitions that have an employment start date beginning prior to October 1, 2026. (c) The restriction imposed pursuant to subsections (a) and (b) of this section shall not apply to any individual alien, all aliens working for a company, or all aliens working in an industry, if the Secretary of Homeland Security determines, in the Secretary’s discretion, that the hiring of such aliens to be employed as H-1B specialty occupation workers is in the national interest and does not pose a threat to the security or welfare of the United States.

The new $100k/year H1B fee is pure economic self-harm—workers making **5 times the median US income**, who contribute massively to the US, would still basically be unable to afford this fee

Oh, but never fear, the White House reserves the right to dish out exemptions as favors!

The authoritarian checklist It is time to admit that America is no longer a functioning democracy

New, from me:
America is no longer a functioning democracy. It is a competitive authoritarian system, hurtling rapidly toward authoritarianism.
This was a hard piece to write but we can't move forward if we don’t acknowledge where we are.
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/the-author...

But her emails

The U.S. Marches Toward State Capitalism With American Characteristics President Trump is imitating the Chinese Communist Party by extending political control ever deeper into the economy.

Remarkable story in Mother Jones.. no wait. The Daily Beast. No, sorry. Slate? The New Republic? Let me just take a big sip from my brandy snifter and look at the URL…

www.wsj.com/economy/the-...

State Innovation Exchange (SiX) has been doing this for progressives too, although not to the same scale unfortunately (disclaimer: I have no relation to ALEC the organization)

Climate risk is real. Companies must be free to consider it, especially in Florida | Opinion Climate risk is real — and businesses must stay free to adapt to it | Opinion

Protecting the #FreedomToInvest means protecting investors' right to consider all material financial risks - including climate. Former Rep. Carlos Curbelo’s latest in the Miami Herald explains why restricting responsible practices hurts both returns and taxpayers. www.miamiherald.com/opinion/op-e...

#COYS

Among many other problematic tax policy decisions in the House GOP reconciliation proposal, apparently we don't have enough podcasters and should make their equipment deductible expenses now

The Trump regime wants to shred the Constitution

This is not how any government official should be communicating, this is full-on political screed.

These kind of attacks, paired with the attempt to revoke Harvard's c3 status, is so immensely dangerous to civil society.

My grandparents are incredibly talented artists, and got to learn a cool new medium for my grandfather's 89th birthday! Happy birthday Papa!

Taxing College Endowment Income No Way to Pay for Regressive Tax Cuts | Center on Budget and Policy Priorities The House- and Senate-passed Republican tax bills each impose a 1.4 percent excise tax on the income from endowments of some private colleges and universities. The idea appears to stem from a larger.....

Republicans are once again seeking to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy by taxing university endowments. I supported research back in 2017 on why this is a bad idea that would only harm students, and it continues to be a bad idea today www.cbpp.org/blog/taxing-... @centeronbudget.bsky.social

Pritzker invokes his own Jewish background in responding to Trump:
"Stop tearing down the Constitution in the name of my ancestors. Do not claim that your authoritarian power grabs are about anti-semitism. When you destroy social justice, you are disparaging the very foundation of Judaism."

A Public Statement From Philanthropy We invite all charitable giving organizations to join us in this effort to protect our freedom to express ourselves, to give, and to invest in our communities. Please sign on to the statement below to...

Join us in this effort to protect our freedom to express ourselves, to give, and to invest in our communities. cof.org/page/public-...

Kumar Abrego Garcia deserves due process and Gorka is trying to intimidate us all from exercising our First Amendment rights

Beyond unfair to taxpayers who have a filing obligation and are just trying to do the right thing. This will erode trust and reduce revenues

CDFIs fuel small businesses, homeownership & local economies. A recent Executive Order threatens the Treasury’s CDFI Fund, putting these investments at risk. We urge policymakers to protect this vital agency. Read our statement below. #econdev #CDFI @usimpinvalliance.bsky.social

The ABA supports the rule of law. Read full message: www.americanbar.org/news/abanews...

Absolutely the first thought I had too

Every time this point is made, a bunch of academics and activists show up in the replies and basically prove the point.

He's not talking to you! If you're even thinking about this subject, you're not the intended audience and that's okay.

These investors are raising their lobbying game to enhance their social impact Small business advocates in Illinois this year succeeded in getting the state Senate to approve a “small business bill of rights” to ensure ...

(1/10) These investors are raising their public policy game to enhance their social impact by @davidbank.bsky.social (ft. Liesel Pritzker Simmons, Jim Sorenson + more) - bit.ly/4iSGClo

No one, outside of the highest ivory towers of academia, talks like this. Democrats have a lot of work to do to learn how to authentically reach voters if this is the standard

To Elon and Trump's great dismay, Dems are making sure we keep funding research to help kids with cancer!

We should be funding pediatric cancer research.

I am so excited to share this report, which outlines the important bipartisan policy recommendations we are working on here at the Alliance. While the field does face headwinds, that makes policy advocacy even more important in this time!

Opportunity Zone Backers See Trump Win Boosting Extension Odds Investors and tax practitioners see President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House and a Republican-led Congress as an opening to boost the opportunity zone tax incentive that aims to reward...

With tax policy among the top priorities in Congress Opportunity Zones will be on the agenda. Impact investors need to be ready to engage with what could be major changes to a program that has already incentivized at least $40 billion in private investment.

news.bloombergtax.com/daily-tax-re...

If they do go out and get a higher tier starter after this, whether through trade or another signing, I would think that would make meaningful starting innings for guys like Wicks, Brown and Horton that much harder to find. Never enough pitching, but would love to give those guys a chance

Even in third spaces that do exist, and there absolutely are fewer, it's harder to get people to put their phones down and engage with each other. An awful downward spiral near the heart of what's broken in our politics