Progressive Caucus
Calls for Real Tax Relief
WASHINGTON
President Bush’s plan to hand over the budget surplus to the
super-rich is not the only tax-cut plan in town.
The Congressional Progressive Caucus on Feb. 8 unveiled a
major, across-the-board tax package aimed at providing substantial and equal
tax relief to all Americans. Entitled the "American People’s
Dividend," the plan would provide substantially more tax relief to 80
percent of the population than the Bush plan.
The American People’s Dividend would yield $300 annually to
every man, woman and child in the United States as long as a budget surplus
exists, at $900 billion over 10 years.
The Bush plan, in contrast, provides 50 percent of the
benefits to the wealthiest 5 percent of the population, at an astonishing $1.6
trillion.
'AMERICAN PEOPLE'S DIVIDEND'
"Unlike President Bush’s tax proposal, which gives most
of the tax benefits to the very few, the Progressive Caucus is proposing the
American People’s Dividend that gives every person equal tax relief,"
explains U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D., Ohio), chairman of the
Progressive Caucus.
U.S. Rep. Bernie Sanders, a principal architect of the
progressive alternative, noted that unlike the Bush plan, the American People’s
Dividend would provide tax relief even to those who might not pay substantial
income tax.
"While the Bush proposal essentially leaves out seniors
and low-income workers, this plan helps everyone," declared Sanders.
"Our premise is based on the fact that Americans rich and poor helped
build this surplus, and therefore everyone should get an equal part of the
surplus — not just the wealthy. This plan is simple, across-the-board, and
fiscally prudent."
U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee (D., Calif.), Progressive Caucus
vice chair, pointed out that the American People’s Dividend was the fastest,
most efficient way of delivering immediate tax relief and economic stimulus.
Rep. Major Owens (D., N.Y.), a senior member of both
the Progressive Caucus and the Black Caucus, said he would actively reach out
to different groups in Congress and at the grassroots level to build support
for the American People’s Dividend.
UE News - 02/01
