CHICAGO,
IL -- By the end of this week, President Bush will have visited nine cities,
including Chicago, in 14 days in search of nationwide support of his mammoth
tax cut proposal. Think about that: a president having to work so hard
to sell a tax cut. How can that be? The answer is simple.
The
American people aren't buying because they know that the meaningful cuts
are going to the rich and that nothing will be left over for what they
really care about: protecting Social Security and Medicare, improving health
care, fixing crumbling schools and reducing the debt.
Besides,
the sensible American people have no faith in the crystal ball that is
projecting the huge surpluses on which the Bush tax-cut-for-the-rich is
based. They're just not inclined to bet the farm on predictions made by
the same crew that was off by a cool half a trillion dollars between 1999
and 2000.
Unwilling
to compromise, Bush wants Congress to pass his 10-year tax cut that will
end up costing us $ 2.6 trillion and gives 43 percent of the benefits to
the richest 1 percent of taxpayers, even though they only pay 21 percent
of all federal taxes. Is it any wonder that regular folks can't swallow
this tax package, including a repeal of the estate tax that gives as much
in tax reductions to the 4,500 largest estates as it gives to 142 million
Americans?
What
kind of tax relief would hardworking families get under Bush's plan? In
many instances, they would get nothing, zip, goose egg. One-third of low-
and moderate-income families with children would not receive any tax reductions
under the Bush plan, according to Citizens for Tax Justice. In Illinois,
482,000 families and 985,000 children would not benefit. For example, a
couple with one child making $ 20,000 or a couple with three children making
$ 26,000 get zero benefits under the Bush plan.
For
many of us in Washington, and across the country, the president's proposal
is a non-starter. In order to help his rich friends, Bush is willing to
ravage basic priorities. An analysis of his tax plan found that the wealthiest
1 percent will receive $ 774 billion over 10 years. Many Americans can
think of more important ways to spend that kind of money: $ 736 billion
would give seniors a really high-quality prescription drug plan under Medicare;
$ 185 billion would lower class size for our children and modernize their
schools; $ 315 billion ensures that Medicaid would cover 12 million adults
and children who are now struggling daily without health care.
Members
of the president's own party have questioned that kind of budgetary wisdom.
Senate Budget Committee Chairman Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) said last week
that it would be "very hard to live on" this budget and added that Congress
and the administration have different spending priorities.
Nonetheless,
Republican leaders in the House will stop at nothing to give the president
the tax cut that he so much desires. They just rammed through the first
major installment of the gigantic $ 2.6 trillion tax plan even before Congress
had an opportunity to set its budget priorities. No family would think
of handling their own finances that way.
Instead
of giving the surplus to the rich, we should use surplus dollars to make
sound investments and target tax relief to low-income and middle-income
families. Like any business or any family, we need to get our financial
house in order and plan wisely. The Bush plan to fund tax breaks for the
wealthy for the next 10 years and beyond no matter what makes no sense.
No wonder it's such a hard sell. This package should be marked "Return
to Sender." |