DORIA RAGLAND DEBUNKS MYTHS ABOUT BLACK SINGLE MOTHERS

DORIA RAGLAND DEBUNKS MYTHS ABOUT BLACK SINGLE MOTHERS:

DORIA DID A GREAT JOB REARING MEGHAN AND SHE EDUCATED HERSELF ALONG THE WAY.

BLACK IS NO LONGER AN UGLY HUE.

I RESPECT DORIA AS A BEAUTIFUL, INTELLIGENT WOMAN AND SO DOES PRINCE HARRY.

DORIA WASN'T TRYING TO CREATE CHAOS FOR THE ROYAL FAMILY OR SEEK FAME AND THAT'S WHY SHE WAS INVITED.

BEST WISHES TO DORIA.


Post Sources: New Yorker, People, Nicki Swift, Royal Family Channel, Youtube


****** The Profound Presence of Doria Ragland


The day of the royal wedding, we could not keep our eyes off her. What was she thinking, as she sat in the pews of the five-hundred-year-old chapel, enveloped in history and irony? I mean the mother of the bride, Doria Ragland. A millennium of world-shifting encounters—of violence and of romance and of acts in between—produced this scene: the sixty-one-year-old Ragland, an American who teaches yoga and does social work in Culver City, California, sitting in the opposite and equivalent seat to Queen Elizabeth II. They’d agreed on green, the color of beginnings—Ragland in churchy, pastel Oscar de la Renta, the Queen in electric-lime Stewart Parvin. One is a descendant of the enslaved, a child of the Great Migration and Jim Crow and seventies New Age spirituality; the other, the heir to and keeper of empire. Blood had long ago decided what life would be like for both.

But love barges in and finds a way. Love brings together Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, whose train of identifiers—biracial, actress, Angeleno, divorcée, feminist, former life-style blogger—complete the Mad Libs of the new American vogue. Love brings together their families: the House of Windsor and a one-woman house. Genuine attraction seemed to pulse between them, as Harry, biting his lip, giddily whispered to his bride, “You look amazing.” Markle’s doe eyes glinted. Nearby, Ragland radiated with what looked like maternal pride. Certainly it was more complex than just that.

Ragland isn’t an actress like her daughter, but she said many things with her face. Photographs of her and Markle pressed close to one another in the Rolls-Royce on the way to the chapel show the mother trying on a regent’s wave, smiling warmly but tentatively. Inside, she executed her duties with grace. Her locs had been swept beneath her pillbox hat; the shine of her tiny nose ring gleamed like the shine in her eyes. There was not much emoting in the crowd of royal fascinators, although many screwed their faces as Bishop Michael Bruce Curry, the first black head of the Episcopal Church, thundered in his sermon about the possibility of a “new world.” But one could perceive Ragland softly reeling beneath her composure. Her lips trembled as her daughter walked down the aisle. She cried gently. When Curry spoke about the example of Martin Luther King, Jr., and the power of radical, social love, she nodded unreservedly; when the East London choir roused the room with Ben E. King’s “Stand By Me,” she swayed. Sometimes the cameras would catch Ragland as if she were in a trance, lost in some intimate thought.

What we know of the relationship between mother and daughter has an “us against the world” feel to it. After her parents divorced, when she was six, Markle spent weekdays with her mother. Ragland doted on her only child, calling her “Flower.” When Markle became wealthy, she paid for her mother to attend graduate school; in a Mother’s Day post on her blog, she swooned with reverence over Ragland’s resilience. There’s no “Imitation of Life” drama here, in which the mixed-race daughter shuns her darker-skinned mother. Markle clearly delights in what she euphemizes as her mother’s “free spirit.” But they are different women. Markle makes it a point to call herself biracial. She vaguely invokes the “wounds” of American history, but is careful not to frame herself as a race hero. The skin of the mother is honey brown, but the daughter has been cast as ethnically ambiguous. In essays, Markle recalls that, as a child, strangers in the Valley mistook her mother for her nanny. In front of billions, Markle entered one of the oldest halls of whiteness, with the flowers of former colonies sewn onto her veil, and blended in. Ragland stood out.

It is true that Markle and her groom beautifully threaded black rituals throughout the ceremony. But claims about the wedding’s “wokeness” are a little jarring. This was a royal marriage set against the backdrop of the government threatening to deport Britons of the Windrush generation. Was that melancholy in Ragland’s eyes? A worry about whether her daughter would be truly accepted in the family, and what she may have to do to usher in that acceptance? Did she recall the Christmas luncheon that Markle attended in December, at which Princess Michael of Kent wore a blackamoor brooch clipped to her jacket? Markle had longtime friends in her party, but Ragland was the sole representative of her family. Ragland’s mother, Jeannette, who reportedly watched Markle as a child while Doria worked, died in 2000. Through her presence, Ragland implied a lineage of black women—and represented the fraught lineage of a nation.

It should not be lost on anyone that, despite the pitiful shenanigans of her ex-husband, Thomas Markle, and the gossiping of her ex-step-children, Ragland flew to Heathrow to do what black women do: straighten the mess up. One vision of the black mother depends on this kind of self-effacing altruism. The public has fallen for Ragland. On Twitter, people speculate that Lady Diana Spencer, whose legend of social rebellion is especially idolized by black women, would have adored her. At an afternoon tea on Friday, Ragland “charmed” the Queen, and she has quit her job at the mental-health clinic to avoid the paparazzi. The big interview will likely come via Oprah, who, swaggering into the castle on Saturday in pink, called attention to her own supremacy. But how Ragland will participate in the cult of her daughter’s marriage is yet to be seen. There is new pressure on the Duke and Duchess of Sussex—who take their titles after the first and only Duke of Sussex, who supported abolition—to liven up the monarchy’s social reputation. The hunger for a cordial kind of racial harmonizing is strong. I know Markle feels that burden, and I know that Ragland does, too.

TAX REFORM PLAN IS ANOTHER TRUMP CAMPAIGN PROMISE KEPT (100 DAYS)

TAX REFORM PLAN IS ANOTHER TRUMP CAMPAIGN PROMISE KEPT:

TRUMP'S TAX PLAN ELIMINATES DEATH TAX.

TRUMP'S TAX PLAN WILL ALSO CREATE JOBS, HELP MARRIED COUPLES, SINGLE WORKING MOTHERS & SMALL BUSINESSES.


Sources: Donald Trump, ABC News, Fox News, Washington Examiner, Youtube


**** Give Trump 130 days: President's tax plan is his biggest test (and biggest opportunity)
Forget the 100 day reckoning; let’s give President Trump 130 days instead.

Here’s why: the president is on the cusp of achieving nothing less than a once-in-a-generation tax cut that will boost the U.S. economy out of its 8-year rut and restore the nation’s competitiveness.

It won’t pass in the next four weeks, but if Trump throws himself into selling the plan over the next month, and it catches the country’s imagination, “Resisting” Democrats will have to climb aboard. The buoyant stock market will continue its run, optimism will rise yet again, and Donald Trump will be well on his way to a successful presidency.

Trump himself will have to hit the campaign trail, dig out those red MAGA hats, and convince the country that this program will create jobs, boost wages, help middle-class families and put the nation on the right track. He must sell it not as a tax cut, but as a jobs bill – something the country has hungered for ever since the Great Recession. Something President Obama failed to deliver.

This is the biggest test yet for the young Trump presidency. It isn’t Paul Ryan’s plan or Kevin Brady’s plan; it’s the Trump tax plan. He owns it, he campaigned on it, and if he can get it done his backers will be thrilled.

It will especially please small business owners, who pay taxes today at over 50 percent in some states, and who are among Trump’s most enthusiastic backers. As one participant in a recent small-biz roundtable with the president wrote in The Hill, “Former President Barack Obama was an almost-daily insult for eight years, telling us the economy was doing great while business owners struggled keep their doors open.” Small firms account for nearly half the nation’s private workforce; they need lighter regulation and a tax break; Trump is serving up both, as promised.

Oh, and by the way, if Trump succeeds in pushing through his tax plan, those deriding the White House as inept and Republicans as unable to govern will develop a sudden case of laryngitis.

Bringing the party together to cut taxes for millions won’t have happened in the first 100 days. Who’s counting? If significant progress is posted in the next few weeks, Trump wins.

The Tax Foundation last year analyzed Trump’s tax plan, and estimated it would boost economic growth, create 5.3 million new jobs, and kick wages up by 6.5 percent. Notwithstanding the benefits that will accrue to U.S. workers, Democrats will fight Trump’s tax plan tooth and nail.
They don’t believe that lower taxes spur growth, even though tax cuts pushed through by John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan most definitely did. They don’t want to “starve the beast” of the ever-expanding federal government, because they don’t think that Americans are wiser about investing our money that the bureaucrats in Washington.

Adding to their hypocrisy is a new-found concern about the federal debt. Democrats complained for years that the Stimulus passed in 2009 wasn’t big enough; they are fans of deficit spending – as long as it grows the swamp and not the private sector.

The battle is joined, as we saw from the next-day treatment from the media.

The New York Times banner read: “Tax Overhaul Would Aid Wealthiest”. The paper followed up with: “Trump’s Plan Shifts Trillion to Wealthiest.” Fact: the top 20 percent of earners in U.S. pay 84 percent of the country’s income taxes. Yes, those folks, the ones paying the lion’s share of our taxes, will get a break.

In numerous articles, the Grey Lady has hinted recently that Trump’s tax policy is especially crafted to benefiting himself – by retaining the mortgage interest deduction, for instance. Yes, real estate developers benefit from that deduction; so do tens of millions of American homeowners. Since the current plan includes eliminating the ability to deduct state and local taxes, which would pummel wealthy New Yorkers like Trump, that particular story line was muted.

The facts are clear: the United States has one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world. Nearly every one of our major competitors has cut their corporate tax burden in recent years; we are the outliers. While it is true that businesses take advantage of numerous loopholes and pay less than the statutory rate of 35 percent (39 percent for companies operating in high-tax states), it is also true that even adjusting for deductions and carve-outs, American businesses still pay the second-highest actual rate among developed countries.

A CATO study some years ago argued that in today’s interconnected world, it is workers who ultimately pay business taxes. “The burden of corporate taxes in the globalized economy,” senior fellows Chris Edwards and Daniel J. Mitchell wrote in Global Tax Revolution, “mainly falls on average workers in the form of lower wages. If U.S. and foreign semiconductor and pharmaceutical companies are not building factories in America because of higher taxes, it is American workers who lose.”

We need to do better. Donald Trump sometimes says “We don’t win anymore.” His supporters get that. Businesses want to move out of the U.S. to take advantage of low tax rates elsewhere, but our country should press our many advantages. We are a rule of law nation, we speak English and we have vast energy resources that over time will become a significant competitive advantage. While labor rates in manufacturing, for instance, are cheaper elsewhere, automation means that wages are becoming a smaller part of total costs.

If tax breaks spur investment, U.S. firms will become ever more competitive. Most important, we are still the world’s largest consumer market – right here.

Why on earth wouldn’t companies want to locate here? Let’s make it easy for them.
The plan rolled out by the White House is an opening bid. There will be negotiations over the top rates, the repatriation on overseas-held cash and other particulars. Trump could mollify deficit hawks by eliminating the tax break on carried interest, for instance, which mainly benefits private equity and hedge fund managers. Even many industry participants think that hand-out should disappear. He also could pressure Democrats by rolling out an infrastructure plan to be seeded by the proceeds of a one-time repatriation of foreign earnings stashed overseas by U.S. companies. That’s the Art of the Deal.

But the main message is this: lowering corporate and individual rates will gin up growth, create jobs and raise wages. Astonishingly, even the prospect of this tax plan set the stock market soaring and boosted consumer and business confidence. That’s how hopeful people are, and how potent this medicine will be for our ailing economy. This is Trump’s big moment; I’ll give him a few more weeks.



**** TAX REFORM THAT WILL MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN
(The Goals Of Donald J. Trump’s Tax Plan)

~ Too few Americans are working, too many jobs have been shipped overseas, and too many
middle class families cannot make ends meet. This tax plan directly meets these challenges with
four simple goals:
1. Tax relief for middle class Americans: In order to achieve the American dream, let people
keep more money in their pockets and increase after-tax wages.
2. Simplify the tax code to reduce the headaches Americans face in preparing their taxes and
let everyone keep more of their money.
3. Grow the American economy by discouraging corporate inversions, adding a huge number
of new jobs, and making America globally competitive again.
4. Doesn’t add to our debt and deficit, which are already too large.


~ The Trump Tax Plan Achieves These Goals
1. If you are single and earn less than $25,000, or married and jointly earn less than $50,000,
you will not owe any income tax. That removes nearly 75 million households – over 50% –
from the income tax rolls. They get a new one page form to send the IRS saying, “I win,”
those who would otherwise owe income taxes will save an average of nearly $1,000 each.
2. All other Americans will get a simpler tax code with four brackets – 0%, 10%, 20% and 25%
– instead of the current seven. This new tax code eliminates the marriage penalty and the
Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) while providing the lowest tax rate since before World
War II.
3. No business of any size, from a Fortune 500 to a mom and pop shop to a freelancer living job
to job, will pay more than 15% of their business income in taxes. This lower rate makes
corporate inversions unnecessary by making America’s tax rate one of the best in the world.
4. No family will have to pay the death tax. You earned and saved that money for your family,
not the government. You paid taxes on it when you earned it.


~ The Trump Tax Plan Is Revenue Neutral
The Trump tax cuts are fully paid for by:
1. Reducing or eliminating most deductions and loopholes available to the very rich.
2. A one-time deemed repatriation of corporate cash held overseas at a significantly discounted
10% tax rate, followed by an end to the deferral of taxes on corporate income earned abroad.
3. Reducing or eliminating corporate loopholes that cater to special interests, as well as
deductions made unnecessary or redundant by the new lower tax rate on corporations and
business income. We will also phase in a reasonable cap on the deductibility of business
interest expenses.


~ DETAILS OF DONALD J. TRUMP’S TAX PLAN

America needs a bold, simple and achievable plan based on conservative economic principles.
This plan does that with needed tax relief for all Americans, especially the working poor and
middle class, pro-growth tax reform for all sizes of businesses, and fiscally responsible steps to
ensure this plan does not add to our enormous debt and deficit.
This plan simplifies the tax code by taking nearly 50% of current filers off the income tax rolls
entirely and reducing the number of tax brackets from seven to four for everyone else.
This plan also reduces or eliminates loopholes used by the very rich and special interests made unnecessary
or redundant by the new lower tax rates on individuals and companies.
The Trump Tax Plan: A Simpler Tax Code For All Americans
When the income tax was first introduced, just one percent of Americans had to pay it.
It was never intended as a tax most Americans would pay. The Trump plan eliminates the income tax
for over 73 million households.
42 million households that currently file complex forms to
determine they don’t owe any income taxes will now file a one page form saving them time,
stress, uncertainty and an average of $110 in preparation costs.
Over 31 million households get the same simplification and keep on average nearly $1,000 of their hard-earned money.
For those Americans who will still pay the income tax, the tax rates will go from the current
seven brackets to four simpler, fairer brackets that eliminate the marriage penalty and the AMT
while providing the lowest tax rate since before World War II:

Income
Tax
Rate
Long Term Cap
Gains/
Dividends Rate
Single Filers Married Filers Heads of Household
0% 0% $0 to $25,000 $0 to $50,000 $0 to $37,500
10% 0% $25,001 to $50,000 $50,001 to $100,000 $37,501 to $75,000
20% 15% $50,001 to $150,000 $100,001 to $300,000 $75,001 to $225,000
25% 20% $150,001 and up $300,001 and up $225,001 and up

With this huge reduction in rates, many of the current exemptions and deductions will become
unnecessary or redundant.

Those within the 10% bracket will keep all or most of their current deductions. Those within the 20% bracket will keep more than half of their current deductions.

Those within the 25% bracket will keep fewer deductions. Charitable giving and mortgage
interest deductions will remain unchanged for all taxpayers.
Simplifying the tax code and cutting every American’s taxes will boost consumer spending,
encourage savings and investment, and maximize economic growth.


~ Business Tax Reform To Encourage Jobs And Spur Economic Growth

Too many companies – from great American brands to innovative startups – are leaving
America, either directly or through corporate inversions. The Democrats want to outlaw
inversions, but that will never work. Companies leaving is not the disease, it is the symptom.
Politicians in Washington have let America fall from the best corporate tax rate in the
industrialized world in the 1980’s (thanks to Ronald Reagan) to the worst rate in the
industrialized world.

That is unacceptable. Under the Trump plan, America will compete with
the world and win by cutting the corporate tax rate to 15%, taking our rate from one of the worst
to one of the best.

This lower tax rate cannot be for big business alone; it needs to help the small businesses that are
the true engine of our economy. Right now, freelancers, sole proprietors, unincorporated small
businesses and pass-through entities are taxed at the high personal income tax rates.

This treatment stifles small businesses. It also stifles tax reform because efforts to reduce loopholes
and deductions available to the very rich and special interests end up hitting small businesses and
job creators as well.

The Trump plan addresses this challenge head on with a new business
income tax rate within the personal income tax code that matches the 15% corporate tax rate to
help these businesses, entrepreneurs and freelancers grow and prosper.

These lower rates will provide a tremendous stimulus for the economy – significant GDP
growth, a huge number of new jobs and an increase in after-tax wages for workers.


~ The Trump Tax Plan Ends The Unfair Death Tax
The death tax punishes families for achieving the American dream. Therefore, the Trump plan
eliminates the death tax.


~ The Trump Tax Plan Is Fiscally Responsible
The Trump tax cuts are fully paid for by:

1. Reducing or eliminating deductions and loopholes available to the very rich, starting by
steepening the curve of the Personal Exemption Phaseout and the Pease Limitation on
itemized deductions. The Trump plan also phases out the tax exemption on life insurance
interest for high-income earners, ends the current tax treatment of carried interest for
speculative partnerships that do not grow businesses or create jobs and are not risking their
own capital, and reduces or eliminates other loopholes for the very rich and special interests.
These reductions and eliminations will not harm the economy or hurt the middle class.
Because the Trump plan introduces a new business income rate within the personal income
tax code, they will not harm small businesses either.

2. A one-time deemed repatriation of corporate cash held overseas at a significantly discounted
10% tax rate. Since we are making America’s corporate tax rate globally competitive, it is
only fair that corporations help make that move fiscally responsible. U.S.-owned
corporations have as much as $2.5 trillion in cash sitting overseas. Some companies have
been leaving cash overseas as a tax maneuver. Under this plan, they can bring their cash
home and put it to work in America while benefitting from the newly-lowered corporate tax
rate that is globally competitive and no longer requires parking cash overseas. Other
companies have cash overseas for specific business units or activities. They can leave that
cash overseas, but they will still have to pay the one-time repatriation fee.

3. An end to the deferral of taxes on corporate income earned abroad. Corporations will no
longer be allowed to defer taxes on income earned abroad, but the foreign tax credit will
remain in place because no company should face double taxation.

4. Reducing or eliminating some corporate loopholes that cater to special interests, as well as
deductions made unnecessary or redundant by the new lower tax rate on corporations and
business income. We will also phase in a reasonable cap on the deductibility of business
interest expenses.