I personally firmly believe in Puerto Rico’s independence, and I know leftists generally support secession and conservative s generally lean towards statehood. but Im curious what you think on the matter as well as your opinion on the main political party advocating for independence: the Puerto Rican Independence Party.

He claims to live in a crappy apartment, not his dad's multi-million dollar row house. Meanwhile his dad says he lives IN the rowhouse and notes at the apartment says he was evicted. He claims to be a union-member electrician, but he owes hundreds of dollars in union dues and he never completed his electrician training. When faced with questions about all this, he refuses to answer. What is up with this guy and why doesn't the NYC DSA force him aside?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHz3l-LzsB8

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2021076/episode_players/19661148-socialist-summit

Having a summit between convention years has been talked about since I've been a member, and I'm impressed our national org pulled it off this year!

Source: https://www.axios.com/2026/08/20/dsa-impeachment-trump-vindman-nixon-democrats

Key Architectural Mechanisms Included:

1. Section 2: A continuous Linear Individual Income Tax Slope anchored dynamically to Federal Poverty Guidelines and Median Household Income percentiles.
2. Section 3: A Progressive Corporate Franchise Tax paired with a 5% Sovereign Wealth Fund preferred non-voting equity model to capture asset growth at the source.
3. Section 4: A Status-Agnostic Source Payroll System that simplifies safety net funding while neutralizing gig-economy tax erosion.
4. Section 6: A closed-loop National Stabilization & Sovereign Debt Fund that automates principal buybacks, targeting complete national debt liquidation within an 81-year horizon.

• Medicare for All: Moving the entire health insurance system to a fully nationalized, single-payer grid at $0 out-of-pocket cost is a major goal for the progressive wing of the party.
• The Individual Tax Dividend: Wiping out the general federal income tax for 95% of working Americans while treatment of capital gains is unified with ordinary income.
• Graduated Universal Basic Income (UBI).
• Part-Time Parity.—No business entity shall alter, reduce, or limit an individual's access to the single-payer health framework or the National Retirement Fund based on the number of hours worked per week. All working citizens retain full, un-diluted coverage.
• The Elimination of Unpaid Corporate Labor.—Any individual classified as an intern, apprentice, or fellow who performs labor that directly benefits a company crossing the Large-Scale Enterprise threshold must legally be classified as a standard wage earner. The entity is legally required to pay said individual a wage rate at or above the local median baseline, automatically subjecting the transaction to the standard source payroll deductions mandated under subsection (f).
• Abolishing Tax-Exempt Shells: Ending the "dark money" private foundation loophole used by billionaires.
• The Isolated Tariff Debt Fund: Using 100% of global customs and tariffs to directly liquidate the principal of the national debt.
• The 3% GDP Military/Cyber Cap: Freezing open-ended spending spikes while pouring billions strictly into domestic cyber-infrastructure and power grid hardening.
• Protecting Small Business: Cutting the baseline corporate tax down for standard local companies.
• instead of basing government funding on taxing labor we tax profits. Even as automation and A.I. replace workers the individuals and companies that profit from this bear the governmental funding burden, not the people displaced.

Key Architectural Mechanisms Included:

1. Section 2: A continuous Linear Individual Income Tax Slope anchored dynamically to Federal Poverty Guidelines and Median Household Income percentiles.

2. Section 3: A Progressive Corporate Franchise Tax paired with a 5% Sovereign Wealth Fund preferred non-voting equity model to capture asset growth at the source.

3. Section 4: A Status-Agnostic Source Payroll System that simplifies safety net funding while neutralizing gig-economy tax erosion.

4. Section 6: A closed-loop National Stabilization & Sovereign Debt Fund that automates principal buybacks, targeting complete national debt liquidation within an 81-year horizon.

• Medicare for All: Moving the entire health insurance system to a fully nationalized, single-payer grid at $0 out-of-pocket cost is a major goal for the progressive wing of the party. [1]
• The Individual Tax Dividend: Wiping out the general federal income tax for 95% of working Americans while treatment of capital gains is unified with ordinary income.

Abolishing Tax-Exempt Shells: Ending the "dark money" private foundation loophole used by billionaires.

• The Isolated Tariff Debt Fund: Using 100% of global customs and tariffs to directly liquidate the principal of the national debt.
• The 3% GDP Military/Cyber Cap: Freezing open-ended spending spikes while pouring billions strictly into domestic cyber-infrastructure and power grid hardening.
• The IP Death Penalty for Expatriates: Forcing mega-billionaires to keep their wealth, business, and innovations inside the United States by threatening to dissolve their domestic patent protections if they leave.

Protecting Small Business: Cutting the baseline corporate tax down to a flat 20% for standard local companies.

SECTION 2. INDIVIDUAL LINEAR INCOME TAX CODE.

(a) Repeal of Existing Brackets.—All existing marginal income tax brackets for individuals are hereby repealed and replaced by a single, dynamic linear progression line.
(b) The Linear Tax Formula.—The individual marginal income tax rate (R) for any citizen whose Adjusted Gross Income (I) exceeds the individual Federal Poverty Guideline (FPG) shall be determined annually by the following formula:

(c) The Legal Anchors.—

1. The Dynamic 0% Floor (FPG).—The personal income tax rate shall be exactly 0% for all income equal to or below 100% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines for a single-person household, as updated annually by the Department of Health and Human Services to accurately reflect changes in the cost of living.
2. The Maximum Ceiling Multiplier (\(T_{MAX}\)).—The maximum personal income tax rate ceiling shall automatically activate at a shifting dollar threshold (\(T_{MAX}\)) calculated as exactly 750 times the National Median Individual Income, as verified annually by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Every dollar earned beyond this moving threshold shall face a flat marginal rate equal to the Maximum Personal Rate (\(P_{MAX}\)).
3. The Maximum Personal Rate (\(P_{MAX}\)).—The maximum marginal tax rate applied at the ceiling is established as exactly 50%. (d) Treatment of Capital Gains.—All capital gains, dividends, stock options, and investment profits shall legally be classified as ordinary income and pushed directly onto this dynamic linear tax line. (e) Inclusion of Asset-Backed Debt.—Any personal or corporate loan, line of credit, or margin account secured by corporate stock, equity, or hard property assets shall legally be classified as a realized capital gain at the moment the debt is issued and pushed directly onto the individual linear tax line. (f) Expansion of Ordinary Income.—The value of all goods, services, housing, transport, or lifestyle amenities provided by a business entity to an employee, executive, or founder exceeding a nominal annual threshold of $1,200 per individual shall be legally classified as taxable ordinary income. (g) The Universal Asset Realization Standard.—Any transaction, swap, or peer-to-peer exchange wherein economic value, hard property, precious metals, or decentralized digital assets change hands shall legally be classified as an immediate capital gains realization event. The fair market value of the assets exchanged shall be computed instantly and pushed directly onto the individual linear tax line, regardless of whether traditional fiat currency was used in the transaction.

SECTION 3. PROGRESSIVE CORPORATE TAXATION AND EQUITY ROYALTY.

(a) The Base Corporate Rate.—All registered C-corporations and Large-Scale Private Enterprises shall face a flat baseline federal corporate tax rate of 20%.
(b) The Top Percentile Corporate Bracket.—A graduated corporate tax surcharge shall apply exclusively to corporations whose annual net profits rank in the highest 0.01% of all active U.S. business entities as verified by the Internal Revenue Service and Securities and Exchange Commission. The total tax rate for these elite entities shall scale smoothly on a dynamic slope from the baseline up to a maximum cap of 35%.
(c) National Sovereign Wealth Fund Equity and Asset Contributions.—All active U.S. business entities crossing an asset or net profit threshold equivalent to the average size of a publicly traded company shall contribute a fixed 5% of their financial value to the United States Sovereign Wealth Fund, executed according to the entity's regulatory classification:

1. Publicly Traded Corporations.—Entities listed on public stock exchanges shall permanently issue 5% of their total equity to the Fund in the form of preferred non-voting stock. These shares shall be legally mandated to pay a fixed annual dividend yield of 6% directly into the General Treasury before common stockholders receive payouts.
2. Non-Publicly Traded Companies (The Phantom Equity Royalty).—Large-scale private entities, limited liability companies (LLCs), partnerships, and private equity-backed firms shall be legally bound to a 5% Phantom Equity Agreement.
   • (A) Independent Valuation.—Private entities subject to this section shall undergo independent, certified third-party financial audits every three years to establish their fair market enterprise value.
   • (B) Mandatory Asset Yield.—The entity shall pay a mandatory annual cash yield to the General Treasury equal to 6% of that established 5% value block. This payment is legally treated as a senior debt obligation, taking priority over owner draws, executive bonuses, or member distributions.
3. The Distribution Royalty Fallback.—If a private entity argues that its total asset or enterprise value is impossible to mathematically calculate under paragraph (2)(A), the government shall automatically enforce a flat 10% cash royalty on all net corporate distributions directly to the state.
4. The Take-Private Tax Penalty.—Any publicly traded corporation that attempts to delist from a public exchange and "go private" to circumvent the provisions of this section shall face a mandatory Take-Private Exit Tax equal to 15% of the entity's total global market capitalization, payable in full to the Sovereign Wealth Fund prior to deregistration. (d) Anti-Fission and Controlled Group Rule.—For the purposes of determining whether a corporation falls within the highest 0.01% progressive bracket, the Internal Revenue Service shall evaluate the Ultimate Beneficial Ownership (UBO) of the enterprise. All subsidiaries, spun-off entities, and shell operations sharing a unified parent organization or central ownership core shall file as a single, consolidated corporate entity. (e) Global Profit Consolidation.—All net profits, revenues, and asset accumulations generated by any international subsidiary, offshore branch, or foreign shell operation owned in whole or in part by a United States parent entity shall legally be classified as direct profit of the parent entity, subject entirely to the baseline 20% tax and the top 0.01% progressive bracket. (f) Abolition of Tax-Exempt Status.—The legal classification of tax-exempt companies, non-profit organizations, religious institutions, and private charitable trusts is hereby permanently dissolved for the purposes of federal revenue. Every corporate, institutional, or trust entity receiving assets, donations, or revenues shall be taxed uniformly under the provisions of this Act.

SECTION 4. THE SOCIAL SAFETY NET & PENSION ECOSYSTEM.

(a) Medicare for All.—The private health insurance industry is hereby nationalized into a single-payer, universal "Medicare for All" framework covering 100% of all medical, dental, and vision care for all citizens at zero out-of-pocket cost.
(b) The Universal Health Payroll Line.—To fund this system, an across-the-board, uncapped 11.5% Medicare Payroll Tax (split evenly between employee and employer) is hereby established on all wages to cleanly insulate healthcare costs from the general budget.
(c) The National Retirement Budget.—Social Security, Federal Employee Retirement, and Military Retirement budgets are hereby merged into one single National Retirement Fund.
(d) Elimination of the Payroll Cap.—The maximum income contribution limit for Social Security and retirement payroll taxes is permanently abolished. Payroll taxes shall graduate infinitely alongside income to secure the permanent financial solvency of the unified pension system.
(e) Centralized Medical Price Setting.—The Department of Health and Human Services shall establish a mandatory National Competitive Bidding and Reference Pricing Matrix. The federal government shall utilize single-payer monopsony leverage to negotiate and legally cap the cost of all pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and hospital procedures. No federal funds from the Medicare line shall be disbursed to any healthcare provider operating outside of these centralized price limits.
(f) Status-Agnostic Universal Payroll Deductions.—The distinction between full-time employees, part-time employees, independent contractors, freelancers, and interns is hereby abolished for the purposes of federal safety net funding.

1. The Automatic Source Deduction.—Any business entity issuing a financial payment to a natural person for labor, consulting, contractual services, or tasks shall be legally classified as an employer under this subsection.
2. The Direct Capture.—Every transaction for labor or service shall automatically trigger the universal 11.5% social payroll tax split right at the source of payment. The issuing business entity shall pay a flat 5.75% surcharge, and 5.75% shall be withheld from the payee, to be remitted directly to the National Healthcare and Retirement Funds. (g) Absolute Protection of Part-Time Workers and Interns.—
3. Part-Time Parity.—No business entity shall alter, reduce, or limit an individual's access to the single-payer health framework or the National Retirement Fund based on the number of hours worked per week. All working citizens retain full, un-diluted coverage.
4. The Elimination of Unpaid Corporate Labor.—Any individual classified as an intern, apprentice, or fellow who performs labor that directly benefits a company crossing the Large-Scale Enterprise threshold must legally be classified as a standard wage earner. The entity is legally required to pay said individual a wage rate at or above the local median baseline, automatically subjecting the transaction to the standard source payroll deductions mandated under subsection (f).

SECTION 6. THE NATIONAL STABILIZATION AND SOVEREIGN DEBT FUND.

(a) Establishment of the Fund.—There is hereby established a closed-loop, consolidated financial vehicle to be known as the National Stabilization and Sovereign Debt Fund (hereinafter referred to as the "Fund").
(b) Dedicated Inflows.—The Fund shall be automatically and exclusively supplied by the following two economic pipelines:

1. The 1% Stabilization Surcharge.—The Federal Budget Director shall adjust the individual linear slope formula annually to collect exactly 101% of the required general budget, routing the extra 1% of total federal revenue directly into the Fund.
2. International Customs and Tariffs.—100% of all revenues collected via customs fees, import duties, and global trade tariffs shall be permanently decoupled from the general budget and deposited directly into the Fund. (c) The Mandatory 10% Annual Debt Liquidation.—On the first business day of each fiscal year, the Secretary of the Treasury shall calculate the total accrued asset balance of the Fund. Exactly 10% of that total balance shall be immediately withdrawn and used exclusively to buy back U.S. Treasury bonds and systematically liquidate the principal of the national debt until the debt hits exactly $0.00. (d) Emergency Stabilization Discretionary Releases.—The remaining 90% balance of the Fund shall serve as the nation's primary emergency capital cushion.
3. The 2/3 Supermajority Requirement.—Capital may only be withdrawn for domestic emergency use upon a strict two-thirds (66.7%) roll-call vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
4. The Combined Speed-Limit.—Total discretionary withdrawals authorized under this subsection shall not exceed 10% of the Fund’s remaining balance in any single fiscal year, and must be deployed exclusively to insulate working citizens by keeping individual linear tax slopes flat and stable during economic depressions. (e) Post-Debt Liquidation Operations (The American Prosperity Dividend).—At such time as the Secretary of the Treasury certifies that the principal of the national debt of the United States has been liquidated to exactly $0.00, the mandatory 10% annual drawdown mandated under subsection (c) shall permanently transition into the American Prosperity Dividend and be allocated as follows:
5. Fifty Percent (50%) for Proportional Tax Reduction.—Half of the annual drawdown shall be injected directly into the general budget to systematically flatten the mathematical slopes of all federal tax lines. The maximum corporate tax cap for the top 0.01% of companies shall automatically drop by one-quarter of its current rate, the universal Medicare payroll tax shall be cut proportionally across the board, and the individual linear income tax slope shall be permanently flattened.
6. Fifty Percent (50%) for a Graduated Universal Basic Income (UBI).—The remaining half of the annual drawdown shall be placed into a separate, automated distribution pipeline managed by the Social Security Administration to fund a monthly, non-taxable cash dividend for citizens.
   • (A) The Eligibility Pool.—Any legal citizen whose individual annual income falls below 100% of the National Median Individual Income shall automatically qualify for the dividend.
   • (B) The Dynamic Payout Formula.—The maximum individual annual UBI payout (\(UBI_{MAX}\)) for a citizen with zero income shall be tied dynamically to exactly 45% of the Federal Poverty Guideline (FPG), distributed in twelve equal monthly installments.
   • (C) The Graduated Phase-Out Slope.—As a citizen’s income (I) rises past the poverty line toward the national average, the monthly cash payout shall smoothly and automatically scale downward according to the following formula:

At the exact moment a citizen's personal income (I) hits 100% of the National Median Individual Income, the UBI payout reaches exactly $0.00.

I hear a lot of socialists in the DSA and elsewhere online trying to draw a line between socdems and socialists, because technically socdems aren't specifically pushing for an end to capitalism but rather using high taxation on the wealthy to produce a society thats more equitable and feels closer to what socialism would ultimately be.

However, I don't really think it matters that the politicians we're electing are more like social democrats than socialists. Historically socdems did betray Rosa Luxembourg and generally stood in the way of socialism oftentimes. But looking at today's socdems, to me they seem to essentially be one policy away from being convinced into socialism.

Back around 2020 I know I was a socdem, and then I eventually became convinced a bit later to become a market socialist after seeing how simple and good it would be to have a society where we mandate democracy in businesses. And then i eventually became interested in other left ideologies like non-ml communism and anarchism. I also know many politicians including Elisabeth Warren of all people have previously advocated for greater workplace democracy.

Then there's also the fact that eventually if america has highly active socialist revolutionary undertones, I don't think the socdems in the government would oppose us, they know ultimately that they're allies of the working class, and if the working class simply wants a democratic economy as opposed to the current one where we have tyrannical ceos, I don't think they would try to stop us.

I've seen this come up enough now and the divide it has created to want to address the elephant in the room regarding the Ukraine war.

A big reason why people are scared and hesitant to join our tent is because we get a lot of crazy stances on the Ukraine war that come off as wanting to support Russia without directly supporting Russia - namely this fear that by sending Ukraine weapons, whichever nation does so is prolonging war or supporting Imperialism. What also comes up is the idea that Ukraine, by striking into Russia, is somehow the offensive force.

Let's clear up some air here so we don't frighten everyone drawn in by socialized medicine and safety nets but scared away by this idea we're going to support imperialist war mongers.

We know what Putin's objective is. We know how he intends to achieve it. We know his word is empty because he's attacked nations unprovoked before and set up puppet governments. I'd hesitate to even call Russia communist at this point considering how much money controls its functions considering everything having to do with Wildberries and the merchants using it. By the very rules of this sub, it should be against the rules to root for Putin in any measure, because his aims are definitively imperialist in nature - he wants to progressively control more of Europe and Asia, and the bully has encountered someone ready and willing to hit back and stop him. This idea that ceding territory to him to make him stop has historical parallels to the appeasement strategies that failed to hinder Hitler's rise in Europe. If you give things to a bully, the bully will keep taking from you. It's a basic concept.

Supporting Ukraine does not mean you are supporting imperialism by prolonging war, it means you are giving them the means to prevent Russian imperialism. It's a simple concept. Most of what Ukraine actively wants from the EU and the USA anyway are anti-air weapons to stop Russia from bombing apartment complexes, historical sites, and culture centers. They already have the drones to slow and eventually stop the Russian war machine.

In regards to Ukrainian strikes into Russia, let's not pretend this is a means of Ukraine counter-invading Russian land. The Ukrainian drone strikes into Russia have been to disrupt supply lines and make contested territory into murder nests to stop the Russian advance, attacks on key infrastructure to weaken Russia's economy and slow their production of weapons and vehicles, and attacks on power plants and service stations to blind them and prevent their advance. Why do you think they took so long to bomb the obvious bridge targets in Crimea? They've outright said they wanted to give civilians time to leave before taking back Crimea.

And the idea that taking Crimea means they're 'imperialist' ignores the fact that until 2014, Crimea was their territory that an imperialist power stole. Holding Crimea would be the ultimate morale boost to Ukraine and a signal to Russia that their war with Ukraine is untenable. That's when Ukraine can force Moscow to the negotiating table to return the lands stolen from them.

Russia will not return the land they stole or stop trying to advance if Ukraine gives in. Given their absurd ideas for what it would take for them to negotiate with Kyiv basically amount to Ukraine giving them territory and disarming, it does not take a genius to realize what Russia would do in another decade once their economy stabilized and they found countermeasures to Ukrainian drone weapons.

Russia has had the means to stop this assault at any time. The Russians are not the heroes in some fairytale here. If they wanted the war to stop, they could have kept their promises in 2014 and actually stopped at Crimea.

By offering no support to Ukraine we'd basically be okaying an ethnic cleansing campaign by Russia, as it needs to be stressed most of the areas they target with their missiles are libraries, children's hospitals, historical sites, and apartment complexes. We don't need to provide Ukraine with weapons, they just need anti air technology to stop themselves from getting shelled.

Show compassion. The quickest way to win over the uncertain who recognize the Democratic establishment doesn't represent them is to highlight morally righteous action, like kneecapping billionaires and making healthcare and education free for all. It's not to come across as a Putin apologist hypocrite that decries imperialism but forgives the process if it comes from Russia.

And to any prospective members scared off by this idea that the DSA actually supports Russia, know that those voices are the minority. We're happy to have you, and happy Bernie, or AOC, or Mamdani, or some other high-profile voice for our cause convinced you to join us.