Yesterday, more than 150 state and national groups lobbied Congress (link opens PDF) to pass the Fairness in Taxation Act. This bill, sponsored by Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-IL will enact new tax rates for millionaires and billionaires to help build a stronger middle class and protect programs such as Medicare and Medicaid.
It’s due time for this bill to be enacted. The gap between rich and poor Americans is growing exponentially and is at it’s widest point since 1928. The wealthy are wealthier than they have ever been, while middle- and lower- classes have seen stagnation of their incomes. If this continues, vulnerable Americans will be financially excluded from essential programs such as Medicaid, Medicare, and quality education for their children.
If lower-income people are excluded from Medicaid and Medicare, they will not be able to afford health care and medication. In reality, killing Medicaid and Medicare will kill people.
While millionaires, billionaires, and big corporations are receiving tax cuts, poor school districts are receiving another type of cuts: budget cuts. There is already a $3.2 billion gap between high need and low need school districts in New York State alone. This means teachers are losing their jobs, extra curricular programs such as music, art and physical education are being cut, and after-school programs – designed to keep kids off the street -are being closed. This results in the combined problem of kids having their educational opportunities compromised AND being exposed to a criminal subculture. Kids that already are less likely to go on to college are having the odds stacked even more against them. to put it bluntly: money keeps kids out of trouble and in school.
It’s not that there is less money in America, it’s just that the rich have more of America’s money. To look at it another way, the proverbial pie isn’t getting smaller. The wealthy just have a bigger slice of the pie.
“Enough is enough,” said Alan Charney, USAction Director of Policy and Strategic Planning. “Our economy is in tatters and the middle class is disappearing. Yet some in Congress are at it again. They want to give even larger tax cuts to corporations and the super rich while destroying Medicare and Medicaid and other vital services that we depend on.”
That’s why the Fairness in Taxation Act is absolutely necessary.
Let’s Rebuild the Dream!