It seems to me that a plan that includes 50% revenue increase is better than a plan that includes 15% revenue increase. If nothing else, it signals the batshit crazy tea party faction that they aren't driving the negotiations.
Inspired by the action diaries of the past few days, I have been on the phone a lot more recently.
The budget plan would reduce the deficit by $4 trillion over 10 years, according to the baseline used by its author, Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.). Using the benchmark assumptions of Obama’s fiscal commission, Conrad said his budget would reduce the deficit by nearly $5 trillion.
Roughly half of that total would come from raising government revenues through new taxes and the closure of special tax loopholes, according to Senate sources familiar with the plan.
That would put the total amount of additional tax revenues called for by the Conrad budget in the neighborhood of $2 trillion over 10 years, significantly more than what Obama has proposed.
So I put in a call to Senator Conrad to thank him for his leadership. (202) 224-2043 You can write him here: https://conrad.senate.gov/contact/webform.cfm I did.
After that, I called DiFi to thank her for her vocal support of the proposal. (202) 224-3841 You can find your senator contact info here. Next up I called Harry Reid to ask him to back Senator Conrad's plan. (202) 224-3542
I think the White House needs to know that we are backing a higher percentage of increasing revenue to cutting services too. (202) 456-1111 Then I wrote. You can fax a handwritten letter too. (202) 456-2461
Finally, tell your family and friends what you are up to. Tell your neighbors. There are a lot of us who are dismayed at the direction this country is taking. The more we realize there are a lot of us, the bolder we will become.