The other day Senate Democrats did something they had failed to do for far too long. They presented their own blueprint to meet the country’s budget crisis. It was permeated not only by decency, but fiscal and economic sanity.
As described in the Washington Post, under this plan the top 1 percent of American earners, individuals making more than $500,000 and families more than $1 million a year, would see their top tax rate rise to 39.6 percent, which was where it was in the early Clinton years. The capital gains rate would also rise to 20 percent from 15 percent, hedge fund managers would pay higher taxes, corporate offshore tax shelters would take a big bit, and there would be Pentagon spending reductions of a size that both Republicans and the White House have already agreed to.
Total revenue increases and savings from this Senate Democratic package over 10 years would be great enough so there would be no need to reduce Medicare or Social Security payments during this period. Only modest reductions of about $350 billion in other domestic programs would also be required.
Stepping back, what this plan really does is simply take back the overly generous tax breaks a small number of the richest and best connected Americans have garnered for themselves through their influence over Congress and the White House in recent decades. These benefits, it should be emphasized, have NOT trickled down, have NOT proven to be good job creators, and have ONLY actually worked to expand the gulf between rich and poor in this country while badly stressing a declining middle class.
Astonishingly, this plan has not only failed to gain any traction in the debate over the budget, it has barely earned media notice. Instead, the debate here continues to be dominated by the likes of Reps Ryan and Cantor, and the visceral anti-government rantings of a fringe economic right wing.
There really are choices in this debate. Here they are: Continue to pander to the very richest and trample over the rest of us, or save the spending power of the vast majority, the real job creators, by taking a bit from those who have been getting too damn much for too damn long while giving back too damn little.
It’s your country. Choose!
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