Senator: Dramatic Poverty Growth Another Argument Against Extending Tax Cuts For Rich
The swelling of the ranks of the nation's poor is another reason not to extend tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, according to a left-leaning independent senator.
The Obama administration and most Democrats oppose extending Bush-era tax cuts for the richest 2 percent of taxpayers that otherwise are set to expire at the end of the year. Conservatives are pressing hard to see such an extension approved, however.
Obama and his Democratic allies prefer only to keep tax cuts for middle-income Americans going into the future.
The argument most often given against extending tax cuts for the most well-off Americans -- enacted as a signature accomplishment of George W. Bush's first term in office -- is that they would add nearly $700 billion to the already-mounting federal budget deficit.
Sen. Bernie Sanders points, however, to the recent release of Census data that indicates a rapid rise in U.S. poverty, as another reason to allow those tax cuts to cease.
“While poverty is increasing and the middle class is declining, it is incomprehensible to me that Senate Republicans are pushing for more tax breaks for the rich,” Sanders says. “Senate Republicans should not be allowed to hold middle class tax cuts hostage in order to give more tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires – especially when the gap between the very rich and everyone else is growing wider.”
The Census Bureau last week reported 43.5 million Americans were living in poverty in 2009 -- a record representing over 14 percent of Americans. Since 2000, nearly 12 million Americans have slipped out of the middle class and into poverty. Over 20 million more Americans were living in poverty in 2009 than in 1973.
Measuring the impact of the worst recession since the 1930s, the stark statistical snapshot by the Census Bureau showed that the median income of all families declined by $337 from 2008 to 2009, and well below the levels of the late 1990s, another sign that Americans are working for lower wages, Sanders' Senate office says in a statement. Middle-class families have seen their incomes go down by over $2,600 over the past decade going from $52,388 in 1999 to $49,777 in 2009 after adjusting for inflation. Middle-class families earned more income in 1998 than they did in 2009, the Sanders statement adds.
Sanders would end tax breaks for the wealthiest 2 percent while keeping in place tax cuts that expire at the end of this year for the 98 percent of Americans with household incomes under $250,000. Ending the tax breaks for the rich would yield $700 billion in federal revenue over the next decade. The senator has proposed devoting half that amount for deficit reduction. He would invest the other half in projects rebuilding roads and bridges and other infrastructure projects.
President Obama proposed such an infrastructure plan to create jobs on Labor Day.
“In my view, we should use half of the $700 billion we gain by not renewing tax breaks for the rich for deficit reduction, and half to invest in our roads, bridges, water systems and public transportation so that we can create millions of new jobs as we rebuild our infrastructure,” Sanders says. “At a time when the middle class is collapsing and we have a $13 trillion national debt, we need to create jobs and lower our deficit – not provide more tax breaks for the very wealthiest people in our society.”
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The Obama administration and most Democrats oppose extending Bush-era tax cuts for the richest 2 percent of taxpayers that otherwise are set to expire at the end of the year. Conservatives are pressing hard to see such an extension approved, however.
Obama and his Democratic allies prefer only to keep tax cuts for middle-income Americans going into the future.
The argument most often given against extending tax cuts for the most well-off Americans -- enacted as a signature accomplishment of George W. Bush's first term in office -- is that they would add nearly $700 billion to the already-mounting federal budget deficit.
Sen. Bernie Sanders points, however, to the recent release of Census data that indicates a rapid rise in U.S. poverty, as another reason to allow those tax cuts to cease.
“While poverty is increasing and the middle class is declining, it is incomprehensible to me that Senate Republicans are pushing for more tax breaks for the rich,” Sanders says. “Senate Republicans should not be allowed to hold middle class tax cuts hostage in order to give more tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires – especially when the gap between the very rich and everyone else is growing wider.”
The Census Bureau last week reported 43.5 million Americans were living in poverty in 2009 -- a record representing over 14 percent of Americans. Since 2000, nearly 12 million Americans have slipped out of the middle class and into poverty. Over 20 million more Americans were living in poverty in 2009 than in 1973.
Measuring the impact of the worst recession since the 1930s, the stark statistical snapshot by the Census Bureau showed that the median income of all families declined by $337 from 2008 to 2009, and well below the levels of the late 1990s, another sign that Americans are working for lower wages, Sanders' Senate office says in a statement. Middle-class families have seen their incomes go down by over $2,600 over the past decade going from $52,388 in 1999 to $49,777 in 2009 after adjusting for inflation. Middle-class families earned more income in 1998 than they did in 2009, the Sanders statement adds.
Sanders would end tax breaks for the wealthiest 2 percent while keeping in place tax cuts that expire at the end of this year for the 98 percent of Americans with household incomes under $250,000. Ending the tax breaks for the rich would yield $700 billion in federal revenue over the next decade. The senator has proposed devoting half that amount for deficit reduction. He would invest the other half in projects rebuilding roads and bridges and other infrastructure projects.
President Obama proposed such an infrastructure plan to create jobs on Labor Day.
“In my view, we should use half of the $700 billion we gain by not renewing tax breaks for the rich for deficit reduction, and half to invest in our roads, bridges, water systems and public transportation so that we can create millions of new jobs as we rebuild our infrastructure,” Sanders says. “At a time when the middle class is collapsing and we have a $13 trillion national debt, we need to create jobs and lower our deficit – not provide more tax breaks for the very wealthiest people in our society.”
Watch more breaking news now on our video feed:
Bookmark http://onthehillblog.blogspot.com/ and drop back in for more news from the nation's capital.
Labels: Bernie Sanders, Bush tax cuts, poverty
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