There is an alternative to the sequester for deficit hawks
by David Atkins
It hasn’t received much discussion in recent months, but it’s worth noting that the best plan for revitalizing our economy and eliminating our deficit is still out there. It was put together by the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and it’s called The People’s Budget. We’ve written about it here before, but let’s look at it again:
The People’s Budget eliminates the deficit in 10 years, puts Americans back to work and restores our economic competitiveness. The People’s Budget recognizes that in order to compete, our nation needs every American to be productive, and in order to be productive we need to raise our skills to meet modern needs.
Our Budget Eliminates the Deficit and Raises a $31 Billion Surplus In Ten Years
Our budget protects Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid and responsibly eliminates the deficit by targeting its main drivers: the Bush Tax Cuts, the wars overseas, and the causes and effects of the recent recession.Our Budget Puts America Back to Work & Restores America’s Competitiveness
• Trains teachers and restores schools; rebuilds roads and bridges and ensures that users help pay for them
• Invests in job creation, clean energy and broadband infrastructure, housing and R&D programsOur Budget Creates a Fairer Tax System
• Ends the recently passed upper-income tax cuts and lets Bush-era tax cuts expire at the end of 2012
• Extends tax credits for the middle class, families, and students
• Creates new tax brackets that range from 45% starting at $1 million to 49% for $1 billion or more
• Implements a progressive estate tax
• Eliminates corporate welfare for oil, gas, and coal companies; closes loopholes for multinational corporations
• Enacts a financial crisis responsibility fee and a financial speculation tax on derivatives and foreign exchangeOur Budget Protects Health
• Enacts a health care public option and negotiates prescription payments with pharmaceutical companies
• Prevents any cuts to Medicare physician payments for a decadeOur Budget Safeguards Social Security for the Next 75 Years
• Eliminates the individual Social Security payroll cap to make sure upper income earners pay their fair share
• Increases benefits based on higher contributions on the employee sideOur Budget Brings Our Troops Home
• Responsibly ends our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to leave America more secure both home and abroad
• Cuts defense spending by reducing conventional forces, procurement, and costly R&D programsOur Budget’s Bottom Line
• Deficit reduction of $5.6 trillion
• Spending cuts of $1.7 trillion
• Revenue increase of $3.9 trillion
• Public investment $1.7 trillion
It’s also worth remembering the balance of power in Washington. The White House is controlled by a Democrat who just won a resounding re-election victory and is regularly accused of being a radical socialist. The Senate is controlled by a healthy 10-vote Democratic margin. The American People just cast over four million more votes for House Democrats than House Republicans nationally–so though Republicans still hold the House, they do so on fairly illegitimate grounds due to gerrymandering.
The public polling shows the President with strong favorability ratings, even as public’s opinion of the Republican Party is cratering to at or near all-time lows.
The public wants increased spending on Social Security, opposes cuts to Medicare, supports an increase to the minimum wage, and despises the Tea Party and strongly supports higher taxes on the wealthy.
There is no reason, then, that the People’s Budget shouldn’t be the starting point for negotiations. There is no reason that the People’s Budget shouldn’t be discussed in major media outlets. And there is no reason that the Republican Party (and many Democrats) shouldn’t be forced to explain every day why they would rather force seniors to eat cat food than make the sensible moves demanded by the stated opinions and votes of the American People.
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