{"id":14648,"date":"2015-02-03T13:13:05","date_gmt":"2015-02-03T21:13:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=14648"},"modified":"2015-02-03T13:13:05","modified_gmt":"2015-02-03T21:13:05","slug":"a-progressive-budget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2015\/02\/03\/a-progressive-budget\/","title":{"rendered":"A Progressive Budget"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve been reading a lot about Obama\u2019s budget for 2016.  The more I read about it, the more I like it.  It does many things to help build a recovery for the poor and middle classes, not just the 1%.  It pays for these measures by taxing the 1% to return just a tiny bit of our wealth that Republicans have fed them over the years.  Best of all, it does many of the things Republicans say they want to do, as they attempt to fool voters.<\/font><\/p>\n

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\"0203budget\"President Obama\u2019s fiscal 2016 budget, released on Monday<\/a>, pulls together the themes and policies set forth in his State of the Union address and other recent speeches and gives them a force and coherence \u2014 an ambitiousness \u2014 that a more piecemeal delivery does not convey.<\/p>\n

As a practical matter, the budget details what Mr. Obama believes needs to be done to help ensure a more prosperous and inclusive future for ordinary Americans, including greater contributions from corporate America and from those atop the wealth ladder<\/strong>. Politically, it seeks to frame the terms of the debate for the 2016 presidential election season. If Republicans simply reject those terms \u2014 if they can\u2019t discuss the ideas and act on them \u2014 they may find themselves, deservedly, struggling for a response.<\/p>\n

The core of the president\u2019s 2016 budget is a plan to boost the middle class by helping low- and middle-income earners pay for education, child care, job training and other needs, and by vastly expanding investment in the nation\u2019s infrastructure<\/strong>. These initiatives would be paid for, in the main, by nearly $1 trillion in tax increases that would fall on the wealthy and large financial institutions over the next decade.<\/p>\n

The new taxes, however, are also carefully crafted to spur economic growth more broadly. A proposed higher rate on capital gains, for example, would discourage rampant and inefficient tax sheltering, while encouraging investors to deploy the capital in ways that are more economically productive. Ditto the financial tax that is structured to discourage speculative activities at banks that endanger the economy, as well as taxpayers\u2026 [emphasis added<\/em>]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Inserted from <NY Times<\/a>><\/p>\n

Click through, please.  It\u2019s worth the read.<\/font><\/p>\n

I do not seriously think that this budget will pass.  In fact Republican officials from across the spectrum agree that it\u2019s DOA.  But it sets the stage for a Democratic victory in 2016, as voters watch Republicans reject things they claim they are for to protect a handful of billionaires.<\/font><\/p>\n

Ed Schultz provides some excellent coverage.  The embed button for MSNBC is working again.<\/font><\/p>\n