The People’s Budget
Budget of the Congressional Progressive Caucus
Fiscal Year 2012
Executive Summary
Budgets are more than collections of numbers; they are a statement of our values. The Congressional Progressive Caucus Budget is a reflection of the values and priorities of working families in this country. The “People’s Budget” charts a path that keeps America exceptional in the 21st century, while addressing the most pressing problems facing the nation today. Our Budget eliminates the deficit and stabilizes the debt, puts Americans back to work, and restores our economic competitiveness.
The CPC Budget addresses these problems by listening to the American people. In poll after poll, they are telling us, their representatives in the American government, that they want to preserve Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, to make higher education more affordable, to expand job training programs, to cut taxes burdening the middle class, to subsidize affordable housing, and to provide financial assistance for those struggling to prevent foreclosures.
The majority of America thinks cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, K-12 education, heating assistance to low-income families, student loans, unemployment insurance, and scientific and medical research are completely unacceptable. In contrast, Americans find a progressive tax policy very acceptable. The overwhelming majority of America supports additional taxes on millionaires and billionaires, eliminating unnecessary weapons systems, eliminating tax credits for the oil and gas industries, phasing out Bush tax cuts, and eliminating subsidies for new nuclear power plants. Poll after poll give voice to what Americans are asking of us.
Our Budget, in response, listens to what the American people are telling us. It does all of the above in a fiscally responsible way that dramatically reduces our borrowing from banks and foreign governments and ensures our long-term economic competitiveness. It does all of the above recognizing that in order to compete, we need every American to be productive, and in order to be productive, we need to raise the skill level of every American and meet the basic needs of every working family. It does all of the above while remaining rooted in fairness, recognizing that America works only when everyone has an opportunity to make it in America.
(Continued here.)
Fiscal Year 2012
Executive Summary
Budgets are more than collections of numbers; they are a statement of our values. The Congressional Progressive Caucus Budget is a reflection of the values and priorities of working families in this country. The “People’s Budget” charts a path that keeps America exceptional in the 21st century, while addressing the most pressing problems facing the nation today. Our Budget eliminates the deficit and stabilizes the debt, puts Americans back to work, and restores our economic competitiveness.
The CPC Budget addresses these problems by listening to the American people. In poll after poll, they are telling us, their representatives in the American government, that they want to preserve Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, to make higher education more affordable, to expand job training programs, to cut taxes burdening the middle class, to subsidize affordable housing, and to provide financial assistance for those struggling to prevent foreclosures.
The majority of America thinks cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, K-12 education, heating assistance to low-income families, student loans, unemployment insurance, and scientific and medical research are completely unacceptable. In contrast, Americans find a progressive tax policy very acceptable. The overwhelming majority of America supports additional taxes on millionaires and billionaires, eliminating unnecessary weapons systems, eliminating tax credits for the oil and gas industries, phasing out Bush tax cuts, and eliminating subsidies for new nuclear power plants. Poll after poll give voice to what Americans are asking of us.
Our Budget, in response, listens to what the American people are telling us. It does all of the above in a fiscally responsible way that dramatically reduces our borrowing from banks and foreign governments and ensures our long-term economic competitiveness. It does all of the above recognizing that in order to compete, we need every American to be productive, and in order to be productive, we need to raise the skill level of every American and meet the basic needs of every working family. It does all of the above while remaining rooted in fairness, recognizing that America works only when everyone has an opportunity to make it in America.
(Continued here.)
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2 Comments:
Leigh,
Timely post ... yesterday morning, I took the time to read some of their budget proposal and was considering blogging about it, but you have beat me to it.
Here was some of the points I wanted to make :
--- The House Republican budget adds $6 trillion to the debt in the next decade yet the GOP is balking at raising the debt limit ...
--- The Ryan Budget was approved, while the Progressive proposal was offered on 4/15/11 as a substitute amendment to the House FY12 Budget Resolution (H.CON.RES. 34) and failed by a 77-347 margin.
--- The Progressive budget yields a surplus of $30.7 billion and stabilizes the debt at 64.1% by FY2021, a level lower than even the Ryan budget ... but that could only garner 77 votes.
--- What I liked about the proposal was the "fairness" factor ... a focus on equating "real" work with "passive investment" activities as it will taxing all capital gains and dividend income as ordinary income; ... considering how much the commodities market is influencing the prices of oil, food, copper, etc., the Progressive proposal includes a financial speculation tax on derivatives and foreign exchange transactions, and a special fee on large banks to cover the cost of future bailouts; ... it will cap deductibility of itemized deductions at 28% (as proposed by President Obama in 2009) meaning those McMansions won't have the tax incentives which allowed homes to have loan values greater than the market values of the homes [for example, Norm Coleman's remodeled home.]); ... plus making the estate tax more progressive by adopting a $3.5 million exemption, 45% rate up to $50M, 55% up to $500M, and 65% for the portion of estates valued over $500 million (meaning that the "Paris Hilton's" of the world will pay on her inheritance as $3.5 million is more than reasonable so no "family farm" will be impacted); ... and it will close tax loopholes for multinational corporations by taxing their income as it is earned.
That's the argument that should be made against the Ryan Budget ... IMO, if you polled those provisions, they would overwhelming be supported ... so why doesn't the Ryan Budget include those ?
Minnesotans should be proud that Keith Ellison is leading the fight for these principles.
Hi Leigh,
It was roll call 274 ... joining Keith Ellison in voting for this budget was Minnesotan Betty McCollum ... overall, the Democrats voted it down 108 to 77 ... in the NO category were Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, Chris Van Hollen, Collin Peterson and Tim Walz ... so there was pretty much a wide contingent of leaders opposing the plan.
I cited Ellison because he was one of the prime authors ... heck, he continues to speak out strongly while others are not taking the most visible roles ... just yesterday, he had an amendment on the Republican bill to strip funding on healthcare reform (the Republicans won, but at least Ellison was forcing the debate and vote).
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