{"id":4705,"date":"2011-04-29T02:48:30","date_gmt":"2011-04-29T09:48:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=4705"},"modified":"2011-04-29T02:48:30","modified_gmt":"2011-04-29T09:48:30","slug":"peoples-the-only-honest-budget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2011\/04\/29\/peoples-the-only-honest-budget\/","title":{"rendered":"People’s the Only Honest Budget"},"content":{"rendered":"

In three recent posts, I have mentioned and stated support for the People\u2019s Budget, produced by the 75 Democrats on the House Progressive Caucus.  It has some unique features.  It actually  cuts the deficit, and it does not do so on the backs of poor and middle class Americans.  Here are some of the details.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\"29People_s_Budget\"<\/font><\/p>\n

The 75-member House Progressive Caucus has put out its own budget<\/a><\/font> to counter Paul Ryan’s Medicare-gutting GOP plan.<\/font><\/p>\n

This is more than a fantasy document. It’s sound policy. The conservative Economist<\/em><\/span> magazine has called the budget "courageous<\/a><\/font>." As a conversation-starter, it shows that the path out of our debt and deficit quagmire is not as steep as most imagine, and that getting America’s fiscal house in order isn’t incompatible with making critical investments in jobs and infrastructure.<\/font><\/p>\n

The budget has more of what Americans say they want \u2014 new taxes on the rich and cuts to defense<\/a><\/font> \u2014 than either the GOP’s or the president’s budget. And it has none of what Americans say they hate: changes to the social compact that’s guided America from the days of the New Deal and the Great Society.  <\/font><\/p>\n

The Progressive budget would slash $5.6 trillion in deficits on the way to generating a small surplus in 2021\u2014reaching a balanced budget two decades in advance of Paul Ryan’s plan.<\/font><\/p>\n

Here, some highlights:<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/font><\/p>\n

New Investments <\/font><\/strong><\/span>(Cost: $1.7 trillion)<\/font><\/p>\n

\u2022 Job-creating public investments, largely infrastructure \u2013 highways, public transportation, high-speed rail; $1.5 trillion spent in the first five years to combat high unemployment<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/font><\/p>\n

Defense Cuts <\/font><\/strong><\/span>(Savings: $2.3 trillion)<\/font><\/p>\n

\u2022 Cuts off funding for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars\u2026 [more – click through]<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/font><\/p>\n

Increased Taxes <\/font><\/strong><\/span>(New revenue: $2.8 trillion)<\/font><\/p>\n

\u2022 Revokes the Bush tax cuts \u2014 for everybody \u2014 <\/em><\/span>in 2012, with the exception of a few, targeted tax credits\/fixes for married couples and families with children. Extension of Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest \u2014 a highlight of the lame-duck budget deal \u2014 is rescinded<\/font><\/p>\n

\u2022 Taxes capital gains and dividends as normal income.  Ends preferential tax treatment of investment income\u2026 [more – click through]<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/font><\/p>\n

Safety Net <\/font><\/strong><\/span>(New revenue: $1.2 trillion)<\/font><\/p>\n

\u2022 Raises the maximum income subject to Social Security payroll taxes to $170,000<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/font><\/p>\n

Health Reforms <\/font><\/strong><\/span>(Savings: $308 billion)<\/font><\/p>\n

\u2022 Creates a ‘public option’ in health care exchanges\u2026 [more – click through]<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/font><\/p>\n

Interest Savings<\/font><\/strong><\/span> (savings: $856.3 billion) [emphasis original<\/em>]<\/font><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Inserted from <Rolling Stone<\/a>><\/p>\n

It actually accomplishes more than I listed, but I did not want to take the entire article.  Click the Rolling Stone link above to see the other items.<\/font><\/p>\n

Note that, even though Social Security is not a budget item, the People\u2019s Budget makes is solvent by adjusting the cap upwards.<\/font><\/p>\n

This is the budget that does not kill the poor to give the rich more.<\/font><\/p>\n

Tell your Representative and Senators.<\/font><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In three recent posts, I have mentioned and stated support for the People\u2019s Budget, produced by the 75 Democrats on the House Progressive Caucus.  It has some unique features.  It actually  cuts the deficit, and it does not do so on the backs of poor and middle class Americans.  Here are some of the details. […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4705","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","category-5-id","post-seq-1","post-parity-odd","meta-position-corners","fix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4705","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4705"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4705\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4705"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4705"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4705"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}