What would a Democratic progressive economic plan look like? Richard Eskow in the Huffington Post suggested a starting point.
His article is here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
Here's a start: First increase Social Security retirement benefits by 15%, across the board, by lifting the payroll tax cap and imposing a financial transactions tax. Second, increase income taxes on a sliding scale that goes up to 60% for the highest earners in the country. (It's been as high as 90% during periods of our greatest prosperity.) Third, add $500 billion to our stimulus spending over the next two years, and keep adding it until unemployment is down to 4%. Fourth, immediately add a public option, "Medicare For All" plan that's voluntarily available to Americans of all age brackets.
Let's list these out:
1) SS retirement benefits by 15%
2) Lift the SS payroll tax cap
3) Imposing a financial transactions tax
4) Increase income taxes on a sliding scale that goes up to 60% for the highest earners
5) Add $500 billion in stimulus spending over the next two years or until unemployment is below 4$
6) Create a "Medicare for All" plan
Is there any Kossack who cannot get behind all these? I know the list isn't complete, and I know people might think other things are more important, but what I want to know is if this is a program a majority of Kossacks can support.
I'm thinking we start with something most of us can support, we get a name attached to it, and we start bugging our progressive reps to support it. Once a group of progressive reps support it, we start bugging our less-progressive reps to support it. We build a movement. We start lighting some fires under our elected Dems asses.