Sign the Petition! Tell Congress America Needs a Fair Deal
Our families and future are at stake when Congress returns to Washington in November. They face a stark choice: Who should pay for investments in our country’s future – wealthy Americans and big corporations or the rest of us? The choice is clear: It’s time for the wealthiest Americans and big corporations to pay their fair share of taxes.
That starts with ending the Bush tax cuts for the richest 2 percent. The Bush-era tax cuts end in December providing Congress and the Administration a critical opportunity to require the richest 2 percent to pay their fair share. Massive across-the-board budget cuts called sequestration begin in January. This will cut $1.2 trillion in spending over the next 10 years – costing millions of jobs and hurting health care, education, aid to state and local governments, and other vital programs.
Lawmakers working on a “grand bargain” of $4 trillion in deficit reduction have considered putting Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid on the chopping block, in addition to scores of other programs critical to creating jobs and protecting families. Creating jobs, not reducing the deficit, is a more urgent priority; putting people back to work will do a lot to reduce the deficit.
If Congress wants to get our economy back on track we need to focus on additional investments in jobs and services that rebuild our economy. That means Congress must raise more revenues by making the wealthy and big corporations pay their fair share of taxes.
We’re calling on Congress to pass a Fair Deal for America. The Fair Deal Principles:
1. A Fair Deal is based in fair taxation: we must end tax breaks for the richest 2%, and institute a small tax on risky Wall Street trading.
2. A Fair Deal invests in the American people: in our infrastructure, education, transportation, jobs, housing, and health.
3. A Fair Deal protects our investment in Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid so we can all be assured economic security and health care in our retirement or for seniors and those with disabilities.
To come to a solution that lives up to these principals, Congress and the President must agree to a plan that raises the revenue we need by instituting the following measures:
1. End the Bush Era tax cuts for the top 2%
2. End preferential tax rates for income from stocks and bonds and other assets
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Revenue: $533 billion over 10 years (Citizens for Tax Justice)
3. Increase income tax rate paid by millionaires and billionaires
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Revenue Option 1: $450 billion over 10 years from 5.6 percent surtax on income over $1 million (Tax Policy Center)
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Revenue Option 2: $780 billion over 10 years from higher tax brackets for millionaires and billionaires (Citizens for Tax Justice?)
4.Restore a robust estate tax
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Revenue: $283 billion to $536 billion over 10 years [Various Sources]
5.Reduce incentives for moving jobs and corporate profits offshore
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Revenue: $168 - $583 billion over 10 years
6.Establish a Financial Transaction Tax, or Robin Hood Tax, on Wall Street trading
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Revenue: Between $35 to $300 Billion annually (Joint Committee on Taxation, CEPR)
Fill out the information below to electronically sign the petition!
