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Judd Legum Profile picture
@JuddLegum
Jul 31, 2019 • 9 tweets • 4 min read • Read on X
1. You might know that the United States is the only developed country that does not have guaranteed paid maternity leave

But did you know that the average length of paid leave that new moms get in other developed countries is now 52 WEEKS!

popular.info/p/paying-for-y…
2. The Trump campaign is touting its support for paid leave as a way to win back female voters.

But Ivanka and her dad endorsed an actual proposal yesterday and (surprise!) the entire thing is a scam

popular.info/p/paying-for-y…
3. The proposal Ivanka endorsed yesterday allows new parents to take a $5,000 LOAN and then pay it back through increased taxes over the next 10 years.

This isn't paid leave.

This is paying for your own leave.

popular.info/p/paying-for-y…
4. Why is this plan so terrible?

Republicans insist any paid leave plan be REVENUE NEUTRAL

So you are left with rearranging the deck chairs

(Keep in mind these same Republicans just voted for $1 TRILLION in corporate tax cuts that had no offsets)

popular.info/p/paying-for-y…
5. The 5K loan endorsed by Ivanka would finance about 7 wks of leave for someone making a 35K salary

The average paid leave offered by developed countries was 17 weeks IN 1970

This is a worse plan than what other developed countries offered 50 YEARS AGO

popular.info/p/paying-for-y…
6. BTW, if you are interested in ACTUAL ISSUES like paid leave and not just horse race politics about polls (that don't mean anything at this point anyway) you might want to check out my newsletter, Popular Information

You can subscribe (free!) at popular.info
7. There was a detailed poll taken last year about paid leave. 80% of Americans support it.

Most voters want employers to at least share the cost of paid leave

The Ivanka plan, where employees pay for the entire cost, is supported by ONLY 2% of voters

popular.info/p/paying-for-y…
8. The idea, I think, is just to say that Trump supports paid leave and hope no one pays attention to the details.

But it's also astounding how modest even PROGRESSIVE paid leave proposals are in the United States

popular.info/p/paying-for-y…
9. The FAMILY Act would provide 12 weeks of leave for new parents. It would be paid for by a 0.2% payroll tax on employers and employees.

So it's much better than the Ivanka plan but still worse than other developed countries had it 50 years ago

popular.info/p/paying-for-y…

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More from @JuddLegum

Judd Legum Profile picture
Oct 27
1. Last week, there were 3 Trump corruption scandals in 4 days that would define any other presidency.

Most people are probably not even AWARE of all three scandals.

🧵

popular.info/p/3-scandals-i…
2. On Thursday, Trump pardoned Binance’s founder, CZ, who pled guilty in November 2023 to willfully violating anti-money laundering laws

CZ's actions “allowed money to flow to terrorists, cybercriminals, and child abusers” through Binance.
3. Trump's pardon for CZ came after Binance structured a $2 billion investment with USD1, a Trump-backed cryptocurrency.

The transaction is expected to result in tens of millions of annual profits for Trump and his family.
Read 8 tweets
Judd Legum Profile picture
Oct 25
1. Here are some facts about the guy, Timothy Mellon, who donated $130 million so Trump could pay the troops during the government shutdown.

🧵

popular.info/p/the-reclusiv…
2. In his self-published 2015 autobiography, Mellon writes that Black people have become "even more belligerent and unwilling to pitch in to improve their own situations" after social safety net programs were expanded in the 1960s and 1970s.
3. Mellon derided programs intended to lift people out of poverty as "Slavery Redux." Mellon claimed that in exchange for "delivering their votes in the Federal Elections, they are awarded with yet more and more freebies: food stamps, cell phones, WIC payments, Obamacare, and on, and on, and on"
Read 6 tweets
Judd Legum Profile picture
Oct 22
1. The Trump administration quietly DOUBLED the bailout of Argentina from $20 BILLION to $40 BILLION

Here is what is really happening

popular.info/p/update-taxpa…
2. The first $20 billion of the bailout is straightforward. The US is sending $20 billion to the central bank of Argentina in exchange for Argentine Pesos. This part of the bailout is not working out well. The Argentine Peso hit a record low yesterday. Image
3. But Bessent also announced a SECOND $20 billion bailout financed by PRIVATE BANKS. This never made any sense. Banks have not lent money to Argentina for years because it is one of the most heavily indebted nations in the world.
Read 7 tweets
Judd Legum Profile picture
Oct 20
1. ICE has sharply increased its spending on weapons in 2025, according to an analysis of federal gov't data by Popular Information.

Records reveal ICE has increased spending on “small arms" — a category that includes guns, armor, chemical weapons, and explosives — by 700% compared to 2024 levelsImage
2. New spending in the small arms category from January 20, 2025 through October 18, totaled $71,515,762. The money was spent on guns, armor, chemical weapons, and “guided missile warheads and explosive components.”

popular.info/p/ice-boosts-w…
3. On September 29, 2025, ICE made a $9,098,590 purchase from Geissele Automatics, which sells semi-automatic and automatic rifles. The total spending by ICE in the small arms category between January 20 and October 18, 2024, was $9,715,843.
Read 6 tweets
Judd Legum Profile picture
Oct 14
1. In 2022, Jeff Bezos promised to give away the majority of his wealth during his lifetime.

It is not going well.

Since making the pledge, his net worth has almost doubled to $240 billion.

Meanwhile, he has given less than $5 billion to charity.
2. Most of Bezos' charitable giving has gone to the Bezos Earth Fund. But the org has a reputation less as a vehicle for the corporate infiltration of the climate groups.

oligarchwatch.substack.com/p/jeff-bezos-c…
3. The Bezos Earth Fund reportedly pressured a leading environmental standards group, the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), to relax its rules around letting corporations use offsets to meet carbon goals.
Read 9 tweets
Judd Legum Profile picture
Oct 8
1. On Monday, Trump delivered a $70 million windfall to his billionaire buddy, John Paulson.

Paulson hosted the biggest fundraiser of Trump's 2024 campaign, raising over $50 million.

This week, Trump returned the favor.

Follow along for details.
2. Trump announced that he was approving a 211-mile road through the Alaskan wilderness that will allow for the mining of copper and other minerals.

The project was rejected under Biden due to its environmental impact

popular.info/p/trump-approv…
3. Two companies will operate the mine: South32 Limited, an Australian company, and Trilogy Metals, based in Canada.

Paulson owns 14,326,996 shares of Trilogy Metals, about 8.7% of the company.
Read 7 tweets

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