One thing we see all too little of in these days of vainly attempted bipartisanship and all-defense and no-offense are proposals for what the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party might do if it actually managed to gain the political clout to actually pass some economic legislation that isn't designed merely to hold the line or dig us out of continuing mess that is the legacy of 35 years of deregulation, redistribution of income upward, tax inequities and unfettered globalization.
Moving forward is impossible if all our time is spent fighting rearguard actions defending what was already won. That's one reason the battle over Social Security cuts is so infuriating. We ought to be moving in the same direction on economic issues as we are on social issues.
Some will argue that it's a waste of time to present ideas for even the most modest new policies as long as the national legislature comprises one party and half of the other that are too conservative and beholden to self-interest and corporate desires to take even baby-steps to build an environmentally sustainable economy that lifts the majority of Americans out of the rat race of paycheck-to-paycheck existence.
But that's surrender talk.
One crucial element of breaking out of the gerrymandered gridlock we now endure is to present policy ideas repeatedly that Americans can see would make a difference in their lives and give them a reason to vote for politicians who would make those ideas a reality and throw out the ones who bend always to the demands of hoi oligoi.
Rebecca Thiess
It's not that no good ideas are out there. For example, since 2011, the Congressional Progressive Caucus has presented three alternative budgets to the business-as-usual approach:
The Peoples Budget for 2012; the
Budget for All for 2013; and, the
Back to Work Budget for 2014. Those alternatives to the budgets put forth by the White House and the GOP are better honed each year and getting more votes—84 this time around—in Congress.
Another forward-looking alternative, this one devoted to tax reform comes from Rebecca Thiess at the Economic Policy Institute. She deplores the spending-cuts approach to deficit reduction that is currently the favored paradigm in Washington. "But," she writes, "if political constraints do demand deficit reduction, reductions achieved through revenue increases—particularly progressive revenue increases—are far less damaging to economic recovery than spending cuts."
What follows below is a highly condensed version. You can read more details here:
This brief explores eight progressive revenue options that are mindful of this context and should be front and center in upcoming fiscal and tax policy debates (10-year revenue projections for each policy are provided in parentheses):
• Reform current income tax rates, create additional brackets for top earners, and tax capital gains as ordinary income ($1.6 trillion). These reforms would raise substantial sums of revenue and make the tax code fairer and more progressive, without unduly restraining economic growth.
• Tax carried interest as ordinary income ($21 billion). This would close a loophole that almost exclusively benefits the very wealthy and that lowers the effective tax rates of millionaires and billionaires below those of middle-class households.
• Eliminate the loophole allowing the wealthy to avoid paying taxes on inherited stocks and bonds ($452 billion). Closing this loophole would raise substantial sums of revenue and pave the way for capital gains to be taxed at a higher, revenue-maximizing rate.
Cap the marginal tax rate on itemized deductions ($513 billion). Limiting the rate at which itemized deductions reduce filers’ tax liability would raise revenue, increase fairness and progressivity in the tax code, help mitigate income inequality, and improve efficiency.
• Pursue international corporate income tax reform, including repealing deferral of foreign profits ($606 billion). This would target U.S. multinational corporations that engage in convoluted transactions to avoid paying corporate income tax. Such reforms would raise revenue as well as reduce incentives for firms to move and keep operations and profits offshore.
• Enact a progressive estate tax ($160 billion). The estate tax, which targets large transfers of wealth bequeathed to heirs, is the most progressive element of the federal tax code. This reform would instate a more-progressive rate structure closer to what existed prior to the Bush-era tax cuts.
• Enact a financial transactions tax ($830 billion). A small levy on Wall Street trading of financial instruments would raise significant revenue and dampen high-speed trading, while also encouraging more-productive investment.
• Enact a carbon tax ($943 billion). Pricing carbon through either a carbon tax or the auctioning of pollution permits would lead to the reduction of greenhouse gases and yield significant revenue.
Together, these policies could result in over $5.1 trillion in revenues over 10 years (excluding interaction effects among the eight policies). It is crucial to note that solving the jobs crisis should take priority over deficit reduction in the near term. However, pairing these revenue options with temporary increases in spending could simultaneously support near-term recovery and lock in longer-term deficit reduction.
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Blast from the Past. At Daily Kos on this date in 2007—Is Anyone Watching Iraq?:
Between the horror in Virginia, the hideous decision of the Supreme Court, the ongoing outrage over the US attorneys, and half a dozen other scandals underway, it's understandable that Americans are a bit distracted today. It may not be making the top of today's news, but Baghdad is exploding.
Suspected Sunni insurgents penetrated the Baghdad security net Wednesday, hitting Shiite targets with four bomb attacks that killed 183 people — the bloodiest day since the U.S. troop increase began nine weeks ago.... Nationwide the number of people killed or found dead was 233, which was second only to a total of 281 killed or found dead on Nov. 23, 2006. Those figures are according to AP record-keeping, which began in May 2005.
For the last few weeks, the Bush administration has twisted every possible statistic to try and extract some shadow of "progress," but today's violence should put to rest any theory that the massive escalation of US forces is the solution. |
Tweet of the Day:
We need an Infowars vs. Westboro Baptist Steel Cage Death Match where they all die. The winners would be us.
— @tbogg via Twitter for iPad
On today's
Kagro in the Morning show, there was tough news everywhere today, from the Senate floor to West, Texas. We spent a little more time clearing up issues of procedure, and pointed out that maybe Joe Manchin and Pat Toomey, both conservatives, have a little bit of thinking to do about who supports you when you go out on a limb to do what you think is the right thing, and who leaves you hanging out to dry. Rep. Aaron Schock declares good corporate PR is now a government entitlement. The attacks in Boston give rise to renewed inquiry into the nature of terrorism, and the political symbolism of using the word.
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