The Republicans have tried to position themselves as the "tax cut" party -- and they have been fairly successful in doing that. The problem is that they don't want tax cuts for the working and middle classes (knowing that someone must foot the bill for their unnecessary wars) -- they only want tax cuts for rich people and corporations (the people who gave over $200 million in dark money to help them get elected.But House Dems are now planning to strike back. Rep. Chris Van Hollen (pictured) of Maryland is introducing a bill to radically cut taxes for most Americans -- the wording and middle class Americans that Republicans ignore. Van Hollen's bill would also have provisions to spur businesses into increasing worker wages.
Here is how the Washington Post describes Van Hollen's bill:
To spur employers to increase pay, the plan would target corporations, prohibiting companies from deducting executive performance bonuses in excess of $1 million, a benefit worth $66 billion from 2007 to 2010. To claim the deduction, companies would have to demonstrate that workers had shared in the company’s good fortunes by increasing wages about 4 percent, on par with inflation and productivity growth. Other provisions would provide incentives to companies that give workers a share of corporate profits and invest in job training, through apprenticeship programs or partnerships with community colleges. Blossoming wages would also stretch further under the plan, primarily through the paycheck bonus, worth $1,000 to individuals and $2,000 to couples. The idea is similar to Obama’s “Make Work Pay” credit, part of the 2009 stimulus package, but Obama’s credit was temporary and, at $400 per person, much smaller. Van Hollen also proposes to: ●Increase the tax credit for child care from $3,000 per person to $8,000, or $16,000 per couple. ●Create a “saver’s bonus” of $250 for workers who put at least $500 a year into retirement or other savings accounts. ●And reduce marriage penalties for dual-income couples, particularly the working poor. And Van Hollen's bill would not increase the deficit either. The new tax cut would include a way to replace the lost revenue -- by eliminating many tax advantages and loopholes that currently keep the rich from having to pay their fair share of taxes. It would also impose a 0.1% (one-tenth of a percent) tax on all Wall Street stock trades.
Of course, with the Republicans controlling both houses of Congress, this bill has no chance of being passed. The GOP will act to protect their true constituency (the rich and the corporations) from having to pay any tax increase -- no matter how small.
But it certainly could undermine the GOP claim to be the "tax-cutting" party -- because it will show them as being opposed to tax cuts for most Americans (the ones who could really use a cut), while in favor of more tax cuts for the rich and the corporations. Maybe this will help convince voters to kick the GOP out of power, so a more equitable economic policy can be put in place. The GOP's "trickle-down" economic policy has been a dismal failure (for everyone but the rich), and it is time to toss it into the trash bin of history.
