Phineas Baxandall
@phineasb.bsky.social
Policy wonk. Public budgets, transportation, taxes. Massachusetts-based & nationally interested. The US Treasury's Harriet Tubman $20 bill redesign was halted in 2016.
The September jobs report is hardly encouraging if you consider that the large majority of paltry job creation has been coming from the same health care sector that is soon to run into the wood chipper of GOP Medicaid cuts cepr.net/publications... @deanbaker13.bsky.social
The Economy After the September Jobs Report
The September jobs report shows weak job growth, higher unemployment, and a cooling labor market driven mostly by healthcare gains.
cepr.net
November 22, 2025 at 4:43 PM
The September jobs report is hardly encouraging if you consider that the large majority of paltry job creation has been coming from the same health care sector that is soon to run into the wood chipper of GOP Medicaid cuts cepr.net/publications... @deanbaker13.bsky.social
Love this piece from MassBudget's Adam Jones on the role wealth (or its absence) plays in the long arc of people's lives. Personal and policy poignant. racepowerpolicy.org/2025/11/why-... #BabyBonds @massbudget.bsky.social
Why Wealth Matters: Lessons from My Father and the Case for Baby Bonds in Massachusetts - Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy
By Adam Jones | November 2025 My father, Rev. Dr. Ernest H. Jones, was a pillar of his community. He was a minister and, for most of my childhood, the pastor of a multiethnic Baptist congregation in B...
racepowerpolicy.org
November 22, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Love this piece from MassBudget's Adam Jones on the role wealth (or its absence) plays in the long arc of people's lives. Personal and policy poignant. racepowerpolicy.org/2025/11/why-... #BabyBonds @massbudget.bsky.social
Reposted by Phineas Baxandall
**NEW REPORT** One Year into The Affordable Homes Act: What Has It Accomplished and What Else Can Be Done?
One year into the Affordable Homes Act: What Has It Accomplished and What Else Can Be Done? - Mass. Budget and Policy Center
The Affordable Homes Act (AHA), a five-year bond bill signed in August 2024, authorized a wide range of capital housing investments through bond spending. Bond authorizations are not the same as…
buff.ly
November 20, 2025 at 5:12 PM
**NEW REPORT** One Year into The Affordable Homes Act: What Has It Accomplished and What Else Can Be Done?
Pennsylvania decouples from new federal corporate tax breaks, saving itself $1.1 billion next year and will instead improve affordability for its residents by boosting the EITC. Is #MApoli watching?
November 22, 2025 at 2:32 PM
Pennsylvania decouples from new federal corporate tax breaks, saving itself $1.1 billion next year and will instead improve affordability for its residents by boosting the EITC. Is #MApoli watching?
Reposted by Phineas Baxandall
If you scroll on X, you are only being shown what Elon wants you to see. If you create content on X, no one will see it unless Elon wants them to.
November 21, 2025 at 1:23 AM
If you scroll on X, you are only being shown what Elon wants you to see. If you create content on X, no one will see it unless Elon wants them to.
Great new report: Last year Massachusetts enacted giant Affordable Homes Act. How much is it increasing public investment for housing? Super research from @vickidilorenzo.bsky.social at @massbudget.bsky.social massbudget.org/2025/11/19/a...
One year into the Affordable Homes Act: What Has It Accomplished and What Else Can Be Done? - Mass. Budget and Policy Center
The Affordable Homes Act (AHA), a five-year bond bill signed in August 2024, authorized a wide range of capital housing investments through bond spending. Bond authorizations are not the same as budge...
massbudget.org
November 20, 2025 at 6:31 PM
Great new report: Last year Massachusetts enacted giant Affordable Homes Act. How much is it increasing public investment for housing? Super research from @vickidilorenzo.bsky.social at @massbudget.bsky.social massbudget.org/2025/11/19/a...
Free buses do it again! www.nytimes.com/2025/11/18/c...
Iowa City Made Its Buses Free. Traffic Cleared, and So Did the Air.
www.nytimes.com
November 20, 2025 at 3:23 AM
Free buses do it again! www.nytimes.com/2025/11/18/c...
Reposted by Phineas Baxandall
MassBudget's Research Director @phineasb.bsky.social breaks down the unavoidable fact that when you cut taxes . . . you lose revenue. 🤔
The pros and cons of slashing the state’s income tax rates - Dorchester Reporter
A ballot question backed by the Pioneer Institute and Mass High Tech Council would reduce the state income tax rate from 5 percent to 4 percent over a three-year period — a cut, opponents say, that…
buff.ly
November 13, 2025 at 9:29 PM
MassBudget's Research Director @phineasb.bsky.social breaks down the unavoidable fact that when you cut taxes . . . you lose revenue. 🤔
Reposted by Phineas Baxandall
☔ ☔ "It's what it's for. It's for helping us when times are hard. It's explicit, the law says, that it should be used when there is a loss of federal funds," said Phineas Baxandall @phineasb.bsky.social of The Massachusetts Budget Policy Center. buff.ly/uOIhPB9 ☔ ☔
Amid calls to use $8.6B Mass. rainy day fund for federal cuts, Healey isn't budging
Some people are urging Massachusetts’ leaders to spend part of the $8.6 billion rainy day fund to make up for federal budget cuts.
buff.ly
November 14, 2025 at 6:13 PM
☔ ☔ "It's what it's for. It's for helping us when times are hard. It's explicit, the law says, that it should be used when there is a loss of federal funds," said Phineas Baxandall @phineasb.bsky.social of The Massachusetts Budget Policy Center. buff.ly/uOIhPB9 ☔ ☔
Reposted by Phineas Baxandall
Research & Policy Director @phineasb.bsky.social gets ready to speak at @raiseupma.bsky.social 's Rainy Day Action event at the Statehouse. Happening now!
November 13, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Research & Policy Director @phineasb.bsky.social gets ready to speak at @raiseupma.bsky.social 's Rainy Day Action event at the Statehouse. Happening now!
Reposted by Phineas Baxandall
@phineasb.bsky.social speaks at @raiseupma.bsky.social 's Rainy Day Action at the Statehouse:
"These days it’s easy to feel hopeless. There’s a lot of disastrous decisions at the federal level that Massachusetts and our leaders are left out of.
"These days it’s easy to feel hopeless. There’s a lot of disastrous decisions at the federal level that Massachusetts and our leaders are left out of.
November 13, 2025 at 5:52 PM
@phineasb.bsky.social speaks at @raiseupma.bsky.social 's Rainy Day Action at the Statehouse:
"These days it’s easy to feel hopeless. There’s a lot of disastrous decisions at the federal level that Massachusetts and our leaders are left out of.
"These days it’s easy to feel hopeless. There’s a lot of disastrous decisions at the federal level that Massachusetts and our leaders are left out of.
Why is “affordability” such a buzzword and what are the consequences of this framing instead of real wages and living standards. Check out this thoughtful piece from @deanbaker13.bsky.social
cepr.net/publications...
cepr.net/publications...
The Cult of Affordability and the Labor Market
Politicians have seized "affordability," but does it overlook some more fundamental truths about the state of the labor market?
cepr.net
November 9, 2025 at 2:18 PM
Why is “affordability” such a buzzword and what are the consequences of this framing instead of real wages and living standards. Check out this thoughtful piece from @deanbaker13.bsky.social
cepr.net/publications...
cepr.net/publications...
Another White House move to hurt affordability -- The move was expected, given heavy lobbying from tax prep companies like Intuit and H&R Block to put a halt to the IRS’s popular Direct File program. Read more at: itep.org/trump-admini...
Trump Raises the Price of Filing a Tax Return
The move was expected, given heavy lobbying from tax prep companies like Intuit and H&R Block to put a halt to the IRS’s popular Direct File program.
itep.org
November 7, 2025 at 8:41 PM
Another White House move to hurt affordability -- The move was expected, given heavy lobbying from tax prep companies like Intuit and H&R Block to put a halt to the IRS’s popular Direct File program. Read more at: itep.org/trump-admini...
Why aren’t billionaires stepping up with donations to fund SNAP?
October 30, 2025 at 12:10 PM
Why aren’t billionaires stepping up with donations to fund SNAP?
Are organizations supporting veterans of World War 2, who fought against the fascist forces, now considered terrorist organizations?
October 29, 2025 at 10:21 PM
Are organizations supporting veterans of World War 2, who fought against the fascist forces, now considered terrorist organizations?
FEMA appears to only be approving disaster deflations for Red states. Not how this is supposed to work.
cepr.net/publications...
cepr.net/publications...
Disaster Declarations Continue to Highlight Trump’s Partisan Favoritism
Trump’s selective disaster declarations favor Republican states, underscoring the need to reform the Stafford Act for fair disaster relief.
cepr.net
October 28, 2025 at 9:27 PM
FEMA appears to only be approving disaster deflations for Red states. Not how this is supposed to work.
cepr.net/publications...
cepr.net/publications...
Reposted by Phineas Baxandall
The richest man on earth owns X.
The second richest man on earth is about to acquire TikTok and his family could soon own both Paramount and Warner Bros.
The third richest man owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
The fourth richest man owns The Washington Post.
See the problem here?
The second richest man on earth is about to acquire TikTok and his family could soon own both Paramount and Warner Bros.
The third richest man owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
The fourth richest man owns The Washington Post.
See the problem here?
October 25, 2025 at 7:00 PM
The richest man on earth owns X.
The second richest man on earth is about to acquire TikTok and his family could soon own both Paramount and Warner Bros.
The third richest man owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
The fourth richest man owns The Washington Post.
See the problem here?
The second richest man on earth is about to acquire TikTok and his family could soon own both Paramount and Warner Bros.
The third richest man owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
The fourth richest man owns The Washington Post.
See the problem here?
Reposted by Phineas Baxandall
Don't forget — they're not just buying a ballroom. They're buying Trump's favor. [Cartoon by Mike Luckovich]
October 25, 2025 at 9:21 PM
Don't forget — they're not just buying a ballroom. They're buying Trump's favor. [Cartoon by Mike Luckovich]
Perhaps biggest day of protests ever in the US and NY Times puts five not bombshell stories ahead of protest story. Sigh.
October 18, 2025 at 11:57 PM
Perhaps biggest day of protests ever in the US and NY Times puts five not bombshell stories ahead of protest story. Sigh.
This is quite good. I encourage others to read movement.vote/blog/2025-10...
The Comeback Plan: 10 Steps to End Our Political Nightmare in 3 Years | Movement Voter Project
This memo is a roadmap: A provocative ten-step plan to turn our movement, our politics, and our country around – in the next three years.
movement.vote
October 17, 2025 at 2:07 AM
This is quite good. I encourage others to read movement.vote/blog/2025-10...
This is a great job opportunity for someone who cares about using policy analysis to ensure all kids can have great education massbudget.org/2025/10/06/j... @massbudget.bsky.social
Job Opening - Education Policy Analyst - Mass. Budget and Policy Center
Overview MassBudget’s mission is to advance equitable policy solutions that create an inclusive, thriving Commonwealth for all. This is an exciting time as MassBudget continues its journey toward bein...
massbudget.org
October 11, 2025 at 11:49 AM
This is a great job opportunity for someone who cares about using policy analysis to ensure all kids can have great education massbudget.org/2025/10/06/j... @massbudget.bsky.social
Why are the number of cars killing pedestrians spiking upwards in Massachusetts while they decline nationally?
October 9, 2025 at 8:29 PM
Why are the number of cars killing pedestrians spiking upwards in Massachusetts while they decline nationally?
Massachusetts’ own tax code doesn’t need to follow the big corporate tax giveaways in the federal Big Ugly Bill. Opting out of the biggest five changes will save $453M this year. It requires the MA Legislature to take action as it has decoupled from federal tax before massbudget.org/2025/10/08/o...
MassBudget calls for Massachusetts to opt out of the five most costly corporate tax changes in the federal OBBBA - Mass. Budget and Policy Center
As Massachusetts policymakers seek to build a more equitable and resilient Commonwealth, the recent corporate tax changes in the federal "One Big Beautiful Bill" Act (OBBBA) pose a significant threat ...
massbudget.org
October 9, 2025 at 6:45 PM
Massachusetts’ own tax code doesn’t need to follow the big corporate tax giveaways in the federal Big Ugly Bill. Opting out of the biggest five changes will save $453M this year. It requires the MA Legislature to take action as it has decoupled from federal tax before massbudget.org/2025/10/08/o...
Reposted by Phineas Baxandall
In 2025, teachers are paid nearly 27% LESS than others with the same education. That's the LARGEST gap on record since the late 1970s. Adjusted for inflation, teachers actually earn less today than a DECADE ago. Closing this gap is essential for our schools’ future. @epi.org
September 25, 2025 at 9:03 PM
In 2025, teachers are paid nearly 27% LESS than others with the same education. That's the LARGEST gap on record since the late 1970s. Adjusted for inflation, teachers actually earn less today than a DECADE ago. Closing this gap is essential for our schools’ future. @epi.org
Los Angeles' tax on the sale of the highest value homes is paying dividends: hundreds of millions of dollars in new affordable housing development. www.latimes.com/california/s...
A record $387 million will go to L.A. affordable housing, with most coming from ‘mansion tax’
The L.A. Housing Department is currently accepting applications from developers for $387 million in funding for affordable housing and preservation projects, which is the largest funding pool the depa...
www.latimes.com
September 26, 2025 at 2:33 PM
Los Angeles' tax on the sale of the highest value homes is paying dividends: hundreds of millions of dollars in new affordable housing development. www.latimes.com/california/s...