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Reid Proposes Surtax on'the Richest'to Pay for Jobs Plan


By ROBERT PEAR

Published: October 06, 2011

WASHINGTON - Senate Democratic leaders on Wednesday proposed a 5 percent surtax on people with incomes of more than $1 million a year to pay for the package of job-creation measures sought by President Obama and to quell a brewing revolt among Democrats against the White House plan
The Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada, said the surtax would raise $445 billion over 10 years, just about the amount needed to pay for the jobs bill. Mr. Reid said his proposal would "have the richest of the rich pay a little bit more" - "5 percent more to fund job creation and ensure this country's economic success."
Mr. Reid's proposal was meant to draw a sharp contrast with Republicans and to win over Democrats who were resisting the president's proposal due to the tax increases he had suggested.
The approach is unlikely to win any backing from Republican leaders who strenuously oppose increases in tax rates, saying they would put a damper on the economy and penalize "job creators." But the plan, which Senate Democrats had aired last year to a cool response from the White House, is seen by party strategists as having appeal with the public.
Indeed, the Democratic proposal seems much more about politics than policy. Even if the wavering Democrats could be rounded up, Senate Republicans could block the proposal by denying Democrats the votes needed to overcome a near-certain filibuster. In the House, which Republicans control, it would be unlikely to even come to a vote since Republicans led by Speaker John A. Boehner have dug in against any new tax increases.
  But Senate Democrats see the surtax proposal as a way to build on the populist rhetoric both they and Mr. Obama have been increasingly using as a way to draw distinctions with Republicans and accuse them of being unwilling to ask Americans who have benefited the most from the economy to help those who are struggling.
"It's interesting to note that independents, Democrats and Republicans and even the Tea Party agree it's time for millionaires and billionaires to pay their fair share of taxes," Mr. Reid said Wednesday.
To pay for Mr. Obama's jobs plan, estimated by the White House to cost $447 billion over 10 years, the president last month proposed a grab bag of tax increases. Individual Democratic senators objected to some of those proposals, including ones that would have eliminated tax breaks for oil and gas companies, limited the value of itemized deductions for high-income people and required owners of corporate jets to pay higher taxes.
Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York, the No. 3 Senate Democrat, said Wednesday that he hoped the new proposal, with its $1 million threshold, would deflect criticism aimed at the financing proposed by the president.
In general, Mr. Schumer said, the Senate Democrats' proposal would not increase taxes for households with incomes of $200,000 or $300,000. "Many of them are not rich," Mr. Schumer said.
In addition, he said, the proposal spares many small businesses whose income is passed through to their owners and taxed as personal income. If the owners' income is less than $1 million, he said, they would not be affected by the "millionaires' tax."
In the past, administration officials have been cool to the idea of such a tax. But on his latest proposal, Mr. Reid said Wednesday: "We have consulted with the White House on this. They are fine with it."
The move provides a bit of vindication for Mr. Schumer, who proposed the idea last year. It also tends to unify Democrats, allowing them to present themselves as populists in a tax fight with Republicans.
Democratic leaders said they believed that the new proposal would win support from Democratic senators like Mark Begich of Alaska and Mary L. Landrieu of Louisiana, who had expressed reservations about some of the tax changes in the president's plan. It was not immediately clear whether the proposal would gain backing from moderate Democrats like Senators Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Claire McCaskill of Missouri, who are running for re-election.

It is time for them to pay, they have been getting the Bush tax cuts for years and haven't been creating jobs with them like they were suppose to.

I like the pay it forward type policies

There is something similar, I think, in Denmark or the Netherlands,, people dont just assume meritocracy and some more deserving status when they do well, they appreciate it enough to pay it back and to accept policy that enhances that type of thing

after opportunity works for you, provide opportunity for someone else,,,,I think its fair and works much better than the you deserve whatever you have or dont have rhetoric